ORCA WINNER JOHN JANOVY: "I consider my research an integrated part of teaching and interaction with the students." (Photo: Richard Wright)
Walking into John Janovy's parasitology lab and office is like taking a trip into a busy mind. Alongside the beakers, pipettes and tweezers sharpened for minuscule work lie Nebraska rocks, shells, damselflies and shelves of books with lengthy names. It's obviously a place where much work occurs. Lying among all of this evidence of a busy educator, researcher and artist are the defining products of his career - numerous photos of the smiling faces of his students.
This is part of the landscape of John Janovy Jr., the Paula & D.B. Varner Distinguished Professor of Biological Sciences and a recipient of the 1998 Outstanding Research and Creative Activity Award. This award, established in 1978, recognizes research and creative activity of national/international significance conducted at the University of Nebraska. It is the highest accolade the university bestows in recognition of a faculty member's scholarship, research and artistic achievements.
For parasitologist Janovy, these achievements are often one and the same.
Janovy's research has involved the manner in which a changing environmental condition affects the number and diversity of parasites in a host. In essence, he's constantly asking the most basic question in parasitology - who's infected with whom? It's a search for answers of worldwide ecological and public health magnitude. His theoretical papers have gained international attention. Janovy's 30-plus year search into this question has led to more questions and theories than answers. And that's just fine with him.
"I consider my research an integrated part of teaching and interaction with the students, especially with the advanced students," Janovy said. "My fundamental philosophy is that an academician's overriding responsibility is to produce well-trained, capable people." For Janovy that means giving his ever-evolving research questions to his steady stream of students - challenging them to greater tasks. "These students have already decided to be there," he says of his laboratory. "Especially the doctorate students. It's important for me to give them something of substance."
Janovy's ability to interact with students was a strong reason he received this most recent accolade. Paul Johnsgard, Foundation Professor Biological Sciences, says, "Dr. Janovy has outstanding interaction with students at all levels. You could say he's the perfect teacher in his ability to communicate and relate with students. And he spends a lot of time at it." After a brief laugh, Johnsgard continued: "I'm actually often a bit jealous of the students always hanging out at his lab!"
These same students give a strong chorus as to why Janovy's work is significant to the world, and to them.
Megan Wise, a master's candidate in biological sciences said of Janovy, "He's very into having his students learn about how the subject, the course that's being taught about, applies to everything around you. He gets you to think on a world view about everything."
Senior Regent's Scholar and biology major Jennifer Schawang said Janovy expects more than rote memorization. "A lot of people do. But he expects more in application, how it fits into your life, how things would apply in the arts, into humanities, and he wants to create a very well-rounded student in that aspect."
Senior Terri Keber, a four-year Regent's Scholar and with a dual major in biology and psychology major found it hard to describe her work with the professor. "It's just amazing how one person can affect the way you think and the way you see things and just your whole perspective on life," she said.
The list of the many bright, motivated future scientists who have worked with Janovy is long and impressive. To Janovy, author of nine books, numerous articles, and even a TV screenplay, it's his greatest source of pride and his legacy. When asked, "How do you want to be remembered?" his response was: "I would line up all my graduate students. They're faculty across the country, successful in industry...they're all employed as professional biologists!"
Scott Snyder is one scientist who credits Janovy for his own success. Snyder earned a Ph.D. in parasitology under Janovy and is a National Science Foundation/Sloan Postdoctoral Fellow in molecular evolution at the University of New Mexico.
Were he able to publicly thank Janovy, Snyder said he would say to him: "You have helped to produce a scientist who is very interested in teaching other students, who is very interested in making good solid citizens who make a contribution to the state and to the country and to the world as a whole and you give the opportunity for small town Nebraska kids like me to go out and make a difference in the world."
One doesn't have to search far to discover who's infected with whom and why in this laboratory.
-Annie Mumgaard, Public Relations
The University of Nebraska will rededicate Memorial Stadium April 24 to the memory of Nebraska's servicemen and women who gave their lives in defense of their country.
The ceremony rededicating the stadium will begin at 7:10 p.m. and will be modeled on the ceremony of the original Memorial Stadium dedication in 1923 to World War I veterans. The ceremony will precede the university's celebration of its 1997 national football championship. The celebration will include a farewell tribute to retired football Coach Tom Osborne and the naming of the stadium's playing field in Osborne's honor.
"It's important that we never forget the significance of the name, 'Memorial Stadium,'" said James Moeser, Nebraska chancellor. "The words of Lehigh University President C.R. Richards in his dedication speech 75 years ago still ring true. Richards told the crowd before the 1923 Nebraska-Kansas game, 'You are dedicating this stadium to the memory of the Nebraska men (today, we would add women) who made the supreme sacrifice to uphold the ideals which guided our forefathers when the republic was conceived - ideals which it would seem to me are the hopes of civilization.'"
