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The
College of Arts and Sciences has struggled for many years to provide its
alumni and friends with a quality newsletter that would keep them apprised of
the activities of the college.
 Given our thinly stretched
budgets and staff, this has been a challenging task. We often have
failed.
With
this current incarnation of a newsletter, however, we hope for a long and
fruitful relationship with the UNO Alumni Association and its publication,
the UNO Alum. Currently, we plan for
Arts and Sciences information to be presented twice a year in the Alum.
We hope
our many friends and alumni will find this to be an effective way of
remaining informed about the college. An additional benefit from this
relationship is that Arts & Sciences news will go to all 65,000 UNO
graduates. We also will print separate copies of the Arts and Sciences
portion of the magazine for use by the college and its departments.
In
general, I could not be more pleased with the present state of our college.
Our faculty continue to excel in scholarship and teaching, and we are
attracting talented and enthusiastic students.
I am
always happy to discuss the college with anyone who will listen, so if you
plan to visit campus please consider making an appointment to speak with me.
I can be reached at (402) 554-2338 and would be glad to talk to you on the
phone or by appointment. Also, feel free to send me an email at shendricks@mail.unomaha.edu.
Sincerely,
Dean
Shelton Hendricks
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• From the Dean
• A&S graduate
plays key research role in Parkinson's vaccine
• Taking STEP
forward with scholarships
- History
• Preserving the
Past at Allwine Prairie
• Psychology
professor receives NU Regents teaching award
• In Memoriam
- Robert Harper
- Robert Reilly
- Roger Sharpe
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Eric
Benner has found himself at the center of scientific discovery.
The 1996 Arts and Sciences
graduate took part in a June press conference when the University of Nebraska
Medical Center announced that researchers had discovered a new vaccine approach
that successfully prevents the death of brain cells in a mouse model of
Parkinson's disease.
"It's a
significant conceptual advance for Parkinson's disease therapy," said Howard
Gendelman, M.D., director of the Center for Neurovirology and Neurodegenerative
Disorders at UNMC. Gendelman credited Benner, an M.D./Ph.D student at UNMC, for
playing a principal role in developing and testing the Parkinson's vaccine
ap-proach over the past four years.
"I'm
passionate about research," Benner said. "I can't wait to get up and go do what
I'm going to do that day in the lab."
William
Tapprich, associate professor of biology at UNO and Benner's adviser, said,
"Eric knew what he wanted in the biotechnology program right away. He came here
knowing he wanted to pursue research in cellular and molecular biology."
The Parkinson's
vaccine Benner has been working with is in a new field of investigation called
neuroprotective medicine. The vaccine protects the dopamine nerve cells damaged
in Parkinson's disease while increasing the local expression of nerve cell
growth-promoting factors in the brain. Vaccine trials in humans are set to
start next year.
Benner
got his start working in labs at UNMC even before he graduated from UNO.
Tapprich says Benner always went above and beyond in class to learn more, an
attribute that is great for a student . . . or scientist.
"When I
see students who are very motivated, I try to get them started in research as
early as possible," Tapprich said. "Eric was one of the first examples of
someone in the biotech program who showed the kind of interest that enabled me
to get him started earlier than other students in the research track."
Benner is
scheduled to finish his M.D./Ph.D. in two years. His medical residency on the
horizon, Benner says he would like to work more on the vaccine at Columbia
Medical Center in New York. The vaccine also may be useful with other
neurodegenerative diseases, including ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease).
"Eric has
all the elements that make for a successful scientist," Tapprich said. "You
have to have dedication, motivation. You certainly have to be academically
talented, but most of it is enthusiasm and motivation."
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Beginning
this fall semester, qualified under-represented and non-traditional students
with financial need at UNO will have access to $40,000 in Science Talent
Expansion Program (STEP) scholarships via a National Science Foundation grant.
The
scholarships are part of a $2 million, five-year grant designed to increase the
number of students studying and majoring in the STEM areas of science,
technology, engineering and mathematics at UNO and Metropolitan Community
College.
The
scholarship program will support 20 to 25 qualified students per year.
Professor Jack Heidel, chair of the math department at UNO, is the principal
investigator among five investigators who put together the grant proposal and
developed the program.
Other UNO
faculty on the investigative team include Hesham Ali, associate dean for
academic affairs in the College of IS&T, and Dana L. Richter-Egger,
assistant professor of chemistry. Bradley Morrison and Michele O'Connor
represent Metro.
STEP
scholars will be provided with a structured mentoring system and a common
course experience. Students will take a specific set of courses together,
including a special four-credit section of critical reasoning during which one
hour per week will be devoted to exploring academic majors and employment
opportunities in STEM areas.
