UNO Alum - Spring 2003

U N I V E R S I T Y

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N E B R A S K A

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O M A H A

A L U M N I

MARCH 2003

IN THIS ISSUE:

Freedom at Freeman Field: Tuskegee Airman James Warren NOW PLAYING AT BRIGIT ST. BRIGIT BOB HEROLD IS SAFE AT HOME ROOM TO GROW — MORE DORMS ON THE WAY www.unoalumni.org

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hen the UNO Alumni Association started the first Century Club in 1973, the group of UNO supporters of $100 or more consisted of just 44 charter members. Membership since has grown to more than 3,600 individuals, all of whom share a common bond — their commitment to UNO. Through their generosity, Century Club members support various alumni association programs and services that make for a stronger, more vibrant university. These include the Alumni Outstanding Teaching Awards, UNO Alumni Legacy Scholarships, Alumni Outreaches and more. More than 70 percent of all UNO Annual Fund donations come from Century Club members.

With their UNRESTRICTED gift, Century Club donors receive one of five personalized mementos (right), special recognition in an annual report and invitations to select events throughout the year.

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Welcome to the Club!

Welcome and thanks to these first-time Century Club donors!* Golden Level Alan F. Friebe Bronze John W. Anderson Jennifer Brummund Deborah J. Barclay Janet C. Chrzan Bawn Froning Joseph L. Henderson Teresa M. Houser

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*From donor rolls Jan. 1, 2003, through Feb. 28, 2003.

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Contents

MARCH 2003

Departments

Features

AROUND CAMPUS 5

on the FREEDOM AT FREEMAN FIELD 8 cover

Commencement gets jazzed up.

UNO alum James Warren recounts the Freeman Field Mutiny of 1945.

ASSOCIATION IN ACTION 6

A MATTER OF JUSTICE 12

Citations issued; New board members elected; Budget resolution.

Jody Manning plays her part in an historic reparations agreement.

FUTURE ALUMS 24 Majoring in hugability.

SAFE AT HOME 14 Bob Herold skippers his third season.

CLASS NOTES 25 Movin’ on up in the world.

FULL RIDE 16 Andy Anderson is making a name for himself.

NOW PLAYING 20 Brigit St. Brigit marks 10 years.

FOR THE BIRDS 23 Joel Jorgensen keeps his eyes on the skies.

Editor: Anthony Flott Contributors: Sonja Carberry, Tim Fitzgerald, Eric Francis, Warren Francke, Don Kohler, Rich Kaipust, Tom McMahon, Mark Morris, Nick Schinker, Eric Stoakes.

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Alumni Association Officers: Chairman of the Board, Kevin Naylor; Past Chairman, Don Winters; Chairman-elect Steve Bodner; Vice Chairmen, Cookie Katskee, Adrian Minks, Rod Oberle, John Wilson; Secretary, Kevin Warneke; Treasurer, Dan Koraleski; Legal Counsel, Deb McLarney; President & CEO, Jim Leslie.

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Alumni Staff: Jim Leslie, President and CEO; Roxanne Miller, Executive Secretary; Sue Gerding, Kay Denney, Kathy Johnson, Records/Alumni Cards; Sheila King, Activities Coordinator; Greg Trimm, Alumni Center Manager; Joan Miller, Accountant; Anthony Flott, Editor; Loretta Wirth, Receptionist.

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The UNO Alum is published quarterly by the UNO Alumni Association, W.H. Thompson Alumni Center, UNO, Omaha, NE 68182-0010, (402) 554-2444, FAX (402) 554-3787 • web address: www.unoalumni.org. • Member, Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) • Direct all inquiries to Editor, W.H. Thompson Alumni Center, (402) 554-2989. Toll-free, UNO-MAV-ALUM • Send all changes of address to attention of Records • Views expressed through various articles within the magazine do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the University of Nebraska at

MARCH 2003 • 3

Letter

From the Chancellor

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Facing the challenges of budget reductions

ear Alumni, The University of Nebraska is facing a challenging future with budget reductions requiring difficult choices. Like many states, Nebraska is struggling with a sluggish economy that has reduced tax revenues, resulting in a budget shortfall expected to exceed $700 million during the next biennium.

