The "exceptionally precise" ability of a bird called the Clark's nutcracker to locate thousands of seeds buried in 5,000 to 6,000 locations throughout the winter and spring has long fascinated Al Kamil, an NU behavioral biologist.
Suspecting that the birds relied on more than spatial memory, Kamil devised a set of experiments that shows that nutcrackers are capable of using geometry as a tool in their search for buried seeds.
Kamil and co-author Juli Jones, a graduate student in biological sciences, describe the results of their study in a letter to Nature, the international magazine of science, to be published Nov. 20.
In the article, they describe how they learned about the nutcracker's mathematics proficiency in Kamil's laboratory, where they set two locating landmark posts in a sandbox-like arrangement and then varied the positions of the posts.
"If you train a bird to find a seed halfway between two landmarks, and the bird can still locate the seed after you change the distance between the landmarks, then the bird has learned the general principle of 'halfway,'" Kamil said.
Kamil and Jones used five nutcrackers he caught in the wild for his experiments. The setting was a room in the lower level of Manter Hall carpeted with a layer of a cellulose material. There, they used two lengths of pipe "landmarks," one green and the other yellow. The landmarks were always placed north and south of each other, but Kamil and Jones varied the distance between them and rotated them clockwise or counterclockwise.
Kamil's and Jones' objective was to see whether the nutcrackers are "sensitive to geometric relationships." Could they learn to find a point halfway between landmarks? And could they do it when the distance between the landmarks was changed? Such a situation presented the nutcracker with a problem that required more than an ability to discern the relationship between a single landmark and the buried seed that was his goal.
Kamil subjected his nutcrackers to a variety of situations, assessing their ability to take bearings from one landmark or both, to bisect the distance between landmarks, and to reach their goal when the landmarks were rotated a number of degrees clockwise or counter-clockwise.
"The experiments demonstrated that the nutcrackers learned to use a general principle based on the geometric relationship between landmarks," Kamil said.
Following completion of experiments that showed that neither smell nor size of landmarks were brought into play in the search for the seed, Kamil concluded that "results clearly demonstrate that nutcrackers can learn to find a spatial position defined by an abstract geometric relationship.
"The results of the experiments are consistent with the hypothesis that animals are capable of representing geometric relationships among landmarks."
A psychologist by training, Kamil's primary appointment at NU is in biological sciences, where he describes himself as "a student of the evolution of cognitive processes," including memory and functions such as vision and other senses.
Kamil, former codirector of the Nebraska Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research project in behavioral biology, uses birds as the species of choice for his studies.
- Bob Sheldon
The University of Nebraska released for campus discussion a draft plan to enhance the diversity of its faculty, staff and student body. The initial draft, "Diversity Plan and Implementation Initiatives," sets specific goals for recruitment and retention of faculty.
The Nov. 26 draft is the first phase in developing a comprehensive action plan to enhance diversity at the university. To meet its goals, the plan would use the $530,000 "Targets of Opportunity" fund as part of the $700,000 committed to enhancement of diversity by the university's budgetary reallocation process earlier this year.
The draft plan was drawn up by the university's Office of Academic Affairs, and will be reviewed by the Chancellor's Commission on the Status of People of Color, the Chancellor's Commission on the Status of Women and other campus advisory bodies.
"The goals outlined in this draft are an important step in developing a comprehensive action plan that will include other diversity-related issues on campus," said Chancellor James Moeser. "The action plan will be responsive to the regents' goals, our long-standing Strategic Plan for both gender equity and racial diversity and our ongoing campus conversations about diversity."
In October, Moeser appointed Evelyn Jacobson, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs, and Bruce Currin, assistant vice chancellor for human resources, to assume responsibility for overseeing improvement in meeting the gender equity goals for faculty and staff. Subsequently, he asked Linda Crump, director of affirmative action and diversity programs, to join Jacobson and Currin in drafting the more comprehensive campus diversity plan.
Appointments that have been made to enhance diversity in the student body are Ricardo Garcia as associate dean of graduate studies and Barbara Carrasco Fechner as assistant director of admissions for minority and community relations. Garcia joins Keith Parker, director of African American and African Studies, in recruiting minority graduate students. Fechner has responsibilities in recruiting minority undergraduates.
Crump's office will continue its annual analysis of the demographics of the university's available work force based on current U.S. Census figures. This allows her office to determine how well the university's staff matches the available work force in terms of race and gender.
Moeser said the draft plan and the action plan being developed are intended to complement and build on the efforts of other groups and individuals on campus.
