1
PI
By Christina Fechner
( Staffwriter
Making a difference in the community by
starting something new takes time, passion and
determination.
Chris Gustafson, a sophomore agriculture
economics major, knows all about hard work and
the importance of keeping ties with his communi
ty
A native of Mead, Gustafson feels rural
Nebraska should be conserved and appreciated,
so he began two programs to help accomplish that
goal. '
Gustafson set up a scholarship fund based on
commupity service activity and is planning to
publish a book of works_written_by rural
Nebraska writers.
“Those of us who live out there (in rural
Nebraska) love it, and I want to preserve the
memories of living there,” Gustafson said.
The scholarship is in its first year and will
consist of two $1,000 scholarships for students
from Mead.
The requirements are not based on grades.
I Instead, one is based on the
number of community ser
vice hours a student com
: pletes, and the other is based
: on the quality of service the
I student does.
The scholarship money
I comes in part from the Rural
I Commission School.
Gustafson donates half of his
Gustafson eamings from his job at the
Rural Development
Commission to pay for the rest of the scholar
ships.
He gives part of his money because he thinks
serving the community helps to give a person
more ownership of his or her town.
“I got involved with community service in
Mead, and I enjoyed living there more,”
Gustafson said.
Jo Lowe, network coordinator at the Rural
Development Commission, works with
Gustafson and thinks the scholarship is a great
idea.
“He’s wonderful because he’s so involved in
community service activities,” Lowe said. “The
«
Those of us who live out there (in rural Nebraska) love
it, and I want to preserve the memories of living
there.”
Chris Gustafson
sophomore agriculture economics major
book and the scholarship fund are great because 1
think there has been a turnaround in the value of
rural communities.”
The book will consist of short stories, poetry
and editorials written by people who live in rural
Nebraska.
The center for Rural Community
Revitalization and Development on East Campus
is helping to advise and financially support the
book.
The group is accepting as many writings as
possible.
Gustafson said he thinks the book will be
important because if the way of living ever trans
formed dramatically in rural Nebraska, his book
would be a record of what rural living used to be
like.
“Just in case rural life does change, the book
will be a showcase of rural values,” Gustafson said.
Yasmin McEwen, who worked with
Gustafson last summer and fall while he was at an
internship, said his work will affect people in an
important way.
“Chris has a solid work ethic and is very goal
oriented. I think the book is a great idea,”
McEwen said.
“It’s important for rural Nebraskans to have
their opinions heard.”
Meetings offer Y2K advice
Sessions to be held for the community, individuals
By Kimberly Sweet
Senior staff writer
As Jan. 1, 2000, draws closer, the
University of Nebraska extension
office wants people to be prepared.
No one really knows what is going
to happen, but residents should have
basic knowledge they can use in any
Emergency, said Tom Dorn, extension
educator for the cooperative extension
in Lancaster County.
Two workshops will be held to edu
cate citizens on how to be prepared for
Y2K andjother potential disasters.
On Monday, a workshop focusing
on the steps community entities are
taking to be ready for Jan. 1 will be
held.
Representatives from public ser
vice providers, utility companies and
medical providers will be at the exten
sion office.
Saint Elizabeth’s Hospital, Alltel
and members of the city and state
emergency management teams will
also be on hand to talk about prepara
tions, Dorn said.
Un Nov. 29, a second workshop
will be held to discuss individual and
home preparedness.
Extension educators will talk about
how to have a supply of safe drinking
water, what kind of food to have on
hand, securing alternate sources of heat
and light and other topics, Dorn said.
Some may not be worried about
preparing for Y2K, Dorn said, but his
office has received numerous calls
over the past year from concerned citi
zens.
Some, he said, have legitimate con
cerns. Others have gone overboard.
“I know people who are buying
dehydrated food, have bought land out
side of the city to avoid chaos or are
building bunker-type buildings,” Dorn
said.
