The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, January 24, 2000, Image 1
Toot Your Horn Monday Night Big Band lets musi cians of all ages play classics. A&E, PAGE 11 Si The Nebraska swimming diving team finished well vs. Iowa State on Saturday. SPORTS, PAGE 20 . ;em r— j — _ _ -# -4 NU athletics nurtures talent with time, money By Kimberly Sweet Staff writer The process of becoming a star athlete starts young for many. A father buys his son a football and begins tossing it around in the backyard. A mother enrolls her daughter in gymnastic lessons and watches her learn somersaults and pirouettes. As they grow up, the children join organized teams. Coaches hand pick them to ensure a victory for the sixth-grade community team, the seventh-grade junior high team, the tenth-grade junior varsity team and the twelfth-grade varsity team. The young athletes spend hours honing their skills. They practice. They lift weights. They go to special summer camps. The ones who are especially tal ented and hard-working go on to the next level. They are scouted by recruiters to play at the collegiate level. Proceeding through the stages of the world of competitive sports relies on one crucial element - a certain Please see SYSTEM on 9 Editor’s Note: The University of Nebraska athletic system is mythic in its proportion. It encom passes athletes, administrators, coaches,-doctors and trainers who make the system work. It captures students and profes sors at UNL who roam the campus. It mesmerizes millions of its fans - and frustrates its foes - from one side of the globe to the other. It has also captured the attention of the Daily Nebraskan. This series, which begins today, takes an in-depth look at the system thatMirrounds NU athletics. For the next eight days, different aspects of die program will be explored. It doesn’t promise to explore everything. There is no way it could. About 20 editors, reporters and photographers worked for four months to put together a product that we believe portrays the athletic system in its truest form. It is a system that we found to be both extravagant and conservative, both amazing and disappointing and, in a word, unbelievable. We invite you to read, to think and ultimately, to decide for your self. Mike Warren/DN NU ATHLETIC Director Bill Byrne (right) and football coach Frank Solich accept the Fiesta Bowl championship tro phy on Jan. 2. Byrne, an athletic director knowledgeable in the business side of athletics, came to Nebraska on June 26,1992, to take Bob Devaney’s place and has helped Nebraska continue dominating collegiate athletics. Campus construction projects underway Josh Walfe/DN GREG MEYER and Rill Roetan take measurements Friday in an man window fnma on tta smith dih nf II IIM| III Oil V|pVII if IIIVVOT HOUR# VII UIV GVIIUI oVOT VI I own I Hygff. wtllch IS fflIICTd Off for Construction. ■IWPWaP HliWIW W| lWfPPPyPPP PyP PaPWWaPaPWB W■ I laPV W^^PWBaPPP® ByCaraPesek Staff writer Last semester, UNL students encountered chain-link fences, blocked sidewalks and even cranes throughout campus. This semester won’t be much different. Love Library South, the Kauffman Residential Center, Richards Hall and Seaton Hall are some of the buildings currently under construction, said Howard Parker, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln facilities plan ning and construction manager. A three-year construction project to replace the heating, ventilation and air-condi tioning systems and make other improvements at Love Library South began last semester. Several changes at the library will affect students. Periodicals have been moved from the first floor of the library to the Link, said Andrew Wertheimer, assistant professor of university libraries. One of the biggest changes, though, is yet to come. In February, the library entrance will be moved to Love North. “That will be a pretty dramatic change,” Wertheimer said. “Everyone will notice In addition, the Great Plains Art Collection will be moved to a new building under con struction at 12th and Q streets. The room that currently houses the collec tion will be converted to a study area, Wertheimer said. “We’re trying to move everything as smoothly as possible,” Wertheimer said. One project quickly progressing on campus is the Kauffinan Residential Center. The new building, which will house the J.D. Edwards Honors Program, was little more than a hole in the ground when students began classes last August. Now, with the steel work almost complete, the three-story building is taking shape. “We’re right on schedule,” said Tracy Aksamit, project manager. Brick work is scheduled to begin in late February or early March, Aksamit said. “It could go pretty fast, of course, depend ing on the weather,” Aksamit said. Aksamit and Parker both said they expect ed the $15.7 million project to be completed in February 2001. Art students can expect to move into the newly renovated Richards Hall in October. . The building was gutted and renovated, Parker said. Before construction began in April 1999, the building had no elevator and was only par tially handicap-accessible. // We ’re right on schedule.... It could go pretty fasti of course, depending on the weather.’’ Tracy Aksamit honors hall project manager The renovated building will be completely accessible, Parker said. In addition, it will have new lighting, air conditioning and more stor age space. Many students may have noticed that ply wood and warning signs cover the first-floor windows of Seaton Hall. The building faces Selleck Quadrangle. A $1.3 million renovation of the first floor, used by the graduate studies program, is in progress, Parker said. Improvements to Seaton Hall are expected to be complete in September, Parker said. Amid the construction, there has also been Please see CONSTRUCTION on 10