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Student runway show is seamless

May 18, 2010
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Senior Madison Simmons pins quilt batting to a dress form. The design was part of a collaborative weaving project with seniors Stephanie Luna and Sara Harper. The bodice will be a quilted vest and the skirt will be hand-woven yarns. Photo: Rachel Sullivan, NewsNetNebraska

By Rachel Sullivan, NewsNetNebraska

Fifty-two young, female models crowded into the home economics building on East Campus on a recent Wednesday evening.

They practiced their runway walk as Barbara Trout, associate professor of textile and apparel design, instructed them to flirt with the audience with high energy and long strides.

“Models bring the clothes to life,” Trout said.

The models were part of a biannual student runway show put on by textile, clothing and design students as part of their capstone exhibition. The show, called “Evolve,” was presented on April 23.

Students prepare for the show weeks in advance, but the week of the show is particularly grueling. It begins with the model walk on Wednesday, a run through on Thursday and the fashion show on Friday.

The model walk alone took three hours. Trout had to approve each model, garment and shoe combination based on proportion and coloration.

At the dress rehearsal, the students carefully monitored the hairstyles and makeup designed by them and carried out by the stylists from Iasan & Sebastian Salon. Again, everything had to be approved.

The students also had to fine-tune the  timing and choreography and commentary while the models had the opportunity to practice on the full runway.

On Friday night, it was show time. The models and designers showed up two and a half hours before the 7:30 p.m. show for hair and makeup. As models changed, hairstyles were perfected and strutting was practiced, the atmosphere behind the scenes was frantic and electric.

By 7:30, the Centennial Ballroom was standing room only.

And it all went off with a hitch.

“This show has been the most amazing and trying experience of my life,” said senior Cassie Clayton. “It is the culmination of my entire time at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and I couldn’t be happier.”

The show was separated into categories of different inspirations. Some of the influences were geometry, the environment, color, culture and history.

The work featured in Evolve has been in progress for months. It showcased about 130 student designs from 27 students, mostly seniors, with a few juniors.

The students worked on pieces right up to the start of the show. Some students worked on pieces that will be entered in competitions, in addition to the runway show.

Senior Madison Simmons worked on a group project with seniors Stephanie Luna and Sara Harper. They will enter their collaborative project in the Handweavers Guild of America Convergence Conference.

In their project, the Handweavers Guild provided students with hand-dyed yarns to incorporate into a design. Simmons, Luna and Harper wove the yarns with a loom to create their garment – a woven skirt and top with a quilted vest.

They used a tapestry weave, where the yarns are laid individually in the pattern, creating a multi-colored and textured look.

Senior Kathryn Alms and her partner, senior Michelle Higgins, designed and created a piece for the same conference. They were drawn to energetic, colorful prints, which they created in a woven skirt. To balance the energy of the colors, they wove a bodice out of black leather.

Alms said working in a team provides opportunities to learn from each other through constructive criticism and feedback.

“She [Higgins] has done things that I wouldn’t have thought of; it’s just not my intuitive design style,” Alms said.

Clayton worked on a quilted piece that was in the runway show and also in an upcoming quilted fashion exhibit at the International Quilt Study Center. The exhibit shows how quilting is incorporated into modern fashion design.

“It’s not just for little old ladies in their homes and rocking chairs,” Clayton said.

In the runway show, Clayton’s quilted bodice was worn with trousers and a knit top. For the exhibit, Clayton will incorporate the piece into a diaphanous gown.

“It will be kind of this crazy wedding dress from the future,” Clayton said. She said showing the piece in two designs would create variety in her portfolio.

Senior Cassie Clayton, a textile, clothing and design major, pins the design for her monochromatic quilted fashion piece onto a dress form. The lines on the paper indicate where the stitches will be. Photo: Rachel Sullivan, NewsNetNebraska.

The portfolio pieces in the show drew from work in draping, line development, craft fabric and experimental design.

Craft fabric and experimental design, courses the seniors took concurrently this semester, are supplemental to each other.

Senior Madison Simmons said the students designed patterns and colors for fabric in craft fabric and constructed garments out of those fabrics in experimental ways.

Although the students spend 12 hours a week in both classes, they said spending class time on one project was beneficial.

“It’s cool because you only work on one project so you get a lot of condensed time and power instead of trying to work on a million projects at once,” Simmons said.

In addition to a full class load and the projects they were still working on for the runway show, the students in the craft fabric and experimental design classes planned and controlled every aspect of the show.

Students designed and printed flyers while others distributed them at local high schools and stores and coffee shops downtown. They selected the models and designed hair and makeup. . Some students worked with the DJ to choose music.

“The show comes together by this class,” Trout said. “So not only do people have to create the work, they have to, in essence, produce the show with committees and taking leadership in certain areas.”

Seniors Kathryn Alms and Michelle Higgins worked on this collaborative piece, which will be entered in the Handweavers Guild of America Convergence Conference. The woven bodice is constructed of a repurposed leather jacket purchased at a thrift store. Photo: Rachel Sullivan, NewsNetNebraska.

The title, decided by a group vote, was based on the students themselves; it was meant to imply the knowledge they have gained over their time at UNL and how much they have changed as designers.

“Evolve means we’re always changing,” said senior Kathryn Alms. “Even though this is where we’re at right now, we’re going to continue to change and learn more.”



