Renovated lab
brings students
new technology
students make use of 26 machines
By Kim Sweet
Staff writer
While the grand opening of the
union computer lab was Monday, it
didn’t take a formal ribbon-cutting for
students to discover the addition of
more than 20 new computers to one of
University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s
most popular meeting places.
The completion of the lab in
reoruary prompieu siuaenis 10 line up
to use the 28 new PCs and Power Macs
to check their e-mail and search the
Web not long after the doors opened,
said Linda Roos, manager of user edu
cation and technology support.
The popularity of the lab has not
diminished in the time it has been
open, said Janice Cheng, one of the
lab’s computer consultants.
Students still have to wait in line to
use the computers, especially during
the lunch and afternoon hours.
While Cheng said she observed
students using e-mail and the Internet
the most, some students use the com
puters’ word processing capabilities to
do their homework m the lab.
Thea Tracy, a freshman whose
major is undecided, checks her e-mail
at the six stand-up computers located
right outside the computer lab in
between her classes.
Tracy said she was happy with the
convenience and number of comput
ers, which makes access to e-mail
easy.
“I think it’s great,” Tracy said. “It’s
not too busy and I can do it right on
campus.”
Along with e-mail and Internet
access, the computers contain a vari
ety of software students can use, Roos
said. Pagemaker and Freehand are just
some of the programs students can use
in the lab.
Because the copy center is located
right next door to die lab, Cheng said,
printing out papers or projects was
convenient.
Four of the computers are con
nected to the copy center. Students can
pay to receive color copies or black
and white copies.
Along with a variety of programs,
the lab also complies with the
Ryan Soderlin/DN
CHRIS KEETLE, a senior business major, writes e-mail in the new computer lab in the Nebraska Union. Keetle said
he mostly uses the new computer room for e-mail. %
Americans with Disabilities Act.
The lab contains a station with
zoom text - a piece of software that
people who are visually impaired can
use to better see the words.
* The table the computer sits on also
has a crank so students in wheelchairs
can use the lab, Roos said.
While 24-hour access to the lab
was planned, Nebraska Unions
Director Daryl Swanson said because
of delays, the identification card swip
ing system that will allow students
that access will not be running until
fall.
Swanson said he had hoped to
have the access available this semester
before dead week and finals, but
delays foiled his timeline.
But even with the anticipated west
entry incomplete, Tracy said, the lab
was a good addition that benefited
students.
“I think it is really convenient,”
Tracy said.
“It would be even more convenient
for me if I didn’t live on campus.”
: ' \
Student Involvement office expands to meet needs
By Kim Sweet
Staff writer
Students looking to use the services of the
union’s Student Involvement office a few years
ago would have found a similar staff and com
mitment the remodeled office contains today.
But instead of walking into a spacious, open
air room where the employees of die office mill
around, students experienced a surprise - hitting
the desk with the front door.
The problems of closet-sized offices, not
much room for students to congregate and a gen
erally uninviting atmosphere were solved this
January when the office opened the door to its
renovated office on the union’s second floor.
After expansion, the amount of resources and
services available to students and student organi
zations increased along with the size of the
office.
we had really nothing belore, said Marilyn
Bugenhagen, director of Student Involvement.
“We had information distribution racks.”
With the information racks moved to the wall
outside the office, the room now contains mail
boxes for student organizations, meeting tables,
a creation area for organizations to design event
banners and staff to assist them in event plan
ning. ^
The resources offered will continue ™
expand as the office adds computers for student
organizations to design their own Web pages and
as a calendar system is added to let all students
know what is happening.
Bugenhagen said that because students are
just discovering the new space, traffic flow is
light.
Lori Simpson/DN
STUDENTS AND STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS can use the new Student Involvement office, located
on the second floor of the Union, to meet and plan events.
But once fall rolls around and the office
begins its full-fledged advertising campaign,
Bugenhagen said, she expected the office to be
an active place.
“In the last month and a half, people have
been discovering their mailboxes,” she said.
“We’re expecting to see the full increase in the
fall.”
While work to improve the exterior of the
office began months ago with the union renova
tion, the improvement in assisting students and
student organizations began six years ago,
Bugenhagen said.
Beginning with changing the name of the
office from Campus Activities and Programs to
Student Involvement, the office has worked to
fulfill the vision it created when the name
changed.
a
In the last month and a
half, people have been
discovering their
mailboxes. We re expecting
to see the full increase in
the fall.”
Marilyn Bugenhagen
director of Student Involvement
* __^
Reshell Ray, assistant director of Student
Involvement, said the vision became establishing
programs, encouraging students and ultimately
preparing them for life after the university.
“When we sat down and began to envision
what our office could be, we began to think big
ger,” Ray said. “The new space fosters and estab
lishes where we are going.”
Besides assisting student organizations, Ray
said, the office would hold consultations with
students looking to get involved in the university
by helping them get connected with organiza
tions that match their interests.
Student organization leaders and members
who are strangers to the office can also come in
for the first time to find out the broad variety of
services available, Ray said.
“By becoming familiar with our offices, peo
ple can see the breadth of services we offer.”
