Hitchcock Honored with UNO's Gandhi Award

Robert Hitchcock, professor of anthropology, will receive the Gandhi Award bestowed by the UNO School of Social Work. The award recognizes an individual or organization whose efforts embody the Gandhian principles of nonviolence, social action and social justice. Hitchcock will receive the award at a luncheon March 7 in Omaha.

"Hitchcock has dedicated the past 25 years of his life to causes that embody Gandhian principles of nonviolence and the social work profession's values," said Sunny Andrews, the school's director. "He is worthy of this distinct honor."

Hitchcock has worked as a cultural anthropologist and development consultant on rural economics, land use planning, social impact analysis, natural resource management, and human rights issues in southern, eastern and central Africa, Hawaii, native North America, and Central America. He is currently working on a series of projects with rural and urban populations in Nebraska, including farmers in southeastern Nebraska, urban gardeners in Omaha, immigrant populations in western Nebraska, and refugees in Lincoln and Omaha.

In addition to the award presentation, David Thomas, Ph.D. will present a workshop entitled "The Ethics of Choice: Meeting the Challenge of Ethical Decision-Making in Social Work" Bob Woolfson, Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League, will serve as the luncheon speaker. His speech is titled "Here we are: Lessons of the Present." Social work continuing education units are available in conjunction with the workshops. The event will occur the DC Centre, 7177 Jones Circle, beginning at 8:30 a.m., with the awards luncheon at 11:45 a.m.

For more information about the School of Social Work Annual Symposium and Gandhi Award at UNO, call Kristin Williams at (402) 554-2925 or email kwilliams345@yahoo.com . For more information about the School of Social Work at UNOmaha, call (402) 554-2792 or visit the school's web site at http://www.unomaha.edu/~socialw.

Hall Dorothy Interim Director Services for Students with Disabilities

Leah Hall Dorothy has been named interim director for the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities, announced James Griesen, vice chancellor for student affairs. She assumed the post Feb. 19.

The interim position is a half-time appointment, which will allow Hall Dorothy to continue her job as assistant director for sports clubs and special programs at the Office of Campus Recreation-a post she has held since 1991.

At Campus Recreation, she teaches Adaptive Physical Education courses and has worked closely with the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities in the area of fitness and recreation programming.

Hall Dorothy's education has included adaptive physical education, teaching practicums working with students with disabilities and sport for the disabled. Her research has focused on access to adaptive recreation programming for university students. She is currently working on her doctorate in educational leadership at UNL.

The director's job in Services for Students with Disabilities has been vacant since Jan. 29 when Mary Thompson asked to be reassigned to the Office of Student Involvement.

Hall Dorothy will hold the interim post until a permanent director is hired. A national search is expected to begin in March.

Accounting Office Changes

Loren Blinde, director of UNL Accounting, has accepted the position of director of the Administrative Services Project (SAP) in Central Administration, effective Feb. 15. Dale Zimmerman, assistant director of accounting, will serve as interim director until a new permanent director is in place. Diane Ciecior, senior accountant, will fill in for Zimmerman as assistant director.

Smith, Lieberman Speak at Kerrey's Investiture

NU President L. Dennis Smith was the lead-off speaker and Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D.-Conn.), was the keynote speaker for former U.S. Sen. Bob Kerrey's (D.-Neb.) investiture ceremonies on Feb. 20. Kerrey, an NU graduate, was installed as the seventh president of the New School University in New York. The ceremony occurred in Carnegie Hall.

The New School was established as the New School for Social Research in 1919 under the guidance of another Nebraska alumnus, Alvin Johnson, and became the New School University in 1997. The university enrolls about 7,500 degree-seeking students and 25,000 in all its educational programs. Its programs include graduate studies in political and social science, design, music, acting, and management and urban policy.

"Bob is one of Nebraska's favorites sons, and a man who has distinguished himself as a United State Senator, as a U.S. Navy Seal whose bravery was recognized with the Congressional Medal of Honor, and as one of this nation's leading thinkers on the relationship between technology and the educational process. He is clearly a person all Nebraskans can be proud of," Smith said.

Smith also noted a number of projects with which Kerrey has assisted the University of Nebraska, including the George W. Beadle Center for Genetics and Biomaterials Research, the Lied Transplant Center, the Nebraska Math and Science Initiative, and the Drought Mitigation Center.

"In each instance," Smith said, "Bob was intimately involved in the project, pushing us to be more imaginative, more creative, more far-sighted."

Other speakers included George Campbell, president of the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Sciences and Art, and Jonathan F. Fanton, president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Lieberman was the Democratic candidate for vice president in 2000 and is a friend and colleague of Kerrey.

NET Names Dilley Public Radio General Manager

Nebraska Educational Telecommunications has named Raymond G. Dilley general manager for the Nebraska Public Radio Network.

Dilley will guide all aspects of the network's operation and development, including programming and outreach, while fostering NPRN's commitment to classical music and news and public affairs reporting for the citizens of Nebraska.

Dilley has over three decades of experience in public radio and television and most recently served as general manager for National Public Radio station WJHU in Baltimore, Md, where he was credited with revitalizing that major market station. His accomplishments also include founding Vermont Public Radio and directing NPR's successful efforts to go global by launching NPR Worldwide during his term there as project manager.

"We cast the national recruitment net widely to bring in the best public radio could offer," David Feingold, NET's assistant general manager for content development, said. "We now have that person. Ray is community-oriented and committed to the highest classical music, fine arts and journalism standards of public broadcasting. I am looking forward to working closely with him."

Dilley replaces Steve Robinson, who had served as NPRN's manager since the Network's inception in 1990. General manager responsibilities since Robinson's departure have been carried out by Nancy Finken, who was promoted to NPRN program director/assistant radio network manager this past summer.

Dilley has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vt., and a Master of Arts degree in journalism from the University of Montana in Missoula, Mont.