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Flying solo

Web comics present niche entertainment options online

Two-sport athletes on decline as sports train year-round

WEDNESday, DECEMBER 5, 2012 volume 112, issue 071

Gas prices reach all-time high Record-setting prices show no signs of slowing down, according to analysts Tammy Bain DN

KAT BUCHANAN | DN

Alexander Justman, a freshman horticulture major, blows on his team’s creation for the annual Incredible Edible Car Competition on Tuesday in the Nebraska East Union. The “cars” in the competition were judged on their distance and durability as they rolled down ramps.

MEALSON WHEELS story by emily nitcher | photos by kat buchanan

Edible vehicles illustrate engineering design

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amantha Nelson is staking her grade on a car made out of carrots, chocolate rice cakes, candy canes, gummy lifesavers and reduced-fat peanut butter.

The racecar – all 1,044 calories of it – is the freshman biological systems engineering major’s final project for her Introduction to Agricultural Engineering and Biological Systems Engineering class. Part of her grade depends on how far the car travels down a ramp — and how quickly she can eat it. The race was on at the Incredible Edible Vehicle

Competition Tuesday afternoon in the Nebraska East Union. The annual competition requires students to make a 100-percent-edible pinewood-derby-like racecar. Like a pinewood derby, the cars are released from the top of a ramp. Cars that go straight down the ramp and travel the farthest without breaking score the most points.

Dennis Schulte, professor of biological systems engineering, started the competition eight years ago for his students.

Schulte said he was looking for a fun way to teach his students about

KAT BUCHANAN | DN

Teammates Kevin Shearman, a sophomore biological systems engineering major, and Margaret Gilseth, a freshman biological systems engineering major, attempt to devour their edible car as the four judges tally the performance results. engineering design.

All cars must be fewer than 2,400 calories, and students must eat their cars after racing them. The faster they can eat their car, the more points they receive. The most points are awarded to students who can eat their car in less than two minutes.

Schulte said he imposed the limitations on the cars to make the project more challenging for students.

“Those are tough limits,” he said. “That’s the way real world engineers do it.”

Schulte said having to eat the car at the end of the race was the tough-

est constraint of all, but he imposed the rule to prevent students from making massive cars.

Before the races, students were also judged on creativity of the car, a poster they made about their car and the total calorie count.

After the initial judging, Schulte donned a chef’s hat and white coat and declared it was race time.

With an audience looking on, all 23 cars were released once at the top of the ramp.

Some students watched with

edible: see page 2

Americans paid more than ever on average at the pump this year.

The current average gas price of $3.63 per gallon looks to set a record high, according to GasBuddy.com.

Last year’s average was $3.51 per gallon, according to a GasBuddy.com press release.

The mending economy is a big part of why this year has been so expensive at the pump, said Patrick DeHaan, a senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.com, because the demand for gas rises as more people rely on automobile transport to get to work and travel.

Meanwhile, DeHaan said, the number of oil refineries has decreased by half during the last 25 years or so, with bigger refineries expanding and smaller ones shutting down.

Gregg Laskoski, another senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy. com, said the August fire at the Chevron refinery in Richmond, Calif., and Hurricane Sandy’s damage to the Northeastern refineries did not help.

Before Hurricane Sandy, Laskoski said, Northeastern refineries were operating at 81 percent capacity. The refineries, including Bayway in Linden and Elizabeth, N.J., one of the largest refineries in the Northeast, dropped to a 58 percent capacity, Laskoski said.

“Many Americans think oil and gasoline are directly related,” DeHaan said. “But they forget the refinery process.”

Laskoski said the national average of pump prices has increased for four consecutive years, and he doesn’t predict a decline.

Instead of a strengthening economy, Laskoski blamed the gas prices on a still-damaged one. Gas prices rise when the value of the American dollar decreases, he said. When the dollar weakens, he said, prices increase for commodities such as crude oil — unrefined petroleum.

Despite speculation during election year, both Laskoski and DeHaan said the president has no direct control over gas prices. DeHaan said the laws of supply and demand govern gas prices. Laskoski pointed to global events, such as an Iranian official’s threat to block oil exports in response to U.S. economic sanctions late last year, China’s high demand for petroleum and the aforementioned domestic crises.

However, the government can issue policies that can affect the future of gas prices, both DeHaan and Laskoski said.

“What (the president) can do is give leadership or direction to policies to help people or make them pay more,” Laskoski said.

Laskoski said the TransCana-

gas: see page 2

Fluke: ‘It’s time for young women in this country to join the fight’ Planned Parenthood keynote speaker explains gravity of women’s rights kelli rollin dn This year has brought many changes and milestones for women’s issues and women in politics, said Sandra Fluke, American attorney and women’s rights activist. Fluke was the keynote speaker for Planned Parenthood of the Heartland’s annual fundraiser Tuesday night called “The Big Event: Courage — No Matter What.”

Hundreds of people gathered at the Rococo Theatre to support Planned Parenthood and listen to Fluke speak. About 20 protesters stood in a line on the sidewalk outside, holding anti-abortion signs and singing Christmas carols.

Fluke recently came into the public eye when conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh made derogatory statements toward her because of her support for health insurance coverage of contraceptive costs. She was among the top 40 candidates for Time magazine’s Person of the Year, publicly supported the Obama campaign and was a speaker at the 2012 Democratic National Convention.

“She is definitely the biggest person we’ve had in a long time,” said Emily Schiltz, Planned Parenthood intern and sophomore political science major at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Schiltz said she was excited to hear such a highprofile speaker.

Fluke’s talk focused on women’s health, the affordable care act and making a difference.

“She is a wonderfully outspoken person on the affordable care act, women’s health and women’s rights,” said Susan Allen, Nebraska

This year, something changed in our national conversation about women’s health.”

Sandra Fluke

Women’s Rights Activist communications manager part for Planned Parenthood of the Heartland. “We decided she would be the perfect person to speak to Planned Parenthood supporters.”

Fluke said this year has been “bizarre,” with all of the changes involving women’s health and women’s rights.

“This year, something changed in our national conversation about women’s health,” she said.

In this year’s election, standing up for women’s reproductive health almost felt like an electoral requirement for candidates, Fluke said, as the issue has become more prominent.

“Before my time, women’s

healthcare has never decided a presidential election,” Fluke said. “We really did make a difference this election.”

Freshman journalism major and Planned Parenthood intern Audrey Nance was most excited to hear from Fluke about what others can do to make a difference in women’s issues.

“I feel like she walks the walk rather than talk the talk,” Nance said.

Fluke said she “felt bad” after hearing Limbaugh’s comments, but she worked to overcome them.

“When I first heard the com-

fluke: see page 2

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morgan spiehs | dn

Sandra Fluke speaks for Planned Parenthood’s “The Big Event” at the Rococo Theatre Tuesday night. The Big Event is an annual fundraiser for Planned Parenthood of the Heartland. Fluke is on Time’s Person of the Year nominee list.

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wednesday, december 5, 2012

KAT BUCHANAN | DN

Cashley Ahlberg and Katie Lucot, first-year graduate students in animal breeding and genetics, spend time de-stressing with Grizzly, a therapy dog handled by Julianna Grabianowski of Pet Partners at the Nebraska East Union on Tuesday. The University Health Center offered various activities in the “Stress Free Zone,” including free massages, cookie decorating and stressball-crafting. The Stress Free Zone will be in the Nebraska Union on Wednesday and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

KAT BUCHANAN | DN

Sophomore horticulture major Erin Kinley sorts poinsettias on East Campus Monday for the annual holiday sale put on by the Horticulture Club. The club ordered the poinsettia plugs in May. Since the transplants in August, members have followed a strict watering schedule to keep the flowers fresh. The Horticulture Club will be selling the poinsettias on Wednesday and Thursday outside the Nebraska Union and Nebraska East Union.

Poinsettia sale boosts club awareness Kelli Rollin dn The University of Nebraska-Lincoln will be seeing more red than usual the next couple days.

The UNL Horticulture Club will sell red, white, marble and pink poinsettias in the Nebraska Union and the Nebraska East Union this Wednesday and Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

This year, the club will donate 50 percent of the profit from the pink poinsettias to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

“We make a lot of money from all of our sales but don’t always use it,” said Laura Armbrust, president of the Horticulture Club and a senior horticulture major.

Armbrust said the profit goes toward the club’s general expenses, funds and yearly trips.

The club has potted more than 300 poinsettias for the sale. They grew the poinsettias in East Campus greenhouses, according to a university press release about the sale.

The club also takes special orders from groups and offices

We sold six to the governor’s mansion.

That was really exciting to expand out of the university.”

Erin Kinley

Horticulture Club Secretary “We sold six to the governor’s mansion,” said Erin Kinley, secretary of the UNL Horticulture Club and a sophomore horticulture major.

“That was really exciting to expand out of the university.”

Kinley and Armbrust said UNL offices like to order the plants as well.

“The staff are our big customers,” Armbrust said.

Secretaries, office workers and other staff like the poinsettias because they’re nice plants to have on a desk or in the office, according to Armbrust.

Staff may be the big customers, but lots of students also like to have the plants around. Armbrust said students tend to enjoy the smaller poinsettias, probably to fit their dorm rooms. Armbrust and Kinley said traditional red is the most

popular color, but they also sell nontraditional colors as well.

“It’s interesting to see different trends between colors on East and City campus,” Kinley said.

She has noticed that East Campus customers tend to buy more traditional red poinsettias, while City Campus customers tend to buy the non-traditional ones.

Armbrust and Kinley said they usually don’t have a lot of poinsettias left over.

“About 80 to 90 percent sell,” Armbrust said.

Kinley, who came up with the idea to donate half of the funds from the pink poinsettias to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, is excited to sell more of the pink and non-traditional colors.

poinsettia pricing Red, marble and white: • $7 for a small • $14 for a medium • $18 for a large Pink: • $16 for a medium • $20 for a large

“I really want to see the pink ones sell out,” she said. “I also want to see the non-traditional ones sell more because they are fun.”

Armbrust said, along with bringing in funds, all of their annual plant sales allow the club to be visible on campus.

“We are always trying to make people aware we exist,” she said.

“The club isn’t just for horticulture people. If you like plants or want to learn about them, we want you.” news@ dailynebraskan.com

gas: from 1

cops briefs COPPER STOLEN FROM EAST CAMPUS

Scrap copper wire stored in a secure fenced area on East Campus was reported missing Monday, police say. University Police said the copper was stored in a wooden crate behind the Stewart Seed Laboratory.

