It may not seem much, the quarter-inch rise
each year in the Himalayas.
But, says geology Professor Jack Shroder, that rate "is very, very
fast geologically." Now the longtime UNO teacher is trying to find out "how
come?"
To do so, Shroder and other scientists are studying the "measuring
rod of the earth" in ways Kalidas, Sanskrit poet and playwright, likely never
imagined.
Last June, Shroder and UNO colleague Michael Bishop, associate
professor of geography traveled to Pakistan to investigate the growth of the
Himalaya mountain chain. The pair were working on grants from the National
Geographic Society and the National Science Foundation.
Their purpose, said Bishop, was to collect field data for use in
numerical models that are designed to test their landscape evolution
hypothesis. "We want to find out which surface processes are producing some of
the most extreme relief in the Himalayas. For example, is it glaciers or rivers
or mass movement such as landslides?
"We have some theories as to what is responsible, but we need to
collect field data. Geologically, this is probably one of the most active
places on the planet."
When not studying the Himalayas up close and personal, Shroder and
Bishop study the mountains from afar through complex computerized modeling,
advanced remote sensing technology, and high-resolution satellite imagery.
Readers interested in more information on the science, the
technology and the mountains should explore Shroder and Bishop's book,
"Geographic Information Science and Mountain Geomorphology" published by
Springer-Verlag (New York) 2002.
"In the northern direction there is a noble souled mountain called
the Himalaya. He is Nagadhiraj, the Lord of all mountains, with his two
extending arms fathoming the eastern and western oceans He stands unsurpassed
as the measuring rod of the earth." - Kalidas
Photo: Himalaya Camp, by Jack Schroder.
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Malcom X Festival celebrates 'The Black
Woman'
"The Black Woman, Past, Present, and Future"
was the theme for the fifth annual Malcom X Festival (Feb. 15 and 16),
coordinated this year by Peggy Jones, visiting assistant professor of Black
Studies.
The
featured presenter was Sonia Sanchez, poet, playwright, essayist and educator.
Sanchez has published a dozen volumes of poetry, including "Ash" (2001), "Does
Your House Have Lions?" (1995; nominated for both the NAACP Image and National
Book Critics Circle Award), and "Homegirls & Handgrenades" (1984; winner of
American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation). Sanchez was the first
Presidential Fellow at Temple University, where she began teaching in 1977. She
held the Laura Carnell Chair in English there until her retirement in 1999.
Sanchez read from her poetry collections, and for the latter
portion of her reading was accompanied by interpretive dance from Amara Tabor
Smith. Smith, an actress, dancer, and capoeirista, has worked with the San
Francisco Mime Troupe, Make-A-Circus, The World of Tales, and the Urban Bush
Women in New York City. In addition to accompanying Sanchez, Smith offered a
dance workshop (pictured) with local dance companies and members of the
community.
Other presentations:
• "Voter education and Black Women in the Women's Suffrage
Movement" by Rosalyn Terborg-Penn, professor of history and coordinator of
graduate programs in history at Morgan State University.
• "Black Women Activism" by Jennifer Hamer and Helen
Neville, University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign. Neville is an associate
professor of educational psychology and African American Studies; Hamer is an
associate professor of African American Studies. (pictured).
A variety of other presentations from UNO and the Omaha community
completed the two-day event.
Photos: Top, Sonia Sanchez shares the stage
with another presenter and poet, 12-year-old
Devin Phillips of Omaha; bottom, Jennifer Hamer
(left) and Helen Neville, presenters of "Black Women Activism."
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Dr. Thomas Bragg has a new classroom, but this
one doesn't come with walls, the latest high-tech equipment, or even desks,
chairs or a lectern.
This classroom sits
along the bluffs of the Elkhorn River and features oak forests and savannas,
sandstone cliffs and streamside habitats. Its name—the T.L. Davis Prairie, a
22-acre wooded parcel recently donated to UNO. The tract adds to the existing
tallgrass habitat at Allwine Prairie, "thus greatly expanding the diversity of
natural areas available for teaching, research, and outreach activities," says
Bragg, director of UNO's Nature Preserve
System, as well as biology professor and dean of graduate studies.
"In particular, the site will benefit the environmental studies
programs focused in both biology and geography-geology, as well the many
field-oriented courses—ornithology, mammalogy, herpetology, ichthyology,
etc.—offered at UNO."
Situated east of 245th Street and approximately half a mile south
of Q Street, the prairie was donated through the University of Nebraska
Foundation by Thomas L. Davis and named in honor of his father, also Thomas L.
Davis.
As with Allwine Prairie, donated by Arthur A. Allwine in 1959, the
Davis Prairie will be reestablished or restored to its natural state.
"Historically, prairies were maintained by naturally occurring
wildfires that swept across entire landscapes every four or five years, as well
as by large grazers such as bison," says Leann Martin, preserve manager. "The
result was a highly diverse landscape with hundreds of plant and animal
species. We must manage remaining grassland fragments in such a way that these
effects are simulated.
