The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, October 10, 2000, Image 1
P ' **' _ v * ' ""T • ■ .vr:- -1, tr"-i f • find'-tm r-■ i»ri..rWpiilMfih Students may soon cast their ASUN PlaceMddng arises as the ballots with the dick of a button, If Huskers’ next problem Student Court rules Itfs OK to tackle In News/3 In SportsTuesday/10 Wyuka cemetery adds a little culture to its confines with theater productions In Arts/8 Sharon Kolbet/DN UNL Biology Professor William Wagner holds one of the cricket containers lining the shelves of his labo ratory. Wagner does research about animal communication, focusing on the variations in crickets' mat ing songs. Crickets'chirps attract more than just the ladies ■ UNL professor studies the chirping, or mating calls, of male crickets that lure female crickets and parasites. BY SHARON KOLBET There’s an old farmers’ tale that says you can determine the temperature by listening to the crickets. Count the number of cricket chirps heard in 14 seconds, add 42 and, according to the story, you should have the temperature. But upon hearing the tale, UNL biol ogy Professor William Wagner laughs. “Unfortunately that’s a myth,” he said. To accurately calculate the tempera ture, you need to know what type of cricket is chirping, Wagner said. And Wagner knows his crickets. While the average listener would be hard-pressed to identify the mating call of separate cricket types, Chris Harper, a research technician in Wagner’s labora tory, said he can now recognize three separate species. Wagner, however, can recognize dozens, just by their song. "A lot can be learned about a cricket from his song,” Wagner said. The chirping sound is actually a mating call produced only by the male cricket. The wings of the male have very small ridges, and when passed over each other, the cricket wings produce the chirp. The frequency and duration of this song influence cricket mating habits. Female crickets prefer males with higher chirp rates and a longer chirp duration, Wagner said. In his research, Wagner said, he has noticed an interesting trend - females that mate with these males live longer because of the beneficial products that the males transfer in their seminal fluid. But for the male cricket, there is a major disadvantage to having a sexually attractive mating call. Female parasite flies also are attracted to the same songs. The quicker chirp rate that attracts amorous females also helps the para sitic flies find the cricket. Once the fly finds its victim, this par ticular species deposit larvae on the cricket.The larvae burrow into the cricket’s body, feed on it and kill the male cricket when they emerge, Wagner said. In his lab in the basement of Mantor Hall, the crickets being studied are housed in what Wagner affectionately refers to as the “cricket condos.” These plastic containers the size of a shoe box line the laboratory shelves, stretching nearly to the ceiling. Inside the containers are crickets of all sizes - some feeding, some chirping. "There are a number of different areas of study in animal communica tion,” Wagner said. “Some focus on the visual, others on the chemical. I study the auditory.” While some people might say crick ets are the sound of summer, in this lab oratory they are the sound of science. Students criticize day's history American-lndian group offers less prevalent view of the Columbus holiday BY JOSH PUNK More than 500 years after Christopher Columbus discovered the New World, American-Indian students at UNL are still trying to conquer preju dice and misunderstanding they say started when the explorer arrived. Last week, the Association of Students of the University of Nebraska voted unanimously to make Monday American Indian Day, as well as Columbus Day. At a forum Monday in the Nebraska Union sponsored by the American-Indian student group UNITE, a less prevalent view of Columbus was shared. “We hope to raise awareness of American-Indian issues, and Columbus was just the start,” said Misty Thomas, UNITE president, a senior family science major and a Santee Dakota. Several University of Nebraska Inter Tribal Exchange members and a Crow Creek Dakota man spoke about Columbus’ legacy and other challenges American Indians face. “We want to make people aware that there is more than one version of the his tory of this (Columbus) day,” said D.C. McCauley III, a junior history and pre mortuary science major and a Ho Chunk and Omaha The bill to recognize American Indians was drafted and presented to ASUN on Wednesday after a UNITE meeting where members planned the forum. McCauley said he and others lob ^ ■ ■ “If we can raise awareness on campus and have students take a step back and rethink Columbus Day, then we succeeded Joel Schafer .'