VOL. 99 COVERING THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN SINCE 1901 NO. 27
SPOTS
Raiola of Sunshine
Nebraska sophomore center Dominic Raiola
brings intensity and a positive attitude to the
Husker offensive line. PAGE 10
_A & i_
Artistic Desires September 28, 1999
Patty Gallimore isn’t in art for the money; she’s
in it for her own personal happiness. PAGE 12 PURPLE RAIN 4
Rainy, high 55. Cloudy tonight, low 37.
Nebraska tied up in water rights case
ByJoshKnaub
Staff writer
In the first year of her job, Norma
Sitzman provided farmers in her irri
gation district with enough water to
cover each acre with 15 inches of
water.
In her 33rd year as manager of
Frenchman Valley and H & RW irri
gation district in southwest Nebraska,
Sitzman has considerably less water
to go around.
For the past few years, despite
having the same number of canals,
acres to irrigate and physical source
of irrigation water, Sitzman has been
able to give farmers in her district
only 4 inches per acre.
“My irrigators are really feeling
this,” Sitzman said.
Sitzman said other irrigation dis
tricts in the area - those that draw
from Swanson Lake - have enough
water for irrigators.
But nearly 50 percent less than the
creek’s historical average flow now
runs in Frenchman Creek, which
feeds Enders Reservoir - the source
of irrigation for Sitzman’s district -
and eventually drains into the
Republican River.
And, pressing as this figure is to
Sitzman and the farmers in her dis
trict, it is only a small part of the total
water that flows in the Republican
River basin.
Russell Oaklund, division super
intendent for the Nebraska
Department of Water Resources, said
the flows of many Republican River
tributaries are below average.
In fact, all Nebraska tributaries
named in a 1943 water use compact
between Nebraska, Colorado and
Kansas have less water than their his
torical averages.
All told, 25 percent less
Republican River water crosses the
Nebraska border with Kansas,
Oaklund said.
In a Jan. 19, 1999, complaint to
the Supreme Court, Kansas alleged
the decreased flow is in part because
of groundwater pumping in
Nebraska.
Kansas alleges Nebraska violates
the Republican River Compact by
allowing too many wells.
Tiffany Ball, press secretary in the
Kansas Attorney General’s office,
said Kansas officials estimate they
are short about 10 billion gallons of
water annually because of groundwa
ter pumping.
In a brief filed Aug. 2, 1999,
Nebraska claims groundwater was
not part of the compact and should
Matt Haney/DN
not be considered when determining will argue that the compact does not
if Nebraska has used more water than restrict groundwater use.
it is entitled. Ball said Kansas restricts ground
Attorney General Don Stenberg ~~
said in a press release that Nebraska Please see WATER on 7
Creative teaching methods
• %a»-4 i i * 14
Barkley Center prepdf&£1 Students to teach deaf children
By Jill Zeman
Staff writer
If a class full of drawing stick figures
sounds easy, think again.
Each year, students come to the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Barkley
Center for a more interactive form of edu
cation, which includes learning sign lan
guage and understanding the importance
of stick figures in teaching.
The students come to the center, locat
ed on East Campus at 42nd and Holdrege
streets, to be involved in its special educa
tion and communication disorders classes
and to leam what the center is best known
for teaching - deaf education. The center’s
main program prepares students to teach
deaf and hearing-impaired children.
Teaching deaf children requires
instructors to get creative. Teachers find
alternate ways to convey their message,
said Malinda Eccarius, a professor in deaf
education.
Students learn the importance ot visu
alization techniques because deaf students
each have different learning capacities.
Skills such as drawing stick figures can be
monumental in educating deaf students,
Eccarius said.
Graduate students work outside the
Barkley Center as student teachers and
also work in the homes of deaf and hear
ing-impaired students, Ramsey said.
The center also has community ser
vices such as a preschool communication
group and a speech-language and hearing
clinic.
The Barkley Center attracts students
from throughout the Midwest because nei
ther Iowa nor Wyoming has deaf educa
tion teaching training programs, said
Claire Ramsey, an assistant professor of
deaf education.
Please see BARKLEY on 7
.'i liANE HiCKENBOTTOM/DN
CHAIM L. SMITH, a UNL graduate student, teaches a sign language class Monday
morning at the Barkley Center, a training ground for students preparing to teach deaf
and hearing-impaired children.
City Council
extends bar’s
liquor license
By Sarah Fox
Staff writer
After denying a special liquor license for The N
Zone twice this year, the City Council voted 6-1 Tuesday
to approve the bar’s request.
Councilwoman Cindy Johnson was the only member
who voted to deny the license.
The license will allow The N-Zone, 428 Q St., to
have an extended beer garden in a parking lot north of
the building from 9 a.m. Saturday to 1 a.m. Sunday.
Nebraska will play Oklahoma State at Memorial
Stadium on Saturday.
The council denied The N-Zone’s Aug. 30 and Sept.
13 requests because undercover Lincoln Police
Department officers visited the bar in July and saw'
patrons dancing on tables. Police tested patrons and
determined they were above the legal drinking limit
Charges have been filed against the bar with the
Nebraska Liquor Control Commission.
Since the council’s Aug. 30 denial, The N-Zone’s
employees have completed several training programs, N
Zone owner Mike McCarty said.
Councilman Jerry Shoecraft voted in favor of The N
Zone all three times. He said he had spoken to City
Council members after the Sept. 13 vote.
“I put them on notice the last time we denied it that
(The N-Zone) finished all their checks and passed and
had no violations,” Shoecraft said. “I’m happy they got
their request.”
In other business, the City Council also listened to
concerns from Lincoln resident Robert Valentine about
^ the Community Health Endowment board.
The board oversees $41 million in assets, which is
used for community health programs.
Valentine asked why the board planned to have a
meeting at Platte River State Park.
He said the site was inconvenient for Lincoln resi
dents who would want to attend the meeting. He also said
the public should know what the endowment will do with
the money.
Please see COUNCIL on 7
Read the Daily Nebraskan on the World Wide Web at dailyneb.com