"Managing for tallgrass prairie at Allwine Prairie Preserve and
T.L. Davis Prairie will enable current and future generations to appreciate and
learn about our natural heritage."
For more information on the prairie projects visit the new
preserve website at http://www.unomaha.edu/prairie
Photo: The new sign at T.L. Davis Prairie,
constructed by student Shawn Erickson.
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A&S
Bookmarks - Faculty in Print
The books on the Arts and Sciences bookshelf
are as diverse in subject matter as our faculty are diverse in their passions.
Dr.
Andrew Newman, 2005 recipient of the University of Nebraska's Outstanding
Research and Creativity Award, has published twice with Cambridge University
Press. In "The Physical Basis of Predication" Newman takes up universals,
causality and the notion of the real. In "The Correspondence Theory of
Truth, an Essay on the Metaphysics of Predication" he defends a version of the
correspondence theory from a realist metaphysical point of view.
Newman is professor of philosophy and chair of UNO's philosophy
program. Born and raised in Bournemouth, England (in Dorset), he obtained a
B.Sc. degree in physics from King's College, London, a Ph.D. in theoretical
physics from Birkbeck College, London, and a Ph.D. in philosophy from
University College, London. Newman teaches courses in metaphysics,
philosophy of science, philosophy of religion, analytic philosophy and the
history of modern philosophy. His main research interests are in analytic
metaphysics, particularly the theory of universals and related problems
concerning particulars and the notion of substance.
Dr.
Kenneth Geluso, meanwhile, culminates nearly three decades of study in "Mammals
of Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico." His research began while he was
a young Ph.D. student at the University of New Mexico. Now a professor of
biology at UNO, Geluso published his study in 2004 with his co-researcher,
co-author, and son, Dr. Keith Geluso. The father-son team of mammologists
documents more than 60 species with extensive data on habitat, reproduction,
and collection localities.
"Carlsbad Caverns National Park is one of the most ecologically
diverse parks in the United States, and we hope that information in this volume
will stimulate additional research on mammals and other organisms in the park,"
they write in the book's abstract. "Understanding the distribution, abundance,
and types of plants and animals on public lands is important because it
provides necessary information for making sound management decisions and for
designing accurate interpretive programs for education of the general public."
Kenneth Geluso's interests include all aspects of mammalian
biology with an emphasis on ecology and ecophysiology. His current projects
involve studying renal form and function in shrews and moles, effects of
pesticides on bats, effects of prairie fires on small mammals, and the natural
history of Nebraskan and New Mexican mammals.
Dr. Tracy Bridgeford tackled her first book-length project with
"Innovative Approaches to Teaching Technical Communication."
Bridgeford is an
associate professor of English and specialist in technical communication. The
book is described as offering "a variety of activities, projects, and
approaches to energize pedagogy in technical communication and to provide a
constructive critique of current practice."
A review in Composition Forum describes the audience for this
collection of essays as "the broad array of individuals associated with the
instruction of technical communication, including those responsible for
curriculum development and program administration, as well as teaching at both
the graduate and undergraduate levels. . . . Most readers . . . should find
this to be an important collection if not for the approaches that the authors
offer then for the intelligent and concise analyses and considerations of
issues that those of us who work in the discipline contend with."
Bridgeford earned her Ph.D. from Michigan Tech. In
addition to her instructional and research responsibilities, she is coordinator
for the Technical Communication Graduate Certificate and book review editor for
Technical Communication Quarterly.
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A passion for science and education is evident
in the life and legacy of Dr. Merle E. Brooks.
Brooks (picture) was
born in rural Missouri in 1916. His father was a farmer, a minister, and a
schoolteacher. According to his biography*, both of his parents encouraged
their children to "to pursue an
education."
Brooks did so his entire life.
After World War II and four years in the Army, Brooks returned to
Emporia State Teacher's College and, with the help of the GI bill, earned both
his bachelor's and master's degrees in biology. In 1956, Brooks earned his
Ph.D. in biology from the University of Boulder at Colorado. Throughout his
education, his interests in freshwater biology (limnology) and teacher education gained focus.
According to his biography, "In the mid-1950s he and his
colleague, Dr. Weldon N. Baker, studied the training of high school science
teachers in Kansas. . . . Drs. Brooks and Baker found that most science
teachers had little training in biology or other science subjects, and that
high school students were getting inadequate science education."
Shortly after Congress created the National Science Foundation in
1957, Brooks secured funding for the first NSF Institute for Science Teachers.
Under his direction, the institute at Emporia gained national recognition.
In 1959, Brooks brought the institute to the University of Omaha
(now UNO). His biography adds, "By 1964 over 300 science and mathematics
teachers had participated . . .. In addition to the In-Service Institutes for
biology teachers, Dr. Brooks was involved with the National Science Fair, the
Visiting Scientist Program of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences, and the
Outstanding Biology Teacher of Nebraska."
At UNO, in addition to running the NSF institutes, Brooks
regularly taught general botany and limnology as well as plant anatomy,
morphology and physiology. His dedication to teacher preparation and biology
inspired many students. That includes his son Kenton Brooks and Ron Hoham, both
of whom would earn doctorates in biology. Brooks' son Loel also studied biology
at UNO but followed a different path through higher education, earning a
bachelor's degree in history and eventually his juris doctorate.
