Dec. 19, 2002

"The role of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as the primary intellectual and cultural resource for the State is fulfilled through the three missions of the University: teaching, research, and service."

- Mission statement,

University of Nebraska-Lincoln,

approved by the NU Board of Regents, 1991

From the Chancellor: We're proud of what we do for our citizens

Colleagues:

This is the first of three special editions of The Scarlet devoted to telling more of the good-news stories that happen at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In my Sept. 6, 2002, State of the University Address, I said we needed to celebrate our existing successes and recognize the ongoing excellence at UNL. This section, the first of three planned, is part of that recognition and celebration.

The university has a three-part mission of teaching and learning, research and discovery, and community outreach and service. Outreach is the hallmark of a land-grant university; it extends the university's capacity to educate and the products of its research and expertise to every Nebraskan. This special edition tells the story of the many ways UNL reaches out to the citizens of the state.

The examples are many and no four-page special section could list in a meaningful way every person engaged in outreach and every program that we offer. What we've attempted to do is to give you an idea of the breadth and depth of outreach and engagement at UNL. I think you will be surprised to know how UNL faculty and staff are affecting Nebraskans.

In upcoming editions, we will look at our teaching and research missions. By the way, these editions have been produced within the usual budget for The Scarlet and are not an additional expense item.

I'm proud of the work we do at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. It's important that all of us share the good news that continues to happen here.

Harvey Perlman

Chancellor

Students craft a winning ad campaign

Billboards, banners, radio spots and newspaper ads urge Lincoln residents and visitors to "Do it Downtown" in a campaign that focuses on the diversity of activities available downtown. The campaign was created for the Downtown Lincoln Association by a team of senior UNL advertising students, providing real-world experience for students and a promotional boost for Lincoln.

"Without the university class, we wouldn't have a campaign right now," said Polly McMullen, director of the Downtown Lincoln Association. "We don't have the budget to hire a firm to design a campaign for us."

The campaign was part of a class project where students develop proposals for real-life client. Team member Jason Rathe said the opportunity to work for a client provided valuable hands-on training. Rathe said it's also exciting to see the campaign carried out.

"It's been fun to drive around and see billboards or see our ads in the newspaper and really take ownership," Rathe said.

The student campaign was honored with an ADDY award given by the Nebraska Advertising Federation.

Ad courtesy of the DLA.

Initiative focuses on future of rural state

A program launched this summer seeks to put the teaching, research and outreach activities of the university to work helping revitalize rural Nebraska.

The Nebraska Rural Initiative was established by NU President L. Dennis Smith as a universitywide effort based on concerns for the economic and social futures of rural Nebraska. The initiative is headquartered at UNL within the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Sandra Scofield, director of the initiative, has begun working with administrators and faculty on all four campuses of the NU system and relevant partners beyond the university.

"By connecting the knowledge and research at the university in a wide variety of fields, we will help communities meet their challenges and realize some of their dreams," she said. "We see ourselves as partners with others who have been addressing these issues from many directions."

Never before has NU committed itself to such an effort at the system level and dedicated the resources of the total university to make a difference, said John Owens, NU vice president and vice chancellor of IANR.

A task force has identified areas that the Rural Initiative will address including: rural sustainability and community capacity building, business development and e-business; distance education; telehealth/telemedicine; niche crops and value-added activities; youth and young adult leadership and development; and food systems security.

Amy West with the LES manual.

J.D. Edwards students streamline LES' paperwork

Last year, Lincoln Electric System was looking for a more efficient way to handle its parts-ordering and tracking process. Students in UNL's J.D. Edwards Software Design Studio class took on the project and produced software that eliminated piles of paperwork and a 2-inch thick manual.

"We actually went through the LES Specifications book and took all of the information out of it and put in an oracle database for them," said Amy West, a J.D. Edwards student. "Now, they can immediately search through all the forms and fill out the documents they need."

It's estimated that the new software will save LES up to $1 million over the next 20 years.

The collaborations continue, too. Other projects in the works include a cooperation with the USDA to develop software to record and transfer plant pest survey data.

NU Cooperative Extension educator Alan Corr, left, talks to Patty and John Guy, owners of Guy's Home Haven in downtown Sidney. The Guys have participated in Extension's Consumer Preference and Economic Leakage study.

Consumer Survey helps keep shoppers closer to home

University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension is joining with small, rural Nebraska communities to figure out ways residents can stay closer to home for shopping and entertainment.

Extension's Consumer Preference and Economic Leakage study helps small-town businesses learn why they are losing customers to larger towns, and how they can stop it.

