Monday
October 2,2000
Volume 100
Issue Z 5/
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Republicans object to ad attacking Stenberg
■ Ad about Stenberg's suit
against the Safe Drinking Water
Act is called unfair by the GOP.
BY BRIAN CARLSON
Supporters of Ben Nelson and
Don Stenberg quarreled this
weekend over the fairness of a
Democratic Party ad attacking
Stenberg’s challenge to the Safe
Drinking Water Act.
Gov. Mike Johanns, 1st District
U.S. Rep. Doug Bereuter and Sen.
Chuck Hagel defended Stenberg
on Saturday, saying his July 1998
lawsuit was in Nebraska’s interests
and supported by then-Gov. Ben
Nelson* now Stenberg’s
Democratic opponent in the
Senate race.
But Anne Boyle, chairwoman
of the Nebraska Democratic Party,
said the lawsuit Johanns, Bereuter
and Hagel defended was different
from the one the ad criticizes.
* The ad, paid for by the
Democratic Party with unregulat
ed soft-money contributions,
blasts Stenberg, the state attorney
general and Republican Senate
candidate, for filing a lawsuit to
repeal the entire act
“Bacteria in our water, people
sick and just this week, another e
coli outbreak,” the ad states.
“You’ve got a right to clean water.
But Don Stenberg wants to gut the
standards that protect our drink
ing water from deadly pollution.
“Stenberg actually filed a law
suit to repeal the entire Safe
Drinking Water Act, a law that
every Republican and every
Democratic senator voted for,” thji
ad continues. “So check the
record. Because Don Stenberg’s
out of step with Nebraska. He
needs to stop his lawsuits that
threaten our health.”
At a press conference outside
the Capitol on Saturday, Johanns
and Bereuter, both Republicans,
defended Stenberg against the
ad's charges.
They said Stenberg filed suit to
ensure the Environmental
Protection Agency enforced the
act fairly. They said he did so with
the support of the state’s entire
congressional delegation and
Nelson.
Johanns said the ad was
“unfair and outrageous,” and he
called on Nelson to ask the
Democratic Party to pull it
“This is clearly a case where
Ben Nelson and Don Stenberg
were on the same page,” he said.
“Now Ben Nelson has forgotten
Nebraska on this one and sided
with Washington and big govern
ment”
Stenberg filed suit in July 1998
after the EPA sought to regulate
copper levels in underwater
ground supplies because a few
homes in Nebraska reported high
copper levels.
Bereuter said the copper
problem originated not in under
ground water supplies, but in cop
per pipes installed in homes. The
water supply's high acidity some
times caused copper in the pipes
to come loose and filter into drink
ing water, he said.
The problem could be solved,
he said, if citizens experiencing
problems with copper in their
water ran their taps for 45-60 sec
onds each morning. Such com
mon-sense solutions would work
better than burdensome copper
regulations, he said
“The costs could be astro
nomical for Nebraska communi
ties,” he said
In a statement, Hagel called
the ad “an example of the kind of
negative politics Nebraskans have
rejected in the past.”
"This is ridiculous,” he said.
“The Nebraska Democratic Party
is criticizing Don Stenberg for
doing his job.
“The lawsuit against the Safe
Drinking Water Act was filed to
protect Nebraska communities
from needlessly spending mil
lions of dollars to comply with fed
eral mandates.”
But Boyle, the Democratic
Party chairwoman, said the ad
referred not to the lawsuit
Johanns, Bereuter and Hagel
Please see STENBERG on 5
Linda Cowdin,
facilities man
ager, dimbs the
stairs of the
mainly desolate
Whittier build
ing at the comer
of 22nd and Vine
Streets. The
building con
tains offices of
the university
and two compa
nies that lease
space.
SCHOOL’S OUT
UNL finds uses for old junior high
BYJILLZEMAN
The barren hallways of the Whittier Junior High
School show few reflections of the past it once housed
- the children, the classrooms, the place of learning.
Some may think the dilapidated building at 22nd
and Vine streets is abandoned - housing nothing
more than maybe a ghost or two.
But if the former school is haunted, the spirits
:would have to deal with the several university
employees who report to the building every day for
work.
The building has been partially transformed to
house university offices that have no other place to go.
The University of Nebraska Foundation began
negotiating in 1983 to lease the school thajt closed in
1977, and actually purchased it in 1990, said Rich
l
a
McDermott, assistant vice chancellor for facilities
management and planning.
By purchasing the school, the university played an
important role in preserving the 77-year-old building,
he said.
The school is mainly used for storage space, with
nearly 75 percent of the 121,000 square foot building
in use.