According to his colleague Dr. David Sutherland, "Merle Brooks was
much loved by many students. He took pictures of his students near the
beginning of the semester and made sure that he had memorized most of the names
by early in the semester, and he formed good friendships with many of them.
Many students remembered him fondly and asked about him after he retired."
Merle Brooks retired in 1978 and lived in Omaha until he passed
away in 1996.
Brooks' wife of 55
years, Blanche Brooks, his two sons and Hoham have worked with the University
Foundation and UNO's biology department to establish the "The Dr. Merle E.
Brooks Academic Achievement Award in Biology and/or Science Education."
The income from this endowment will be used for awards to
outstanding undergraduate or graduate students regularly enrolled in the
department of biology or in the College of Education's department of teacher
education who have a desire to pursue a career in plant sciences or limnology
and/or teach biological sciences at the high school level following graduation.
As with many scientists, Brooks had a creative side. "He
took up painting fairly late in life. It isn't surprising that he was a good
painter because Merle, like nearly all biology students in the era before
technology, were taught to draw from beginning laboratory classes onward," says
Bill DeGraw, professor of biology and chair of that department at UNO from 1998
to 2004. "As a teacher, Merle insisted that students in his botany classes
prepare and include in their lab notes detailed, labeled drawings of the
specimens they were studying."
Adds Sutherland: "Merle was a part-time businessman. In his home
basement, he manufactured and sold a line of
'loops' for the transfer of very small animals, algae, and protozoans.
These were popular with aquatic biologists. They came in several sizes and had
color-coded handles. Merle's interests were diverse, and he had many hobbies.
Merle was also skilled on the keyboard and had a top-of-the-line electric organ
in his home. He would play it for visitors, but only when pressed."
*Our gratitude to Ron Hohman, Loel Brooks, and Kenton Brooks for
their biography of Merle Brooks.
Photo: "White Pine in Winter " an acrylic by
Merle Brooks, courtesy of David Sutherland
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The
'Indefatigable' Virginia Frank
UNO English Instructor Maria Knudtson will not
soon forget that Shakespeare dinner in January 2005, nor one of the attendees
that evening—Virginia Frank.
"It was the last time we got to party with her," Knudtson recalls.
Ginny Frank died last
November, ending a struggle against cancer that she had contested for several
years. She fought it with the same energy and grace with which she faced all
her battles—a determination and doggedness that earned a salute from Dr. Susan
Maher, chair of UNO's English department. "Ginny served this department
indefatigably," Maher says. "At UNO, she was an early supporter and faculty
member of the Native American Studies program, one of UNO's unique programs,
and her support of women's issues and her fellow female colleagues was
tireless."
Frank's ties to campus began in the mid-1950s when she attended
Omaha University after graduating from Central High School. In addition to her
academic achievements, she was Homecoming Princess at OU in 1958 and editor of
the yearbook in 1959. Rosalie Saltzman, a former OU classmate and now director
of UNO's Honors Program, remembers that, "Ginny and I were both recipients of
the prestigious Woodrow Wilson Scholarship for graduate studies and were both
invited back to teach at Omaha University when we completed our studies."
Frank did just that, serving as an instructor at Omaha University
from 1961 to 1968. She was promoted to assistant professor during the time OU
became the University of Nebraska at Omaha. She twice directed freshman
English, overseeing the enormous, often thankless task of that vital general
education requirement. In support of that effort, and to stretch herself
professionally and intellectually, Frank in 1979 received an NEH Fellowship at
the Institute on Writing at the University of Iowa.
She served UNO until retiring in 1999.
Among the many students Frank inspired was Robert Hemenway, now
chancellor of the University of Kansas.
"Ginny was a great inspiration to me, I know, because she lived
such a rich intellectual life as an English professor," Hemenway writes. "She
made it possible for me to see myself in this profession, and it worked out. I
will forever be in her debt. I know that I would not be where I am today were
it not for the encouragement I received from the UNO English department and people
like Ginny, Rosalie, Ralph Wardle and others. I am sure that I was just one of
many who Ginny set on the path to a literary career."
Frank's passion for literature was fired by a belief that it was
not a treasure only for the elite, but for everyone. Accordingly, she included
in her studies popular literature and literature of minorities, and she went
well beyond the walls of the university in her efforts to bring literature to
Omahans. That included involvement with the Nebraska Literature Festival and
volunteer work for the Omaha Public Library.
Friends of Omaha Public Library's Board of Directors named its
annual Teen Writing Contest to honor Frank, a former Friends book sale manager.
The Board published its decision on the FOPL website, explaining, "Virginia's
interest in literature and the humanities greatly enhanced the growth and
quality of the Friends Book Sales." Contest winners will have their names
engraved on plaques honoring Ginny. The plaques will be in Swanson Library.
Photo: Frank as pictured
in the 1959 OU
yearbook as president
of Chi Omega.
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