"We want to give local communities the opportunity to provide consumers with what they would like to have so they don't have to leave town," said Alan Corr, extension educator in Kearney and Franklin counties and project leader.

The study surveys consumers to learn factors that affect their shopping decisions. Extension works with community task forces to help businesses use survey information to change practices to better attract and keep customers.

The study helped Clark Anderson, owner of Buenz Drug in Ogallala, realize that some of his customers didn't like a gift display just inside the door that partially blocked the view inside. After Anderson moved the display, customers could see in better and employees were better able to see customers enter.

"Our employees probably weren't speaking or acknowledging customers when they came in. Now they are," Anderson said.

In Gothenburg, where 90 percent of survey respondents said they left town to buy clothes and shoes, community leaders recruited a new clothing and shoe store. Customer comments that a Christian gift and bookstore in Holdrege was cluttered prompted owners Gary and Eileen Yost to move to a larger building. Now their store, Treasures of the Heart, is "a much brighter, lighter store," Eileen Yost said.

In the last five years, 20 communities, about 425 businesses and more than 4,600 consumers have participated in extension's study. This fall, Corr added a new component to the study: high school students.

As part of the Minden Consumer Preference study, Corr worked with five members of the Future Business Leaders of America club at Minden High School to survey high school juniors and seniors. The survey seeks to reveal why students leave town and what the local community could do to entice them to return to their communities after college.

For the consumer survey, Corr has visited Nebraska communities ranging from Cambridge, the smallest, to Fremont, the largest, working with up to 25 businesses in each community. He has expanded the survey into Colorado and soon plans to take it into Kansas. Each Nebraska community pays $2,000 for the survey.

In each community, up to 500 surveys are mailed to key consumer groups to determine their shopping preferences and patterns. Eight to 10 members from each of the consumer groups then meet with Corr to voice their opinions of participating businesses. Those opinions are shared anonymously with the businesses.

"It benefits rural Nebraska by strengthening businesses and rural Nebraska communities," Corr said.

Architecture students get practice with mine design

Students in Professor Rumiko Handa's fourth-year architectural design class last spring faced an unusual assignment: Create workable designs for an old lithium mine. The owner of the abandoned Etta Mine near Keystone, S.D., wanted innovative ideas for what to do with his land and offered a scholarship to the student with the winning design. In the end, four $500 scholarships were awarded for designs that ranged from a housing development created on the edge of the mine with views of nearby Mt. Rushmore to a theater, wellness center and a tower rising from the center of the pit. The challenge gave the students' skills a real-life test, and their client benefited from the students' creativity and workable ideas.

Food program teaches healthy habits

More than 75,000 limited-resource families in Douglas, Sarpy, Lancaster, Adams and Hall counties have learned more about nutrition since 1969, thanks to University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension's Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program.

Wanda Koszewski, NU nutrition specialist, said EFNEP helps participants learn "how to feed their family healthy and nutritious food on a limited budget."

Extension's companion Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program, offered in 26 counties, has provided nutritional education to nearly 14,000 families since 1994.

On the lookout for bioterrorism

University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension provides education to help protect the state's $6 billion livestock industry from bioterrorism as well as common domestic and foreign animal diseases.

Extension veterinarians David R. Smith and Dee Griffin helped obtain a $250,000 federal grant to train practicing veterinarians, extension specialists and veterinary students to use biosecurity production practices to protect livestock from exposure to highly contagious diseases.

Get a UNL degree from anywhere in the world

Distance education that delivers services to students no matter where they live remains a high priority at UNL.

"We are committed to serving Nebraska with distance programs," said Arnold Bateman, associate vice chancellor for extended education. "We continue to build on 16 degree programs offered through distance education, along with support services for students and faculty."

Bateman said online courses allow students in rural Nebraska and other areas to take classes in their own homes. Online programs may also include use of videotapes, CDs and conference calls that link students and faculty. Professors are offered instructional design support in developing convenient and effective distance classes that use the latest technology to deliver information. Non-credit courses, workshops and seminars also allow participants to receive training and professional development in a variety of areas.

The number of students enrolled in distance education courses and the number of online credit hours continues to increase. In the 2001-2002 academic year, 2,268 students were enrolled in distance education courses at UNL, compared with 1,477 the year before.

UNL is a recognized leader in distance education, with students from across Nebraska, in all 50 states and 135 countries enrolled.