Guest
lectures by UNO faculty members in the UNO STEM departments of biology,
chemistry, computer science, geology, mathematics and physics will be part of
the one-hour experience.
As part
of the grant, Metro will develop degree programs in the STEM areas. Once
students complete their two-year degrees at Metro, it is anticipated that more
of them will transfer to UNO to pursue a bachelor's degree.
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OLLAS
The Office of Latino and Latin
American Studies of the Great Plains has been established due to efforts by the
UNO Chicano/Latino Studies Program, the Omaha community, and a federal
appropriation of roughly $ 1 million made possible by U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel.
"The
program seeks to enhance the academic curriculum for the positive and
democratic incorporation of Latinos and Latinas into local communities and to
increase institutional efforts aimed at the training of students, faculty and
practitioners to meet the challenges and embrace the opportunities posed by the
rapid increase of the Latino population on the Great Plains," explains Lourdes
Gouveia, director of OLLAS and UNO professor of sociology.
In
addition to launching a new major in Latino/Latin American Studies this fall,
OLLAS faculty and staff are busy with numerous research and service projects.
Among
these projects is a study of more than 800 Omaha Public School students
designed to determine the effects of cultural and socio-economic factors on
student success. "We can use these data to help meet the educational
aspirations of all children, regardless of race, ethnicity, or socio-economic
background," says Gouveia.
OLLAS
also is the editorial home of the "Journal of Latino and Latin American
Studies" (JOLLAS). For further information on the program and the journal http://avalon.unomaha.edu/ollas.
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UNO's
Department of Foreign Languages and the College of Business Administration have
collaborated to create a new dual-major program.
Students
now are able to earn a major in French, German or Spanish and a degree in
business administration within a regular four-year period. UNO students began
pursuing the dual major in fall 2004.
In
addition to the coursework currently available, new and revised courses also
are being developed. Eventually, the dual major program also will include an
overseas internship experience.
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History
If
Professor Steven Bullock has his way, history students not only will be engaged
by the past, but will remember it, too.
"We're
trying to change the way we teach American history in schools," explains
Bullock, interim director of the Program for Comparative Studies in History and
the author of two U.S. Department of Education grants of nearly $2 million
dollars.
Working
with Omaha Public Schools and Millard Public Schools, Bullock is coordinating
efforts to improve teachers' knowledge of
American history and improve elementary and secondary students'
retention of that history.
The
program involves educating teachers in the comparative method, the theory that
by contextualizing American history within the scope of world history, teachers
can provide students a deeper understanding of the importance of events and
ideas and, ultimately, greater retention.
"A series
of seminars, workshops, presentations, consultations and the creation of a vast
electronic lesson plan library will be organized to better educate primary and
secondary school teachers in American history content and also to explore new
methods in which to convey that content knowledge to students," Bullock says.
The
project also will involve the cooperation of the Nebraska Department of
Education, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Creighton University, the
Library of Congress, the Nebraska State Historical Society, and the Strategic
Air and Space Museum.
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Nebraska
was part of what Spanish explorers in the 16th century called a "sea of grass,"
a vastness that, the National Park Service notes, "once covered more land in
what is now the United States than any other kind of vegetation." The grass
towered so high in some places that a traveler had to stand on his horse's back
to find his way.
Today,
visitors can experience that primitive fertile prairie only in rare places.
That includes the UNO-run Allwine Prairie Preserve.
Spreading
north and west from 144th and State streets in Omaha, the virgin prairie hosts
more than 109 species of birds, 12 species of amphibians and reptiles, 24
species of mammals and more than 250 species of woody and herbaceous plants.
Charged
with the care of these precious 160 acres is UNO Professor of Biology Tom
Bragg. For 30 years he has nurtured and studied its life, but with a wary eye
on the urban sprawl encroaching upon its borders. Bragg, however, isn't in
favor of the status quo. In fact, he's hoping Allwine Prairie can spark
something much bigger—a 760-acre watershed known as the Glacier Creek Prairie
Project.
"The
Prairie's preservation is important for generations to come," Bragg says. "It
provides green space, a link to our heritage and the ability to study the
native prairie. It is important for research in that it provides the
maintenance of existing native gene pools and comparison with grasslands
maintained for other purposes, such as cattle grazing or haying."
Today,
the preserve's 65 hectares host three major plant communities: Grasslands,
Lowland woodlands, and Ponds and marshes. Various fauna completing the
environmental picture include bobwhite, mourning doe and meadowlark. Marsh hawk
and blue-winged teal can be spied, as can white-tailed deer, beaver, coyotes,
red foxes, corn snakes, painted turtles and tiger salamander.
