Hard-Nosed redshirt freshman trevor roach has stepped up early
After climbing the depth chart, an injury and hard work have thrown the linebacker into the fire this year PAGE 10
thursday, september 8, 2011
volume 111, issue 014
DAILY NEBRASKAN dailynebraskan.com
Novel inspires weather research Climate ignored among GOP maricia guzman dailynebraskan
Barbara Boustead was irritated. The meteorologist for the National Weather Service made her way home after spending the night in her office for yet another storm during the winter of 2009-2010. She got home
and picked a book to read. “The Long Winter” by Laura Ingalls Wilder wasn’t a new read by any means, but this particular reading had her thinking about the validity of Wilder’s claims. Now Boustead is working on a research project investigating the severity of the winter of 1880-1881, the
winter Wilder describes in her book. She’s creating a scale to help determine the severity of a winter season. The book is a classic tale about one family’s harsh winter in De Smet, S.D. Although fiction, “The Long Winter,” like the rest of Wilder’s “Little House” series is based on her experiences
growing up on a prairie. Boustead received a bachelor’s of science in meteorology and geology and a bachelors of arts in English from Central Michigan University. Researching Wilder’s account is an opportunity to combine her interests. Boustead’s research is funded through the
University of NebraskaLincoln’s School of Natural Resources and the National Weather Service. The winter of 1880-1881 began with an early freeze, ice and an October blizzard, records say. Eventually the
wilder: see page 3
library Labyrinth DANAE LENZ
DAILY NEBRASKAN
After renovations 10 years ago, the Marvin and Virginia Schmid Law Library on East Campus is filled with light most hours of the day, a stark contrast to many of the less-than-sunny attitudes of studying students. The loudly colored legal books offset the lofty silence. There’s disparity between the room where students must be totally quiet and the bust of former College of Law Dean Roscoe Pound that students frequently pay homage to, quietly wishing for good luck. Even the law librarians take their commanding love of law and help students navigate their way in the labyrinth that is law school. Associate director and professor of the law library Sandra Placzek said it’s all about the treasure hunt. “That’s kind of what law librarians do,” she said with a laugh. “We help you figure out how to find the answer.” The love Placzek has for her job is apparent from the way she carries herself through the library to the way she speaks about it. And it is that kind of attitude that makes the law library such an ideal place for students to study. It isn’t just because the library has books and wireless Internet and squishy chairs in the basement; it’s because the librarians love their jobs and they love helping students. Their attitudes make even the most boggeddown student feel at home. They can even bring out a few laughs. A nontraditional second-year law student Charlie Morton, who joked with a smile on his face to be “the
oldest and best-looking law student,” said, “It’s an awesome, awesome staff; it’s a very nice place to study. They’re super helpful.” The library itself is full of nooks and crannies. Each student scopes out his or her favorite study spot and most of them stick to it. First-year law student Ken Smith’s favorite study spot is on the lefthand side of the first floor, back in the corner. “Not a lot of traffic, a lot of sunlight, strategically located near the restroom,” he said. “It’s my roost.” One popular, yet quirky, study place is the M. Brian Schmid Reading Room, more commonly known as “the quiet room,” a space used for absolutely silent study. It’s located in the far back of the library, completely closed in with glass. Even approaching the room, the air feels a bit different. “It got to the point where we talked about not allowing even food or drink in there,” Placzek said, “because someone would pop open a can and you’d hear the sound, or you hear the rustle of paper and everybody would turn and glare at the person who made the noise, because the acoustics are so good in there.” For the average law student, taking 15 or 16 credit hours and studying at least three hours for each class, the space is welcome. “There’s a lot of work involved,” said Placzek, “and any quiet space that you can find to sit and read and study is at a premium.” The law library owns a lot of historic British books and library workers thought the quiet room would be a great place to store them.
Dan holtmeyer daily nebraskan
As the field of presidential hopefuls takes shape, the candidates for the Republican nomination have, with little exception, aligned themselves against environmental regulation and the science of climate change. Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, who emerged at the top of the group in Iowa, said she wants to close the doors of the Environmental Protection Agency and called climate change “manufactured science,” at a campaign event last month in South Carolina. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, another possible presidential candidate, called the scientific consensus that the world is getting warmer due to human activity a “beautifully concocted scheme” of the political left on conservative pundit Rush Limbaugh’s radio show last summer. Other Republican candidates, including former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and Sen. Ron Paul, have generally agreed with this party line. But some students and professors at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln think it might hurt their chances of winning in the long run.
