Weather proved to be the toughest competition at the Husker women’s golf team season opener on Monday as the annual Chip-N Club Invite at Wilderness Ridge suffered three weather delays.

After the delays, Nebraska finished 13th out of 15 teams. NU’s final total of 627 put them 29 shots behind the champions from Arizona State U., who finished with a total of 598.

ASU beat out both Kansas and Kansas State by only one stroke.

Nebraska finished the first round tied for 11th place. Leading the pack after round one were the Road Runners from the U. Texas-San Antonio, with Kansas and Kansas State only five strokes behind in third.

Freshmen led the Huskers on the score board. Posting the best first round score for Nebraska was true freshman Katelyn Wright, who was tied for 9th place with a round of 74.

Also in NU’s top five was Steffi Neisen, another true freshman. Neisen shot 76, which was good enough for a tie for 19th place.

After the opening round, weather took its toll and forced golfers off the course for 45 minutes. They returned to play for five holes, only to have another delay that forced an hour long break in play.

Golfers were called off the course and play was postponed until Tuesday morning.

When play resumed Tuesday, it was still the freshmen leading the Husker team. Neisen finished in 30th place out of 87 golfers with a two-round score of 155. NU’s Remy Molyneux tied with Neisen for 30th place.

Wright, who was leading the Huskers at the end of the first round, ended up in a tie for 37th with a total of 156.

Nebraska finished in 13th place in the 15-team tournament that was cut to 36 holes due to the severe weather. The U. Texas-San Antonio, who was leading after the first round, finished in 4th place.

If the crowds of students walking across the U. Nebraska-Lincoln campus look larger this year, it’s probably because they are.

With the fall semester in full swing, UNL is bustling with students — 24,610 students to be exact.

Last week, the university announced its enrollment has reached a 15-year high. Enrollment numbers are estimated to be up this year by 2.1 percent, according to University Communications.

The number of first-time freshmen increased by 113 students compared to fall 2009. Enrollment numbers are up for graduate students and transfer students, as well. The increase in students has swelled individual colleges.

“The College of Natural Resources experienced an increase in enrollment of 7 percent and the College of Education and Human Resources is up by 8 percent,” said Kelly Bartling, manager of news for University Communications.

Bartling said the rise in the number of students may be attributed to the bad economy and students looking for valuable degrees.

“They are looking for a brighter future instead of just focusing on where they will have the ‘best time,’” she said. “Both parents and students want to make practical decisions about college because of the economy.”

The enrollment boost may also be because of the extra recruiting efforts of the Office of Admissions during the 2009-2010 academic school year.

The selective purchasing of names from both the ACT and SAT last year made recruiting more students easier, said Pat McBride, associate dean of admissions.

“We were selective in who we contacted when recruiting,” he said. “Our recruiters were taught how to manage time so they could maximize recruiting efforts with students.”

One advantage McBride mentioned was the participation of the entire university in recruiting efforts.

“The staff, ambassadors and student hosts are always willing to talk to potential students and help them with anything they need,” McBride said.

Nationwide rural health care is receiving $32 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

These large grants spell new opportunities for growth for health care facilities located in sparsely populated areas. Students from rural areas of Nebraska who are considering family medical practice could be affected by the support. The growth in rural health care could be a promising incentive for University of Nebraska-Lincoln medical students to practice in those areas.

The bulk of the money is going to Medicare to improve quality of service at Critical Access Hospitals, which are specific institutions that use cost-based Medicare reimbursement. The facilities are selected for their high risk of closure. There are 65 such hospitals in Nebraska.

“These funds reflect the priorities spelled out by President Obama in providing the best health care possible to rural Americans,” said Kathleen Sebelius, U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services, in an August press release. “The ultimate goal is to build healthier rural populations and communities.”

About 6,725 UNL students are from rural Nebraska counties, according to UNL’s Office of Institutional Research and Planning, so the support given by the federal government could mean a lot toward improving rural health care.

With money earmarked for procuring more health care professionals and expanding health care infrastructure, University of Nebraska Medical Center students could stand to benefit greatly. But it is the people in rural communities who stand to gain the most.

One student who knows about the shortcomings of rural health care is Jordan Ochs, a senior biological sciences major from North Platte.

Some doctors have extensions that they have in smaller towns they visit periodically, Ochs said.

The grants could encourage students, because many  pre-med students think it could help with concerns that arose with the health care bill.

