UNO Magazine Fall 2013

fall 2013

LET’S GET STARTED. UNO GRADUATE STUDIES For more than 100 years, we have helped professionals advance their careers through a wide array of award-winning programs. We offer over 60 graduate programs, at master’s, Ph. D. and certificate levels.

Our master’s and doctoral degrees rank among the best in the country according to U.S. News & World Report.

UNO has the most affordable graduate school tuition rates in the Omaha area and provides a multitude of funding sources for graduate students to help finance their education.

FACT: On average, employers will pay 15% more to those who hold a master’s degree than those with a bachelor’s degree.

(U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS)

IT’S YOUR TURN. gradschool@unomaha.edu www.facebook.com/UNOGraduateStudies www.unomaha.edu/graduate 402-554-2341 Eppley Building Room 203

fall 2013

COVER Cover artist

Jason Brown Brown is the first UNO graduate to design a UNO Magazine cover since the publication’s launch in 2010.

He graduated from UNO with a BA in English in 2006. In December he anticipates adding add a UNO master’s degree in English with a creative nonfiction concentration.

Brown has been tattooing professionally since 1999 and has worked at Omaha’s Liquid Courage Tattoo since it opened in 2000.

Alumni Association

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Letter from the Chancellor

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Letters to the Editor

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10 Philanthropy Matters

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The Colleges Get to Know

VOL. 4, NO. 3 www.unoalumni.org/unomag

Our Boys in the Service

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Athletics

Building a Stronger Soldier

Managing Editor

Anthony Flott

Something monumental is coming to campus to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Alumni Association

associate Editors

Jennifer Arnold Charley Reed art direction

Heidi Mihelich Emspace Group

A Monumental Gift

Contributors

Dave Ahlers, Jeff Beiermann, Rick Davis, John Fey, Colleen Kenney Fleischer, Eric Francis, Austin Gaule, Joel Gehringer, Mitch Johnson, Greg Kozol, Nate Pohlen, Charley Reed, Elizabeth Renner, Bonnie Ryan, Nicholas Sauma, Carrielle Sedersten, Terry Stickels, Todd van Kampen, Kevin Warneke.

UNO Magazine is published three times a year by the University of Nebraska at Omaha, the UNO Alumni Association and the NU Foundation.

Direct editorial inquiries to Managing Editor: UNO Alumni Association, 6705 Dodge St., Omaha, NE 68182-0010. Phone: 402-554-2444; toll-free, UNO-MAV-ALUM, FAX 402-554-3787.

Email: aflott@unoalumni.org

Send all

changes of address to attention of Records or visit www.unoalumni.org/records

Views expressed within this magazine do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the University of Nebraska at Omaha, the UNO Alumni Association or the NU Foundation.

All Things Afghanistan

Writing the Book On Terror

National Security

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Sights & Sounds

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For Fun

UNO is getting national attention for supporting men and women in uniform

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Fighting Terrorism

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Secretary Hagel Visit

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Taking Care of Business and Vets

CLASS 50 NOTES 56

Military Friendly

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FROM THE chancellor

Dear Alumni and Friends: UNO’s long and proud history with the men and women of the U.S. armed forces is highlighted in this month’s UNO Magazine. From the Bootstrap program more than 60 years ago, to today’s enrolled veterans and enlisted personnel, UNO has a reputation for being the kind of university that works hard for those who preserve and protect our freedoms.

Add to that mix UNO alum and U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and UNO’s ties to the military are as strong as ever before in its history.

I’m particularly proud of two military related achievements: first, UNO is ranked sixth in the country by Military Times for being a Military Friend Campus. Second, UNO has created Mav USO, an office dedicated to working with and supporting our military and veteran students and their dependents through a “one-stop-shop” concept, making it easier than ever for our military affiliated students and veterans to get the help they need to succeed at UNO. Likewise, UNO is on the cutting edge of research, along with the NU system, as part of the National Strategic Research Institute, affiliated with USSTRATCOM, allowing UNO students and faculty to provide solutions for national security, prevention and remediation through the creation of a University-Affiliated Research Center (UARC). The UARC will serve as a primary research and development center that supports USSTRATCOM’s missions to deter and detect strategic attacks against the United States and its allies and to defend the nation as directed.

As you read this edition of UNO Magazine, I hope you are as proud as I am of UNO’s connection with and service to our military and those who wear the uniform. Their dedication and sacrifice deserves no less and we are committed to helping them achieve their futures while in the military and after their term of service.

Until next time, Chancellor John E. Christensen

Letters to the Editor Reader feedback is key to making UNO Magazine among the best university publications in the country. Write us about the magazine, the university, or suggest a story. Letters must include the writer’s first and last names, address and phone number and may be edited for taste, accuracy, clarity and length. www.unoalumni.org/unomag-led MORE ON THE COST OF COLLEGE I read the UNO Magazine report on the cost of education, and I took their tuition numbers and made some calculations to look at the affordability of UNO. The good news is that it took about 14 weeks to pay for a semester at UNO in 2010. The bad news is that it is about twice as long as it was in 1990.

UNO Resident Tuition per Credit Hour

On Summer 2013

Year

Actual dollars

2010 dollars

Minimum wage

Hours worked per credit hour*

Weeks worked to pay for semester**

1970

$15.00

$84.30

$1.45

10.3

6.21

1980

$26.50

$70.13

$3.10

8.5

5.13

1990

$45.25

$75.49

$3.80

11.9

7.14

2000

$79.75

$100.99

$5.15

15.5

9.29

2010

$170.50

$170.50

$7.25

23.5

14.11

Jerry Deichert UNO Center for Public Affairs Research *Assuming minimum wage and no withholding ** Assuming minimum wage, no withholding, taking 12 credit hours, and working 20 hours per week

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to THE editor My stepson, Nick Cerveny, a few months ago completed a three-year tour in Okinawa with the U.S. Air Force. A staff sergeant, he was stationed on Kadena Air Force Base — the hub of U.S. airpower in the Pacific. He was deployed twice during that time, to Iraq and Qatar.

My grandfather, Billie Cox, also served on Okinawa. But when he was there the island was stained red in blood.

U.S. and Japanese forces fought on Okinawa for 82 days in the bloodiest battle of the Pacific theater. More than 12,000 U.S. troops were killed or missing, another 36,000 wounded. Japanese losses were catastrophic — 131,000-plus military and civilians died.

My grandfather was among the wounded. He was a pharmacist's mate second class with the U.S. Navy serving as a corpsman attached to the First Marine Division. On May 6, 1945, 150 Japanese attacked his division for nine hours. While attending to the wounded a grenade exploded, blasting his medicine kit apart and wounding him in the head. He continued to treat his fellow soldiers, anyway and later was awarded the Silver Star for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity.

He made it off Okinawa alive but died in 1959, eight years before I was born.

Still, I bust with pride thinking of his sacrifice — and that of my son.

To them and all other servicemen and women, THANK YOU and God bless you for your many sacrifices.

Enjoy the read, Anthony Flott Managing Editor

CLIMATE CONTROL I loved the Marriage and Money articles! Perfect for this economic climate!

Cheryl Quigley Sempek, ‘95 Omaha WARM FUZZIES I just wanted to tell you that I have been reading this magazine cover to cover when it comes, which is pretty amazing really. The magazine always has excellent articles and advice that is helpful no matter where a person is geographically or in his/her life. It gives me warm fuzzies toward UNO. Thank you for a great magazine from my alma mater.

Elizabeth Fenlon, ‘87 Denver, Colo.

GETTING GRAPHIC Fabulous magazine, AGAIN. Terrific graphics which makes it fun to read. I love the stats, too … starting salaries, tuition costs per unit thru the years, etc.

Dorothy Rasgorshek, ‘58 Omaha

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ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

New Century Club to Launch in 2014 The UNO Alumni Association Board of Directors in August unanimously voted to approve the New Century Club, establishing increased giving levels for the association’s premiere giving society.

Starting in 2014 the New Century Club adds a top donor recognition level — the Landmark Level — to celebrate supporters who make gifts of $10,000 or more. The entry Bronze Level, meanwhile, is increased to gifts of $250 to $499.

“The minimum threshold to attain Century Club status had been set at $100 since 1973, so the board felt it was appropriate to update the amount,” says Andy Rikli, UNO Alumni Board president. “It is hoped that these new levels will enhance the association's Annual Fund giving as well as reflect inflationary pressures and the increased cost of supporting UNO.” The association created the Century Club in 1973, recognizing alumni who contribute $100 or more to the UNO Annual Fund.

In the Century Club’s first year, 44 members contributed a total of $5,250.

That same year, UNO undergraduates paid $18 per credit hour.

Forty years later, in-state undergrads pay $196.75 per credit hour.

A Century Club gift in 1973 would have covered five credit hours.

Today it pays just one-half of one credit hour.

Accounting for inflation over that same time period, a $100 Century Club gift in 1973 equates to a $525 gift today.

As the cost of education grew, the goals of the university and the Alumni Association also expanded, and the Century Club supported many of its accomplishments, including new alumni programs, student support, improvements to the Thompson Center, and the development of UNO Magazine, unoalumni.org and the Alumni Association’s social media channels.

To commemorate its 100th anniversary the Alumni Association will give to UNO and its students the Maverick Monument and Plaza (see article pages 30-31). Challenging all Century Club donors in 2014 to reaffirm their commitment to UNO’s future will help make that happen.

The New Century Club will recognize donors to the Annual Fund and the 100th Anniversary Fund, which will support the Maverick Monument and Plaza.

The New Century Club takes effect Jan. 1. Until then, the Century Club’s current levels remain in place and all Annual Fund donors of $100 or more in 2013 will be recognized in next year’s annual UNO Magazine Century Club Honor Roll. The New Century Club will recognize all donors who give $250 or more to the Annual Fund or Anniversary Fund in the ensuing UNO $10,000+ Magazine Honor Roll.

Landmark Level

2014 New Century Club levels

"In approving the new Century Club levels, the board supported UNO Annual Fund donors will get enhanced recognition while ensuring the Alumni Association will continue to offer some of the nation's top alumni programs in support of UNO,” says UNO Chancellor John Christensen.

“This move secures new opportunities for alumni and for the university."

$5,000-$9,999 Platinum Level

$2,500-$4,999 Diamond Level

$1,000-$2,499 Gold Level

$500-$999

Silver Level

$250-$499

Bronze Level

Start for Scholars The UNO Alumni Association welcomed its sixth class of UNO Alumni Scholars at the start of the fall semester. Four students received UNO Alumni Association Scholarships, awarded to graduating high school seniors who have demonstrated leadership and involvement during high school.

Recipients also must have a minimum ACT composite score of 24 and either rank in the top 25 percent of their class or have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale. The $2,500 annual scholarships are renewable for up to four years.

The association now is supporting 16 UNO students with UNO Alumni Association Scholarships.

Bios of the four recipients and other UNO Alumni Scholars are available at www.unoalumni.org/scholarships

2013-14 inaugural UNO Alumni Association Scholarship recipients Emily Bradley, Nebraska City High School; Luke Edwards, Bellevue West High School, Elizabeth Lyle, Omaha Christian Academy, Justin Korth, Randolph High School.

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ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

Host your company holiday party at the Thompson Center for just $1 room rental!*

Stylishly decorated for the holidays, the Thompson Center offers a variety of beautiful, sophisticated spaces ideal for nearly any size group. We’re centrally located, offer the exclusive services of Brandeis Catering, boast an array of audio/visual equipment and provide free and ample parking.

Board No. 102 The UNO Alumni Association’s 102nd board of directors convened in August for its first quarterly meeting.

Andy Rikli directs the Association as 2013-14 chairman of the board. Rikli on July 1 became superintendent of the Papillion-La Vista School District.

He earned his doctorate in educational administration from UNO in 2007 and joined the alumni board in 2010. He is the 90th graduate to chair the board.

The board took a few moments from its busy agenda to “Show the O” in the backyard of the Thompson Center.

See more about the board of directors at unoalumni.org/board

This offer is exclusive to UNO alumni who mention this ad, but hurry — our offer ends Nov. 1, 2013.

March 1

Alumni Night on the Ice

To learn more about this offer or to book your company’s holiday party at the Thompson Center, contact Center Director Steven Summers at 402554-3368 or email ssummers@unoalumni.org * Guest and catering minimums apply.

Mark your calendars to join fellow grads and their families at the 11th annual UNO Alumni Night on the Ice Saturday, March 1, beginning at 5:30 p.m. $20 per adult

• Game ticket • P re-game buffet pulled pork sandwiches, chips, salad, cookie, tea and lemonade Cash bar available.

6705 Dodge St. Omaha, NE 68182 402-554-3368 http://thethompsoncenter.org

From left (year of graduation in parentheses): Chuck Holderness (1970; 1985), Allen Hansen (1984), Tina Scott-Mordhorst (1989), Chancellor John Christensen (1974), Deb Anderson (2000), Steven Schmitz (1995; 2008), Penny Parker (1980), Andy Rikli (2007), Scott Vlasek (1995, 1998), Garrett Anderson (1996), Shari Munro (1986), President & CEO Lee Denker, Joan Lukas (1993), Eric Weber (2012), Laurie Ruge (2001), Chris Denney (2005), Student Regent Martha Spangler, David Craft (1990, 1992), Lou Anne Rinn (1977), Adam Marek (2000), Shonna Dorsey (2003; 2010), Scott Durbin (1984), Traci Harrison (2000), Todd Rynaski (1995). Not pictured: Jill Goldstein (1991), John Jesse III (1984; 1990), Susie Melliger (1980; 1983; 1991) and Sarah Waldman (1994)

$15 per child ages 2-12 (under 2 are free)

• Game ticket • Plated children’s meal

Already have tickets to the game?

Reception-only price — $12 per adult

$10 per child (ages 2-12)

Get ready for the Mavs’ final regular season game, against Colorado College. The fun will include a buffet reception at CenturyLink Center, door prizes, Hockey 101 with former Mav hockey players, great Lower Bowl seating and more.

Hockey tickets are distributed at the reception.

Register online at www.unoalumni.org/eventregister or call 402-554-4802.

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ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

Young Alumni Academy welcomes fourth class And they’re off!

The UNO Alumni Association in September welcomed the fourth class of its UNO Young Alumni Academy, a nationally recognized leadership development program designed specifically for graduates 35 and younger.

Partnerships Credit The UNO Alumni Association has partnered with Capital One to offer members a wide range of credit card choices. Please visit the UNO Alumni Association at www.unoalumni.com/card for more information.

The program boasts its largest class so far with 44 alumni. Nearly 100 young alumni already have competed the program, founded in 2010. The group attends network-and-learn sessions at unique locations on and off campus, including a behind-the-scenes tour of the CenturyLink Center and time flying in the cockpit of UNO’s Flight Simulator. UNO leaders also address members on topics such as athletics management, student focus and community engagement.

Insurance

The academy has received several awards from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, including the association’s first-ever Silver award in CASE’s International Circle of Excellence awards program.

Travel

See more at unoalumni.org/unoyoungalumni

Time for Tacos

UNO Alumni Association staff welcomed students back to campus during Durango Days in late August, serving 2,200 “walking tacos” — corn chips in a bag topped with beef, lettuce, cheese and salsa. Staff also passed out beverages, in great demand with temperatures nearing 100 degrees. It’s the fourth consecutive year the Association has served one of four free meals students receive during the first week of the fall semester.

Are you in need of home, life, auto, health or life insurance?

The UNO Alumni Association offers graduates insurance for these and other needs at discounted rates. See all the coverage available at www.unoalumni.org/insurance.

The UNO Alumni Association is pleased to announce discounted travel opportunities for alumni through a new partnership with travel provider Go Next! Join fellow graduates on one of these three cruises in 2014: • Mediterranean Antiquities — Venice to Athens, May 21-29, • Baltic Marvels — Copenhagen to Stockholm, Aug. 13-21 • Autumn in America’s Heartland — St. Louis to St. Paul, Sept. 26-Oct. 4 For more information, visit www.unoalumni.org/travel. To receive a brochure, call the association toll-free at UNO-MAV-ALUM (866-628-2586).

Showing the O around the world

Australia

Cue Johnny Cash and “I’ve Been Everywhere” — Show the O is logging thousands of miles around the world.

Launched earlier this year, the Show the O campaign continues to go global with students, alumni, faculty and friends taking “O” flags to nearly 40 countries and 30 states as of Sept. 1.

Show the O was instituted in January to celebrate the UNO Alumni Association’s 100th anniversary and to emphasize the spread and stature of the worldwide UNO alumni network. The campaign provides participants with a large “O” flag with which they pose for photographs in front of some notable icon where they live or are traveling.

China

Stops have included a zoo in the Ukraine, a safari in Tanzania, the Great Wall of China and the Great Pyramids of Egypt. In the United States, “O” flags have traveled from the redwood forests of California, through the Colorado Rockies and to spots up and down the East Coast.

Photos are displayed on an interactive website — showtheo.com — that includes a clickable map and photo gallery indicating all the locations around the world where “O” flags have traveled. Brief information about participants also is included.

There is no cost to participate. Flags are provided for free and a postage-paid return envelope is included for their return.

To participate, visit showtheo.com.

Tanzania

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alumni association

A Swinging Success Association raises $35,000 for student scholarships at 33rd annual UNO Alumni Scholarship Swing The UNO Alumni Association hosted the UNO Alumni Scholarship Swing Sept. 9 at Tiburon Golf Club, netting $35,000 in support of students.

The association now has raised nearly $800,000 since it began hosting the Swing 18 years ago. Almost 100 golfers and 50 sponsors participated in the tournament.

The money raised supports various association-sponsored student scholarships.

UNO graduates David Craft (’90, ’92) and Scott Durbin (’84) chaired the committee that oversees the tournament. Other committee members include Ben Burton (’07), Blake Edwards (’99), Rochelle Eigsti,

Mack LaRock (’01), Chris O’Brien (’97), Jacob Rehder (’03), and Steven Schmitz (’95).

Among the scholarships the Swing supports are UNO Alumni Association Scholarships, $2,500/year grants to graduating high school seniors who have demonstrated leadership and involvement during high school. The scholarships are renewable for up to four years and a new class of scholars is introduced each year.

UNO Alumni Scholars were at the tournament to thank Swing sponsors and participants.

The Association thanks the following sponsors for their support of the Swing

Hole Sponsors: AAA Nebraska, Access Bank, Ag Processing, Inc., Brandeis Catering, Continuum Security Solutions, DLR Group, First National Bank, Frankel Zacharia, Hancock & Dana PC, Harry A. Koch, Holland Basham Architects,

John W. Harvey, Lutz & Co., Methodist Health System, Millard Public Schools Foundation, Northwestern Mutual, Union Pacific Railroad, UNO Athletics, U.S. Bank, Valmont Industries, Weitz Funds, Wells Fargo

Other Sponsors: America First Investment Advisors, Liberty Mutual, Omaha Schools Foundation, Jacob Rehder, T.D. Ameritrade (Beverage Cart Sponsor), UNO Chancellor’s Office (Raffle Sponsor), UNO College of Business, UNO College of Education

Prize Donors Aksarben Cinema, Amazing Pizza Machine, American Nails & Spa, Carlos O Kelly's, Gloss Salon and Day Spa, Kimberly Spa, Luxury Nails, Panda House Chinese Restaurant, Reve Salon & Spa, Sgt. Peffer's Café Italian, Sun Tan City (Lincoln, Neb.), Ted & Wally's Ice Cream, T'eez Salon, UNO Aviation Institute, UNO Bookstore, Upstream Brewing Company

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philanthropy matters

Navigating his way Sophomore and ROTC cadet D.J. Carlson has his career mapped out — thanks to UNO

UNO sophomore D.J. Carlson knows where he’s going.

He wants to be a navigator.

He wants to be an officer in the Air Force and have a long military career like his dad, who retired as a master sergeant at Offutt Air Force Base, and like his two grandfathers.

(His mom’s dad did two tours in Vietnam and actually fought in the unit featured in the Mel Gibson movie “We Were Soldiers.”)

“I want to be just like my dad, honestly,” Carlson says. “The Air Force was a huge part of my growing up — that military tradition.”

Then, after he retires from the Air Force, Carlson wants to use his business management degree and open a bowling alley. He loves bowling. He competed for Bellevue West’s bowling team in high school and placed third in state.

Carlson lived all over the country before his folks settled in Bellevue. His mom wasn’t in the military, but she worked various civilian jobs on the bases. She now works in lodging at Offutt.

Growing up in a military family, Carlson says, taught him a lot about what he wants in life.

He chose to go to school at UNO, he says, because it was affordable for him and his family and because it had a strong tradition of helping students like him who are affiliated in some way with the military.