The ceremony will begin with the playing of "America the Beautiful" by the Cornhusker Marching Band with stadium flags at half-staff. Moeser will deliver remarks to recognize veterans of all of America's wars, then will call for a moment of silence. After the moment of silence, NU Regent Robert Allen of Hastings, a 1944-46 veteran of the U.S. Navy, will read the regents' proclamation officially rededicating the stadium.
Campus ROTC units from all service branches will then present a 21-gun salute. A solo trumpeter will play taps and the full band will play "The Star-Spangled Banner" as stadium flags are raised to full-staff, leading to the conclusion of the ceremony.
-Tom Simons, Public Relations
John Smith, biological systems engineer at NU's Panhandle Research
and
Extension Center, holds chicory roots harvested from NU's research plots
near Scottsbluff. (Photo: IANR)
SCOTTSBLUFF- Losing the fat calories while keeping fat's satisfying feel is a continuing food industry goal. A food additive made from Nebraska-grown chicory may fit the menu.
Inulin is a fructose-based sweetener extracted from the root of chicory, a blue-flowered plant that resembles sugar beets. Researchers at the University of Nebraska's Panhandle Research and Extension Center here are studying chicory's suitability for Nebraska production. The country's food industry is interested in inulin's potential as a "designer food" that can substitute for fatty food ingredients.
"Inulin is a new food. There's no other food like it," said Chuck Hibberd, the center's director. "For us, it's exciting to be involved in a new food."
He and three other NU Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources researchers recently returned from an inulin conference in Belgium. Europeans have used inulin in food products for years, Hibberd said, mainly as a sweetener. Plans for U.S. production foresee its use as a fat replacer and a bulking agent in baking and dairy products.
Panhandle center research shows that Nebraska's sugar beet producers can, with minor adjustments to machinery and farming techniques, grow the new crop.
"Chicory can probably be grown anywhere you can grow sugar beets," Hibberd said. "The advantage for Nebraska is we're a couple of years ahead of anyone else in the U.S."
Most low- or fat-free products don't have fat's texturizing properties and those foods have less texture, mouth-feel and flavor, Hibberd said. Because of its chemical composition, inulin forms a creamy, fat-like gel when dissolved in water and provides body and texture. One possible widespread product use is low-fat cheese.
The pharmaceutical industry also may be interested in inulin, Hibberd said. The compound helps stimulate beneficial bifido bacteria in the lower intestines and could have medical value. Inulin's low-sugar qualities also make it useful for diabetics' diets.
"The potential for Nebraska is huge," Hibberd said. If a major company began using chicory for food products, he explained, it could be buying 20,000 to 30,000 acres of chicory a year, "which would be a significant shift in crop production" for western Nebraska farmers.
Researchers have grown the plant for four years on university test plots.
"We now know how to grow chicory in western Nebraska," Hibberd said.
Western Sugar Co. began the Nebraska research project at its Mitchell beet-processing factory before giving way to Cascadian Inulin in 1996. Cascadian's pilot plant has operated for 18 months at the Panhandle Research and Extension Center. Cascadian Inulin recently bought space in Gering's industrial park for a full-sized facility. It is scheduled to open by Sept. 1, in time for the 1998 harvest of the center's 50 acres of chicory.
Many Panhandle farmers have expressed interest in growing chicory, Hibberd said. Production costs average about $600 to $700 an acre, he said, with net returns averaging about $300 an acre.
Inulin occurs naturally in more than 30,000 plants, including wheat, leeks, asparagus, Jerusalem artichoke and garlic. A full bowl of onion soup may contain as much as 10 grams of inulin.
Commercial processors extract inulin from chicory root. The extracted juice is purified and spray-dried into a white powder. Possible foods that could use inulin's qualities include baked goods, pasta, chewing gum, low-fat milk, frozen dairy products, margarine, marshmallows and pet products.
Western Sugar funded the first two years of research on inulin and Cascadian Inulin has supported it the past two years, in cooperation with IANR's Agricultural Research Division.
- Dan Holder, IANR News Service
Alan McCutcheon juggles several jobs at once: a distinguished professor of sociology, director of the Gallup Research Center. (Photo: Richard Wright)
Without modern technology, Allan McCutcheon would probably be lost somewhere between his four offices, trying to field the messages from his four telephones and four e-mail accounts.
But thanks to his top-of-the-line Palm Pilot computer organizer, the director of the Gallup Research Center and University of Nebraska professor knows exactly where he's supposed to be and when, doing what needs to be done.
That's no small feat, considering the not-so-simple logistics his position entails. Working as a university ambassador to Gallup, McCutcheon is split between his "embassies" on campus, at the Gallup office on 68th Street, the downtown Gallup building and home (where the most work gets done, he says).
Being at the helm of the center - a joint venture of the Gallup Organization and the university to study survey research - is as good as it gets, McCutcheon says. A social scientist at heart, he relishes being associated with Gallup, arguably the world leader in the field.
