|
A student walks through near-blizzard conditions on UNL's
East
Campus Mall on Feb. 4. Snow fell heavily for most of the
morning,
but the late afternoon was partly sunny. Only a couple
of inches of
snow accumulated. IANR photo by
Brett
Hampton
'Cultures of
World' displayed at museum
Visitors to the University of
Nebraska State Museum will be
able to enjoy a trip around the world
in a day on Feb. 15 when
the museum presents "Cultures of the
World" as part
of its continuing Saturday Adventure
Series.
The program will include festivities from around
the world
from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Morrill Hall. Visitors can meet
with
people from different cultures and sample some of their art,
folktales and music.
Some of the options: Samba lessons to
celebrate Carnival the
Brazilian way will be offered. The art of
Welsh love spoons will
be shown. Participants also can learn to
write their names in
Chinese, explore the Underground Railroad,
make traditional quilt
blocks, design Native American dream
catchers and build a village
of kindness. Cultures from Asia, the
Middle East, Europe and
the Americas will be represented by
activities and displays throughout
the museum.
Special music and dance performances will be in Elephant Hall.
The dance troupe Many Moccasins from Winnebago will present a
Native American drum and dance exhibition at 10:30 a.m. and 1
p.m.
Grupo Folklorico Sangre Azteca will perform Mexican folk
dances at
11:30 a.m. The Lion Dance Troupe will perform an Asian
dance at
2:30 p.m. A Chinese instrument and dance performance
is scheduled
for 3:15 p.m.
Other highlights include talks on issues of
cultural interest.
Helen Fagan, diversity coordinator for Bryan LGH
Medical Center,
will speak about the land and people of Iran/Persia
at 11 a.m.
Ray Hames, professor of anthropology at UNL, will speak
on the
health and disease of tribal peoples at 1:30 p.m. Nancy
Gillis
of the John G. Neihardt Center will speak on Native American
women and the challenges of reconciling two cultures at 1:15
p.m.
The Saturday Family Adventure is co-sponsored by the
UNL Office
of Multicultural Affairs, the Center for Great Plains
Studies,
the Nebraska Commission of Indian Affairs, and the Lincoln
Initiative
for Tutoring.
The event is free with
admission to Morrill Hall ($4 for adults,
$2 for children 5-18
years, or $8 for families). For information,
call 472-6302.
Planetarium schedule
Mueller Planetarium will show three special features on Feb.
15.
At 10:30 a.m., "Follow the Drinking Gourd"
will
be presented for young children based on a popular children's
book about a song sung by slaves using the "Under-ground
Railroad" to escape to the North.
At 2 p.m.,
"Spirits in the Sky: Thunder On the Land"
will be
presented. This is a program about the relationship between
the
Skidi Band of the Pawnee Nation and the sky.
At 3 p.m.,
"StarDate: Ancient Horizons" will be
shown. This program
discusses the ancient Egyptian civilization
and mentions its use of
the sky. The program also includes a
discussion of the current
night sky.
Admission to the planetarium Astronomy shows is
$6 for adults
and $4 for children and includes museum
admission.
Clarification
The source of funding for the new
equipment in the Water Sciences
Laboratory was left out of the
story in the Feb. 6 edition of
the Scarlet. It was funded with a
$500,000 grant from the Environmental
Protection Agency with the
help of U.S. Rep. Doug Bereuter (R-Neb).
February Schedule For Fidelity Counseling
Sessions
A Fidelity consultant will be in the Nebraska
Union on Feb.
25 and the Nebraska East Union on Feb. 26 for help
with investment
planning. The room will be posted. Sign up by
calling (800) 642-7131.
UNL to Host Open House Feb. 23 in
Omaha
UNL is planning its first-ever "Big Red Road
Show"
from 12:30-5 p.m. Feb. 23 at the Omaha Civic
Auditorium.
More than 50 interactive exhibits, live
performances, celebrity
alumni appearances and discussions will be
offered, and admission
is free.
The Big Red Road Show
is an open house for all ages to learn
more about the academic and
student life programs at the university.
Representatives will be on
hand from UNL undergraduate colleges
and departments and graduate
studies departments, and student
affairs offices such as
scholarships and financial aid, career
services and admissions.