With rural health care currently not as helpful as most would hope, the money from the government support will give people in rural areas more options for health care, said Heidi Noecker, a junior nursing major and president of the Pre-Health club.

She said the support could mean a lot for small rural clinics and affect some members of the club, becoming a part of the decision-making process of what they will do for a career once done with school.

Having more money for supplies and more money for more educated professionals gives good incentive to move toward rural health care prospects.

“The number of patients to use this (health care funding) really isn’t that great in numbers, since most people go into big cities for most health care,” Noecker said. “But a patient is a patient, and they are our priority one, and if we can’t help, that isn’t a good thing.”

The Nebraska men’s golf team rallied to take home third at the Fairway Club Invitational.

The Huskers-hosted invitational was held at Arbor Links golf course in Nebraska City for two days of competition. Using the best team score of the final round, NU finished at six-over par for the tournament.

The first day was scheduled for a double round of 36 holes with a Tuesday finishing round. However, due to rain delay on Monday, the invite was cut short. Nebraska finished six strokes behind the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and three behind Missouri State.

NU coach Bill Spangler said he thinks the missed round was the reason for the team not being able to make a run at first place.

“The team played well the first day, but they made mental mistakes,” Spangler said. “We really picked it up in the second round, with a third we could have won by 15 strokes.”

As for individuals, senior Mike Coatman finished in the number one spot. Coatman shot a 73 the first round, but made up for it by firing a 68 in the second. The low score propelled him to a one stroke victory that gained his first win in his career.

“I’ve been close before but just made a few mental mistakes that kept me out of reach,” Coatman said. “It feels good to take home first place individually.”

Coatman said a ten-foot putt on the tenth hole gave him the confidence that kept him playing well.

Huskers senior Andrew Wyatt and junior Scott Willman contributed to the strong team performance, tying for 13th place. Willman also said that the team could have run the table at the tournament and taken home first place without the rain delay.

“Personally I was disappointed I couldn’t convert more birdies,” Willman said. “I think we can all look back on a couple mental mistakes that cost us first.”

Another Husker, senior Brett Nymeyer, attributes falling just short to a different factor. Nymeyer said problems arise when the team gets closer to the green.

“Short game is something we can all work on for next week,” Nymeyer said.

Nebraska isn’t short on offensive highlights from its first two games.

Images of Taylor Martinez ducking out of tackles, Roy Helu Jr. breaking a long run to the end zone and Rex Burkhead slicing up defenses for key first downs dominate a long list of explosive moments.

But almost none of the team’s highlights involve a pass.

With an average of 179 passing yards per game, the Huskers rank 85th out of 120 teams nationally. Compare that to a rushing attack that has averaged more than 324 yards per game and is No. 3 in the country.

Nebraska coach Bo Pelini said the run-heavy approach was more a matter of choice than necessity in blowout wins against Western Kentucky and Idaho. That creates an element of mystery for opposing defenses until the Huskers do go to the air, which could come Saturday against Washington.

Wide receiver Niles Paul, who leads the team with nine catches for 123 yards and has Nebraska’s only receiving touchdown, said he enjoys helping out by blocking for the run game.

That said, he’s anxious to see the team focus more on expanding the pass game.

“We love to block, but we love to catch passes more, obviously,” Paul said. “We all know that (offensive coordinator Shawn) Watson is going to call our number one of these days and it’s going to be up to us to make plays, and we can’t wait.”

Some have speculated that the shift to the ground is in part because of a lack of confidence in the passing ability of redshirt freshman quarterback Martinez, who has dazzled fans with his breakaway speed but isn’t known for his throwing skills. Wide receiver Brandon Kinnie said that isn’t the case.

“He can throw it,” Kinnie said. “I believe he can get it done. I believe in him, our whole offense does.”

Still, Kinnie said he’s excited to take on a bigger role in the game plan.

“I’m ready, man,” Kinnie said. “I’m so ready to score one.”

Pelini is also confident that his young quarterback, who is 21-32 passing with one interception and no touchdowns, can avoid mistakes and open up a new aspect of the offense.

“He’s got a big arm,” Pelini said. “I’ve seen him throw the deep ball very well.

“I do feel we’re going to help ourselves out that much more when we start getting the ball down the field a little bit more vertically.”