Carlson is a cadet in UNO’s Air Force ROTC Detachment 470. The detachment — also known as the “Wolfpack” — was established at UNO in 1951. The university was one of 62 institutions chosen from about 600 schools then seeking to host an Air Force ROTC unit.

The detachment’s mission is to develop leaders for the Air Force.

Being so close to Offutt, home of the U.S. Strategic Command and the Air Force’s 55th Wing, gives the detachment’s cadets many opportunities to interact with activeduty experts.

Carlson received this year’s UNO Air Force ROTC Alumni Chapter Scholarship. He wants to thank those former Wolfpack cadets for their support.

“It makes me feel extraordinary,” he says.

“I can’t describe that feeling, to know that the cadre sees how hard I’m working, and to put in such a good word with those alumni and to be selected by them. It’s unreal.

“It’s awesome.”

Chuck Holderness, president of the alumni chapter, says Carlson reflects the outstanding qualities of all of the scholarship recipients over the years — he has an excellent GPA, he’s active in UNO’s Air Force ROTC and in service activities in the community, and he’s working hard beyond his classes to pay for and pursue his academic and military goals.

Carlson has worked several jobs to help with the costs of college. He’s been a cook at the Offutt Air Force Base Patriot Club.

In August, he left that job to start working at the base’s Peacekeeper Lanes bowling alley.

During the baseball season he’s also a vendor at Werner Park for the Omaha Storm Chasers.

Says Holderness: “As former cadets at UNO, the alumni members remember the days when frugal financial decisions were made about getting a hamburger after class or putting gas in the car so you could make it to school the next day. Currently, we are offering a $500 scholarship each fall and spring semester.

“With today’s cost of tuition, that doesn’t go very far. In fact, it doesn’t cover the cost of one class.”

The alumni chapter hopes to raise enough money for its scholarship fund to provide $1,000 each fall and spring to promising students like Carlson.

“We need the help of all of our AFROTC and Angel Flight alumni to achieve this goal,” Holderness says. “We are so proud of our UNO AFROTC cadets. They are America’s best young men and women.”

— Colleen Kenney Fleischer, University of Nebraska Foundation

Young people are the U.S. Air Force’s most precious resource. In order to attract students like D.J. Carlson into the service of our country, it’s imperative that assistance be available to ease the financial burden of a university education.

If you would like to help UNO’s Air Force ROTC Alumni Chapter raise money for its scholarship fund, please contact the University of Nebraska Foundation’s Nicole Massara at 402-502-4105 or nmassara@ufoundation.org.

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PHILANTHROPY MATTERS

UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA AT OMAHA Amount Raised Toward $150 Million Campaign Goal

2005

$174,554,289

89%

543

new funds have been established during the campaign to support UNO.

• Building the educated workforce of tomorrow.

• Enriching campus and community life.

10,603 58% 80% of UNO donors have donated for the first time during the campaign.

UNO CAMPAIGN PRIORITIES

• Engaging our community.

of UNO campaign gifts are from Nebraska households/organizations.

individuals have made donations to UNO during the campaign.

2014

of UNO students apply for financial assistance.

The Campaign for Nebraska is a four-campus fundraising campaign benefiting the University of Nebraska.

campaignfornebraska.org/uno All statistics as of July 31, 2013. The Campaign for Nebraska began in July 2005 and will conclude December 2014.

Supporting those who serve

A staff member assists UNO students in the MaV USO established last year as a one-stop office to support students who are active military and veterans.

UNO students who have a military affiliation now benefit from a “one-stop” office on campus that helps them transition to campus life.

The Military and Veteran University Services Office or MaV USO opened in 2012 and today offers programs designed to support UNO students who are active military, veterans and their families during their college careers. These services include assistance with enrollment, transfer credits, academic support, career guidance and counseling.

Through Campaign for Nebraska UNO seeks private gifts to support the MaV USO mission. Fundraising priorities include gifts to endow the UNO MaV USO Military and Veterans Fund for Excellence which provides scholarship assistance, funding for books and student fees and support for MaV USO programs.

For more information about supporting MaV USO contact the University of Nebraska Foundation’s Nicole Massara at 402-502-4105 or nmassara@nufoundation.org.

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the colleges

&

Short Sweet A look at recent UNO headlines Wohar announced as UNO’s First Eminent Scholar The UNO College of Business Administration in August announced that Mark Wohar, professor of economics, was named UNO’s first eminent scholar — a position that recognizes a tenured faculty member’s research and teaching accomplishments with a lighter class load and additional stipend money for research development.

Wohar has been a faculty member at UNO since 1988, coming to campus from the University of Miami. He earned his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Illinois in 1985.

In 25 years at UNO, Wohar has published more than 120 peer-reviewed articles in a number of highly ranked economic and finance journals and also has edited three scholarly books in the area of central banking, forecasting and nonlinear models.

He also spent time in his early career working at the U.S. Department of Treasury.

“This honor isn’t only important to me,” Wohar said. “These things are necessary if we are going to continue to bring top scholars to the College of Business Administration over the next 10, 20, or 30 years because we need to reward hard work both in research and in teaching.

“This kind of thing really positions us as a college of the future.”

UNO marks 15 years of international partnerships, STEM education This summer marked two special anniversaries for UNO. In May, six students from UNO’s Jazz Combo traveled to Lithuania to perform and celebrate a 15-year partnership with Siauliai (Sho-lay) University, a sister university to UNO since 1998.

Led by UNO Professor of music Pete Madsen, the students on the visit included freshmen Ben Tweedt (piano) and Zac Pollett (percussion), sophomores Blake

DeForest (trumpet), Jason Moore-Smith (saxophone) and Nate Van Fleet (drums) and senior Garett Williams (bass).

Also on the trip were representatives from UNO administration, including Senior Vice Chancellor B.J. Reed and International Studies & Programs Dean Tom Gouttierre.

June also marked 15 years for UNO’s Aim for the Stars summer camp, which teaches STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) to K-12 students in the Omaha area.

The camp was started with a $10,000 grant from the U.S. Department of the Army in 1998 and enrolled 550 students in five sessions its first year. This year the camp hosted more than 1,770 students in 50-plus sessions.

travel to the START annual meeting in 2014 and visit the DC area for developmental opportunities related to terrorism research.

The award also includes a scholarship for him to attend graduate courses offered by START at the University of Maryland.

Through his research, Harris hopes to identify speech patterns that could signal someone’s reasons for leaving an extremist group.

Guilds’ internship with START began this fall and counts for credit toward his degree.

He is analyzing information from the Global Terrorism Database for the U.S. Department of State. He is one of six interns working on this project out of hundreds of applicants.

Department of Accounting Earns International Accreditation

Honored by Homeland Security Two UNO graduate students this summer were selected from among several hundred applicants to help Photo courtesy KVNO News fight the war on terror, thanks to their acceptance into a competitive program led by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The honors came through the National Consortium for Studies of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism — START. Dan Harris, a UNO doctoral student in the industrial/organizational psychology program, received a START Terrorist Research Award for 2013-2014. He is the first student in Nebraska to earn such an award since START was formed in 2005.

Quinn Guilds, a UNO master’s student in criminology and criminal justice, received an internship with START at the University of Maryland headquarters.

Harris’ award consists of a $5,000 stipend to conduct research and additional funds to

Pictured: CBA Accounting Department faculty

In June, UNO’s department of Accounting in the College of Business Administration was granted accreditation by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). Only 179 institutions worldwide maintain the AACSB accreditation in accounting.

“We are thrilled to have been selected for accreditation by the AACSB,” said Susan Eldridge, Union Pacific Professor of Accounting and department chair of accounting at UNO. “We have always recognized the high level of education provided by our faculty in our undergraduate and graduate accounting programs, but now that recognition is validated on an international level.”

The decision follows accreditation by the AACSB for the College of Business Administration’s Bachelor of Science degree in 1965 and for the college’s Master of Business Administration program in 1980.

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the colleges Queen for a Day, Commander for a Year

Getting the Wolfpack up and running UNO’s long journey to bring ROTC to campus Good things do come to those who wait.

At least that’s one lesson from UNO’s dogged pursuit of landing an ROTC unit on campus.

Detachment 470 — the “Wolfpack” — was begun at UNO in 1951 and in the seven decades since has established itself among the best campus ROTC units around. Just last year, 470 won second place in the national Right of Line award for best small detachment in the Northwest region.

But the push to get ROTC to UNO started long before the ‘50s.

Laura (Havelka) Miller was queen for a day at UNO, but her real crowning achievement was as the first female student to be cadet commander of the university’s U.S. Air Force ROTC program.

Miller in 1972 became UNO’s first female participant in the decades-old AFROTC program after enlisting in the U.S. Air Force Reserve as an inactive member. That was no surprise — her brother William (‘69) had graduated from UNO’s ROTC program and was a navigator at Offutt’s Strategic Air Command. And her father was a pilot.

But if they were accepting of her career choice, it didn’t sound as if others were similarly inclined.

“Men are culturally conditioned to believe women should play a subordinate position,” she told the Gateway in 1972. “Reversing the roles is hard for them to accept.”

Yet one year later, Miller made UNO history in 1973 when she became the first woman cadet commander of Detachment 470, directing 72 men and five women cadets. That fall she also was crowned UNO’s Homecoming Queen.

As early as 1937 — around the time the university prepared to move to its present location at 60th and Dodge Streets — then-President Rowland Haynes and the board of regents began to push for ROTC, the Gateway reporting that they were “heartily in favor” of such. In a 1939 Gateway poll, students voted two-to-one in favor of establishing such a unit.

By comparison, the U.S. Air Force Academy didn’t get its first female cadet commander until 1976 (Michelle Johnson, now a Lt. General and the first female to be superintendent of the Academy).

Not everyone supported the move, though. One Gateway columnist advised the Board of Regents to “…take cognizance of the fact that 90 percent of the students are burdened with out of school work … any form of compulsory military training could very easily interfere with working hours and form an impediment in the path of education for those of us who have taken advantage of the service offered by this working man’s school.”

Each would serve 20 years in the Air Force, Laura eventually becoming a major. Both retired in 2008 and reside in Blue Springs, Mo.

Having so many students who worked hampered the university’s ability to meet an ROTC regulation requiring the commitment of at least 100 men in order to establish a campus unit. So ROTC had to wait. As OU restructured its academic programs in the early 1940s to meet defense industry demands for a better-trained workforce, the university continued to apply for an ROTC unit, doing so in 1945 and again in 1948.

“The staff and crew I had at that time were what made it work,” she says with a laugh. “I just took all the glory.”

Both applications were denied, in part because the University lacked appropriate facilities — i.e., space to drill.

Miller graduated in 1974 and broke ground again as the first woman at UNO to earn a U.S. Air Force commission. She spent four years at Offutt Air Force Base, where she met her future husband, Bruce, who also was a pilot.

“We had a double retirement ceremony that was actually overseen by my brother, who was still serving,” she says. “That was really cool.”

The family military ties continue with their son, currently serving in Kuwait as a pilot.

It’s been 40 years since Miller’s history-making time at UNO. She says she didn’t do it alone.

— Charley Reed, University Communications

Fort UNO?

That changed in 1949 with construction of what now is the Lee and Helene Sapp Fieldhouse. One year later, the United States went to war with Korea, prompting 1.3 million volunteers for military service nationally and sparking an interest in on-campus training.

When UNO began to outgrow its original campus at 24th and Pratt Streets, one of the first places it looked to expand in the mid-1920s was Fort Omaha.

In January 1951, school officials learned the University could submit a U.S. Air Force ROTC application — but had only 11 days to do so. Administrators worked feverishly to gather the necessary information. J.E. Woods, university director of veteran’s information, took no chances and flew with the completed application directly to Selfridge Air Force Base in Michigan then to Mitchell Field in New York. Within three days the application was in the Pentagon office with the national ROTC director.

The university’s board of trustees believed the federal government wanted to sell the fort, and Omaha U. was ready to buy. According to the regents’ meeting minutes, the asking price was $327,000.

UNO History Professor Tommy Thompson documented that in his 1983 book, “A History of the University of Nebraska at Omaha, 1908-1983.”

The university began to plan a campus of classroom buildings, a student union, auditorium, library, gymnasium, stadium and dormitories for “the greatest educational institution of our dreams.”

In January 1926, legislation was introduced in Congress providing for Omaha U. to purchase the fort.

Alas, military officials advised Secretary of War Dwight F. Davis that the site was too valuable militarily to be sold. That left little chance Congress would OK the deal.

OU officials dropped their plans, eventually adopting its present site as the location for a new campus.

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the colleges Original models were tested at various locations around the world. Now, Derrick and his team are working on the next evolution of the kiosk based on their findings.

Additions to the new kiosk model include a fourth fingerprint reader, the use of Microsoft Kinect technology to track a person’s movements, and a new electronic passport reader. Perhaps the most significant alteration, however, is having the kiosk automatically adjust its height based on the person using it.

One of the three students who have been working with Derrick on the project over its lifespan is Jon Burlingham Jr., a junior computer science major who most recently began programming the kiosk to move up and down as users approach.

Burlingham says that while making a machine go up or down sounds like a simple task, it isn’t.

“If you think about it like accessing the Internet, information from the sensors basically has to go through a local network into a custom motherboard, which has its own unique programming that understands that information,” Burlingham says. “Those commands do something with the electrical pins connected to the actuator. Really, it’s just sending current through one or the other to get to move up or down.”

It took 25 hours to program the desktop application and another 25 hours to make it compatible for the kind of remote access police officers would need in the field.

“It’s a lengthy process,” Burlingham says, “but very rewarding.”

As the new version of the kiosk moves forward, Derrick says that the options for detecting potentially dangerous criminals as they go to cross the border will only expand.

Not Your Average Lie Detector A UNO professor and his students work to protect our borders

The United States Department of Transportation reported more than 300 million two-way border crossings in and out of the United States from Canada and Mexico in 2012 — a number nearly identical to the entire U.S. population.

While most crossings are by law-abiding citizens, a small percentage comes and goes with criminal intent.

“The question then becomes, how can you have a process that assists in the flow of free and legal commerce and travel but is able to identify those who are acting nefariously,” says UNO’s Doug Derrick, an assistant professor of IT innovation.

In 2011 the Department of Homeland Security charged Derrick, along with several UNO students and partners from the University of Arizona, to solve this question.

With the help of a $25,000 grant, Derrick and his fellow researchers have been working on a self-serve kiosk that can begin to filter out dangerous travelers.

Currently, the goal is to have the kiosk adjust its height as someone approaches and then automatically begin the process of identification by having the traveler place their passport and hand on the scanner. While this is happening, the kiosk is taking their picture and comparing it against their passport photo while looking for any travel restrictions associated with them.

Once the kiosk has the traveler’s personal information, it will begin asking questions and monitoring responses. Officers located nearby can remotely see the results in real time from their tablet computers, knowing when a traveler’s responses indicate a high risk.

The concept was to create a kiosk that could conduct automated interviews and provide a risk score.

Derrick says that the most basic kiosks will only use yes or no answers, but in the future he hopes to create advanced kiosks with answer trees that can branch off to different questions based on previous responses.

Through a partnership with NCR Corp., which helped build the newest kiosk model, Derrick is hopeful that the project can get to a point where NCR can begin mass-producing kiosks.

“The concept was to create a kiosk that could conduct automated interviews and provide a risk score to an officer that would highlight potential travelers that would need further attention,” Derrick says.

“NCR has the capabilities to produce and support hundreds of thousands of kiosks,” Derrick says. “The hope is that if we continue to have success we could have them in consulates as people are applying for visas, at air and land border crossings to assist customs and border officers, or at entries at facilities or large buildings.”

The original design included various sensor technologies to monitor a person’s behavior, including infrared scanners to track eye movements, fingerprint readers to check identification and recording software to determine if a person sounds nervous or scared.

Derrick says he isn’t sure how long it will take to get to that point, but when that time comes, he will take pride in knowing he and his students contributed to making America more secure for its citizens and visitors.

— Charley Reed, University Communications

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UNO Fights for Educational Awareness of Military Families Two million.

That’s the number of children in America with a familial connection to members of the military — a number that many new teachers are unaware of, says Connie Schaffer, an assistant professor in UNO’s teacher education program.

“They are pretty surprised when I tell them the statistics,” she says.

Fortified

If it weren’t for military forts, would the Great Plains today still be the Great Desert? Or would Omaha just be a muddy Missouri River pit stop for travelers crisscrossing the country?

The research of UNO Professor Christopher Decker might answer such hypotheticals.

It’s that lack of awareness that in 2011 prompted the creation of “Operation: Educate the Educators” by the Military Children Education Coalition and American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. First Lady Michelle Obama and Second Lady Jill Biden spearheaded the effort.

Decker, Lucas Diamond professor of economics at UNO, with David Flynn of the University of North Dakota has studied the economic impact of military forts on the Midwest going back to the mid-1800s. Their work argues that even though the primary role of the military during the 1800s was to protect settlers and travellers heading west to California and Oregon, soon the forts and other installations being used by the troops were contributing in other ways.

UNO was one of the first 100 universities to sign up for the program, which enlists colleges and universities with education programs to alert their students to the needs of military families.

That’s easy to see today. Nebraska’s Offutt Air Force Base, for instance, contributed more than $1 billion to the surrounding area in 2012, according to its website, and is a major employer and center of investment. UNO, meanwhile, hosts classes at Offutt and educates thousands of military personnel.

“While we obviously care about all the kids in the classroom, we have a strong military community in Omaha as well as at UNO, and so we thought this was a logical place for us to go,” Schaffer says.

UNO’s commitment to Educate the Educators is less about lesson plans and curriculum building and more about overall awareness of the issues facing children in military families.

Schaffer says that in addition to higher transfer rates — almost three times the national average — military-connected children are more likely to have signs of depression or experience difficulties joining extracurricular activities after switching schools.

However, there are many positives involved as well.

“It’s not just a deficit approach,” Schaffer explains. “You have children who, because of mobility, have lived in and experienced a lot of different cultures and communities, so that’s a great asset. Military children also tend to be pretty independent problem solvers and they have tremendous family support for education.”

Because the program is still young, Schaffer expects it and UNO’s involvement to grow significantly.

“We work really hard to make sure our students understand the communities they will be teaching, whether they be a military community, urban community or something similar,” Schaffer says. “So, this is really just an extension of that commitment.”

— Charley Reed, University Communications

But such symbiosis was prevalent more than a century ago.

“We found that farms located in those counties where a military fort was present engaged in significantly more capital investment in land and property improvement than in those counties without such a military presence,” Decker says.

In their paper, "The Impact of Military Forts on Agricultural Investments on the Great Plains in 1880," Decker and Flynn note that the military often handled law enforcement across the Plains, doing so effectively enough that farmers and ranchers felt secure in expanding their farms or ranches without fear of attack or robbery.

And when a fort was built in an area, that meant workers, soldiers and animals all required food and supplies on a near-constant basis, helping farmers to invest further in production. The military also sometimes conducted their own agricultural experiments and practices, and much of that information was passed on to local farmers.

“Something really interesting we found was that arid land west of the 98th meridian was valued just as highly or more so than far more fertile areas east,” Decker says. “So my sense is that land improvement occurred even in very arid areas if a fort was present.”

According to Decker’s research, many of the technologies used today by farmers and ranchers in Nebraska to battle droughts likely were introduced thanks to the military’s presence in the region. The Great Plains — once so arid it was referred to as the “Great Desert” by explorer Stephen H. Long — today is a leading agricultural producer worldwide.

“What I find compelling here is the potential for secure private property rights as a facilitator of investment for economic development,” he says. “Look at many developing countries today and ask the question: are those countries with secure property rights more likely to grow and prosper than others?”

— Nicholas Sauma, University Communications

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athletics

Bitsofofthe the Bull Bull Bits Wintertime in Omaha doesn’t just bring a snowstorm or two. It also brings another sports season to UNO. And the 2013-14 Maverick winter seasons offer first servings and seconds — hockey starts its first year in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference while men’s and women’s basketball, swimming & diving and track & field embark on second years in the Summit League.

Following is preview of all the Maverick action coming to the ice, court, pool and track beginning in October and November.

HOCKEY The Maverick icemen seem poised for a strong start to their first term in the NCHC (see page 18). UNO returns its top four scorers from last year, including AllAmerican right wing Ryan Walters who finished tied for second in the country with 52 points. His was a breakout season last year, but it wasn’t the only one for the Mavericks. Josh Archibald was second on the team with 19 goals and 36 points, both career highs, and Dominic Zombo increased his point production from three during his freshman year to 35 last year to rank third in team scoring.

