April 18, 1997




Taking Shape

Workers lower a beam into place on the new parking garage on construction west of Memorial Stadium. The garage is expected to be completed by late August. (Photo by Richard Wright)








Why Is 'Happy Hour' Always After Work?


Motivational Speaker to Pose the Question April 22-23


By Amy Cyphers

Millions of people around the world wish their job meant more to them than just a paycheck. Cruising on automatic pilot, they shuttle from home to the office and back home again, with little personal fulfillment to show for it, said Ian Percy, a management consultant and motivational speaker.

"We've been taught how to fit into slots and how to find jobs for ourselves. But what you and I have never been taught is how to find the greater meaning," he said. "We're just realizing now that that's really come up short in what we need."

Percy will be on campus April 22-23 to deliver a two-part seminar on improving the outlook and environment of the workplace. His presentations will highlight ways to foster spiritual enthusiasm on the job, something Percy said many employees lack.

At their core, Percy said, all businesses are based on some "spiritual foundation." He doesn't mean spirituality in a religious sense, but as "the purposeful flow of the human spirit."

"People all over the world are wanting to get back to significance, not just success," he said. "They want to get back to meaning, not just managerial methodologies."

Percy's said the corporate obsession with the bottom line has snuffed out much of the personal fulfillment and satisfaction people once got from their jobs. Even Fortune 500-types are jaded by the focus on numbers and constant reengineering in the name of efficiency, he said.

"Executives at 45 and 50 years old are saying "Now what? What is the real meaning to all of this?'" Everyone's definition of "meaning" is unique, he said. Some want to derive happiness from their job; others want to create change or make something happen. And others, like Percy, want to understand why they're putting in the time.

"The trouble is, we look at our life and we find meaning everywhere except work," he said. "Work is just part of the curse. It's just part of what we have to do, which is why Happy Hour starts after work. It's like we want to quarantine our misery between 9 and 5."

This is no way to live, said Percy, who urges people to find value in what they do every day. Value isn't reserved for those in elite, creative or unusual vocations. You don't have to be Mother Theresa to be fulfilled in your job.

"We need to get past the usual marks of what counts and what doesn't. We've got to get past the templates of what makes you significant and important," he said.

This movement toward spiritual satisfaction has gained momentum with the popularity of authors like Steven Covey and Deepak Chopra. Books such as "Chicken Soup for the Soul" and ads that refer to the human spirit also bolster the movement.

"All these things are just an attempt to say there's something else out there," he said. "People are saying I want to find it in what I purchase. I want to find it in my home life. And I want to find it in my work life."

Percy said he hopes his presentations will help employees find their corporate spirit at the University of Nebraska, an institution struggling to do more with less. He will challenge employees to find meaning in their work for the greater good.

"How do we make this university not just a political and intellectual arena, but one that really has the emotional and spiritual fire in the fireplace?" he asked.

Percy will present "How to Become Unstuck without Becoming Unglued" at 1:30 p.m. April 22 and "Putting the Fire Back in the Fireplace" at 8:30 a.m. April 23. Both sessions will be at the Nebraska Center for Continuing Education, 33rd and Holdrege streets. His visit is sponsored by the University Association for Administrative Development, the University of Nebraska Office Personnel Association and Human Resources. Call 472-2844 for information and registration.

CBA Dean Search Reopened

The search for the new dean of the College of Business Administration will be reopened, said Chancellor James Moeser.

Moeser made the decision to reopen with Richard Edwards, senior vice chancellor for academic affairs, after they read the written evaluations from interview participants in the original search.

Moeser cited a lack of broad support among the college's internal and external constituencies for any of the three finalists in the first search: Colin Bell, associate dean for administration and planning at the University of Iowa College of Business Administration; Lori Franz, associate dean and director of graduate studies in business at the University of Missouri-Columbia College of Business and Public Administration; and Dan Worrell, interim dean of the University of Texas at Arlington College of Business Administration.

"Each of the final candidates identified in the first search had great strengths, but none had the special combination of talents we were looking for," Moeser said. "We consulted closely with both internal and external constituencies and there was a significant lack of consensus."

- Tom Simons

Honors Convocation Recognizes Excellence

Twenty-seven faculty and staff members received awards for outstanding teaching, student advising or service, and more than 2,000 students will be recognized for outstanding scholarship at the 69th annual All-University Honors Convocation.