Last week, a defender hit Martinez while he prepared to throw the ball. Instead of taking the sack, he tried to force a ball over the middle that was picked off by Idaho. Kinnie said miscues like that don’t affect the team’s confidence in their quarterback.

“He was just trying to make a play,” Kinnie said. “Maybe a freshman mistake, maybe throw it away next time. But he can learn from that.”

Wide receivers coach Ted Gilmore said he keeps his players alert by reminding them that eventually they’ll be needed to win a game. Establishing that passing attack, he said, will make for a more potent all-around offense.

“I tell them, ‘That day’s going to come where, hey, we’re going to need to throw a little bit,’” Gilmore said.

Paul hopes that day will come shortly, and he’ll be ready when it does.

“I do miss the deep ball,” Paul said, “but I know that it will come soon enough. It’s a long season ahead of us and we’re going to have to start passing eventually.”

U. Nebraska-Lincoln student senators offer a fun day all about the Constitution.

Thursday and Friday this week, the Association of Students of the U. Nebraska will be hosting Constitution Day. This is the first year the day will be celebrated at UNL. The event will start Thursday at 11:30 a.m. at the UNL College of Law.

As an educational institution receiving federal funds, ASUN is legally mandated to provide programming for the day. The stipulation was written by the late U.S. Sen. Robert Byrd, who inserted language into the 2005 spending bill.

The 11:30 a.m. start time begins a tour of the law college, which precedes the Constitution Day luncheon at the college at 12:15 p.m. A lunch of sandwiches with a vegetarian option will be served. Following the luncheon will be a speech by UNL Alumna Amy Miller of the American Civil Liberties Union Nebraska about the current lawsuit against the city of Fremont.

Emily Schilchting, a junior political science major and ASUN’s chief of staff, said the speech will be an event not to miss.

“She is an amazing speaker, and listening to her speak on the issue in Fremont will be great,” she said.

For 100-level political science classes, extra credit is being offered for students who attend the speech.

The day will conclude with Miller’s speech. For students who don’t want the fun to end, there is an option to sit in on Professor Eric Berger’s Constitutional Law class.

On Friday at 10 a.m., ASUN senators will be talking to students about the Constitution and ASUN. Some may even be dressed up.

“As student senators, we think it’s great to have the opportunity to celebrate the Constitution and students,” said Lane Carr, a junior political science major and government liaison communications chairman for ASUN. “Our goal for the event is to try and get students to think more civic-mindedly.”

To help show ASUN’s appreciation for students, there will be free hot dogs grilled outside the Nebraska Union. The food will be served in the plaza from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

After the hot dog feed, the senators will continue to hang out in the plaza, handing out voter registration applications until 3 p.m.

“This (Constitution Day) is the kick-off for helping people get involved,” Carr said. “What better way to do so than celebrating the Constitution?”

When opposing offenses take the field at Memorial Stadium, the crowd becomes almost deafening.

The quarterback has a hard time communicating with his linemen and skill players, giving the advantage to the home team. But at the same time, the Nebraska defense also has to deal with that noise.

“The home crowd is always loudest when your defense is on the field,” defensive coordinator Carl Pelini said. “Sometimes it makes it difficult. I go back to the Oklahoma game a year ago. We had a horrible time trying to get our checks made and our calls made because of how loud it was.”

Heading on the road for the first time this season, the Cornhusker defensive unit will be able work without 85,000 screaming fans in its ear.

“It will help it a lot,” NU defensive tackle Jared Crick said. “There isn’t going to be as much noise, so we’re going to be able to hear the backers and hear the calls.”

Nebraska allowed 179 rushing yards in its season opener against Western Kentucky, and NU coach Bo Pelini said lapses in communication contributed to the subpar defensive performance. The Huskers seemed to fix those problems in week two, holding Idaho to just 60 yards on the ground.

The Nebraska defense is hoping to prove it can maintain those numbers against a quality opponent in a hostile Husky Stadium on Saturday.

“We’ve had a pretty good road record,” defensive back DeJon Gomes said. “It’s just the mind-set we take into it. Like Coach Bo always tells us, ‘it’s us against the world.’”

The Huskers were 4-1 in true road games last season, with the four wins coming in their Big 12 Conference road contests. NU’s lone road loss came in its marquee nonconference matchup against Virginia Tech.

Even though Washington is Nebraska’s first crack at a BCS opponent, Crick said it’s important not to get lost in all the hype.