The copper is valued at $3,500. Police say a portion of the fence was pulled upward, leaving enough room for someone to crawl underneath. Police currently do not have any suspects. The fenced area is not monitored, so police aren’t sure when the copper was stolen. They assume whomever stole it took it in small amounts over a period of time.

IPHONE STOLEN FROM REC CENTER

A student playing basketball in the Campus Recreation Center found his iPhone 4S missing Thursday.

The student had placed his phone and wallet on the bleachers outside the court at about 7:30 p.m., University Police said. At roughly 9 p.m., the student returned to pick up his items and saw his phone was gone, but his wallet was still there. UNLPD contacted pawn shops to locate the phone. They currently do not have any suspects.

LAPTOP STOLEN FROM SELLECK STUDY ROOM

A 13-inch MacBook Pro was left unattended in the basement of the Selleck Quadrangle Friday. The owner left the study room at about 5:45 p.m., and when he returned, roughly 45 minutes later, the laptop was gone. UNLPD said they have not found any suspects.

Police searched local pawn shops, Craigslist and several lost and founds for the laptop. Police have not located the laptop.

—Compiled by Daniel Wheaton

GAS PRICES BY THE NUMBERS 2012 current average gas price: $3.63 per gallon 2011 average gas price: $3.51 per gallon 2011 holds the current highest price record 2012 will hold the new record unless prices drop more than $1 every day for the rest of the year

Stress Free Zone invites students to unwind from finals Cristina Woodworth DN University of Nebraska-Lincoln students had a chance to take a break from studying on Tuesday afternoon as part of the Stress Free Zone event at the Nebraska East Union.

Several tables set up just inside the East Union entrance were filled with students decorating sugar cookies, making bead crafts and munching on free apples as part of the stressrelieving event. A massage chair set up in a corner also had a line of students and faculty waiting to receive free massages. The University Health Center, Campus Recreation Center and Lincoln Pet Partners organized the activities.

“The (Stress Free Zone) gives students a few minutes where they can just stop by and take a break from studying and the class atmosphere,” said Matt Perlinger, a junior agribusiness major and wellness advocate for the UHC. “They can have fun relaxing for a little bit.”

Stress-free activities have been an annual part of UNL’s dead week for at least the last five years, said Leah Wilmes, an educational administration graduate student and one of the organizers of the event. This year’s event featured more types of crafts and activities than in the past. Students could make their own stress balls, and a photo booth will be set up at the Nebraska Union event Wednesday.

Wilmes said one of the most popular parts of the stress-free event is the therapy dogs.

“I know a lot of people enjoy seeing animals,” she said. “It’s comforting to be around them.”

Lester, a 4-year-old springer spaniel, eagerly greeted students as Pam Edwards held tightly to his leash at Tuesday’s event. Most students smiled as soon as they saw the brown and white pooch and bent down to pat Lester’s head.

“It’s just that (animals) make you feel happy,” said Edwards, a member of Lincoln Pet Partners,

a pet therapy organization that provides animals at the Stress Free Zone each year. “There’s almost an immediate smile from people when I bring Lester with me.”

Edwards said students at the Stress Free Zone events often tell her how glad they are to be able to pet a dog during the stressful time of studying for finals.

“Kids come up to me and say ‘I miss my dog more than I miss my parents,’” Edwards said. “We are always mobbed with students coming up.”

The Stress Free Zone moves to the Nebraska Union on Wednesday and Thursday this week to give more students an opportunity to unwind from long hours of studying.

Eric Marrow, a junior fisheries and wildlife major, said he went with a friend to East Campus’s stress-free event mostly to decorate the free cookies.

“I’m not feeling incredibly stressed,” Marrow said as he spread brightly-colored frosting onto a sugar cookie. “I don’t have very many finals. They might be kind of hard, but not plentiful.”

Marrow said the event gives students a chance to be kids again and forget about the worries over grades and tests that most college students face.

“A lot of students stop by the union for lunch between classes and this gives them something to distract them,” Marrow said. “It takes their mind off their classes.”

Wilmes said organizers weren’t keeping track of how many students stopped by the Stress Free Zone but said the tables had been filled during most of the event, which went from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Other students at the Stress Free Zone said the relaxed atmosphere and craft activities were helping them to mentally prepare for finals next week.

“I’m a little stressed, but I’m trying not to be,” said Katherine Moore, a senior fisheries and wildlife major. “I’m just taking it one day at a time.” news@ dailynebraskan.com

SOURCE: GasBuddy.com

da Keystone XL Pipeline, which President Barack Obama rejected in January, would help America gain independence from the Middle Eastern-run Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The pipeline would run from Alberta, Canada through multiple U.S. locations, including Nebraska, to the Gulf Coast of Texas.

DeHaan disagreed, arguing that the pipeline would give Canada the chance to export oil to other countries at higher prices, not helping gas prices at all.

Regardless, both men agreed shifting toward energy-efficient fuels and vehicles would, as Laskoski said, “deflate global pricing of crude oil.”

DeHaan said consumers should require manufacturers to produce more fuel-efficient automobiles, which he believes would resolve the issue of mounting gas prices.

“Cars and vehicles can run on natural gas,” Laskoski said. “The natural resources are here in North America.” news@ dailynebraskan.com

fluke: from 1 ments, I was primarily concerned about my parents and family,” Fluke said. “I wanted them to hear from me about what happened. It was a misogynistic attack to try to silence women.”

Though Fluke was publicly embarrassed, she didn’t let the controversy stop her from fighting for her beliefs.

“The way I looked at it, I had an

opportunity,” she said.

Throughout her speech, Fluke encouraged the audience to get involved in women’s issues.

“It’s time for young women in this country to join the fight, because it’s our rights and our health that are at stake,” she said. news@ dailynebraskan.com

edible: from 1 pride as their cars successfully made it down the ramp in one piece and picked up significant distance.

Other students weren’t so lucky. Some cars veered left or right off the table and crashed to the floor — a fate familiar to Chance Thayer, a 2010 University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduate.

Thayer was at the competition representing his employer: The Flatwater Group, one of the local companies exhibiting at the competition.

Thayer’s car crashed to the floor when he competed in the competition as a freshman in 2006.

“Our experience was fun building it, but it crashed and burned,” Thayer said.

Thayer’s car was made of a block of cheese and rice cakes.

Thayer said the worst part of the assignment was eating the car, especially after it hit the floor.

“Don’t eat a rice cake without water,” Thayer said.

Regardless of what the car was made of, most of the students

agreed eating the cars was the worst part of the assignment.

Matthew Hedrick, sophomore biological systems engineering major, made his car out of dried bread, frosting, candy canes and cookies. He said eating the bread, which had to be dried or it dissolved the candy cane, was awful.

“The bread was like a crouton,” Hedrick said.

After the eating portion was over, freshman mechanical engineering major Greg Stille regretted making his racecar out of a hotdog.

At first, Megan White, a freshman biological systems engineering major, didn’t see what the project had to do with engineering.

But when the candy cane on her team’s car dissolved into the carrot because she and her teammates didn’t consider the properties of the materials, the reasoning was more clear.

“Some of the lessons learned are going to pay off,” White said.

“I understand why we did it.”

News@ DailyNebraskan.com

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wednesday, december 5, 2012

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opinion

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wednesday, december 5, 2012 dailynebraskan.com @Dailyneb

dn ed i t o r i a l b o a rd members ANDREW DICKINSON editor-in-chief

RYAN DUGGAN opinion editor RHIANNON ROOT assistant opinion editor HAILEY KONNATH ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR JACY MARMADUKE news assignment EDITOR

KATIE NELSON A&E ASSISTANT EDITOR ROBBY KORTH SPORTS EDITOR BEA HUFF ART DIRECTOR KEVIN MOSER WEB CHIEF

our view

lauren vuchetich | dn

Excessive finals week whining only adds more stress Now is the time of year when every “How are you?” is met with a “dying from finals” response. Facebook statuses and Twitter updates are constantly bemoaning the onslaught of tests and papers, and caffeine-driven students post pictures of their study spot in the library stacks, often with the caption “My new home.”

Everyone attempts to outdo the other, comparing numbers of finals and papers due. Surely they have it worse than their friends. And every mishap, whether it’s in class or at work, is excused with “It’s that time of the semester.”

But should a series of tests and papers really make some people so distressed and out of order? Not really. Considering you have known about whatever paper you are writing, project you are planning or exam you are dreading for a full three months now, you shouldn’t be surprised or angry it’s all happening at once.

Yes, we understand you want a good grade, or that this last test might be the difference between failing and passing a class.

But stressing yourself out over these tests is counterproductive.

Instead, try to compose yourself and stay positive. Don’t drag other people down by unloading your next two weeks of assignments on them when they ask how your day is going.

If you need assistance in eliminating stress, there are things you can do. Visit the stress free zone at the Nebraska Campus Union today and tomorrow. Here you can get a massage, some snacks and even pet a cute puppy. Perhaps go for a run in this abnormally warm weather, or hit the rec. Do anything to help lift the weight of finals off your shoulders.

Most of all, try not to stress your friends out with all the reminders of how stressed out you are. Unless you’re a freshman, you’ve been through finals before and will survive again. And if you’ve paid any attention throughout the semester, you’re sure to do just fine.

Opinion@Dailynebraskan.com

editorial policy The editorial above contains the opinion of the fall 2012 Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board. It does not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, its student body or the University of Nebraska Board of Regents. A column is solely the opinion of its author; a cartoon is solely the opinion of its artist. The Board of Regents acts as publisher of the Daily Nebraskan; policy is set by the Daily Nebraskan Editorial Board.

The UNL Publications Board, established by the regents, supervises the production of the paper. According to policy set by the regents, responsibility for the editorial content of the newspaper lies solely in the hands of Daily Nebraskan employees.

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LAUREN VUCHETICH | dn

Conquer finals with perseverance

D

ead week is here, meaning deadlines for final projects are approaching. Those dreaded final papers are just around the corner.

The problem? You have a serious case of writer’s block at the most inconvenient time.

The weather outside should be frightful, but it’s not. It’s still pretty nice out, considering it’s the beginning of December. Regardless, the early sunsets are hindering your productivity. The holiday season is in full swing, and after the Thanksgiving festivities, you’re ready for the semester to be over.