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State Museum remains in holding pattern

May 17, 2010
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Kindergarteners and first-graders from Diller-Odell Elementary look at shark fossils that were found in Nebraska during their visit to the Nebraska State Museum. Photo: Anna Ripa, NewsNetNebraska

By Anna Ripa, NewsNetNebraska

Since getting its budget slashed in half seven years ago, the Nebraska State Museum at Morrill Hall has been in a financial holding pattern that is taking its toll.

Exhibits have become overcrowded with the museum’s 14 million artifacts because the museum is unable to expand. The popular hands-on Discovery Center is unstaffed and admission is now being charged. Yet, the museum is used by more than 7,500 elementary and high school students each year.

The state had big expectations for the museum when it was moved to Morrill Hall in 1870.

“The museum was going to be larger than it is today to model the other great museums in the world,” said Professor Priscilla Grew, director of the museum. “We only got about half of what was supposed to be built.”

Despite the financial outlook for the museum, Grew and others haven’t given up and are working to raise money to expand and display new exhibits on the fourth floor, which is now used for geosciences classrooms and offices. Museum officials also would like to add to the  vertebrae paleontology collection and create a new climate gallery. Those are goals museum officials  are trying to be realistic about.

“It would be a multimillion dollar project,” Grew said. “But it is difficult with the economy to raise money. We are trying our best working with the University Foundation to get support for the museum.”

Funding for the museum is a combination of state and federal grants and donations from private donors and agencies. For example, the Hubbard family foundation provided $1.2 million for the off-site Rhino Barn Ashfall Fossil Beds.

Proposals have been submitted for additional federal funding for Morrill Hall exhibits.

For example, proposals have been sent to the National Science Foundation to enhance the vertebrae collection and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for the climate gallery.

If museum officials don’t receive the funds to renovate the fourth floor, they plan to enhance what they do have to eliminate the chances of the university losing the museum, Grew said. At one point during the discussion of the 2003 budget cut, ideas were exchanged about making the museum a state agency. Grew and others disagreed with that approach.

“It would be very difficult and much worse if it wasn’t part of the university,” she said.

“There are so many side benefits from the students and teachers helping with the museum. Plus, it would be harder going to the Legislature to compete for money.”

The help of the students and faculty is necessary after the museum cut paid staff. In order to keep staff on duty with fair pay, admission fees were instituted. In the early 2000s, admission went from being free to self-guided visits costing $4 for adults and $2 for children and gallery programs costing $6 for adults and $4 for children.

Budget cuts in 2003 left the museum with no money to expand its vertebrate paleontology collection. Museum officials sent proposals to the National Science Foundation seeking money to expand the exhibit. Photo: Anna Ripa, NewsNetNebraska

“Admission is very important because employees get money from admission. We no longer have money to put people on state salary,” Grew said.

The museum receives most of its admission from third and fifth-graders from 37 Lincoln Public Schools. In 2009, the museum was visited by 4,800 Lincoln students, in addition to children from the general public. The museum rented 4,000 kits, ranging in price from $10 to $25, to classrooms that can’t visit the museum. The kits include specimens of animals, rocks and fossils.

“We are self-sustaining, which means we earn our own money in programming and education,” said Kathy French, the museum education director. “We pay for our programs, educators and supplies through what we charge.”

Because educational programming doesn’t have its own paid staff, it relies on on-call educators in a variety of backgrounds, including museum content knowledge, biology and geology. The program has suffered without its own staff, which was cut in 2003.

Budget cuts also forced the elimination of staff at the Dr. Paul and Betty Discovery Center, which is available for kids to do hand-on activities like digging for animal fossils, smelling scents from nature and looking at animals.

“We don’t have anyone in the center anymore, and it’s very unfortunate because a person is a lot more engaged with students encouraging them to pull out activities more like a teacher would do in a classroom,” French said. “Now we just have labels telling them to pull out the drawers and do activities.”

In the future, French would like to have a volunteers work in the Discovery Center, but she sees a problem getting a volunteer program started.

“We would need another paid staff member to coordinate that whole program, and we just don’t have funds for it,” she said.

The Nebraska State Museum at Morrill Hall is seeking funding for a multi-million renovation project so it can showcase new artifacts. Photo: Anna Ripa, NewsNetNebraska

The museum relies on more than 100 volunteers from the geology department, mostly students, for its annual Dinosaur and Disaster Day. In February, Morrill Hall had a record 2,600 people who came to learn about dinosaurs, tsunamis and volcanoes.

Besides its programs, the museum has expanded to about 14 million objects and artifacts, compared with the 6,000 items it had when it started out in 1870. Most of these artifacts have been donated through research done through the museum.

“We are a research museum, so we have faculty and students who do research in various areas of the world and bring to back to museum for display,” Grew said.

As part of the Nebraska Highway Salvage program, road workers notify the museum when they encounter fossils during new road construction. The museum sends professionals out to excavate the fossils and bring them back to museum.

The museum can keep visitors busy all day. It has galleries about dinosaurs, wetlands, rocks and minerals, evolution, people of the buffalo, and Nebraska’s ecology. The newest exhibit, which will be released in the fall and replaced the Indian weapon exhibit, showcases Navaho weaving. The Mueller Planetarium seats more than 80 for public shows.

The off-site exhibits of Ashfall Fossil Beds and Trailside Museum of Natural History are also owned by the museum.

“We want to be a resource to the general public and the students at the university,” Grew said. “In order to do that, we need funds to enhance the learning experience, and we need to renovation to make this work.”



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Coming-out shows unique to non-traditional Greeks


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Three new members of Lambda Theta Nu Sorority took the stage for their coming-out show in late April. Photo: Sara McCue, NewsNetNebraska

By Sara McCue, NewsNetNebraska

During a special ceremony in April, four girls marched into the Nebraska Union ballroom — their faces covered with masks and matching black outfits.

