This old­time postcard features Richards Hall, then known as Mechanical Engineering, in the 1910's.

Richards Hall Dedication March 29

The campus community is invited to the Grand Opening Celebration for Richards Hall on from 4-6 p.m. March 29. The event will be free and open to the public.

Tours of the newly remodeled building will be offered at 4 p.m. A dedication ceremony begins at 5 p.m. in the Richards Hall auditorium, Room 15 of the building's Garden Level. Among invited guests are NU President Dennis Smith; Interim Chancellor Harvey Perlman; Deon Bahr, senior partner of Bahr Vermeer and Haecker, project architects; Beth Smith, president of MEDICI (Most Esteemed Donors, Intellects, Colleagues and Individuals) an independent fund-raising organization dedicated to the enrichment of UNL's Department of Art and Art History; and emeriti professors James Eisentrager and Dan Howard.

Interim Dean of the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts Lawrence Mallett and Joe Ruffo, chair of the Department of Art and Art History, will serve as co-masters of ceremony.

The new Eisentrager/ Howard Gallery also will be dedicated in honor of the two faculty who donated funds for its renovation. The dedication of the Eisentrager/Howard Gallery will include the unveiling of a plaque, which will hang at the entrance of the gallery.

Because this event will also serve as the closing reception for the Annual Undergraduate Studio Art Exhibition, student awards will also be bestowed as part of the dedication ceremony.

A closing reception in the gallery will follow the ceremony.

Romanian gymnasts unite dance, athletics in AEROS.

AEROS Gymnasts Tumble Into the Lied Center Feb. 25

Pioneers in the collaboration of performing arts and gymnastics, the Romanian gymnasts AEROS will perform at 7 p.m. Feb. 25 at the Lied Center.

AEROS was created in 1998 by choreographers Daniel Ezralow, David Parson and Moses Pendleton. Originally titled "The Next Step" the company brings gymnasts into the creative world of the arts. AEROS is not dance, but a form of entertainment that challenges gravity and unites athletes through muscular strength, equilibrium, and harmony. Critics describe AEROS as "exploding in the air like synchronized fireworks."

The 15 athletes are members of the Olympic Medal-winning Romanian Gymnastics Team and range in age from 19 to 26. Five are world champions in Artistic, Rhythmic, and Sports Aerobics, while others hold European champion titles. The Romanian Gymnastics Team, founded in 1906, is one of the oldest and most prestigious sports federations in the world. In 1994, 1995, and 1996, the troupe was awarded with the National Prize for "the best sport federation from Romania" by the Youth and Sports Ministry.

The performance also features a live musical score by Two Tall Guys Music Lab, who create and perform the scores for numerous films and TV series; sets by Michael Curry, whose work includes The Lion King; and costumes by Ann Hould-Ward, who won a Tony Award for .

Art Hillman of Lincoln Southeast High School and Becky Martin of Park Middle School will present the pre-performance talk in the Lied's Steinhart Room 30 minutes prior to curtain. Following the performance, the AEROS performers and members of the University of Nebraska Women's Gymnastics team will be available in the Steinhart room to answer questions and sign autographs. This meet-and-greet opportunity is a special collaboration of UNL and the AEROS gymnasts.

Tickets are $28, $24, and $20, half price for students. Call the Lied box office at 472-4747 or (800) 432-3231 for tickets.

Jacques Thibaud String Trio Perform Feb. 23

The Lincoln Friends of Chamber Music present the Jacques Thibaud String Trio at 8 p.m. Feb. 23 in the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery Auditorium. The group will perform Schoenberg's String Trio, Opus 45, a work rarely heard in chamber music concerts. The piece was composed just after Schoenberg suffered a nearly fatal incident of cardiac arrest. It dramatically depicts his illness and miraculous recuperation. The ensemble will also perform a trio by Beethoven and the famous Divertimento in E-flat by Mozart.

Named after the great French violinist Jacques Thibaud, the trio was founded at the Berlin School of Art in 1994. Violinist Burkhard Maiss, violist Philip Douvier, and cellist Uwe Hirth-Schmidt play their programs entirely by heart - a rare thing for chamber musicians. Critics praise their "effervescence and radiant tone quality."

