September 6, 1996

Joanne Lasker, clinical supervisor at the Barkley Center, demonstrates a DynaVox to officials gathered Wednesday at the center to announce a $30 million gift from the Barkley Trust. The DynaVox is a portable speaking computer for people who are unable to talk. It is a part of the Barkley Center's demonstration lab, also known as the Augmentative & Alternative Communication Lab. UNL Chancellor James Moeser and NU President Dennis Smith were among officials present at the event. (Photo by Donna Simon)

Barkley Trust is Largest Gift Ever to University

Terry Fairfield, president and CEO of the University of Nebraska Foundation, announced today the largest gift ever received by the NU Foundation to benefit the University of Nebraska. The assets of the W.E. Barkley Trust, totaling $29,917,419, have been transferred to the NU Foundation to continue to carry out the wishes of William E. Barkley, who died in 1944 and Edna M. Barkley, who died in 1956.

The Barkleys, of Lincoln, asked that their gift be used to prepare teachers and develop programs for teaching children and adults with speech and hearing disorders. W.E. Barkley's estate in 1944 totaled just under $250,000. His will established the trust fund to provide support to nieces and nephews, with the remainder to go to the University of Nebraska. The last beneficiary, John Barkley, of Falls City, died July 23, 1996.

The first annual gift to the university from the Barkley Trust totaled $135,000 and was presented in 1970. Including that first gift, a total of $15,914,931 has been given to the university, and has been used to build the Barkley Memorial Center on UNL's East Campus and develop academic programs, clinical services and research in special education and communication disorders.

James Moeser, UNL chancellor, said he was pleased and excited to accept the gift on behalf of UNL.

"This gift fulfills not only the mission as envisioned by the Barkleys but also helps fulfill the ongoing teaching, research and service missions at UNL in particular," he said. "It also demonstrates our commitment toward excellence at the institution.

"Activities at the Barkley Center form a partnership between the university and the local community to provide services to a number of individuals. Barkley Center students serve internships in local health-care and educational institutions. Research carried out at the center has a very real impact on the lives of people whose abilities to communicate have been somehow disturbed or impaired."

Ground was broken for the Barkley Center building in 1974 and it housed the two academic units that benefited from the Barkley gift - the Department of Communication Disorders from the College of Arts & Sciences and the Special Education Department from the Teachers College. Under the direction of Robert Stepp, the first Barkley Center director, these two departments were housed in a single building offering both undergraduate and graduate programs, preparing students to provide educational and clinical services to individuals with disabilities. The two departments were merged into a single department in 1984.

The Speech-Language and Hearing Clinic, also located in the Barkley Center, offers assessment and treatment to adults and children with a variety of speech, hearing, language and learning disorders. The center also contains extensive research facilities where faculty and students can contribute new knowledge in the areas of speech, hearing, language and special education.

"The money from the Barkley Trust has allowed UNL to develop a unique center for the preparation of individuals to serve the communication and educational needs of individuals with disabilities," said John Bernthal, director of the Barkley Center. "With these funds the Barkley Memorial Center has been constructed, student scholarships awarded, a distinguished chair established and funding has been provided for faculty positions in the hearing impaired teacher preparation program and in the speech, language and hearing clinic. It has been a real pleasure to see the results of this generous gift."

William Barkley, a native of Indiana, came to Lincoln in 1888 to serve as a bookkeeper for the First National Bank. He advanced rapidly in the banking business and eventually helped organize many businesses including several in the banking and insurance industries. At the time of his death in 1944, he was president of the Lincoln Joint Stock Land Bank, Union Bank and the Union National Life Insurance Co. Both he and his wife were active community leaders, helping to establish such agencies as Goodwill Industries and Lincoln General Hospital.

Edna Barkley came to Lincoln in the late 1800s as a high school teacher, eventually serving as principal of Elliott School for a year and dean of women for the University of Nebraska from 1904 to 1910. As she grew older, she eventually lost her hearing and thus became interested in the programs and services for the hearing impaired. She held lip-reading classes in her own home before such programs were available at the university.
"I think the Barkleys would be flabbergasted at what has been accomplished through their gift," said Corwin Moore, trustee of the Barkley Trust. "I am sure that they would be very pleased with what the University has done, very pleased with the success Bob Stepp and John Bernthal have brought to the Barkley Center."

The University of Nebraska Foundation is a non-profit corporation supplementing faculty, students, facilities and programs of the four campuses of the University of Nebraska through gifts by alumni, friends, corporations and other foundations.

New Stadium Policies Announced

Policies regarding security, parking and other issues in and around Memorial Stadium during home football games have been announced by Joe Selig, associate athletic director for external operations.

Memorial Stadium, like all UNL buildings, is a non-smoking area. Those who want to smoke must leave the stadium to do so, but will be allowed back in if they have the appropriate re-entry pass.

Fans are not allowed to bring coolers, backpacks, parcels or umbrellas into the stadium. Fans may bring in squeeze or thermos bottles no larger than one quart, subject to inspection at the gates.