As a crowd waited, the group climbed the stairs to the stage, preparing to reveal themselves as new members of Lambda Theta Nu Sorority, Incorporated.

This group is just one multicultural Greek organization that has hosted a coming-out show in April at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.  While the shows serve as a way to introduce new members, they also bring recognition to the non-traditional Greek organizations on campus.  Although these groups do not have Greek houses, they provide a tight-knit community for many UNL students.

“Coming into college I didn’t know a lot of the multicultural student population, I guess,” said junior Sylvia Hall, a member of Sigma Psi Zeta Sorority, Incorporated, which held a similar coming-out show on April 22.  “But, through joining Sigma Psi Zeta, I’ve been introduced to a bunch of people that I otherwise wouldn’t have known.”

Non-traditional Greek life encompasses both multicultural Greek organizations and black Greek organizations.  While student members can come from any racial or ethnic background, these fraternities and sororities are historically black, Latino or Asian.  There are 10 non-traditional groups chartered on UNL’s campus compared to more than 40 traditional Greek groups.  Despite the difference in numbers, the two Greek systems share some similarities.

“What all of these organizations have in common is that they were all founded on similar principles,” said Linda Schwartzkopf, director of Greek Affairs at UNL.  She said scholarship, leadership and service are important aspects of both types of Greek life.

But coming-out shows are unique to the non-traditional Greeks.

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“There’s more secrecy around their line or their pledge class,” Schwartzkopf said.

Throughout the course of their transition into a sorority or fraternity, the identities of new members are hidden.  Also, unlike traditional Greeks, non-traditional Greeks don’t allow members to become part of their organizations at the start of freshman year.

“The governing councils really feel like the best time for students to join a multicultural sorority or fraternity is after they’ve completed one semester — and many times two semesters,” Schwartzkopf said.  “They want to make sure first-year students have had an adequate amount of time to transition to college, and they want to make sure they (are) pledging first-year students who (are) adequate and competent.”

Beca Frausto (left) and Jasmine Douglas-Reese (right) talk as they wait for the arrival of the new members of Lambda Theta Nu Sorority. Photo: Sara McCue, NewsNetNebraska

Non-traditional Greeks don’t have set recruitment periods either.

“It’s really different,” said Tegra Straight, a graduate student in UNL’s Greek Affairs office and a member of Lambda Theta Nu.  “Formal recruitment for the traditional sororities takes place in the fall.

“Some (non-traditional) organizations have interest socials, so, really it’s just kind of connecting to the organization that you potentially might be interested in.”

The Office of Greek Affairs encourages students to research different organizations and talk with many Greeks before making a decision about which sorority or fraternity to join, Schwartzkopf said.  For students interested in multicultural or black Greek life, it’s important to attend informationals or Greek-sponsored events to find out which organization suits them, Straight said.

“After you’ve made that choice, you contact that organization on a more specific level.”

The final decision often comes down to how new members relate to students who are in the fraternity or sorority.

“What makes each organization different really is the membership,” Schwartzkopf said.  “So, the key is to meet as many different members from as many organizations as you can and figure out where you fit best.”

And each sorority or fraternity might have different focuses.

“I chose this sorority because I wanted to be a part of something that did things that I believed in, and I really believed in their community service and sisterhood,” said Lizzette Osorio, a freshman who recently joined Lambda Theta Nu.

While non-traditional Greeks might look forward to coming-out shows, these shows are only a small part of what the organizations stand for as a whole.

“For students of color — particularly on a predominantly white campus — they provide an opportunity for students to join an organization that promotes and supports cultural diversity,” Schwartzkopf said.



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Bryan School gives students a second chance

May 14, 2010
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Bryan Community teacher Sydney Tetrault says teachers and students develop close relationships at the alternative high school. Photo: Anna Mostek, NewsNetNebraska

By Anna Mostek, NewsNetNebraska

If it hadn’t been for Bryan Community High School, Scott Smith believes he would most likely be in jail right now.

“Honestly, I probably would not be out walking around,” Smith said. “I never would’ve graduated high school and wouldn’t be in college.”

Like many Bryan students, Smith started out at another Lincoln public high school and transferred to Bryan’s alternative program, which caters to at-risk students.

Students and staff think Bryan Community is a special place because it offers its students a second chance at success. The school is small enough for teachers to spend extra one-on-one time with students. It also creates specialized plans for post-graduation, offers programs to develop skills and helps students with anything and everything they need.

But most importantly, Bryan acts more like a home than a school.

“For a lot of our kids, Bryan is the safest place in their lives,” said Sydney Tetrault, who teaches English. “They look forward to being here. A lot of our kids don’t have adults in their lives, and so for a lot of them, we are mom and dad. It’s exhausting, but it’s rewarding, and I think that’s why I probably wouldn’t teach anywhere else.”

The Bryan teachers aren’t just educators; they take an active role in their students’ lives.

“We go to the birthday parties. We help them raise money and we go to the hospital when they’ve had babies,” Tetrault said. “It’s just something we do. It’s just part of the connection we have with the kids I think.”

Tetrault recalled a student who reached out to her after his mother committed suicide.

“I was touched that I was the first person he called,” she said. “I would never have thought of not going over to spend time with him.”

Bryan Community was started in the early 1980s as a half-day program for junior high and high school at-risk students. Today, it’s an all-day high school with 155 students, 11 teachers, a social worker and a therapist. It’s located in an old elementary school nestled in a neighborhood near 40th and South streets.