Theology for Lunch program
continues
The Theology for Lunch program continues this
semester with
three lectures planned on the topic "Superpower:
Responsibilities
and Opportunities."
The first
lunch features Don Wilhite, director of the National
Drought
Mitigation Center and associate director and professor
at the
School of Natural Resources at UNL, speaking about "Natural
Resources." His lecture is Feb. 20.
The second event
is March 13 and features the Rev. Steve Ratzlaff,
pastor of the
First Mennonite Church, speaking on "Global
Mall or Global
Village?"
The third lunch event is April 10. John
Krejci, emeritus professor
sociology, anthropology and social work
at Nebraska Wesleyan,
will speak on "Human Rights: A Challenge
for the Church?"
Attendees should bring their lunches
to the speeches at 11:30
a.m. Discussions begin at noon and end at
1 p.m. All events are
at St. Mark's on the Campus, 1309 R St.
Theology for Lunch is sponsored by Cornerstone, Lutheran Student
Center, the religious studies department, and St. Mark's on the
Campus.
W-2s Mailed Jan.
28
All W-2 forms for 2002 for all UNL City and East Campus
employees
were mailed Jan. 28 via the U.S. Postal Service to the
employee's
permanent address on file in the university's payroll
system.
Anyone who did not receive his/her form should call Payroll
at
472-2010 or the IANR Finance and Personnel Office at
472-3473.
In addition, the following e-mail was sent to all
faculty
and staff on Jan. 31:
While Central
Administration was processing the 2002 W-2s
for UNL employees who
contributed to the Supplemental Retirement
Plan, also referred to
as the 403(b) plan, an error occurred.
The amount that was
contributed during 2002 should have printed
in Box 12 of the
W-2.
Anyone who contributed to the SRA in 2002 should
destroy the
W-2 that has been received. The UNL Payroll Office sent
replacement
W-2s and letter of explanation on Jan. 31.
This does not affect those who are contributing to basic retirement
only.
For information, call Payroll at 472-2010 or the IANR
Business
and Personnel Office at 472-3473.
Do you see what I see?
Randolph Elementary School
fourth-graders take a look through
kaleidoscopes as they tour the
Great Plains Art Collection Feb.
6. The students were touring the
center as part of their study
on the Great Plains and art.
Nebraskan to read from first book
Writer Karen Gettert Shoemaker will read from her new book,
"Night Sounds and Other Stories," at 7 p.m. Feb. 19
in
the Dudley Bailey Library, Room 228 of Andrews Hall. The reading
is
free and open to the public.
Shoemaker's writings have
appeared in many literary journals,
trade magazines, anthologies
and newspapers. Shoemaker is a native
Nebraska who holds master's
and doctoral degrees in creative
writing from UNL. She has received
the Vreeland Award for Fiction
and a Nebraska Press Association
Award, and she taught writing
and literature classes at UNL for
nine years. This is her first
book.
Large Passenger-Van Training
Large passenger-van training will be offered from 2:30-4:30
p.m.
Feb. 24 at the Nebraska Union.
To register, e-mail <rmaltas2@unl.edu>.
The
large-van policy can be found at <http:
//transportation.unl.edu/travel_programs.html#Large_Van>.
UNOPA Dinner
Feb. 21
The UNOPA 40th anniversary celebration dinner will
be at 6:30
p.m. Feb. 21 at the Nebraska East Union. Call Jan
Wassenberg
at 472-6965 by Feb. 14 for more information.
Culture Center hosts Lessons in
Leadership
The UNL Culture Center will host "Lessons
In Leadership,"
from 6:30-8:30 p.m. March 5 in collaboration
with Women's Week.
The program will consist of a panel discussion
of international
and minority women sharing their experiences and
talking about
issues of importance to them as women and of how the
role of
culture has impacted them. The women on the panel will
discuss
how they have developed leadership skills and how culture
influences
the meaning of leadership. A question-and-answer session
will
follow.
All portions of the event are free and
open to the public.
Retirement incentive program under way
The NU Board of
Regents has given final approval to a Retirement
Incentive Program.
The deadline to sign up for the program is
5 p.m. April 30.
