Friday
December 1,2000
Volume 100
Issue 69
dailyneb.com
Since 1901
Department merger going wel,
agronomy and horticulture
professors say
In News/6
Volleyball set to fake on
underdog Princeton in
NCAA tourney rauid one
In SportsWeekend/10
>
«
Haydon provides gift-sized ,
art in time for the holidays .
In Arts/8
4
uerek uppincott/UN
Freshman Nebraska defensive end Benard Thomas visits with O.C. Love-Wade, a sickle-cell anemia patient Wednesday night at BryanLGH East Medical Center.Thomas and
other UNL athletes regularly visit children at the hospital.
Husker athletes bring spirit to children
■ As part of the Team Spirit program
student-athletes visit patients in local
hospitals to help brighten their moods.
BYCWEWTIETGEN
Sometimes helping the sick takes a little
more than just medicine or a doctor - it takes a
smile.
Especially when children are involved.
Rick Grell, fire captain for the Lincoln Fire
Department thought there ought to be some
thing he could do for children besides just
sending them to the hospital after an accident
So, he called the University of Nebraska
Athletic Department
Keith Zimmer, director of life skills for the
Athletic Department, received a phone call
from Grell last spring asking if athletes would
visit sick children and their families in the hos
pital.
Zimmer agreed and now, Team Spirit,
which represents the cooperative effort
between the fire department and the NU
Athletic Department, has turned into a once-,
twice- or sometimes three-times-a-week pro
gram, depending on the number of patients
who need to be visited that week.
Team Spirit visits Saint Elizabeth Regional
Medical Center and Bryan LGH East and West
hospitals.
“The patients love it It brightens their day
and lifts their spirits,” said Robin Reinecke, RN
at Saint Elizabeth.
"Rick (the fire captain) is marvelous. He
leaves us his number and is always willing to
come over anytime we call him.”
Reinecke said one child even made a card
for one of the athletes.
“The athletes are really personable with
the children,” Reinecke said. "They all do a
super job.”
Grell said what he does was more than
worth it
“We don't need notoriety, we’re just there to
bring a smile to their face,” Grell said.
‘"11131 makes it all worth it"
Val Kalmikovs, a UNL student who helps
coach the swimming team, echoed Grell’s
thoughts.
“I just wanted to talk to them, bring a smile
to their face and help them forget about their
struggle for a little bit,” Kalmikovs said.
Zimmer said athletes enjoyed visiting the
children in the hospital more than public or
motivational speaking.
“It’s more informal and personalized,”
Zimmer said. “It takes a pretty sensitive person
to be able to do this.
“I think it’s great anytime student athletes
can make a difference in the community, and it
still allows them to be student athletes.”
The making a difference is what patients
like O.C. Love-Wade, who has sickle-cell ane
mia, discover every week.
Seventeen-year-old Love-Wade has been
in the hospital a lot in his lifetime, but this time
as he sat in his wheelchair during yet another
night in the hospital, he could smile.
“This is special to me,” Love-Wade said. “It
means more than just meeting somebody.”
But Team Spirit goes far beyond just visit
ing kids in the hospital, as James Borer, a 17
year-old from Madison, and his family can
attest to.
Borer suffered a concussion at a high
school football game this fall, and while some
might call it an accident, the Borer family may
call it a blessing.
Without the concussion James suffered,
the Borers’ might not have discovered the
brain tumor, about the size of an orange, that
showed up on James’ CAT scan.
The night before James’ surgery Nov. 21, he
received a surprise visit by four Husker ath
letes.
“I was kind of scared at first because I didn’t
know who they were, but then they came in
Please see HOSPITAL on 6
ASUN
Involvement
forum draws
few students
BY JILL ZEMAN__
Student government opened up itself for criti
cism Thursday night in an effort to get more stu
dents involved in ASUN.
The Association of Students of the University of
Nebraska held an open forum giving students a
chance to air their complaints about student gov
ernment
The forum, geared toward students who didn’t
feel represented by ASUN, only drew a handful of
attendees.
Despite the low turnout, Arts and Sciences Sen.
Angela Clements said she was pleased with the
event
Because ASUN hasn’t held an event like this
before, the turnout wasn’t disappointing to
Clements, she said.
“If one student walked away and learned more
about ASUN or was convinced they should run for
(a position in ASUN), I think it's a success,” she said.
ASUN President Joel Schafer encouraged the
students to do whatever they could to get involved
in student government
“Student government is the organization that
Please see ASUN on 3
1 £ »
Professor finds nature has
new plans for aging lakes
BY SHARON KOLBET
Sometimes nature can surprise you.
For decades ecologists believed lakes
became more productive as they aged,
growing more nutrient-rich and less acidic.
UNL geology professor Sherilyn Fritz
has proven this may not be true.
After three summers of study at Glacier
Bay National Park in Alaska, Fritz co
authored an article showing lakes aging in a
way opposite of what was believed.
“life is often more complex than what
we expect,” Fritz said.
Rather than growing more alkaline and
productive, the lakes in Glacier Bay have
become more acidic and diluted, Fritz said.
Under the previous theory it was
believed if lakes were becoming more nutri
ent-rich as they aged then the human
impact of fertilizers and sewage was accel
erating this process.
With the recent findings ecologists will
need to re-evaluate the impact humans
have on these aquatic environments.
Fritz conducted the research with
Daniel Engstrom and James Almendinger
of the Science Museum of Minnesota’s St.
Croix Watershed Research Station along
with statistician Stephen Juggins of the
University of Newcastle in England.