But it’s not. You have to face that blank Microsoft Word document head-on. You have to fill it with coherent words. Coherency is hard to come by when you’re lacking ambition. After all, what do these papers really signify? What are these final projects worth in the long run? Absolutely nothing. The first step to conquering writer’s block is realizing this. You will more than likely forget the details of this project mere minutes after completion. What matters is that your professor enjoys it and (hopefully) gives you an A. The time for cram studying is over; you just have to put pen to paper (or fingertip to keyboard) and get this show going. That’s the second step: Writing all of your thoughts without a filter.

You can fix grammatical errors and add transitions later.

This may sound childish (because it is), but I imagine that what I’m doing is wildly important. Like, if I don’t complete this assignment, a puppy won’t get adopted from the Humane Society. For the sake of this imaginary puppy, I power through another dull assignment.

Music can either benefit your studies or hinder them entirely. Turn off your Lil Wayne channel on Pandora. Listening to Weezy lowers your IQ, according to The Telegraph. Instead, try something new. I recommend the Vitamin String Quartet – pop song covers done with string instruments. Jam out and get that paper done! It’s a win-win.

Taking breaks is also absolutely necessary.

Take a five-minute break to grab a semi-healthy snack (Sun Chips will do). Facebook creep a bit.

DAMIEN CROGHAN Catch up on the text messages you’ve been ignoring for the sake of productivity. Call your mom back.

But don’t stay on the phone too long. Log off Facebook after five or so minutes. Get back to the academic grind. Unfortunately, that paper isn’t going to write itself.

If you’ve lost your ability to write any new material, call a friend. Writer’s block is like a game show. You’re in it to win it, despite how unlikely success seems to be. And like “Cash Cab,” you have several lifelines you can use.

Your friend is your first lifeline. Pick a friend who’s smart and willing to give you constructive criticism – someone you can bounce ideas off of.

If you don’t have a friend who can do that, swing by the Writing Center for a proofreader. Or, visit your professor during their office hours for extra assistance. If your friend is unable to help, a change of venue could help. If you need silence and isolation, try hitting up Love Library. If you want a chill spot where silence isn’t necessary, try the The Coffee House.

Make sure to bring a set of headphones. Not only will you need music breaks like I mentioned earlier, but you’ll need to watch some viral videos on YouTube. For a quick pick-me-up to accompany your espresso shots and 5 Hour Energy drinks, watch “Dumb Ways to Die” or search for “get low coffee shop.”

After your solo giggle session (which has likely caused hipster-looking college kids to glare at you), get back on the struggle bus and

keep trudging forward. You are the little engine that could. You’re halfway there, but just need a jump-start.

Now, your next lifeline is only available to you if you’re 21 or over. My current secret weapon to combating writer’s block is white wine, preferably moscato. Get a cheap but decent bottle. (I recommend Barefoot.) Have a glass or two while sitting at home, mulling over how much you don’t want to write your paper.

Eventually, your creativity will come back.

Being a little uninhibited can be good for starting a paper. You’re not as critical of yourself, and are more likely to power through your inability to write a sentence.

When the wine wears off (or you’ve had to stay sober, because you’re a minor), it’s time to call in your next lifeline: your mom or dad.

Nothing will get you back on track faster than a phone call home. Mention how stressed you are and how much you don’t want to study.

Your parent will quickly get your ass into gear with three simple words: Just do it. You are a reflection of how well they parented you. The last thing they’ll accept is mediocrity or poor excuses in which you blame Pinterest for an F paper.

With your lifelines used up, it’s time to buckle down and just write. More than likely, the sentence you’re overthinking about will not adversely affect your grade. Professors have tons of papers to grade at this time of year. As long as you’re concise, make sense and show an understanding of the material, you’ll be fine.

Don’t aim for perfection. The effort you put forth will be obvious when you turn in a quality paper. There is no such thing as a paper that cannot be improved. There will always be one awkward sentence. While you should aim to find those things and correct them, sometimes it’s better just to submit the paper as is.

If you follow all these steps, you should be less stressed and more motivated to write those final papers. That or at least you’re wine drunk and on Pinterest.

Damien Croghan is a senior newseditorial and global studies major.

Reach him at opinion@dailynebraskan.com

College degrees aren’t necessary for success

itting in a study room at 2 a.m., typing away at a 10-page paper that’s due at 8 a.m., I ponder the thought of dropping out of college. I had never planned for this day to come, but it has. And, I’m only a freshman.

We were all warned prior to college how difficult it would be. I took that as a challenge and gladly accepted it. But college is the kind of difficult that you can’t even begin to fathom until you actually experience it. So, as I naïvely entered college, I quickly realized how unprepared I was.

To most, the idea of dropping out is just a thought, not a plan of action. The truth is, in a country like ours, dropping out doesn’t automatically make you a loser. Many successful Americans don’t have college degrees.

It seems that ever since we were young, a college degree has been deemed the only way to get anywhere in life. Now that idea has been somewhat skewed with moguls like Mark Zuckerberg, who created Facebook, or Steve Jobs, who was the CEO of Apple Inc. There’s also Bill Gates, who is the on-again off-again richest man in America, with billions of dollars and no college degree.

Now, obviously there are many successful people in America who have college degrees, but that’s not the point. The point is that it’s possible to be hugely successful without one. So, is college worth it? And if

not, how does one become successful without a college degree?

College is expensive. If you’re a student who didn’t receive scholarships or grants, or your parents don’t have a college fund for you, you’re probably paying for college through loans. According to the Student Body Scholarship Association, tuition levels have quadrupled since the early 1980s.

Is all of this debt made by tuition alone worth it? Peter A. Thiel, the billionaire cofounder of PayPal, doesn’t think so. He disagrees with this so much that in 2010 he started the Thiel Fellowships program.

This program pays students who are under the age of 20 $100,000 to drop out of college and start treating the world as their classroom.

College is stressful. Where else is the only way to be successful defined by a huge lack of sleep? Not only that, but it almost seems that the workload in college is more than what most people would have in their actual careers. I’ve always been told to do what makes me happy. All college makes me feel is miserable, stupid and insignificant.

College isn’t reliable. Finding a career after receiving your college degree isn’t a promise. It’s a fact that in our current economy graduated college students are having a hard time finding jobs. This was presented during the presidential debates when a college student asked the candidates a question along the lines of “How can you make

SAMEE CALLAHAN it possible for me to be absolutely sure I can get a job with my degree?” This kind of instability is exposing to us that college isn’t the only way to get anywhere in life.

College is necessary for some people.

While I would love to say nobody needs to go to college, I would be very wrong. Students who aspire to have careers such as doctors or lawyers have no choice.

College can be unnecessary for certain people. Music majors seem to have it the hardest with it being almost impossible for them to graduate in four years. Not only is it a lengthy amount of time in the long run, but also the music majors I know can hardly ever get away from practicing on a daily basis. However, if the passion and ambition is there, I feel that almost any musician can

make it on his or her own without a degree.

I know of a music professor at a major Nebraska University who travels the country playing the instrument he loves, teaches college students how to drum and is very well off. He did this by following his passion, gaining experience, making connections and moving to New York – a place with vast opportunities for musicians.

Those students who aspire to be a part of Silicon Valley are practically encouraged not to go to school. Princeton dropout and creator of the Undrip mobile application, Mick Hagen, even says, “Here in Silicon Valley, it’s almost a badge of honor,” referring to being a dropout. He says that college sets a lot of limitations, and those who drop out want to create more and do more.

So there it is, every reason why you shouldn’t (or should) be in college. But realizing where you should be right now is only the first step. What comes next is the hard part, figuring out how to get to where you ultimately want to be.

Dropping out of college is not an excuse to be lazy. Actually, if you want to do it right, dropping out of college is an excuse to be successful on your own terms.

As a motivated college dropout, the first thing you’ll want to do is begin networking.

Meet people in your community whose careers are what you want to be. You can also email some people who are better known in that area. You’d be surprised at how many people are happy to respond.

The next huge step is a portfolio. A lot of internships may seem (or even say) that they’re only aimed at college students. You can easily change their minds by sending in your résumé and portfolio. If you’ve worked your butt off on enough stuff to present a portfolio better than most college students, you’ll definitely stand out from the rest.

Through internships and other involvements you begin to build your experience.

For some, experience can prove to be a better educator than college courses.

I can’t say I’m too sure of what happens after this point. Somehow these people made it work for them, but every person’s journey is different.

Whether you decide to stay in college or not, it’s always important to stay motivated. Good things don’t happen to those who wait. Good things happen to those who work their asses off and never give up.

So next time you’re stressing out in a study room at 2 a.m. in the morning, ask yourself if it’s really worth it. If the answer is yes, then you’ve got 20,000 other students and your professors who have your back. If your answer is no, then you should have a real love for your goals and an intense sense of ambition for your future.

Samee Callahan is a freshman journalism major. Follow her on Twitter @sameecallie and reach her at opinion@dailynebraskan.com.

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campus

wednesday, december 5, 2012 dailynebraskan.com @dnartsdesk

“Questionable Content” by Jeph Jacques QuestionableContent.net Set in a college town in New England, “Questionable Content” tells the story of a group of friends (and a couple anthropomorphic robots) who enjoy indie music and hanging out in coffee shops as life occurs around them. The comic has been updated nearly every weekday since 2003 and reading through the strips, it’s fun to watch both the characters and the art style as they’ve developed through the years. The comic shows no signs of dying down anytime soon, and it’ll be exciting to watch the plot continue to unfold.

“Pictures for Sad Children” by John Campbell PicturesForSadChildren.com Easily one of the most abstract comics out there, “Pictures for Sad Children” seems to have a constant theme of depression and despair. While this initially sounds like a bummer, there’s a level of humor in the comic that keeps readers coming back. Couple this with Campbell’s simple but beautiful art style and readers get a treat, despite however sad any particular day’s strip may be. It may not be a strip one would want to read all in one sitting, but it is a very interesting read nonetheless.

picture in picture

“Penny Arcade” by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik Penny-Arcade.com Fourteen years strong, “Penny Arcade” is one of the biggest comics online. Built around two men, Gabe and Tycho, and their love for everything video games, the comic often parodies new video game releases and the gaming industry as a whole.

Both creators of the strip have become respected members of the gaming industry, holding multiple “Penny Arcade Expos” each year, which draw thousands of fans.

The comic has also spawned its own game series, Penny Arcade’s “On The Rainslick Precipice of Darkness.”

Web comics present online entertainment options for niche, mass audiences Story by Tyler Keown | Art by Bea Huff

“Nedroid” by Anthony Clark Nedroid.com

The ink may be digital, but the reader resonance is every bit as real.

