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dailynebraskan.com
thursday, october 31, 2013 volume 113, issue 046
Inside Coverage
Carl Pelini leaves FAU
Playing dress up
Former NU coordinator resigns
Love Library employees bond through cosplay
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Huskers take fight out of the Illini
Freshman Kadie Rolfzen jumps for a block against Illinois on Wednesday night. After winning a close second set, No. 10 Nebraska ran away with a 25-12 victory in the third set. NU recorded 16 blocks in the match.
truths or tall tales You’ll never look at that lighted, glass staircase on 16th Street the same. Or all of Neihardt Hall, for that matter. The Daily Nebraskan investigates 10 myths purveyed by students over the years, uncovering myths and truths from the university’s sometimes-spooky past.
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w r i t t e n b y Va n e s s a D a v e s a n d H a n n a h R a t l i f f | g ra p h i c s b y I n g e J o h a n n s e n Allison Hess | DN
Madison Nichols, a freshman theatre performance major, looks for props in the Temple Building’s prop room, located in the attic. Allegedly, the attic is haunted by a young girl who had a sandbag fall on her during a play’s rehearsal.
Temple Building
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Temple Building, which houses the UNL Theatre Department, has been rumored to be haunted for decades. “I haven’t experienced anything much (supernatural),” said costume designer Janice Stauffer. “There have always been middle-of-the-night noises, but it’s also an old building, and there are a lot of loud pipes.” And if anyone should know where the bumps in the night in the Temple building are coming from, it’s Stauffer – she has worked in the theatre department since 1979. One of the least popular locations, even for her, is the Temple’s attic, which has remained the same since it was built in 1907, Stauffer said. “It’s got big wood rafters and not much light … If I were a ghost, that’s where I’d want to be,” she said.
But that’s not the only place where supernatural incidents have occurred. “A custodian that we had when we came here in the ’70s…he was cleaning the theater and the set on stage was furniture, and he sat down to rest on it for a few minutes, and a spotlight came on him,” Stauffer said. “He was working the night shift, from 11 to 7 in the morning, so it frightened him quite a bit. Sometimes (lighting) instruments have minds of their own, but he didn’t seem to think that was the case.” One of the Temple ghosts, affectionately nicknamed Dallas after a charismatic theater chair who died during his time at UNL in the 1950s, enjoys playing games with students and staff in the theatre department. “If something ends up somewhere without you moving it, then Dallas moved it,” Stauffer said.
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Tyler meyer | DN
The rumor that the rounded staircase in the Phi Delta Theta fraternity was used in a Playboy shoot is true. The staircase was the location of a portrait in a 1993 issue of the magazine.
Phi Delta Theta staircase
You can’t miss the lit-up, glass staircase on the side of Phi Delta Theta’s house when you walk down Greek Row. With its 1930s limestone architecture, it stands out among the rest of the Greek houses.
Geoff Thiele, senior biological sciences major and president of Phi Delta Theta, said he thinks that’s why Playboy Magazine wanted to have a photo shoot at the fraternity’s house back in the 1990s. “My guess is they walked by the house and saw the staircase light up and thought it was cool,”
Thiele said. In the house library, the fraternity has an old copy of the magazine. Although the cover wasn’t directly affiliated with Phi Delta Theta, it was connected with UNL. At this time, Playboy was taking cover photos of the Big Eight schools. The UNL cover was Homecoming-themed and fea-
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Newton’s apple tree
There’s one apple that rises above all the rest – and no, it’s not the one on Twilight. It’s not the one Eve ate in the Garden of Eden, either. It’s the one that caused Sir Isaac Newton to discover gravity. And there’s a tree on campus that’s genealogically related to that specific tree causing what could arguably be one of the most pivotal moments in scientific history. According to an article produced by the Spectrum, a newsletter for alumni and friends of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UNL, the tree was brought to Lincoln in the late 1980s. It all started with Edward Layman,
tured people in dresses and suits on the stairs. “Yes, the rumors are true – but it wasn’t what you would think of a Playboy photo shoot,” Thiele said. “There isn’t any nudity on it, and there aren’t any Phi Delts in it.”
CAHNER OLSON | DN
Junior civil engineering major Daniel Goodwin walks through an underground tunnel while on duty at Selleck Hall on Tuesday morning. There are rumors that the multiple underground tunnels on campus have ghosts haunting them.
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a retired Lincoln physician, and his friend Joseph Young, a retired UNL horticulture professor. They were curious about what variety of apple was involved in Newton’s discovery and contacted Richard Keesing, a professor at York University in England who had avidly studied the life of Newton. Keesing contacted the then estate owners of Newton’s home and was able to identify an apple tree that was remarkably similar to the one in Newton’s time – a spawn of the previous tree. A graft of that tree was made and shipped to Lincoln. It was planted in its permanent spot south of the Behlen Laboratory on April 4, 1991, at a ceremony attended by Keesing, and it’s still there today.
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Neihardt was an infirmary, polio ward
Some of Neihardt’s ghosts, including the young woman whose spirit lingers in the lounge, are believed to be there because of Neihardt’s use as an infirmary in the 1930s and 1940s. During this time, an outbreak of polio caused many people to be placed there, including some of the spirits that are still there today. According to tourtheten.com, the ghost of the young woman – which Hoyt confirmed – rattles the shutters of the lounge’s windows because at the end of her life, her illness kept her from spending time outdoors. So perhaps living in a once-infirmary is just as spooky as it sounds.
Underground tunnels and desk portals
You know those grates in the sidewalk that you’re irrationally afraid to walk over? Turns out that they’re actually the only thing keeping you a safe distance from UNL’s underground tunnel system. According to Facilities Operations Manager Kelly Clark, all the buildings that use steam utilities on campus are connected by a series of tunnels that are occasionally used by maintenance workers who have to fix the steam pipes. Some of the tunnels go all the way to the Capitol building. “Parts of them (are big enough to walk in),” Clark said. “But you can’t make your way around down there.” Though it’s fun to imagine yourself springing up into your 9:30 a.m. class via a secret underground tunnel, they’re not built for people to
truths or tall tales: see page 3
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travel from building to building. On top of that, the steam that rushes through the pipes the tunnels house is incredibly hot, making that underground walk to class not only sweaty but incredibly dangerous. “Going down into those is the kind of thing that could get you expelled,” Clark said. Among other rumored secret passageways are the “portals” between desks in Abel Hall. Though you could theoretically find and crawl through one of the few larger spaces between dorm rooms that are concealed by the plywood kickplate under your desk, it wouldn’t be easy. Finding one of the dozen or so spaces large enough for a person to fit in would be your first challenge, followed by somehow obtaining a special screwdriver to remove the security screws the kick-plate is put in place with. Even if you managed all of this, you’d probably get fined (or have to do community service)