“It’s expanded and evolved as we’ve gone through,” Principal Gary Czapla said. “Now we have a much bigger focus on student’s lives after they complete graduation.”

Bryan Community is a close-knit altnernative high school catering to at-risk students. It offers many special programs– one being an in-school childcare center.The ultimate goal of the Student Child Learning Center is to help student parents graduate. NewsNetNebraska reporter Anna Mostek has the story.

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Smith can testify to that focus. He credits the staff with helping him get accepted into college and earn scholarships to SCC.

“They did so much for me, and I really appreciate all of it,” he said.

Being the first person to graduate from high school in his family, Smith used the College First Generation program to earn dual credits at both Bryan Community and SCC.

“Taking the college courses at Bryan made it a lot easier because it gave me a chance to see what classes were going to be like before I had to pay for them and take them,” Smith said. “I was ecstatic the day I graduated.”

Smith attends SCC and is studying business administration. He enrolled in the military and will be sent off to boot camp this summer, hoping to finish college online.

Students looking to transfer to Bryan Community are first interviewed by the school’s social worker and therapist, who determine what kind of a support system the student needs and put a specialized plan together for them, Czapla said.

Many are lacking academically, he said.

“They’re capable of it, but it takes a lot of work and dedication and it takes a very astute teacher,” he said. “It’s one thing to teach third grade reading to a third grader, but it’s different to teach six grade reading to a 19-year-old.”

It’s important to help students get over the mindset that they are at a different level than other high school students, Czapla said.

“Many students have high school set as their highest educational sight,” he said. “Some just don’t think they have the money or intelligence to move forward, and so that’s the biggest challenge— to break some of the stereotypes they have and give them the academic skills to feel confident.”

Class sizes at Bryan Community range from 11 to 15 students per teacher, giving students a lot of opportunity for personal attention.

The Bryan staff believes failing is not an option for their students.

“I’ve heard so many kids say they’ve never finished a book in high school, because people give up on them,” Tetrault said. “They’ve spent too many years disappearing in the back of the room with teachers telling them ‘I don’t care.’ They can’t do that with us. There is no disappearing act.”

The teachers realize they play a different role at Bryan than they might at other schools, Tetrault said.

“I do a lot of pats on the backs, handshakes, high fives, hugs. They need that,” she said. “I have some kids that hug me almost every day before they leave, and I know that’s the only hug they’ve gotten that day from anybody.”

Former Bryan Community student Scott Smith, who visited the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., during a class field trip last year, says the programs at the alternative high school are helping him attend college. Photo courtesy of Sydney Tetrault

As former students like Smith can attest, Bryan’s special programs also are important in helping students reach their goals.

The Student Child Learning Center is one example of success. The center is an in-school childcare program for student parents, who also are required to take a parenting class as part of their curriculum at Bryan Community.

“We had 14 out of 15 teen moms graduate one year,” Czapla said. “Before [the childcare center] we probably would’ve lost 80 to 90 percent of them.”

Another program — College First Generation — which Smith used, invites SCC instructors to the school for three quarters to work with students so they can earn dual credit for both schools and also generate admission requirements for SCC.

An advisor-advisee program pairs every student with an adult who is responsible for making sure the student is staying on track with grades and will graduate, “playing an extended adult role for that student,” Czapla said.

Czapla believes that that a student’s success is dependent on Bryan providing them with the tools and letting them make the choice to be successful or not.

“If we don’t give them the same skills [as other students], we’re forcing them into lower income jobs and into jobs where they’ll be the first ones fired,” he said. “You want to set the dream out there, but you have to give them the realistic skills to reach that dream.”

Czapla said his goal is to have 100 percent of Bryan Community’s students “walking out and being successful.”

“Right now, we’re maybe at 50 percent,” he said.

With no tolerance for failure and a dedicated staff, Czapla is optimistic. So are his teachers.

“We’re doing a great job with the kids. We just are,” Tetrault said. “Every teacher in this building is here because they want to be. We could all probably get jobs somewhere else, but this is where we want to be.”



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Lincoln says yes to more fireworks


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The city council recently allowed firecrackers and other fireworks within Lincoln city limits. Photo: Michelle Fauss, NewsNetNebraska

The Fourth of July has always been a big celebration in Lincoln, but now people who love to blow up fireworks won’t have to drive to another town for the ones that really go boom.

The City Council voted April 12 to allow previously illegal fireworks to be legal within Lincoln city limits. Firecrackers will be allowed, joining a list that has long included sparklers, Vesuvius fountains, spray fountains, torches, color fire cones, star and comet color aerial shells, and color wheels.

Backers of the change argued that it will legalize what residents are already doing. It will also give officials something to tax, sales of the noisy fireworks.

“The changes the City Council made are not going to change what you hear on the third and Fourth of July in Lincoln,” John Spatz, city council member for the northwest district said.

Spatz proposed these changes. He said he was surprised to learn last year that most of the fireworks people set off on July Fourth were illegal to buy or use in Lincoln.

The previous ordinance, in force for more than 25 years, was unenforceable, the councilman argued. He said Lincoln sounds like a war zone every Fourth of July.

Not everything that makes your ears ring will be allowed, however. The city will follow guidelines by the state, which on safety grounds bans bottle rockets, colored sparklers and firecrackers with more than 50 milligrams of explosives.

“What the city of Lincoln did is not going to change anything other than we’re going to generate more revenue here,” Spatz said.