"These plans reflect the shared values of the university," he said. "I applaud the grass roots initiative of the Nov. 21 town hall meeting that supported celebrating the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on campus. We are committed to creating a working and learning environment where people from all groups will feel welcomed and supported as full members of the community."
The major goals included in the draft plan are to:
In addition, the plan calls for continued internal monitoring of the university's progress toward these goals.
"This university has been and is committed to diversity as reflected in its long-standing Strategic Agenda," Moeser said. "Last year, the university went through a difficult but necessary budgetary reallocation in order to be responsive to that strategic agenda and now our plans are ready for broader revue and implementation. We are committed to action."
The plan is available on the university's web site <www.unl.edu>.
- Tom Simons
It was a lesson straight from the pages of Robert's Rules of Order. After a couple of hours of debate in which friendly amendments, unfriendly amendments, substitute motions, calls for quorum and various other nuances of parliamentary procedure were exercised, the Academic Senate reversed its November decision and endorsed suspending classes for Martin Luther King Jr. holidays.
While the vote Dec 2 was advisory only, it made a statement about the faculty's commitment to diversity and may have silenced those critical of the November vote.
The difference in the wording from last month's vote also played a role in passage of the resolution. The newly passed resolution calls for a make-up day to be scheduled for some time in the spring semester.
As in the previous month, several senators objected to the loss of a class meeting day, stating that make-ups were difficult to schedule and presented hardships for some students, especially those who observe Saturdays for religious purposes or who attend classes at off-campus sites.
Others said that rather than having the make-up day be optional, the make-up day should be mandatory with professors having the option to cancel if they desired. That, they said, would allow them to avoid "playing the bad guy" in calling for a make-up class.
A move to delay the vote by categorizing the resolution as a non-emergency was overturned after Patrick Nicoletti, educational psychology, said that for faculty of color, the emergency is on-going and in continual crisis.
Rick Edwards, senior vice chancellor, urged the senate to adopt the King holiday resolution, saying that while he sympathized with those concerned about academic quality and semester length, the need to set aside a day to discuss race and other social issues was of overriding concern.
The resolution will be a guide to the universitywide calendar committee, composed of representatives from all four NU campuses, who meet to recommend calendar revisions to University President Dennis Smith.
In other action, the senate learned that campus recycling efforts have paid off in terms of some 781 tons of material recovered in fiscal 96-97 that would have been sent to a landfill. Dale Ekart, recycling coordinator, said a pilot program to recycle aluminum and plastic is under way, funded in part with Pepsi contract money.
The group endorsed a resolution urging the university to try to bridge the gap in faculty salaries with the average salaries of peer institutions by 2001.
The senate also heard a report from Charles Greene, director of student judicial affairs, who urged faculty to particularly stress the illegality of drinking by underage students and asked Friday to vigorously pursue disposition of cases of academic dishonesty by bringing suspected cases to his attention.
- Kim Hachiya
Del Weber, chancellor emeritus at UNO, will give the address at commencement exercises beginning at 9:30 a.m. Dec. 20 in the the Bob Devaney Sports Center. Chancellor James Moeser will preside over the ceremony. Approximately 1,350 students will receive degrees.
Weber, who retired as UNO's chancellor earlier this year after nearly 20 years of service, will be assisting with the University of Nebraska Foundation's Campaign Nebraska beginning January of 1998. A native Nebraskan, Weber earned his bachelor's degree from Midland College, and his master's and doctoral degrees from UNL.
Trudy Lieberman, a senior investigative editor for Consumer Reports, will receive an honorary doctor of letters degree. She covers issues such as economic and financial reports, insurance, health care financing and health coverage for the elderly.
She has won numerous awards for her work, including two National
Magazine
Awards, the "Oscars" of magazine publishing, for a three-part
series on life insurance and an article on Medicare. She has been
nominated
on four other occasions. She is co-author of two books, a contributing
editor
of Columbia Journalism Review and an adjunct instructor at Columbia
University's
Graduate School of Journalism.
Lieberman earned a bachelor of science degree from UNL and a certificate in economics and business journalism from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
A drop-off area for graduates and mobility restricted guests will be available on the south side of the Devaney Center, at 17th and Court streets. Special seating will be reserved for disabled guests attending commencement. Sign language interpreters for hearing impaired individuals will be in section B-12 on the west side of the concourse level of the sports center. A limited number of seats will be reserved for hearing impaired guests. Reserved seats for guests who are ambulatory restricted will be available in the north and south sides of the arena. Guests in wheelchairs will be seated on the northeast corner of the arena floor. Golf carts will be located at the ramps on the exterior north and south sides of the Devaney Center to assist disabled guests as they enter or leave the sports center.