“Our league is going to be probably the toughest in the country,” says Head Coach

Dean Blais. “But I think we’ll be one of the teams in contention. With the players we have coming back and the talent that we’ve added, we’ll be able to get up and down the ice with anyone.”

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Goal tending is perhaps UNO’s biggest question mark. Junior Ryan Massa sat out most of last year due to personal reasons but played in three games at the end of last season as the Mavs made a push to the playoffs. Massa returns this year as the Mavericks’ most experienced goaltender. He’ll be backed by true freshmen Reed Peters and Kirk Thompson, two Canadians who put up solid numbers in junior hockey.

rebounds and 2.1 assists per game in 2012-13. He leads a corps of four returning starters, joined by senior center John Karhoff (12.0 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.4 apg), senior guard Alex Phillips (8.2 ppg), and junior guard C.J. Carter (9.7 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.8 apg).

In addition to the two freshman goaltenders, the Mavericks welcome six other newcomers to this year’s roster, including United States Hockey League Rookie of the Year Jake Guentzel. He had 73 points in his first and only year of junior hockey last year, and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the third round of this year’s NHL Entry Draft. Guentzel, the son of former UNO assistant Mike Guentzel, is not the only Maverick freshman who could have a big impact on the team’s fortunes in his first year.

Austin Ortega had 60 points while playing for Fargo and Indiana in the USHL last year while Jono Davis led the Wenatchee Wild of the North American Hockey League in scoring with 61 points.

“With Justin, John and C.J., we have three scorers who averaged in double figures,” head coach Derrin Hansen says. “Our four returning starters have not only proven to be good Division I players, they’ve also shown solid leadership.”

Entering its second year of Summit League play, the UNO men’s basketball team looks to continue its climb up the conference standings. In 2012-13 the Mavericks posted Defensively, the Mavericks graduated stalwart an overall record of 11-20 with six league Bryce Aneloski and lost juniors Andrej Sustr wins. With four of five starters and eight letterwinners returning, UNO is set to and Tony Turgeon to pro hockey, but still return a solid corps of blueliners led by senior challenge in a conference that no longer is Michael Young and junior Jaycob Megna. Nick full of unknowns.

Seeler and Brian Cooper each had strong All-Summit guard Justin Simmons returns freshman campaigns in 2012-13 and will be for his senior relied upon in more situations this season. In season after addition, junior Brian O’Rourke likely will averaging a return to the blue line after playing right team-leading wing last year because of injuries to some of 16.7 points, UNO’s forwards. plus 4.0

With NCHC foes like Denver, North Dakota and Miami and non-conference home games against Cornell and Michigan, the Mavericks are sure to face the sternest of tests each week this season.

Senior forward Matt Hagerbaumer, senior guard Caleb Steffensmeier and sophomore guard Marcus Tyus had significant time off the bench last season. And UNO’s two redshirts — Jalen Bradley and transfer Mike Rostampour — are ready to push for time this year. Rostampour came to UNO from St. Cloud State while Bradley was a product of Norfolk High School where he left as the fifth-best scorer in Nebraska Class A history.

“Mike and Jalen have both had productive summers, and they’re ready to get in the mix,” Hansen says. “Jalen was a proven scorer in high school, and Mike will bring energy, toughness and intensity to the floor that will be fun for our fans to watch.”

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almost an entirely different lineup in 201314, as four key seniors graduated from the program. Paige Frauendorfer, Jamie Nash, Carolyn Blair-Mobley and Carly Cator all are gone after combining for 62 percent of the Mavs’ scoring, 90 percent of their assists and 83 percent of the rebounds in 2012-13.

last year’s indoor season and was the Summit League Field Championship MVP during both the Taijhe Kelly is the only returning starter after indoor and making 24 starts last season and averaging outdoor 4.9 points and 5.0 rebounds per game, adding seasons. a Summit-best 74 blocked shots. Her block “Devin can guard the ball over 94 feet, he’s She scored a capable shooter, and he’s a leader from the total was the most by a UNO player since 40 points point,” Hansen says. “Rylan is 6-8 and a very 1980-81, and she tied the school record with individually for UNO in the indoor good shooter; he’ll remind people of (former seven blocked shots in one game. Joining championship and 49 more during the Kelly as returners are Ericka House and Maverick) Alex Welhouse. He can find the outdoor championship. She will once Cathleen Cox. House, the Mavs’ only senior open shooter, and he has great passing again be the favorite to win the Summit’s this season, came off the bench to average 9.0 ability, especially for a big man.” pentathlon and long jump titles this points per game. House was a 3-point sharp With a strong non-conference schedule in winter, and she also will be a threat in the shooter, hitting 33.5 percent (57-of-170) in her place and the Summit League regular season triple jump. first year with the Mavericks, and she will ahead, Hansen is optimistic about what look to lead the Mavericks' again in 2013-14 “She had such a phenomenal year last year, 2013-14 can bring. from behind the arc. Cox, the third and final and you’d think it would be difficult to top “Our schedule continues to challenge our returner, played in just seven games as a it,” says new head coach Chris Richardson, team,” Hansen says. “Notably this year sophomore before suffering a season-ending who worked directly with Spenner as an we’re starting a home-and-home series with knee injury. She is healthy now and showed assistant during the previous four seasons.

Nevada, and our fans will also have a chance promise as a freshman in 2011-12, putting up “But from the training we’ve done, she has to get a look at the newest member of our 6.9 points and 2.7 rebounds per game. not hit her ceiling yet. And she’s hungry to league, Denver. go again. She wants to see what she can do.”

The Mavericks will add nine new players to “We’re excited about the upcoming season. the program this season, and they will rely Spenner is not the only weapon in the Mavs’ This is the most depth we’ve had since heavily on contributions from them to build arsenal. Fellow senior Kathie-Lee Laidley turning Division I, and that makes for on last season’s Summit League success. finished the outdoor season by setting the more competitive practices and better Last season, the Mavs finished second in school’s high jump record at 5-11½. She gameday performances. Overall, we’re the Summit League in shooting at 40.4 already owns the indoor high jump mark more familiar with the Summit League percent. On the defensive end, the Mavs at 5-10 and will attempt to better that now, and 2013-14 has the potential to be a led the conference in field goal percentage mark this winter. She, too, can contribute big year for our program.” allowed (36.0 percent) and had the top championship points in the long jump. scoring defense (54.9 ppg).

Fellow Jamaican Denneil Shaw also gives WOMEN’S BASKETBALL the Mavericks another scoring threat in the The UNO women’s basketball TRACK & FIELD triple jump. team will look to continue to In track & field, Sami Spenner again will On the track, junior Katarina Zarudnaya has improve on a solid foundation- be the cornerstone for the Mavericks in proven to be a formidable competitor in the building season in the their attempt to repeat the successes of short distance events. The Russian native Summit League. Last year, their first year competing in the Summit won the 1,500 meters at the Summit League the Mavericks finished 17-11 League Championships. outdoor championship after a third-place overall and 7-9 in their first The Mavericks were runners-up in the indoor finish in the 800 meters at the indoor league year of competition in the championship last season after being picked championship. Fellow junior Lauren Psota Summit, good for fifth place. to finish near the middle of the pack. They provides depth at the distances, making The Mavs’ 17 wins matched took third in the outdoor championship. steady improvement throughout last season the most since 2005-06. and finishing second in the 800 meters Spenner, a fifth-year senior from Columbus, But third-year head coach set five school records, including two during outdoors at the Summit championship.

Chance Lindley will have The Mavericks have three newcomers in junior transfer forward Jake White from Wichita State, sophomore transfer guard Devin Patterson from New Mexico Junior College and freshman Rylan Murry from West Branch High School in Iowa. Per NCAA rules, White will sit out this season, but he brings a wealth of experience after playing on a Shocker squad that went to the NCAA Final Four.

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ATHLETICS

Bits of the Bull

Continued from page 17

SWIMMING & DIVING The UNO swimming & diving team is poised for a strong second year in the Summit League after an outstanding showing at the 2013 Summit League Swimming & Diving Championships. The Mavericks finished third in the team standings with 512.5 points, just 4.5 points behind second-place IUPUI.

A Tougher Neighborhood

UNO hockey team begins play in National Collegiate Hockey Conference The UNO hockey team is joining its third league in four years, but with all due respect to the previous two, the Mavericks may be moving into the toughest neighborhood yet.

Launched two years ago, the National Collegiate Hockey Conference begins play this fall. The Mavericks join Colorado College, Denver, Miami, Minnesota Duluth, North Dakota, St. Cloud State and Western Michigan to form a league that should be the most talented top to bottom in the entire country.

Eighteen returning letterwinners are on the Mavericks’ roster, highlighted by six returning All-Summit honorees: seniors Whitney Korgan, Maddie Hutt and Erin Wright, junior Jenna Foiles and sophomores Natalie Renshaw and Miranda Knipfer. Head coach Todd Samland and his staff also have added nine freshmen and two transfers for the 2013-14 season.

The early season schedule demonstrates just how daunting the new conference will be. The Mavericks open league play Nov. 1-2 when they visit Denver, a team they’ve never beaten in the Mile High City. They return home the following weekend to host North Dakota Nov. 9-10 in the NCHC home opener. UNO and UND have only been playing each other for three years but already have built a solid rivalry that’s featured five one-goal games in eight all-time meetings.

“Our goal as a team is to finish second at the Summit League Championships this year,” Samland says.

“That’ll be a challenging task with the competition from other conference schools, but our third-place finish in 2013 set the tone for our debut in the league.

In some ways, fans may not notice a big difference between the Mavericks’ inaugural season in the NCHC and their final year in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Most of the traditional powers from the WCHA will be on UNO’s schedule this season. The biggest changes are the addition of Miami and Western Michigan as regular adversaries. Miami was a longtime nemesis of the Mavs during its days in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, and the RedHawks again will be a formidable squad this year. Western Michigan was long a program that struggled for consistency in the CCHA but has risen to national prominence the last few years.

“We’ll definitely continue to be a strong team in the sprint freestyles and breaststroke, and I see us making a good move in the individual medleys. We also have two very good divers on the squad, so that should give us some points throughout the season.”

Beyond the league schedule, the Mavericks find themselves with one of their toughest ever non-conference schedules. UNO hosts former CCHA tormentor Michigan Nov. 15-16, the middle series of a punishing three-week stretch bookended by North Dakota and Miami. In October, the Mavs also travel to Northern Michigan, another old CCHA rival against whom the Mavs have a .500 record through more than 30 games.

The 2013-14 schedule includes a handful of regularseason Summit League duals, as well as some familiar meets throughout the year: the ever-challenging Kansas Invite in Lawrence, Kan., and the UNOhosted Mutual of Omaha Invite at HPER Pool, both of which will prepare the Mavericks for the conference championships at the end of the season.

Additionally, the Mavericks will get a taste of eastern hockey when on Oct. 25-26 they host Cornell, a traditional contender among Ivy League schools, and visit powerhouse New Hampshire of Hockey East Jan. 3-4.

The NCHC schedule culminates in the first-ever conference playoffs. All eight teams make the playoffs with the top four hosting the bottom four in best-of-three series at campus sites March 14-16. The winners of each series will play in the NCHC final four at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn., March 21-22.

“As a program, we’re very excited about our outlook for this season,” Samland says. “Our upperclassmen have made a big step this summer and committed themselves to offseason training. Our recruiting has also gone extremely well, and we’re looking forward to becoming a big presence moving forward and making a name for ourselves in the Summit League.”

By moving to the NCHC, UNO also will be reintroduced to the shootout rule to decide tie games following the five-minute sudden death overtime. The rule was used in the now-defunct CCHA but not in the WCHA. Each team will send three shooters against the opposing team’s goalie with the team scoring the most goals declared the winner. If the teams are tied in goals, each team will alternate additional shooters until a winner is determined. Although most coaches aren’t fans of the rule, a majority of fans enjoy the excitement shootouts add to the game.

— Complied by Dave Ahlers, Nate Pohlen and Bonnie Ryan, UNO Athletics

At least on the court. And the ice. And the field.

Here’s a look at how Maverick teams have fared when playing teams from the different service branches.

men's

UNO might be one of the nation’s most military-friendly universities, but sometimes it’s doing everything it can to defeat men in uniform.

women's

Taking on our men in uniform

— Dave Ahlers, assistant athletic director, communications

Hockey

5-1 vs Air Force 3-4 vs Army

Volleyball 3-3 vs Air Force 1-0 vs Army 1-0 vs Navy

Baseball

2-4 vs Air Force 0-1 vs Army

basketball

2-2 vs Air Force 1-0 vs Army

Soccer

0-1 vs Air Force

basketball 0-4 vs Air Force

Softball 1-0 vs Army

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Get to know she answered WHAT MOTIVATED YOU TO JOIN THE MILITARY? I grew up in a military family. I wanted to serve my country like others in my family have done in the past.

we asked

JENNIFER CARROLL Director, Military and Veteran University Services Office; Former member of U.S. Coast Guard

What was your first job?

My first job was at Adventureland Park in Altoona, Iowa. I worked in the games section of the park.

What was the best advice you ever received?

Be yourself, ALWAYS, and live each day like it’s your last.

What IS YOUR FAVORITE WEEKEND HANGOUT? The dog park with my dogs. I love being outside and taking my fourlegged friends with me.

What is your secret to happiness?

Be true to yourself.

we asked

WHAT MOTIVATED YOU TO JOIN THE MILITARY?

I grew up as a military dependent. My father was a 100-percent disabled veteran from service during WWII and Korea. The VA paid for my undergraduate education.

I thought joining the Navy was a way of both getting a good job and paying back the country for my education.

I am from a very small town in Maine so I initially joined to travel! After the traveling was done, I was so happy to have my GI Bill.

answered

answered

I enlisted in the Marine Corps, providing me an opportunity to serve my patriotic duty to the United States and to get some outstanding veterans educational benefits.

I enlisted shortly after high school. The Marine Corps was probably the most formative experience I have had in my life.

Patrick D. O’Neil, Professor, Aviation Institute

Spencer Bartlett, Student

answered

answered Samantha Bajkowski, Student

Text by Austin Gaule, UNO Alumni Association.

In retrospect it is easy to see that my motivation to join the military was largely influenced by a sense of adventure. I have always loved to try new things and challenge myself to become proficient at everything I do. The military has only magnified these qualities.

Lisa Noel Wolford (’92), President, Client/Server Software Solutions of Omaha (CSSS.NET)

Growing up, I wanted to be a superhero. In high school, I still didn’t have superpowers, but I connected with the ideal of serving a purpose larger. The military appealed to those early influences. I’d argue now military leadership, training, and strategy are superpowers in their own right.

answered Jason Bousquet, Veteran Business Support coordinator, NBDC Lt. Col., U.S. Air Force Reserve

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From its earliest days, the University of Nebraska Omaha has seen its students, alumni, faculty and staff take up combat.

The first pages of the 1918 Gateway yearbook were dedicated to

Our

Boys in the

Service

acknowledging those fighting in World War I.

The University of Omaha has felt the effects of the war very much this year. Seven of the boys have entered the service, leaving their school work to help their country.

Sophomore Johnny Taliaferro became the first UNO student to fight in a war, serving in France during World I. He was drafted just three days after the start of the 1917 school year.

Six others (pictured) soon followed — Ed Elliott and Don Nicholson to the Aviation Corps, Clyde Nicholson, Austin Owens and Bobbie Cohan to hospital duty, and Reuben Leavitt to “the Canadian Jewish contingent.”

By 1918, UNO’s World War I veterans included 28 students, two instructors and 13 alumni, including three 1913 graduates, members of the university’s first graduating class who founded the alumni association.

The tradition continues today with students like UNO junior Spencer Bartlett, a specialist with the Army National Guard who served in Afghanistan (see page 32).

Between Taliaferro and Bartlett, thousands of UNO alumni and students have served in war, some giving their lives. Following are a few of their stories.

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From the Argonne to Pearl Harbor Time after time, Stanton Salisbury had a front row seat to history — in war and peace.

A Decatur, Neb., native, Salisbury was among the first students to attend the University of Omaha when it began in 1909. Four years later, he was part of the university’s first graduating class.

He was ordained a Presbyterian minister then served as an Army chaplain in World War I. He was decorated multiple times and was at the Battle of the Argonne Forest, the final and largest Allied offensive.

Fellow Omahan J.E. Styles saw Salisbury in action and wrote about him in a letter to the Omaha World-Herald.

"I have seen him go right over the top with his men. The Boche [German soldiers] couldn’t take away his smile, and I tell you, it took a real man to go through the battle of the Argonne with a smile."

Salisbury later joined the U.S. Navy as a chaplain. He spent two years on the USS Omaha, then the fastest cruiser in the world. He developed the first revolving altar used in a Navy Chapel, speeding the transition from a Protestant to a Catholic service.

On Sunday morning, Dec. 7, 1941, Salisbury was on his way to a flower shop in Honolulu, Hawaii, to purchase altar flowers for a Bible class he led aboard the USS Pennsylvania in Pearl Harbor.

Just then, the Japanese attacked. Salisbury picked up gunnery and supply officers and sped to the Pennsylvania. Japanese torpedo planes strafed his car, one bullet lodging 18 inches from him.

As the website for the U.S. Navy Chaplain Corps notes, “The car was hit, but he arrived at the ship without injury. There he ministered to the wounded and helped move the dead ashore.”

Salisbury served throughout the war. In 1949, he was made a rear admiral and became the Navy’s eighth chief of chaplains. He retired in 1953 and died in 1966.

The Pen is Mightier than the Sword…

Former UNO student Milton Wolsky served during World War II not with a gun, but with paper and paint.

An artist, Wolsky during the war was a technician fourth grade with the Eighth Army Engineers, drawing maps and creating book illustrations. When the war ended and the United States began rebuilding Japan, Wolsky was there to document the work in sketches. Some of his drawings were published in the book, “Engineers of the Eighth U.S. Army in Action: A Portfolio of Sketches.”

His watercolor from that time, "Yokohoma Shrine," won the coveted Frederick Whitaker award from the New York City chapter of the American Artists Professionals in 1946. "Sultan Ahmet" (The Blue Mosque) was displayed in the U.S. Embassy in Turkey and traveled the circuit of embassies in the Mideast before returning to Wolsky in 1977.

Several of his pieces from this period are in the United States Air Force Society's National Museum.

After World War II Wolsky moved to New York City and became one of the nation's top magazine illustrators, regularly appearing in Time, Collier's, Esquire, LIFE, the Saturday Evening Post and others. He returned to Omaha and continued his work from there. He received the UNO Alumni Association Citation for Alumni Achievement in 1968 and died in 1981.

His work recently was on display at the Museum of Nebraska Art (MONA) in Kearney, Neb., and in Omaha at Gallery 1510. The bulk of his own work now is owned by ARTicles Gallery in Omaha.

Vietnam’s First Medal of Honor recipient Roger Donlon had been shot in the stomach and was bleeding. But there was no time for medical attention — not with the Viet Cong attacking him and the rest of his Special Forces comrades.

The battle raged at Camp Nam Dong in the mountains of Vietnam near Laos. Donlon stuffed a handkerchief into his wound and kept fighting.

He was wounded three more times but didn’t stop fighting until the battle was over and more than 200 men lay dead — though just two Americans.

It would have been more if not for Donlon. He recovered at a hospital in Saigon but returned to his unit and completed his tour.

His return stateside included a trip to the White House, where, on Dec. 5, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson presented Donlon with the first Congressional Medal of Honor for action in Vietnam (shown).

Donlon later would attend UNO and graduate in 1967. He returned to campus in 2009, speaking in the Bootsrapper Ballroom of the Thompson Center.

At least three other UNO graduates are known also to have received the Congressional Medal of Honor — Merlyn Dethlefsen (1965), Jack Treadwell (1963) and Leo Thorsness (1964).

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Good Guy, Bad Guys As a longtime police officer, Steve Novotny was used to being around bad guys.

Novotny and company processed 4,000 PMOI members into a terrorist database via fingerprinting, palm printing, DNA collection and retinal scans.

But he got his fill of them in Iraq as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve.

Novotny previously had served in Iraq for six months during Desert Storm as a captain with the 403rd military police company, a unit he had joined less than half a year earlier following a 12-year active duty career.

Novotny served with the 530th MP Battalion, part of the 800th Military Police Brigade that operated 12 U.S. prison and detention camps early in the Iraq War. A 1986 BGS graduate, Novotny was in command of Camp Ashraf near the IranIraq border. He oversaw up to 800 reserve, active duty and national guard troops who kept watch over members of the People's Mujahedin Of Iran (PMOI), a militant, Marxist-Islamist organization founded in the 1960s. They had been prisoners of the Iraq Army before the U.S. took over.