Governor Johanns has proposed a 10 percent decrease in the University’s $412 million general fund appropriation for 2003-04, and no increase for 2004-05. Under this proposal, the system-wide base budget would go down by $41 million in the first year of the biennium. Under the Governor’s proposal, NU’s tax-supported funding would be frozen at $371 million for two years. As a result, UNO’s budget, previously cut by $5 million, would be reduced an additional $6.2 million.

These past few months have been particularly difficult as the university reduces services, while maintaining quality and serving its expanding student body. This has not been easy. More than 400 jobs were eliminated at NU in 2002, including 84 at UNO. Given the magnitude of the next reductions, our university of tomorrow will be very different from the one we know today.

No doubt, the University’s budget will be decreased, even if the Unicameral amends the Governor’s proposal. Additionally, the University continues to have rising costs in healthcare, property and liability insurance, need-based aid, faculty and staff salaries, diversity, and continued funding of NU’s academic priorities. Part of these escalating costs could be addressed by tuition adjustments, which will be on the Board of Regents agenda this spring.

Reduction Process During the current reduction process, I am providing as much information as possible by briefing campus constituency groups-Student Government, Faculty Senate and Staff Advisory Council. I’ll also keep the entire campus community and our alumni informed through publications like the UNO Alum and Chancellor’s Bulletin, which is on our website (www.unomaha.edu).

The Strategic Plan and UNO’s academic priorities will continue to shape our response and guide decisions. While more faculty and staff reductions are unavoidable, we’ll listen to advice and feedback, striving to make the process as humane and compassionate as possible.

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Potential Reorganization Now, more than ever, is the time for UNO to look creatively at its administrative structures--consolidating and creating savings wherever possible, yet preserving academic quality and building a solid structure for the future. I intend to reduce UNO’s administrative costs by $500,000 over the biennium through streamlining operations and finding additional efficiencies. Much of these savings will be taken “off the top” before reductions are assigned to units. Accordingly, the following organizational changes are under review: The retirements of Vice Chancellors Gary Carrico and Mary Mudd offer opportunities for consolidation; their functions will be reassigned to the remaining vice chancellors, Derek Hodgson and Jim Buck, and senior staff. A review is underway to align units into two divisions—Academic and Students Affairs, and Administrative Affairs.

Academic and Student Affairs will not simply be placed together.

All activities will be examined to make optimal and efficient use of talents and resources. To reduce costs, but also enhance overall effectiveness, task forces have been organized to generate proposals for unit realignment.

Other groups will be formed as needed. Task forces will be looking at the following areas: First-Year Experience and Student Advising; Student Internships, Outreach Activities, Disabilities and Career Services; Faculty Development, Service Learning and Social Work; University Affairs and Support Functions of the Chancellor’s Office; the College of Public Affairs and Community Service, the College of Continuing Studies and Distance Education; Fine Arts, Communications and University Radio/Television; and Business Administration and Information Science and Technology.

Continued Excellence for UNO Your understanding and cooperation, constructive suggestions and encouragement, and your willingness to continue supporting UNO are critical to our handling of these budget challenges. The next few months will require decisions, adjustments and sacrifices in order to maintain UNO’s strong momentum in enrollment, retention, academic excellence and residential housing.

I’m confident of our ability to keep moving forward, because we remain guided by solid priorities, and backed by our alumni and the Omaha community. Most importantly, we’re supported by a great group of people—our students, staff, faculty—who will rise to the challenge.

We must find the means to serve our students well, excel academically, and engage with our community. Your help and support are more vital than ever, as UNO moves into the future confidently.

Until next time,

Nancy Belck Chancellor

UNOALUM

Events & Happenings on the UNO Campus

Around Campus

800 grads hear all that jazz at UNO Winter Commencement

UNO’s Carrico, Mudd announce retirements

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Photo by Tim Fitzgerald

“P

omp and Circumstance” was given a well-deserved rest last semester at UNO in favor of a commencement ceremony that swings–literally.

