 |
| Fisheries and wildlife majors, from left to
right, Phil Dobesh, Grant Collings, Amy Bydalek and Ben Erie
wade upstream using electrodes and nets to collect a variety
of fish April 25 in Oak Creek near Lincoln. The students collected
the fish as part of their ichthyology class. The fish were released
after being measured. |
Road work near campus begins May 6
The City of Lincoln will begin a resurfacing project on R
Street
between 12th and 17th streets and 12th Street between
Q and R
streets May 6. The city will be doing concrete work on
curbs, and
no street closings are anticipated. The contractor
will maintain
access to the university parking lots southeast
of CBA, west of
Canfield and southwest of the Nebraska Union
through May 12.
Between May 13-18, the city will do street milling and lay
new
asphalt. Access will be available to the university parking
lots
except for the six to eight hours after each area of asphalt
installation. The visitor parking lot on R Street between 13th
and
14th streets will be accessible by the alley off 14th Street.
Parking and Transit Services will advise university parking
permit holders for these lots of alternative choices for parking
during this time. A detoured shuttle bus service will also be
announced.
Scarlet
schedule
The last edition of the Scarlet for the academic
year will
publish on May 9. During the summer, the Scarlet will
publish
once a month, on June 6 and July 11. The Scarlet will
resume
publishing weekly on Aug. 22 for the 2002-2003 school
year.
Please submit items for publication to scarlet@unl.edu,
by mail to
321 Canfield Administration Building, 0424, or call
472-8518. Items
must be received by the Scarlet at least one
week before the issue
in which you'd like the information published.
Spring Weed Identification Tour Is May 11
The UNL Botanical Garden and Arboretum will conduct a spring
weed identification walking tour May 11 on East Campus.
The
1 1/2-hour tour is free and open to the public and begins
at 10
a.m. at the Gazebo in Maxwell Arboretum on East Campus.
It will be
lead by Ann Streich, UNL extension horticulture educator.
Participants will walk on campus to find common landscape
weeds
that germinate in the spring. Participants also can bring
samples
of weeds they would like identified so they also can
learn how to
deal with the weeds at home.
For more information, call UNL
Landscape Services at 472-2679.
Families Awards May 14
Mary Pipher, author of Reviving
Ophelia, is the special guest
speaker at this year's Herb Lingren
Strengthening Families Awards
on May 14. The awards are sponsored
by the Department of Family
and Consumer Sciences.
Pipher will sign copies of her new book, The Middle of Everywhere:
The World's Refugees Come to Our Town, beginning at 11 a.m. May
14
at the Hardin Nebraska Center for Continuing Education, 33rd
and
Holdrege streets. Lunch will begin at 11:30 and will be followed
by
Pipher's presentation and the Lingren awards.
Registration
is required to attend the event. Mail your name,
address, phone
number and $25 by May 3 to Lingren Awards, University
of
Nebraska-Lincoln, P.O. Box 830801, Lincoln, 68583-0801. Fax
registration requests (with credit card information) to 472-9170.
Students may attend the presentation without lunch at no cost.
For more information, call 472-8209.
No scrambled eggs
|
 |
| Mike Butterfield, a senior
civil engineering
major, watches after releasing a cardboard
egg holder during
the Egg Drop contest April 26 at the E-Week
Open House. The holders
were built to protect the eggs from
breaking during the fall. |
Web
Search Engine Policy
More and more public university
information is being distributed
via campus web pages. In order to
ensure that the university
community is able to access all
available information, the campus
policy on searching web pages has
been changed.
Effective May 1, all web servers on campus
will be included
in the "UNL Full Search" results when
using the search
option from the http://www.unl.edu
pages. Up until
this time, units and/or departments had to request
that their
information be included in this search index. Now,
all publicly
available UNL web server information, with the exception
of the
student residence hall sites, will be scanned and added
to the
search index on a daily basis.
Note: Publicly Available Web
Server Information is defined
as any web page that has
<unl.edu> in its page address,
and access to the information
is not limited based on passwords
or other types of restriction
schemes.
If you believe that the information on any of
your web pages
should not be included in the search engine results
(based on
web page content or other factors), please send an email
to <cwis2@unl.edu>
and you will be contacted for more
information.
This policy change was initiated by the
Chancellor's Office
and approved by the Campus-Wide Information
System Advisory Board.
For more Information on the CWIS Project, go
to http://www.unl.edu/cwis
_team/webpolcy.html.