As with many mediums, the advent of the Internet created a new platform for drawn comics and brand new niches for comic consumers across the world.

They’re often drawn in programs such as Photoshop, without a pen ever actually touching paper.

The medium tends to get overlooked in the vast sea of the Internet when most people might still consider comics to speckle the Saturday paper or show up exclusively in books about superheroes, so here’s a few synopses about some of the bigger web comics running right now just in time for you to spend your entire holiday break catching up on what you’ve missed. arts@dailynebraskan.com

“Nedroid” is one of the most charming comics a reader could hope for. It follows the adventures of a potato-shaped bear (aptly named Beartato) and his best friend/mega-tough guy Reginald, a birdlooking fellow constantly concerned with looking cool. While characters are recurring, there isn’t much of an overarching story, leaving each strip to make its (usually hysterical) joke and move on.

Clark isn’t afraid to try different art styles, too, sometimes changing the color pallette, sometimes taking a whole new approach stylistically. These elements all add to the strip’s charm.

Web comic creator discusses ‘Gunshow’ tyler keown dn

“XKCD” by Randall Munroe XKCD.com Chances are you’ve seen a friend (possibly a science major) post a strip of Munroe’s on Facebook or Twitter. Each comic is separate from the rest (hold for a few exceptions) and many jokes are a bit higher-brow than what you’d see elsewhere.

Munroe doesn’t pander to his audience; there are strips that require more than a cursory knowledge of science to get, but despite this, “XKCD” is a comic that can easily eat up an hour or two of your free time. Don’t dismiss it because of its deceptively simple art style. This is a comic with a healthy amount of work put into it.

“Gunshow,” the brainchild of KC Green, is a hodgepodge of absurdist humor, everchanging art styles and culture references. Not a comic to bring home to mom, “Gunshow” is an anything-goes series that feeds well into “just one more” humor.

The DN recently spoke with Green about web comics as an art medium and the work that goes into his comic.

DN: What separates web comics from traditional print comics/other artforms?

KC: Well, mostly the obvious: that it’s on the Web and is unique in what it can do that others can’t ... things like HTML tricks, animation, etc. And I also guess because most of the comics online are free to read, unlike a book you have to pay for (or check out from a library).

It’s got its cons too. Just having comics online isn’t the same as a well-made, well-de-

‘gunshow’: see page 7

American exceptionalism rests at core of institutional vote Nebraska Board of Education to vote on changes to social science curriculum cameron mount dn Whether the United States government is qualitatively unique is a hotly debated topic. Even more controversial is how that proposition should be taught in school.

On Friday, the Nebraska Board of Education will vote on proposed changes to the K-12 Social Sciences state standards, the first in more than a decade, sparking new interest in what should be included in the classroom.

“We’ve been very pleased by the response that we’ve gotten from

the public,” said Donlynn Rice, Curriculum Director of the Nebraska Department of Education. “Social studies is citizenship in action and people are very interested in what happens with these standards.”

On Nov. 15, public forums were held in five Educational Service Units in North Platte, Wakefield, La Vista, Lincoln and Kearney to receive feedback. An online survey about the revisions received an unprecedented response rate with more than 1,000 completed surveys, in addition to emails and letters.

“The past year there was a committee formed, made up of K-16 educators, from elementary educators all the way through college professors,” said Harris Payne, director of Social Studies at the Nebraska Department of Education.

The changes in social sciences follow similar recent revisions in math, language arts and science.

“The process we’ve been using is getting input and then bringing that input back to the board subcommittee and the social studies committee to work on and revise standards.”

One of the most controversial aspects of the new standards is the lack of mention of American exceptionalism, the idea that American government is qualitatively unique because of its founding in liberal ideology. President Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney clashed on their views of American exceptionalism earlier this year, a disagreement which showcased the intense divide on the idea’s merits.

“I look at history as cyclical, so I don’t think that America is exceptional any more than the Romans were exceptional 2,000 years ago, or England was exceptional in the 1600s and 1700s,” said Josh Bivins, a senior history major at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. “I think the

broader trend in history at the college level is that they’re doing more bottom-up history. Not just history from rich white people, but more diverse. And I think schools are kind of adopting that, but at the same time, they’re reluctant to do so.”

Opponents of American exceptionalism argue mandating its place in schools will further an inaccurate whitewashing of history.

“Textbooks are already slanted towards promoting American triumphs and pushing many of the bad things that we have done under the rug or even erasing them all together,” said Nick Baker, a special education graduate student. “There are many things that kids do not learn about in school, since so many teachers simply teach to the textbook.”

Baker cited Christopher Columbus as a figure portrayed in an inaccurate light because of a focus on

America’s unique status.

“Our textbooks generally show him as a hero and the discoverer of America, but he actually slaughtered and enslaved many innocent natives,” he said. “I think that if American exceptionalism becomes a stand a r d , then students will essentially be learning propaganda rather than the truth about our history.”

education: see page 7

Chris Rhodes | DN

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dailynebraskan.com

wednesday, december 5, 2012

journey to the poles Final, harrowing misadventure opens door for successors

Despite straw grasping, strip club and museum bear no real similarities dyn’s failed attempts at being 21) and headed back to the DN offices.

“What if we go to the Lincoln Children’s Museum and back to the club tomorrow night?” she proposed on the ride back.

And a new plan was unfortunately born.

MISADVENTURES OF MEG & ME

the emotional scarring we received from the full-nude strip club. jourdyn kaarre Tyler and I sat in my car for one minute before entering the club. You’d think we were going to have to do the stripping ourselves.

Crouching beside Meg on my bedroom floor, We were anxious.

I begged her to follow through on her promWe entered and received two free drinks. ise to headbutt me until I black out. I whisTyler opted for the orange juice. In an attempt pered, “Don’t back down” into her ear. to limit contact with everything in the buildShe did back down. I had to find a difing, I chose a canned drink. ferent way to deal with my stress from finals We found a round table a comfortable disweek. I’ve already been caught coloring in tance away from the main stage. numerous janitorial closets around campus, “I hope this seat is clean,” from which I have been infiI thought, knowing it wasn’t. nitely banned. I needed to find I applied After all, some of the dancers a different outlet for my stress. plentiful were sitting in some of the This ultimately led me to the other chairs, sans pants.

Lincoln’s Children’s Museum, hand sanitizer the I noticed the TVs weren’t and most unfortunately, a fullwhole time, but playing porn, as they usunude strip club. ally were. Instead, a basketball For these adventures, Tyler I do believe Tyler game gave me somewhere to Keown joined me. He was reput my eyes. ally forced into doing it, which and I still walked Yes, I have been here beis how a lot of people end up away with pink fore. What the hell else is there hanging out with me these to do on a Wednesday night? eye and lice.” days.

Maybe it was the Diet Coke The club and the Chiland Pad Thai I’d consumed a dren’s Museum are similar, half hour before, but this believe it or not. They each smelled like hard time was different. work and had a stripper pole. The pole at the These museum is for children to practice their fire women fighting, but I knew better. w e r e The museum smelled like toddlers breakpering a sweat while climbing ladders and evading their parents. A different stench of physical exertion hung in the air at the club.

There was the initial smell of the hard work of young, talented women working their magic on a stage before lonely men. There was also the scent of oil and cigarettes with a hint of sorrow in the air.

I’m unsure why there were children at the museum on a Tuesday afternoon, but sure enough the creatures roamed the place. One child fell out of the fire engine, while another ran around sporting her own face paint artistry (it was pitch black, and I had a hard time looking at her). My heart goes out to the poor child who evaporated, as we found a Snow White costume left in a heap at the bottom of one of the stairs.

Tyler and I sat and climbed on things that were intended for people half our size. He threw around phrases like, “Stop crying, Jesus” and “What a bunch of dumbos” and “Straight scrubs,” which the other guests were, I cannot deny.

He did his own face painting. I joyfully applied a brown mustache to my upper lip. I peeked around the corner of the mirror to find Tyler scrubbing off the war paint he applied to his entire face.

Tyler’s upper lip curled when he realized the nursing mother’s room was in fact not a part of the experience. He exited quickly.

I enjoyed the mole mound the most. I was forming art all this time. Their bodies contorttoo terrified at what might be festering in its ed into shapes I’d never seen. Men even took corridors to explore it first hand. But, the idea off their glasses when the women approached of seeing small humans scurry through tunthem for a little one-on-one action. Genius. nels like naked mole rats is an appealing one With some stretching exercises in the to me. morning, I bet I could do this, too. Which is Resisting the urge to buy the “Diana Colwhy I’ve decided to drop out of school and lection” doll that had a bag over its head in pursue my destiny. the museum’s gift shop, we left.

I’ll be moonlighting at the Children’s MuI applied plentiful hand sanitizer the seum on their amateur pole. whole time, but I do believe Tyler and I still jourdyn kaarre is a junior jourwalked away with pink eye and lice. nalism major. reach her at arts@ Then again that’s nothing compared to dailynebraskan.com

Tyler and Jourdyn wrap up semester with trips to Children’s Museum, strip club Art by Lauren Vuchetich

Tyler keown A week or two ago, I sat in A&E budget as my editor told me he’d like if Jourdyn and I did a joint column to finish the semester. Across the table, Jourdyn and I exchanged looks of disgust.

I texted her afterward to put her in charge of finding an adventure. In between her esoteric (see also: blathering) texts, we joked about breaking into a co-worker’s car. Satisfied with how funny we both were, we decided to think later.

At 1:10 that night, I got a text from her that read, “STRIP CLUB LOL.”

She Spots The Pole

We decided on a strip club in Waverly. Here’s an excerpt about the place from a random Google review: “Really friendly here and good clean looking girls but no liquor but if you chug some str8 vodka before you go in, then order some oj inside its like a screw driver mixing in your stomach.”

I asked, but the DN wouldn’t cover the cost of str8 vodka.

Internal screwdriver or no, it was settled. Our editor approved with apprehension, and I was stuck.

Out of wholesome guilt, I called my mom to tell her what the pride of Ord, Neb., would be doing soon.

She made me promise “not to touch anyone,” because I could get “more than babies.” I also promised her I wouldn’t sit down. Or breathe.

Or cast my eyes above knee-level.

And that’s how I, terrified of the sights and scents before me, almost ended up going to a Waverly strip joint on a Monday evening.

