PLAYA LAKES dot the plains of eastern Colorado. (Photo: U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service)
Some researchers study wetlands by design; others, like the director of the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum, stumble into them.
"My first exposure to wetland ecology came while doing a study of the Colorado bursage for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service," said Jim Locklear. "It was thought to be one of the rarest plants of the Great Plains, but nothing was known about its habitat."
He will present a public seminar on the ecology of this rare plant and the wetlands it inhabits as part of NU's Water Resources Seminar Series from 3-4 p.m. Feb. 18 in Room 116, L.W. Chase Hall. A videotape of the seminar is available by phoning (402)472-7909 or 1-800-755-7765.
Colorado bursage is part of the sunflower family and is related to ragweeds. However, unlike its widespread and abundant relatives, it is restricted to a small area of eastern Colorado where it grows along the fringes of wetlands called playa lakes.
These shallow, circular basins hold water following rainstorms but eventually dry up, resulting in temporary wetlands. They occur in several desert regions of the world, but are most numerous on the tablelands of the southern Great Plains.
Playas are very important to migrating waterfowl and shorebirds, providing much-needed wetland habitat in the midst of semi-arid shortgrass prairie. While Colorado bursage itself does not appear to be facing extinction, playa lake habitat in general is declining and is a focus of conservation efforts.
"There is nothing else quite like these lakes, and they deserve to be saved," Locklear said.
The 14-part seminar series, "Interrelationship of Water, Native Grasslands and Wetlands, concludes April 29. It is sponsored by NU's Center for Grasslands Studies, School of NaturalResource Sciences, Water Center/Environmental Programs, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources and UNL.
-Steve Ress, IANR Communications Specialist
Child Development Venture/Family Care Solutions Brown Bag presents "Parenting Styles" at noon to 1 p.m. Feb. 24 in the Nebraska Union and at noon to 1 p.m. Feb. 26 in the East Union.
This event will be presented by Lynn Murray, Lincoln/Lancaster County Health Department, and is co-sponsored by CDV/FCS and UNL's Department of Human Resources. Learn what your parenting style is, and what it means about your approach to discipline and the way you interact with your child. Call Human Resources, 472-3101, for a parenting styles questionnaire to complete before the session or for more information. Registration is not required.
UAAD will host its annual Founder's Day Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. Feb. 18 in the East Union. Chancellor James Moeser will present "Issues and Challenges Facing the University," and the Donaldson and Oldt Awards will be presented.
An International Eyeopener "Breakfast" will be at 7:30 a.m. Feb. 19 in the East Union. It will feature Don Wilhite, director of the National Drought Mitigation Center and International Drought Information Center. Wilhite will discuss, "Drought, El Niño and Climate Change: Policy Issues for the 1990s and Beyond."
Faculty, staff, students and the public are welcome. Call the International Programs office at 472-2758 for reservations.
The next free skate night at the Ice Box is from 9 to 11 p.m. Feb. 15.
Free skate nights are open to current UNL students, and faculty and staff who have paid the current Campus Recreation Programs and Facilities Fee. Be sure to bring your UNL I.D. Guests and non-members are welcome to skate for $5. For more information, call Campus Recreation at 472-3467.
Campus Recreation teaches the Red Cross "Learn to Swim" Levels I-V to small groups of children. Instructor to child ratios are maintained at a level lower than one instructor per seven children. The children's experience will be both challenging and fun. The next swim lesson sessons are:
Cost is $25/session/child for Campus Recreation members and current students and $35/session/child for nonmembers. Advance registration required. To register by phone (credit card only) or for more information, contact Campus Recreation at 472-3467.
The Chancellor's Commission on the Status of People of Color is an advisory and advocacy committee composed of faculty, staff and students from UNL. Its mission includes: collecting information from all areas of the UNL community ; directly advising the chancellor and other executive administrators; and advocating for action on behalf of all people of color.There are new openings for faculty, staff and student commission members. Contact Ardis Holland, 472-5401, for an application.