All full-time tenured faculty members who, by Sept. 1, will
be
at least 59.5 years of age and have completed 10 years of
service
at the university are eligible to participate in the
program.
Faculty may choose between two options: retiring fully
by Sept. 1
or moving by Sept. 1 to a part-time special appointment
at .5 FTE
for up to three years, to be followed by full retirement.
Program benefits are described in the policy as approved by
the
Board of Regents and are available at <www.unl.edu/svcaa/reti
re2003.
html>. The contracts to be used to sign up for the
program
are available in PDF format at the same site. Note that
there
are three contracts: a retirement contact for tenured faculty
under 65; a retirement contract for tenured faculty over 65;
and a
contract for phased retirement for faculty 59.5 years of
age and
above. There is no upper age limit on participation in
the
program.
For specific information about the retirement and
health benefits
offered through the program, call Greg Clayton at
Benefits at
472-2600. For more information, call Evelyn Jacobson at
472-3751;
Alan Moeller at 472-2871; or Jelena Gude at 472-5264.
See the Visitors
Center Feb. 18
The Van Brunt Visitors Center and the Mary
Riepma Ross Media
Arts Center will host an open house for the
campus community
from 2-4 p.m. Feb. 18. Tours of the building and
refreshments
will be offered, and previews of the new Admissions
campus visit
video will be shown every 15 minutes. The Van Brunt
Visitors
Center will open to the public on Feb. 17. The building
also
houses some Admissions staff, the Ross film theaters, and
department
of theater arts film and new media faculty. For
information,
call 472-8524.
University Surplus Auction Feb. 15
The next University
Surplus Auction will be from 9 a.m. to
4 p.m. Feb. 15 at 3630 East
Campus Loop. Doors open at 7:30 a.m.
for viewing. For more
information, visit <http://busfin.unl.edu
/Inventory/Auctions.htm>.
February Schedule For TIAA-CREF Counseling Sessions
A
TIAA-CREF consultant will be in the Nebraska Union on Feb.
14, 19,
21, 26 and 27 and in the Nebraska East Union on Feb.
13, 20 and 25
to provide free one-on-one counseling investment
sessions. Sign up
today by calling (800) 842-2009 or going to
the website and
choosing Meetings/Counseling, <http://www.tiaa-cref.org>.
Forest products workshop scheduled for
Feb. 22
The School of Natural Resource Sciences and the
Nebraska Forest
Service are sponsoring a workshop from 9:30 a.m. to
3:30 p.m
Feb. 22 in the Nebraska East Union. The workshop is titled
"Specialty
Forest Products: Increasing Profits and Wildlife on
the Small
Farm and Acreage." Registration begins at 9 a.m.
Call Christine
Meyer at 472-9869 for more information.
NU College of Law to Host Diversity Law
Day Feb. 15
As part of a commitment to diversity and
National Minority
Law Student Recruitment Month, the University of
Nebraska College
of Law will host its annual Diversity Law Day Feb.
15.
The Diversity Law Day program will run from 9:30 a.m.
to 1:30
p.m. at Ross McCollum Hall. The free program is open to
students
who want to learn more about law school. It will provide
information
about preparing for law school, the LSAT and the
admission process,
the law library, financing a legal education and
career opportunities.
Guests will be able to participate in a mock
class and visit
with law students, faculty and alumni. For
information, call
the Law College's admissions office at
472-2161.
National Minority Law Recruitment Month at the
University
of Nebraska is part of a campaign funded by the Law
School Admission
Council to raise awareness of minority recruiting
issues facing
law schools.
This event is co-sponsored
by the UNL Office of Multi-cultural
Affairs and the College of
Law's Black Law Students Association
and Multi-Cultural Legal
Society.
Black history events on campus
UNL is participating in
a variety of activities to mark Black
History Month. Upcoming
events include:
- A movie night Feb. 19 at the
Culture Center will be offered;
movie to be determined. The movie
will begin at 6:30 p.m. Call
472-5500.
- The Culture
Center will offer "Taste of Harlem II,"
a night of
entertainment reflecting the Harlem Renaissance era.
The event
begins at 7 p.m. Feb. 28 at the center. Cost is $5
per person or
$30 per table. Call 472-5500.