Double Time Time for an Ace James Kasler, a 1963 UNO grad, is the only man to receive the Air Force Cross three times.

He was promoted by Time magazine as America’s top jet ace — four days after he had been shot down and captured by the Viet Cong. He was a POW until his release in 1973.

POWs At least three UNO graduates— Kasler, Leo Thorsness (1964) and James Hughes (1960) — were POWs in North Vietnam’s infamous “Hanoi Hilton.” An Associated Press journalist captured the haunting image (shown) of Hughes, barefoot, with a bandaged head and dirty T-shirt being paraded through the streets by two soldiers carrying bayoneted rifles. They were leading him to the Hanoi Hilton.

While some U.S. military during the Iraq War were disciplined for abuses that took place at the now-infamous Abu Ghraib prison camp, Novotny was praised for his command.

“His soldiers were proficient in their individual tasks and adapted well to this highly unique and non-doctrinal operation,” U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba wrote in a 51-page report presented to the Senate.

Novotny testified before the Senate, too. Afterward, Virginia Congressman Ed Schrock singled him out for praise as “One battalion commander who did his job very well in the detention business, better than anyone else, I would imagine.” Military officers, lawmakers and aides broke into applause.

Novotny deflected the praise. “I felt that all the soldiers that came under my command, active duty and reserve and National Guard, did a tremendous job,” he said in a 2005 UNO Alum magazine article. “I was proud of them all.”

Yeah, his dad fought in the Civil War UNO graduate John Dinsmoor and his biological father, Samuel, fought in wars 100 years apart — John in Vietnam, his father in the Civil War. How can that be?

Learn more at unoalumni.org/dinsmoor 444 Days Two UNO graduates who were Air Force servicemen — Paul Needham and Leland Holland — were among the 52 Americans held hostage for 444 days in Iran. A third was among those who tried to rescue them. See more at unoalumni.org/444days Remembering Vets U.S. Secretary of Defense and UNO graduate Chuck Hagel as a U.S. senator co-sponsored creation of the National Moment of Remembrance.

At 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day

all Americans are called, "To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to 'Taps.'"

Hagel, a Vietnam veteran who served in the same unit as his brother and fellow UNO graduate Tom, also was one of the early supporters of "The Wall" monument honoring those who died during Vietnam.

Photo credit: Hu Totya

Tops from Tuskegee James Warren, a 1964 UNO grad, was among the original Tuskegee Airmen.

His career spanned three wars, 173 combat missions and 12,000 flight hours.

He received numerous awards, including the Distinguished Flying Cross, and was navigator of “Homecoming One” the plane that in 1973 flew into Hanoi, North Vietnam, and left with the first group of American POWs. He also was part of the Apollo 14 recovery team, flying its crew home from splashdown near American Samoa.

A memorial in Arts & Sciences Hall lists many of those who died in World War II.

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Branching Out It’s no wonder UNO’s veteran and military students feel right at home on campus. According to the university’s human resources department, at least 158 faculty and staff are military veterans. Here are four of them — one each from the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines.

Army Lyn Holley Gerontology Professor Lyn Holley didn’t exactly take the traditional route into the military.

A UNO gerontology professor since 2004, she joined the U.S. Army Reserves in 1977 at 35 years old. Part of that was to protest that women weren’t allowed to fill combat positions. She didn’t like the message that sent to women, she says.

“We still had to go through basic training and lie in the dirt and learn how to shoot weapons,” Holley says. “The Reserves was always needing more volunteers.”

Holley, who previously had attended the American University and graduated with a psychology degree, helped test personnel for performance, aptitude and computer skills and conducted exit interviews.

The Beachwood, N.J., native says her time in the service helped her think about policies and citizens from a different perspective. It also helped her better understand the military in the United States and throughout the world. “War is not a solution; it’s a shortstop measure to save time,” Holley says. “The percentage of people that engage in combat is very small, everyone else is the rest. Having that experience made me realize every single one of us is needed.”

Navy Patrick O’Neil Assistant Professor of Aviation and Public Administration Given that he was born on an Army base, it probably didn’t come as a surprise that Patrick O’Neil eventually joined the military.

The branch of service he chose, however, might raise an eyebrow given that O’Neil’s father worked as an Army recruiter.

After graduating from Washington State in 1972, O’Neil joined the Navy. He served 26 years as a carrier Naval pilot, completing seven deployments, including Persian Gulf combat operations. During his last tour he was assigned to the Joint Staff National Airborne Operations Center in direct support of Presidential and Secretary of Defense global operations. He also earned a master’s degree (1995) from the U.S. Naval War College in New Port, R.I. Later he was assigned to Offutt AFB as a Navy team chief. He earned his Ph.D. from UNO in public administration in 2008 and was hired in the Aviation Institute as director of emergency services.

He says he appreciates the recruitment of veterans to UNO. “It allows veterans to attend a great institution and gain knowledge,” O’Neil says. “A degree from UNO is not just a piece of paper to use as something to market yourself with.”

Air Force

Althea Satterfield Graphic Designer Althea Satterfield served in the military for five years as an airborne cryptologic linguist. Her responsibilities included managing airborne signals intelligence information systems and operations activities, providing signals intelligence threat warning support, and assisting in mission planning.

Satterfield was deployed in combat action near Afghanistan and flew missions over the country, too.

Later, when stationed at Offutt Air Force Base, she started to consider UNO as a place of employment after seeing the ample opportunities it provided. She attended the university as a student, earning a degree in 2012, while also working as a graphic designer. She was hired full time in January.

“As a vet in marketing, I work to increase understanding of the needs and interests of service members,” says Satterfield. “With my service background, I can sincerely engage with servicemen and women and can better tell the UNO story.”

— Carrielle Sedersten, University of Nebraska Foundation

Marines Roger McCullough Interim Coordinator, Veterans Services and Assistance Nebraska Business Development Center Roger McCullough’s two years in the Marine Corps are topsecret. Seriously.

There was a point, in fact, when McCullough would make weekly trips to the Pentagon with a brief case handcuffed to his arm, delivering topsecret documents to the brass.

Not so long prior to that McCullough was studying at UNO. But after his brother and a friend joined the Marine Corp, McCullough did the same, leaving school in April 1972 to become one of the few, the proud.

But he ranked first in his platoon in academics and other marine training, so the Marine Corps sent him to their headquarters in Washington, D.C. There he held a position at the Classified Control Office and, after gaining top-secret clearance from the FBI, handled top-secret documents that he would code, process and direct to the proper office.

McCullough later would return home to finish his degree at UNO in psychology (1976) then earned an MBA in 1988.

Today he’s back at UNO as the interim program coordinator for the Veterans Services and Assistance Program at the Nebraska Business Development Center. He also is a consultant in the Manufacturing Extension Partnership that helps manufacturing firms improve productivity and be profitable.

“The Marine Corps taught me a lot in that two years and it helps me in my job now,” McCullough says. “The military gives you discipline and focus. You can use that for the rest of your life.”

— Austin Gaule, UNO Alumni Association

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Stronger Soldier Photo by Eric Francis

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UNO bioenergetics research aims to help soldiers and other ‘tactical athletes’ perform at their best in the harshest of environments

By Todd von Kampen

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From Washington’s troops suffering in the bitter cold of Valley Forge to American GIs baking in the scorching heat of Iraqi sands, U.S. soldiers have fought not just the enemy, but also the elements.

In those and other harsh conditions, making the best choices often comes down to being in the best shape.

UNO Professor Dustin Slivka aims to find the best temperature and altitude to train them to fight anywhere.

National research leader The ingenuity and enthusiasm with which Slivka pursues his research are typical in UNO’s School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation (HPER), which boasts several faculty members and graduate students who have made UNO a national leader in biomechanics and exercise science.

Two recent milestones testify to their success: • T he Sept. 5 ribbon-cutting that opened UNO’s new $6 million state-of-the-art Biomechanics Research Building, connected to HPER on the south; and, • T he American Society of Biomechanics annual conference HPER hosted in Omaha, Sept. 4-7.

The team’s research “has the capacity to change health care,” says Dr. Nicholas Stergiou, Isaacson Professor of Biomechanics and chairman of the HPER graduate program.

“On top of this is the investment the state is putting into this (program) with taxpayer dollars,” Stergiou says. “We bring here millions of dollars, and they generate jobs for Nebraskans.”

If you’re physically fatigued, you’re not going to make optimal mental decisions, which in those environments can mean life or death.

Dustin Slivka

Military personnel and veterans benefit directly from HPER research, much of it aided by funding and expertise from the federal government. But civilians also stand to gain from discoveries made by Slivka and his colleagues.

Several HPER military- and veteran-related research projects — though not Slivka’s — rely on research equipment in the school’s Nebraska Biomechanics Core Facility (NBCF),

Going with the Flow UNO assistant professor helps Veterans suffering with PAD — Peripheral artery disease Thousands of veterans have trouble walking. But researchers at UNO’s School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation (HPER) are seeking answers for vets slowed not just by old wounds but Father Time, too.

Among them is Omahan David Carey, 67, who found walking an increasingly painful chore beginning in his mid-50s. It was at its worst three years ago when doctors at Omaha’s Veterans Affairs Medical Center diagnosed peripheral artery disease (PAD), a condition linked to aging.

During 2011 and 2012, Carey took part in one of a series of PAD studies of VA patients by Dr. Sara Myers, an HPER assistant

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which Stergiou directs. Grants from the University of Nebraska system’s Nebraska Research Initiative were used to launch NBCF, the only NU core facility located at UNO, and contributed to construction of the Biomechanics Research Building.

Stergiou says HPER’s faculty and graduate students enjoy consistent success in securing research funding from federal, state and private sources.

Slivka, a native of Denton, Mont., has received a succession of U.S. Department of Defense grants, including a three-year, $2.3 million grant awarded just after he left the University of Montana for UNO in 2010. As a consequence, UNO and Montana have collaborated in Slivka’s tactical-athlete research.

"When you continually get funding from DOD, when people from around the United States are working with you, it shows the gravity of what you are doing," Dr. Nicholas Stergiou says.

The new Biomechanics Research Building includes a new virtual reality environment.

"Certainly there aren’t a lot of people who are doing this."

Tactical-athlete Slivka’s bioenergetics research in HPER’s Exercise Physiology Laboratory, for example, promises to help prepare all types of “tactical athletes” — military personnel, law enforcement officers, firefighters, rescue workers and others who must face the elements at their physical best.

UNO and Montana associates are seeking the ideal training environment by studying muscular “gene expression” — the signals muscles receive from DNA to build endurance and perform optimally — and the performance of mitochondria, which convert food into energy within cells and regulate energy use.

“Many of these folks need to be able to operate in these extreme environments without detriment. That’s not always possible,” says Slivka, lab co-director and an HPER assistant professor. “We’re looking at what we may be able to do to help them adapt.”

Optimal mental performance in high-risk environments also depends on top physical conditioning, Slivka says. “If you’re physically fatigued, you’re not going to make optimal mental decisions, which in those environments can mean life or death.”

Soldiers and athletes long have sought to train in environments — hot or cold, muggy or dry, at high or low altitudes — resembling the locations of their mission or competition. Slivka and his

Based on his research so far, Slivka says, short-term training in cool weather at moderately high altitudes might offer the best training environment for tactical athletes.

professor. He has continued and stepped up the exercises he began there — which worked so well that doctors called off surgery meant to improve blood flow in his legs.

“They said, ‘Well, you don’t really have to come back now, because you’re doing pretty good,’” says Carey, who served with the U.S. Army’s Ninth Division in Vietnam in 1966-67.

HPER researchers are used to working hand-in-glove with the VA to better understand PAD, Myers says. The disease, featuring plaque buildup in arteries in the lower extremities, strikes 20 to 30 percent of Omaha VA patients by age 65 but can show up after age 40. Diet, lack of exercise and especially smoking can aggravate the disease, she says.

The two institutions use HPER’s Biomechanics Laboratory to examine the impacts of surgery, medicine and exercise on PAD. Myers is assistant director of UNO’s Nebraska Biomechanics Core Facility (NBCF), which provided the equipment powering the research partnership.

Myers’ newest study, launched in early 2013, is funded by a four-year, $807,000 grant from the VA Office of Research and Development. It examines whether inserting a stent in a blocked leg artery lets PAD patients walk farther without pain than they can when the artery is bypassed with a graft.

The bypass provides better long-term blood flow, but the stent is less invasive, she says. “Patients don’t care so much about blood flow,” she says. “They care

about their symptoms — if they can walk, if they don’t have as much pain in their legs.”

Myers arrived at UNO as a freshman basketball player, stayed to earn her undergraduate and graduate degrees and joined the HPER faculty in 2010. Her previous studies proved the usefulness of biomechanics in measuring PAD, and her analysis of VA patients’ gait — the quality of one’s steps — laid the groundwork for doctoral candidate Shane Wurdeman’s research in helping leg amputees better choose artificial limbs.

Such synergy shows why HPER boasts “the top cohort of researchers” in biomechanics and exercise science, says NBCF director Dr. Nicholas Stergiou, Isaacson Professor of Biomechanics.

— Todd von Kampen

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Two of his team’s most recent studies examined the response of mitochondria in biopsied muscle tissue after subjects had bicycled for an hour or more in conditions simulating altitudes of 5,000, 3,000 or 975 meters (respectively, about 16,400, 9,840 and 3,200 feet).

Extended exposure at 5,000 meters — higher than all the peaks in the Colorado Rockies — typically reduced mitochondrial function, Slivka says. But researchers found no significant differences between shorter-term exposures at the two lower heights — roughly the difference between training in a high Colorado mountain valley or in western Nebraska — even though blood-oxygen levels were noticeably higher at the lower altitude.

But he thinks the ideal outdoor training conditions lie somewhere between 9,000 and 15,000 feet and between 40 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

He stressed that his researchers are only beginning to seek an optimal training temperature for training athletes and a “critical altitude” at which muscle performance begins to decline.

Slivka says wildland firefighters would be an ideal civilian group to ultimately benefit from his military-related research. But because mitochondria performs less well with age, his findings may ultimately help older people maintain a better quality of life, he added.

Slivka’s line of research has provided hours of valuable academic training for research assistant Matt Heesch, who is studying for his doctorate in exercise physiology. Since his arrival at UNO in 2010, Heesch has analyzed many slides of biopsied muscle tissue taken from test subjects in Montana and sent to Omaha.

Exercise physiologists are “moving toward answering a lot of our questions using molecular biological techniques, getting answers at the cellular level,” says Heesch, a native of Rapid City, S.D. “Really, this is exposing me to all these technologies I plan on using in research throughout my career.”

UNO undergraduate Derek McBride is not in the service, but he was thrilled to don a pair of camos as the model for “Building a Stronger Soldier.” “It's very cool to be a part of something with personal significance to so many,” he says. “Our soldiers are brave men.” A Student Wellness Program assistant for UNO Campus Recreation, McBride delivers wellness presentations to students, including those in “First Year Experience” classes. “My life revolves around wellness and how it can help people become the best they can be,” he says. “It is a passion and a purpose for me.” He walks the talk — McBride has been bodybuilding since 2008 and in his most recent show in May 2012 placed first in the Collegiate and Novice short categories at the Mr. Iowa and Nutri-Sport pro qualifier. He anticipates graduating in December and then pursuing a master’s degree at UNO.

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setting the pace UNO doctoral candidate breaks new ground in prosthetics research If a prosthetic leg doesn’t let an amputee walk or run well, Shane Wurdeman says, it matters little whether it fits right or is able to take a beating.

The Omaha native, fascinated with artificial limbs since a teenager, has devised a way to measure an amputee’s gait — the consistency in one’s steps — to help prescribe the best prosthetic for age and lifestyle.

“The 70-year-old Vietnam veteran is not going to need the same type of device as a 22-yearold Iraq veteran,” says Wurdeman, who is completing his doctoral work in biomechanics in UNO’s School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation (HPER). “They have different walking mechanics.”

Wurdeman has broken new ground in his research with amputee patients at Omaha’s Veterans Affairs Medical Center, says Dr. Nicholas Stergiou, HPER Isaacson Professor in Biomechanics. It will benefit not only military but also civilian “transtibial” amputees, those who usually lose a limb to disease or an accident.

“It’s practically the very first time that someone sat down to do research and objectify the selection of prostheses,” says Stergiou, Wurdeman’s doctoral adviser.

Wurdeman, a 2003 Creighton University graduate in physics, is not an amputee but

traces his interest in prosthetics to a 1990s TV program on Van Phillips, inventor of the first carbon-fiber prosthetic leg. He already wanted to make things, he says, but “the field lets him 'make' something that helps someone get back to daily life.”

He pursued his four-year-long doctoral research using facilities provided by the Nebraska Biomechanics Core Facility, which Stergiou directs, and a variety of federal, state and private grants. A recent $130,000 grant from the University of Nebraska system’s Nebraska Research Initiative will help him refine a portable data-gathering monitor he designed so prosthetists can use his technique in prescribing artificial legs.

One of Wurdeman’s study subjects says he hopes his participation helps other amputees, even though he himself didn’t find a better prosthesis. Allen De Vos, 44, was serving in the U.S. Marine Corps when he lost his right leg below the knee in a 1989 car-motorcycle accident near Camp Lejeune, N.C. De Vos, who runs, bicycles and plays basketball, has gone through 15 artificial legs. The special-education teacher in Iowa’s South O’Brien school district volunteered for Wurdeman’s study after one of his periodic visits to the Omaha VA. “I’m sure there are better legs than what I have,” says De Vos, who lives in Paullina, Iowa. “But the VA has always helped me get

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Photo by Eric Francis

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From left, Sara Myers, Nick Stergiou and Shade Wurdeman.

the leg that best fits my level of activity, which is all I want.”

Wurdeman’s research harnesses a calculation known as the Lyupanov exponent, which combines measurements at several points on a leg, ankle and foot. His research shows that the calculation can be used to track variations in a person’s gait. Those figures in turn have corresponded with his study subjects’ stated preferences for one prosthetic leg or another.

In the final research stage in the spring of 2013, De Vos and 12 other subjects tested their regular artificial leg and then an alternate “plain leg” by walking on a treadmill at HPER’s Biomechanics Laboratory. They also used each limb daily for three weeks while a portable prototype of the lab’s monitoring equipment collected and stored measurements for later computer study.

De Vos says his current prosthetic has some rotation and “a little shock absorption,” both of which suit his activities. But when he wore the alternate leg, “it felt like I crushed the heel” with every step. “I didn’t like it at all.”

With his doctoral work completed, Wurdeman says, he will rejoin the staff of Advanced Prosthetics Center in Omaha. He worked there for a year after graduating from Creighton then completed a master’s degree in prosthetics and orthotics at Georgia Tech in 2006. He became a certified prosthetist in Los Angeles in 2007.

— Todd von Kampen

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SPECIAL 100TH ALUMNI 46

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A Monumental Gift Something monumental is coming to the UNO campus to commemorate the UNO Alumni Association’s 100th anniversary.

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or years, UNO students have dreamed of having a mascot statue as a rallying point on campus. In its 100th year, the Alumni Association is making that dream a reality.

The Association is giving students and campus the “Maverick Monument” — an 8-foot-high, 1,500-pound bronze bull statue representing the university’s mascot. The monument will be installed amid a new plaza in front of the Lee and Helene Sapp Fieldhouse and the Health, Physical Education and Recreation (HPER) Building.

It is anticipated that the monument will be “unleashed” with a public dedication in the fall of 2014.

“UNO students have been looking forward to this Maverick statue and are

excited that it is finally becoming a reality,” said UNO Student President/Regent Martha Spangler. “The Alumni Association is very generous for making such a grand addition that will serve as our campus icon for years to come.”

A committee of students, alumni, faculty and staff in June chose Seattle-area artist Jocelyn Russell to create the monument, concluding a rigorous invitational that included proposals from five artists, three of them from Omaha. Russell’s statue, based on a fighting bull, depicts a powerful, muscular Maverick overlooking campus. He symbolizes the determination, pride and success of UNO students and alumni and the opportunities before them.

It is the first statue representing what has been UNO’s mascot since a student vote in 1971. The monument is expected to become an enduring campus icon sparking new traditions and offering interactive photo opportunities for students, alumni, visitors and media.

“The Maverick Monument is the embodiment of UNO’s unique spirit and strength,” UNO Chancellor John Christensen said. “We look forward to this addition to our campus as a unifying symbol and rallying point, and for its artistic value.

“The campus community is grateful to its Alumni Association for their leadership in bringing the project to fruition.”