Gallup conducts poll
Course Management Systems such as
Blackboard are being widely
used to support the teaching mission at
UNL. On behalf of the
National Center for Information Technology in
Education, the
Gallup Organization may be contacting faculty
members to complete
a brief survey related to the use & impact
of online CMS
at UNL. If contacted, please take a few minutes and
share your
experience.
The results of this survey
will be published and presented
at the Nebraska Symposium on
Information Technology in Education.
For more information on this
symposium, visit http://www.ncite.org/NESymposium
/.
UNL Tractor Museum
Open House
The Larsen Tractor Museum will have an open
house from 1-4
p.m. May 4. The museum is on the east side of the
tractor test
track on East Campus.
The historic site,
built in 1919, was used to ensure that
tractor manufacturers met
their claims of tractor performance.
Technology on
display
|
 |
| MicroMouse2, a maze-solving robot, waits
as
engineering students Dustin Betz, left, and Chris Schrage
work
on a computer program at their display during the 2002
Downtown
Technology Fair April 25. The MicroMouse2 display
was one of
many displays by engineering college students at
the fair. |
Savings Seminar
UNL Extension
Family Economist Kathy Prochaska-Cue will be
the featured speaker
at the University of Nebraska Federal Credit
Union's free "6
Steps to Six Figure Savings" Seminar
at 6:30 p.m. May 2 in the
Nebraska East Union. Learn how you
can build wealth by putting a
few fundamental principles about
money into action.
This free seminar sponsored by the credit union. Call 472-2087
to reserve your seat.
Museum director candidate to give
lectures
Dr. Lawrence J. Flynn, candidate for director of
the University
of Nebraska State Museum, will present two public
talks during
his campus visit:
- 4-5 p.m.
May 6, Nebraska Union, "Both Sides of Tibet:
Understanding
Mammalian Faunal Turnover in the Context of Global
Climate
Change."
- 5:30-6:30 p.m. May 7, Morrill Hall, "The
University
Museum: Blending Academia and Outreach with
Intellectual Control
and Preservation." This talk will be
preceded by a reception
at 5 p.m.
Faculty,
staff, students and friends of the museum are invited
to attend
these talks. For more information, contact the Office
of the Vice
Chancellor for Research at 472-3123 or UNLresearch@unl.edu.
Teleconference on Scottsbluff
Veterinary Diagnostic Lab Is
May 6
A two-way video
teleconference has been scheduled for May
6 to hear discussion on
the proposed closing of the Veterinary
Diagnostic Laboratory at the
Panhandle Research and Extension
Center in Scottsbluff.
The closing of the lab, part of UNL's budget-reduction proposal
to meet the state's requirement to cut the university's budget
by
an additional 1 percent, would save $213,413 annually.
Residents in the Scottsbluff area wanting to comment on the
proposal may do so in the auditorium of the Panhandle Research
and
Extension Center, 4502 Avenue I in Scottsbluff. The discussion
session is scheduled from 1 to 2:50 p.m. MDT (2 to 3:50 p.m.
CDT).
Those wanting to participate should sign in ahead of the
discussion
session, beginning at 12:40 MDT.
The Lincoln site for the
teleconference will be 116 Chase
Hall on East Campus. Members of
the UNL Academic Planning Committee
will hear the discussion before
formulating recommendations to
Chancellor Harvey Perlman on the
second round of budget reduction
proposals, required following
legislative action.
Apply
now for NU administrative fellowship
The University of
Nebraska Office of the President is accepting
applications and
nominations for the Equity in Opportunity Administration
Fellowship. This position provides the opportunity for an NU
administrative or faculty member to acquire administrative experience
in the central administration office. The fellow selected for
the
position will receive release time from his/her current university
responsibilities to assume this job. The fellowship is for one
academic year.
Please submit a current vita and a letter
expressing your
interest and the reasons you believe you meet the
position requirements
to Shari Clarke, Associate to the President,
University of Nebraska,
115 Varner Hall, Lincoln, NE 68588-0745 by
May 4.
e-news process for
e-mail to all
E-News is a weekly compilation of notices
distributed to all
faculty and staff and replaces the "e-mail
to all"
system. The deadline for submission is 5 p.m. Monday;
E-News
is distributed Tuesday evenings. Submitted items must be
sponsored
by a UNL department, program or organization. No
commercial or
personal announcements are allowed. Announcements
must have news
rather than opinion content. Submit items to: http://www.unl.edu/e-news.