- University dining halls will
offer special dinners. All faculty,
staff and the public are
invited; guest price is $6.65. One dinner,
at the Cather-Pound
Dining Service from 4:30-6:15 p.m. Feb. 27,
will feature
down-home cooking using family recipes. Dinner will
also feature
an open microphone for entertainment. The stage
and microphone
will be in the north dining room from 5-6 p.m.
For information,
call Cheryl Card at 472-1049.
- Harper-Schramm-Smith Dining
Service will offer a soul-food
dinner from 4:30-6:15 p.m. Feb.
28, and special entertainment
will be provided. For information,
call Janet Prochaska at 472-1069.
Annual Blood Drive Feb. 18-20
The UNL Campus Red Cross will hold its annual blood drive
from
11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Feb. 18, 19 and 20 in the ballroom of
the
Nebraska Union. On Feb. 19, the drive will be open until
6 p.m.
The Lincoln Community Blood Bank and the Lincoln Chapter of
the
American Red Cross will team up to collect blood with the
Campus
Red Cross, with donations being split between the two
groups.
Each year about 600 donors come to the campus blood drive;
this
year, the organizing groups are hoping for 800 donors.
Anyone interested in giving blood may make an appointment
online
at www.don8bld.org; look for the "UNL Mobile sign-up"
link. Walk-ins are welcome at the blood drive, also. Donors must
bring an ID with social security number (UNL ID or a Social Security
card), and they should eat before donating.
For
information, call Rachel Sprengel at 435-4112 or e-mail
<rachel_sprengel@yahoo.com>
.
4 speakers highlight
Enterprise Conference
The Nebraska Center for
Entrepreneurship at the UNL College
of Business Administration will
offer the infoUSA Heartland Free
Enterprise Conference Feb. 27 and
28 at the Cornhusker Hotel
and Convention Center, 333 S. 13th
St.
The 18th-annual conference will feature four keynote
speakers,
a presentation by Rep. Tom Osborne, and more than 70
seminars
on entrepreneurship and productivity.
The
public is invited to learn about starting a business or
improving
an existing firm's performance. Registration is available
at
<www.cba.unl.edu/heartland> or by calling 472-3353.
Advance
conference registration is $89 per day or $159 for both
days; if
paid at the door, the rate is $99 and $179. The student
rate is $39
and $70.
The Feb. 27 keynote speakers are Jim Ricketts,
vice president
of Ameritrade Holding Corp. and chief operating
officer of Freetrade
by Ameritrade; and Dallen Peterson, founder
and former CEO and
president of Merry Maids Corp. The Feb. 28
keynote speakers are
Mel Olsen, former vice president of American
Airlines, and Jim
Clifton, founder and CEO of The Gallup
Organization. Osborne
will speak at 4:30 p.m. Feb. 28 on the Rural
Initiatives program.
The infoUSA Heartland Free Enterprise
Conference is the only
conference in Nebraska that features local,
national and internationally
renowned entrepreneurs and
productivity improvement specialists.
Seminars include topics on
starting and growing new business
ventures, legal issues, human
resource management, technological
innovations, patent tactics, B2B
e-commerce tips and techniques,
Web page designing, employee stock
option plans for new business
start-ups, building a brand from
start-up, franchising opportunities
and more. Participants will
learn about new venture incubators
and other entrepreneurial and
productivity improvement opportunities
and have the opportunity to
network with bankers, angel investors
and venture capitalists.
National firms that are conducting seminars include Deloitte
and
Touche, 3M Canada, Cabela's, Ameritrade Holding Corp., Merry
Maids
Corp., Home Instead Senior Care, The Gallup Organization,
PELLA,
the United Space Alliance, NASA, Henkel Consumer Adhesives
(formerly MANCO), ITA (Ideas To Action) Consulting Firm, the
National Association of Home Based Businesses, Solutionary, Runza,
Schlotzsky's, USA Processing and Manufacturing and the National
Micro-Based Business Association.