The stadium is alcohol free. Fans should not bring alcoholic beverages of any type into the stadium. In addition, alcohol is prohibited from university parking lots and property.

Throwing of any object in the stadium is prohibited. Any person throwing any object is subject to immediate removal from the stadium. Rules allow game officials to penalize the home team if objects are thrown onto the playing field.

The Stadium Assistance Team, wearing gold jackets bearing the word "Security," can help with any problems fans may encounter. Should fans become separated from their friends, they should report to any First Aid station for assistance. A lost and found area is located at the south end of each concourse.

All parking lots on the UNL city campus are reserved for those who have paid reservations on game days. Parking for people with disabilities is available for $5 for people who have state-issued handicapped parking permits. This parking is available in the lot east of the Nebraska Union at 15th and S streets. UNL Police community service officers will provide shuttle service for handicapped persons from the Nebraska Union and Memorial Stadium beginning 90 minutes before kickoff and ending one hour after the game ends. Handicapped parking also is available at Stadium Drive and V streets and at 15th and U streets. There is a charge for this parking.

The city of Lincoln offers these suggestions: Football fans entering the city via Cornhusker Highway or 27th Street should remember that there is construction at the intersection of Cornhusker Highway and 27th Street. Although there are barricades, all through lanes will be open to pre and postgame traffic.

StarTran also will offer bus service to and from the stadium from various sites around Lincoln. Service begins 2 hours before kickoff and riders are dropped off at the east side of the stadium. Express lots, costing $2 each way are at Southeast Community College, 88th and O streets; Holmes Lake, 70th and Van Dorn streets; Sam's Club, 27th and Superior streets, Gateway Mall, 61st and O streets; State Department of Roads, 14th and Burnham streets; and Kmart Super Center, 27th Street and Cornhusker Highway.

StarTran also has a new downtown shuttle to the stadium. For $1 each way, fans may board at the Cornhusker Hotel Parking Garage at 12th and L streets; the Carriage Park Parking Garage at 11th and L streets; or the City-County parking lot at 10th and H streets. Service runs every 15 to 20 minutes from these locations beginning two hours before kickoff.

Gates open 90 minutes prior to kickoff.


University of Nebraska Extension assistant Diana Allen examines an extremely eroded stream bed in the Wehrspann Lake Watershed near Omaha. The effects of erosion, such as damage to infrastructure, land and habitat loss and reduced water quality are prompting new control efforts. (Photos by Rollin Hotchkiss)


Scientists Find Stable Data on Unstable Stream Banks


By Bettina Heinz
IANR Communications Associate

When John Zellars, graduate research assistant at UNL, documented a two-foot drop in a stream bed over just a one-year period, he knew that he'd found strong evidence for erosion.

"That's a very dramatic drop," Rollin Hotchkiss, UNL civil engineer, said about the two-foot drop. "Nature just doesn't quite work that way," he pointed out. The drop is an indication of a typical problem in the Midwest. Erosion is commonplace in stream channels that have loess, a silty soil, as a base. Loess soil is common to eastern Nebraska, western Iowa and western Missouri.

Zellars, Hotchkiss and Tom Franti, UNL biological systems engineer, are monitoring and evaluating stream channels in an eastern Nebraska watershed, the Wehrspann Lake Watershed near Omaha.

Extreme stream channel erosion causes a multitude of problems. The strength of bridges may be weakened, and pipelines for sewer, gas and water may become suspended. Land adjacent to the channel may be carried away.

Diana Allen, NU extension assistant assigned to Wehrspann Lake, said one producer in the watershed lost six rows of corn to erosion last year. A high cost comes with the repair, relocation or reconstruction of infrastructure and land loss.

Western Iowa endured a $1.1 billion cost associated with the degradation of 155 stream channels within a 70-year period. Stream channel erosion also affects ecosystems, leading to loss of habitat for aquatic wildlife, plants and fish and to reduced surface water quality.
"It turns out to be an environmental disaster because there really is no habitat left," Hotchkiss said.

Wehrspann Watershed drains into the South Papio Branch of Papio Creek. The Papio Creek network is a tributary to the Missouri River. While most the land in the watershed is in agricultural production now, it is expected to be fully urbanized within 20 years.

"Just about every square mile in the watershed has a stream in it," Allen said. "Some are so small you can jump across them, some are more like grassed waterways and some are as much as 20 feet deep."

The research team is charged with determining current and predicting future developments of stream channels in the watershed.

Researchers surveyed select streams in spring 1994 and 1995, and are repeating surveys this spring and next year. Initial findings show that degradation is occurring in most of the upper stream reaches. Sediment is being deposited at higher than normal rates in the lower reaches of the channels. The scientists also found fallen trees and tree slippage along the streams.

The high steep banks are unstable when saturated, but stable when dry, according to Zellars. The lower steep banks are relatively stable, he said.

The goal of the research team is to determine specific reasons why the Wehrspann Watershed is so strongly eroded. The researchers want to find out what a stable bank height is, and what causes stable banks to become unstable. They hope to eventually predict the amount of degradation that may occur in the streams. Their main goal is to find where the greatest soil loss is occurring and then to stabilize it with a structure to prevent further erosion.