"It's like having the best brand name available," he says. "I get to see where Gallup is going and ask questions of the polls. For someone who has the sort of interests that I have, this is a dream-come-true kind of thing."
McCutcheon works to cement this unique relationship between industry and academia, giving the university access to Gallup's resources and clout to build one of the premier survey research programs in the country. Gallup, in turn, gets a leg up on the latest discoveries in the field, as well as first crack at the top graduates in this specialized disclipline.
Partnerships of this kind are becoming more common in the United States as universities seek to develop a niche. Teaming up with the private sector in specific fields, McCutcheon says, gives a university "the potential to become a leader in an area that few others could be as serious a competitor."
For example, the University of Washington's alliances with Boeing and Microsoft have given UW one of the top aerospace engineering schools and computer science departments in the world. Likewise, the University of Delaware's bond with DuPont has led to distinguished programs in chemistry, biochemistry and engineering.
Nebraska's bond with Gallup is likely to achieve similar success, says McCutcheon. The new graduate program in survey and methodology is already getting a reputation as one of the best if the demand for its interns is any indication. And the annual Gallup Research Center symposiums draw the most prestigious names in the field from other institutions, as well as the L.A. Times and CBS polls.
Heading up the research center requires that McCutcheon straddle the fence dividing the corporate world and academia. It's a challenge being the bridge between Gallup and the university, he admits, but one he embraces.
"I like components of both (the public and private sectors)," he says. But he admits he sometimes has to shift mental gears while driving from one office to another. Gallup, after all, is a business driven by the bottom line and deadlines. The scholarly environment of a university, however, is different and doesn't demand that everything be done immediately.
"There's supposed to be time for contemplation at a university," he explains. "I don't know that there always is time for contemplation, but there's supposed to be."
McCutcheon uses his Palm Pilot to navigate through his hectic schedule and sort messages from e-mail accounts across the world. Never far from his side, the hand-held computer is "absolutely invaluable" to manage his meetings and projects.
The different phone numbers, fax lines, e-mail accounts and sets of colleagues would confuse the even most organized person, but McCutcheon takes it all in stride for the job he loves. Besides, the hectic schedule of his 60- to 70-hour workweek is no match for his trusty Palm Pilot.
To help relieve the stresses of his professional commitments, McCutcheon engages in an appropriate hobby - juggling. After taking up the hobby nearly 10 years ago to improve his hand-eye coordination, he became hooked by the sheer fun of it, indulging the neighborhood children with an occasional show while he practiced hoisting balls and clubs in the air. His wife added to the spectacle of his pastime when she bought him a unicycle for his birthday.
"She said if I learned to ride the unicycle and juggle at the same time, she'd buy me a bear costume," he laughs. "So if this doesn't work out for me, I can always join the circus."
Given the unusual circumstances of his job, one could argue he already has.
-Amy Cyphers, Public Relations
As oppressive governments across the world give way to emerging democracies, the role of polls and surveys in contemporary society will become more important. And because of its alliance with the Gallup Organization, the University of Nebraska is poised to become a leader in public opinion research, according to Allan McCutcheon, director of the Gallup Research Center.
Conceived in 1994 to study survey research, the GRC is one of the first major unions between Nebraska and the private sector. As a university entity housed in Gallup facilities, McCutcheon and his colleagues work to further the science of surveys and public opinion. The center explores all areas of quantitative research, including public opinion, consumer and employee satisfaction and the use of such data in the workplace. In the venture, the university gains access to Gallup resources, and Gallup gets the latest research findings first-hand.
Joining forces with the Gallup group, who McCutcheon calls "the best brand name" in the business, is key to developing Nebraska's stature in the survey research field. But the university's proximity to one of the country's largest survey and polling centers also will contribute to its success, he says.
Due to a thriving survey and market research community with firms such as Gallup and Talent+, the Lincoln-Omaha corridor has been dubbed the "Silicon Valley of Selection Research" by an academic business publication.
"(Survey research) is actually one of the largest and fastest growing segments of the Nebraska economy, to the tune of several hundred million dollars new to the state," McCutcheon says.
Survey and market research is a relatively young field that first gained ground in the 1930s as part of U.S. elections. But the collapse of the Iron Curtain and the emergence of new democracies around the world bolstered the value and visibility of the science.
McCutcheon says surveys and polling represent important tools in the arsenal of democracy. Tyrants don't care what their citizens think, but democratic leaders must consider the public view or they'll be voted out of office.
The evolution of the profession means good things to come for the university, he says. The GRC graduate program will continue to grow, and the annual symposiums to explore the future of the polling and survey industry are popular with the top names in the business.
-Amy Cyphers, Public Relations
Back to menu
For questions regarding the Scarlet's Web pages, contact:
dtaurins@unlinfo.unl.edu
(402) 472-8518, Fax: (402) 472-7825