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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 19, 2001)
• I i Efe;'.*-"’"-'v-".'v:.- • * Monday February 19,2001 Volume 100 j Issue 110 J dailyneb.com J Since 1901 _J| ¥ .„ _. .... ... ...._._._ Wllhi^wldio|Nn»«iififn)f pubic txtoutfont sf- ^ In Opinion/4 Who’s on top? Three wrestler* earn top seede j for the Big 12 meet In Sports Monday/10 ♦ A “crappy” kind of karaoke in Arts/8 Student doesn't let disease hold him back BY LINDSEY BAKER Adam Prenzlow receives a priceless gift every morning: The day. After six surgeries in the past 10 months, Prenzlow, a freshman meteorology major, knows the value of everyday life. Born with hydrocephalus, which is an accumulation of fluid in the brain, Prenzlow is able to live a normal life with an internal shunt, or tube, going from his brain to his abdomen in order to drain accumulated fluid. Prenzlow said he never had any problems with his shunt until. the week before his Scribner Snyder High School graduation, where he was to speak as co-vale dictorian. When doctors found separa tions in Prenzlow's shunt, they performed the first surgery on him in April. But the next nine months would prove to be the real test The headaches returned in July, bringing with them another surgery. A third surgery put a new shunt in place. Seizures and blood clots in his shunt led to a fourth surgery, then a fifth. Prenzlow, determined to get to college after his second surgery, missed the second half of his first semester. After his last surgery in December, though, he refused to let his disease hold him back. "It's great to be back in school," said Prenzlow, who lives in Abel Hall. “I can't give up.” Prenzlow's father, John, said Adam had always been strong. “He never let hydrocephalus hinder him,” he said. “He’s always been a fighter.” David dasen/DN Adam Prenztow works on homework Wednesday to prepare for hbdasses.Prenzlow was forced to take an incomplete in each of his dasses after missing two months last semester because of compkcations with hbsurgeries.He must now finish the15aedit hours from last semester on top of the 13 credit hours he b enrolled in right now. ruyuis neuAiuw, rieiLtujw » mother, said the first 18 years of Prenzlow’s life went so smoothly, the family almost forgot that he had hydrocephalus. In the past year, though, she said, the con stant reminders of her son’s dis ease have made her aware of the need to acknowledge problems. “Embrace'the problem,’’ she said. “Meet it head on. Ignoring it and not discussing the issue isn’t going to help the matter.” After witnessing a growth in the entire family's strength, espe cially her son’s, Phyllis Prenzlow said she, like her husband, could n't be more proud of their son. “He has literally went through lieu, Mie :kuu. i lievei neaiu liuii say, ‘Why me?' He accepted what was put in front of him, dealt with it and moved on.” Through all ofhis tribulations, Prenzlow said his family kept his spirits high “through thick and thin.” “Family is the most important thing you can have,” he said. “Without family, who knows what life would be like? They help you get through things.” Prenzlow's parents and younger sister, Whitney, 13, said their closeness got them through Please see PRENZLOW on 5 Women's issues topic of forums BY UNDSEY BAKER Their roar has begun. University of Nebraska-Lincoln women - stu dents, staff and faculty members - are taking the opportunity to voice their opinions on and experi ences with the treatment of women on campus in three university-sponsored forums. The forums are being held by the Chancellor’s Committee on the Status ofWomen to get a consen sus on female treatment on campus that will be passed on to Interim Chancellor Harvey Perlman, said Jan Deeds, assistant director of student involve ment for gender-related programs. Deeds said the forums provide students and fac ulty members with a setting to discuss overt prob lems, such as sexual harassment, as well as minor problems, such as being overlooked in a classroom. “Everyone knows what’s illegal,” Deeds said. “It’s the other small things that make it difficult fo achieve.” Deeds said she hopes the information gathered at the forums will give the chancellor accurate infor mation to improve the general climate of the univer sity. She encouraged all women on campus to come, though complaints or comments can be filed confi dentially atjdeedsl@unl.edu. “For students, especially, I think it’s important,” Deeds said. “We need to know what’s happening from students, too.” The two remaining forums are scheduled for February 21 at 1130 a.m. in the East Campus Union, and March 6 at 1130 a.m. in the Nebraska Union. In addition to providing experiential stories at the forums, university women will have the chance to share creative materials at the annual No Limits Conference, March 2 and 3. The conference, sponsored by the Women’s Studies Program, will feature creative works and research women’s studies students are involved in, said Joy Ritchie, director of the women’s studies pro gram. The theme of this year’s conference, "Can We Dismiss Identity?,” is to question whether or not gender issues still matter, said Ritchie. “Many people will present research and