UNO’s first class of graduates founded the association in 1913. The UNO alumni network since has spread worldwide and next year will number 100,000 living graduates, more than 43,000 in metropolitan Omaha.

ANNIVERSARY SECTION 59

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Rocking 100

The Alumni Association will host a 100th Anniversary Celebration Nov. 8 on the UNO campus. UNO graduate and nationally acclaimed musician Billy McGuigan will perform his “Rock Legends” show at the community-wide event (see sidebar). Proceeds will support the monument and plaza.

UNO Alumni Association hosting 100th Anniversary Celebration Friday, Nov. 8

The Alumni Association first proposed the monument to its board of directors in November 2012. It has presented the proposal to numerous campus groups and the university’s administration since then, incorporating various feedback into the final proposal.

You’re invited to Rock 100 years with the UNO Alumni Association!

UNO’s Student Government in September passed a resolution supporting the project.

Alumni and friends are encouraged to attend the association’s 100th Anniversary Celebration Friday, Nov. 8, on the UNO campus.

Billy McGuigan headlines the event, bringing his hugely popular “Rock Legends” show featuring music from the 1950s to today.

“I can already imagine generations of alumni returning to campus with their children and grandchildren to have a photo with Maverick Monument,” said Lee Denker, president of the UNO Alumni Association. “This gift is a powerful way to kick off our next 100 years of alumni service to UNO.”

Jocelyn Russell — Artist Jocelyn Russell has been a wildlife artist for 25 years and has completed numerous commissions throughout the United States. Her portfolio includes Utah State University’s bull statue and BYU’s cougar statue. She recently completed statue projects for the Boys Scouts of America in Oklahoma and the U.S. Marine Corps Museum in Virginia. Russell previously lived and worked for 15 years on a cattle ranch in Colorado. Today she works from her home studio on San Juan Island in Washington. Russell visited with students, alumni and others on campus in June and will return for the Association’s 100th Anniversary Celebration Nov. 8. The Maverick Monument is her first Nebraska commission.

Casting the Monument Russell has created a bronze, scale model of the monument that will be on display at the Alumni Association’s Thompson Center and locations throughout campus.

She now is developing the full-scale monument, which will be cast at the Adonis Bronze foundry in Alpine, Utah. When finished, it will stand 8 feet tall at the shoulder and weigh 1,500 pounds.

Plaza Specs Construction on the monument plaza will begin in late spring 2014. It will be located in front of the Fieldhouse and HPER building and will feature a raised platform on which the monument will stand, looking due west across campus.

The tree-covered plaza will include an accessible ramp to the platform, a donor recognition wall, lighting and landscaping.

Funding and Sponsorship All donors of $500 or more will be recognized on a wall leading up to the monument platform. Donors of $10,000 or more will receive a bronze desktop model. Donations can be made online or in the envelope provided in the center of this magazine.

The anniversary celebration begins at 6:30 p.m.

Nov. 8 in the East Gym of the Health, Physical Education and Recreation (HPER) building.

McGuigan, a 1999 UNO graduate, is one of the region’s most popular and sought-after musicians. McGuigan has created “Rave On!” — a musical celebration of the lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper, and the hugely popular Beatles tribute show “Yesterday and Today.”

His “Rock Legends” is a unique, interactive concert customized by the audience. Members vote for what music they want to hear from among artists including the Beatles, Everly Brothers, Rolling Stones, Elvis, Billy Joel, Queen, Elton John and many others. McGuigan and his band can perform up to 400 songs.

The anniversary celebration includes dinner and an authentic soda fountain. Dress is business casual.

Proceeds from the event will help underwrite the Maverick Monument and Plaza that the association is giving to students and campus.

Cost to attend is $75 per person. Register online at http://unoalumni.org/celebrate100.

For sponsorship information and other details, contact Elizabeth Kraemer at 402-554-4 802 or email ekraemer@unoalumni.org.

Hurry, RSVP deadline is Nov. 1!

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MILITARY

By Kevin Warneke

A Waive and Salute Beginning in 2013, UNO is waiving the $45 application fee for military service members and veterans. “It’s just another way of recognizing that we’re here to support them,” says Jennifer Carroll, director of UNO’s Military and Veterans University Services Office. “We want to remove any of the potential barriers that would prevent them from being admitted to the university.”

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FRIENDLY UNO is getting national attention for supporting men and women in uniform Spencer Bartlett wishes he could remember the woman’s name. He’d liked to thank her for her sense of urgency in getting him enrolled at UNO. This story will have to do.

Bartlett’s call to the UNO Admissions Office came on the final day for students to be admitted for the Spring 2012 semester. “I told her I just got back from Afghanistan,” the specialist in the Army Nebraska National Guard says. “It was like something flipped (in her). She said, ‘Let’s get you enrolled.’”

She kept her promise, and Bartlett was welcomed to campus. Two years later he stood at a podium in front of a packed Strauss Recital Hall and officially welcomed another fellow veteran to campus — U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, who was returning to his alma mater to deliver his first major speech as secretary.

Bartlett’s call was life-changing, you might say. Next May he will graduate with a degree in psychology. He plans to earn his doctoral degree in applied psychology and hopes someday to counsel soldiers.

His story has happened on campus thousands of other times. Just ask Tom Spencer, a 1971 graduate and a retired major in the U.S. Army.

The Army gave Spencer six months to earn his bachelor’s degree. Thanks to the university’s bachelor of general studies degree and “bootstrapper” program, he was able to follow orders.

His military courses and experience counted for credits, so Spencer needed just 30 hours to graduate. He did, taking 18 hours one semester and earning 12 more during the summer.

“If you didn’t earn Bs, the Army didn’t think you were doing your job,” he says.

Above: Spencer Bartlett at podium.

Bottom: Bartlett welcomes U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel

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Taking Notice Though they attended UNO in different eras, Bartlett and Spencer give the institution top marks for its service to those who serve their countries.

That’s nothing new, but it’s good to hear, says Jennifer Carroll, director of UNO’s Military and Veterans University Services Office — MaV USO. “The university has always been military friendly,” she says.

The experts agree: • T he Military Times in a study of 4,000 U.S. colleges and universities ranked UNO among the top six — three rungs ahead of the University of Kansas, eight ahead of Arizona State University and 28 ahead of the University of Alabama — in such categories as financial assistance, academic flexibility, campus culture and support services for military veterans.

striking a cord For now, the commemorative coin Dustin Rief received from MaV USO to mark his graduation in May rests in a jewelry box beside his watch. Someday, the Army veteran with 10 years, eight months service, plans to include the coin in a display with the others he received during his military career.

The red, white and blue cord he wore during graduation — also a gift from MaV USO — will be placed in a shadow box with his honor society cords.

Rief, who served in Iraq, says the mementos were a nice touch. “They were completely unexpected.”

In response, Jennifer Carroll, director of MaV USO, says: “It’s our way of saying thanks for their service — while following a military tradition.”

At left: They were outnumbered by their Air Force and Army counterparts, but these two Marine Bootstrappers were all smiles to be on campus in 1962. Center: Jack Treadwell (’63), one of at least three UNO graduates to have received the Congressional Medal of Honor. Right: Omaha U. students, including Angel Flight members, paraded their love for the military during a parade in downtown Omaha in 1952.

• U .S. News & World Report ranked UNO No. 5 for “Best Online Bachelor's Programs for Veterans.” The magazine wrote: “Like other students, veterans and active-duty service members gain most from distance education that is affordable, accessible and well-regarded.”

• G .I. Jobs magazine placed Omaha No. 4 on its list of “Top 50 Military Friendly Cities” for 2013 — right behind Houston and directly ahead of Dallas. The list measures the number of job openings at military-friendly employers, the number of military-friendly campuses and the number of registered veteran-owned businesses located within the region.

UNO is no newcomer to serving veterans. UNO has had an ROTC unit on campus for 62 years and was among a handful of institutions to participate in the military Bootstrap Program in 1951. The program was designed to encourage members of the military to “lift themselves by the bootstraps” by earning a

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Bully on BGS Dustin Rief was halfway home when he decided to pursue a college degree at UNO.

college degree. By 1968, UNO had the biggest and principal bootstrap program in the country. At least 12,000 military members received their degrees under the program. Dozens of them went on to become generals, including Johnnie Wilson, just the third black four-star general in U.S. Army history. Their ranks include four Medal of Honor recipients and one Olympian. Bootstrapper Hall in the Thompson Center was underwritten by them and named in their honor.

Spencer recalls hearing talk that his senior class at Omaha University had more bootstrappers than civilian students.

That’s no longer the case, but Carroll says the number of military service and veteran students attending UNO has seen steady growth since the Post-9/11 GI Bill was enacted in August 2009. Students take courses on campus, at Offutt Air Force Base or online. UNO also has a satellite office at Offutt.

UNO graduate Johnnie Wilson, the Carroll estimated that about 3,000 third black four-star general in U.S. veterans, active duty and reserves are Army history. enrolled at UNO. Since 2009, Carroll says, the university annually enrolls about 200 military services members and veterans, while losing up to 100 to graduation and attrition each year.

Because UNO is a full participant in the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs’ Yellow Ribbon Program, students using the Post-9/11 GI Bill have their tuition and fees covered at UNO — regardless of whether they are Nebraska residents.

By seeking a bachelor of general studies degree with a concentration in political science and government, Rief, an Army veteran, received credit for the military courses already completed.

“The general studies degree is UNO’s most militaryfriendly program,” says Kimberly Miller, manager of UNO’s Division of Continuing Studies at Offutt. The bachelor of general studies degree will accept up to 64 credit hours from a junior or community college, which includes the Community College of the Air Force and the Defense Language Institute. The degree offers students opportunities to concentrate in areas of interest, she says.

Based on Base UNO’s presence at Offutt Air Force Base is not by accident.

“Our goal is to eliminate any barriers in the way of military students wanting to achieve their education,” says Kimberly Miller, manager of UNO’s Division of Continuing Studies at Offutt.

Miller and her staff help active duty military students navigate the enrollment, registration and tuition assistance process — without having to leave base. She manages UNO’s office at Offutt, which dates to the creation of the Bootstrapper program in the early 1950s and can be found in the Base Education Office.

Their assistance begins with helping active personnel stationed at Offutt — no matter where they call home — qualify for in-state tuition.

Military students can take English and mathematics placement tests, have exams proctored and receive academic advising at the office. Several courses are offered on base each semester.

“We want to make it easy for you to work hard at your studies.”

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chapter & verse Chuck Holderness is determined that America’s service men and women don’t receive the sort of treatment he faced upon returning from the Vietnam War in 1971.

“We were made to change out of uniform and they took us off base in a school bus,” Holderness recalls. “We weren’t very popular — and people treated us poorly.”

Today Holderness is president of the UNO Alumni Association AFROTC Alumni Chapter. The group supports UNO’s military students and graduates.

At each commencement it issues graduating cadets with their first gold 2nd lieutenant bars and the epaulet rank worn on the shoulder of their uniforms. Cadets also receive a UNO Alumni Card with various benefits.

Among the alumni chapter’s other activities are providing financial support to AFROTC cadets at UNO’s Detachment 470 through scholarships, conducting community services projects with ROTC cadets and hosting events to commemorate Veteran’s Day. “We want these young men and women to always know what they are doing is appreciated,” says Holderness, a retired Air Force Reserves colonel and a 1970 UNO graduate.

Now-U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, far right, was on hand to help UNO Chancellor John Christensen, far left, and students open UNO’s Mav USO office.

A Home for Vets The starting and end point for UNO’s military-friendly status is the MaV USO office, which opened in April 2012. The office, designed to assist active military, veterans and their families, provides such services as GI Bill assistance, in-processing, deployment assistance and academic support. UNO graduate and current U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel took part in its official dedication.

MaV USO staff includes five work study students, funded by the Veterans Administration and all with military experience. “They are at the front lines helping our students,” she says. “Veterans helping veterans. Everyone in our office has a military affiliation.”

The office offers military service members and veterans another service that has nothing to do with paperwork — a lounge where they can study and socialize. “It’s just a place where they can hang out and gives them camaraderie the moment they walk into the lounge,” says Carroll, who spent eight years in the U.S. Coast Guard.

The coffee is free. So are faxing and printing services.

By collaborating with other governmental entities, MaV USO has been able to extend the services it provides. On Mondays, a representative from the Nebraska Department of Labor provides career counseling, conducting mock interviews, and offering advice on resume-building and job seeking. On Tuesdays, a staffer from the Vet Center leads a support group. “Mental health is a service we need to provide,” Carroll says. “You have to be mentally healthy to be successful in your educational goals.”

Don’t assume every university has always been military friendly. Some universities, for instance, banned ROTC units during the Vietnam War. Those bans continued

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Advice into recent years on the grounds that the military discriminated against gay and lesbian troops by barring them from serving openly. The Weekly Standard reported in 2011 that even as other elite schools such as Harvard were welcoming ROTC programs back on campus, Brown University’s highest governing body had affirmed its no-ROTC policy.

“With its decision, the corporation has isolated itself from its sister Ivies — and from its own students,” the Weekly Standard reported.

Not so at UNO. Carroll says the university and MaV USO are always looking to better assist military service members and veterans. “Of course, we’re always striving to be No. 1.”

Casey Harris, a member of the Army National Guard, stops by the MaV USO office whenever he needs help filing his tuition assistance paperwork. Missy Willnerd, an Army veteran and MaV USO work study staffer, worked with Harris, a criminal justice major who plans to go active duty following graduation, during his most recent visit.

The two took care of Harris’ paperwork while visiting in the MaV USO lounge.

“I’ve never had any problems,” he says. “They’ve always been helpful. I know I can stop by whenever I need help.”

Military-friendly, Carroll might say.

UNO’s U.S. Air Force ROTC unit was established at UNO in 1951 when the university was among 62 institutions chosen from a pool of nearly 400 applicants.

It benefits from proximity to Offutt Air Force Base, home of U.S. Strategic Command and the Air Force’s 55th Wing, by providing cadets with opportunities to interact with active duty officers.

Eleven AFROTC cadets graduated in May 2013. All had been or were waiting to be commissioned.

About 45 cadets, not including incoming first-year students,

• D o your research: “Know what benefits you want — and can apply for.” Those benefits extend beyond the Post-9/11 GI Bill, which most often is used by military service members. Each state has a veterans affairs office. Find out if state support can complement federal support.

• D o your homework: Compare degree programs within universities and with their peers. Online courses provide options. Look for degree programs that offer credit for military courses taken.

• B e selective: Benefits don’t last forever.

Use them, but use them wisely. “Some academic institutions are not going to be the best use of your resources. You want a highquality degree. Get full value.”

• Vi sit MaV USO: “If you’re coming to UNO, come to the MaV USO office,” Carroll says.

“Being military friendly means recognizing the needs of our service members and veterans while transferring out of the military and to college. We understand that you are coming to UNO for your education, which will lead to a career. We’ll help you get there.”

Officers in training

Its purpose is to develop leaders for the U.S. Air Force. Detachment 470, also known as the Wolfpack, develops leaders through academic instruction, physical training and character development.

Jennifer Carroll, director of MaV USO, offers four suggestions for military service members thinking about college:

are expected to return for the 2013-14 academic year. Cadets complete their field training after their second year of school.

Helping the deployed

See more about ROTC history at UNO on page 13.

Their options include being allowed to drop all — or some — of their classes without penalty, taking incompletes and finishing the work when they return, or finishing their coursework while abroad.

UNO faculty work with students who are deployed to help them complete their courses, says Jennifer Carroll, director of MaV USO.

UNO ensures that military service members — should they be deployed — not have to worry about the status of the classes they are taking.

UNO gives them a T-shirt and a “thank you for your service” letter encouraging them to resume their educational careers when they return, Carroll says. Service members receive priority registration status when they return to UNO, she adds.

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All Things Afghanistan

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UNO seminar is country’s go-to source for military personnel, civilians preparing for life and work in war-torn country

By John Fey

He’d been there before, so Army Major Ryan Nacin knew all too well the dangers that lurked in his pending deployment to Afghanistan.

So before heading overseas, he headed to Omaha, following the advice of a colleague to enroll in UNO’s Afghanistan Immersion Seminar.

Nacin (above) left with rave reviews for the program he attended with three other members of his 3rd Brigade Combat Team (BCT), 10th Mountain Division.

“Let’s put it this way,” Nacin says, “the faculty is amazing, and their credentials and experience speak for themselves.

I consider myself to be extremely well-read and versed on Afghanistan issues based on previous deployments and assignments, but nothing I’ve experienced until I took the course was as valuable as the three weeks of discussion with the expert staff here.”

Nacin and company were among 16 participants in the 41st Afghanistan Immersion Seminar class that graduated July 26. Since 2008, more than 600 civilian and military personnel, including trainees from federal agencies and nongovernmental organizations, have completed the seminar.

They were under the tutelage of Thomas Gouttierre, dean of UNO’s International Studies and Programs, and an accomplished staff of UNO experts. Professor Jack Shroder covers the country’s geology; Shoaib Yosoufzal gives specifics on the Afghan Army; Shaista Wahab reviewed its history and culture; Abdul Raheem Yaseer and Abdullah Yaseer cover religion; Esmael Burhan teaches about the Dari language.

Nacin, chief of Information Operations for the 3rd Brigade, was especially impressed by Sher Jan Ahmadzai, whose specialty is ruling structures.

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“He taught me more about the political and cultural considerations of modern-day Afghanistan in a four-hour timeframe than I have learned in the span of 10 years of my extensive studies, readings and work experience over there,” Nacin says. “Sher Jan was such a great resource, in fact, that I have invited him to be a guest speaker here at Fort Drum, N.Y., so that the rest of my BCT’s leadership can benefit from listening to and questioning him.”

Welcome praise to Gouttierre, who has seen the fledgling seminar program, begun just five years ago, become a must-attend course for civilians and military personnel prepping to serve in a unique, yet everchanging region of the world. UNO continues to be the only U.S. university to host such a seminar. And just as Afghanistan’s culture and government have undergone changes during the United States military involvement, so has the seminar.

“We’re constantly updating the curriculum to keep pace with the social and metro resources of the country so we can keep people apprised about the current elements of Afghanistan and inform people of the content of what makes up Afghanistan,” Gouttierre says. “The major change has been, of course, the interest in the U.S. government changes.”

Gouttierre’s Afghanistan resume is impressive. His first exposure to the country began in 1965 while living there for 10 years with his wife, Marylu — the first two years with the Peace Corps. Today he directs ISP’s Center for Afghanistan Studies. He visits at least once a year, sometimes more, to keep up-to-date on social, economic and governance issues and stays in touch with longtime friend and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

When the Immersion Seminar was begun the U.S. movement against the Taliban was extensive. Gouttierre crafted his initial class accordingly and attendees were mostly military personnel. As the years advanced, more members of the intelligence community and others outside the military started to attend.

“We’re reflective of the fact that our military involvement is being scaled down,” he says.

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The Immersion Seminar’s changing landscape includes a new partnership with UNO’s School of Communication to help Kabul University update its communication curriculum. Professor Chris Allen has been directing UNO’s efforts in that arena.

“We have nine or 10 faculty (Kabul’s) come here for weeks at a time to see what we do and to consult with us about class structure, pedagogy and teaching issues,” Allen says. “I went to Kabul in April to deliver a series of lectures to KU students on media topics ranging from basic television field techniques to investigative journalism.”

Allen also has addressed members of the Immersion Seminar about the state of Afghan media. His trips to Afghanistan and teaching were funded from a $1.2 million grant from the U.S. State Department. He’s hoping to make one last visit before the grant expires in July.

Gouttierre says the seminar also has spent years with computer-based training designed to improve Afghan business efficiency.

“We have such an aggregation of talent in our center,” he says. “When they choose UNO and our center, they’re getting the best orientation and context they’re going to be facing that they can get anywhere else in the United States.”

Giving Afghans a Sporting Chance It’s not every week that UNO makes the pages of Sports Illustrated.

In fact, since 1972 the renowned sports magazine has reported on UNO players and teams just eight times.

Most of those have been mentions in passing, such as former football Coach Sandy Buda’s 1982 “They Said It” quote on defensive tackle John Walker — “He’s tougher than nine miles of detour.”

In its July 22 issue, though, Sports Illustrated published the most extensive piece ever on a Maverick — although he’s never once donned a UNO uniform.

The magazine ran a 7,600-word feature on Tom Gouttierre, dean of International Studies & Programs and among the country’s foremost experts on Afghanistan.

Gouttierre doesn’t see the 41st seminar class being UNO’s last, but he hints that the future of the program may hinge on action from Washington, D.C.

