Most students are content to just surf the World Wide Web. Other University of Nebraska-Lincoln students are not -- they create it. Some UNL students are creating web sites using their interest in computers to make something productive and possibly economically beneficial. Bill Udell has been involved in web site creation for eight months, but has enjoyed computers since he was 12 years old. He has invested most of his work in creating and updating the Biological Sciences 101 page, , for the class taught by Professor William Glider. Udell became involved with Glider when Glider noticed Udell working on his own home page at Manter Hall. Udell and Glider worked together to make the biological web site, which was awarded the "best web page by faculty" by the Northwest Center for Educational Technology. The page was judged best because of its use of technology, content, structure and usefulness. The page was built specifically for people with learning disabilities. Visually impaired and color-blind students can use the page because of large print and solid colors. Grant money for the page came from an affirmative action fund of the U.S. Department of Education, Udell said. Udell makes about $150 working 30 hours a week on the the 40-page web site. As a biology major, the project lets him use "biology and the web in a synergistic effect." "(Creating web sites) is a way to be creative and productive at the same time," he said. "You have to have a creative edge and intuitive ability to use the technology." Udell uses personal computers and downloads software free off the Internet. He said creation takes "a lot of trial and error, a lot of skills can't be taught in the classroom." In the future, Udell plans to create a textbook exchange for students on the web. Students will be able to buy books directly from other students. He is currently working on a web page for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Ryan Fisher, a junior communications and English major, and Charlie Brayman, a sophomore political science, Russian and international business major, helped create bigrednet, . The page is made by students and intended for students. Chat rooms, classified advertisements, student home pages, a textbook exchange and campus information on sports and events are available on bigrednet. Shortcuts to online encyclopedias, an online atlas, national newspapers and magazines are available through the reference desk at the site. The bigrednet site makes money by advertising student-run businesses in the Lincoln area. "We wanted to make a site for students," Fisher said. Fisher and Brayman also created a home page for their fraternity, Theta Xi, and they have plans to do work with other greek houses at UNL. "We were interested in the Internet. We decided to take charge and do it ourselves," Fisher said. For their enterprise, they had to buy graphics software and a scanner. The sites are designed on a 133-mHz Pentium PC and a 100-mHz Pentium laptop. "I enjoy it -- just being able to mess around and make money," Fisher said.
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