The first “jazz commencement” in university history took place Friday, Dec. 20, with internationally acclaimed jazz artist Karrin Allyson, a 1987 UNO graduate, singing the commencement address. More than 800 students received degrees at the ceremony.

“Having her sing the commencement address will provide the December graduates with a thoughtful musical experience, in addition to adding to the day’s festivities,” said Karen White, dean of UNO’s College of Fine Arts. “Recognizing that jazz is a uniquely American art form, UNO Chancellor Nancy Belck agreed to make the entire commencement a jazz event.”

Allyson later received the Citation for Alumnus Achievement from the UNO Alumni Association, as did John Hancock (story, Page 6). She performed “Hello, Young Lovers” and “(Pack Your) Suitcase Blues.” She was accompanied by the UNO Jazz Ensemble, which also performed the prelude, processional and recessional.

Commencement also featured: • Diane Brich delivered the student commencement address. Brich, a breast cancer survivor, received a BGS degree with a major in communication. Her address was “Following Through.”

• Robert Armstrong, president of AVI Consulting, received the Order of The Tower. Armstrong in 1997 founded AVI, an international management consulting company. Its mission is to provide business and management consulting services to private and public nonprofit agencies. The Order of the Tower is UNO’s highest non-academic award.

It is bestowed upon community leaders

Student Speaker Diane Brich delivers her student commencement address, “Following Through.”

whose service and/or financial support has made it possible for the university to address the academic, cultural and economic needs of the people of Omaha and the citizens of Nebraska.

• Charles “Denny” Holland, a lifetime advocate for civil rights, received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree.

In 1947, Holland helped found the De Porres Club while a student at Creighton University. It was named for Martin De Porres, a 16th century Peruvian and patron of social justice.

The club employed techniques later used in the civil rights movement. A dozen years before students refused to move from a lunch counter in North Carolina, leading to the coining of the term “sit-in,” Holland and his friends were employing that tactic in Omaha.

• Lee G. Simmons, director of Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo, received an honorary Doctor of Science degree.

During the past three decades he has labored tirelessly to transform a regional zoological park into one of the preeminent zoos in the country. The zoo is an international leader in the research and captive management of several critically endangered species. It is currently involved in research projects on almost every continent in the world.

wo vice chancellors at UNO have announced their retirements. Gary Carrico (business and finance) and Mary Mudd (student affairs) will retire effective Dec. 31.

Carrico served as vice chancellor for business and finance since 1976. He oversees UNO’s business and finance functions, including facilities management and planning, finance and human resources.

He helped usher in a new era of campus growth and development, including construction of a threelevel parking garage, the Durham Science Center, the campus perimeter road, Weber Fine Arts Building, Henningson Campanile, residential housing and development of the south campus. He also has been instrumental in the ongoing development of master plans.

Mudd has served as vice chancellor for student affairs since 1995. She oversees Student Development Services, Multi-cultural Affairs, Campus Recreation and the Milo Bail Student Center.

She joined UNO as a counselor in 1969 and served in a succession of roles with increasing responsibility, including director of student orientation, coordinator of counseling and University Division, and assistant vice chancellor for educational and student services.

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Thanks, Lambda Chi elated thanks to Lambda Chi Alpha for its extensive volunteer efforts at UNO’s Chancellor’s Scholarship Swing last September.

The fraternity was instrumental in assisting the UNO Alumni Association during its most important fund-raising event of the year.

Thanks, Lambda Chi.

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MARCH 2003 • 5

Association in Action Citations for Alumnus Achievement Issued

Karrin Allyson Allyson graduated from UNO in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in music, majoring in piano performance. Today she is an internationally renown jazz singer who in 2002 received a Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album for her work on “Ballads—Remembering John Coltrane.”

She attended UNO on a piano scholarship. While attending school she performed in UNO’s Young Nebraskans Jazz Swing Choir and was the lead singer of an all-girl rock’n’roll band, Tomboy. She also formed a jazz ensemble and began performing at local venues and at private parties. She eventually began performing piano/vocal solos.