At 7:30 p.m. UNL professor Clark Potter will present an informative lecture about the concert in the auditorium. A reception for audience and artists will be held in the Sheldon Great Hall following the performance. Parking for persons with special needs is available in the lot north of the gallery. Tickets for the concert are $25 for adults and $5 for students, and may be purchased at the door. For more information, please call 435-5454.

Johnsgard's 40th Book Explore Prairie Birds

UNL Professor Paul A. Johnsgard's 40th book, Prairie Birds: Fragile Splendor in the Great Plains, will be released in February by the University Press of Kansas.

The book's release also coincides with the 40th year of Johnsgard's association with the University of Nebraska ­ a period covering his entire teaching career.

Johnsgard has held the title of Foundation Professor in the School of Biological Sciences since 1980, and has been a recipient of the University's Distinguished Teaching Award (1968) and its Outstanding Research and Creative Activity Award (1993).

His books and associated conservation activities have won several scientific, literary and civic awards. He is considered one of America's preeminent ornithologists.

"Prairie Birds is for anyone who has ever thrilled to a cloud of blackbirds or a solitary falcon against the prairie sky," according to the book jacket. "It is the "essential book for readers everywhere who love birds and are concerned about their future."

Prairie Birds is a also compelling portrait of the native grasslands of the Great Plains, and features 47 drawings by the author, a list of more than 100 prairie preserves, bird checklists for primary refuges and sanctuaries, and other references.

School of Music Offers Full Calendar for March

The School of Music's performance calendar for March features everything from large ensembles to solo performances. Many events are free of charge unless otherwise denoted.

The Symphonic Band performs at 8 p.m. March 1 in Kimball Hall. General admission tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for students and are available at the door.

Faculty artist, Peggy Holloway, soprano, and Mark Kurtz, piano, perform at 3 p.m. March 4 in Kimball Hall. Admission is free. This recital, "The Poet's Echo," will celebrate the wedding of poetry to music in song.

The Midwest ClariFest will occur from 9 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. March 5 in Kimball Hall. The event is designed for clarinetists from junior high to college. The Midwest ClariFest Concert with Richard Stoltzman begins at 7:30 p.m. March 5 in Kimball Hall. The event is free. The concert also features Diane Cawein, clarinet, performing works by Resanovic and Parker, assisted by the NU Percussion Ensemble. A special performance of Steve Reich's "New York Counterpoint" will include Cawein, Christopher Bade, Lawrence Mallett, Denise Schmidt, Tod Kerstetter and Offutt Air Force Base Clarinetists.

Faculty artists, John Bailey, flute, and Mark Clinton, piano, perform at 7:30 p.m. March 6 in Kimball Hall. The performance is free.

On March 7, the Jazz Ensemble I, with Richard Stoltzman, clarinet, perform at 7:30 p.m. in the Lied Center for Performing Arts. Tickets are $25 for adults and $12.50 for students and are available at the Lied Center Box Office.

The University Orchestra and Wind Ensemble with Richard Stoltzman, clarinet, will perform at 7:30 p.m. March 8 in Kimball Hall. Tickets are $25 for adults and $12.50 for students and are available at the Lied Center Box Office. Tyler White and Craig Cornish conduct.

The Women's Choral Invitational takes place at 7:30 p.m. March 19 in Kimball Hall. The performance is free.

Faculty artist Paul Barnes, piano, performs at 7:30 p.m. March 20 in Kimball Hall. Admission is free.

On March 22, the Moran Woodwind Quintet will perform at 7:30 p.m. in Kimball Hall in a free performance. NU's resident woodwind quintet will perform works by Deslandres, Carter and D'Rivera. The quintet is composed of John Bailey, flute; William McMullen, oboe; Cawein, clarinet; Gary Echols, bassoon; and Allen French, horn.

Once Upon a Mattress will be performed at 7:30 p.m. March 29-31, and 2:30 p.m. April 1, in the Star City Dinner Theatre, Eighth and Q streets. This zany musical take on the fairy tale classic, The Princess and the Pea, has a score by Mary Rodgers. Call 477.8277 for ticket information.

