Kevin Cantu, left, Ryan Wolfe, David Talley and Matt Marquette show off their Lincoln Action Program website presentation during the J.D. Edwards Summer Enterprise Camp project presentations June 30 in Love Library. Students in the camp designed, or redesigned websites for local organizations as their final projects.

Service Learning Component Connects Campers, Agencies

Enterprise Students Learn Rewards of Serving Others

By Kelly Bartling, Public Relations

Fresh Start has a new Web site and database and its director Mala DeBerg is thrilled. Her heavy workload just got easier.

DeBerg was so swamped with tasks last year during the J.D. Edwards Honors Program Summer Enterprise Camp that she didn't have time to meet with the 40-some computer and business whizzes who offered their expertise. But this year she made time.

"Next year, I'm coming back for more," she said.

This year's Enterprise Camp projects yielded Fresh Start an attractive and detailed Web site <www.freshstart.org> and an intake system that tracks clients served by the outreach center for homeless women. The Web site will attract potential volunteers and donors, and generate positive exposure for the nonprofit agency, DeBerg said. The database will save staff members hours compiling reports and streamline its record-keeping.

"This is really great," she said.

But maybe the best part is that as many as 250 hours were spent on these two projects, and they weren't DeBerg's staff hours. They were Summer Enterprise Camp student hours, and they were free.

The students appreciated having the work nearly as much as DeBerg enjoyed their results.

The 48 Summer Enterprise Camp students highlighted their 10 service learning projects at a June 30 presentation following the three-week honors camp. The service projects gave the students hands-on practice and real skills on a business-related project: Creating Web sites and databases; enhancing and modifying business computer programs. In addition to Fresh Start, other agencies received similar projects, including MADD, Lincoln Lancaster Mediation Center, Homestead Girl Scout Council, Cedars Youth Services, Nebraska Humanities Council, Community Services Fund, Nebraska Appleseed Center, and Lincoln Action Program.

The J.D. Edwards Honors Program in Computer Science and Management, created in 1998 with a gift from the chairman of J.D. Edwards and Co., is an integrative curriculum that blends business principles and information technology. The Summer Enterprise Camp gives selected talented high school students a taste of the innovative academic program and introduces them to UNL. From June 11-30 the students attended classes and spent hours researching and creating their business-related computer projects, working as teams and honing their skills.

And now students like Raye Wilmes of York have some real professional experience.

"I was expecting to learn something about programming, which I did. I had never done any of that before, and it took a while to catch on," she said. She worked on Fresh Start's Web page, typing lists of information for her other three team members to add to the page. Then she switched over to work on the database.

In addition to her new computer experience, Wilmes took classes on banking and finance, earning 6 hours of college credit. She also learned about expectations in college, and as a 2001 high school graduate, she is pleased to be feeling more comfortable about her transition to college.

"Even before this, I was kind of leaning toward UNL and this program and technology, and now, even more so."

She also made a lot of friends, meeting potential students, area high school teachers/mentors, college professors and UNL student staffers .

"The other kids were really great. I hope we keep in touch."

Some of last year's 1999 Summer Enterprise Camp returned June 30 for an alumni reunion, closely watching the 2000 student project demonstrations.

"I had to come see my friends," said Max Reiner of Omaha, a UNL J.D. Honors recruit for 2000, and a 1999 camp alumnus. "I definitely learned a lot last year, especially through the learning projects. I did a Web page for League of Human Dignity, and I learned a lot about that agency, too."

DeBerg said the students serving her agency might have had more than a lesson in business and computers, but a lesson in life.

"I think it's emotional for them to discover how devastating it is for the homeless women and former inmates we help and helps them identify what they need to do to avoid getting into that situation."

J.D. Honors Program assistant Gail Hackwith called the second summer camp a success.

"Having one year under our belt now this camp went more smoothly," she said. "It's a hard three weeks for the students, but it's fun. They like to comment while they are working about how hard it is, but at the end, they look back at all they have accomplished, and they are proud. It really teaches them so much."