Celebrate Mardi Gras from 3 to 6 p.m. Feb. 24 at Cornerstone Church, 640 N. 16th St. Beads and fun, Cornerstone-style. Partygoers will enjoy half as much jambalaya and twice as much king cake this year. The festivities are open to faculty, staff and students. Bring friends.
An Ash Wednesday Service will be at noon Feb. 25 at Cornerstone. Call 476-0355 for more information.
The University of Nebraska Student Involvement Office is joining efforts with University Housing and the Women's Center to host the 1998 Women's Leadership Conference on March 14 at the Wick Alumni Center. Co-sponsored with Teacher's College and the College of Human Resources and Family Sciences, this year's event, "Writing Herstory; Leaving Your Mark," boasts a keynote speech by UNL alumna Brenda Council, six workshops, and an innovative look at the various roles that women fill with the performance of Nebraska artist Pippa White. Information booths will be staffed by local organizations throughout the morning.
Promising to be unique and powerful, "Writing Herstory" addresses a broad range of issues that are particularly important to women, from communicating across cultural boundaries to overcoming adversity.
The conference is open to anyone interested. Pre-registration will begin March 9, with on-site registration available. Admission is $5 or $3 for UNL students, faculty and staff. Doors open at 8:15 a.m. with breakfast available. The program is scheduled to begin at 9 and conclude at approximately 1 p.m.
Questions about the conference or the corresponding scholarship can be directed to Molly Klinedinst, conference assistant, in Student Involvement, 472-8143.
The Chancellor's Commission on the Status of Women is soliciting nominations for the Outstanding Contribution to the Status of Women Award
If you know an individual, department or organization making a significant contribution to the advancement of women, this award provides an opportunity to recognize such accomplishments.
The award winner receives a plaque; an inscription is placed on a permanent plaque in the Chancellor's conference room; and the award recipient designates a $1,000 contribution to a UNL state-supported unit (academic department, etc.).
Complete an Award Nomination Form and submit it together with supporting documentation to: Nancy Mitchell, 47 Avery Hall (0130), no later than Feb. 20.
How movies use Great Plains landscapes as metaphors for interior mental and psychological terrain is the subject of the next Paul A. Olson Seminar in Great Plains Studies.
In the Feb. 18 seminar, Rebecca Bell-Metereau, professor of English at Southwest Texas State University and visiting professor of English at Nebraska, will explore the topic using feature clips from such films as The Wind, The Plainsman, The Wizard of Oz, Shane, Red River, Oklahoma, Country, Heaven's Gate, My Own Private Idaho, Forrest Gump, Twister and Troublesome Creek. The seminar is from 3:30-5 p.m. in the Great Plains Art Collection in Love Library, 13th and R streets. The seminar and a 3 p.m. reception are free and open to the public.
After constructing the Great Plains in the context of Mother Earth, Bell-Metereau will note how images of fragmentation, threat, boundary and distortion of the feminine landscape have evolved with altered historical circumstances and gender expectations. The program will conclude with a discussion of other films that break the mold in terms of archetypal portrayals of the Great Plains.
The Olson Seminars are sponsored by the Center for Great Plains Studies.
Applications for faculty interested in directing the Nebraska Semester Abroad Program in 1999 are due to the Office of International Affairs by March 18.
Nebraska Semester Abroad, first offered in 1991, enables 20 to 25 Nebraska students to study in the Czech Republic and northern Greece for 11 weeks every spring. One or two faculty members from the public four-year colleges and universities in Nebraska are selected to direct this 12-credit program. Faculty who are selected coordinate the existing on-site instruction and supervise independent study during the semester (late March to early June).
The director or directors will be provided all expenses for the semester (transportation, food, housing and program-related expenses). Departments are provided small stipends to help defray some costs associated with the faculty member's release.
The program occurs at Olomouc, Czech Republic, and Thessaloniki, Greece. Thessaloniki is a coastal city in Greek Macedonia.
Faculty interested in the program should contact Peter Levitov, associate dean of International Affairs, at 472-5358. Letters of application, endorsed by the department chair/head, including a statement explaining how these European venues will be used to enhance learning, a description of a prospective four-hour independent study course, a list of courses taught, C.V. and teaching testimonials, should be submitted by March 18 to International Affairs at 1237 R St.
