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dailynebraskan.com
monday, february 18, 2013 volume 112, issue 103
Inside Coverage
Wrestlers fall in final
Shaking up Shakespeare
Nebraska loses to No. 10 Cornell at NWCA invite
Haymarket’s ‘Hamlet’ redoes classic theater
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UHC board asks regents to delay privatization vote UHC board says regents should vote after university answers questions Cristina Woodworth DN The University of Nebraska-Lincoln University Health Center’s governing board drafted a statement Friday asking the University of Nebraska Board of Regents to delay a vote on the controversial proposal to privatize the university’s health center. “(We) encourage the Board of Regents to delay a vote on the current proposal to allow for the involvement and input of key constituent groups and for the administration to provide answers to lingering questions,” stated a section of the governing board’s opinion, which is still under review by UHC board
members. The University Health Center’s governing board comprises UNL faculty, staff and students as well as medical experts from the community. At this point, the board has not outlined how long the board should postpone its decision. The NU Board of Regents is scheduled to vote at its March 15 meeting on a contract with Bryan Health that would allow the company to construct a new health center and take over student health operations at UNL. An initial vote on the proposal was set for the board’s January meeting. “Privatization might be the right answer,” said Dr. James Guest, director of UHC and a member of the governing board. “I don’t know if it’s right, though. I haven’t seen any other options. I’m not being oppositional as much as I want more information.”
A boy examines a robot during the Nebraska Robitics Expo in Ashland on Saturday, Feb. 16.
lego land
Nebraska Robotics expo instructs participants to address geriatric issues
s t o r y b y k e l s e y h i l l | p h o t o s b y r y a nn l y nn
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he fourth annual Nebraska Robotics Expo took place all day Saturday at the Strategic Air & Space Museum in Ashland. About 800 youths from all over Nebraska participated in the expo, which was split into the CEENBoT showcase and the FIRST LEGO League (FLL). The Expo is a collaboration among the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Nebraska at Omaha, among others. The theme for this year ’s FLL was “Senior Solutions.” Each team met with a senior partner to identify an issue affecting the elderly and later present his or her research solution to the judges. In the league, teams are judged based on project presentations, core values and robot design. “It’s not only about the robots in FLL, we have that real world application of their learning as well,” said Kathy Morgan, FLL operational partner in University of Nebraska-Lincoln 4-H Youth Development. In the tournament, the groups compete in “missions” with their robots. Each mission has a different level of difficulty and is worth a range of points, so the teams must be selective about which missions to attempt to complete in their allotted time of two and a half minutes. Warriors, a Girl Scout team hailing from Lincoln, said they find preparing for the FIRST LEGO League tournaments stressful at times, but ultimately they’ve brought cohesion to the group. “This is really important to us because last year we did it, but we were one place away from making it to state,” team member Elyssa Clatt said. “But this time we were in the top five, top 10. We were really, really surprised.” Youth ages 9 to 14 compete in the FLL tournaments, and children ages 6 to 9 compete in the junior section. Brad Barker, UNL 4-H Youth Development Science and Technology specialist, is working with volunteer Keith Mandachit, an electrical engineer with Huffman Engineering Inc., to create a FIRST Tech Challenge for students in grades nine to 12.
uhc: see page 2
Over 40 teams competed in a CEENBoT Foosball tournament at the Strategic Air & Space Museum on Saturday. “What we (want to) do is have children be able to come in at 6 years old and go all the way through 18 years and have a continuum of experiences in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) and robotics,” Barker said. The CEENBoT Robotics Showcase made up the other half of the expo. Teams use CEENBoTs, a robot platform that is the result of educa-
robots: see page 2
Senate postpones Hagel nomination DANIEL WHEATON DN
photo illustration by Storm farnik | dn
A new study shows that certain foods like oatmeal, chocolate and oranges can actually reduce stress.