The article, “The Wizard of Kabul,” details Gouttierre’s time as a Peace Corps volunteer when he “turned a ragtag high school basketball squad into a national team with the discipline and skills to beat a foreign power.” Gouttierre was coach, getting help along the way from UCLA legend John Wooden and NBAer-turned Senator Bill Bradley. Gouttierre would coach the team to its first-ever international basketball victory, against China.

“I don’t anticipate (the seminar) will be growing much,” he says. “I so wonder how much it will last if we scale down our presence in Afghanistan.”

The lengthy piece recounts how it all came to be, taking readers from Gouttierre’s Michigan roots to his office on the UNO campus where today he oversees the Center for Afghanistan Studies.

For now, seminar alumni like Nacin are grateful for the opportunity afforded them.

“The value of this course is the instructors’ unique perspectives based on their personal experiences and relationships with key figures in Afghanistan and in U.S. policy making,” Nacin says. “Overall, this is a great course, and I’ve already been recommending this to my colleagues across the Army as a great predeployment course.”

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Fighting

By Rick Davis

Laura Kapustka had just finished her second Boston Marathon when she heard the explosions.

“I will never forget the sound of it,” she says from her home in Lincoln, Neb., where she is vice president and CFO for Lincoln Electric System.

“It shakes you all the way through.”

Kapustka, 2011-12 chairman of the board of the UNO Alumni Association and a two-degreed grad (BSBA, ’84; MBA ’91), had crossed the finish line of the 26.2-mile course in 3 hours, 59 minutes.

Ten minutes later — as she was collecting her commemorative medal and foil runner’s blanket — the first of two pressure-cooker bombs exploded near the finish line on Boylston Street.

“It was very, very loud,” says Kapustka, who was about two blocks away from the blast. “I remember looking at the other people around me, and everybody just kind of had this puzzled look on their face.”

Thirteen seconds later, the second bomb exploded.

Some people around Kapustka suggested that the noise was from scaffolding falling.

Laura Kapustka at the 2013 Boston Marathon

What is Terrorism?

How Safe are We?

While there is no one authoritative definition, START (for its Global Terrorism Database) and the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP, for its 2012 Global Terrorism Index) describe terrorism as:

Three people were killed and more than 260 injured during the April 15 Boston Marathon terrorist attack.

The threatened or actual use of illegal force and violence by a non-state actor to attain a political, economic, religious, or social goal through fear, coercion, or intimidation.

One of the suspects, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, would be killed after an exchange of gunfire with police shortly after midnight on April 19 in Watertown, Mass. His brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the second of two suspects, was captured by law enforcement later that evening.

Investigators say the brothers were motivated by extremist Islamic beliefs but were not acting with known terrorist groups. The surviving brother pleaded not guilty in July to 30 charges stemming from the bombing.

UNO professor Patrick O’Neil says he was impressed with the speed at which the suspects were identified and the manhunt unfolded.

“If you take a look at the technology that was used to visually replicate the scene, that was pretty impressive,” says O’Neil, a retired career Naval officer who now oversees the new emergency management degree program at UNO. (cont. on page 42)

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Terrorism “I thought it was too loud for scaffolding, but after you run 26 miles, you don’t process things real clearly.”

Kapustka walked to pick up her gear bag when see saw a wave of people running toward her.

“They were just yelling, ‘Run, run, run!’

So she ran. Worried. Worried about runners possibly getting trampled in the chaos. Worried about another attack. Worried if she should cover her mouth to protect herself from possible ashes falling from the sky, like during 9/11. Worried about her husband, who was a spectator at the finish line.

After a few blocks, the crowd began to disperse.

Kapustka stepped inside a building to put on some coverup clothes, check her cell phone and collect her thoughts.

A text-message informed her of the bombing. But she still hadn’t heard from her husband. “I just stood there for awhile, because I needed to figure out where he was.”

She began walking to the family meeting area — race volunteers helping her with directions along the way.

“It was like a two-block walk. But that was probably the longest walk of my life.”

I was thinking,

Oh my God, is this like 9/11?

The meeting areas were aligned alphabetically. At the “K” section, she found her husband — safe. “It was a very tearful reunion when we both saw each other.”

Back to Boston Terrorism, at its root, involves intimidation.

That’s why Laura Kapustka hopes to be back for the Boston Marathon next year.

“If I can get in, I’m going back,” she says. “I want to show the world that what the terrorists are trying to accomplish is not going to happen. And I really think next year’s Boston turnout is going to be bigger than ever.”

The Structure of Terrorism Gina Ligon, an assistant professor of management at UNO, is looking at terrorism from a different angle — in terms of business and leadership.

She is the lone business professor conducting research through the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) — a University of Maryland-based research center supported by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

She has been at UNO for just a year, but has been researching the “business of terrorism” for 12 years.

Her work involves studying 45 different “violent ideological organizations” in the United States and abroad — from the Ku Klux Klan to al-Qaida — and comparing their organizational structures and leadership to non-violent ideological organizations and more conventional, corporate organizations.

She is especially interested in the ability of organizations to (cont. on page 43)

Gina Ligon

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(cont. from page 40) “They went through all these various ATM cameras, traffic cams and security cameras in the buildings to put together the scene. The technology is available to quickly react.”

O’Neil holds a master’s degree in strategic studies and national security from the Naval War College and a Ph.D. in public administration from UNO (2008). He also is a former Navy carrier pilot, having flown the EA-6B Prowler used in electronic warfare such as jamming enemy radar and gathering radio intelligence from the skies.

In the wake of the Boston bombings, he’s asked, how safe are we from terrorist attacks in post-9/11 America?

On the other hand, our resources are not infinite, so you have to make some really good choices and try to prioritize as best as possible.

Terror in the United States — who’s responsible?

Which terrorist organization was responsible for the most attacks on U.S. soil between 2001 and 2011? According to data from START, it was the Earth Liberation Front — ELF — a radical environmental group linked to 50 terrorist attacks in the United States during the decade. They were followed by the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), which was linked to 34 attacks.

Terrorism by the Numbers

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O’Neil says looking at our critical infrastructure from a macro level, the United States is “extremely well advanced” in the aviation area.

“But when you start looking at 140,000 to 150,000 miles of rail, 200,000 miles of pipeline, thousands of miles of electrical transmission lines, some 80,000 dams, as well as bridges …

“If you look at the environment as an aggregate threat list, or a potential hazard list, it’s impressive.”

One area O’Neil says is critical in the fight against terrorism — and a hot-button issue lately — is the gathering of information.

“We’ve gotten a lot better at collecting information both domestically and in partnerships internationally on groups and individuals that would likely try to do us harm,” he says.

“Of course the down side to this is, since you don’t really know who the potential perpetrators are, you’re in the general data-collection business. And that gets into some pretty touchy areas.”

For instance, the recent news that the National Security Agency is collecting the phone data of American citizens — a once-secret practice revealed among the documents leaked by ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

Opponents of the program say it infringes on Americans’ civil liberties.

Proponents say it has helped thwart terrorist attacks — including, says Gen. Keith Alexander, NSA director and commander of U.S. Cyber Command, a 2009 al-Qaida plot to attack New York City subways “that would have been the biggest event in the United States since 9/11.”

Increase in number of terrorist attacks worldwide since 2002.

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Terrorist attacks since 1970 that did NOT involve a fatality.

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(cont. from page 41) facilitate creativity or innovation — which, for terrorist organizations, she classifies as unexpected or novel attacks.

“Leaders for innovation in for-profit companies often encourage outside collaboration and job rotations. They provide autonomy to employees to explore ideas.”

She also found that the “overwhelming majority” of leaders of violent groups use violent themes and punishment for control — rather than “traditional motivation strategies such as individualized consideration and structure” — and are not as supportive or open with their top management as in non-violent organizations.

“This has a lot of implications for succession planning,” Ligon says.

If that leader is imprisoned, killed or removed from power, she explains, that organization “is going to be very vulnerable because that leader often has not shared power. Continuity of operations is scant under these leaders during times of change. ” She also has analyzed terrorist groups in terms of conventional marketing theories around notoriety, while collaborating with colleague Mike Breazeale, an assistant professor of marketing at UNO. For instance, in the for-profit world, when a company makes Fortune magazine’s “most admired” list, they generally have an easier time recruiting new employees. In marketing lingo, it enhances their brand.

So what happens among terrorist organizations? “It’s the same thing, but the ‘third-party endorser’ differs.” Ligon says. That “thirdparty endorsement” could come from another terrorist group, or even the U.S. government — for example, being placed on the State Department’s list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.

“Once they get recognized by a third party as a viable group, their recruiting goes up, their fundraising goes up.”

So, what does this all mean for U.S. counter-terrorism efforts? Ligon hopes her research can eventually identify early-warning indicators about up-and-coming terrorists groups — and organizational and leadership weaknesses that could be exploited.

Weapons used Of the more than 2,600 terrorist attacks in the U.S. between 1970 and 2011, most relied on readily available, unsophisticated weaponry. Incendiary devices and explosives were the weapons of choice in 81 percent of terrorist attacks in the United States from 1970 to 2011. The top targeted U.S. cities since 1970? New York (430 attacks) and Los Angeles (103 attacks). (Source: START)

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Terrorist attacks worldwide from 2002 to 2011 that occurred in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Terrorist attacks that target private citizens and property — the most frequent terrorist target from 2002 to 2011. Next are government facilities (17%) and police (14%).

In terrorist organizations, we found the ones that are more rigid and controlling of their people actually produced more malevolently innovative results.

Teaching to fight information terror at UNO Did you know that UNO is home to the Nebraska University Center for Information Assurance — which is considered a national center of excellence by the U.S. National Security Agency?

James Clapper, director of National Intelligence, told Congress in March that when it comes to identifying national security threats faced by the United States, “our statement this year leads with cyber and it’s hard to overemphasize its significance.”

Hesham Ali, dean of UNO’s College of Information Science & Technology, which oversees the center, agrees it’s a critical issue.

“Information security is considered by many to be one of the main challenges of our generation,” Ali writes on the center’s website. “Properly addressing Information security concerns is critical not only to economic prosperity but also to national security, and UNO’s information assurance program is regarded as one of the best in the country.”

The center hosted (virtually and on campus) the 2008 International Cyber Defense Workshop, which attracted 100 individuals from 15 countries.

For more on the center, visit nucia.ist.unomaha.edu.

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Number of terrorists involved in nearly all terrorist attacks between 2002-2011.

Terrorist organizations that last for less than one year.

Sources: START and IEP 2012 Global Terrorism Index

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Writing the Book on Terror

By Rick Davis

For many Americans, “terrorism” became part of our national psyche following the attacks of 9/11, which claimed nearly 3,000 lives. So who were the 9/11 attackers?

Perhaps no one is better suited to answer that question than UNO graduate and veteran journalist Terry McDermott.

The Iowa native joined the Air Force at 17 and served in Vietnam. After returning from service, he was stationed at Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue, Neb., and began taking courses at UNO. He earned an undergraduate degree in journalism (1975) and a graduate degree in urban studies (1977).

After graduating, he worked at papers in Iowa, Oregon and Washington before landing a job as a reporter at the Los Angeles Times in 1998.

“The guy sitting next to me in the newsroom was (award-winning journalist) Josh Meyer, who was covering terrorism,” McDermott recalls. “And everybody kind of laughed at him: `You’re wasting your time; nobody cares about this crap.’

“And then 9/11 happened. And for the next five years, that’s all I did was cover terrorism.”

At the end of September 2001, McDermott’s editor asked him to write about Mohamed Atta, the lead 9/11 hijacker.

“The assignment was to go wherever I needed to go, and to stay as long as I needed to stay,” McDermott says.

McDermott would travel to Germany and almost every country in the Middle East over the next several years.

At the time, the conventional assumption was that Bin Laden and Atta were the masterminds of the 9/11 attacks, McDermott says. “But he (Atta) was just a volunteer,” he says. “So you start wondering, who’s above him? So we went looking for that in-between.”

Photo by Chelsea Sektnan

Terry McDermott

More Reading

McDermott’s reporting and subsequent investigations became the subject of two books: “Perfect Soldiers: The 9/11 Hijackers: Who They Were, Why They Did It” (2005) and “The Hunt for KSM: Inside the Pursuit and Takedown of the Real 9/11 Mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed” (2012), which he co-authored with his Los Angeles Times colleague Meyer.

McDermott says it was Khalid Sheikh Mohammed who first pitched the 9/11 plot to Bin Laden as early as 1996. “Bin Laden thought it was too complicated and kind of crazy,” he says. “But by 1998, they had refined it enough that he (Bin Laden) gave his blessing to it and agreed to fund it.

McDermott isn’t the only UNO connection to have written on terrorism.

“But it was KSM who dreamed the whole thing up. He managed the whole thing, from A to Z. I’m almost certain that if Bin Laden had been captured before 9/11 or killed, the plot would have gone forward. But if KSM had been captured or killed, it would have stopped. He was the prime mover.”

Tactical Counterterrorism: The Law Enforcement Manual of Terrorism Prevention (2012)

While the profile of Atta went excruciatingly slow at first, McDermott was eventually able to interview Atta’s college roommates in Hamburg, Germany, then people at the Mosque he attended there, and Atta’s family, among others.

Perfect Enemy: The Law Enforcement Manual of Islamist Terrorism (2009) Dean Olson 1985 UNO criminal justice major Counter-terrorism After 9/11: Justice, Security, and Ethics Reconsidered (2005) John Crank Professor, School of Criminology and Criminal Justice

Atta, like most of the hijackers, came from a middle-class family and was not particularly religious when he traveled to Hamburg for college, McDermott says. Hamburg’s cold and rainy environment, however, could be an “isolating place for young kids from the dessert.”

“It’s pretty obvious that they would seek other (Middle Eastern) people,” he says. “And the easiest place to find people is at the mosque.”

Atta began attending the al-Quds mosque. “It was a radical place,” McDermott says.

“When I first went there, I was scared to death,” he says. “I had heard about this horrible place. And I go there, and it’s like a clubhouse. It was warm and inviting and friendly. You could just see the shelter that it would give somebody. And then you listen to the sermons, and it’s a whole different story.”

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Secretary ’s Day U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel returns to his alma mater to deliver his first speech Chuck Hagel has had plenty of titles preceding his name: Army sergeant; CEO; U.S. senator. And now, Secretary of Defense.

As many know, he can also go by “UNO graduate.”

And the 1971 UNO alum was back on campus in June, delivering his first public speech since being sworn in as U.S. Secretary of Defense in February.

“I’m very fond of that institution for obvious reasons,” Hagel told the Omaha World-Herald. “They actually gave me a diploma.”

Hagel earned it, Senior Vice Chancellor B.J. Reed pointed out to the paper.

He came to UNO after serving the U.S. Army in Vietnam, where he received two Purple Hearts among other honors.

He started classes in 1969 and graduated two years later with a bachelor of general studies degree as a history major.

Soon thereafter he began his political career as a staffer for former Nebraska Congressman John McCollister. He later started Vanguard Cellular, a mobile phone service carrier, but eventually got back into politics. Nebraskans in 1996 voted him to the U.S. Senate. He was re-elected in 2002, retiring in 2008.

Some expected him to run for the presidency in 2008, but he never entered the race (he hosted an announcement about his plans on UNO’s campus at the Thompson Alumni Center).

Hagel’s post-senate affairs included time as a UNO distinguished professor, which has brought him back to campus on occasion to engage students and the community.

He was at UNO again this summer to deliver a muchanticipated speech. A large audience packed Strauss Recital Hall for a firsthand account of the country’s defense concerns and initiatives.

Hagel focused on challenges the Department of Defense is facing, spending the majority of his speech talking about cyberattacks against the United States.

“We live in a world where our homeland is vulnerable to cyberattackers who can strike from anywhere in the world,” Hagel said. “It’s a huge issue and it’s not as simple as are we are winning or losing. We’ve got threats, they are real, and they are going to keep coming.”

The U.S., he said, has to find a shared approach with ally nations to counter the threat.

“Malicious cyber-attacks, which hardly registered as a threat a decade ago, are quickly becoming a defining security challenge for our time,” Hagel said. “This is a fundamentally different, more insidious kind of threat then we have ever seen, one that carries with it a great risk of miscalculation or mistake.”

—Austin Gaule, UNO Alumni Association

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Safe and

By Greg Kozol

In a world of 24-hour news and 140-character messages, it’s hard to see beyond the crisis of the day or whatever is trending on Twitter.

But the U.S. military is looking far into the future as it examines defense priorities and seeks to counter potential threats.

And researchers from UNO — including students — are part of the effort.

In 2012, the University of Nebraska entered into a partnership with U.S. Strategic Command to create a University-Affiliated Research Center. Faculty from NU campuses conduct research that supports Stratcom’s mission of deterring and detecting strategic attacks against the United States.

Only 14 institutions, including Johns Hopkins University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have gained UARC status. In Nebraska, the UARC is operated through the university-wide National Strategic Research Institute (NSRI).

Photo by Eric Francis

PKI’s Jim Taylor with, from left, Ben Lorenzen (UNL), Kyle Reestman (UNO) and Nick Vanderveen (UNO).

UNO faculty and students work to protect the country as part of the elite National Strategic Research Institute

“It took a couple of years,” says Robert Hinson, NSRI’s founding executive director. “The university felt they had a lot of expertise on all campuses to be a candidate for a UARC. The fact that it’s in the backyard of Stratcom is convenient. It is close to the customer.”

Global missions Headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue, Neb., Stratcom is assigned mission responsibilities under what the U.S. Department of Defense calls the Unified Command Plan. That includes mission responsibilities across the globe.

“Mission responsibilities are at the highest levels of concern,” says Hinson, a retired lieutenant general and former deputy commander of U.S. Stratcom. “There is a lot of concern about our abilities to stay ahead of technologies, and how some of these technologies can be used in a detrimental way. The intent of Stratcom is to look ahead.”

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Secure In short, the military knows a future conflict won’t be like the last one. University researchers, including those at UNO, are helping Stratcom defend against evolving threats such as weapons of mass destruction and attacks on critical infrastructure.

With consequence management, researchers want to assess risks and system vulnerabilities and visualize how people would react amid the chaos and uncertainty of an attack on a communications network.

The UARC’s areas of study for NU faculty — referred to as core competencies — include:

“You can look anywhere from planning documentation and data collection to IT services and how to establish procedures for dealing with a changing environment,” Hinson says. “It covers a broader waterfront and deals with psychological aspects of how a terrorist organization functions and how you evaluate consequences to an IT-type threat.”

• Nuclear detection and forensics • Detection of chemical and biological weapons • Passive defense against weapons of mass destruction • Consequence management, and, • Space, cyber and telecommunications law.

Academic disciplines associated with military research include engineering, computer science, medical research and physics.

All of this isn’t as futuristic as it seems. In South Korea, hackers knocked out tens of thousands of computers in early 2013 in an effort to steal secrets from the U.S. military and its allies. Attempted attacks on critical civilian infrastructure increased 17-fold in the last two years, the Department of Defense reports.

UNO’s role

“When you look at the types of things we’re vulnerable to, everyone should be concerned about how to protect data,” Hinson says.

Hinson says UNO’s contributions focus on consequence management and mitigation.

Research at UNO and the Peter Kiewit Institute, which includes UNO’s College of Information Science & Technology, evaluates the response to a traumatic event or crisis, such as a natural disaster or attack on critical infrastructure.

While Hinson was unable to provide details on individual projects, he says students, faculty, and staff from UNO are providing research using a variety of methods, much of it involving computer-based data analysis and assessment of information systems and technologies. The research at UNO, he says, involves hours spent engaged in computer imaging, computer graphics manipulation, data search and coding.

At times, researchers design solutions to an assigned task and give oral presentations on their findings. That can lead to student experience with a bit more gravitas than the average internship — in July, for instance, UNO students Kyle Reestman and Nick Vanderveen were part of a briefing at Stratcom, joining UNL student Ben Lorenzen and PKI faculty James Taylor.

The process is rewarding for those involved in the research, says Dr. Mike McGinnis, executive director at PKI. Traditionally, discoveries made in connection with academic research lead to new concepts or technologies that could take years or decades to come to general use. In matters of national security, researchers often study a more narrowly defined problem while working under a pressing deadline, he says.

“This dynamic creates an incentive for research teams to quickly bring the problem into focus and use all available resources to deliver a high-quality product on time, and on budget,” says McGinnis, a retired brigadier general. “The added national security element ought to bring us a special sense of accomplishment and pride in knowing that our work and research will support the defense of the nation.”

Nebraska pride By mid-2013, faculty members were engaged in UARC projects at UNO, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Nebraska Medical Center. In some cases, researchers are studying new generations of vaccines, as well as innovative medical devices and tools that could protect military personnel or first responders in the event of an attack involving weapons of mass destruction.