UNL faculty who have taught in the program are Wesley Peterson, agricultural economics (1992); Maureen Honey, English (1994); John DeFrain, family and consumer sciences (1996), Alison Stewart, art and art history (1997); and Jack Siegman, sociology (1998). Feel free to contact them for their perspectives on the program.
Popular MTV talk show Loveline, with Dr. Drew and Adam Carolla, will take place at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 25 at the Lied Center. This medical doctor and comedian team to answer questions about love, sex and relationships. With its mix of humor and clinical advice, Loveline is one of the hottest shows around.
Tickets are $5 for UNL students with ID, $10 for the general public, and can be purchased at the Lied Center Box Office or ordered by phone, 472-4747.
Loveline contains sexual content and is intended for mature audiences. The event is sponsored by the University Program Council and the Lied Center for Performing Arts.
More than 100 alumni return to Lincoln this week to celebrate the 90th anniversary of NU's Teachers College.
Gene Budig, president of the American League, is among those who will attend the event Feb. 14 at the Clifford Hardin Nebraska Center for Continuing Education. Budig earned his bachelor's degree in 1962 from Nebraska, and his doctor of education degree in 1967.
Another graduate who will return for the celebration is Frederick Edelstein, director of constituent relations for the U.S. Department of Education. Edelstein will teach a graduate class in educational administration Feb. 12 and speak to Teachers College faculty the next day about teacher preparation in the 21st century.
Also on the list of returning graduates is Ruth French Chapman, a member of the Chula Vista, Calif., board of education, who will celebrate her 91st birthday while in Lincoln. Virginia Robertson, an 83-year-old substitute teacher at North Platte High School for 37 years and counting, also will attend.
The celebration will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will feature interactive displays, a buffet lunch, speeches and a birthday cake honoring the college's founding on Feb. 14, 1908, by the NU Board of Regents.
Louis LaRose will present "The Return of the Bison to the Reservations," at 4 p.m. Feb. 14 in the International Affairs Office, 1237 R St. LaRose is the buffalo herd manager for the Winnebago Reservation in northeast Nebraska and interim president of Little Priest Tribal College.
LaRose's presentation is part of the Ne-Brath-Ka Great Plains Native American Cultural Exchange Program being coordinated through International Affairs. This event is open to all students, staff, faculty and community members and is free. RSVP to 472-5358.
The program is partially funded by the United States Informational Agency through the Cooperative Grants Program of NAFSA: Association of International Educators. For more information, call Inger Bull, 472-5358.
Five prominent scholars will appear in a lecture series on innovations in math, science and engineering education on five consecutive Fridays at 4 p.m. in 115 Burnett Hall from Feb. 20 to March 20. A reception follows each talk in 106 Burnett Hall.
The lecturs are free and open to the public.
The speakers will focus on techniques that are being used by educators to improve math, science and engineering education, such as curriculum reform and changes in teaching methods. They will also present examples of successful innovations taking place to improve student learning in scientific and technical fields.
On Feb. 20 Karen Frair, project director of the NSF Foundation Coalition and professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Alabama will present "The NSF Foundation Coalition: Changing Undergraduate Engineering Education." Her talk will focus on recent Coalition projects that developed improved curricula and learning environment models, and on why these models are successful. She will outline the Coalition's plans for future accomplishments.
Frair was the University of Alabama's participating institution coordinator for the National Science Foundation Coalition before she was made the project director. She has participated in an NSF Workshop on Restructuring Engineering Education and has served as co-chair of the Engineering Foundation Conference on Innovation in the Engineering Curriculum.
On Feb. 27 Robert Hilborn, professor physics at Amherst College, will give a talk, "How Students Learn (or Fail to Learn) Science-Lessons from Physics Education Research." Hilborn will give an overview of what researchers in physics education have learned about how students learn or fail to learn physics. He will present a series of principles that should guide both curriculum design and instructional strategies in all scientific and technical fields.