To view a sample submission, see: http://www.unl.edu/e-news/sa
mple.html.
Previously announced URL links are still
active but the above
are updated links.
Weed Retirement Reception May 9
A retirement reception for Karen Weed will be from 2:30-4:30
p.m. May 9 in Conference Rooms A, B, C at the University Health
Center.
Weed will retire from the University Health Center
May 10
after 38 years of service. She has been coordinator of the
Health
Aide Program in Community Health Education and a registered
nurse
in dermatology and the medical clinic.
For more
information, call Community Health Education at 472-7440.
University Travelers Get Insurance
When university travelers book airline tickets using our MasterCard
"Ghost Card," they will receive $500,000 Travel Accident
Insurance and up to $1,250 in Lost Luggage Insurance. For more
information, contact Bill Bode, director of Purchasing and Materiels
Management, at 472-3609, or via e-mail wbode1@unl.edu.
Purchasing Fiscal Year End Deadlines 2001/02
For Bids &
Quotes
Don't wait until the last few
days of Fiscal Year 2001/2002
to spend year-end dollars.
Administrators are encouraged to review
projected year-end balances
so that expenditures can be processed
early and in the best
interest of the university.
Departments should communicate
their need for major purchases
requiring formal sealed bidding
(over $40,000) as soon as possible.
Keep in mind that formal sealed
bidding procedures require a
minimum of 3-4 weeks lead-time. The
deadline for sealed bidding
requests is May 27.
The
deadline for purchases requiring vendor quotations ($5,000-$39,999)
is June 10.
Specific year-end deadlines can be found on
the Purchasing
website: http://busfin.un
l.edu/purchase/announcements.html.
If you have
any questions, please call the Purchasing Department
at
472-2126.
Information
Technology training classes begin May 9
The Summer
Sessions 2002 hands-on classes and seminars offered
by
Communications and Information Technology begin May 9. The
class
topics cover fundamental skills for effectively using the
Windows
file management system, PowerPoint (basic skills and
customizing
classes), effective Web searching, Web authoring
(HTML and
Dreamweaver classes), and more.
More information on class
topics, time and location of classes,
class fees and registration
is available at: http://cit.inf
ormation.unl.edu/training/classes.htm.
If you would
like to receive the printed flier, "Information
Technology
Training Schedule: Summer Sessions 2002," call
the CIT office
at 472-5630 or send an e-mail to msolomos@unlnotes.unl.edu.
If these classes don't fit your schedule, check out the other
resources at: http://cit.information.un
l.edu/training/.
UNL to
Host Workshop in Mathematical Biology
The Department of
Mathematics and the School of Biological
Sciences will host a
two-day workshop on May 17-18 on mathematical
biology. The goal of
the workshop is to focus on issues relating
to mathematical models
of ecosystems and organisms, and the presentations
should be
accessible to graduate and undergraduate students and
to faculty in
life sciences or in mathematical and computational
sciences.
Featured speakers include Roger Nisbet, professor, University
of
California at Santa Barbara, who will speak on "From
Molecules
to Ecosystems with Dynamic Energy Budget Models,"
and Lou
Gross, professor, University of Tennessee, who will speak
on
"Everglades Restoration: Computing, Ecology, and Public
Policy." Gross will also lead a panel discussion on "Education
and Quantitative Issues in the Biosciences." Gross and Nisbet
are known for their research in mathematical ecology, and they
have
authored many books bridging the mathematical and biological
sciences.
Other topics to be discussed at the workshop
include food
chain analysis, predation, digestion modulation in
arthropods,
and resource-mediated animal aggregation.
Detailed information about the workshop can be found at the
workshop Web site, http://www.math.unl.e
du/~dlogan/bioconf.html
or by contacting David Logan in
mathematics at 472-7260, dlogan@math.unl.edu. There
is
no registration fee for the workshop. It is sponsored by the
UNL
College of Arts and Sciences.
Vehicle Auction May 5
Transportation Services will be
conducting its annual vehicle
auction at 1:30 p.m. May 5 at 19th
and R streets (directly east
of the parking garage). Viewing begins
at 10 a.m. Anyone interested
in bidding on these cars for personal
use may preview some of
the vehicles at: http://busfin
.unl.edu/Inventory/UNL_Auction_2002.asp.
If you have
questions or would like more information, call
Pat Barrett or Mike
Cacak at Transportation Services, 472-2422.
