First day of college: news you can use

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By MELISSA LEE / Lincoln Journal Star

College students, welcome to Lincoln.

Those of you at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, it’s time to get your minds back in focus for the first day of classes (we hope your alarm worked this morning).

As you adjust to your new schedule and to Lincoln, here’s some tips to help things go smoothly:

The Biggie: parking

Trust us on this one: Only a few lucky souls can get away with parking in a lot they’re not authorized to be in or talk their way out of a parking ticket. The fact is, if you take a chance, you’re likely to get caught. Trust us on this one, too: Your bank account will not thank you for it.

Instead, use common sense. You probably have a parking permit of some type by now, but if you don’t, get one — it’s required. Visit Parking & Transit Services in the southwest corner of the Stadium Drive parking garage (on the far west edge of City Campus, across from the 501 Building and near Richards Hall).

How much you’ll pay depends on what type of permit you get. A “Student Reserved” permit will set you back $648 for nine months, but you’ll get the choicier parking spots on campus. Perimeter parking costs just $216 for nine months, but your options will be less selective (and your hikes to class on winter days will seem very long indeed).

There are three parking garages on campus, at 17th and R streets, 14th and Avery streets and on Stadium Drive. Rates and restrictions on those vary depending on what kind of permit you have.

Oh, and one last thing: Your permit, unfortunately, probably won’t mean a thing on game days, as lots are used to accommodate booster and general public parking. Don’t forget that.

For all the details on campus parking, peruse www.unl.edu/parking.

Broke already?

That first tuition bill isn’t much fun. If you’re looking to make a few extra bucks, take a look at the bulletin boards scattered across the Nebraska Union. You can often find opportunities for part-time or temporary work there. You can also find listings for cheap or free social events, like concerts or movies.

UNL’s campus newspaper, the Daily Nebraskan, also lists job opportunities.

And, hey, if needles don’t make you queasy, you could always donate plasma. Seriously.

For information about (almost) everything

You’ve been here many times before: www.unl.edu. You’ll find schedules of classes, student and faculty phone numbers, maps, calendars, lists of hundreds of student organizations... and so on. From here, you can also access WAM!, where you can check grades each semester (gulp).

Nebraska Wesleyan University’s Web site, www.nebrwesleyan.edu, is similarly helpful.

As for the fun stuff...

* Music: Since downloading music illegally isn’t your safest option these days, check out the live music scene instead. In downtown Lincoln, Knickerbockers Bar & Grill (901 O St.) and the Rococo Theatre (134 N. 13th St.) offer good shows, and Omaha has become somewhat of a king of the indie-rock scene. Check out onepercentproductions.com for shows all over town, like upcoming appearances by Rilo Kiley, Wilco and Paolo Nutini. If you prefer bigger-name acts like Keith Urban, check out the calendar at the Qwest, qwestcenteromaha.com.

* Food: You can only charge so much Burger King onto your NCard. There are plenty of other good places near campus, like the classic standby, Jimmy John’s, which delivers late (101 N. 14th St., 477-1400); and Bison Witches, where the sandwiches and soups are huge (1320 P St., 474-3366).

The Haymarket also offers up plenty of good fare. Try The Oven for Indian food or Vincenzo’s for fancy Italian.

Finally, coffee is likely to become a major food group for you. There are too many downtown coffee shops to list here — walk 10 steps and you’ll find a good one.

* Movies: Other than The Grand (1101 P St.), which offers all the major films, check out the Ross theatre at 313 N. 13th St. on campus for independent films.

* Sports. Oh, just kidding. If you don’t already know about the football team or the defending national championship volleyball team, then, well, we can’t help you.

Reach Melissa Lee at 473-2682 or mlee@journalstar.com.