“It was a smart move for the university to buy
Whittier,” he said.
Classrooms and drinking fountains line the hall
ways of the school, remnants of the students and
teachers who once converged there daily.
But now, dust covers the wooden floors that few
feet walk on.
Occasionally, a furnished offlce will pop up like an
oasis in the desert of hollow, empty hallways with gap
JoshWoffe/DN
Josh Wolfe/DN
The fences that block trespassers from entering the former
Whittier Junior High School are a symbol of the state of a
building that once served as a place of learning and now sits
mostly empty. The halls of the building are lined with remains
of the days past, covered in dust and dirt that has collected
since the school closed in 1977.
ing holes where rows of lockers used to be.
But a few memories of school life do linger in the
building - the gymnasium and auditorium are still
intact. /
The gym, located on the second floor of the build
Please see WHITTIER on page 5
Money for
renovations
allocated
■ The Board of Regents approved plans to repair
and make improvements to the Nebraska Union,
Nebraska East Union and University Housing
facilities.
BY VERONICA PAEHN
The Board of Regents meeting lasted less
than an hour Friday afternoon.
But in that time, members approved several
different items, including plans for improve
ments and repairs to the Nebraska Unions and
University Housing facilities.
The Regents approved spending up to
$993,850 for the improvements. The money will
come from the replacement fund of student fees
and facilities revenue bonds.
The Nebraska Union will be given $299,850
for' things like renovating the ASUN student gov
ernment office and replacing ceiling tile and
room partitions in the Centennial Room.
University Housing will receive $694,000 to
install fire sprinklers in Neihardt Residence
Center and remove asbestos from the
Harper/Schramm/Smith snack bar, among
other things.
Housing has a list of 18 items in need of
repair or improvement. Nebraska Union has a
list of 28.
The Board of Regents also approved an
expenditure of $642,848 for improvements and
repairs to parking facilities.
This money will come from the surplus fund
of parking revenue bonds.
Improvements that will be made with this
money include expanding the parking lot north
of Nebraska East Union and adding more park
ing stalls at 14th Street and Avery Avenue.
The board approved similar requests in 1996,
1998 and 1999.
But of the four requests, this is the largest
that has been authorized. The second largest was
in October 1998 when the board approved an
expenditure of $305,285.
In other news, the Regents approved a lease
agreement between the University of Nebraska
and the University of Nebraska Foundation for
the Que Place Gallery at 12th and Q streets.
The gallery will be located in a building
owned by the Foundation and will be used by the
university to house the Lentz Center for Asian
Culture and the Center for Great Plains Studies.
The Que Place is scheduled to open Nov. 2.
Regent Kent Schroeder of Kearney said the
gallery will be an asset to the university.
“This is really going to be great,” Schroeder
said.
Student mothers struggle to find balance between school, children
BY GEORGE GREEN
Dirty diapers, sleepless
nights and hasty drives to
daycare centers compound
the challenges of college
for student moms.
But. careful planning
and aid from loved ones
help many UNL student
moms survive stressful
days.
Victoria Riis, a news
editorial graduate student,
said she struggled to find
adequate daycare for her
four-year-old daughter,
Sara.
After she found a good
place for her daughter,
shuttling her to daycare
between classes and work
became the challenge.
Goal setting and plan
ning helped her to get her
daughter to the daycare,
complete her studies and
work at the same time, she
said.
Each day, Riis said she
tries to do something posi
tive as a student, a mother,
a runner and an employee.
“You have to have a
clear focus if you want to
get it all done,” she said.
In addition to manag
ing time effectively, stu
dent mothers need good
support networks, she said.
Riis’ fiancee, Jene Hall,
is the main cog in her sup
port system, v
Before she met Hall,
Riis said she stretched her
time and energy well
beyond the limits. Now
Hall’s assistance gives her
more personal time to jog
and even take naps, she
said.
Gail Lockard, a psychol
ogist at the University
Health Center, agrees that
student mothers need sup
port networks to help them
survive hectic days.
Lockard, who directs a
support group for student
parents, said some moth
ers feel overly burdened
and overwhelmed with
responsibilities.
Her support group talks
about things that every
parent deals with, such as
toilet training and disci
pline problems. Talking
helps them realize that
they are not alone, she said.
Please see MOTHERS on 5
JoshWolfe/DN
Entomology
graduate student
Paula Macedo's
struggle with
finding a place
for her children,
Louizar3,left,
andMatheus,4,
subsided this
semester when
she started tak
ing them to the
Child
Development
Center on East
Campus. Macedo