"We need to locate the test sites for the stabilization structures which will help stop the unraveling of streams," Hotchkiss said.

The cause of stream channel erosion lies downstream he said. "Something is happening that triggers erosion in these channels. These channels are longer and bigger than one would expect," he said. The culprits are decades of stream straightening and clearing, he reported. From the 1900s to the 1950s, streams were straightened with the intent to increase available land for farm production and to prevent floods.

These efforts caused upstream erosion. One of the explanations for the documented 2-foot drop is the downstream straightening of a pathway and bulldozed field to increase the land availability, Hotchkiss said. The streams basically unravel backwards. "Once you lower a stream bed, all stream beds upstream can erode," he said.

Changes in the tributaries and the drop in the Missouri River level are likely to have caused the upstream erosion the researchers are documenting now. As the channels erode, the unstable banks collapse and widen the deepened channel. When a stream bank collapses, soil piles up at the base, and water carries this silt downstream, contributing to further widening and deepening of the streams.

Researchers actually know how to fix the problem. If they simply did nothing, the streams would eventually heal themselves, Hotchkiss said. Over a period of 50 to 100 years, the streams would widen naturally, if no further modifications occurred.

"We know that will work," Hotchkiss said. However, the time required, the likelihood of stream modifications and the loss of land have researchers looking for other solutions.
Other solutions available now are to put objects into a channel that will not erode, such as rip-rap; to line the channels with plastic or cement; or to build constructed wetlands, small dams and to plant streamside vegetation.

"We have yet to find an economical solution that works," Hotchkiss said. "This is a high-interest topic. We need a cheap, effective, long-lasting solution."

Franti, a biological systems engineer in the NU Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, said there is a need for stream channel stabilization demonstration projects in Nebraska. Future phases of the project will involve demonstration and education efforts.

"We're looking at feasible, inexpensive techniques like bioengineering and small-grade stabilization," Franti said.

The stream channel monitoring and evaluation is a phase of the Wehrspann Watershed Project sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality. The Papio-Missour River Natural Resources District also co-sponsors this project.


Four of the most legendary figures of the American West were, top to bottom, left to right, Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce, the tribe that rescued the Lewis & Clark expedition from starvation; Col. W.F. Cody, better known as Buffalo Bill, an Army scout and buffalo hunter who became the West's first impresario with his traveling "Wild West" show; Sam Houston, the Tennessee congressman and governor who went on to defeat Mexico and become the first president of the Republic of Texas; and Sitting Bull, the Lakota Sioux warrior who helped defeat Custer, but ended up as one of the attractions in Buffalo Bill's show. Their stories and many others will be featured on Ken Burns' The West, to air on ETV Sept. 15-19 and Sept. 22-24.

Ken Burns' Epic Saga of the West Comes to ETV

The epic saga of the Americn West is brought to life in a new eight-part PBS series, The West, produced by Ken Burns and directed by Stephen Ives. The series airs on the Nebraska ETV Network at 8 p.m. Sept. 15-19 and Sept. 22-24.

In large part, The West is a story of stories, of people whose individual and collective actions changed history and shaped a nation. It is the story of the Hispanic experience, from the Spanish conquistadors and missionaries to the transformation of a Mexican-American village called Los Angeles; of the Mormons, who struggled to build a unique society in the desert of Utah; of Midwestern homesteaders, New York gold seekers and African Americans who left the South for the West in search of the "promised land;" of Chinese immigrants who called the West "The Gold Mountain." And it is the story of vastly different tribes of Native Americans who, for a thousand generations, called the West home and considered it the center of the universe.

The West chronicles the remarkable history of one of the most extraordinary landscapes on earth. The series explores the region from the times of the earliest Native Americans, all the way into the 20th century. As this odyssey unfolds, it reveals the many cultures and individuals who converged on the West from every point on the compass. Their disparate desires, so often in conflict with each other, resulted in both triumph and tragedy - and some of the most compelling stories in American history.

Using diaries, letters, autobiographical accounts, vintage photos, sweeping contemporary footage and haunting original music, The West reflects the experiences of a broad array of individuals, some of them well known and many of them ordinary people who undertook extraordinary adventures. In the largest sense, The West tells the story of a young republic that began moving westward - and ended up transforming everything and everyone in its path.

A cast of 56 celebrated actors, including Adam Arkin, Philip Bosco, Matthew Broderick, Keith Carradine, Tantoo Cardinal, John Cullum, Blythe Danner, Ossie Davis, Hector Elizando, Julie Harris, Derek Jacobi, John Lithgow, Amy Madigan, Mary Stuart Masterson, Russell Means, Jason Robards, Gary Sinise, Jimmy Smits and B.D. Wong, give voice to the words. Peter Coyote narrates.

Back to menu

For questions regarding these Scarlet pages, contact:
dtaurins@unlinfo.unl.edu
(402) 472-8518, Fax: (402) 472-7825