dn the
dailynebraskan.com
friday, february 21, 2014 volume 114, issue 101
Inside Coverage
Campus Bake sale construction with a twist Architectural major and design evolve at UNL
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Program promotes friendship among students
Cupcake prices highlight wage gap
Free throws give NU 80-67 win
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The Huskers made 37 of 48 free throws against the Penn State Nittany Lions on Thursday night to notch their fourth Big Ten win in a row. photo by jake crandall
in their own words: Pat Tetreault
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changingtimes photo by Shelby Wolfe
Pat Tetreault discusses changing attitudes toward LGBT students at UNL, issues they still face
Friends Beyond Borders hopes to promote interaction between domestic, international students McCartney Martin dn Friends Beyond Borders is back for its second year. Domestic students will host one or two international students for all, or part, of March 7-9, giving them a chance to get off campus and spend time with a domestic student and family. This event gives students an opportunity to experience different cultures and interact with one another as well as make a new friend on campus. The Association of Students of the University of Nebraska’s Diversity Strategic Development Committee organized the event. “I think that being an international student makes it not very easy to break into American students’ social circles, and you may not learn a lot about American culture,” said Aakriti Agrawal, committee member and sophomore actuarial science major. Although Agrawal didn’t participate last year, many of her international friends did. “Many made life-long friends and have kept in touch,” she said. In the registering process, students give information regarding their major, hobbies and interests. Students are then paired with another student with similar interests and of the same gender. Once this process is completed, students are assigned their partner for the weekend. To break the ice and get to know one another, the committee will host a meet-and-greet on March 2. There students will meet with their partner before the weekend. Games and food will be provided along with guidelines and suggestions for the weekend. To kick off the event, another social will be held March 6, where food and games will be provided again. The event officially starts March 7. To ensure that all participants are safe and comfortable, there will be a 24-hour hotline available to the participating students to call at anytime. According to junior mechanical engineering major and diversity strategic development committee chairwoman Mary Pastillo , last year ’s event was a success. “Everyone had a really good time and we’re excited to do it again,” Pastillo said. This year ’s Friends Beyond Borders event has caught the attention of different student organizations. Members of groups such as Global Studies and the Honors Program plan to participate this year. Though the program shows great enthusiasm, the program is seeking more domestic involvement. “We don’t want to turn anyone down,” Pastillo said. The numbers of students signed up is lower than last years, however Pastillo isn’t panicked she said because there’s still
borders: see page 2
Pat Tetreault, director of the LGBTQA Resource Center, talks about her history and involvement with the LGBT community at UNL on Wednesday.
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very week, the Daily Nebraskan interviews a notable figure on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus in an effort to allow campus leaders to deliver the news in their own words. This week, in light of actress Ellen Page publicly coming out and news of several pieces of legislation related to gay marriage, we chose to interview Pat Tetreault, director of the LGBTQA Resource Center and assistant director for LGBTQA programs & services. DN: How has the public opinion of the LGBT community changed? Tetreault: I started in 1992, although I did my post doc in ‘87 to ‘89, and I remember writing a letter to the editor back then because somebody was upset that the student group (LGBT group) had asked for money to do something, and they thought that was horrible. Or that there would even be separate programming and I remember writing a letter saying, ‘Well, if there were resources and programming available, this wouldn’t be necessary. Since that time you could see
the shift … When I first started working rarely hear of people getting physically attacked, but over the years there has really here, you couldn’t put a poster up without it being taken down. I remember putting been a shift in attitudes, and now we put stuff up and every once in a while they’ll get up a particular poster like three times and taken down, but in general nobody messes every time it came down, so finally it was put in a locked display cabinet. So I’m able, with them and it hardly ever happens. And then the resource center given the time frame, to see opened in 2007, and I think a lot of the changes. One of One of the having the center makes a the reasons that the chalking issues on big difference. And having policy exists, where you can like a person who is in the only chalk in certain spaces campus is the position, because it shows with permission on campus, an institutional commitis because back in ‘95 or marginalization of ment and it also shows your ’96 there was a group that LGBT people.” part of the institution. Stuchalked for National Comdents have a lot of power if ing Out Day and some one Pat Tetreault they organize. There is still or some persons chalked lgbtqa resource center director stigma and bias marginalin response and some of ization, but it’s not near the what they said were threats. degree that it was. That’s when they decided DN: Have you seen a change in the that maybe people should only be allowed LGBT community involved in athletics? to chalk in certain places with permission. PT: Every once in a while, we get an athAnd I don’t remember the time frame for lete who will come in. It’s kind of a challengthis but there was one student who was physically attacked in the residence hall. I ing environment to get much traction in, but
tetreault: see page 3
DN to run twice a week in 2014-2015 Colleen Fell DN The Daily Nebraskan will reduce its publishing schedule from five to two days a week next year and shift its focus to online content, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Publications Board decided at its meeting Thursday. The idea emerged from the Future of the Daily Nebraskan Committee, who created a plan for distributing news to students effectively while boosting readership. The board gave unanimous approval to the plan to shift the Daily Nebraskan’s focus to printed issues twice a week – Mondays and Thursdays – and round-the-clock web updates, as long as another committee would meet to identify specific
plans for generating revenue before the April publications board meeting. “We want to show that the DN is headed in a completely different direction,” said board member Dan Collin, advertising director of the Daily Nonpareil in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Collin said it’s important for the DN to spend more time on quality online content and to consider print material as more of an afterthought. The board also agreed on using more interactive media on the website. Having a newspaper with a rolling deadline might complicate schedules for the DN’s student staff, who have cultivated a “nighttime culture,” Collin said. “Our main concern is staff
schedules,” said Hailey Konnath, DN editor-in-chief and a senior journalism and global studies major. “It will also come down to the editors coordinating times.” The board is also considering having the newspaper staffed on weekends and during holidays, which is not currently done. The board discussed plans for the DailyER Nebraskan, a satirical newspaper that currently prints every other week. Next year, the paper could print once a week, if it gets an increase in student fees. With the DailyER becoming a weekly newspaper, printing times may need to be coordinated to cut down on costs. If this is the case, the DailyER and the Monday issue of the Daily Nebraskan would likely both be printed on Sunday nights,
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and the Dailyer would be distributed Tuesdays. The board also wanted to ensure that the website and print version of the Daily Nebraskan would be working hand-in-hand. There was also talk of the print edition being changed to a tabloid format. With a new web focus also comes a new revenue plan. Web advertisements can be tricky when it comes to making a substantial profit, board members said. “Nothing is going to make the same revenue as print,” said Dan Shattil, general manager of the Daily Nebraskan. Members of the board proposed other revenue streams such as events, contests, donations and
grants, many of which the Daily Nebraskan already uses. The Daily Nebraskan smartphone app has received 200 to 300 downloads since it was released last semester, but traffic needs to increase in order to hook advertisers. “We need to make it exciting, real-time and keep it updated,” said Adam Morfeld, legal adviser to the Daily Nebraskan. The board also discussed ways to increase app downloads. It was discussed to have freshmen download the app at New Student Enrollment. The board wants to put together a concrete financial plan by the end of the semester to keep students engaged with the news but on a digital platform. news@ dailynebraskan.com