She Approaches The Pole

Jourdyn and I wandered the hard streets of Waverly for a bit, looking for the club and only finding a Subway. We called upon our space phones to guide us, and guide us they did. We pulled up to what appeared to be a barn other barns would make fun with the lights off.

“It’s closed,” Jourdyn said with relief. We debated what to do next, including going to another strip club in Lincoln (a possibility ruled out by Jour-

She Takes Time To Clean The Pole

Walking into the Lincoln Children’s Museum, I was still undecided about a few things.

How would we do this? How do you compare a haven for children to a den of sin? Should I try to show how both serve as a playground, albeit for hopefully different ages? What if I just put my experiences next to each other and let the juxtaposition do the work?

Putting off the decision, I approached the desk and asked for a ticket.

“Are you meeting someone here?” the lady asked. I assumed she meant a kid.

“No, we’re journalists. We’re writing about places to go in Lincoln.” I replied.

“Then it’s free!” she said, smiling.

Oh, the guilt that I felt.

The Children’s Museum was made up of different exhibits, many of which reflect real Lincoln businesses. Tracy’s Body Shop, Hy-Vee and Sam & Louie’s were all accounted for.

There were also sponsor-less exhibits, including “Used Tires” and “A Big Version of Chess You Play On The Floor.”

The museum is very fun place, even for a 22-year-old man. I played a theremin (a dream of mine for a couple years now) and learned about aquifers. I sat on what was once a motorcycle. I saw a kid fall out of a fire truck (he survived.)

I walked away from the Children’s Museum optimistic about the future and ready to explore life to its fullest.

T h e n we went to the strip club.

She Mounts The Pole

Jourdyn drove this time in what would have been a sign of gender equality if we weren’t driving to a place where women are paid to be objectified.

We sat in her car for a minute as we pumped ourselves up. It’s for journalism, we argued to no one. You will be a man after this night, I never thought once.

I glanced out the window and stared at the mid-70s Chevrolet Caprice Classic for comfort. Its 22-inch chrome rims seemed to say, “Tyler, manifest destiny! Carpe diem!”

A STUDY IN SCARLET

We bought our tickets, which were half-price because Tuesday night is student appreciation night and wandered inside. Bikinis glittered behind glass cases, displayed like mounted game.

The bartender said “hello” to us both and told us about how our admission slips would allow us one free drink.

I got some orange juice, hoping I’d get some kind of placebo effect despite not chugging any str8 vodka. Jourdyn got a Diet Coke, and we sat down.

A girl danced on a stage across the room, wearing skin and little else.

Lights of all colors slowly rotated around the room, slightly distorting my view and making it hard to tell what was happening.

On either side of the stage sat a line of men who were very good at frowning. They would sit and frown as the performer would touch their heads with her hands and sometimes not her hands.

When their heads were touched, they frowned less, but no one was too excited.

I noticed that ESPN was on each of the televisions around the club. The Oklahoma City Thunder were playing the Brooklyn Nets.

“Wanna dance?” I heard a man’s voice as Kevin Durant hit a jump shot.

I turned around. He wasn’t speaking to Jourdyn or I, thankfully. A performer who had recently gotten off stage was standing behind us. She grabbed his arm.

“I would love to,” she mustered as Jourdyn and I exchanged looks. I looked down at my orange juice and realized I had been drinking from a reusable glass and got sad.

She Has Fallen Off The Pole

We left after 15 minutes.

On the drive home, Bob Marley’s “No Woman, No Cry” was playing in the car. I couldn’t understand the lyrics, but they probably fit the somber mood the night had taken.

And now, I compare a children’s museum with a strip club. There are obvious parallels to draw. Both smelled of diapers at times. Both taught me about the world around me. Both had glitter.

Both had a pole to slide down. At one place, you were supposed to pretend you were a firefighter. I’ll let you guess which.

But on a deeper level, these places aren’t too dissimilar. I mean, yeah, one was wholesome and meant to help encourage young minds to develop and the other a place where you pay money so someone will pay attention to you.

Consider this, though. Both places are designed to bring happiness to their customers. Both places offer experiences that are hard to find elsewhere.

And, rule of three, both places have restrooms open to the public.

I don’t think I learned anything, though. I don’t think my heart expanded or that a corner has been turned. I think I just spent a Tuesday (and six bucks) going to a children’s museum and then a strip club.

Such is life. tyler keown is a sophomore boradcast journalism major. reach him at arts@ dailynebraskan.com

That could have gone better: an ongoing series on relationships that didn’t go on

GIMME 5: Educational Gifts

Could they have really gone better?

Five Holiday Gifts To Teach Your Selfish Child a Lesson

1.

A Lucky Cricket - Tell your spoiled brat crickets don’t need to eat (because you have no idea what they actually eat) and when it dies, tell the child that’s what would happen to him/her if you behaved as irresponsibly.

2.

Mouse Trap - This game will confuse the shit out of your child, as it would anyone. Eventually the kid will be humbled.

3.

A Dorian Gray-Type Painting - This increasingly grotesque rendering of your child’s likeness will surely drive him or her to either goodness or madness.

4.

“A New Little Brother” - Tell your kid that it has “a new little brother on the way,” so it better shape up. With no notion of how gestation periods work, this could improve your child’s behavior for years.

5.

A Voodoo Doll of him or her self - This will teach responsibility like no other kind of potential dismemberment.

Compiled by Chance Solem-Pfeifer | Art by Chris Rhodes

Editor muses on series’ shortcomings after semester of recalled bummers ››Editor’s note: To avoid the deflating long-term effects of sheer embarrassment, the names of all parties in the following column (Part 10 in our series of failed romance stories) have been changed.

Except for Chance’s. He wrote this. ››

We started out just tacking the phrase on to the end of these “failed relationship” or “bad date” columns. It was funny. It was quippy. It accurately described the kind of sardonic, shruggy feeling you get when something shitty — but also really inevitable-feeling — happens.

That ... could’ve gone better.

But if you type it enough times — arbitrarily — at the end of nine different, individual stories, you start to wonder, however predictably, if it’s true.

That, to me, is the trick of this series.

Sure if you accidentally go on a date with a married guy, maybe your day wasn’t the best (even though the story is a great one forever). Or if your longtime girlfriend semi-spitefully told you she was a lesbian, then, that’s a big blow to the ego, and it raises questions. Does that make me a lesbian? Am I sure I understand how lesbians work?

But I want to complicate these issues.

We all get to the end of relationships at one point or another. And, yeah, sometimes you’re James Garner in “The Notebook,” and you just kick it in the arms of the woman you love while she also dies and the hospital orderly is all, “Well, this is unsettling, but convenient. Clean up in Aisle Love.”

But most of the time, it just sucks. We’re hurt and exhausted. We’re painfully guilty, but trying to rationalize our innocence. And that’s some kinda circus act.

But could things have gone better? It’s either my privilege

We’re hurt and exhausted. We’re painfully guilty, but trying to rationalize our innocence. And that’s some kinda circus act.” or obligation as a senior winding up for one more roll of the college dice (before moving on to a promising career in real dice-throwing) to weigh in from this vantage point.

For some of the younger authors of our relationship columns, there’s embarrassment, there’s bitterness, there’s tenderness and there’s really raw feeling. I think only the last one changes.

And I’ll be damned if I can figure out if these things become more or less of a punchline as time passes. You’re maybe harder on yourself, and you have a little less tolerance for the way you used to feel. Someday, you maybe even grow out of “The Notebook” jokes to hide the fact you don’t really know anything about anything.

But that should feed into the real question, could these stories have really gone better?

If we’re all some homogeneous mass (think Pizza the Hutt, but with emotions and experiences instead of pizza) of the choices we’ve made and the

things we felt, then it gets tough to separate the human being from the things that shaped him or her.

And that’s what “The Mindy Project” and “(500) Days of Summer” and these columns can never really capture, but perhaps why anonymity to our writers in this case is so superficially important. While we’re talking about self-centered dicks and stuck-up bitches, our attraction to them or expectations for them probably says more about our personal misgivings than it does about those awful, twisted, miserable people.

And if we really believe things could have gone better, then we believe we could’ve been better — that what we loved and how we loved could’ve been better without us first knowing it.

And there I think we could have the emotional decency to forgive. Just not those bastards who hurt our feelings. arts@ dailynebraskan.com

dailynebraskan.com

wednesday, december 5, 2012

7

education: from 5 Others say public schools don’t teach enough of what makes the United States government stand out.

“I didn’t learn about how much risk people like Thomas Jefferson took to make us independent,” said Rebekah Shultz, a senior history major. “I think that’s something that should be taught in second or third grade, so that children can get a concept of it then.”

When dealing with more uncomfortable aspects of history, it can be difficult to determine what is age appropriate for younger grade levels.

“There’s a lot of things that they don’t teach the younger kids because they don’t want them to think ‘Oh, we couldn’t have done that,’” said Janelle Ruzicka, a senior history major.

“Like when Lincoln said it was OK to hang all of those Indians in Iowa. Not very many people know about that. I didn’t learn about the bad stuff that happened, only the good things.”

When dealing with American exceptionalism,

ics, geography and history, and that the revisions also add specific standards for grades K-5. These revisions are the first for the state since the 1990s, which can be attributed to a change in assessment policy five years ago.

“Part of the reason we didn’t revise standards for so many years is that we were utilizing what’s called the Nebraska STAR System, where districts were developing their own locally developed assessments directly off of the state standards,” said Rice. “Because of that, we were not revising any standards, because districts needed to be able to have them stay stable to be able to develop assessments.”

That changed in 2007, when the legislature passed a new state-wide assessment system along with a statute requiring districts to revise standards every five years.

Payne said the journey leading toward Friday’s vote demonstrates the success of the democratic process, an idea inextricably tied to the academic subject it addresses.

“It’s citizenship in action,” Payne said. “It’s a democracy, and people have a right to express their opinion.

And they have.” arts @dailynebraskan.com

some argue that teachers risk allotting too little attention to other cultures and governments.

“I wish that at a younger age I could have been taught more histories of Latin America, South American history, African,” said Adam Lambert, a sophomore history major, remembering his own K-12 education. “We are a Western culture, and we’re so interested in Western history that a lot of that stuff is left out.”

The idea of American exceptionalism has garnered some of the most intense reactions, but Payne emphasized that the standards revisions cover and clarify a wide range of topics.

“One of the big things is that we’re adding personal finance to the standards,” he said. “I think that’s a result of the fact that the economic crisis has heightened people’s awareness to being able to manage your finances.”