Hilborn is a visiting professor at UNL. In 1997 he received the American Physical Society award for Excellence in Research at an Undergrad-uate Institution. He has been vice-president, president-elect, president and past-president of the American Association of Physics Teachers.
On March 6, Deborah Hughes Hallet, professor of math at Harvard University, will present "The Teaching of Mathematics: What is Changing, What is Not, and What are the Issues?" She will focus on how the needs of the natural and social sciences and recent changes in technology have prompted new initiatives in teaching collegiate mathematics. She will also discuss how reconsidering curricula and teaching methods has enabled mathematicians to make better use of what is known about how students learn mathematics.
Hughes Hallett is an honorary member of Harvard University's Faculty of Education. She has been a Fulbright Scholar and has presented papers at many international conferences and led workshops in the United States, South Africa, P.R. China, the United Arab Emirates and Europe.
On March 13, John Wright, professor of chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will present "Active Learning in Chemistry - What Is It? How Do I Do It? Is It Worth It? How Much Time Does It Take? Does It Work? What Are The Benefits and Problems?"
Wright will discuss the increasing awareness by educators that many students are not developing the thinking skills and understanding necessary to complete a chemistry course. He will discus curriculum reform, the NSF-sponsored New Traditions Project and the importance of university faculty initiative in defining new traditions to improve education.
Wright has been awarded the University of Wisconsin's Chancellor's Award for Teaching Excellence and the UpJohn Teaching Award for his work in the NSF's New Traditions in Curriculum Reform project. He been active in both teaching and research innovations, having experimented with cooperative learning in large-scale lecture courses and developing assessment methods that are directed toward providing data about learning effectiveness.
On March 20, Frank Heppner, professor of biological sciences at the University of Rhode Island, will present "The Large-Class Teacher as Actor." Heppner will demonstrate how a knowledge of theater-script, stagecraft and character-can turn the lecture into an engaging and memorable experience for students.
Heppner, who recently returned from a year in Borneo, is twice a winner of Fulbright fellowships to Southeast Asia. He has taught more than 20,000 students in his large, general biology courses. An ornithologist, Heppner is also a volunteer pilot for the Civil Air Patrol.
This speaker series is sponsored by the Math/Science Education Area of Strength in the College of Arts and Sciences. Areas of Strength are formed by interdisciplinary clusters of scholars engaged in research and teaching that crosses traditional departmental and college lines.
- Evelyn Audi, College of Arts and Sciences
The university has completed a plan to help international students from countries that have experienced precipitous declines in the value of their currency over the last six months.
About $150,000 in grants and loans will be available to help such students complete the current year of study. Up to $90,000 will be made available for tuition assistance grants for the spring semester, with a maximum individual award of $1,200.
In addition, $60,000 in short-term loans will be made available to students. The loans will be for a maximum of six months. Earlier, the university granted affected students a penalty-free extension to pay university accounts and promised to help students find part-time jobs.
Chancellor James Moeser said about 350 students are affected by the currency devaluation in their home countries.
"Some of these students have seen their resources funding the current semester cut in half," Moeser said. "I am delighted that we have been able to draw on private sources of funding to help these students, and I am very pleased that our academic community can respond in such a helpful manner to members who experience unanticipated financial crises."
Moeser said the endowment fund created by the university's exclusive beverage alliance with the Pepsi-Cola Co. provided all of the grant funding and half of the loan funding. He said the other half of the loans will come from a short-term student loan fund established by the University of Nebraska Foundation in 1981.
Students seeking economic assistance as a result of currency devaluation should call the Office of International Affairs at 472-5358 for application materials. The application deadline to be considered for grants and loans is March 1.
-Tom Simons, Public Relations
High Flyer"Flyin' Mikki," a photograph taken by Richard Voges of Publications and Photographic Services, won a silver medal in the sports photography division of Region VI CASE Awards in January. The photograph was incorrectly attributed to another photographer in the Jan. 30 Scarlet. The Scarlet editor regrets the error. |
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Based on national estimates, 2,145 female students at the University of Nebraska suffer from eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia and/or binge eating. Many more students, both male and female, suffer from the effects of a negative body image. To raise awareness and promote prevention regarding these negative thoughts and potentially life-threatening behaviors, UNL will be "Celebrating Every Body" during the 11th annual national Eating Disorders Awareness and Prevention Week, Feb. 23-28.