Instead, Dorn recommended taking
some easy steps to be prepared. Having
a few days’ supply of food you usually
eat and filling bottles with water are
examples.
Even if people aren’t concerned
about Y2K, die workshops will provide
citizens with information they can use
in any disaster situation, Dorn said.
a
I think its wise to be
prepared for any
emergency”
Tom Dorn
extension educator
“I think it’s wise to be prepared for
my emergency,” Dorn said. “And no
me has a 100 percent guarantee that
we will not experience some kind of
glitch with Y2K.”
The workshops will be held at the
Lancaster Extension Conference
Center, at 444 Cherrycreek Road.
They begin at 7 p.m. and last about
two hours. The workshops are free, and
10 pre-registration is required.
Dorn said he expects more than
150 people to attend each workshop.
“People have called this office for
ill types of questions,” Dorn said. “I
know there is concern by a number of
f>eople.”
Indonesian leader jibes critics
P’President Wahid speaks -
without notes, makes fun of
opposition repeatedly in
defending Aceh province.
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -
President Abdurrahman Wahid deliv
ered a barrage of one-liners and jibes
Thursday aimed at lawmakers
opposed to Jiis controversial plan to
hold a referendum on the future of
strife-torn Aceh province.
Nearly blind, he spoke without
notes and had even his harshest critics
laughing, introducing both humor and
democratic accountability into a
chamber that had been a dour rubber
stamp for past authoritarian rulers.
“It’s hard to distinguish the house
from a kindergarten,” Wahid joked
after legislators criticized him for
abolishing two government depart
ments.
many memoers oi me :>uu-seat
parliament fear an Aceh referendum
could trigger the disintegration of the
world’s fourth most populous nation,
whose Z10 million people are spread
over 17,000 islands.
A lengthy guerrilla campaign for
independence for oil- and gas-rich
Aceh has gathered pace since Hast
Timor voted in August to break with
Indonesia.
Summoned before the legislature
for the first time sinee it elected him
head of state a month ago, Wahid
called for constructive debate to solve
the country’s economic and social
problems.
The president quoted Russian
communist revolutionary Lenin in
accusing some lawmakers of trying to
create “infantile disorder” instead of
better government.
“I myself say there should be a ref
erendum in Aceh. Differences of opin
ion will make Indonesia great in the
future,” he said in his nationally tele
vised speech. “Through debate we can
have a good result. This is what we call
reform.”
In defending the performance of
his own Cabinet, Wahid pointed to
neighboring Malaysia. Ministers
there, he joked, did little more than
play golf.
“Finding ministers in Malaysia is
very difficult because they are playing
golf,” said Wahid, drawing gales of
laughter. “That’s the job of a minister.
If you want to fmd them, find them on
the golf course. Their business affairs
are conducted on the golf course.”
Wahid’s decision to comply with
parliament’s demand to appear and
explain his views was a democratic
departure from the dictatorial past.
Former leaders, particularly President
Suharto, used the parliament merely
as a compliant tool.
“What I saw was very new in the
political scene here,” said Benny
Subianto, who teaches political sci
ence at several Jakarta universities.
“Before, parliament was a scared
place. Suharto never wanted debate,
so he kept everything very serious.”
On Tuesday, during an official
visit to Japan, Wahid suggested a vote
could be held in Aceh within seven
months. But he reportedly said in
Jakarta on Wednesday that such a bal
lot would not allow the Acehnese peo
ple to opt for lull independence, only
to choose whether to have greater self
rule.
The leaders of several major polit
ical parties have said they would block
any Aceh referendum.
Separatism has long boiled in
Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra
island. Dutch troops occupied the
region a century ago after a long colo
nial war. Following World War II,
when Indonesia declared indepen
dence, Aceh was promised - but never
goi - autonomy.
Separatists claim the central gov
ernment has siphoned off much of the
province’s wealth. Some want to set
up an Islamic state.
More than 5,000 people have died /
or have disappeared since a guerrilla
war started in 1989, human rights
activists say. They accuse the
Indonesian military of widespread
atrocities.