A dance concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. March 30 in Kimball Hall. General admission tickets are $10 adults, $5 students and are available at the door.

Lied Center Announces Cancellation of It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues

The Lied Center for Performing Arts announces the cancellation of the April 27-29 performances of It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues due to a scheduling conflict.

Ticket holders may obtain a refund or exchange tickets for a different event in the 2000-2001 season. Tickets will need to be returned to the Lied Center box office at 12th and Q streets no later than March 31, in either case. Please call the box office for a refund or exchange at 472-4747 or (800) 432-3231. The Lied Center regrets any inconvenience this change may cause.

UPC International Films Series Presents Yi Yi

Edward Yang won the Best Director award at last year's Cannes Film Festival for Yi Yi (A One and a Two). Opening at the Mary Riepma Ross Film Theater on Feb. 22, Yi Yi is an exquisitely photographed, heartbreakingly sensitive depiction of one Taiwanese family's attempt to find its way within an often cruel but also beautiful world.

N.J. Jian, his wife, Min Min, and their two kids are a typical middle-class family, sharing their Taipei apartment with Min-Min's elderly mother. N.J. is a partner in a computer hardware firm which made big profits last year but which will soon go bankrupt if it doesn't change direction.

Things start to go wrong for the Jians on the day that Min-Min's brother A-Di gets married. Min-Min's mother suffers a stroke and is rushed to hospital in a coma. N.J. bumps into Sherry, his first childhood sweetheart, now married to an American.

In the following weeks, Min-Min will go through a minor breakdown and disappear to a religious retreat, her daughter Ting-Ting will get her first, rough lessons in love, her son Yang-Yang will get into trouble at school and her brother A-Di will have to deal with a clash between the bride he chose and the woman he spurned. There will be an ugly murder in the apartment block where the Jians live; meanwhile N.J. will go to Tokyo to negotiate with Ota - but also to secretly meet Sherry and find out if life really can give him a second chance.

Yi Yi is showing on Feb. 22, 24 and 25. Screenings are at 7 p.m. on Thursday and at 3 and 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Admission is $6.50 for adults and $4.50 for students, senior citizens, children, and members of the Friends of the Mary Riepma Ross Film Theater.

Comedians Headline UPC Concert Feb. 22

Comedians Spanky and Craig Carmean will perform in a free concert Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. at the Nebraska Union Ballroom, sponsored by University Program Council.

Spanky has made 34 television appearances, including ER, Profiler, and The Jenny McCarthy Show, and has been featured in the movies High School High, and Molly. He was voted 1999 Campus Comedian of the Year.

Craig Carmean was voted 2000 Comedian of the Year by readers of Campus Activities Magazine.

The University Program Council is a volunteer student organization addressing the co-curricular, social, recreational and cultural and educational needs of the UNL campus.

NPRN to Broadcast 1964 Lincoln Address Made by MLK

As part of Black History Month commemoration, the Nebraska Public Radio Network will broadcast Remembering Dr. King: Nebraska 1964 at 3 p.m. Feb. 25.

Only three weeks after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a major address at the Methodist Student Leadership Conference in Lincoln. During the Remembering Dr. King program, NPRN will broadcast King's 1964 speech in its entirety, and NPRN host Jerry Johnston will interview special guests who were in the audience that day: Leola Bullock, former head of the Lincoln chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and Albert Maxey Jr., King's police escort.

Bullock and Maxey discuss how their lives were shaped by King's message. Both guests also reflect on their reactions to the news of King's assassination in 1968.

The radio special was first envisioned when Rev. Fred Loder of Lincoln brought a tape of the speech to the attention of Nebraska Public Radio.

"I knew when I listened to the tape that this had to be shared with the sta," Johnston said. "There are so many people who probably didn't realize that King was even in Lincoln, let alone the fact that he delivered such a powerful speech to a large crowd here. Having Ms. Bullock and Mr. Maxey talk about that special day really brings this piece home for us."