A Steinhart Lecture Series performance by the Life Skills Theatre Group titled "If I Had The Perfect Body..." will kick-off the week's events at 7 p.m. Feb. 23, in the Lied Center's Johnny Carson Theater. Various topic presentations, information booths and screenings are scheduled throughout the rest of the week.
Kathryn Zerbe, M.D., author of the book "The Body Betrayed," will cap off the week's activities with a presentation in the Wick Alumni Center at 7 p.m. Feb. 26.
All Eating Disorders Awareness and Prevention Week programs focus on the root of eating disorders - social and psychological misconceptions about weight and body image. All presentations and activities will encourage participants to not weigh their self-esteem and realize that it's what's inside that really counts.
Everyone is welcome to participate in "Celebrating Every Body" activities. The week is being sponsored by the University Health Center, Campus Recreation, Women's Center, ASUN, Lied Center, Steinhart Lecture Series, UNL Employee Assistance Program, Residence Hall Association, Student Athlete Advisory Board, Human Resources and Family Sciences Student Advisory Board and the Department of Nutrition Science.
The schedule of events is:
- Carol Ash, Health Promotion/Marketing Specialist, University Health Center
No one knows exactly what tomorrow holds, but Nebraskans studying the future received some tips Tuesday on what kind of educational system could be needed.
Lowell Catlett, agricultural economics professor at New Mexico State University, offered his perspective to members of Nebraska Network 21, part of a national effort among land-grant universities to prepare for future educational needs.
Catlett was the keynote speaker at an NN21 conference on "Reinventing Agricultural and Natural Resources Education," at the Cornhusker Hotel.
The conference included about 100 representatives from agriculture, agribusiness, government and all levels of education.
"We're looking at ways the curriculum needs to change from kindergarten through 16" to better address agricultural and natural resources education, said Ellen Russell, director of NN21. "It begins today with these discussions."
Those responsible for making future policy have to be smart enough to understand new technologies, Catlett said. They must be capable enough to recognize how major trends converge to create new situations and use that convergence. Most importantly, he explained, they must understand how freedom can tap the full potential of knowledge and understanding.
Future educational requirements will be different because comprehension of global systems such as agriculture has increased over the past few years, he said. Using chess as an analogy, Catlett explained how it takes a very short time to learn the basic rules and how the various pieces move on the board, but it can take a lifetime to comprehend winning strategies.
"We've got the rules pretty well known for the first time in six centuries," he said. "Now we have to learn how to be grand chessmasters."
One product of those rules is time - less time spent on the job making money to buy food and longer lifespans for leisure and education, he said. Americans now have more freedom to learn how those rules can improve their lives.
To use the potential created by such freedom, he said, agricultural education programs should be decentralized, use an open-book system and be challenging to students.
The event was sponsored by the Visionary Food Systems Curricula Action Team, one of seven groups that make up NN21. The team's mission is to improve the state's agricultural and natural resources education programs for K-16 students.
Russell described those gathered at the conference as "risk takers ... not afraid to challenge the status quo."
Supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, NN21 members are helping design an educational system for the new century that is responsive to the needs of business, communities and schools.
- Daniel Holder, IANR News assistant
Writing prizes totaling more than $7,000 were awarded for work published in 1997 in Prairie Schooner, a literary quarterly published with the support of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln English department and the University of Nebraska Press.
Sherman Alexie of Seattle, the author of several books, including the novel, "Indian Killer," and the poetry collection, "The Summer of Black Widows," won the $1,000 Larry Levis Prize for Poetry. The prize, made possible by the financial support of Marcia Southwick and Murray Gell-Man, was awarded for five poems published in the summer issue.
The $1,000 Lawrence Foundation Award for the best short story was presented to Marie Manilla for "Amnesty," published in the winter issue. Twice awarded first place in the West Virginia Playwright's Competition, Manilla is an assistant professor of English at Marshall University in Huntington, W.Va. The prize is made possible by the Lawrence Foundation of New York City.