^ASUN president bied ASUN to pass the bill. UNITE members chose American Indian Day because that term is the most widely accepted among the more than 600 tribes nationwide, McCauley said. “History books are written from the perspective of the winner,” McCauley said, and the discovery of America is no different. McCauley said white Americans may have difficulty relating to some minority concerns because they don’t identify strongly with their own heritage. Student-body President Joel Schafer said he hoped the new holiday made people think “Christopher Columbus was by no means a saint ...,” Schafer said. “If we can raise awareness on campus and have students take a step back and rethink Columbus Day, then we suc ceeded.” Crow Creek Dakota Joe Bad Moccasin told the lunch-time crowd of the challenges he faced growing up in two worlds. ' “We walk with one foot in the white world and one foot in the Indian world,” Bad Moccasin said. A Bad Moccasin said he grew up in a time when he was told he couldn’t be American Indian, and he was forced to cut his hair. “We have lost our ways with the encroachment of the European way of life,” Bad Moccasin said. He described four genocides against American Indians: language, cultural, spiritual and traditional. Thomas said there are numerous challenges and concerns American Indian students face on this campus today. Prejudice, erroneous history, an adjustment to life off the reservation for some and the pending repatriation of American-Indian remains from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Other students in the Nebraska Union on Monday afternoon said they had not heard about American Indian Day, but they did not object to the change. Freshman anthropology major Cliff Taylor, a Ponca, said the renaming showed that times are changing. “With the discovery of the New World, there were a lot of atrocities Please see COLUMBUS on 5 bpade, Mohr give comedy choices BYJ1LLZEMAN With two well-known comedians making an appearance on campus with in 10 days of each other, stu dents must decide whether to splurge and see both per formers or just one. Saturday Night Live alumni Jay Mohr and David Spade are each scheduled to perform stand-up comedy routines at the University of Nebraska-Iincoln. Discounted student tick ets for Spade’s performance, which cost $12.50 through Friday, went on sale at Ticketmaster outlets on Monday. Tickets for the public cost $16.75 and will be available Saturday. Spade, whose appear ance is the result of efforts by the Association of Students of the University of Nebraska, the University Program Council and the Athletic Department, will perform Nov. 2 at the Bob Devaney Sports Center during Homecoming week. * Even though tickets for Mohr’s performance, which cost $4 for students, went on sale Sept. 25, the number of seats sold still trails the num ber sold for Spade’s appear ance. Before Spade tickets went on sale to the students, block seating was available to resi dence halls, fraternities, sororities, student organiza tions and any group of stu dents who wanted a number of seats together. So on Monday, when tickets officially went on sale, more than 1,300 seats for Spade’s performance had already been sold, said Joel Schafer, ASUN president The number of tickets sold Monday was not avail able, but Schafer said he thought about 2,100 or 2,200 tickets had been sold includ ing the 1,300 from block seat ing. In contrast 338 tickets for Mohr’s appearance, who was brought to campus by the University Program Council, had been sold as of Monday afternoon. But the groups that have arranged each performer’s appearance are.focusing more on individual goals rather than trying to outsell the other. Karen Wills, UPC adviser, said the council has not done all of its promotion for Mohr’s performance. As Mohr’s performance date, Oct. 24, draws nearer, television commercials and other publicity will show, she said. Wills said she hoped the event would draw 2,200 guests to the Lied Center for Performing Arts. Tickets for Mohr are available at the Lied box office. Student tickets cost $4, and tickets for the public are $8, she said. Wills said tickets for Mohr and Spade will be available until the events sell out Wills said she thought students would attend both Mohr's and Spade’s perform ances. “They’re different styles of comedians and two really big performers,” she said. Please see COMEDY on 3 Nebraska Union gives homeless refuge from cold BY GEORGE GREEN Eddie Kantor is like many Nebraskans. He is friendly and considerate. He speculates on the weather. And he loves Husker football. Kantor, 56, grew up the way many Nebraskans do. He was born in the small Nebraska town of Loup City. He fell in love with a girl from a nearby town, got married and found a job to support her. Without a streak of bad luck, Kantor’s life may have unfolded like that of many Nebraskans. But things changed for Kantor after a divorce left him homeless for three or four years.He even tually found a job at a local food distributor, and his life began to improve. His comfort, though, didn’t last long. The business closed its doors and Kantor again found himself homeless and unemployed. Today, Kantor spends his days looking for work and his nights searching for warm spots to rest. One of the prime spots is in Nebraska Union. Hundreds of University of Nebraska-Lincoln students pass Kantor there every day. He seeks refuge from the cold and reads the newspaper. The union is a haven for several homeless peo ple who want to escape the harsh weather, said Please see HOMELESS on 5 J v; x. i —-----i-------a-——E—..... ■ .. -:-> David Clasen/ ON ABOVE: Charlie smokes a hand-rolled cigarette on south steps of Nebraska Union on Friday. He said no one understands him or his problems. ABOVE LEFT: Brett waits for students to walk by and give him some money. He said he considers breaking even "making just enough money to survive until the next day." ' . ' . I -a ^