After graduating from UNO Allyson moved to Minneapolis and began to develop and improve her jazz skills. Three years later she moved to Kansas City, where she cut her first record, produced on her own with money borrowed from family and friends.

Concord Records eventually signed Allyson to a threerecord deal. Ten years later, that initial contract has expanded to nine critically lauded CDs. In August she released her latest CD, “In Blue.” Her 1999 release, “Paris to Rio,” was voted the top vocal jazz album by “Pulse!” magazine.

Allyson has performed in the country’s most prestigious jazz clubs and worldwide at places including Brazil, Canada, Japan, Paris and London. She also performed at the Ella Fitzgerald Tribute at Carnegie Hall, an event broadcast internationally by CNN and appeared on Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion.”

John Hancock John Hancock graduated from UNO in 1978 with an MBA. That same year he received his CPA certificate and was presented the Nebraska Society of CPA’s Gold Certificate for achieving the highest score on that year’s CPA exam.

He’s still posting impressive numbers today, now as managing partner/shareholder in Hancock & Dana PC, Certified

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Photo by Tim Fitzgerald

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he UNO Alumni Association bestowed Citations for Alumnus Achievement on Karrin Allyson and John Hancock during the university’s winter commencement Dec. 20.

The citation, instituted in 1949, is presented each year at UNO’s spring, summer and winter commencements. The highest honor presented by the association, it encompasses professional or career achievement, community service, involvement in business and professional associations, and fidelity to UNO. Don Winters, 2002 chairman of the UNO Alumni Association Board of Directors, presented the awards.

Above: Hancock. Right: Allyson belted out the notes.

Public Accountants and Technology Consultants. The firm offers a various services to individual and business clients, including computer network installation and maintenance, litigation support, audit services, estate planning and more.

Hancock manages the firm’s practice in establishing and administering Defined Contribution Plans, including profit sharing, money purchase and 401(k) plans. His experience includes diversified tax and audit experience including responsibilities in conjunction with manufacturing, retail, construction companies, banks and not for profit organizations.

Hancock also has extensive experience in partnership taxation, estate and gift tax planning, executive financial planning and litigation support services, including bankruptcy work.

Hancock formed the firm in July 1985 after spending more than a decade with Peat Marwick Mitchell & Co. He had joined that firm in December 1977 while still taking MBA classes at UNO. There he was on the audit staff for four years and on the tax staff for nearly another four years. He had become senior tax manager prior to the formation of Hancock & Dana PC. Prior to attending classes at UNO Hancock had earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. He also was an officer in the U.S. Air Force from 1971 to 1976, attaining the rank of captain.

Hancock has been involved in numerous professional and civic causes, too. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Nebraska Society of Certified Public Accountants and a past President of Nebraska Society of Certified Public Accountants. He is on the Board of Directors of Weitz Series Mutual Funds and the Board of Trustees of: Alegent Health Systems; Immanuel Health Systems, Inc.; the Peter Kiewit Foundation; the William & Ruth Scott Family Foundation; and the William Condon Family Foundation.

UNOALUM

UNO Alumni Association News & Information

Alumni Resolution issued regarding state budget crisis he following resolution was issued by the presidents of the four University of Nebraska Alumni Associations Jan. 10.

The associations held an Alumni Leadership Summit to discuss the state’s budget crisis and to extend the University’s concerns to Nebraska Gov. Mike Johanns.

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ALUMNI SUMMIT RESOLUTION Whereas the University of Nebraska, the state's university, is committed to providing teaching, research and service to the state and its citizens, and Whereas keeping and attracting young people to the state is a critical issue for the state's future, and Whereas the affordable education opportunities provided to the people of Nebraska by the University of

Welcome Aboard N

ew members and a new executive committee were among the changes to the UNO Alumni Association Board of Directors during the organization’s annual meeting December 18.

Association The board of direcChairman of the tors sets policy and Board Kevin Naylor. oversees the management of the UNO Alumni Association.