The findings of Fritz and her colleagues
were published in the Nov. 9 issue of Nature,
the international weekly journal of science
While in Alaska, Fritz examined fos
silized remains of algae in mud core sam
pies taken from the lake. The algae fossils
Sharon Kolbet/DN
UNL Geology Professor Sherilyn Fritz stands by a large
map of Lake Titicaca in Bolivia. Fritz recently published
an artide on lake aging that has changed the way
ecologists view these bodies of water.
can be used to construct a geological histo
ry of the area.
"Glacier Bay functions as a virtual time
machine,” Almendinger said.
“Dr. Fritz's work has significant implica
tions. It has a huge impact on ecological
paradigms.”
President
adds Omaha
to trip agenda
BYJ1LLZEMAN
President Bill Clinton has
added another stop on his first
trip to Nebraska.
The president who was origi
nally scheduled to visit Kearney
on Dec 8, also has decided to stop
in Omaha, the state’s largest city,
said Anne Boyle, Nebraska
Democratic Party chairwoman.
Boyle said she had been work
ing to bring Clinton to eastern
Nebraska for the past three days.
Even though the president’s
Omaha visit may be brief, Boyle
said, she was pleased he was mak
ing a stop.
“Many, many people, regard
less of party affiliation, are excited
to see the president,” Boyle said.
Clinton is scheduled to visit
Kearney in the morning and will
then stop at Eppley Airfield in
Omaha, Boyle said.
The president also will attend
a political event in Omaha, but
White House spokesman Jason
Schechter said he couldn’t elabo
rate.
“(Clinton) is looking forward
to making this trip,” Schechter
said. “He's wanted to go for some
time.”
Despite the inevitable flood of
people who will converge on
Eppley Airfield, airport officials
have not been contacted yet, said
Brad Livingston, director of oper
ations.
When the airport is contacted,
workers will devise a game plan to
handle the throngs of people, he
said.
“Nobody’s told us anything,"
Livingston said. “We'll be anxious
ly awaiting a call.”
Omaha Mayor Hal Daub will
welcome Clinton at the airport,
said Jennifer Windrum, the
mayor’s spokeswoman.
Daub, a Republican, joked
Clinton should bone up on his
“Many, many people,
regardless of party
affiliation, are excited
to see the president ”
Anne Boyle
Nebraska Democratic Party
chairwoman
Nebraska knowledge before he
arrived, Windrum said.
"The mayor said hopefully,
when (Clinton) gets here, he’ll
know how to pronounce
Kearney,” Windrum said, referring
to the mispronunciation of the
city’s name made by Clinton's
press secretary, Jake Siewert
Daub also displayed his parti
san colors, Windrum said, by
wanting to invite Republican
Presidential Candidate George W.
Bush to the state if Bush was elect
ed.
“(Daub) wants Bush to make
Nebraska the first state he visits,”
Windrum said.
Despite Daub's political affili
ation, the mayor is still excited the
president is visiting, Windrum
said.
“ (Daub) is glad to welcome
him to the city,” Windrum said.
In Kearney, the president will
visit the Great Platte River Road
Archway Monument, a historical
museum over Interstate 80.
While in the state, Clinton also
will speak at the University of
Nebraska at Kearney, where the
president plans on making a
“major policy speech,” Schechter
said.
Schechter said he didn't know
what Clinton would speak about
in Kearney, but he said it would be
"substantive.”
"It will be a major speech for
the president,” he said.
Case moves into
Supreme Court
BY BRIAN CARLSON
This morning, the battle for
the presidency will leave behind
the talk shows, dueling press
conferences and street demon
strations for a place where,
Americans hope, it can receive
guidance based not on political
partisanship, but the law.
At 10 a.m.
EST (9 a.m.
CST), the U.S.
Supreme Court
will hear oral
arguments
dealing with
the Florida
recount that
will determine
who the next
president will
be.
How the
court will rule
is anybody's
guess, said
John Gruhl, a
political science professor at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
“As they keep saying on TV,
these are really uncharted
waters,” he said.
The winner of Florida’s 25
electoral votes will be the next
president. The state has certi
fied Republican George W. Bush
as the victor of Florida over
Democrat A1 Gore by 537 votes.
Gore is contesting the
results, arguing further hand
recounts should continue and
some incompletely punched
ballot cards should be counted.
Bush and his lawyers argue
that the Florida Supreme Court,
“As they
keep
saying
on TV,
these are
really
un
charted
waters.”
John Gruhl,
professor
by ordering hand recounts
should be considered and
extending the statutory dead
line for certification, violated
both federal law and the U.S.
Constitution.
Bush argues the Supreme
Court rewrote the Florida law,
usurping the authority of the
Florida Legislature to determine
how the state chooses its elec
tors.
Article II, Sec. 1, clause 2 of
the U.S. Constitution states
electors shall be appointed by
each state “in such Manner as
the Legislature thereof may
direct.”
Bush also argues the Florida
Supreme Court violated a feder
al law, more than a century old,
requiring electors be chosen on
the basis of “laws enacted prior
to” Election Day.
“Reversal by this Court (of
the Florida Supreme Court’s rul
ing) would restore the legisla
tively crafted method for
appointing electors in Florida to
its status prior to November 7,
would allow the completion of
the proper selection of presi
dential electors in Florida
according to the plan contem
plated by the Constitution and
would aid in bringing legal final
ity to this election," Bush’s brief
states.
Gore’s lawyers respond that
Please see COURT on 3
V it f