TIAA-CREF Consultant on Campus May 3
A TIAA-CREF Consultant will be available on May 3 in the Nebraska
Union for individual consultations. If you would like to discuss
your investment choices, you may sign up by calling (800) 842-2009,
or by going to the Web page listed and choosing Meetings/Counseling
http://tiaa-cref.org.
Planting a tree for arbor day
|
 |
| Jeff Culbertson, right, curator of the Maxwell
Arboretum, and Gary Hergenrader, state forester with the Nebraska
Forest Service, prepare a Kentucky coffeetree for planting after
a ceremony celebrating the 130th anniversary of Arbor Day on
April 26 on East Campus. The tree was also planted to commemorate
the 35th anniversary of the Maxwell Arboretum. Robert Hensarling,
director of UNL Landscape Services, is at left. |
Study: Most
livestock waste not polluting water
By Steve Ress, NU
Water Center
Most Nebraska livestock waste lagoons are not
polluting groundwater,
a two-year University of Nebraska study
indicates.
Researchers monitored 26 swine, dairy and beef
cattle waste
lagoons at 13 sites in central and eastern Nebraska.
They tested
nearby groundwater and lagoon water to assess the
lagoons' potential
threat to groundwater quality.
"The majority of the waste lagoons in the study have
not
adversely impacted groundwater," said Roy Spalding,
a research
hydrochemist and director of the university's Water
Sciences
Laboratory who headed this research.
"This is
particularly significant because of agriculture's
importance to our
state and to the public, considering roughly
85 percent of
Nebraskans drink groundwater," he added.
Water lab
scientists and Mariappan Sadayappan, a UNL agronomy
and
horticulture graduate student, recently completed the study,
which
was designed to identify indicators of waste lagoon seepage
and to
evaluate these lagoons' effect on groundwater quality.
The
size of lagoons and their environmental settings varied
greatly; 12
of the 13 sites were in use, Spalding said. Livestock
producers who
operated the lagoons volunteered for the monitoring
project that
ran from 1999 through 2001.
Ten of the 12 active sites
sampled did not appear to pollute
nearby groundwater, Spalding
said.
Three of the lagoons "probably contributed to a
reduction
of high nitrate levels in the area around them," he
said.
That's because beneath these lagoons, naturally occurring
bacteria
fed on the nitrates thereby reducing the nitrates in the
sampling
wells down gradient from the lagoons, Spalding said.
"This process tends to reduce the amount of nitrates
flowing beneath the lagoons," he said.
Groundwater
beneath two of the sampled lagoons contained higher
levels of
ammonia and nitrate. Both these lagoons are in areas
vulnerable to
pollution because groundwater is less than 35 feet
below the
surface and the soils are textured and easily permeable.
The Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources team sampled
each of the lagoons and the surrounding groundwater four times
over
the two-year study in both the spring and fall. Researchers
took
samples at different depths in the lagoons to help determine
variations in sample content that might occur either vertically
or
laterally in lagoons or groundwater.
Samples were analyzed
for levels of nitrate-nitrogen, ammonia-nitrogen,
chloride,
dissolved organic carbon and total organic carbon.
High
concentrations of chloride and ammonia are prime indicators
of
groundwater pollution from livestock waste lagoons, Spalding
said.
Scientists also analyzed samples for nitrogen isotopes,
which
help distinguish the source of nitrogen, such as fertilizer,
animal waste or naturally occurring in soils.
Spalding said
that, overall, these findings show that most
livestock lagoons
don't harm groundwater quality. However, an
individual lagoon's
impact on groundwater quality depends on
site conditions including
depth to groundwater, geology, construction,
soil type, extent of
groundwater use in the immediate vicinity
and how the lagoon is
operated, such as how often and when it
is pumped out.
Researchers also sampled 11 of the 13 waste lagoon sites for
antibiotics commonly added to livestock feed or water. These
included oxytetracycline, tetracycline and chlortetracycline.
Groundwater samples collected at these sites showed no detectable
levels of these antibiotics even though traces of at least one
of
the three antibiotics were found in the lagoon water in 23
of the
26 samples they collected.
"Although traces of
antibiotics were measured in 23 of
the 26 lagoon water samples,
they were not detected in the groundwater
beneath or near
them," Spalding said.
The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency helped fund this
research, which was conducted in
cooperation with IANR's Agricultural
Research Division.
|