More revenue may be a major reason for letting these once-illegal fireworks come to Lincoln legally.  It could take a while for the cash to flow into city coffers, however, as residents stick to old habits and drive outside town, Spatz said. He expects the income to rise over several years.

“I don’t think in year one were going to see the full effect, I think a lot of people are still going to do what they’ve done every year, go out to Eagle, go out to Waverly and buy their fireworks,” Spatz said.  “Until they realize that, they can do it in Lincoln.”

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Residents of Lincoln have been shooting off illegal fireworks for years, but this Fourth of July it will be different.  For more information click the video above.

This year, the legal list put together by the state’s fire marshal stretches some 29 pages. But this list could get even longer after Aug. 30, because that’s when a bill the governor recently signed becomes law.  State lawmakers changed the Nebraska law so it ended the need to have the fire marshal test fireworks.

Currently the law has the fire marshal keep a list of fireworks that can be sold in Nebraska and the marshal updates it annually.  Distributors who want to add fireworks to the list must test them for the marshal in September, and then the state will decide if they can be added.  After that, the state will rely on federal testing.

Over time, Spatz expects that revenue effect could be hefty.

“On the third and the fourth, I will go to bed and I will just hear constant explosions,” Spatz said.  “And the sad thing is everyone was buying these fireworks outside of Lincoln, we have lost thousands and thousands of dollars.”

The change has some fans. Noah Knisely, 25 of Lincoln, said when he was in middle school he would go out of town to buy black cats and artillery shells, some of his favorites, he said.

But now that Knisely can stay in Lincoln to buy his fireworks he said, of course he will.  But he doesn’t think it’s going to make any difference in Lincoln.

“Maybe a few more people will light them off, but I think the people that didn’t like the big ones are probably the ones with little kids who don’t like big noise,” Knisely said.



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Motocross set to roar into Lincoln


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The first phase is underway on 70th and Alvo, where an access road to the track is starting to take shape. Photo: Stephen Youngerman, NewsNetNebraska

While the Lincoln Haymarket Arena dominates the talk of the town, a smaller project has already been approved by county officials that could draw thousands of visitors to the area: a motocross track.

Motocross is an up and coming motorcycle sport held on enclosed off-road circuits.  Events such as the X-Games have popularized the idea by giving riders prime-time television footage, bringing many new fans and athletes to the sport.

Here in Lincoln, amateur racers like Kevin Colyer, 19, have to travel to Kansas and beyond for events and practice runs. His sport has cost Colyer and his family thousands of dollars in gas and lodging, not to mention time.

“Something closer to home might allow me to pursue what I love longer,” said Colyer.

Colyer is on one side of a debate that has raged for nearly six years, stemming from a noise complaint at the residence of Dr. David Samani, who allowed family and friends to ride on his private track.

Samani has been a huge advocate of the track since, and has even gathered together a racing team consisting of 11 members who call themselves the Husker Offroad Racing Team.

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A new motocross track in Lincoln is a breath of fresh air to those who have to travel beyond the state to enjoy the sport. Click the image above to hear more about the new track.

Despite Samani’s efforts, plans to build a track were stalled for several years. Noise issues have been blamed for the delay.  Some locals fear that the new track will be deafening to those living nearby.

“It sounds like ten chainsaws being cranked at the same time,” said Emily Vasquez, 39.  “My husband owns one, and that’s enough for me.”

Lincoln resident Jared Herlein was also against the planned track, noting that Lancaster County denied permission for a drag strip in 2006.

“It’s kind of hypocritical to shut down the drag strip idea because of noise, then turn around and give the go-ahead for the motocross track,” argued Herlein.

To counteract this issue, a new plan sought a more desolate area where noise might not be as big of a problem. Abbott Sports Complex, near 70th and Cornhusker, will serve as the track’s location.

The first phase is underway on 70th and Alvo, where an access road to the track is starting to take shape. Photo: Stephen Youngerman, NewsNetNebraska

Google Maps shows six houses within several miles of the track. But they will be shielded from noise from roaring engines by eight-foot earthen berms. The bowl shape will be designed to help contain the noise.

Taxpayers worry that in light of the high expenses Lincoln and Lancaster County might already face with the building of the new downtown arena, the estimated $3.5 million project may just be too much.

But Arianna Kennedy, a resources conservationist, says 88 percent of the funds will come from a federal recreational trails grant program and the balance from private donors and Lancaster County, according to the Lincoln Journal Star.

The initial phase is underway, which consists of leveling and paving an access road at 70th and Alvo Street.  If everything goes according to plan, riders such as Colyer could be ripping up the dirt track by the end of the summer 2010.



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Baseball in Nebraska: A whole other ballgame


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Something has to fill a cornhusk-sized hole in Nebraska sports fans’ lives when the Husker Football team is not in-season. No, it’s not World Cup soccer, and it certainly isn’t an NBA or NHL playoff series. It’s baseball, a sport whose rich history in Nebraska makes it a whole other ballgame.

Nebraska has no big-league ballclub. The closest team is the Royals in Kansas City. And yet, the state is host to the College World Series, minor-league squads in Omaha and Lincoln, scores of summer teams sponsored by the American Legion and even more clubs for select grade-schoolers.

Lincoln's historic Sherman Field has been at the heart of baseball in Nebraska. Photo: Wade Hilligoss, NewsNetNebraska

“Just like football we’re stuck in tradition,” said Scott Ballinger, a baseball lifer who has played high school, college and semi-pro ball and has coached for 13 years in the American Legion, high school and little league ranks. “Nebraska has so much respect for the game, and it goes all over the state.”