Officials refer to this as medical passive defense.

“Some of this is really in the early stages,” Hinson says. “It is ongoing and contributing to some solutions.”

In all, 15 to 20 projects are either in the works or on contract through the Nebraska UARC. This research has the potential not only to benefit the military but also lead to commercial breakthroughs that impact society as a whole.

Consider that a technology like global positioning systems, which began with military applications, is now accessible on any smart phone.

“Some of the things that come out of this can benefit the overall population,” Hinson says.

Ultimately, the university benefits as well. University of Nebraska President James B. Milliken says the UARC could help open the door to additional research opportunities in the future. The UARC contract itself could bring in $84 million over five years.

“Not only does this provide an opportunity for faculty to participate in research that advances national security, but it has the potential to attract millions of dollars in research funding to Nebraska, which will bring additional jobs and talent to our state,” he says. “It’s gratifying to be in a position to contribute to research and development that will support our men and women in uniform. This truly is an initiative of which all Nebraskans should be proud.”

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— s s e n i s u B f o s t e e r V a d C n ’ a n i Tak

By Noelle Blood UNO College of Business Administration

UNO’s Nebraska Business Development Center helps military personnel and veterans begin, and grow, their businesses

When they’re done with the business of protecting our country, many military personnel turn to the business of … business.

And UNO’s Nebraska Business Development Center (NBDC) is there to help them.

In 2010, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) issued a federal cooperative agreement to conduct outreach projects that assist veteran, active duty, guard, and U.S. military reserve members and their spouses to start, grow, and manage businesses. NBDC fulfills that through its Veterans Assistance & Services Program (VASP), which assists such clients with loan packaging, marketing, proposal writing, business plan drafting, securing government contracts, preparing a business for deployment, and more.

“NBDC recognizes that veterans have many important skills from their time in service to our country which can be used to start or grow a business,” says Jean Waters, senior community service associate for NBDC. Skills such as discipline, focus, determination and the ability to manage stress, says Steven Wolf, president and CEO of Issues Management Solutions, a veteran-owned public affairs, strategic communications, and government relations firm.

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r, e t c a r cha e h t f o the re e n l i p t o n e pe et we wa ure we a to r a s n Vetera t, and skills d to make s n our state i e minds rce. We nee ds of skills o workf ng those kin . i retain ur economy g r ow o Photo

own Wolf, Steve

“The military experience offers wonderful things in that regard,” Wolf says. “But the way the military and the government in general work, they encouraged closed-off, self-sustaining systems.”

The less structured environment of the civilian marketplace can pose a challenge to veterans looking to break into business.

This disconnect between military and business operations is a major hurdle for many veteran business owners, says Mark Spadaro, president and general manager of veteran-owned Dyna-Tech Aviation Services, Inc. “Owning a business is a whole lot more complicated than it looks to someone with no business background,” Spadaro says.

Military personnel “often use a vernacular that is lost on the civilian community and vice versa,” Wolf says. “There are priorities and focuses in the civilian business world that we wouldn’t necessarily appreciate or understand right off the bat.”

has specific set-asides geared toward veteran-owned businesses. In addition, the Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) in NBDC provides resources for businesses “as they navigate the red tape involved in becoming a government contractor,” Waters says.

Both Wolf and Spadaro are NBDC clients and members of the VASP advisory board.

Wolf says Issues Management Solutions has received “tremendous assistance” from PTAC over the past four years, including help reviewing business proposals and connecting with local companies to form partnerships. Spadaro first became involved with NBDC in 2009 when he sought guidance from PTAC to obtain government contracts for Dyna-Tech.

Between 2006 and 2012, VASP helped secure more than $78 million in VeteranOwned Business and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business contracts, resulting in creation and retention of approximately 2,253 jobs in Nebraska.

But NBDC, he says, understands the veteran experience and offers services tailored to the needs of service men and women.

“They [veterans] don’t come out with a business degree,” Spadaro says. “They come out with job education and technical expertise. With NBDC, PTAC, and VASP, it’s a centralized effort — everything is here on the second floor of Mammel Hall.”

VASP offers individual consulting sessions to help veterans locate the right services at NBDC. Government contracting is useful for expanding the customer base of any business, but the federal government

Almost everything. The monthly Veterans in Business Forum, held in the UNO Thompson Alumni Center on the first Friday of every month in Omaha and the third Thursday of the month in Lincoln, offers veterans the

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chance to network, introduce their services and products in brief presentations, and meet like-minded people. The forum has been running strong for seven years, and both Wolf and Spadaro attend every month.

“When you participate in an event as robust as the Veterans in Business Forum and go in with an open mind, there’s always something that pops up as a new nugget of information,” Spadaro says.

And not everything is business. While the forum offers pertinent and comprehensive information about business development and other topics, it is, at heart, an opportunity for veterans and veteran supporters to network.

“We share a common bond and a common background having served our country,” Wolf says. “The forum enables you to work with other people who have made that transition from a military environment to an entrepreneurial environment. It’s great to see other people who have been where you’re coming from and are going where you’d like to go.”

Another popular program for military clients just finding their footing in business is the Business Plan Boot Camp, which “helps veterans go from zero to 60 in their understanding and implementation of a business plan,” Waters says.

The forum, boot camp, and all other VASP services are provided to veterans at no charge. All of it establishes a climate in which veterans can thrive.

“You’ve got some large military presence in Nebraska,” Wolf says.

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NO T E S

CLASS 4

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Send your classnotes to www.unoalumni.org/classnotes.

Or, post your note on the UNO Alumni Association Facebook site: www.facebook.com/UNOAlumni

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DON GIBSON (BFA) lives in Denver and retired after 40 years as owner of Deco-Art, a decorating

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LESTER SHOBE (BGE)

lives in Seal Beach, Calif., and retired in 1977 from the United States Air Force. Shortly after leaving the Air Force, Lester began a 26-year stint in aerospace marketing.

TOM MOTE (BGS) writes from San Antonio: “I was a “shoe-stringer” rather than a “Bootstrapper” since I completed my degree while on terminal leave while retiring from the USAF. Then I earned a Ph.D. from UT Austin and taught at St. Mary's University until retirement as professor emeritus of computer science and psychology in 1992.”

Drtmmt6@gmail.com

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company. Gibson also is a professional cartoonist whose work runs in publications around Denver.

He published cartoons while with the Army in Stuttgart, Germany, during the Korean War. That includes this “Furlough Fun” cartoon.

GMGDMG@aol.com

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DON MCMAHILL (BSBA) lives in North Carolina and ran his 1,000th career race July 31 at the National Senior Games in Cleveland. He finished third in his age division, 75 to 79. He played on UNO’s football team that won the 1955 Tangerine Bowl.

PIERRE AREND (BGE)

lives in Clinton Township, Mich., and recently retired from teaching French at Macomb Community College.

Pierrearend@att.net

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Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and is married with two grown children. His academic papers have been published extensively. joelsnell@hotmail.com

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RON MARAZ (BGS)

recently retired and moved to the Charlotte, N.C., area. He was commissioned after graduating from UNO and completed his master’s degree in health care administration at Washington University in St. Louis, followed by a BA in education at the University of South Florida — all after retiring from the USAF. He writes: “The Air Force was great, UNO was great and now retirement is great. After retiring from teaching I formed a tutoring service with my wife called Marazematics. I met my wife, Cathy, while teaching 25 years ago and we are very happily married.” rcmaraz@me.com

JIM VLCEK (BS) lives in Omaha and is president and owner of Vell Advertising and Marketing.

AVELINE MARKS (BS)

kept busy this summer with cross-stitching and needlepoint projects. She and her husband were to take part in Omaha’s Scandinavian Midsummer Festival at Elmwood Park Pavilion. aveneedle@msn.com

JOEL SNELL (BA) lives in

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JAMES BARD (BGS)

writes from Westminster, Md.: “In August I brought the entire 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing Association (1948-1957) to Omaha for our reunion. We were a part of the Strategic Air Command that was headquartered at Offutt. After 44 years it gave me a chance to visit the campus.

Hope to do it again some day.” jimbardjr@comcast.net

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GERALDINE O’LEARY (BS) writes from Honolulu:

“After 43 years in service as a speech and language pathologist, I have retired and am living in Honolulu, Hawaii. I will spend part of my retirement as director for my church’s outreach program.” danielandgeri@gmail.com

DAVID LINN (BS) would like to contact fellow classmates. davidjlinn2010@hotmail.com.

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JEFF EVANGELISTI (BS) resides in Gresham,

Ore., and has published a novel “The Stone Thread.” The synopsis for the mystery novel reads: “In 1980, Dr. Elizabeth Wellstrom, who studies historic words, discovers a killer.”

Read more at www.Thestonethread.com

LINDA PLACZEK (BS & MS) was awarded the Volunteer of the Year Award from Reading Is Fundamental in May 2013. She was awarded for her work in providing more than 8,000 books for children at Conestoga Magnet School in the Omaha Public Schools district, in conjunction with Golden K Kiwanis Club of Omaha.

LINDA PRIESMAN SMITH (BS) writes from Sun City, Ariz.: “Since retiring to the Valley of the Sun in June 2001 I've been very involved as a volunteer with the Foster Care Review Board. There are boards in every Arizona county and they make sure foster children, their parents and placements get all the services they need so the children can be reunified with their parents.” Smith also notes that fellow alumni Dick and JoAnn (Bishop) Smith have retired to the Tucson area.

“We get together for lunch several times a year. We always exchanged Christmas cards but it’s great reconnecting again.

I was editor of the Gateway in 1965 and Dick was editor in 1964.”

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HAROLD VANLUE (BA)

lives in Hampton, Va., with his wife, two daughters and three grandchildren. After graduating from UNO, Vanlue attended Golden Gate University and received a master’s degree in human resource management. He retired after 28 years of federal service, including a stint with the U.S. Department of Defense. hvanlue1@cox.net

J. PATRICK ANDERSON (BA) lives in Colorado Springs, Colo. and received the Silver Antelope award from the Boy Scouts of America for service on a regional basis.

2patanderson@gmail.com

CHARLES NUEMANN (BS) lives in La Vista, Neb., and is a retired federal employee whose 35-year career started after earning a commission in the Air Force through the UNO ROTC program.

He now keeps busy doing yard work, watching baseball games and taking care of his grandson Luke. Chuck met his wife, Kathryn, when both attended UNO. Likewise, Chuck's daughter, Laura, met her husband Bryce Journey while attending UNO. cjneum2@yahoo.com

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GARY THOMSEN (BA)

lives in Lake Ozark, Mo., and is entering his 40th year as an MD. He writes: “Come to the Ozarks if you're up for golf!” gnthomsen@gmail.com

JEANNE BAKER (BS) lives in Glendale, Ariz., and is retired from teaching. She writes: “My years at UNO were wonderful. I have four children, the youngest is a junior at ASU.” nellied1015@yahoo.com

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GEORGE FOLEY (BGS)

lives in Dothan, Ala., and recently was accepted into the American Songwriters Association. He writes: “I am coming out of retirement at age 72 to be a graduate course developer. Thanks to everyone at UNO for the encouragement.” georgefoley811@gmail.com

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RICHARD D. BROWN (MS) was inducted into the

Millard Public Schools Foundation's Hall of Fame and is scheduled to enter the Millard High/ Millard South H.S. Hall of Fame later this year. He retired after 36 years in the system as a social studies and communications instructor. His speech and congressional debate teams grew from four students to more than 50. He now coaches speech and debate at Creighton Prep — where he coached Omaha's first American Legion oratorical champion since 1975. He also is a senior writer for the Midlands Business Journal and is an adjunct political science and history instructor for Metropolitan Community College. rdanfordbrown@aol.com

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BOB ZAGOZDA (BSBA)

lives in Carter Lake, Iowa, and was promoted to chief financial officer of Westside Community Schools.

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JOHN MCNAMARA (BS) lives in Downers Grove,

Ill., and has published his fifth work of fiction, “The Dreams of Teddy Schreck” McNamara writes: “The novel focuses on a retired salesman who obsesses about retaining his mental acuity." jmcn49@comcast.net

JOHN FEY (BS) completed his fourth year at Peak Performance store and is looking forward to semi-retirement in October 2014. He lives in Omaha.

In his free time he writes for various publications, including UNO Magazine. He also enjoys spending time with his wife, Shirley, and six grandchildren. jmfey1952@gmail.com

BOBBYE HITZFELD (BS) lives in Texas and recently retired from American Airlines and has earned his MBA in international management from the University of Dallas. bobbye55@yahoo.com

University College of Social and Behavioral MOLLY Moriarty (BA) writes from Council Bluffs, Iowa: “This will Sciences Distinguished Professor Award. be my 37th year as a violinist in the THOMAS NEGLEY (BS) Omaha Symphony. I also play viola in recently opened a TCBY the Midlands String Quartet that plays franchise with his wife in weddings, receptions, parties and all Ralston, Neb. It's near Ralston sorts of special events. I also taught for Omaha Public Schools for 31 years, although I took early retirement. I am still the orchestra assistant at the Omaha South High Fine Arts Magnet. In addition I plan to sub in OPS, Council Bluffs and Millard. I am a runner, looking to take horseback riding lessons, and enjoy traveling. My twin nieces, Megan and Katie Moriarty, will graduate in 2014 from UNO with elementary education degrees.

They will be third-generation teachers and family members who have attended UNO.” Arena, home to the UNO men’s basketball MARIAN O’BRIEN team. UNO mascot Durango appeared at the store’s grand opening with free UNO PAUL (BA) writes from Chicago that in April 2013 her sporting event tickets and t-shirts. poem, “Cahokia Mounds, tcbyralston@cox.net Illinois,” appeared in the Midwest Prairie PATRICIA FONTES (BA) Review. obrienmarian@yahoo.com retired from a public school district in Westborough, Mass., BARBARA KEATING (MA) lives after a long career as a school in Mankato, Minn., and is president of the Midwest Sociological Society. She library media specialist. received the 2012 Minnesota State

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LINDA JOHNSON (MS) became vice president of business development for Senseonics, a medical device company developing a long-term, fully implanted continuous glucose sensor. lindajohnson300@gmail.com

JERRY SEITZ (MS) lives in San Antonio and was voted into the Nebraska Wesleyan University Athletic Hall of Fame, inducted in September at the Homecoming football game. gpseitz@yahoo.com

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KATHY KRIEGLER (MS)

joined the 5th Street Mental Health Professionals in Ames, Iowa, as a private practice therapist. She has 27 years of experience in the mental health counseling field. kakriegl@mchsi.com

C.J. WILSON (BS) lives in Waterloo, Neb., and writes: “I majored in recreational therapy/therapeutic recreation and ended up…in my own business of professional photography (the business education is helpful). It’s important to clarify the income from studio photos and print on site event photos.” cre8pix@live.com

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RANDALL BEHM (BSCE) lives in Papillion and

has spent 28 years with the Omaha district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He is chairman of the USACE National Nonstructural Flood Proofing Committee. floodfighter@q.com

MELISSA GASNICK CLOETER (BS) lives in Hackettstown, N.J., and was scheduled to return to Omaha this September with her business, Own It Ventures for a women entrepreneurs networking event at CBA’s Mammel Hall. melissa@ownitventures.com

Celebrate 100 years of dreams coming true.

Since 1913, UNO alumni have come together to help today’s students pursue their goals and achieve their dreams. As we enter our next 100 years, join us in continuing that mission with a gift to the UNO Annual Fund today. Your gift will support alumni programs, events that support scholarships, the Thompson Alumni Center, and

communications like this magazine. Together with UNO’s worldwide alumni network, we can make our reach greater and our impact stronger.

You are an important part of our 100-year history.

Be a part of our future through the UNO Annual Fund.

unoalumni.org/give

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JANIS GRANT MCDANIELS (BGS) was

elected to the Concordia College Alabama Board of Regents. wmljanis@aol.com

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NANCY WITTWER (BS) is a

managerial accountant for OPPD and was honored with a national award for work she has done growing the Association of Government Accountants (AGA). During her 10-year tenure with the organization, her chapter’s events have drawn standing-room-only crowds. On

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class notes July 16 she was presented with the Chapter Education Award at the Annual PDC Conference in Dallas.

JANE STENTZ (BS) lives writes from Lincoln, Neb: “In May 2013 I left Union Bank & Trust Company to work full time on finishing a Ph.D. in leadership studies at UNL. I will be serving as a graduate teaching assistant in UNL’s Agricultural Leadership, Education & Communication Department.”

Photo courtesy Northwest Arkansas Newspapers

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On top of Pea Ridge

COCO MCATEE (MS) was featured in Kansas City Nursing News and the Kansas City Star for her work with high-risk pregnancy at Overland Park Regional Medical Center.

Expectant mothers are transported there from more than 100 miles away because of its expertise in high-risk situations. coco.mcatee@gmail.com

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JULIANNE CROTTY-GUILE (MA) lives in Omaha and owns

Graduate John Scott oversees National park and civil war battlefield

Noteworthy Music teaching voice and piano. noteworthymusic@cox.net

John Scott doesn’t just make history every day he works.

KYLE RACHWITZ-FRYE (BS) lives in

He protects it, too.

Omaha and released her second book, “Animal Rights.” It’s her first work of fiction. The book introduces readers to a serial killer via a series of grisly murders.

Rachwitz-Frye founded an animal rescue organization inspired by and named after her 19-year-old cat Merlin. She and her husband, Phil, have been married 28 years. kylefrye@cox.net

Scott, a 1977 UNO graduate, is superintendent of Pea Ridge National Military Park in northwest Arkansas. There, on March 7-8, 1862, 16,000 Confederate soldiers battled 10,000 Union troops. Two thousand men died.

It was the only major Civil War battle in which Indian troops participated, almost 1,000 Cherokee comprising two Confederate regiments. The Union won, effectively securing its control of Missouri for the duration of the war.

Scott has been at the 4,300-acre battlefield site since 2000, overseeing one of the most well preserved destinations in the National Park Service system.

His career with NPS began while he was at UNO. From 1975 until graduating in 1977 he worked summers for NPS, starting at Yellowstone National Park.

“The education that I received at UNO had me prepared when I started my job at the NPS,” Scott says. “The teachers were great and the classes were challenging.”

In his free time Scott enjoys fly-fishing, gardening, beekeeping and spending time with his three grandchildren. But he’s got plenty to keep him busy at Pea Ridge, where he’s overseeing an effort to bring back the vegetation patterns in the park to represent the look and feel of the 1862 battlefield landscape.

“I think one of the things people notice when they come here is the lack of monuments,” Scott says. “By restoring the vegetation, and bringing back what it was like there in 1862, those living landscapes become the monuments.

It’s like a living textbook for schoolchildren, who often come to the park for tours.

“Kids can come out to learn and stand on the ground where these events happened,” Scott says. “It’s an opportunity to learn from our past mistakes, from our ancestors.”

— Austin Gaule, UNO Alumni Association

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CARLA HANSON (MA) retired in January and moved to North Carolina in April. hanson1610@gmail.com

JEFF KOSSE (BA) graduated from UNL with a doctorate in English in December 2012. He is an associate professor at Iowa Western Community College and an online adjunct instructor at UNO. He lives in Omaha with his wife, Amy, and his two children, Ava and Parker. kosse_jeff@yahoo.com

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JEROME KERBY (MS) is a senior economist with the U.S. Coast Guard in Washington D.C. He has been employed in the same position since 2001. He currently resides in northern Virginia.

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CYNTHIA ROBINSON (BS & MS) has been teaching black studies and communication at UNO since 1996. She was tenured in the school of communication in 2012.

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EVONNE EDGINGTON (BS)

is branch manager of the Willa Cather Branch of the Omaha Public Library.

She has been with the Omaha Public Library for 12 years. She writes: “My son, Ian Edgington, graduated from UNO in December 2011 with a degree in broadcast journalism. He is the videographer at Lovely Skin.”

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DORI SETTLES (BGS) recently launched a new art gallery in west Omaha called Smiling Turtle Art Spot. dori@funkydori.com

JIMMY YECK (BGS) started a job at the Omaha Police Department through Lutheran Family Services of Nebraska. His job is to connect people with appropriate social supports in the community. He writes: “It is a great match for me with my experiences, skills and knowledge. I finally feel my criminal justice degree is being put to appropriate use.” He was to be married in September to fellow UNO alum Molly Woodworth. Jimmyyeckjr@yahoo.com ERIC SHANKS (MPA) lives in Lincoln, Neb., and was published in the American Association of Behavioral & Social Sciences. His article, “Political Affect,” is an analysis of visual and affective phenomena spurred by political contexts. He also is a member of the California 6 Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT), which serves the San Francisco Bay Area. Shanks has worked in Homeland Security for several years, including time as the Public Health Emergency response coordinator for Lancaster County, Neb. Shanks was an assistant director of UNO Campus Recreation from 1999 to 2007. eric.shanks@hhs.gov

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DEBORAH MARIE HUETSON (BA) resides in Livermore, Calif., and started a paramedic program this fall. She has volunteered as a camp counselor for Camp CoHoLo and will be a volunteer at the American Red Cross. She hopes to be part of the American Red Cross disaster team, special projects, and helping with families affected by fire. She writes: “I am so very proud to be an alum from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. I still enjoy walking under those bells just to hear them one more time.”

