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dailynebraskan.com
friday, april 12, 2012 volume 112, issue 136
Inside Coverage
Loaded with lefties Nebraska adds two lefties to its weekend rotation
10 Marathon May
All the sounds of pride and Joy
pay
forward
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story by kelli rollin photo by storm farnik
Asteroid mission grabs UNL space law expert’s gaze
2 In-state rivalry Husker volleyball team set to take on Creighton
9 online
Skating and ‘Shrew’ A&E podcast recaps Lincoln, theater stories
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it
Students fight stress, aches toward May race
Eyes to the sky
Joy Harjo warms up prior to her performance at the Festival of Words at the Tulsa Central Library in Tulsa, Okla., on March 2. The multi-genre, multi-medium artist will perform live at the Sheldon Museum of Art on Friday night with guitartist Larry Mitchell.
UNL students start organization to help cancer patients with daily bills
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or many cancer patients and their families, the disease doesn’t just consume the body but also their finances. As treatment becomes routine, medical bills skyrocket, and everyday bills become another struggle. A new organization at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Students Together Against Cancer, wants to help local cancer patients with these simple things through fundraising efforts. They have not served any cancer patients yet, group leaders said. Jeremy Payne, a freshman biochemistry major and president and co-founder of the group, had one goal in seventh grade: to be cancer-free and forget the whole experience. But while dealing with his blood cancer, Payne met others who dealt with cancer’s effects and was inspired to help others. “A lot of the kids and parents of the kids that I met at the Omaha Children’s Hospital were kind of the inspiration for STAC,” Payne said. While Payne was in high school, his friend’s dad was diagnosed with cancer. Payne said he saw how tough it was for his friend and her dad, who had to go without electricity for a few days because bills piled up. “A lot of different experiences came together at the right time to encourage me to put together this organization,” Payne said. Brendon Henning, a freshman marketing major and vice president of STAC, helped Payne launch the orga-
nization. Payne said he researched a lot and drew more inspiration from Cornell University’s “Cornell for LIVESTRONG,” which has a similar mission as STAC. He told Henning, his good friend from high school and now roommate, about the idea and they started planning. Henning said he was excited about the group and wanted to help. “I’ve never had cancer, and no one in my immediate family has had cancer, so I haven’t been profoundly affected by it,” Henning said. “But that doesn’t mean that I should wait around for my mom to get cancer before I start becoming passionate about it.” Payne and Henning decided helping cancer patients with smaller donations would help patients and their families focus on the their treatment and each other rather than an electric bill or insurance co-payments. “We know that, of course, we’re not going to be able to pay for the entirety of somebody’s bills,” Henning said. “We also don’t want to give somebody $2,000 and say, ‘Here, this will help with your bills,’ when their bills cost $100,000. It’s like a teardrop in an ocean.” Henning said the first step was to become a registered student organization, which entails getting five members. He said they searched for a variety of people who would be interested
stac: see page 3
Brendon Henning, a freshman marketing major, and Jeremy Payne, a freshman biochemistry major, started Students Together Against Cancer in the fall. The group raises money to help underprivileged cancer patients in Lincoln with smaller expenses, such as an electric bill or co-pay.
Multiple-seat bike will roam Lincoln Trolley-like bicycle business aims to bring pedal power to Haymarket tammy bain dn Twenty feet are better than two. Drew and Katie Philippi, the owners of Group Therapy Bike Tours, recently introduced their newest Lincoln attraction, a trolleylike bicycle that travels at five miles per hour, can go on any custom tour and is powered by group effort pedaling. About a year and a half ago Drew, who also operates Landscape Curbing with Katie, was researching vacation spots and found a traditional “Bier Bike” in Amsterdam. The bike contained a wooden keg on the front for its passengers to drink from. Drew and Katie decided it would be fun with a different spin. Open-container laws prevented the keg aspect, and the couple wanted to appeal to all ages – not just those of drinking age. Then, the Philippis heard of the new arena in Lincoln’s Haymarket. “We looked at each other and said, ‘If we’re going to do it, now is the time,’” Drew said. After some research, the Philippis found Cycle Pub, a company in Bend, Ore. James Watts, the founder of the company, built his own version of the bike. Drew said his
bike includes 14 seats, 10 of which require its passenger to pedal. While the driver, usually Drew, can over-steer the bike, the passengers pedal together to keep the bike powered. The bike can be rented for two hours for $280, or $20 per person. Facing each other, being out in the open and having a group effort to keep the bike going creates an experience of its own, Drew said, which is in part why the company earned its name. “It’s hilariously fun,” he said. “I can all but guarantee you’re going to walk away feeling revived.” Changes after arena construction will allow open containers in an “entertainment district” in the Haymarket, and the Philippis hope this will also allow passengers bring alcoholic beverages on the bike to enjoy between stops. “I don’t want to speculate one way or the other,” Drew said, adding that local officials wouldn’t confirm or deny whether the laws would work in the bike’s favor. Either way, he said, his hopes won’t be dampened. “If that doesn’t happen, that doesn’t hurt our business,” he said. “We’ll live to ride again.” Not all publicity for the bike has been good, Drew said. On the 1400 AM/94.5 FM KLIN morning radio talk show, Jack Mitchell and Dave Miller debated the concept of Group Therapy Bike Tours. While some said it was just an-
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courtesy photo | dn
Drew and Katie Philippi and their son Nash stand in front of their trolley-like bicycle, part of their new entertainment venture Group Therapy Bike Tours.