Ballinger played at Wakefield Senior High school in a city where 1,600 residents thought their town was the baseball capital of the state. He said that it was true when he was growing up and it’s still true today. “People all around Nebraska have their own history and way of embracing the game.”

High school baseball, a springtime affair, morphs into summer leagues sponsored by the American Legion. Officials of the organization, which sponsors summer baseball teams all over the country, say Nebraska has had over 10 million players since its inception in 1925. In 2009, there were over 4100 players on over 300 teams.

“Nebraska is behind only Minnesota and Pennsylvania in the number of legion teams we have by state,” said Mike Sterns, a coach for 20 years at the high school level in Nebraska. “A long time ago, when everything was more spread out, legion ball was what brought towns together. Baseball surely has a place in the history of Nebraska.”

Add to the legion numbers 57 more select little league teams, Nebraska and Creighton NCAA Division I teams, and many other four-year and community college teams and it seems amateur baseball in Nebraska is plentiful.

Mike Babcock, a Nebraska baseball historian and sports journalist in the state for 33 years says that there’s an affection for baseball in Nebraska that goes beyond just watching and playing the game.

“It has to have some connection to the fact that Nebraska is a rural agrarian state. There just has to be a connection. It’s the same kind of work ethic,” Babcock said.

Babcock explained that growing up in York, Nebr., there was always baseball on the radio, especially the Saint Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals. He said that it was easy for western Nebraska farmers to just turn on Saint Louis broadcaster Jack Buck and listen. 

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Baseball has deep roots in the capital city of Nebraska. At the heart of it all is Sherman Field, Lincoln’s oldest field that still stands today. Click the picture to see NewsNetNebraska’s Wade Hilligoss give you a brief history.

“It’s easy to do other things with the radio in the background and you’re not tied to the television. Baseball really crept in that way in the 50’s and 60’s,” Babcock said. “There’s a very democratic aspect. It’s kind of like a soundtrack to your life.”

Sterns echoed this sentiment and added that as a child, he even used to listen to Royals games late at night after he went to bed before his mother would steal back the radio.

“Nebraskans of my age grew up with Kansas City as our team,” said Sterns. “We have both a radio and TV affiliate, and there’s no other major league team that’s that close to us so they really have a stranglehold on the market.”

Kansas City knows Nebraska loves its baseball so it even makes the effort to send a caravan of players and other team officials through Lincoln and Omaha to advertise during every offseason. Of course, it could have something to do with a little hometown Nebraska flavor.

At a time when many Nebraskans are becoming Detroit Lions fans in the NFL, simply because of former defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, it is easy to see why it was fate when former Husker baseball standout and Lincoln resident Alex Gordon was drafted 2nd overall by the Royals in 2005.

Gordon is now the team’s starting third baseman and has an ongoing rivalry with former Husker teammate and current New York Yankees relief pitcher Joba Chamberlain.

Sterns said it’s hard to remember the last time Nebraska had two local kids move up to Major League Baseball at the same time, and he calls it “amazing” that they both made it up from Lincoln at the same time.

“Nebraska really rallied around those guys,” Sterns said. “Alex had a hard go of it early though, probably form the pressure of being the local kid and everybody from Nebraska is on his back.”

Another bonus for baseball fans in Nebraska came when Gordon, on his way to the major leagues spent time at Kansas City’s triple-A affiliate, which just happens to be in Omaha. The Omaha Royals are just one of the two pro baseball teams that Nebraska has as well.

“When you talk about baseball in Nebraska, just look at Omaha. It’s a baseball Mecca,” said Jeff Motz, a longtime sports broadcaster in Nebraska.  “There a ton of really good baseball prospects in the metro. They also have the College World Series. It’s kind of a hidden secret, but people in Nebraska just follow the game, they don’t care who it is.”

One of the proudest elements of the Nebraska baseball faithful presides in Omaha as the CWS has been played in the metro since 1950. A pilgrimage for many around the state, the college baseball championships has a long history in Nebraska that draws enormous crowds every year. In 2008, the NCAA signed an agreement with the city of Omaha that will keep the tournament in the city through 2035 as long as a new ballpark was built.

TD Ameritrade Park Omaha will open in 2011, and alongside a new park in Sarpy County for the Omaha Royals and Haymarket park in Lincoln, three pro-style ballparks will have been built in Nebraska’s two biggest cities in ten years.

Haymarket, which opened in 2001, is the home of the UNL baseball team and the Lincoln Saltdogs, and independent minor league team which will celebrate its tenth year of operation this year and will enter this season as defending American Association champions.

Huskers meet on the mound during a recent game. Photo: BreAnna Haessler, NU Media Relations

Along with the new commitment to baseball that Nebraska is showing with these new ballparks, the state appreciates its past in the sport.

An example is Sherman Field, which has stood in southwest Lincoln since May of 1947. Current Lincoln Mayor Chris Beutler announced in early 2009 that Sherman is up for renovation through public funding as part of the Lincoln Cares Community Program. This city-owned landmark park will head into another chapter of its long history, thanks to the passion and appreciation by Lincoln’s citizens for the city’s oldest baseball field that at one time housed minor league baseball.

“If and when we can get the money, this will be a really great stadium,” said Sherman Field groundskeeper Bob Greco. “They would renovate everything, from the bathrooms to the concession stands. It will be really great.”

Making what’s old new again isn’t always an easy feat, but if it has something to do with baseball, Nebraska will always find a way to make it happen.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s the Huskers, or Creighton, or the Royals or the Saltdogs, Nebraskans are just baseball fans,” said Sterns. “Baseball is a lot better today that is was 10 years ago here. Players are getting better. The coaching is getting better, everything is just evolving.”