Statewide resource
sessions available to attendees include
Silverstone Consulting,
Union Bank and Trust, the Nebraska Business
Development Center, the
Nebraska Department of Economic Development,
Enhancing, Developing
and Growing Entrepreneurs, Rural Enterprise
Assistance Program, the
Nebraska Food Entrepreneurship Assistance
Program, Boe Seeds,
EverGreen Capital Management and Advance
Services Inc. Local
entrepreneurial firms presenting include
James Arthur Vineyards,
Woollam and Associates, Nanonations,
Niche Marketing, SitStay.Com,
Papa Genos Herb Farm, Archrival,
Samurai Sam's, Nebraska Dance
Studio and Sell2All.
Business contest begins Feb. 27
The UNL Nebraska
Center for Entrepreneurship will host teams
from 23 college and
universities from North America for its 16th
Annual International
Business Plan Competition Feb. 27 to March
1.
Each
team will display its competitive plans at an opening
reception at
the Cornhusker Hotel from 6-9 p.m. Feb. 27.
This
competition is open to all full- and part-time graduate
and/or
undergraduate students enrolled in a university during
the calendar
year 2002. The business plan must be for a seed,
start-up or
early-stage venture and must address the entire business
concept
(including implementation). The business should not have
generated
revenues nor have raised outside equity capital before
Jan. 1,
2002. Undergraduate winners receive up to $7,500; graduate-level
winners win up to $10,000.
The public is invited to attend.
For more information, call
the Nebraska Center for Entrepreneurship
at 472-3353.
Office plans
grant-writing seminar
The Office of Research and Graduate
Studies is sponsoring
a free seminar, "Getting Started as a
Successful Grant Writer
and Academician," from noon to 5 p.m.
March 7 and 8 a.m.
to 5 p.m. March 8 in the Nebraska Union. The
seminar, presented
by Grant Writers Seminars & Workshops, LLC,
is directed primarily
toward graduate students, post docs, junior
faculty and research
faculty, although all faculty and staff
members are welcome to
register. Participants must attend both
sessions, and lunch is
provided March 8. Seating is limited.
The deadline for reservations is March 3. To register, contact
Peg Filliez at 472-2851 or <pfilliez1@unl.edu>.
The objective is to introduce participants to the proposal-writing
process and to strategies designed to get them started in their
academic careers.
Resource institute is topic of Olson
seminar
The story of the Prairie Plains Resource Institute
in Aurora
will be the topic of the next Paul A. Olson Seminar in
Great
Plains Studies.
William Whitney, executive
director and founder of the institute,
will present "Prairie
Plains Resource Institute: Rural Development
Through
Community-based Conservation and Education" from
3:30-5 p.m.
Feb. 19 at the Great Plains Art Collection in the
Christlieb
Gallery, 1155 Q St. Whitney's presentation and a 3
p.m. reception
in the gallery are free and open to the public.
For
information, call 472-3082.
Research Fair set for April 24
The Office of Research
and Graduate Studies is organizing
a Research Fair for April 24.
The event will run from 8 a.m.
to 5 p.m. and all sessions convene
in the Nebraska Union. All
sessions are free.
The
Research Fair has several goals, according to Prem Paul,
vice
chancellor for research and dean of graduate studies. The
main
purpose is to highlight the benefits of research and creative
activity. These benefits include direct enhancement of undergraduate
and graduate teaching, economic and social development for the
people of Nebraska, the nation and the world, and the promotion
of
intellectual environment for faculty members.
A second goal
is to introduce UNL faculty to program officers
and other officials
from federal granting agencies, such as the
National Science
Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities,
and the
National Institutes of Health so faculty can learn about
agency
priorities and upcoming funding opportunities. Program
officers
will meet UNL faculty, visit labs and learn about UNL
research
projects. Sessions with program officers will also allow
faculty
from various disciplines to meet and talk with each other
to
stimulate cross-disciplinary collaborations.
Plans call
for morning sessions led by federal program officers
to focus on
areas of federal funding priorities. Afternoon sessions
will allow
UNL faculty who have received center grants to talk
about what it
takes to write a successful multidisciplinary grant
application,
and other sessions on training grants and teaching-related
grants.
A poster session and a research mini-fair
highlighting undergraduate,
graduate and faculty research projects
is scheduled for 11 a.m.
to 1:30 p.m. in the Nebraska Union.