He said the standards have been structured according to economics, civ-

students weigh in on academic teaching of american history I wish that at a younger age I could have been taught more histories of Latin America, South American history, African. We are a Western culture, and we’re so interested in Western history that a lot of that stuff is left out.” adam lambert

sophomore history major

There’s a lot of things that they don’t teach the younger kids because they don’t want them to think ‘Oh, we couldn’t have done that.’ … I didn’t learn about the bad stuff that happened, only the good things.” janelle ruzicka senior history major

I didn’t learn about how much risk people like Thomas Jefferson took to make us independent. I think that’s something that should be taught in second or third grade, so that children can get a concept of it then.” rebekah shultz senior history major

I think the broader trend … at the college level is that they’re doing more bottom-up history. Not just history from rich white people, but more diverse. And I think schools are kind of adopting that, but at the same time, they’re reluctant to do so.” josh bivins

senior history major

‘gunshow’: from 5 signed physical book. It can’t replace that, not even with digital comic downloads for iPad and such.

Though I would hope it just lets itself be its own thing and not try to mimic the other.

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DN: How much work goes into “Gunshow”? What is the process like?

KC: A lot and a little at the same time. I’m always thinking of new stuff and jokes that could become the next “Gunshow,” but I also am just a quick drawer and can finish them up in a timely manner. The first part is coming up with a concept or joke that sorta comes to me naturally or I do free writing and construct something through that mind spill. I usually visualize what the flow of the comic is and space out in a word document the panels, what’s happening, who’s saying what. Then I go straight to penciling, lettering and drawing. Makes it more fun and quick for me.

DN: As a medium, what do you think web comics would need to do to grab more mainstream attention?

KC: I don’t know for sure. Be

good at what you do? That seems to be working with people like Chris Hastings (“The Adventures of Dr. McNinja”), Ryan North (“Dinosaur Comics”), “The Penny Arcade” friends, Kate Beaton (“Hark! A Vagrant”) and lots more. I don’t know if any of them want to grab mainstream attention.

DN: Is grabbing that attention even anything you guys worry about?

KC: I don’t know about everyone else, but I don’t know if I am searching for prime time slot, blockbuster movie attention. Being a niche is fine and more and more people discover my work on their own.

DN: Where should a new reader start with web comics?

KC: Wherever they want. arts @dailynebraskan.com

this week in campus events: Poetry by soldier/poet Brian Turner

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8

dailynebraskan.com

wednesday, december 5, 2012

Kim sets sights on life after rifle career ends Sara Hinds DN

As a senior, Kim has competed for NU’s rifle team for four years. Now she’s ready to step away from the range for a bit and take a break.

“Rifle’s been great. I’m definitely ready to … close out my rifle season,” Kim said.

After almost 10 years, Joyce Kim’s rifle career will come to a pit stop once the season ends in March.

The beginning of her senior season was spent recovering from stresses in her neck. Kim said they were believed to be from shooting for so long. After not being able to move her neck for a week, Kim has been making visits to a chiropractor and physical therapist.

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She missed the first two matches of the season before shooting for the first time as a senior on Oct. 13. Kim has shot in every match since then, but has not shot as one of the five whose points count toward the team score.

Head coach Stacy Underwood said the situation could be different come the second half of the spring season.

“I think she’s still competing for a spot on the team,” Underwood said.

“It just is one of those things if we can get everything lined up and really just make her a little bit more consistent at the level that I know she can compete at.”

Kim has competed in rifle since she was 13 but has shot recreationally her whole life, crediting her family and especially her dad for her start in the sport.

She said her dad was a pistol shooter and signed Kim and her brother up for a junior program.

“It came very naturally to me, and I really enjoyed doing it,” Kim said.

“Growing up, I had asthma, and I couldn’t play the flute, or I couldn’t do track and field. And so this was a sport that I could finally do, and it didn’t matter what size I was or how fast I was; it’s how precise I can be and how much mental endurance I can give and

Transfer these SCC classes back to UNL

file photo by anna reed | dn

Joyce Kim prepares her rifle. Kim, a four-year member of the rifle team, will take a break from the sport after graduation. how still I could stay.”

When Kim came to college, she found that she put her studies above rifle. As a merchandising major with a minor in marketing, Kim prides herself on the creativity that goes along with her major.

“I feel like my GPA is OK; it’s not 4.0 stellar,” Kim said. “I can’t take a test to save my life, but I can create something out of thin air, and it’ll be like a masterpiece.”

Come May when she graduates, she has no idea of what she’ll be doing career-wise; maybe something in visu-

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Housing Roommates 1 female looking for 2 female roommates at Claremont Park Apartments after December for 8 month lease. Two sized rooms available (The 360/338)with a shared bathroom + utilities. Craiglist listing: http://lincoln.craigslist.org/roo/3439755085.html 2 females looking for a roommate to move in second semester. Should be studious, yet laid back, and enjoys having fun. 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment at Eagle’s Landing. $267 a month + LES and Time Warner. Lease ends in August. Please contact Katie at kfarris1391@huskers.unl.edu Looking for one roommate to live with one male and two female students for the second semester. Can move in January, or in December after graduation. $275/month plus utilities.

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Pay differential for overnight hours. For more information visit: www.centerpointe.org.

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Seeking part-time/on-call Addiction Service Worker’s to provide direct services to our clients. Looking for a mature, responsible, dependable person that is able to work flexible shifts with varied schedules. Must also be a team player with an interest in human services, and work well with law enforcement. Applicant must have excellent communication skills and the ability to work with a diverse population while maintaining professional interaction with clients and peers. Drug and alcohol abuse can affect individuals, families and communities in this position you will provide support, empathy and assistance in working with clients.

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Earn some cash over break and get a great The New On-the-job York Times Syndication SalesschedCorporation training is provided. Flexible discount on your books too! Nebraska Book Check out the Faculty Senate website main uling. Schedule is three days per month, Co. needs your help processing used books620 Eighth for the complete revised policy.

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For more information: 402-437-2600 - To register: Stop by 8800 O St., Lincoln Many additional SCC classes transfer to UNL. Go to our website to learn more.

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al merchandising, financial planning or retail. Whatever she will do in her career, she’ll dedicate all her focus to it.

So while she might still have a few more matches to go before graduation, she knows that her academics and career will come first. “(Rifle) is something that I love to do, but it’s not something that I would choose over a career or choosing any other outlets,” Kim said. “I’d rather focus on my career than continue to compete.” sports@ dailynebraskan.com

Solution, tips and computer program at www.sudoku.com

ACROSS 1 One with a coat of many colors 10 Asian sea name 14 Girl group with a 1986 #1 hit 15 “Sì, mi chiamano ___” (Puccini aria) 16 Like telescopes 17 The Olympic Australis, e.g.

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A T M O S T

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Y O N K E R S

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50 Donning, as loafers 53 Gloom 54 Chilling 55 Short winter day?

56 They may be heard in a temple

1

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8

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14 16 19 22

25

13

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DOWN 1 Redeem 2 Second Triumvirate member 3 David with a role for himself on TV 4 Muscle ___ 5 Junk 6 California’s Montaña de ___ State Park 7 Duchess of Cornwall 8 Mates 9 Dishes eaten with the hands 10 Topic for Catullus 11 Shred 12 Rain forest region 13 Resting spots by the water 14 “Stop!” overseas 20 Pasta go-with 22 Four-time Oscar nominee (never a winner) in the 1930s 23 Motivators 26 Doesn’t merely observe 28 Heady time for soldiers 29 Rapid turnover 30 They’re hard to see through

5

No. 0519

43

39

44

45

47

48

49

50

53

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51

52

Puzzle by Patrick Berry

31 Organization of 39 Herbert Henry Asquith’s socialite Afro-American wife Unity founder 40 ___ Snow, 32 School house?

Russell Brand’s 33 Comic strip that character in Chic Young “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and abandoned to “Get Him to the create “Blondie” Greek” 34 No-goodnik 41 “___ That a 36 Touching bottom?

Time?” (Weavers album) 38 Pet peeve?

44 Poet credited with popularizing haiku 45 They may be heard in a temple 47 Signs 48 Done, in Dunkirk 51 Wanamaker Trophy org.

52 Jewelry box item

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dailynebraskan.com

wednesday, december 5, 2012

9

Wilson keeps improving, adapting to college game My entire day consisted of school, wrestling and bed.”

State-record holder for consecutive wins adapts to losing, keeps working Zach Tegler DN Even after wrestling practice had ended, Austin Wilson was not done working.

At night, Wilson would get home from St. Cecilia High School in Hastings and go downstairs, where he had a personal wrestling mat.

His dad bought the mat when Austin was in elementary school, and they put it in a friend’s garage.

Through the winter, though, the makeshift wrestling room would chill, so they cut the mat down to size to cram it in Wilson’s basement.

Every night following high school team practices, Wilson and three friends would go through drills.

Instead of going out for pizza and pop, going to movies or hanging out with friends, there was Wilson in his basement, lifting weights and molding his technique.

“Pretty much all through high school during wrestling season my entire day consisted of school, wrestling and bed,” Wilson said.

And it worked. Wilson won the last 143 matches of his high school career — a state record. By the time he decided to wrestle at Nebraska, Wilson was not accustomed to losing.

When Wilson was a kid, his family moved frequently in order to follow his dad, Craig, around for work.

But after his son went to kindergarten in Colorado, Craig Wilson – who wrestled at Wyoming – decided to settle his family in Hastings.

By then, 6-year-old Wilson had already picked up wrestling, winning the first tournament he ever entered.

“Then I fell in love with the gold medal and the winning,” Wilson said.

Since he was in third grade, Wilson had dreamed of winning four high school state titles. But in his freshman season, he lost in the semifinals at the Nebraska Class C State Wrestling Tournament at 119 pounds. He got third place.

“That’s when I really turned things around and got to work,” Wilson said. “Because I never wanted to feel like that again. I didn’t want to feel like all my work had been for nothing.”

Wilson increased his training, including in his own basement. The

Austin Wilson nu wrestler

file photo by morgan spiehs | dn

Austin Wilson takes down Cody Yohn of Minnesota. Wilson, who used to train in his basement during high school after practice, is trying to get used to rebounding from losses in college as he tries to improve his techniques and grow into a winner. extra practice gave him an edge, and he never looked back.

“When I went out on the mat, I know that I’ve worked longer and harder and done more than everyone else,” Wilson said.

