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Students may soon cast their ASUN PlaceMddng arises as the
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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."
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