If the state's Rainwater Basin wetlands had a price tag, they would be worth nearly $13 million to Nebraskans, a University of Nebraska study shows.
Richard Perrin, agricultural economist in NU's Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and graduate student Joan Poor of Lincoln found Nebraskans would be willing to pay $12.7 million to double the area of wetlands in the Rainwater Basin region.
The south central Nebraska wetland region is recognized internationally as an important stop on the North America waterfowl flyway.
At the turn of the century, Rainwater Basin wetlands covered about 100,000 acres. By the 1990s, this wetland area had dwindled to about 34,000 acres. Government agencies and advocacy groups support restoring the existing wetlands and adding 25,000 acres each of wetlands and adjacent uplands.
The study shows what Perrin and Poor call a "win-win" scenario for farmers and the public. If a government agency acquired and managed more acres of wetlands in the Rainwater Basin region, farmers could be compensated by at least the rental value of their cropland. Nebraska households would value the additional wetlands even more highly, Perrin said.
For example, 41,000 acres of wetlands habitat could be restored for $4.6 million annually. That's about one-third of the value Nebraskans surveyed indicated they would be willing to pay to enhance and increase migratory waterfowl habitat. The $4.6 million figure is based on a cash rental rate of $112 per irrigated crop acre Nebraska farmers currently receive for use of the land in crop production, he said.
In dollar terms, the net annual benefit of changing the land's use would be an estimated $8.1 million, Perrin said. That's the net of the $12.7 million value Nebraskans would put on the additional wetlands, minus the $4.6 million farmers would be compensated for giving up their annual crop production on these 41,000 acres.
The study's research method is somewhat controversial because it indicates only what people say they are willing to pay, not what they might actually pay, he pointed out. However, it provides an estimate policy makers can use to evaluate support for expanding wetlands, he said.
"It's not a completely satisfactory way to find out, but there isn't any other way," Perrin said.
Perrin and Poor mailed surveys to 2,400 Nebraska households in 1996. About half of those queried responded.
Campers, birdwatchers, contributors to environmental organizations, people with higher income or education levels and Rainwater Basin visitors were most likely be willing to pay for restoring the region's wetlands, the study found.
Retirees, residents of large households, Rainwater Basin residents and those with agriculture income were least likely to be willing to pay for restoring basin wetlands.
On average, respondents were willing to pay about $21 annually to restore the Rainwater Basin. Nearly one-third -- 29.29 percent -- were unwilling to pay anything. A tiny portion -- 3.34 percent -- said they would be willing to pay more than $150 per year.
Traditionally, environmental amenities such as clean air and water have not carried price tags, Perrin said. Researchers around the country are trying to attach dollar values to such amenities because "it's hard to come up with good public policy without knowing how much people value such resources," he said.
The Rainwater Basin study's goal is to provide research-based information for Nebraskans, Perrin said. The research was not performed with any preconceived agenda, he said.
The research was conducted in cooperation with IANR's Agricultural Research Division.
- Molly Klocksin, IANR news writer
Illness was her collaborator. Poet Hilda Raz said her recently published book of poems in which she documents her experience with breast cancer was an opportunity for artistic exploration.
"Divine Honors," published recently by Wesleyan University Press, takes its title from an epigraph by W.H. Auden: "...divine honours will be paid to shallow depressions in the ground, domestic pets, ruined windmills, or malignant tumors."
Raz, an associate professor of English and editor-in-chief of the University of Nebraska's literary quarterly, The Prairie Schooner, said her illness was "a goad, a subject and a focus on life and proliferation, a metaphor and an opportunity."
The poems, which the Library Journal called "powerful and moving," received praise from several reviewers. Author Susan Fromberg Schaeffer said the poems are "an unflinching account of the cost and effect of breast cancer." Reviewer Walter McDonald called them "a head-on collision with grief, the inescapable fact of cancer."
Despite the subject material, McDonald said "Raz conveys joy and hope and love of others and the natural world turned into poetry, after that horrible discovery and ordeal."
Raz is to be interviewed on National Public Radio's "To the Best of Our Knowledge in December. Locally, she will read from her book and sign copies at Lee Booksellers, 56th and Highway 2, from 2:30-3:30 p.m. on Jan. 17.
Cancer-free for seven years now, Raz recently returned from the University of Alaska in Fairbanks where she read from "Divine Honors," lectured, and counseled graduate students in the university's writing program.
"Divine Honors," her third book of poetry, is available at local bookstores.
- Robert Sheldon
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