As a sophomore at 130 pounds, Wilson struck the gold he had dreamed of since he was a kid. With a 47-0 record and a first-period pin in the title match, he won the state championship.

“Just to get my hand raised, to know that I finally won a state championship — I was one step closer to doing what I always wanted to,” Wilson said.

His junior year, he did it again at 145 pounds. A state record 48 wins — with no losses — not only won

him another championship, but also caught the attention of the Nebraska wrestling team coaches.

“He really got on our radar his junior year,” NU assistant wrestling coach Bryan Snyder said. “We had him in for an early visit the first part of his senior year.”

Wilson signed to wrestle for his home state Huskers in October 2010.

The following year, Wilson capped his high school career by winning a third-consecutive state championship for St. Cecilia. This time, he won at 160 pounds, and once again he finished with a 48-0 record.

But Wilson never rested to admire his gold. He didn’t take time off. He had to adjust to a new level

basketball: from 10

hab instead of drills.

The break was the longest time he has gone without wrestling since he was in third grade.

“I was just itching to get back out there and wrestle,” Wilson said.

This season, Wilson got his chance. After the first dual of the year, Wilson won the starting job at 165 pounds for the Huskers, and he has wrestled his way to a 5-3 record so far. Snyder said that for someone who hasn’t been accustomed to losing, Wilson has handled defeat well so far.

“He doesn’t get down on himself and he has a really positive attitude and positive mindset about getting better,” Snyder said. “At

athletes: from 10

She’s becoming a bit more versatile.

I think she’s doing more than settling for shooting threes this year.”

Connie Yori

women’s basketball coach

anything too threatening to Nebraska, but its defense could cause some problems for the Nebraska guards. The Blue Jays held No. 17 Kansas to just 58 points in their 10-point loss, and a South Dakota State team that beat Nebraska earlier this year to 54 points in a nine-point win. No team has scored more than 62 points on them this year, excluding No. 13 Oklahoma, who scored 69.

The Blue Jays are 0-2 at home and 3-0 in away/neutral games. The pair will play in Omaha at the D.J. Sokol Arena on Creighton’s campus with tipoff set for 7:05 p.m. sports@ dailynebraskan.com

of wrestling.

“Everyone who goes D-1 is the best at wrestling wherever they are. So you come to college being the best, the big fish in a little pond and then you get thrown into here with some of the best kids in the nation,” Wilson said. “You have to take your lumps and take your beatings, but just stay positive and keep working and know that everything’s paying off.”

But during his redshirt freshman year at Nebraska, he had a back injury that kept him off the mat for all but 13 matches of his season. For the first two days on the sideline, Wilson enjoyed the break. But he had to watch practice instead of wrestle. He had to do re-

this level, that’s half the battle.”

As for winning?

“That’s the whole reason that I wrestle,” Wilson said. “Just knowing that you put the work in. It was just you versus an opponent, and you were the better man. It’s a great feeling to be able to get your hand raised at the end of the match.”

As the clock wound down in a November match between Wilson and Cody Yohn of Minnesota in Lincoln, the NU Coliseum crowd’s clamor filled the arena.

On the mat, Wilson couldn’t hear the fans roaring. He had Yohn wrapped up and was trying for a match-tying takedown. Above the screaming fans, he heard Snyder and head coach Mark Manning yelling.

“Head up! Pressure back!”

Wilson could hear his coaches because he knew what they wanted him to do. They had hollered it to him before, in practice. Wilson thought if he could send the match into overtime, he would win.

“He was tired, and I knew he was tired,” Wilson said. “I still had more to give.”

But the match ended and Yohn won 8-6. Wilson couldn’t score in time.

“If he was in that situation next time, we fix a couple things — he’ll get it,” Snyder said after the match.

“He just had to turn into it a little more, get his arm out and get over across the kid’s face, and he would have gotten the takedown.”

Even though Wilson had come back from a 5-0 deficit to lose to Yohn — who is No. 9 in the country — by two, he still wasn’t pleased with the loss.

“I already know that I’m good enough to beat kids like that,” Wilson said. “And I could’ve beat him.”

Two weeks later, at the Cliff Keen Invitational in Las Vegas, Wilson went 2-2 and was eliminated on day one of the event.

But the next day, Wilson was on the mat. He did drills with Snyder for an hour.

Even after his tournament had ended, Wilson was not done working. sports@ dailynebraskan.com

file photo by morgan spiehs | dn

Jordan Hooper drives the lane. Hooper scored a season-high 29 points in the team’s last game against Idaho State and figures to be a key player in Wednesday’s game at Creighton.

“Throughout your time doing it, it helps you grow and mature faster,” Cooper said.

“There was a point where I thought ‘man this is really harder than I thought it would be.’ It really kind of hit all at once. The older I got and the more I did it, it became easier.”

Toward the end of his freshman year, Cooper began to feel like he could balance it all out.

Home runs against LouisianaLafayette and Cal-State Bakersfield and a touchdown catch against Texas Tech let him know that it was beginning to come together. His goal was achievable.

“Both of those moments really showed me that I had made it, that I could be successful at that level,” Cooper said. “I never questioned my talent or anything, but that just reassured my decision.

“If I could do it over again, I would.” sports@ dailynebraskan.com

file photo by bethany schmidt | dn

Brett Maher fires off a punt. Maher was a state championship pole vaulter, but opted to drop track and pursue football after his freshman year at Nebraska, ending his run as a two-sporter.

Weigandt plans for second helping after B1G title Junior jumper rebounds from injury, looks to improve by battling teammates Angela Hensel DN Anna Weigandt’s success has been a long time in the making, and she doesn’t want that to stop this year.

The junior triple and long jumper for the Nebraska women’s track and field team initially got off to a slow start for the Huskers.

She had to redshirt her freshman year due because of a shoulder injury that kept her from even being able to practice most of the season.

While Weigandt said she wishes she could have had a normal first year and had more time to practice, she said she feels like she is now starting to regain her confidence.

“I kind of had to go that next freshman year to really build myself up,” Weigandt said. “It was kind of a shaky year. And then last year was the second year after that, and I think it was when I was finally able to get back into things.”

Nebraska coach Gary Pepin said it was that setback that has made Weigandt into an even better jumper and allowed her more time to grow.

“As a team I think we’re look“She’s gotten better every year ing really good we definitely have in most all aspects of her event the conference championships in and I think she has continued to our minds,” Weigandt said. “It’s grow and improve this year,” Pekind of far off, but I think we are pin said. “I think she’s better than where she was at this same time a making the right adjustments and preparing well for it.” year ago.”

While track and field may parWeigandt’s confidence in her performance reached a high last tially be an individual sport, part year when she earned the title of of Weigandt’s success has come from these teammates, especially Big Ten Outdoor Champion for senior jumper Mara Griva. With the triple jump and later ended up the combination of Weigandt and qualifying for the NCAA ChamGriva, both were able to lead the pionships in the same event.

Huskers in the Weigandt ended up finishing 18th She’s gotten jumps category last season. Weigandt at NCAAs with a better every was the Big Ten jump of 42-0 1/2 to Champion for the earn All-American year in most all triple jump in the Honorable Menaspects of her outdoor season tion. and Griva was the While Weigandt event.” champion in the said she generally indoor season last prefers the outdoor Gary Pepin nu track and field coach year. By having a season to indoor, teammate that has that doesn’t mean been right there she isn’t coming into this indoor season motivated with her, Weigandt said that the to do just as well. She said while competition between them has she often feels she is better pre- pushed her to be better.

“It’s friendly, and it’s all nice, pared and more in shape for the but I think it helps us so much in outdoor season, she is hoping to have similar success in this indoor how we do, and I think having her here has definitely helped me season by winning the Big Ten Ininto a better jumper competitivedoor Championships for the triple jump as well as qualify for nation- wise,” Weigandt said.

The combination of Weigandt als.

Her success will be critical for and Griva, along with sophomore a Nebraska team that is looking to Ellie Ewere, will allow all three repeat as Big Ten Indoor Champi- jumpers to push each other, Pepin said. ons.

file photo by morgan spiehs | dn

Triple jumper Anna Weigandt takes flight at a meet last season. After recovering from a shoulder injury her freshman year, Weigandt was able to claim an individual Big Ten Championship in 2012.

Pepin said he sees the hard work that Weigandt has put in is paying off, and will continue to in the future as her confidence con-

tinues to grow.

“I hope that she continues to improve in her event and that she comes as close as she can to maxi-

mizing out her natural abilities,” Pepin said. sports@ dailynebraskan.com

10 women’s basketball

Huskers prep to take on Blue Jays Idaho State game provided bounceback after tough Maryland loss Chris Heady DN Nebraska women’s basketball rebounded from a 19-point thrashing

by Maryland last week by propelling themselves past Idaho State Saturday.

Jordan Hooper’s season-high 29 points lead No. 22 Nebraska to their sixth win against the Big Sky champion Bengals, a team that won 24 games last season. The 60-51 win improved the Huskers’ record making it 6-2 and provided the team with a bit of momentum going into an in-state showdown with Creighton tonight.

Creighton (3-2), the defending Missouri Valley champs, come into the game hot off an overtime win against BYU 65-62. The Blue Jays came back from 15 down in the final eight minutes to get their third win of the year.

Now, the Huskers will try to keep building momentum as they take on in-state rival, Creighton, Wednesday.

The win against Idaho State helped the team shift back into gear after a loss to the Terrapins.

“I thought it was important that we came out firing,” said senior Lindsey Moore after the Idaho State win.

Moore had 13 points, five assists and only one turnover in the contest.

The Husker defensive players started to look like themselves again, forcing 21 turnovers and holding Idaho State to just 36 percent shooting from the floor. Their success branched from switching on screen plays, something the team can do effectively thanks to their speed.

“I thought we played really hard, and there are a lot of things on the box score that aren’t going to show up on the box score, so it’s nice to do all of those things defensively and kind of get back to Huskers basketball and what our defensive system is about,” Moore said.

Head coach Connie Yori thought the aggressiveness across the board was really good overall and was happy to see Hooper improve.

“What Jordan is doing this year that makes her better than she was last year is that Jordan is moving better without the ball,” Yori said. “She is more capable of doing multiple things.

She’s becoming a bit more versatile. I think she’s doing more than settling for shooting threes this year.”

The team’s nine-point win provided a morale boost that will carry over into tonight’s matchup against Creighton.