For 100 years, 4-H has meant fun for thousands of members

As these kids can tell you, 4-H is about a lot more than sewing projects and going to the fair. Four-H, which celebrated its centennial in 2002, involves more than 122,000 Nebraska youth and 6.8 million nationwide, making it the largest non-formal youth education organization. Nebraska 4-H involves kids in about 100 project areas, with personal development and leadership among the most popular topics. Nebraska 4-H is a part of NU Cooperative Extension.

College, K-12 teachers linked for science education

UNL scientists are helping K-12 educators teach science more effectively.

The Nebraska Earth Science Education Network, a program of UNL's Conservation and Survey Division and School of Natural Resource Sciences, aims to improve science education by connecting K-12 educators with university resources.

Supported by a $70,000 National Science Foundation grant and in cooperation with Teachers College, NESEN brought students and secondary-level educators together with university researchers last summer to form teams to examine such issues as climate change; groundwater-surface water dynamics and water quality; fertilizer management for the environment and more.

"The idea was to integrate science teachers into the research experience of scientists here at the university," said Dave Gosselin, director of NESEN and a UNL geologist.

NU Food Processing Center consultants Joan Scheel and Les Vavak look at some foods the center helped put into production, many of which are displayed in NU's Dairy Store on East Campus.

Food Processing Center turns ideas into profits for small-business owners

Entrepreneurs from as far away as Alaska look to the University of Nebraska Food Processing Center to get help in researching or marketing jellies, honeys, salad dressings, salsas, spices and other food products, said Joan Scheel, NU Cooperative Extension food industry consultant.

Besides helping potential entrepreneurs decide whether their food products can be made profitable, Scheel said the center helps new and existing business owners with pilot production, label design, trademark searches, ingredient analysis and more.

The center offers a two-phase entrepreneurial program that reaches both urban and rural residents, in and outside Nebraska.

Potential entrepreneurs start with the center's one-day Recipe to Reality workshop.

"We talk about a lot of issues including distribution, food safety, product availability, following up with store owners and what it means to be the CEO of your own business," Scheel said. Workshop graduates still interested in forming a business may continue with the center's From Product to Profit workshop.

During 2001, the center helped 13 companies go into business, from one in Grafton, Neb., making barbecue sauce to one in Haines, Alaska, making hot sauce. The center also helped businesses start in New Mexico, South Dakota and Illinois.

Of the 104 participants attending one of six Product to Profit seminars in Lincoln in 2001, 26 were from Lincoln and Omaha, 41 were from other Nebraska towns and 63 were from other states, Scheel said.

Since 1989, NU's Food Processing Center has helped 115 companies start up. Of those, 72 percent still are in business, Scheel said, compared to the national average of 50 percent to 60 percent.

Interns are pollution-busters

Sometimes less is more. That's what students in UNL's Pollution Prevention, Principles and Practice summer internship program have learned. In the 11-week civil engineering course, interns analyze business operations with an eye to reducing material waste and disposal costs.

Bruce Dvorak, UNL associate professor of biological systems engineering and civil engineering, said waste awareness often comes only after someone has studied a situation and pointed out more efficient ways of operating. Eighty interns have done just that for 250 Nebraska businesses since 1997.

"Students have the enthusiasm, the fresh perspective. They're not beaten down by the rush of the day," Dvorak said.

Interns work with NU Cooperative Extension educators in various towns to identify potential business participants. Interns then contact and observe businesses, make faculty-approved pollution prevention recommendations to the businesses based on their observations, and formally present their recommendations to their classmates and instructors. Participants have included farm cooperatives, dry cleaners, print shops, metal platers and irrigation companies.

Based on responses from 43 participants, Dvorak said he figures each year:

• the potential diversion of solid waste from landfills is 3.7 million pounds;
• the hazardous waste reduction is 24,500 gallons;
• potential annual economic savings is $561,000.

These savings can be especially beneficial to small businesses, Dvorak said, because the savings may mean the difference between complying with environmental regulations and staying open, or not.

Students benefit, too. These budding biological, civil and chemical engineers work with professionals and get a sense of how the business world operates. They improve their technical, research and presentation skills while earning a stipend and three credit hours.

Business learning begins early here

Outreach in business education and service is available to Nebraskans from the fourth grade on up.

For more than 80 years, the Bureau of Business Research has explored and reported on business and economic conditions in Nebraska, undertaking business, demographic and economic studies at the regional, state and sub-state levels. It also conducts seminars and provides a variety of consulting services.

The Nebraska Center for Entrepreneurship and the UNL chapter of Students in Free Enterprise provide three main programs for the state's middle schools and high schools: "Kids Invent Toys," a summer day camp for children in grades 4 through 8; "Young Entrepreneur Seminars" at high schools; and the "Entrepreneurs of the Future" five-day summer residential camp for high school students. The center also provides internships and consulting services for business owners and conducts workshops, seminars and an annual conference for entrepreneurs, franchise owners and managers, and other business owners.