MATT MCCARTHY (MS) is director of the criminal justice department at Northeast Community College. He also is a member of the Nebraska Police Standards Advisory Council, appointed by Governor Dave Heineman in 2011. matthewm@northeast.edu

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GREG DICK (BS) lives in Wabasha, Minn., and was inducted into the St. Mary’s University (Minnesota) Hall of Fame. garens@pineisland.k12.mn.us

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class notes MICHAEL OUBRE (MBA) lives in The Woodlands, Texas, and in August had an article, “Survival Guide for Compensation Relevance,” published in Workspan, an industry association magazine published by WorldatWork.

Cheuvront was involved in the third most real estate transactions in Nebraska with 139 closed real estate transactions. Cheuvront continued his real estate success in 2012 with 109 transactions. In both years, Cheuvront accounted for 1 percent of the total sales in the Omaha MLS. dchevy81@gmail.com

ROBERT BURESH (MS) received his Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska Medical Center in 2007 and that same year accepted a faculty appointment in the department of exercise science and sport management at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Ga., where he teaches undergraduate courses and conducts research, mostly in the area of exercise and type 2 diabetes. Buresh was awarded tenure and promoted to associate professor. His daughter, Sydnee, is pursuing her own MS in exercise science at UNO under the guidance of Dr. Kris Berg, his mentor and thesis adviser. rburesh@kennesaw.edu

DEBBIE CAIN (MS) returned to the United States after serving two years in the English Language Fellow Program in Bosnia and Herzegovina as a teacher at the University of East Sarajevo. She taught writing and reading to university students, volunteered with local animal welfare organizations, and conducted teacher training throughout eastern Europe.

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JEFF BRIDGES (BSBA) was promoted to state manager of Nebraska/Iowa with Woodmen of the World.

He recruits, trains and retains sales representatives in Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota and Wisconsin. He has worked with Woodmen of the World for 10 years in several different positions.

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RUSTY KLUENDER (MA) recently was hired at Broken Bow (Neb.) High School as a principal for grades 7-12.

Rckluender@gmail.com

MARY ANDERSON (BS) became director of development and administrative services with Holy Name Housing Corporation in Omaha. mjlash1@cox.net

DAVID ANDERSON (BA) has lived in several places over the last eight years but returns to Omaha to teach vocal music at the Jesuit Academy and Sacred Heart School for the Archdiocese of Omaha. He writes: “I am elated about returning home after living in Arizona, Kansas and Iowa.” dkatenor@yahoo.com

NIROSHA RATHNAYAKE (MA) lives in Omaha and will begin her Ph.D. studies in biostatistics in the spring of 2014.

JESSICA WARREN (MPA) joined United Way of the Midlands in June 2013 as director of financial stability and agency relations. She works directly with agencies that apply for and receive United Way funding, with a focus on programs that develop people’s skills in earning, saving and maintaining financial assets that enable them to be economically independent. Warren previously was the training and assessment coordinator for Partnership 4 Kids in Omaha. Warren recently obtained her master’s in public administration from UNO. She currently is involved in a number of community organizations including the Women’s Fund of Omaha, the Greater Omaha Young Professionals and the Omaha Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. jwarren@uwmidlands.org

Laci pemberton (BSBA) is assistant to director of management services at Colliers International’s Omaha office in Aksarben Village. She says she has the pleasure of driving by UNO’s Mammel Hall frequently.

LARRY BURKS (BS) writes from Bellevue, Neb.:

LINDSEY LEACH (MS) has worked as an

DAN CHEUVRONT (BS) has been a realtor in Nebraska for eight years with Deeb Realty. In 2011,

Discover the art of Nebraska, travel through time, take in all of the beautiful sights, immerse yourself in history, and become a part of the art.

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MATTHEW PERRY (BS) took a job in February at York (Neb.) General Hospital in the rehabilitation department working as a physical therapist.

“Hello, fellow Mavs! I am pleased to report that I am the first assistant city administrator for the city of Bellevue, Neb. This career advancement was a ‘bull’s-eye’ for my advancement and location goals. I am also proud to report that I am a new adjunct professor for Bellevue University in the MPA program starting September 2013.

I have always wanted to experience teaching and I look forward to facilitating the learning process for students embarking on a career in public administration.”

MUSEUM OF NEBRASKA ART KEARNEY, NEBRASKA

DAVID SMITH (BGS) retired as a chief master sergeant after 30 years active duty and 17 years in the Air Force civil service.

His last assignment was as chief of public affairs operations at Headquarters Air Education and Training Command, Randolph Air Force Base, Texas. smithde9@sbcglobal.net

JOSHUA NOONAN (BA) lives in Washington, D.C., and is the Azerbaijani News Analyst at the Conway Bulletin, a weekly UK newssheet focused on the Caucasus and Central Asia. He also is an MA student in international economics and Russian-Eurasian studies at Johns Hopkins SAIS. jowa58@gmail.com

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MONA

outside sales specialist for Eakes Office Plus in Lincoln since 2009. She also has been an adjunct instructor at Southeast Community College since 2011 and is an assistant track coach at Lincoln Lutheran Middle School.

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MICHAEL PALMER (BS) lives in

Parker, Colo. He graduated from the University of Nebraska College of Law in May 2013 and was married in May to Rachel Gerlach of Parker, Colo. He took the bar exam in July. mpalmer1364@gmail.com

mona.unk.edu Museum of Nebraska Art • 2401 Central Avenue, Kearney Hours: Tue.-Sat. 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Sun. 1-5 p.m.

Closed Mon. & major holidays • Admission: Free Details: Jack Hetterich, Platte River Scene, oil on linen, 1985, Gift of Dr. & Mrs. Tom Pollard; Gary Zaruba, Autumn Reflections, acrylic, 1990, Gift of Virgina Parrish; Henry Howard Bagg; Untitled (landscape), oil on linen, n.d., Museum Purchase; All Museum of Nebraska Art Collection

MEGHAN MURDOCK (BA) became producer at SCOLA in McClelland, Iowa. She writes scripts for promotional items, organizes two-week training courses, and oversees media relations. SCOLA is a nonprofit organization that produces foreign language educational materials.

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DEREK BLUE (BS) lives in San Antonio and was hired as a wildlife biologist for the largest land broker in the state of Texas. derek@texaslandman.net VICTORIA ESTEP (MBA) lives in Omaha and has an interior design position with Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture. She writes: “One of the greatest aspects of my profession is the ability to combine a strong business background with the creativity of the design world on a daily basis.” vestep@alleypoyner.com

MATT NELSON (BS) and MEGAN SCHMITZ (BA) celebrated their wedding with friends and family this June. Megan works at UNO in Dual Enrollment and is seeking her master’s degree in public administration from UNO. Matt recently completed his master’s degree from Indiana University in higher education and student affairs and is a resident director at Creighton University. mjnelson373@gmail.com megdschmitz@gmail.com

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JOHN D. HASKELL III (BA)

writes that after working for five months at a local transportation company in logistics he now is head of marketing and advertising at the Asthma and Allergy Center in Bellevue, Neb. He writes: “I take walks with my family through campus and I am excited to see all the changes that are always taking place. UNO has never looked so good!”

John Thome (BGS) lives in Omaha and has continued to do stand-up comedy since graduating, recently performing in Denver. john1980star@gmail.com

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Danny Rerucha (BS) will be attending the University of Pennsylvania to pursue a master’s in engineering in computer graphics and game technology. He hopes to work in the entertainment industry and create software to facilitate the production of animated films. He writes: “For me, Penn is the next step to fulfill my dream, and UNO helped get me here!”

SASHA FOO (BS) is currently working towards her master’s degree in special education through UNO. She was hired as a CADRE teacher in the Elkhorn district as an elementary special education teacher.

MICHAEL EVANS (BS) writes from Omaha: “The No. 1 thing that helped me be successful at UNO was clear communication with my professors. The better they know your heart, the more they will want to help. They care if you do!” evansm31@hotmail.com

MEGAN PORTER (BS) was hired at Bell Field Elementary with the Fremont Public Schools District as a first-grade teacher.

LUKE HOFFMAN (BS) writes from Omaha: “Looking to network with fellow UNO alums and involve them in important community projects. Stay involved after graduation!” ahoffman@unomaha.edu BRIANNA HITT (BS) after graduating in May, married and moved into a new apartment. She attended the Summer Institute of Biostatistics at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Fla., and now is preparing to attend graduate school for statistics at UNL. CLAUDIA CONSOLINO (BA) writes from Omaha: “Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.” She now is pursuing her master’s degree in Language Teaching.

LAUREN TREJO (BS) writes from Omaha: “I am busy getting my classroom ready for my first graders! CADRE is keeping me busy and on my toes as well! Living the dream!” debo@unomaha.edu

Nine Going on 10 A trio of UNO grads — Natalie Guenther (2000, BS), Celeste Snodgrass (1995, BS) and Kim Schenkelberg (1997, BS) — live in Omaha and have written a book, “It’s Really 10 Months: The Glow of Pregnancy and Other Blatant Lies.” The book is an entertaining and informational guide for pregnant moms— with lots of laughs along the way. The three friends — who all became pregnant at the same time — also are social workers and all worked in the obstetrical units of hospitals. They include commentary from a medical professional to explain areas of particular concern to new moms.

Send a Class Note What have you been doing since graduating from UNO? Send updates to us with Name, Class Year, Degree, Phone, Address and Email. Send to: UNO Magazine Class Notes, 6705 Dodge St., Omaha, NE 68182-0010. Fax to (402) 554-3787 or submit online at www.unoalumni.org/classnote.

in memoriam A listing of alumni whose death the UNO Alumni Association has received notice of since Jan. 1, 2013. Years indicate graduation from UNO.

1943 Virginia L. Hillier, Omaha 1948 Barbara L. Barlow, Omaha 1953 Kathleen A. Osick, Omaha 1954 C. Lee Nelson, Corcoran, Minn.

1957 Neal C. Butler, Papillion, Neb.

Nancy J. Land, Omaha David Prochnau, Omaha

1959 Gene A. Sanders, Council Bluffs, Iowa 1960 Cherie M. Curry, San Jose, Calif.

1962 Wilfred R. Bowman, Bossier City, La. Roger W. Hildreth, Hollywood, Fla.

1963 Herbert Bunker, Auburn, Maine

Winton W. Culbreth, Gold Canyon, Ariz.

David H. Schuur, Millersville, Md. James E. Whetstone, Omaha

1965 Earl W. Cummings, McAllen, Texas

1980 Linda L. Smith, Clearwater, Fla. 1981 Phil A. Anania, Omaha 1966 Robert L. Canary, Davis, Calif.

1982 William J. Luksa, Plattsmouth, Neb.

Joseph A. Caniglia, Omaha 1985 Fredrick Tidmore, Omaha 1968 Stanley E. Cychowski, Germantown, Tenn. 1987 Chantell E. Simonson, Ames, Iowa 1969 Richard M. Curtis, Melbourne, Fla. 1988 Kathleen D. Augustine, Omaha 1971 Frank Pycha, Fountain Hills, Ariz.

1991 Saundra Brooks-Bolden, Omaha Patrick F. Ryan, Pinehurst, N.C. 1992 Kristi K. Perrotto, Omaha 1973 Arleen D. Baseman, San Marcos, Texas 1993 Tiffany Robbins, Omaha 1975 Stephen M. Pattrin, Omaha 1994 Gail Ginsburg, Tukwila, Wash.

1976 James C. Gaffney, Council Bluffs, Iowa

Joyce E. Southard, Omaha

Donald J. Pfannenstiel, APO

Barbara A. McCabe, Lincoln, Neb. Debra M. Trautman, Gering, Neb.

1977 Kirk D. Forney, Placentia, Calif.

William J. Wilkey, Fremont, Neb.

1964 John C. Fout, Annandale On Hudson, N.Y. 1978 James L. Bone, Papillion, Neb. Raymond R. Reusche, Atlanta, Ga. 1979 Michael R. Kardell, Lincoln, Neb.

1997 Thomas G. Salistean, Omaha 1998 Leslie C. Adkins, Plattsmouth, Neb. Amy J. Collins, Omaha

Faculty & Staff Keith Turner

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class notes Navid Shaw Kohlmeier son of Navruz Nekbakhtshoev and Kristine Kohlmeier (’03) of Omaha.

Tristin Paul Schakat son of Ari Owen Velasquez Timothy (’09) Schakat of Teresa and son of Erica and Stephen (’11) Blair, Neb. Velasquez of Wichita Falls, Texas.

Levi Edmond Zak son of John Eva Grace Brumfield and Christina (Nixon, ’05) Zak of daughter of T.J. and Sarah (Lundy Omaha. (’08) Brumfield of Omaha.

James David Bendickson Ryland Porter Sweazy son of Kyndra (Borcyk, ’05) and son of Denver and Sarah (Van Zyl Troy (’05) Bendickson of Omaha ’02) Sweazy of Omaha. and grandson of Jackie (O’Brien, ’79; Ankhmaa Anna Khangal ’00) and David (’79) Borcyk of Papillion. daughter of Khangal Erdenetsogt and Narangarav Batbaatar (’12) of Emma Jean Bowman daughter Omaha. of Tara (Matson, ’12) and Mike (’09) Bowman of Omaha.

James Stewart Meyer James Patrick Snyder son of Nicole (Hernandez, ’08) and grandson of Marie (Beard, ’84 ) Snyder Phillip (’12) Meyer of Omaha and of Broomfield, Colo. grandson of Ricardo Hernandez (’98) of Omaha.

Max Christian Cunard son of Matt and Mary (Dobrac, ’09) Cunard Wade Benjamin Lanum of Omaha. son of Nicole (Rossi, ’04) and Emma Grace Roth daughter Wade (’01; ’04) Lanum of Omaha. of Jessica and Eric (’11) Roth of Churchville, New York.

Aubrey Mae Hayek daughter of Jason and Richelle (Riedler, ’05) Hayek of Omaha.

future ALUMS

Since 1991, the UNO Alumni Association has given 1,995 free shirts and bibs to the children and grandchildren of UNO graduates!

Get YOUR child a shirt today!

Submit a birth announcement within 1 year of birth by completing the form at www.unoalumni.org/ futurealums. Or, send by mail — include baby’s name, date of birth, parents’ or grandparents’ names and graduation year(s).

Mail to UNO Magazine Future Alums, 6705 Dodge St., Omaha, NE 68182

Declan Scott David Goebel son of Pamela and Douglas (’99) Goebel of Omaha.

William Edward Hicks son of Amy (Hein, ’08, ’10) and Derek (’05) Hicks of Omaha.

Elijah James and Adam Michael Miller sons of Lucas and Becky (Lance’06) Miller of Randolph, Neb. Graycen Cole and Halle Lyn Sharon daughters of Cole and Lynsey (Chesnut, ’08) Sharon of Omaha.

Charlotte Rae Anderson daughter of Joseph and Shari (Paulson, ’11) Anderson of Lincoln, Neb. Viviana Marie Handlos David(’03) and Monica MoraHandlos(’05) of Omaha.

August Jay Bredenkamp son of Allison and Aaron (’12) Bredenkamp of Omaha.

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sights & sounds

SIGHTS & SOUNDS A look at happenings on and off campus

A Kingly Dedication UNO in September opened the world’s first freestanding research lab dedicated to biomechanics — its groundbreaking ceremony even attracting the King. The $6 million, 23,000-square-foot facility will make UNO the epicenter of biomechanics — the study of the human body in motion. Biomechanics research focus at UNO has ranged from children with cerebral palsy to elderly with peripheral arterial disease. The building was built with private funds led by Ruth and Bill Scott. During the building’s dedication, Dr. Nick Stergiou, the facility’s director, had an Elvis impersonator serenade the Scotts with modified lyrics to “Welcome to My World.” The King even took a whirl on one of the facility’s devices that analyze a person’s gait.

Move-In Day A total of 2,092 Maverick students took up residence at UNO this semester, the largest number of on-campus residents since UNO opened its first housing, University Village, in 1999. Other residences to open were Scott Hall (2000), Scott Village (2003), Maverick Village (2008) and Scott Court (2011). If UNO’s students made up their own metropolis they would be the 179th largest of Nebraska’s 1,060 cities. UNO’s total fall enrollment was 15,227 students.

Soccer Start A school-record 2,581 fans watched the UNO men’s soccer team open its season Aug. 17, the Mavs falling 1-0 to defending Big 10 Champion Penn State at the South Omaha Classic. The exhibition match was played at Collin Stadium in South Omaha. UNO’s own soccer pitch was under construction and was to be ready for play in early October.

Welcome to My World.

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Star Bright More than 1,770 youth were on campus this summer to take part in the 15th annual Aim for the Stars camp, one of the metropolitan area’s most popular STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education summer programs. There were nearly 50 sessions with nine camps hosted across campus.

Durango Days Thousands of students were welcomed back to campus with Durango Days, a weeklong series of events to start the Fall 2013 semester. Durango Days — formerly called “Welcome Week” — featured New Student Convocation, free food on the Milo Bail Student Center Plaza and HPER After Dark, which allows students to use the Health, Physical Education and Recreation facilities from 9 p.m. to midnight. New entries this year included a “Casino Night” in Scott Hall on the Pacific Campus and Durango Days of Service, which allowed students to participate in a three-hour service project that helped prepare food for area pantries and food banks.

Cupola UNO’s oldest building — Arts & Sciences Hall — got a makeover beginning in September with a new roof, new windows and repairs to the cupola. Construction of the building was completed in 1938 at a cost of $980,000, paid for in part with a grant from the Federal Public Works Administration. This year’s renovation will cost about $1.2 million. The slate roof being replaced was original to the building. The cupola originally was part of the heating and cooling system with air being drawn down through its louvers and into the HVAC system in the basement. The weather vane on top of it is an exact copy of the one that tops Independence Hall in Philadelphia.

Pictures by Jeff Beieremann, University Relations

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for fun

Visual — Puzzle 161

Test your brainpower with these puzzles created by UNO graduate Terry Stickels (’76), an author, speaker and puzzle maker. Stickels’ FRAME GAMES is published by USA Weekend magazine and in 600 newspapers. For more information on Stickels, or to order any of his books, visit www.terrystickels.com

Logic — Puzzle 149

Four soldiers need to cross a stream, two at a time, during night maneuvers. Speed is of the essence. The captain has given the squad leader a mandate to figure out how to get a private, a corporal, a staff sergeant and himself across the stream the fastest way possible. All crossings must be done with a single flashlight. Here are the individual times if each man were to cross alone.

Puzzles taken from “The Big Brain Puzzle Book,” created by Terry Stickels for the Alzheimer’s Association

Squad leader: 10 minutes Staff sergeant: 12 minutes Corporal: 15 minutes Private: 20 minutes How will the squad leader arrange the crossings to achieve the fastest time?

A number can be divided into 1,150 and 1,254 and have the same remainder. What is the smallest three-digit number greater than 100 that makes this true?

Language: One thousand twenty-five Mathematics: 104. 1254-1150=104. 104 divided into each of these numbers leaves a remainder of six.

Logic: The squad leader and staff sergeant cross first = 12 minutes. The squad leader returns with the flashlight = 10 minutes. The corporal and private cross second = 20 minutes. The staff sergeant returns with the flashlight = 12 minutes. The staff sergeant and squad leader cross again = 12 minutes.

What is the smallest number that contains all six vowels? A, E, I, O, U, and Y?

answers Visual: There are 73 total cubes. You can view this in three sections. The outside two sections are symmetrical and each contains 20 cubes. The inside section that goes farthest to the back has a total of 33 cubes. There is a hole in the very middle of that stack with no cubes. Also, there is a hidden cube in the very last row making five cubes in the bottom of the very last row. Remember, that I say in the question “all rows and columns run to completion unless you actually see them end.”

Since you can’t see the last row end, there is one cube there.

Mathematics — Puzzle 107 Language — Puzzle 67

How many individual cubes are in the stack below?

All rows and columns run to completion unless you actually see them end.

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