Thousands of non-Acehnese have
begun fleeing in fear of being targeted
by rebel fighters. But rebel leader
Teungku Abdullah Syafiie said
Thursday that the insurgents only plan
to hold a series of peaceful pro-inde
pendence demonstrations.
Researchers: UNL
is the place to be
■ More than 1,500 people
conducted research at the
university last year, several
from foreign countries.
By Michelle Starr
Staff writer
The University of Nebraska
Lincoln is a haven for researchers
from across the country and around
the world.
About 1,500 total researchers
worked at UNL in 1998, not includ
ing about 400 research and clinical
staff and faculty researchers,
according to Institutional Research
and Planning’s most recent figures.
“The university is a good
research program and has a lot of
support from the faculty,” said
Charles Wood, UNL molecular
virologist and researcher.
Wood, originally from Hong
Kong and now a U.S. citizen, left
the University of Miami to work at
UNL three years ago.
He said the main reason he
came to NU was because of the
research opportunities the faculty
provided.
The office did not know the
exact number of graduate student
researchers and individual research
programs conducted at UNL.
The exact number of
researchers from other countries
and other states was also unknown,
partly because it is difficult to clas
sify research, said Marsha Torr,
vice chancellor for research.
“Almost every faculty
describes themselves as a
researcher,” Torr said.
Torr also said researchers
weren’t tracked, but the university
had to follow where the money
goes.
Some departments estimated
the information.
About 5 percent of the
researchers in the UNL agricultural
department are from other coun
tries, said Darrell Nelson, dean and
director of the agricultural research
division.
Foreign researchers’ work
helped the community by produc
ing new agricultural techniques
and procedures, which have low
ered fanning expenses, Nelson
said.
“We’ve had a tremendous
impact on Nebraska’s economy,”
Nelson said.
Vadin Gladyshev came to the
United States from Russia about
two years ago because of UNL’s
opportunities in biochemistry.
“I was offered a job, and I like
the scientists here in the depart
ment,” Gladyshev said. “The sci
ence is relatively good, and it’s
competitive.”
Kulvinder Gill, assistant pro
fessor and plant molecular cytoge
neticist in agronomy, agreed.
“The department of agronomy
and agriculture research is one of
the top in the'country,” said Gill,
who came to the United States
about three years ago.
For others, UNL could have
been any other university, as long
as it offered a good program. _
For Heriberto D. Cerutti, an
associate professor of biological
sciences and a native of Argentina,
it was not important what institu
tion he conducted his research at,
but more important that it was in
the United States.
UNL did not stick out among
other institutions in the United
States, but it did provide better
facilities than those offered in
Argentina, Cerutti said.
“In essence, the United States
has a research structure that is tops.
So the United States has the advan
tage here - any university in the
United States,” Cerutti said.
UNL’s research program has
also extended opportunities to peo
ple across the country.
Steve Baenziger, a Harvard
University graduate, came to the
university 13 years ago to help feed
people through research at NU’s
agriculture department.
“The wheat-breeding program
is, well, in my opinion, the best in
the country,” Baenziger said.
He said he has been able to take
an active part because about 80 per
cent of the state's wheat was a result
of UNL’s wheat-breeding program.
John Janovy, a biological sci
ences professor and Oklahoma
native, came to UNL 33 years ago
because it was a great job in a city
he could raise a family in, he said.
At UNL, Janovy said he was
able to attract the researchers he
wanted to, do die research he was
interested in and teach his classes
the way he wanted to.
“I was far more interested in
freedom than stature,” Janovy said.
The funding for foreign
researchers is similar to that of
native researchers.
About 50 percent of their funds
come from tax dollars; the other 50
percent is made up of state and fed
eral grants and agencies, as well as
private companies, Nelson said.
Many of the foreign researchers
like living in the United States and,
after their research is completed,
become citizens, Nelson said.
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