“We just have to go out there and play our game,” he said. “We can’t realize how big the game is or who we’re going against, we just have to go out there and execute and we’ll be fine.”

The 72,500 capacity Husky Stadium proved to be beneficial to Washington last season. The Huskies finished 5-2 at home, including a 16-13 win against then No. 3 USC.

Carl Pelini admits it is going to be loud on Saturday, but said there is no use making a big deal over home field advantage.

“The fields are all the same,” he said. “The stands look a little different and the colors in the stands look a little different, but I don’t know that familiarity helps you because you’ve been to a place before.”

While the stands on Saturday will be painted with mostly purple and gold, the Husker defense will be able to communicate with minimal noise.

And with the full force of Memorial Stadium not making the trip to Seattle, Gomes said the players have to rely on each other.

“You get to see how good the chemistry really is,” he said. “If things are going tough, you’re going to see who is going to fight through it and who is going to fold.

U. Nebraska-Lincoln students returning to residence halls this year found a changed system of accessing ResNet, the residence hall wireless Internet network.

They are now required to have SafeConnect, a product meant to help keep campus computers secure and safe from viruses. However, some students have found SafeConnect leads to more problems than solutions.

SafeConnect is essentially a registration and monitoring program, said Larry James, ResNet manager for UNL’s Information Services. The program requires students to install a policy key, which checks each computer for registration, antivirus software and whether or not it is set to receive security updates. If the computer does not have antivirus software, SafeConnect will “quarantine” the computer from the Internet. Instead of allowing students to browse the Web, SafeConnect directs them to links for free antivirus software, James said.

SafeConnect also monitors P2P (peer-to-peer) file sharing applications. James said SafeConnect will warn students every 12 hours if a P2P application is running. It will not, however, block the application, because there are legal uses of those applications.

“Our intention is not to block things. It’s to make sure students understand the risks,” he said.

ResNet may also mean bad news for students caught illegally downloading files. James said SafeConnect extends the ability of ResNet to help the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) match students to their IP addresses.

“With the old registration system, students only registered once a year,” he said. “With SafeConnect, you have to log in about once a week.”

This helps the university give the RIAA information with more certainty, because registration records are more up to date.

However, SafeConnect is not without problems. Particularly in the first few weeks, there were issues with SafeConnect not recognizing legitimate anti-virus software, James said.

Ian Rochford, a junior biology major, is one student who had problems with SafeConnect. Before moving into the residence halls, he purchased a new computer and, with it, a year of Webroot, a brand of antivirus software SafeConnect did not recognize.

When Rochford contacted the ResNet office, they recommended he download one of the free anti-virus programs instead. Rochford followed their advice, but while he was then able to access the Internet, his computer began having issues.

“It just didn’t perform well,” he said. “It took 20 minutes to boot up.”

Rochford later discovered that his free anti-virus software, Sophos, was interacting poorly with Webroot. He uninstalled Webroot, and said that since then, his computer has returned to normal function.

However, he said he’s still annoyed he has to use the free antivirus software, which he believes is inferior to the software he purchased.

James said ResNet is working to solve such problems. A majority of students’ problems were solved when they switched to the free antivirus software, he said. In the case of those who purchased antivirus software, the ResNet office has been working with SafeConnect to ensure that those programs will be recognized so students won’t feel like they’ve wasted money.

For students who are still having problems, James recommends calling the ResNet office or the Computer Help Center. He also warns that a problem with SafeConnect may point to a problem with the computer itself. Those unable to install the policy key often find that their computers have been infested with spyware. Students who think they are receiving erroneous warnings about P2P applications sometimes discover that their computers have been hacked and are running the applications without their knowledge. Whatever the issue, he said ResNet will help students find the solution.

Overall, James said he thinks SafeConnect has been a success, and if it continues to perform well, UNL may extend it to the rest of campus.

The Internet needs an update. And that’s exactly what the National Science Foundation intends to give it.

At the end of August, NSF announced the Future Internet Architecture program, designed to enhance the reliability, availability and security of the Internet.

As it stands now, the Internet is not designed for wireless devices — cell phones, iPads or Blackberries —  said Byrav Ramamurthy, a U. Nebraska-Lincoln associate professor of computer science and engineering, though both the Internet and wireless devices are increasingly relied upon as tools. On mobile devices, the connection is less safe and less efficient, because when the Internet was designed 40 years ago, it was intended for plugged-in computers.