Faculty and staff who received awards included: The following faculty members received Distinguished Teaching Awards from their colleges. Each recipient will receive a $1,000 cash award, provided by the Nebraska Legislature:
Samuel Brunk, associate professor of history; Shelley Fuller, assistant professor of art and art history; Eugene Martin, associate professor of biological sciences; Douglas May, assistant professor of management; Kevin Murphy, assistant professor of engineering mechanics; George H. Pfeiffer, associate professor of agricultural economics; Paul Savory, assistant professor of industrial and management systems engineering; Gerald Shapiro, associate professor of English; Jeff Spinner-Halev, assistant professor of political science; Thompson; Stanley Vasa, professor of special education and communication disorders; Ana-Maria Wahl, assistant professor of sociology; Annette Ward, assistant professor of textiles, clothing and design; and Steven Wise, professor of educational psychology.

Alexander Kim, a graduate student in the Department of Chemistry, received the Graduate Assistant Mentoring Award. He will receive a $500 cash award, provided by the University of Nebraska Foundation.

John Gruhl, professor of political science, was recognized for receiving the Outstanding Teaching and Instructional Creativity Award presented by the NU system.

- Karen Underwood

Alumni Spring Reunion April 24-26

From specially arranged tours to spring football to an awards ceremony, University of Nebraska-Lincoln alumni from the classes of 1947 and 1957 will find something for everyone April 24-26 at the Nebraska Alumni Association's Reunion Weekend '97.

The reunion begins Thursday evening with early registration at the Wick Alumni Center. Registration continues Friday morning at the Alumni Center where the deans and faculty will host the alumni at a special breakfast. Reunion participants will be given a tour of the Hewit Academic Center, the training table and Husker Vision, followed by lunch with Chancellor James Moeser and the Alumni Association board of directors. In the afternoon, alumni will have an opportunity to tour the facilities of the College of Fine and Performing Arts and the George W. Beadle Center for Genetics and Biomaterials Research. A 6 p.m. dinner at the Cornhusker Hotel features a special presentation by Lincoln historian Jim McKee and the music of the Scarlet and Cream singers.

Saturday activities begin with an 11 a.m. Big Red picnic followed by the attendee's choice of the spring football game or a tour of the University of Nebraska State Museum. The reunion concludes with the annual awards banquet in the Centennial Room of the Nebraska Union at 6 p.m. Alumni Achievement Awards, Young Alumni Awards, the Family Tree Award and 40- and 50-year certificates will be presented at the banquet.

Reservations for any or all events can be made through the Nebraska Alumni Association, 472-2841. There is a $5 weekend registration fee and additional charges for some of the events.

Geologists to Present Findings on Dinosaur Demise

Two University of Nebraska-Lincoln geologists will present their latest findings about the extinction of dinosaurs in an April 27 lecture at the University of Nebraska State Museum. Titled "Apocalypse Past: The Asteroid Impact that Ended the Age of Dinosaurs," the talk will begin at 4 p.m.

During January and February of this year, a research drilling vessel, the Joides Resolution, sailed from Bridgetown, Barbados, with a team of scientists aboard. Among them were UNL geologists David Watkins and Mary Anne Holmes and a UNL graduate student, Jean Self-Trail. Their goal was to drill into an underwater feature called the Blake Nose, some 300 miles east of Jacksonville, Fla. The scientific party hoped to recover evidence of an asteroid impact that is believed to have occurred on earth some 65 million years ago near what is today the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico.

Scientists have long known that at least two-thirds of all living species went extinct in a short period of time at the end of the Cretaceous geologic period. Among those that disappeared forever were the large dinosaurs. Over the last century debate has raged as to what might have caused such a mass extinction, but few were prepared for the idea that an extraterrestrial event may have been the cause.

Watkins and Holmes will present the latest findings in this ongoing debate, brought back from the Blake Nose just a few weeks ago.

Whether an asteroid destroyed the dinosaurs or not, the story of the mass extinction event from the Blake Nose is a chilling one.

The lecture at the Morrill Hall auditorium, is free and open to the public, but a donation of $2 is suggested for State Museum visitors over the age of 2. It is sponsored by UNL's department of geology and the University of Nebraska State Museum, which will host "Science is Everywhere!," a celebration of the National Science Foundation's Science and Technology Week.

- Deb Eisloeffel

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