Kevin Naylor, a 1978 UNO graduate, was named the association’s Chairman of the Board for 2003. He is assistant vice president of human resources planning at Union Pacific Railroad. He is the son of Kirk Naylor, who became president of Omaha University in 1967 and oversaw OU’s merger with the

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Nebraska are a strong determinant in retaining them as future residents and taxpayers of the state, and Whereas research universities are and will continue to be essential ingredients to growth in the new economy and the research conducted by the University of Nebraska leads to innovations that fuel the state's economic development, and Whereas the services provided by the University of Nebraska are critical to economic development as well as the quality of life in communities across Nebraska, and Whereas the University of Nebraska must compete on a global basis for students, faculty, staff and grant monies, and must be strongly supported so that Nebraska can prosper in the years ahead, and Whereas investment in the University of Nebraska is essential to

University of Nebraska system in 1968.

He remained UNO’s chancellor until 1972.

The 2003 UNO Alumni Association Board of Directors: Executive Committee Chairman of the Board, Kevin Naylor (Union Pacific); Past Chairman, Don Winters (ConAgra Foods, Inc); Chairman-elect Steve Bodner (U.S. Bank); Vice Chairmen, Cookie Katskee (Friedel Jewish Academy), Adrian Minks (OPPD), Rodney Oberle (UNO), John Wilson (Durham Resources); Secretary, Kevin Warneke (Ronald McDonald House Charities Inc. of Omaha); Treasurer, Dan Koraleski (KPMG Peat Marwick); Legal Counsel, Deb McLarney (First National Bank); President & CEO, Jim Leslie (UNO Alumni Association) Directors Term Expires 2003: Gary Domet (Omaha World-Herald), Cookie

the state's economic well-being, especially in difficult economic times, and Whereas, although the University of Nebraska will be required to take reductions as a result of this economic crisis, the University of Nebraska, because of the items set forth above, should be a top priority in allocating funds, Now, therefore be it resolved that the leadership of the Alumni Associations of the University of Nebraska do hereby call upon the associations' 127,000 NU alumni households in the state to support its university by taking an active role in assuring state support, and further call upon the state Legislature and Governor to position Nebraska to remain a competitive and prosperous state by making the highest possible investment in the University of Nebraska.

Katskee, Luanne Nelson (Omaha Public Schools), Angelo Passarelli (Millard Public Schools).

Term Expires 2004: Jim Czyz (Cummins Great Plains), Karen Lastovica (Northern Plains Gas Co), Adrian Minks (OPPD), Patricia Taylor (Qwest Corp), John Wilson (Durham Resources), Martha Ridgway Zajicek (Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company).

Term Expires 2005: Jacquie Estee (Westside Community Schools), Mark Grieb (AAA Nebraska), Mark Healy ( wfsDirect, Inc.), Maggie Lehning (Business System Architects), Rodrigo Lopez (AmeriSphere Multifamily Finance, L.L.C), Shirley Spieker (First Data Resources) and Kevin Warneke (Ronald McDonald House Charities Inc. of Omaha).

Ex-Officio Directors: Chancellor Nancy Belck; Faculty Senate Rep. Robert Blair; Student Regent Joe Bilek.

MARCH 2003 • 7

Freedom at Freeman Field

By Eric Stoakes

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ilitary men with stars on their shoulders and service records just as bright are nothing new among UNO alumni. That should come as no surprise, though; through the university’s “Bootstrap” program begun in 1951, more than 12,000 military personnel have graduated with a UNO degree. The group includes privates and four-star generals, POWs and KIAs, heroes and heroines.

And it includes 1964 UNO grad James Warren.

Certainly, his record shines. The former ace pilot’s military career spanned three wars, 173 combat missions and 12,000 flight hours. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross with two Oak Leaf Clusters (OLCs are given in lieu of an award of the same medal); an Air medal with 11 OLCs; a Meritorious Service Medal with two OLCs; and the Air Force Commendation Medal. He was navigator of “Homecoming One” (the “Hanoi Taxi”), the C-141 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 Pago Pago, American Samoa.