On Friday, Senate Republicans blocked former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel’s secretary of defense nomination with cloture vote — a kind of filibuster. Unlike regular votes, which only require a simple majority, clotures need 60 votes to approve. The vote was 58-40-1. Concerns regarding Hagel’s views on Iraq and hagel Iran inspired this historic move. “This is the first time in history that a presidential nominee for sec-
This is the first time in history that a presidential nominee for secretary of defense has been filibustered. What a shame.”
retary of defense has been filibustered,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on the floor. “What a shame.” The Senate is now in a 10-day recess that will end on Feb. 25, meaning the official vote on Hagel may not occur until March. President Barack Obama’s Chief of Staff Denis McDonough told ABC’s “This Week” that he had “grave concern” that delays over Hagel and Obama’s CIA director pick John Brennan would put the nation in danger because they haven’t been able to transition into their posts. The delays in Hagel’s nomination process come at a precarious time for the Department of Defense. Leon Panetta,
current defense secretary, plans to leave his post as soon as he can. Also, planned spending cuts known as “the sequester” set to go into effect on March 1 fall heavily on the department’s budget. These facts have troubled McDonough. “Because I don’t want there to have been something missed because of this hang-up here in Washington,” McDonough said. Even with the ongoing controversy, Senate leaders believe Hagel will eventually be nominated.
Democrats, who have a majority in the Senate and support Hagel, have enough votes to approve both nominees. Four Republicans — including Nebraska Sen. Mike Johanns — have joined their ranks, bringing the total number of expected yea votes to 59. The Senate fell one vote short from overcoming the filibuster. Sen. John McCain, a former friend of Hagel, said he believes
the opinion that the TransCanada Keystone XL Pipeline is about the climate. Brodersen is a sophomore environmental studies and biology major. He’s president of Sustain UNL and said he’s always been interested in climate-related issues. “Realizing that climate change is going to impact the earth and every natural system is very real, so we need to keep in mind preparation and preservation is really
important,” Brodersen said. In fall 2012, Sustain UNL reached out to Bold Nebraska to see just what could be done regarding the Keystone XL Pipeline. On Dec. 1, Brodersen and Sustain UNL went with Bold Nebraska to Omaha to hear Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, speak. This began Bold Nebraska’s partnership with Sustain UNL. According to Broderson, six UNL students and six recent alumni attended the Forward on
Climate rally. “Bold made an effort to get as many Nebraskans there as possible,” Kleeb said. “It’s our job to make sure President Barack Obama honors his words to protect our climate and actually do something about climate change.” Brodersen said the pipeline would accentuate the climate crisis and speed up climate change, which makes it a top priority to be
Harry Reid
senate majority leader
7 healthy foods relieve stress Climate rally attracts UNL alumni James Pace-Cornsilk DN
Although an orange may not be the first food people crave when they are stressed, a recent article shows that this fruit and other foods help reduce stress more than your favorite junk food. Huffington Post Healthy Living posted an article on Feb. 5 citing citrus fruits, milk, oatmeal, dark chocolate, leafy greens, fatty fish and tea as the best foods to relieve stress. Students, however, are not
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likely to warm up a big bowl of oatmeal if they’re feeling overwhelmed. “I’d probably just drink more,” said Katrine Limseth, a sophomore journalism and public relations major. Limseth was the only student out of all that were interviewed to actually confess to craving fruit when she is stressed. Kyle Schumacher, a sophomore fisheries and wildlife ma-
food: see page 3
SARAH COHEN DN On Feb. 17, University of Nebraska-Lincoln student Reed Brodersen was one of nearly 40,000 Americans in Washington, D.C., participating in the Forward on Climate rally. Jane Kleeb, founder of Bold Nebraska, said the rally was to draw attention to the climate crisis and emphasize to the president
more Inside Coverage:
Saturday delivery at risk for USPS Postal Service considers nixing 6-day standard to save billions
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Spartan strong Michigan State outrebounds Huskers by 18 in win
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hagel: see page 2
climate: see page 3