And for clients like DeBerg, the hard work is appreciated.

"These agencies would not have been able to do these projects without their help," Hackwith said. "That feels great."

The Great Plains Center will be at 1155 Q St.

Great Plains Center Undergone Variety of Changes

Sharon Gustafson, curatorial assistant for Great Plains Art Collection, is serving as interim curator. She replaces Martha Kennedy, who was curator for nine years before leaving this spring to move to the Washington, D.C., area.

This fall Gustafson will oversee moving the gallery from its current location in Love Library into its new home at 12th and Q streets.

A search for a permanent curator will begin later this fall.

"We plan on conducting a national search for curator of the collection after we have moved the gallery into its new home," said James Stubbendieck, director of the Center for Great Plains Studies.

Stubbendieck also announced that Gary Moulton became associate center director effective July 1. Moulton is the editor of The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and professor of history.

In addition to the art gallery, the center itself will also be housed in the new building at 1155 Q St. Stubbendieck expects all of center offices will be moved by October.

Car Czar Enjoys Daily Challenge of Supply vs. Demand

By Kim Hachiya, Public Relations

When Tad McDowell sat down in his office chair May 8, it was as if he'd awakened from a nine-month long dream. McDowell, director of parking and transit services, had left his post late in the summer of 1999 to take a position as marketing director for a national parking consulting company in Denver.

A family crisis back in Lincoln caused McDowell to rethink the career move. Plus, he missed the conveniences of Lincoln, the challenges of working at the university and the joys of working with his colleagues in the Business and Finance unit. So when Jim Main, associate vice chancellor, called in February to say he was beginning to search for a replacement and wanted to be sure McDowell hadn't changed his mind, McDowell took it as an omen.

He returned to the corner office with the curved window in the

Stadium Drive Parking Garage and has not regretted a moment.

Those daily challenges still occur and may worsen before they get better. July 17, the lot south of Walter Scott Engineering Building closes in preparation for construction of a new chemical engineering building. Those who use the lot, nicknamed "lower engineering," can park in a former student Area 3 lot located on the southwest corner of 17th and Vine streets. The Area 3 parking will shift to a lot near the Beadle Center.

The big news for parking is that construction has begun on a 1,715-stall multi-level garage on the block bordered by 17th and 18th streets, Q to R streets. The garage is scheduled to be fully completed by Oct. 1, 2001. Entrances and exits will be on R and Q streets. The Q street side will have a reversible lane so that during peak times, two entrances, or two exits, can be opened.

Commercial space is planned for the 17th Street street level, McDowell said. A shuttle bus waiting area will be sited near 17th and R street. That bus will be dedicated to running back and forth on the R Street corridor. Plans call for all shuttle service to eventually tie into the new parking garage.

The garage will be open to all permit holders except those holding perimeter-only permits. There will be a device at the entrance that will allow visitors without permits to pay a per-hour use fee. The garage will be patrolled and scofflaws ticketed and or towed.

Until the garage opens, parking will remain tight, especially this year, McDowell said. Residence hall occupancy is expected to be higher. However, two new public garages downtown add 615 spaces close to the south edge of campus - Q Place Garage addition is open and the MarketPlace Garage should open in August.

"Our demand will be greater this year," McDowell said. "Parking will not be as convenient due to construction. But once the garage is done, things are going to be wonderful."

The university is still moving toward implementing the Master Plan's four-garage concept for the city campus. The next garage will be built at 14th Street and Avery Avenue, he said, but no construction timetable has been established. A fourth garage planned for Vine Street will be dictated by the outcome of the Antelope Valley project.

Summer maintenance tasks have included the typical resurfacing and restriping of lots, the filling of cracks and potholes and general upkeep. The lot north of the Health Center was resurfaced and reconfigured, with a net addition of seven stalls.