Creighton’s offensive attack isn’t

basketball: see page 9

wednesday, december 5, 2012 dailynebraskan.com @dnsports

sports

Singled Out story by Chris Peters

Multi-sport stars decline as athletes focus on single sports

K

hiry Cooper was a rare specimen at Nebraska.

At 6-foot-2 and 175 pounds, running a 4.5 second 40-yard dash, he was an ideal athlete. The Los Angeles Dodgers wanted him to play center field, drafting him in the fifth round. Coach Bo Pelini wanted him to play wide receiver, sculpting him to be a starter by his second season.

He knew what he was getting into when he chose Nebraska. Seasons would overlap, his body would try to break down, and his teachers would try to keep him afloat through it all.

Cooper was one of a shrinking number of multi-sport college athletes during his time at Nebraska, which ended in May. He represents the exception, not the rule.

“It’s awful difficult in this day and age (to play two sports) with year-round conditioning that everyone’s got to do,” said Nebraska football recruiting coordinator Ross Els. “Certainly if you get a talented guy that is going to play at a great level in the other sport, then that’s fine. If he’s just going to be another player, then he probably needs to pick one or the other.”

Cooper wasn’t just another player. He file photo by jon augustine | dn was a 1,000 yard receiver and a .330 batter Khiry Cooper prepares for a baseball game. Out of high school, Cooper was in high school. Elite programs around the nation – LSU, Florida, Arkansas – clam- drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the fifth round, but opted instead to come bered for him. He chose Nebraska because to Nebraska and play two sports. Now, he prepares to choose one professionally. he thought he could excel in Lincoln.

“You get the same look everywhere,” above six foot and running a zippy 4.4 secCooper said. “Schools tell you that they’ll often advertised. After spending 10 years let you play both, but you never really at Kansas and 33 years at Nebraska, pro- ond 40-yard dash, the home-grown wide know until you get there.” ducing nearly 500 All-Americans and 42 receiver claimed state championships in Andy Janovich faced a similar decision Academic All-Americans for the Huskers, the 200 meter dash, the long jump and the high jump in track and field. as Cooper. He won back-to-back Nebraska he sees the task as an achievable one, given Pepin pulled him toward track. Pelini’s state championships as a wrestler and was the right program. staff pulled him toward football. named All-Nebraska as a linebacker.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that a Just like with Janovich and wrestling, Nebraska-Kearney pushed him hard, guy can be a successful track and field athoffering him a scholarship to wrestle and lete and compete in multiple sports in col- the small sports failed, even when offering the scholarship that football didn’t. Wulplay football. Janovich wanted to play lege,” Pepin said. “No question about it. lenwaber joined the football team where football for Nebraska-Lincoln, though no Boy or girl.” scholarship offer came. Wrestling coach Pepin said that while it can be difficult he and Janovich both earned playing time Mark Manning offered to juggle multiple sports, this season.

Pepin can remember back to Kansas, him a wrestling scholarthat’s not the biggest reaYou have so when a trio of shot putters placed 1-2-3 ship, but Janovich ultison the numbers are in dein the NCAA Championships just months mately turned it down and cline at Nebraska. He said much time after all three started on the Jayhawks Orfocused on football, taking it has to do with how proconsumed by that grams interact and share ange Bowl offensive line. a chance by walking on to Now, as the casualties of sport spethe team as a fullback. one sport, it would recruits. cialization pile up, the frustration grows “Realistically, I think “We haven’t had anybe tough to go one (sport) would be body that has made a sig- for coaches such as Pepin. He wonders enough,” Janovich said. nificant contribution in our whether football coaches are discouraging back and forth.” it or if athletes are simply bypassing the “You have so much time track and field program opportunity. consumed by that one from football, I would say, Andy Janovich nu fullback “We just haven’t been able to get any of sport, it would be tough to for 10 or 15 years,” Pepin go back and forth.” said. “If there is somebody, those people for whatever the reason is,” Pepin said.

Els, who is in his first I can’t remember.

Four years ago, Pepin thought he had season as Nebraska’s re“In the past, we have cruiting coordinator, said the strain ex- gone and asked a football coach ‘Hey, can locked in a solid multi-sport star. Brett Maher, a pole vaulter from Kearney, ran track tends past just physical wear and tear. this guy come out for track?’ and the ma“If you’re in season, both fall and jority of the time, the answer is yes. But for his freshman year, even winning the spring, how good are you going to do in internally, a strength coach or a position Ward Haylett Invitational. But one year later, he dropped track to kick and punt the classroom?” Els said. “That’s very, coach will tell a guy ‘Hey, you’re only for the Husker football team. Now a severy demanding, so you’ve got to make third team, how in the hell are you going nior, Maher is All-Big Ten for the second sure that it’s a kid who can handle it aca- to go and run track in the spring and mainconsecutive year. demically in both sports, too.” tain your position or move up the depth The last two-way player in Pepin’s Track and field coach Gary Pepin said chart?’ or something.” playing two sports is not as difficult as it is Enter Tyler Wullenwaber. Standing memory who played a significant role in

file photo by andrew dickinson | dn

Khiry Cooper hauls in the final catch of his Nebraska career in a 2011 game.

Cooper is one of a shrinking number of dual-sport athletes, as players shift their focus to one sport year-round.

track is Riley Washington, who played on the Huskers’ 1994 and 1995 national championship teams as a receiver.

“He was a tremendous prospect in track and field,” Pepin said. “But he wasn’t allowed to run track and field until spring ball was over, so he was practically outdoor only.

“We didn’t practically get to use the guy at all.”

That’s where the biggest conflict comes in: spring football.

Fall sports and spring sports are mostly separate in terms of scheduling games, but coaches are putting a greater emphasis on year-round training. Spring football has become a necessity for most players to work their way up the depth chart.

“We want them full time in our sport,” Els said.

Athletes such as Cooper are the only exceptions.

Even so, Cooper still had to participate in spring 7-on-7 football drills until the first game of the baseball season.

“If that’s the only way to get a topnotch kid, then you’ve got to let them do it,” Els said. “It just doesn’t happen very often anymore.”

When Cooper left Nebraska in May, degree in hand, he had completed the rare four-year multi-sport road. Still, the years of double-dipping took their toll on Cooper ’s body, leaving him with a serious foot injury that ended his NU sports career prematurely.

One year removed from his injury, Cooper has signed a contract to play baseball for the Boston Red Sox system. Saturday, he played what might be his secondto-last football game, this time wearing a Tulsa uniform, representing the school he transferred to post-graduation.

His multi-sport career is nearing its end. This spring, he will double up on the field for perhaps the last time, as he prepares for rookie league baseball and pro days for the NFL. In the fall, once he knows where he stands in both sports, he’ll have to decide.

Teams haven’t given him an ultimatum; he has given himself one.

“I kind of make the decision myself,” Cooper said. “I’m not going to pursue both professionally.”

When he looks back on his Nebraska career, he sees the long nights doing homework on the bus back from baseball games and he sees the nights rehabbing injuries, but he also sees the growth he made along the way.

athletes: see page 9

Husker defense shines in early tourney games Blockers shut down UMES and UNI attacks, provide backbone for title run Nedu Izu DN Defense wins championships.

The Nebraska volleyball team isn’t at the big stage of the 2012 NCAA Tournament yet, but the saying could ring true if the team continues on the victorious track it’s on right now.

The Huskers (25-6) have been aided by powerful swings to assist in sweeps against Maryland East Shore (25-14, 25-10, 25-18) and Northern Iowa (25-21, 25-16, 25-21). But don’t underestimate the players on the other side of the net, either.

While the offense hit for an average of .413 to assist in its firstand second-round victories, stealing the show, NU blockers have been quietly dominant on the defensive end.

Meghan Haggerty, Allison McNeal and Hayley Thramer have helped Nebraska hold its last two opponents to .083 and .191 hitting percentages, respectively.

Nebraska coach John Cook said the three middle blockers have played a crucial role in NU’s pursuit of the 2012 national title.

“Our goal is to be balanced,” he said. “We need them to run our game plan. When we have opportunities, we need to make (oppo-

son play. nents) pay.”

“Any opportunity I get, I’m In its first-round match always ready to go out there and against the Hawks, the Huskers held UMES to just a .094 hitting play for my teammates,” McNeal percentage in the first set. The de- said. “Like coach said, these are fense would go on to derail them our last two matches at the Coliseum so we really need to cherish even more, tallying several more blocking assists to hold clamp its it and basically have as much fun as we can, good things will hapopponents to a -.083 percentage in pen from there.” the second set, the negative numMcNeal finished the match ber coming as a result of errors by with three kills, three blocks and the opposing team. a dig to assist Nebraska in 36 digs Haggerty and Thramer, who total. lead the team with 135 and 106 That figure blocks respectively, only jumped in the finished the match We need team’s next match. with three of NU’s In its final six total. The other them to run match at the Colihalf came from our game plan. seum, the Huskers their 6-foot-3-inch trounced the Northteammate off the When we have ern Iowa Panthers, bench. blasting away for “Allison came opportunities, a .371 team hitting in and was paying we need to make percentage, while attention,” Cook also tallying 41 said. “She got right (opponents) pay.” digs. in and got a block John Cook “The game plan right away. That’s nu volleyball coach was to stop their what these kids middles and right need to do. When side (hitters),” we have opportuCook said. nities, we need to make (oppoNU followed the plan to nents) pay.”

The senior would go on a tear perfection right away, stopping UNI’s hitters by allowing them to midway through the second set of the match, recording the first hit successfully only .191 the enthree rallies she participated in, tire match. Thramer ’s team-high three blocks aided the home team registering a kill and two blocks.

She would also go on to add an- to a total of five against the Panthers’ total of four. other to finish the match with In UNI’s first round match three total.

The Schulenburg, Texas, na- against the Kansas State Wildcats, tive said it felt great coming up Krista DeGeest swung .588, addbig for her team to begin postsea- ing 11 kills to help her team live

file photo by bethany schmidt | dn

Meghan Haggerty celebrates during a match. Haggerty leads the team with 135 blocks on the season on a unit that has played stout defense in the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament. another day. She was in for a rude awakening in the second round.

The NU defense shut her and her 350 kills on the season down to just five kills and a .231 hitting percentage the next day.

“That’s the key of the match right there,” Cook said. “She lit up Kansas State last night. They pass really well and are tough to defend.

We did a really good job on her.”

After holding its past two op-

ponents to a combined .137 opponent hitting percentage, Nebraska will continue its quest to a national title when they face Washington in Omaha Friday. sports@ dailynebraskan.com