A portion of the day will be devoted to recognition of faculty
who have obtained major external grants during calendar year
2002.
Faculty who won significant funding for research or creative
activity will be honored at a breakfast that kicks off the day's
activities. All participants are also invited to lunch, which
is
planned in conjunction with the Downtown Technology Fair,
co-sponsored by UNL and the Downtown Lincoln Association.
Feb. 20 Retirement Reception for
Little
The Athletic Department will offer a retirement
reception
open to the public for Marvin Little, groundskeeper II,
from
3-4:30 p.m. Feb. 20 in the private dining room of the Hewit
Center
for Student Athletes, 300 West Stadium. Little has worked
for
the university for 35 years.
Emeriti Association Meeting Feb. 20
The UNL Emeriti
Association will meet at 12:30 p.m. Feb. 20
at the Nebraska East
Union, room to be posted.
Kathleen Rutledge, editor of the
Lincoln Journal Star, will
discuss "One Book - One
Lincoln."
If bad weather forces meeting cancellation,
radio stations
KFOR 1240 or KLIN 1400 will announce the
cancellation that morning.
NU Class Ring Heads into 2nd
Year
UNL will host its second annual Ring Week Feb. 25-27,
enabling
students to order and buy the Nebraska student/alumni
ring. The
ring was unveiled during homecoming festivities in 2001.
The
project is a joint effort of campus organizations.
To be eligible to buy the ring, students and alumni must have
attained junior class standing. To order the ring, or for more
information, visit the Alumni Association website, <www.ring.huskeralum.com>.
Law College Panel to Address Repercussions of Slavery, Racism
The University of Nebraska College of Law will host a panel
discussion Feb. 20 in honor of Black History Month on the theme
"Contemporary Repercussions of Slavery and Institutionalized
Racism."
The discussion is free and open to the public
and will be
from 12:10-1:30 p.m. at the Law College in Room 112 of
Ross McCollum
Hall. Visitor parking is available in Lot 20 south of
McCollum
Hall.
One of the featured panelists will be
Professor Thomas Mitchell
of the University of Wisconsin Law
School, who will speak on
"Addressing the Black Wealth/White
Wealth Gap: A Civil Rights
Issue of Our Time." The other
featured panelist will be
Ronald Stephens, assistant professor of
anthropology and geography
and ethnic studies at UNL. He will speak
on "Historical
Efforts to Obtain Reparations for
Slavery."
Anna Shavers, associate professor of law at
NU, will serve
as moderator and panelist. Audience members will
have a chance
to ask questions of the panelists.
For
information, call Brian Lepard at 472-2179 or e-mail <blepard1@unl.edu>.
International Honor Society Seeks
Nominations
The UNL chapter of Phi Beta Delta, the
international honor
society, seeks nominations to recognize the
scholarly achievements
of faculty and staff who have distinguished
themselves internationally.
The society also seeks nominations of
students who have studied
abroad, international students and
visiting scholars.
Faculty and staff members interested in
becoming members of
Phi Beta Delta must have made a significant
contribution to the
university's international programs. Students
interested in membership
must have demonstrated a strong
international commitment through
academic work, research, study
abroad, student exchange and/or
cross-cultural activities.
Undergraduate students must have at
least a 3.25 grade point
average; graduate students must be matriculated
in a degree
program.
Call 472-5358 for a nomination form. Nominations
are due Feb.
25 and should be sent to Phi Beta Delta, c/o
International Affairs,
420 University Terrace, 0682.
UNL Food Processing Center plans
seminar
The next Food Processing Center From Recipe to
Reality seminar
is March 6, with registrations due Feb. 24. The
one-day seminar
is designed to help people interested in taking a
food product
to the marketplace by answering questions about the
many issues
involved in developing a food manufacturing
business.
After the seminar, participants who decide to
launch a food
business can enter the From Product to Profit phase
of the Food
Entrepreneur Assistance Program. During this phase,
participants
receive step-by-step assistance tailored to their
specific product
from food scientists and food industry business
consultants.
To receive an information packet about the
seminar or the
assistance program, call Arlis Burney at 472-8930 or
e-mail <aburney@unlnotes.unl.edu>.
Visit the program's website at <http://fpc.unl.edu/marketing/
ent.htm>.