NOVA Program Explores Eating Disorders

Millions of young American women, and increasingly, young men, succumb to eating disorders. Driven by intense concern with weight and body image, they fall victim to anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. NOVA probes the roots of this alarming epidemic and highlights the new therapies on Dying to Be Thin, airing at 8 p.m. Feb. 27 on the statewide Nebraska ETV Network as part of National Eating Disorders Week (Feb. 25-March 4).

Anorexia nervosa - the persistent aversion to eating - is the deadliest of all psychiatric disorders, often causing its victims to die from malnutrition and other complications. According to a Mayo Clinic study, anorexia has been increasing by 36 percent every five years since the 1950s. Bulimia nervosa is a related condition, characterized by binge eating followed by purging - through vomiting, laxative use or excessive exercise.

Today, some 8 million people, mainly women, suffer from anorexia and bulimia. Most at risk are women between ages 15 and 24. Young women "are increasingly tuned in to a celebrity culture where the models' and actresses' bodies are considerably thinner than they've ever been in the past," warns Dr. Joan Brumberg, a Cornell University historian. "This is very seductive and hard for young girls to resist."

NOVA gains access to the intimate world of the New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theater to explore the lives of ballerinas who are expected to maintain a weight nearly 15 percent below the recommended ideal for their height - essentially an anorexic weight.

In 1997, the dance world was stunned when Heidi Guenther, a member of the Boston Ballet, died at age 22 when her heart gave out. The cause appeared to be an eating disorder.

A wrenching sequence in NOVA: Dying to Be Thin shows retired ballerina Erika Goodman, a former Joffrey Ballet star once reviewed as "a treasure of her generation." Now 54, she shuffles through the streets of New York with a walker. The same body that once moved with extraordinary grace is today ravaged by severe osteoporosis caused by long-term anorexia.

Some women, however, are fighting back. Former supermodel Kate Dillon explains how, at the height of her career, she walked away from the demands that were making her sick and miserable - demands that she should lose yet more weight for the cameras.

Dillon put on 50 pounds, bringing her weight up to a more comfortable, healthier level. She now has a celebrated career as a plus-size model and was recently named one of the 50 most beautiful people of the year by People magazine.

Research suggests that an imbalance in serotonin - a brain neurotransmitter known for the role it plays in mood and appetite - may be involved in anorexia. High levels of this chemical may be responsible for the obsessive behavior so often seen in patients with eating disorders, people who are perhaps unconsciously starving themselves to reduce their anxiety.

For an anorexic, weight gain is the first step toward recovery. NOVA follows several patients, including 14-year-old Erin, whose concerned mother convinced her to accept an intensive course of therapy involving psychiatric help, hospitalization and antidepressants. For Erin and others, merely eating a normal meal again can be a terrifying hurdle.

Even after that barrier is crossed, the danger of relapse is high unless those with anorexia follow through with their treatment, confront the underlying issues that brought on their illness and return to eating as a normal, healthy part of life.

As part of UNL's Eating Disorders Week, Nebraska ETV and the UNL Eating Disorder Support Group will sponsor a local viewing group of the program at 8 p.m. with a panel discussion immediately following on education and prevention of eating disorders. The group will meet in the Nebraska Union.

Welsch Has Moment with MONA's Roth

Ron Roth, director of the Museum of Nebraska Art in Kearney, will be the guest on Roger Welsch & when the interview series airs at 8 p.m. Feb. 24, and repeats at 2:30 p.m. Feb. 25, on the statewide Nebraska ETV Network. The program will repeat on NETV2 at noon Feb. 26.

The Museum of Nebraska Art is a partnership between the University of Nebraska at Kearney and the Nebraska Art Collection Foundation. It is located in the old Kearney Post Office, which was expanded and completely remodeled in 1991-93. The Nebraska Legislature has recognized the Nebraska Art Collection as the Official Visual Art Collection of the State of Nebraska.

Director Ron Roth has a Masters-at-Teaching degree in Museum Education from George Washington University and has designed and organized educational programs for museums such as the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Corcoran Gallery, and others. A published author and educational lecturer, Roth is writes and narrates a series called "MONA Moments" on the Nebraska Public Radio Network that are designed to educate and inform listeners about Nebraska's visual art heritage. Each three- to four-minute "Moment" is broadcast three times during a week: Fridays at 12:06 p.m. on Fridays; at 8:30 p.m. on Sundays and at 9 a.m. on Mondays.