Management development seminars provide continuing education for business managers at all levels, from newly appointed managers and supervisors to executives.

Economic Education, a division of the Department of Economics, is devoted to the study and improvement of the teaching and learning of economics, conducting research, providing teacher training, developing curriculum materials, and supporting economic education projects.

Ranchers benefit from practicum

Participants of the University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension Ranch Practicum learn to increase profitability and sustainability, and enhance decision-making skills.

The systems approach in managing livestock, natural resources and economics taught 88 ranchers, veterinarians and others from Nebraska and elsewhere to save money, said Brent Plugge, NU extension educator in the Central Sandhills Area office at Thedford.

Since the program began in 1999, participants estimate the practicum's benefit to be $26 per head for more than 1.54 million head of cattle, Plugge said.

Sandhills course builds leadership

Some Nebraska Sandhills residents have learned to build their leadership skills in an effort to strengthen their communities.

They've taken the Sandhills Leadership Course, offered through University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension. Participants learn about ethical leadership and personal and professional development. About 75 people have graduated from the course, offered the last six years from September through April.

Karla Villatoro, research technician, studies samples from a whitetail deer for chronic wasting disease at the Veterinary Diagnostic Center.

Vet center keeps eye on diseases

UNL's Veterinary Diagnostic Center responds to and helps prevent disease outbreaks that threaten animal and human health as well as livestock producers' profits.

The center diagnosed Nebraska's first West Nile virus case this summer and continued tracking the disease as it spread statewide, said David Steffen, the veterinary pathologist who heads the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources center. The center also is on the forefront of identifying, testing and collecting data of other exotic livestock diseases including chronic wasting disease and scrapies in sheep. It also monitors for exotic diseases in poultry and birds.

The center performs more than 160,000 tests per year from livestock producers, zoos, parks and homes. In addition, the center also is on the outlook for any emerging disease outbreaks.

UNL clinics improve patients' lives

Many UNL programs provide psychological consultation and clinical services to Nebraskans.

Since the 1940s, doctoral students in the University of Nebraska's Clinical Psychology Program in the Department of Psychology have provided mental health services to people in Lincoln and southeast Nebraska through the Psychological Consultation Center. Faculty and doctoral students, under faculty supervision, provide comprehensive psychological assessment and treatment. They conduct research in areas such as the nature of anxiety, the effectiveness of treatments and factors influencing child maltreatment.

Individual, family and group psychotherapy is offered, with fees based on a sliding scale. The center also has specialty clinics such as the Alcohol Skills Training Program, which focuses on college students and alcohol use; the Anxiety Disorders Clinic, which helps treat social anxiety disorder, panic disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorders; and the Family Interaction Skills Clinic.

The Department of Educational Psychology in Teachers College serves clients through ongoing training clinics for students in the counseling and school psychology program. Clinics run the gamut from child to adult therapy; college students and adults also use the clinic's services.

Most clients are seen in a private setting in the new Teachers College building. An off-campus clinic is run through the Lincoln Action Program, and clients also are seen at Lincoln high schools and elsewhere off-campus.

The clinic also has a career-counseling service offered to high school juniors exploring career options. Career interest tests are part of this service.

The College of Human Resources and Family Sciences has a clinical training program operated through the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences. The Family Resource Center is a mental-health facility that specializes in family and couples therapy. Services are provided by master's students who are in their second year of the marriage and family therapy program. Sessions are held in rooms with one-way mirrors and are recorded for supervision and learning.

Many clients using this service are moving from incarceration into parole or non-custodial status. Many are required to be in therapy as part of their personal development plans, but many choose family therapy because it helps them relate to their families and others as they make this transition.

Cindy Strasheim, NU Cooperative Extension educator in Clay County, displays the "Talking, Trusting, Feeling" game that helps children identify emotions when parents divorce.

Extension programs help families deal with divorce

Two University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension programs for divorcing parents and their children help families ease the transition and stress experienced in difficult breakups.

Parents Forever offers sessions for parents to learn how to help their children cope with divorce, and a companion program, Kids Talk About Divorce, helps kids understand they're not to blame.

The six-hour workshop for parents addresses the cycle of grief experienced after a divorce, teaches what is normal behavior for children, helps parents know what to say to their children and more. It began in 1999, a year after the passage of legislation providing judges the chance to require a parenting class for parents filing for divorce. Parents Forever, which started with a $7,000 grant from the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation, costs $30 to attend. Scholarships also are available.