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,
not opinion, content. Submit items
to: <http://www.unl.edu/e-news>.
To view a sample e-news, see: <http://www.unl.edu/e-news/sa
mple.html>.
Panel to
discuss Indian gaming commission
The University of
Nebraska College of Law will host a panel
discussion on "The
Work of the National Indian Gaming Commission"
from noon to 1
p.m. Feb. 21 in Room 117 of Ross McCollum Hall.
The discussion is
free and open to the public.
The National Indian Gaming
Commission is the independent federal
regulatory agency within the
Department of the Interior that
provides federal oversight for the
Indian gaming industry, now
involving more than 200 federally
recognized Indian tribes and
more than 300 tribal gaming operations
in 28 states.
The discussion will feature three panelists
with experience
with the commission. Philip N. Hogen is chairman of
the commission
and served as the associate solicitor for the
Division of Indian
Affairs in the Department of the Interior. He
was an associate
member and the vice chairman of the NIGC from 1995
to 1999. Hogen
practiced with a national law firm and served as a
former U.S.
attorney for South Dakota. He is a member of the Oglala
Sioux
Tribe of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South
Dakota.
Harold A. Monteau is a partner in the Omaha law
firm Monteau
and Peebles LLP. Monteau was chairman of the NIGC from
October
1994 to January 1997. He is an expert on the Bureau of
Indian
Affairs, its processes and budgeting methods. Monteau is a
member
of the Chippewa-Cree Tribe, Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation
in
Montana.
Thelma Thomas is the Santee Sioux Tribe
Gaming Legislative
Coordinator and manager of the Santee Sioux
Ohiya Casino. She
served as president of the Nebraska Indian
Community College,
as a Nebraska Indian Community College
instructor, and as the
program director and chair of the Indian
Studies Department of
Morningside College. She was vice-chairperson
of the Santee Sioux
Tribal Council. She is a member of the Santee
Sioux Tribe of
Nebraska.
Businesses: Location key to success
"Location!
Location! Location!" has long been a
mantra for successful
businesses. So it was no surprise when
respondents to a Business in
Nebraska survey of successful Nebraska
business start-ups from 1996
to 1999 said it was the most-important
factor leading to success,
no matter the size of the business's
community.
But
location was not the only similarity the survey uncovered
between
Nebraska's large cities (Omaha and its contiguous suburbs,
Lincoln
and South Sioux City), middle cities (all others with
populations
of 5,000 or more) and small cities and towns.
The survey
was a follow-up to a report in the April edition
of Business in
Nebraska, the 10-times-yearly newsletter of UNL's
Bureau of
Business Research. That report said from 1996 to 1999,
business
starts per capita in the state's small cities and towns
were
similar to those in the state's largest cities, and the
success
rate of small-town business start-ups was as great or
greater than
that for start-ups in Nebraska's major population
centers.
In the survey, questionnaires were sent to 229 firms that
began
operations in 1996, and 78 usable responses were received.
All
firms surveyed were small businesses with full- and part-time
employment averaging 13 in small cities, six in middle-sized
cities
and 14 in large cities.
Information was sought about the
type and size of each business,
its business environment,
characteristics of the owner or principal
executive, nature of the
firm's managerial process, and perceived
conditions that may have
contributed to the failure of other
businesses in the respondent's
town. Respondents were asked to
consider 15 factors in the business
environment thought to influence
a firm's chances of success and to
evaluate if each helped, hindered
or had little influence on the
success of their businesses.
"The purpose of this
study was to identify factors that
contributed to the success of
business start-ups in Nebraska,
especially in the state's smaller
cities and towns," wrote
Edward Fitzsimmons, associate
professor of economics at Creighton
University, in the February
issue of Business in Nebraska.
"Results indicated that
there was little difference among
respondents across city sizes in
their rankings of the relative
importance of helpful factors.
Likewise, there was little difference
in rankings of factors that
hindered or had little influence.
Start-up businesses in cities of
all sizes faced similar business
environments. Location with
respect to customers and quality
of workers ranked high among
factors that were helpful to success
in cities of all
sizes."
