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dailynebraskan.com
tuesday, february 26, 2013 volume 112, issue 109
Inside Coverage
Under pressure Men’s basketball prepares for Wisconsin game
10 Something smells fishy
Keys to the city
Zach Watkins rehearses at Duffy’s on Sunday with the hiphop/soul group AZP. Although Watkins plays piano for the group, he considers himself first and foremost, a percussionist.
Just can’t get enough Experts say recent snowfall provides drought relief, but not enough
UNL reacts to report of fish being mislabeled
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Info session to address health center plans Chancellor Perlman will respond to privatization concerns Tuesday Cristina Woodworth DN
Bearing all Minus the Bear opens up about new album, tour
6 Fighting back in final round NU women’s tennis takes 13th at invite
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Snow melt outside Lincoln provides much needed moisture to help fight the drought. But some say the few inches of snow last week will not be enough to make an impact.
story by James Pace-Cornsilk | photo by Nickolai Hammar
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hile some have welcomed the added moisture provided by Thursday’s snow, others say it did little to affect Nebraska’s ongoing nine-month drought. The snow accumulation, ranging from a modest few inches in the southeastern portion of the state to deeper drifts in the west, fell upon frozen ground, preventing it from reaching thawed soil and eventually trickling down and recharging the groundwater supply. “It’s a shot in the arm, very beneficial, but we still have some ground to make up,” said Mark Svoboda, a climatologist with the National Drought Mitigation Center, located on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s East Campus. Nebraska is experiencing a water deficit of approximately 12 to 15 inches, according to Brian Fuchs, another climatologist with the center. This places Lincoln in the extreme category and Western Nebraska in the excep-
tional category. Thursday’s snow accumulation amounted to less than an inch of moisture, according to Svoboda. “When you’re in a drought you’re never going to say that a precipitation event was not helpful,” Fuchs said. “But in the big picture, did it make a big dent in the situation? Not really.” Though the water from the recent snow is unlikely to reach the soil moisture profile, once the snow melts, it can help other areas stressed by the drought. The soil moisture profile is the capacity of soil to hold water. The moisture here is what sustains vegetation during a dry spell. Svoboda analogized the top few feet of frozen ground to the top few inches of a frozen sponge. If you were to pour water onto the frozen sponge, the water would run off rather than be absorbed. The water can run off the hard, frozen ground and into streams, rivers and other
reservoirs, which have seen a shrink in capacity over this drought’s span. “The good news is, we’re just a few days away from March, and when you get into March, you start thinking, ‘OK, we’re going to thaw out those soils,’” Svoboda said. “Once you do that, it’s going to start working its way in.” According to Fuchs, both runoff from melted snow and precipitation that reaches the soil moisture profile are important depending on the time of year. “We really look to the Rocky Mountains this time of year for snow conditions that will lead to runoff going into the Platte River Basin,” Fuchs said. But the Rocky Mountains will not be purveying as much moisture as in years past. The New York Times reported that snowpack has been so thin in the Rocky Mountains that
drought: see page 3
Leaders at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln will host an informational session Tuesday evening to address concerns about the future of the University Health Center. UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman will answer questions during the session slated for 5:30 p.m. in the Nebraska Union Ballroom. “The information session is an opportunity for students to learn more about the facts of this proposal before they vote in the election on March 6,” perlman Perlman said in an email. “We have put information on the Web, but if that information has generated any questions I will be happy to respond.” University officials proposed a plan last semester to privatize the health center through a partnership with Bryan Health. Officials say that privatization would allow a new health center to be built at no additional cost to students. Bryan has proposed building a new $14.4 million health center and has said it would maintain the majority of current health services offered to students. Some controversy has arisen, though, during the process the university has taken in deciding to privatize the health center. The UHC governing board, which includes university administrators, faculty, students
health center: see page 2
ASUN debate to focus on student concerns ASUN party hopefuls will face off in second debate of the election season James Pace-Cornsilk DN
@dailyneb facebook.com/ dailynebraskan
Executive candidates and their respective parties vying for control of the Association of Students of the University of Nebraska will engage in the second of three debates on Tuesday from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Nebraska Union Crib. The debate, hosted by the Daily Nebraskan and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Civic Action Committee, will focus on ASUN’s accessibility to students and how ASUN can improve its
communication with students. “(They’ll discuss) how the parties are going to represent all of the different communities and groups of students on campus, and how they’re going to bring those communities together,” said Dillon Jones, chair of the UNL Civic Action Committee and a junior English major. As a prelude to the debate, the DN and Civic Action Committee have organized a mixer from 6:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. to give students an opportunity to speak with ASUN candidates one-onone. “We think it’s important that students have a relationship with their government at a local level, a state level and a national level,” Jones said. “Especially in a school community, where they can have a more immediate influence.”
...It’s important that students have a relationship with their government at a local level, a state level and a national level.”
dillon jones
junior english major
The Revive Party, Engage Party and Sense for ASUN are the contenders in the March 6 election. The Revive Party’s platforms are to increase student involvement in ASUN, return block seating to Husker games, make college more affordable, start the discussion of serving alcohol at the Haymarket Arena, emphasize student philanthropic events and create a “Resources” tab on Blackboard to educate students about ways to seek academic help.
The Engage Party’s platform, like the Revive Party’s, seeks more student involvement in ASUN. The party also aims to establish a student orientation program for international students, streamline the process of gaining recognized student organization status, enhance sustainability and establish another college prep outlet in South Omaha. Sense for ASUN’s platform is heavily invested in sustainability. Ideas such as making ASUN meetings paperless, establishing a green revolving loan fund pro-
gram at UNL, and gauging student opinion on converting UNL into a designated smoking area campus make up the party agenda. They also look to shorten the ASUN election season to four weeks, establish an “American Cultural Emersion” program for international students and translate ASUN bylaws into multiple languages. Moderators from the DN and the Civic Action Committee will ask the parties questions regarding environmental sustainability and how they plan to coordinate with groups on campus who are already working toward such feats, Jones said. But sustainability won’t be the only topic of discussion. “We really want to get questions in there that get to the heart
debate: see page 3