Kids Talk About Divorce teaches children ages 5 to 18 communication and coping skills, recognition of grief and loss stages, anger management and how to interact with parents on emotional issues. There is no cost for the program, which was funded through a Nebraska Crime Commission grant.

Cooperative Extension coordinates Parents Forever programs in 14 locations throughout south-central, northeastern Nebraska and Lincoln on a monthly rotation. Kids Talk About Divorce will be expanded in western Nebraska in 2003. It is now is available in six judicial districts, comprising 53 counties. The program curriculum also is available for schools to buy.

"It's great that they have something out there for the kids," one participating mother said. "Kids need somewhere to turn, and they can't always turn to their parents."

Sheldon art takes a tour

For 15 years, the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery has circulated works from its collection to communities across Nebraska. Since its inception in 1987, the Sheldon Statewide program has reached more than 200,000 people in 22 Nebraska communities.

The program brings on board Nebraska teachers who use the traveling exhibits to enhance their classroom learning experience. Community volunteers work closely with school officials and civic leaders to provide tours.

The exhibit titled "Torn Notebook: The Creative Process" just completed a 13-city tour, taking to Nebraskans original drawings and documents from the development process of the campus sculpture.

Scheduled for 2002-2003 is "Town and Country," featuring landscapes and urban scenes as presented by artists of the past and present.

Art becomes way to teach diversity

The Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts' Artist Diversity Residency Program lets students learn about people with different cultural experiences than their own, promoting a greater appreciation for diversity and art at UNL and in schools and communities across Nebraska.

Artists in the program visit for one to three weeks and give about 15 presentations during their stay.

"We thought using the arts would be a less confrontational way for people to hear others' stories and experiences," said Ron Bowlin, director of the program.

Law students go to the courtroom

Third-year law students interested in litigation have a chance to represent actual clients through the UNL College of Law's Civil Clinic and Criminal Clinic programs. The college has for more than 20 years offered clinical programs supervised by three faculty members with extensive trial experience. Students enrolled in Civil Clinic represent clients in and out of court in matters such as bankruptcy, tax audits, litigation, divorce, nonprofit incorporation, immigration, adoption, landlord-tenant, collection, estate planning and probate, and more. Students appear in federal and state courts as well as before federal and state administrative agencies.

Students who participate in Criminal Clinic work out of the Lancaster County Attorney's Office. They prosecute misdemeanor and occasionally felony criminal cases, including marijuana and cocaine possession, intimidation by telephone, assaults, public indecency, trespass, theft, fraud, arson, extortion and more.

Nissa Evernson works with a student involved the UNL String Project.

School spreads the sound of music

The UNL School of Music shares the beauty of music through a variety of outreach programs, summer camps, lectures and courses. School-age children can attend the Great Plains Music Camp, Show Choir Camp, Middle School Band Camp and High School Marching Band Camp. Students of all ages can attend the Community Piano Experience, which debuted this fall, to learn to play the piano. Faculty members often give pre-performance lectures at venues such as the Lied Center. They also visit schools frequently to give master classes, offer clinics or consult with the teachers. Ensembles from across the school tour regularly, performing around the state, the Midwest and the nation.

Barkley Center helps with communication problems

Services for individuals with speech, language, hearing and other disabilities are available through academic programs in the Speech-Language Pathology program at the Barkley Memorial Center Speech-Language and Hearing Clinic, part of UNL's Teachers College.

Services offered include hearing evaluations, help in selecting appropriate hearing aids and rehabilitation for hearing and speech deficits. The clinic provides assessment and treatment services for people of all ages.

Among notable programs are a Preschool Communication Group that provides alternative or supplemental language services to young children ages 3-5 who have communication difficulties. Individual and group treatment is available for those with communication problems from stroke or acquired brain injury. A group for people with aphasia focuses on functional communication skills and using compensatory strategies for community living. Alternative and Augmentative Communication is for people who cannot use speech to meet all of their communication needs. Services include: assessment and implementation of computer access options for writing, vocational and leisure needs, speech intelligibility assessment and monitoring, and evaluation and design of augmentative and alternative communication systems. A Summer Fluency Camp is offered for students ages 10-14 with fluency disorders. Individual and group activities are provided along with opportunities for parents to participate. Support groups for parents and students are available.

About this section:

"SERVICE" was written and produced by the staff of University Communications at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and staff at Communications and Information Technology, Institute for Agriculture and Natural Resources.