Extensive business experience was a very
important factor
for business success in all population categories,
more so than
formal education, Fitzsimmons said. The management
practices
of successful entrepreneurs were guided by an average of
17 years
of experience. Poor management, particularly with respect
to
monitoring the changing needs of customers, was the factor cited
most often by respondents as the cause of business failure.
Respondents from all population categories said government
regulation and competition were factors that hindered success,
while economic development efforts, consulting and training,
and
business tax incentives were factors that had little influence
on
success.
"This suggests that state and local efforts
to assist
the formation of small businesses in the state had little
effect,"
Fitzsimmons wrote. "The need for review of the
effectiveness
of state and local programs designed to aid small
businesses
is indicated."
The survey also showed
differences between metro areas and
smaller communities.
Economic conditions were cited as hindering factors by respondents
from small- and middle-sized cities, but as helpful factors by
respondents from large cities.
The Internet and other
technologies were helpful in large
cities, but were of little
influence to start-ups in small- and
middle-sized cities that often
lack high-speed Internet connections.
While the
availability of bank loans was cited as helpful
by respondents from
small- and middle-sized cities, the lack
of bank loans was a
hindrance in large cities.
Contribution to the Status of
Women
The UNL Chancellor's Commission on the Status of
Women is
seeking nominations for the Outstanding Contribution to
the Status
of Women Award. This award recognizes efforts to improve
the
status of women at UNL. These efforts may be by an individual
or by an organization or department within the institution. The
award recipient must demonstrate a sustained and tangible impact
on
the campus community.
For more information or to receive a
nomination form, call
Jody Wood at 472-0085 or email <jewood@unlnotes.unl.edu>.
All nominations and supporting information are due Feb. 14.
Sue Tidball Award for Creative
Humanity
Nominations are now being accepted for the Sue
Tidball Award
for Creative Humanity. This annual award is presented
to one,
two or three people who are students, faculty or staff
members
at UNL. It recognizes significant contributions to the
development
of a humane, educationally creative, just and caring
community
at UNL. The deadline for nominations is Feb. 17. The
awards will
be given March 30. For more information and nomination
forms,
visit <www.unl.edu/tidball>.
Student Leadership Awards
The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs seeks
nominations for the 2002-2003 Student Leadership Awards. These
awards recognize one female and one male undergraduate student
for
outstanding leadership in academic, co-curricular and/or
extracurricular activities and involvement, and offer a scholarship
for about the cost of resident tuition and fees during the students'
senior year. In addition to the scholarship winners, all finalists
and semifinalists are recognized at an awards banquet.
To
be eligible for these awards, a student must have: (1)
completed no
less than five and no more than six academic-year
semesters of
full-time enrollment, with the last three at UNL,
(2) at least 67
credit hours completed by the end of fall 2002
with a cumulative
grade point average of at least 2.5, and (3)
current full-time
undergraduate enrollment status at UNL. Nominations
are due to 106
Canfield Administration by Feb. 17. For information,
call Chuck van
Rossum at 472-3755 or visit <http://busfin.unl.edu/stu
afs/awards.html>.
UNOPA's annual spring awards
UNOPA is seeking
nominations for its annual Rose Frolik Award,
the Floyd S. Oldt
Outstanding Staff Award, and two Floyd S. Oldt
Silver Pen Awards.
The awards will be given at UNOPA's Spring
Awards Ceremony on April
8.
The Rose Frolik Award is for any UNOPA member who has
been
an active member for at least the last five years. The
recipient
receives $300 and an engraved plaque.
The
Floyd S. Oldt Silver Pen Awards are for any UNL office/service
employee who has demonstrated superior performance and who has
made
significant contributions to the university. Each winner
will
receive $600, an engraved Cross silver pen and a framed
certificate.
The Floyd S. Oldt Outstanding Staff Award is
for any permanent,
hourly-paid employee with at least five years of
service and
in a position of 50 percent or greater. The recipient
will receive
$1,000 and an engraved plaque.
All award
recipients receive a one-year membership to UNOPA.
For
information about the nomination process, visit
<www.unl.edu/unopa/awards.htm>
or call Barb Carley at
472-0083.
Nominations are due Feb. 28. Send them to Carley,
UNOPA awards
director, 1700 Y St. (0645).
|