All-Star Comedy Featured on NETV

Get ready to laugh when the Nebraska ETV Network presents an evening of comedy - from family sitcom to politically incorrect - on Feb. 28. Starting at 7 p.m., Steve Martin, Jerry Seinfeld, Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore, Richard Belzer, Joy Behar, George Wallace and Rob Reiner salute author-actor-director Carl Reiner on The Kennedy Center Presents: The Mark Twain Prize. The two-hour program is followed by The College of Comedy with Allan King III, on the series Great Performances at 9 p.m.

The 2001 Mark Twain award recipient, Carl Reiner, 78, is best known for creating The Dick Van Dyke Show in 1961. Reiner said that comedy hasn't changed: surprise, recognition and pratfall continue to be themes in his productions. Reiner's ability to be current with the times while preserving classic elements of humor has kept his work funny for decades. The Dick Van Dyke Show provided family-oriented humor without resorting to the slang and buzz words of today's sitcoms which, as Reiner said, "keep you from using your wit instead of your tongue."

Reiner has received 12 Emmy Awards and has directed or written movies including Oh God!, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, The Man with Two Brains and Fatal Instinct. He has had starring or cameo roles in films such as The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Previous recipients of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Mark Twain Prize are Richard Pryor (1998) and Jonathan Winters (1999).

Vacation Call-In Questions on Outdoor Nebraska

With the topic of vacation planning, Outdoor Nebraska will present its third call-in show of the season this week on the statewide Nebraska ETV Network. This episode of the outdoor news magazine series airs at 7:30 p.m. March 1, and repeats at 8 a.m. March 3. The program also repeats on NETV2 at noon March 4.

According to producer Abe Moore, the show's panel of experts will take any kind of question about recreational activities, but will focus on fun places to go and fun things to do in Nebraska. "With spring almost here this is a great chance to find out where to go for your summer vacation," Moore said. "Whether it's a week trip to the Pine Ridge for some horse back riding at Fort Robinson State Park or a weekend getaway to Mahoney State Park, we'll have people who can answer your questions." Staff members from the Nebraska Travel and Tourism Department and from the Game and Parks Commission's Parks Division will be on hand to respond to viewer calls.

In the Life Broadcast on NETV2

Stories about gay African Americans are featured in this month's broadcast of In the Life, public television's Emmy-nominated gay and lesbian newsmagazine series, airing at 11 p.m. Feb. 25 on NETV2.

Correspondents Tanya Barfield, Paul Mueller and series host Katherine Linton join guest host RuPaul in this special edition of In the Life which compiles some of the series' best stories about the gay African-American movement.

The hour-long program examines the civil rights efforts of activist/organizer Bayard Rustin and author James Baldwin during the historic 1963 March on Washington, and two people who choose to preserve their legacies. Present-day gay activists Keith Boykin, Irene Monroe and Michelle Lopez are featured as they speak out against homophobia, racism, sexism and the rise of AIDS in black communities.

Another segment observes a century of life in director Yvonne Welbon's documentary film Living With Pride: Ruth Ellis @ 100. Appearing in the continuing "Out Artists" segments are singer Toshi Reagon and writer/performer Pamela Sneed.

Girls' HS Basketball Finals Telecast

The best girls' high school basketball teams in Nebraska invade Lincoln to battle it out for the state championships in six different classes with the final contests telecast live from the Bob Devaney Sports Center on March 3, on the statewide Nebraska ETV Network.

Nebraska Girls' High School Basketball Championships will begin at 9:30 a.m. with the Class C-2 finals. The day-long coverage continues with the Class D-2 championship game at 11:30 a.m. and the Class A title game at 1:30 p.m.

The match-ups continue at 5 p.m. with the championship game for Class D-1, followed at 7 p.m. by the Class C-1 final. The Class B championship game concludes the day's action at 9 p.m.

The basketball games also will be webcast on NET Online http://net.unl.edu.