A wide
variety of research is conducted at the preserve. Scientists and students don't
just look at the plants and animals that inhabit the expanse, but they also
study drainage, temperature and other environmental topics that affect the
area's flora and fauna. In addition to research, the area also serves as an
educational resource for Omaha-area educators.
Preservation,
management and research, however, is challenged by urban development, one
reason Bragg is proposing development of the larger Glacier Creek Prairie
Project. The Glacier Project would encompass an entire watershed, thereby
isolating Allwine Prairie from the effects of urban development. Such isolation
would provide a site of diverse native habitats not as isolated patches, but as
a single, integrated and continuous gradient from upland prairies to lowland
springs, wetlands and aquatic habitats.
Accomplishing
such an ambitious goal, of course, requires purchase of surrounding land, an
expense estimated at $5 million to $6 million during the next several years.
Toward this goal, Bragg is working with the city of Omaha and seeking
donations.
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For the
second year in a row, an Arts and Sciences faculty member has been awarded the
Outstanding Teaching and Creative Activity Award by the University of Nebraska
Board of Regents.
This
year's recipient, Lisa Kelly-Vance, associate professor of psychology and
director of the school psychology program at UNO, has been recognized for her
"meritorious and sustained record of excellence in teaching, including the use
of innovative instructional methods and techniques," according to the Board of
Regent minutes.
Kelly-Vance's
record in recent years includes both the University Excellence in Teaching
Award and the Alumni Oustanding Teaching award.
Last
year's recipient of the system-wide OTICA award was Bill Blizek, Professor of
Philosophy at UNO.
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During the 10 years that Dr.
Robert Harper was dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, the college grew
from 54 to more than 200 full-time faculty. Harper's vision and leadership
helped shape not just the college, but also the lives and careers of thousands
of students. Retiring as a professor of American literature in 1976, Harper
continued his passions for literature and service to his community through
involvement in the local theater and library in Estes Park, Colo. In 2003,
Estes Park Library board room was named in honor of Harper and his wife of 53
years, Rhoda. Harper also remained active in the larger community of American
literature scholars well into his 80s. In 1995, he presented a paper at the
Western Literature Association Conference on Weldon Kees, a poet and jazz musician
born in Nebraska. Harper passed away on Oct. 15, 2003, at the age of 90.
Colleagues and friends remember Harper as the traditional gentleman and
scholar: a gracious and generous host, conversant in all types and ages of
literature, and a man of great heart and intellect.
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A
tale that is not told dies. That's what the old Irish storytellers like to say
as they light their clay pipes from the turf fire and launch into a fanciful
report on the legendary ghosts of their region or the 'little folk' that do be
bothering the lonesome traveler. But sometimes their story is true—as this one
is . . . So begins Robert T. Reilly in the foreword to his "Red Hugh, Prince of
Donegal." Reilly himself would make a merry legend. His sparkling wit and great
love of life endeared him to all, and his time here was not lacking in grand
adventure. As a young man, he was a soldier and POW during World War II,
awarded both the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.
Nor was he stranger to romance. In speaking of Jean, his wife of nearly
60 years, mother to their 10 children, and Alzheimer's patient, he wrote, "I
have a certain conviction that we will be together again and as we used to be.
I have had dreams about that final reunion. I've seen it in my mind a hundred
times. We're both dressed in white and we're dancing in front of patio doors
open to a sea." Certainly, some portion of fame is his already. "Prince of
Donegal" was made into a Disney movie in 1966. He also published more than
1,000 articles and short stories in more than 100 national and regional
publications. Six of his documentary film scripts and several of his articles
won national awards and six of his books appeared in multiple editions. Reilly
taught communication at UNO for 15 years. He passed away April 15, 2004, but in
the hearts of his students, colleagues, family and friends, he remains a
cherished tale.
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Roger Sharpe
Roger Sharpe was a professor of
biology for 32 years and founded and directed the Environmental Studies Program
at UNO. Through the publication of "Nebraska Birds," a book he co-authored with
W. Ross Silcock and Joel G. Jorgensen, he established himself as one of the
region's foremost experts on the 450 species of birds that make Nebraska either
permanent or seasonal home. Sharpe understood
the importance of birds as particularly sensitive indicators of
environmental health. Explains friend and colleague, physics professor Ray
Guenther, Sharpe had "an eye for things of value, things of beauty." Sharpe did
not limit his passion for the environment to Nebraska. He also was one of the
environmental specialists consulted in the clean up of his ancestral home,
Czechoslovakia, in the early 1990s. Sharpe passed away at the age of 62 in June
2003 after a six-month battle with lymphoma. His family has established the
Roger Sharpe Environmental Studies Memorial Fund through the Omaha office of
the University of Nebraska Foundation.
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