Ramamurthy leads the UNL team of researchers involved in the project. UNL, along with six other universities, make up Mobility First, one of four projects in the FIA program, running from Sept. 2010 through Aug. 2013. Mobility First, a $7.5 million project, is centered around improving the efficiency of the Internet on mobile devices.

More than 4 billion mobile devices are in use today, and by 2014 more than half of all Internet traffic will be from mobile devices, said Dipankar Raychaudhuri, professor of communications at Rutgers-New Brunswick and principal investigator of Mobility First.

Information over the Internet travels on a longer path to reach mobile devices, because the location of the device is not fixed, Ramamurthy said.

“Internet applications don’t know where they (the users) are,” Raychaudhuri said. “The Internet is independent of distance and location.”

Both Raychaudhuri and Ramamurthy stressed that the idea of Mobility First is to rethink and redesign the fundamental architecture of the Internet so that it serves the reality of wireless computers.

“Internet architecture is currently treating mobile devices as second-class citizens,” Ramamurthy said.

But the changes will not create a “new” Internet or replace it, he said, and the changes will not happen overnight.

Already, investments have been made in cell towers for Internet access on cell phones, and technology experts have added capacity to the Internet to accommodate the overall increase in traffic, Ramamurthy said.

The goal is help make sure the capabilities of the Internet continue to grow, Raychaudhuri said, and “helping people live more efficiently.”

Earlier this week, I stumbled upon an opinions piece on USAToday.com titled, “Spirituality can bridge science-religion divide.” Boiled down, it seems to be trying to say that science and religion can get along just fine, provided religion leaves the picture.

Seriously, that’s how the author comes across. He seems to want people of faith to keep their faith, if they so choose, but ditch fundamentalist religion.

He might not be entirely wrong, but I don’t think he’s entirely right, either.

It’s treading on old ground, but it’s still worth noting that religion itself is not at war with science, nor should it ever be. As a Christian that’s fairly fundamentalist (to the point that I believe much if not all of the Bible contains a great deal of historical accuracy), I’ve never had problems with ideas such as evolution or the big bang.

Now, that’s not to say I’m entirely accept evolution yet, but it doesn’t affect my faith in the least if it’s 100 percent true or not.

Scientists aren’t out to disprove God – or if they are, they’re severely misguided. Science’s goal is to figure out how the universe works and then to apply that knowledge to make our planet a better place to live. Nothing about that goes against the teaching of the Bible, nor, to my knowledge, many other spiritual texts.

That said, religion today – Christianity definitely included – is extremely flawed. Churches all over the world have done very bad things in the name of God, Allah, etc. I can see why some people would be all for ditching organized religion altogether and going the “spiritual” route.

But in my humble opinion, we should try to fix the problems before ditching the practice entirely.

With the resources available to organized religion, a lot of good could be done for the world. We could cure AIDS, shelter the homeless and feed the hungry. Science could gain much more from a partnership with religion than it could from people who are merely spiritual – a term I’m sure a lot of agnostic people would apply to themselves.

Now, I’m definitely not saying there’s anything wrong with going the spirituality route in your personal life. That’s perfectly fine, and the day may come when I leave Christianity and follow Christ on my own terms, as it were. All I’m saying is that we should maybe give religion a better chance.

The USA Today column, all told, doesn’t feel terribly balanced. The author spends a lot of time talking about how New Atheists, like Richard Dawkins, are fine with “spirituality,” and how even people who don’t believe in a deity can have it. Therefore, it doesn’t seem to make the case for religion being OK with science so much as it seems to ignore religious people altogether.

Not that Richard Dawkins really understands religion, anyway. That man is a pretty smart scientist, but he’s one of the worst philosophers I’ve ever read.

I know this imaginary war between science and religion isn’t going to end any time soon, and that’s a major bummer. However, I don’t think that means we have to immediately toss one side or the other into the trash.

Not all religious people will boo Bill Nye the Science Guy for saying that the moon only reflects light. I would bet a great deal of money that those sorts of religious people make up a very, very small portion of the population.

Likewise, not all science-minded people are like Dawkins, anxious to destroy religion and all it stands for. Those numbers, too, are probably pretty low in the grand scheme of things.

Why can’t we all just play nice with each other?

Regardless, the time hasn’t yet come to toss religion out the window. I worry that such an action would create far more problems than it would solve.