writings that will help complicate that answer,” Ritchie said. Performance artist and writer Canyon Sam and writerToi Derricotte will give speeches at the confer ence, held in the Nebraska Union. Ritchie encouraged all students to attend. “Everyone needs to know about issues that affect women,” she said Sharon Kolbet/DN The statue of a young Abraham Lincoln stands in front of the Justice and Law Enforcement Center, 575 S. 10th StThe statue is owned bv the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery. ■ Louis Slobodan's statue of Abraham Lincoln won second prize at the 1939 World's Fair. BY SHARON KOLBET A politician destroyed it when he felt it was blocking his view. A museum included it in an exhibit of controversial sculp tures. Nebraskans looking to honor President’s Day can find an infa mous replica of the city’s name sake in their backyard. The statue of the young Abraham Lincoln, which stands in front of the Justice and Law Enforcement Center at 575 S. 10m St., has a long and colorful history. Entitled “The Rail Joiner,” the bronze statue depicts a young Abraham Lincoln at work. The piece was created by Louis Slobodkin, who lived from 1903 to 1975, and was donated to the Sheldon Memorial Art gallery by Slobodkin’s family. The stories behind the cre ation and location of the sculp ture have been preserved by the artist’s son, Lawrence Slobodkin, professor emeritus at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. In 1939 Slobodkin’s father won second prize in a competi tion in conjunction with the American Federal Building at the 1939 World’s Fair. The 15-foot high plaster sculpture was scheduled to be shown in an interior courtyard. But on the day the fair opened the artist brought his wife and son to the see the piece and found it wasn’t there. Slobodkin said a man named Ed Flynn, a Democratic Party Boss, had been given, as a politi cal favor, the directorship of the American Federal Building exhibit at the Fair. The day before the Fair was to open a hungover Boss Flynn visited the area with a young lady, Slobodkin said. Flynn felt the statue was shading his office window and in a fit of anger he ordered the* ■ sculpture to be destroyed. The art community was upset. To quiet the outcry anoth er statue was constructed, he said. A third copy was cast in bronze and resides in the Interior Building in Washington, D.C. Because of tightened security, Slobodkin said he thinks the bronze version may now be in a remote area inaccessible to the public. Years after the World’s Fair incident the public got another glimpse of the statue in an entire ly different context “The Minnesota Municipal Museum had it in an exhibit of controversial sculpture about 15 years ago,” Slobodkin said. “Most of the sculpture in the show was either very sexual or very politi cal.” Slobodkin said his father did not intend for his statue to be either of those things. “The statue may have been included because of the World’s Fair incident or because it shows a young Lincoln and not the older bearded Lincoln we are accustomed to,” he said. As for the reason the statue came to make its home in Lincoln, Slobodkin, a biology professor, made a brief stop in the city of Lincoln to visit a fellow Please see STATUE on 5 ASUN candidate wants book exchange to go online BYJILLZEMAN_ During the ASUN elections, it’s easy for tempers to flare, accusations to fly and party rivalries to intensify. . But what could have created a schism between one party and an independent candidate didn’t draw much reaction at all. It wasn’t really an issue when John Matzen, independent presidential candidate, borrowed one of Scorel’s platform ideas. Matzen said he took Scorel’s idea of running a student book exchange in the University Bookstore and adapted it to better suit the students. After Thursday’s Association of 7 feel one of the best things about the ASUN elections is that it gets a lot of good ideas out there.” John Matzen independent ASUN presidential candi date Students of the University of Nebraska debate, Matzen announced a new Web site that would allow students to buy and sell books online. He showed students a prototype of what the Web site would look like. The site was formatted to look like the uni versity’s web site. Matzen said a Web site would lessen traffic in the bookstore and the bookstore wouldn’t have to worry about extra storage space for books. The site was designed by one of Matzen’s friends, he said. If Matzen is elected, he said he Would speak with administrators so he would be able to list what books were required with each class. But if the administration balks, he said he would still list the required books on the Web site - it would just take a little longer. Students who want sell books would list the book titles as well as their contact information, Matzen said. Anyone interested in buying a book would contact the seller, he said. Although Matzen said he adapted the idea from the Score! party, he didn't think anyone should be upset about it “I feel one of the best things about the ASUN elections is that it gets a lot of good ideas out there,” he said. “If one person is able to improve on the idea, it’s helping out the students in the end.” Please see BOOKSTORE on 5