Robin Becker, associate professor at Pennsylvania State University, won the $1,000 Virginia Faulkner Award for Excellence in Writing. She was honored for a poem, "In the Days of Awe," which appeared in the fall issue, and her essay, "I'm Telling! Secrecy and Shame in One Jewish-American Family," which appeared in the spring issue. The Faulkner Award is supported by charitable contributions to honor Virginia Faulkner, former editor-in-chief at the University of Nebraska Press and fiction editor at Prairie Schooner.
The Bernice Slote Award, a $500 prize for the best work by a beginning author, was presented to Faulkner Fox of Austin, Texas, for her poems published in the summer issue. The Slote Award is supported by the estate of Bernice Slote, Prairie Schooner editor from 1963-1980.
The Prairie Schooner Strouse Award of $500 was given to Marilyn Hacker of New York City for her poem "Squares and Courtyards" in the spring issue. A writer, editor and teacher, Hacker's "Selected Poems" won the 1996 Poet's Prize.
Ursula Hegi of Nine Mile Falls, Wash., received the $250 Hugh J. Luke Award for an interview, "Johanna," published in the summer issue, and her short story, "A Town Like Ours," which appeared in the fall issue. Her first book of non-fiction, "Tearing the Silence: On Being German in America," was published in 1997. The Luke Award was established in memory of Prairie Schooner's editor from 1980-87.
The $500 Edward Stanley Award for Poetry, presented in honor of a member of the committee that founded Prairie Schooner in 1926, was presented to Gerald Barrax for three poems published in the fall issue. Barrax is professor of English and poet-in-residence at North Carolina State University in Raleigh where he teaches creative writing. His fourth book of poems, "Leaning Against the Sun," was nominated for both a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award.
Prairie Schooner Reader's Choice Awards of $250 were presented to Irena Klepfisz of Brooklyn, N.Y., for an essay/parable; Rebecca Goldstein of Highland Park, N.J., for two short stories; the late David Ignatow of East Hampton, N.Y., for six poems; Molly Best Tinsley of Silver Springs, Md., for a short story; Ruth Stone of Binghamton, N.Y., for eight poems; Rodger Kamenetz of New Orleans, for three poems; Carol Frost of Otego, N.Y., for five poems; Diana Der-Hovanessian of Cambridge, Mass., for two poems; and Alicia Ostriker of Princeton, N.J., for two poems.
Those who are interested in reading the works of the 1997 prize-winning material and future issues of Prairie Schooner may order by writing to Prairie Schooner, 201 Andrews Hall, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0334, or calling (402) 472-0911. Subscriptions are $22 for one year; single copies are $7.25.
The Nebraska Huskers will take on the Michigan State Spartans at 2 p.m. Feb. 15 and Big 12 conference rival the Missouri Tigers, at 7 p.m. Feb. 18 on the statewide Nebraska ETV Network.
Calling the wrestling action with be sportscasters Bill Doleman and R.J. Nebe, a former UNO wrestling All-American. The two matches will be telecast live from the Devaney Sports Center.
The Sandhills are alive with sound of music when Statewide, the Nebraska ETV Network's weekly magazine series, goes on tour with the Omaha Symphony's Chamber Orchestra in the "Perspectives" segment airing at 8 p.m. Feb. 20.
The series, which repeats Saturdays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 1:30 p.m., also provides up-to-the-minute news reports from across the state and other features.
The Omaha Symphony's annual tour of small Nebraska communities helps promote classical music in rural areas, correspondent Brad Penner reports. Statewide will be on hand for two concerts in Hyannis, one for students and another for the community at large.
This week's episode of Outdoor Nebraska features action on the Niobrara River and a special video offering. Outdoor Nebraska airs on the statewide Nebraska ETV Network at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 19 and repeats Saturday morning at 8 a.m.
Viewers will follow a group of canoeists on the upper Niobrara River for adventure and fun. The second feature looks at the ethical issues surrounding hunting.
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