patrick breen | daily nebraskan
Derek Hoffman, a dental student, studies in the Law Library late Wednesday night. He pages through his histology book and works in silence till he leaves at 11 p.m. that night. “We lined the walls with a lot of that historic British stuff,” Placzek said. “So when people come in there, there’s not a lot of disruption of people pulling books and dropping books on tables.“ She said they also almost had to tell people they couldn’t wear headphones because the acoustics in the room are so good the sound would still echo. “There are times when we can’t do anything about (people talking),” she said. “You know, because people talk and you don’t want to discourage people from that kind of learning.” As a general rule, though, the farther back in the library a person goes, the quieter it tends to get. Another place students like to
study is the basement, or the “dungeon,” as it is more affectionately called. Especially when the weather is gorgeous, Placzek said, law students choose to study in the basement to avoid reminding themselves they aren’t outside. “The other thing that’s really nice about the basement is we have the furniture we had before renovation,” she said. “A lot of students really prefer the padded chairs.” Although it is a little crowded in the basement, with tall shelves and low ceilings, it does have a certain cool appeal, especially on hot days.
The Science of Climate Change The Republican candidates’ degree of skepticism isn’t in line with mainstream science, which generally agrees on the basic tenets of climate change, said Robert Oglesby, a climatologist in the School of Natural Resources. “Humans don’t cause climate change,” he said, and there is much scientists still don’t understand. “And I get a lot of funny looks when I say that.” Climate has always changed and ecosystems have always had to adapt, Oglesby went on. “That said, could human activity affect the way climate changes? Almost certainly.” In fact, looking at larger patterns of climate throughout time, “We’d expect we’d be going into a cooling period” about now instead of warming, Oglesby said. Skeptics, Oglesby said, fit into two categories: those who have real questions and simply want to understand and deniers, people with “closed eyes and closed ears,” Oglesby said. “I hear a lot of, ‘I don’t believe in climate change,’” he said, to which he responds, “I hate to tell you this, but the climate system doesn’t care (and will change anyway). If the person talking about climate change isn’t a climate scientist, why should you believe what they’re saying?” As for Nebraska, it’s much the same, but a colleague once told him, “‘You know, Bob, you’ve got to love the Midwest.
library: see page 2
ASUN postpones voting on bills Frannie Sprouls Daily Nebraskan
After the long weekend, the Association of Students of the University of Nebraska said it needed another week to vote on new business. Only two items of business were on the meeting agenda. Bylaw C, which is an amendment for the ASUN bylaws, was only given to the senators for information purposes. It was not scheduled to be voted on. Senate Bill #1 was scheduled for a vote. This bill deals with the Committee for Fee Allocations bylaws, which the senate needs to approve. The bill was brought to emergency status because it wasn’t turned in until earlier Wednesday. Sen. Nolan Johnson, a junior management major, told
siddiqui page 3
the senate the bylaws were carried over from the year before and no changes had been made to the bylaws. Johnson joked that most of the senators probably did not even read the bill. Sen. LJ McElravy, a graduate student, motioned to discuss and vote on Senate Bill #1 the following week. “I don’t feel comfortable having the senate vote on something they didn’t read,” McElravy said. McElravy told the senate he had not had the chance to read through the bylaws because he had been in classes up until the meeting started. Emily Schlichting, a senior communications and political science major and speaker of the senate, pointed out the bill had not been printed until
ASUN
ASUN Bills
4:30 p.m. Schlichting asked how many senators had gotten the chance to read through the bill and only a few raised their hands. “I’m not blaming anyone because I know things happen in a really short week,” McElravy said. “I just don’t think we should set the precedent of not reading legislation.” Some senators questioned whether tabling the bill would affect the CFA in any way. “We’ve already voted on cochair,” Johnson said. “So nothing will be affected by tabling the discussion and voting.”
Bylaw C — Amend ASUN Bylaws: The Shirt Committee
Senate Bill #1: Committee for Fee Allocation Bylaws issues
A section of the ASUN Bylaws was amended to change the title of the Shirt Committee to the Traditions Tee Committee. This piece of legislation was provided for information only.
The 2011-2012 Committee for Fee Allocation approved their bylaws and this bill presents those bylaws to the Senate to be approved.
vote Vote will be next week.
Tabled.
environment: see page 2
Franniesprouls@ dailynebraskan.com
performing arts page 5
football page 10
Weather | sunny
Loving Cather Nine Omega
Long live the queen
Hitting with a stong passion
Residence Hall floor forms pseudofraternity
Lincoln drag queen balances place on stage, normal life
Damion Stafford lets his hitting do the talking
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