As so too are its fans, especially in Nebraska. And there’s a reason they call them the boys of summer. From the first spring baseball games in high schools and colleges, to the CWS in June, to the crack of the bat in the area legion tournament in August, it’s a long and exciting ride when baseball season comes around in the cornhusker state.

So for those who claim “The Good Life”, lace them up, the season is only getting started.



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Downtown a danger zone for Lincoln cyclists

May 13, 2010
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Riding a bicycle may be green, but is it safe? In 2009, there were 129 bicycle accidents reported across the city, including 23 downtown alone.

“Biking in downtown Lincoln is dangerous,” said Katie Flood, the Lincoln Police Department public information officer.

Christopher McCammon, who teaches philosophy at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, has been hit three times while riding his bike in the city so he knows too well how dangerous it can be. His first accident happened downtown about five years ago.

McCammon was cycling down 9th M St. on the sidewalk. As he coasted along, listening to the band Drive-By Trucker, a man drove out of a blind alley. McCammon couldn’t stop in time and rode into the side of the vehicle. He flipped over his handlebars onto the hood of the car and then slipped to the pavement on the driver’s side.

“The guy got out of the car and was wigging out,” he said. “I told him I was perfectly fine.”

McCammon walked away scratch-free and didn’t notify the police. He admits the accident was his fault because it is illegal to ride on the sidewalk in high-traffic areas, like downtown Lincoln.

Car-bike collisions are most common when a cyclist is on the sidewalk and entering an intersection or crosswalk. Bicyclists are supposed to dismount the bike and walk through a crosswalk instead of riding through it.

“I think people should know the bike laws,” McCammon said. “I would have been a lot more careful at intersections if I’d known the biking ordinances.”

Learn how to be a safe bicyclist in downtown Lincoln. Click the image below to see how to avoid car-bicycle accidents.

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In another of McCammon’s accidents, he was pulling his son Eben, then 2, in a wagon behind his bicycle around 28th Randolph. As they crossed the street, a teenage driver didn’t stop at the stop sign and plowed into McCammon. McCammon’s left leg hit the bumper, his right jabbed into the bike crossbar and he flew onto the hood of the car. He quickly got off of the car to check on Eben who was unharmed.

Later McCammon learned that the accident was partly his fault for riding into a crosswalk. Neither the driver nor McCammon were ticketed. McCammon went to the hospital for injuries to his legs. Today, McCammon still has a lump on his left leg.

“If I’d know how vulnerable cyclists are on the sidewalk I would have rode in the street,” McCammon said.

Many cyclists aren’t aware of biking ordinances, said UNL police officer Aaron Pembleton. Bicyclists are supposed to signal when turning, for instance, as well as stop at traffic lights and stop signs.

In April 2009, a bicyclist died when he ran a stop sign while intoxicated. While riding a bicycle drunk is not a crime, running a stop sign is. The rider, Myles Davis Jr., 46, collided with a Volkswagen Jetta at 23rd and Q streets.

Bicycle accidents accounted for 4.6 percent of all accidents in Lincoln in 2009, though the reported tallies may understate the problem. From Feb. 10 to March 31, a time when relatively few cyclists are on the roads, there were just 14 bike accidents in Lincoln. What’s more, not all accidents are reported. McCammon reported only one of his three accidents because he was hurt in that one.

In 2009, 106 of the 129 accidents resulted in injury.

Chistopher McCammon is being treated in the emergency room for contusions on his legs after being hit by a car while riding his bicycle. His son Eben, then 2, was also in the accident, but wasn't harmed. Photo courtesy of Christopher McCammon

Lincoln police spokeswoman Flood says the small number of incidents suggest that cycling is fairly safe, but she argues that is true only if riders operate their bikes safely. Even the downtown area can be safe “as long as cyclists observe the rules of the road and they make themselves visible and predictable,” she said.

Some bicyclists like McCammon, are concerned with the awkward placement of downtown Lincoln’s bicycle lanes. When Lincoln’s downtown was designed, bicycle lanes were not taken into consideration. So when the lanes were created, there was no room for them on the right side of the road.

“Lincoln does not appear as safe as other metropolitan areas that have placed an emphasis and importance on bicycling,” Flood said. “The bike lanes we do have alert motorists to take heed that bicycles are on the road and have a legal right to be there.”

Still, drivers and riders bump into one another too often. Cyclists and motorists, take heed.



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Penguins marching into Lincoln Zoo

May 12, 2010
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The new Humboldt Penguin exhibit is expected to bring new visitors to the zoo. This is good news for other popular animals like monkeys who enjoy performing for an audience. Photo: Bryan Odell, NewsNetNebraska

For over 40 years, the Lincoln Children’s Zoo has been a top destination for Lincoln citizens and their families.  Kids get to pet the animals, see exotic creatures and ride the train. But the recent loss of the zoo’s marquee attraction – a seal named Toney — has created tough challenges.

“Last year we had to send our seal away to another zoo,” said Rachelle Humiston, senior director of institutional advancement at the zoo.

Toney had an eye infection that was worsened by living in a freshwater environment.  After consulting several experts, the zoo decided it would be best for the seal to be sent to another zoo in Kentucky that had a saltwater exhibit.

“Obviously this put us in a difficult situation,” said Humiston.

Zoo officials decided they needed a new attraction.  And luckily for them, a unique opportunity soon presented itself: the endangered Humboldt penguin.