"I'm very optimistic about the future of parking at UNL because the university is making the commitment to help us move in that direction," McDowell said.

Drought Center Lending Expertise to Morocco

By Molly Klocksin, IANR news

NU scientists will help their counterparts in drought-prone Morocco better anticipate, monitor, prepare for and respond to drought.

The National Drought Mitigation Center at NU recently agreed to collaborate with the Moroccan government on a three-year project to develop a National Drought Observatory Center in the African country.

Drought preparedness is a big issue in Morocco, which suffered droughts during the 1980s and frequently during the 1990s, said Don Wilhite, director of the National Drought Mitigation Center.

During the project's first two years, Wilhite said he expects three or four NU scientists to trade campuses for a few weeks with colleagues from the Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Science in Rabat, Morocco.

"We hope this project might lead to some longer-term collaboration not only on drought issues but water resource issues in general," he said.

The collaboration will allow scientists from both countries to compare notes on how they assess the frequency, severity and localization of drought, and drought's effects on crops, livestock, rural population and the environment, he said.

"I never see these relationships as a one-way transfer of information," Wilhite said. "We expect to learn a lot from this interaction that will benefit Nebraska and the United States."

The Nebraskans will help the Moroccans develop a national drought policy that won't be discarded between drought cycles, he said.

Droughts can't be prevented, but countries can develop plans and policies to reduce risks associated with drought, he said. Examples include adopting programs to reduce vulnerability of water supply systems to water shortages or modifying crop management practices to reduce crop losses during droughts. Detecting emerging drought early also is critical for taking actions to mitigate drought.

Wilhite said the Lincoln-based National Drought Mitigation center's integrated approach to preparing for drought is a model for the Moroccans.

The center promotes and conducts research and outreach activities on drought mitigation and preparedness. It's already collaborating with Brazil, Mexico, Nicaragua, Argentina, Uruguay, Hungary and other counties on drought monitoring and planning. The center is part of NU's Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

"As far as I know, we're the only organization of our kind in the world," Wilhite said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Agency for International Development are funding the Morocco project.

Three Centers Merge to Address Rural Needs

By Molly Klocksin, IANR news

A new NU center will become a one-stop shop for community and leadership development and sustainable agriculture in the Great Plains, its director said.

The Center for Applied Rural Innovation began operations July 1. It won approval from the regents June 17.

Director John Allen said the new center will combine activities from three former NU centers, the Center for Rural Community Revitalization and Development, the Center for Leadership Development and the Center for Sustainable Agricultural Systems. Allen has been director of the rural community revitalization center since 1999.

The new center will serve rural Nebraskans' needs more efficiently and holistically, because it will be more than a sum of its former parts, he said.

With full-time program coordinators in Lincoln, Holdrege and Kimball and NU Cooperative Extension educators in the extension districts statewide as part of the center's management team, the center will focus on helping rural residents, small town residents and producers find innovative ways to run their communities, farms, ranches and businesses, he said.

"We may not have the answers, but we'll be in a better position to find the answers and get back to the public," Allen said.

The center will help producers identify alternative sustainable agricultural production practices, potential products and new ways to organize, such as cooperatives or community-supported agriculture, he said. It also will help identify existing and potential local leaders and help them develop the skills they need to serve rural areas.

The Nebraska LEAD (Leadership, Education/Action Development) Program, formerly in the Center for Leadership Development, will become a separate unit, although Allen said he expects to call upon the expertise developed by LEAD participants.

The center will link rural residents with programs developed by NU experts in many disciplines, including agronomy, agricultural economics, family and consumer science, community and regional planning and rural sociology, Allen said.

"We're providing a platform for integrated research and outreach education," he said. "They'll get better products."

The new center will be headquartered in Filley Hall. The new center will have lower administrative costs, Allen said. It will employ 10 people initially and any new staff hired will be associated with new grants or contracts.

Financial support for the center will come from university, non-profit, national competitive grants contracts and private sector contributions, he said.

The center is part of IANR.