“Our zoo has a longstanding history of working with endangered animals,” she said.  “Previously we have brought kangaroos, pandas, leopards and crocodiles here, all animals that were on the brink of extinction.”

The zoo had success in breeding these animals and was even been able to reintroduce some of them into the wild.  These and other factors contributed to Lincoln’s selection as a home for the Humboldt penguins, one of only 16 in the nation.

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To see more on the Lincoln Zoo, click the image above.

According to Humiston, the timing could not have been better.

“There is a huge cultural phenomenon going on with penguins right now,” she said.  “Movies like Happy Feet and Madagascar are a big part of that.”

Even last year, before penguins were even on the zoo’s radar, they were one of the zoo’s top selling attractions.

Humiston believes having penguins at the zoo will expand their audience and bring in new visitors.

But to make this vision a reality, the zoo faces many obstacles.  Estimated costs for the new exhibit are about $300,000. To save money, the zoo’s managers decided to renovate the seal exhibit to meet the penguins’ needs.

But they still needed help.

In April the Lancaster County Commission approved a $150,000 grant to help the zoo bring the penguins to Lincoln.

Visitors to the zoo are able to have an intimate experience with the animals. Hand on activities like feeding the goats are one of the reasons it is the number one attraction in Lincoln. Photo: Bryan Odell, NewsNetNebraska

“I think it’s important to always invest in the future,” Humiston said.  “And because the Lincoln Children’s Zoo is the most popular attraction in Lancaster County, we believe this is a great way to invest in our city.”

Most of the money from the $150,000 grant was drawn from lodging taxes paid for by tourism.

Visitors to the zoo can expect to see the new penguin exhibit later this year.  Until then, zoogoers can visit other new exhibits including a new habitat for squirrel monkeys.  Or they can past the time by go going for another ride on the zoo train.



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UNL goes mobile with iHusker


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Jon Pike, a junior at UNL, relies on his iPhone when he's not near his laptop. Photo: Katy Healey, NewsNetNebraska

Fans of Apple’s iPhone and iTouch can now tap into a wealth of information about the University of Nebraska-Lincoln thanks to a new application, called iHusker, created at the school.

The app features campus maps, athletic schedules, news and an events calendar. It boasts a novel social network – Planet Red – that links users to one another personally and professionally. There’s even a link to iTunes, a Husker music player and UNL’s YouTube channel.

“Universities are trying to find ways to repurpose the content they already put out publicly and make sense of it on a mobile device,” said Brian Moore, iHusker’s lead developer.

He explained that iHusker was designed to supply “all things UNL” to iPhone and iTouch users in a way that makes sense on those gadgets. It targets UNL students, alumni, faculty and anyone interested in university affairs.

Everything featured in iHusker is also accessible through the university’s Web site. Moore said that formatting the online information for mobile phones is more convenient for those on the move.

“A lot of times we want information, and we’re not always on a desktop. For instance, folks are using the map feature because they don’t always know abbreviations of [campus] buildings. The people finder allows you to send emails [on the go],” Moore explained. Using an iPhone or iTouch, he said, is “more efficient.”

Jon Pike, a junior at UNL, downloaded iHusker shortly after its March 31 release. He applauded the university for creating an app that is compatible with mobile phones.

“iHusker is customized for the iPhone so it’s easier to use its features than an Internet browser,” he said. “Now, I can replace my laptop with my phone.”

Pike added that he is impressed with UNL’s commitment to developing mobile technology.

“It shows that UNL is trying to reach students through all mediums,” he said. “It’s good to see that [the university] is thinking about adapting technology and moving forward.”

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The University of Nebraska-Lincoln recently released iHusker, an Apple application designed for the iPhone and iTouch. Click the image above for Katy Healey’s break down of iHusker’s features.

Many schools have been upgrading their technological systems. iHusker’s unveiling coincided with similar programs available at other colleges and universities.

Stanford University was the first academic institution to create a school-sponsored application. Many other universities, including Northwestern, Duke, MIT and now Nebraska, have followed suit.

Moore worked with UNL’s New Media Center and communications department to develop the application. He said the inspiration arose from teaching an honors course that explored the relationship between professional productivity and personal technologies.

“Students are coming to campus with all this technology, and we’re under-using it from an academic standpoint,” Moore explained. “We want to stay on top of what’s cutting edge in academia.”

Seth Meranda, one of the communications department staffers who helped develop iHusker, said UNL wants to expand its use of mobile technology in school settings. Doing so, he adds, will modernize the university and appeal to incoming students.

“We’re branding through the university Web site and other mediums, and wireless devices are an extension of the Web,” he said. “As these mobile devices become more of a requirement, we need to a have presence.”

The application’s six-month development required fewer than five people to collaborate on the project. Moore said the university is devoting more energy and resources to developing the next edition of the application. He hopes to include students to improve future versions of iHusker.

Pike downloaded iHusker after its March 31 release. Photo: Katy Healey, NewsNetNebraska

“Because we have majors and minors in this type of area,” Moore said, listing music technology, graphic design and computer science, “students need opportunities to work in these areas.”

The university plans to release a second version of iHusker this fall. The updated application will deliver live statistics during Husker football games and include a link to the UNL libraries that is formatted for mobile devices.

UNL also plans to develop iHusker for non-Apple platforms. The Android operating system is most likely to host the application next, according to Meranda. He explained that UNL’s computer science expertise lies outside of Microsoft’s mobile software, though the university hopes to eventually develop iHusker for BlackBerry users as well.

The current version of iHusker is available to download free through the iTunes application store.



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