For 50 years, though, Warren’s gleaming record contained a spot. A smudge. A smear.

Whites-Only On April 5, 1945, Warren and 35 other black officers stationed at Freeman Field, Seymour, Ind., were arrested for entering Officers Club Number Two. Twenty-five more black officers were arrested the following day.

Their crime?

They were black, and Officers Club Number Two was for “whites-only.”

“The discrimination was just too egregious to ignore,” Warren recalls. “We were well-trained, educated men, and it was just too much to take to be discriminated against. We had to make a stand.

“It went totally against my manhood. It was time to take that stand.”

8 • MARCH 2003

Photo by Mark Morris

Warren poses with the 50th Anniversary Commemorative Bust of The Tuskegee Airman. The bust was created by Clarence Shivers, a fighter pilot with the Airmen and a roommate of Warren’s while Warren attended UNO. The 61 officers were restricted to quarters, but later released. Four days later all officers at Freeman Field were ordered to report to the base theater. There they were asked to sign Base Regulation 85-2 officially barring them from Officers Club Number Two. No one signed. Warren and others then were brought individually before a board and given a direct order by a commanding officer to read and sign Base Regulation 85-2.

Should they refuse, it was deemed the officer would be in violation of the 64th Article of War—disobeying a direct order of a superior officer in time of war. Conviction could carry a penalty of death.

Warren’s turn before the board came April 11, 1945, 1500 hours. He refused to sign, as did 100 others. The group was arrested, transported on April 13 to nearby Godman Field in Kentucky, and prepared for court-martials.

Matters never got that far, though. On April 23 Gen. George C. Marshall ordered the 101 black officers released from arrest.

But there was a catch—each officer had an administrative reprimand placed in his official military record, the 201 file.

The stain would stay forever.

But it did not. In 1995 President Clinton wiped the slate clean, stating that the actions of those brave officers led to desegregation of the military via an executive order by President Truman in 1948.

“What happened way back when was wrong,” Warren says. “What happened in 1995 was right. They finally did the right thing.”

UNOALUM

ning movie about the airmen. Today, Tuskegee Airmen Inc. gives college scholarships to young men and women interested in aviation. There are chapters across the nation.

Warren served in World War II with the 477th Bombardment Group. He also flew in the Korean and Vietnam wars, totaling 173 combat missions in his career.

Yet the retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel’s most vivid memories don’t involve fighting enemies overseas. What Warren remembers most is that stand he and the other Tuskegee Airmen took in 1945 when they demanded equality at Freeman Field.

“We risked our lives for freedom,” Warren says. “Refusing to obey a direct order from a superior officer in wartime was a violation of the 64th Article of War, punishable by death. But if we were going to fight for freedom overseas, we wanted to be able to enjoy it at home.”

Though Warren survived the Freeman Field incident and flourished in the military, he says he always lamented the reprimand placed in his personnel file after Freeman Field.

“I knew those terse statements, which said I displayed a stubborn and uncooperative attitude toward constituted authority, had truncated my career. I felt it was unfair.”

He continued with his career nonetheless, deciding to make the military his life after the Korean War. “Before then, I thought it was a temporary thing. But after Korea, I made the decision to stay in.” He furthered his career at UNO as part of the Bootstrapper program, majoring in architecture.

He began to question war during his stint in Korea. “I did a full tour. Many times I got shot at but never got a scratch. I realized then that I was trying to kill someone and they were trying to kill me and I really didn’t know why. That’s when I started to question war as a way to make peace.”

Those feelings were solidified during his tour in Vietnam.

“I flew 123 missions—so many hours flying over Vietnam. I saw the devastation. I saw the results of war and I wasn’t happy. It was terrible.”

The veteran is quick to offer his opinion about a possible war with Iraq.

“I’ve seen too many young men come home in body bags not to consider another solution than war,” Warren says. “War is horrible. It doesn’t solve anything. Any way we can solve our differences other than war is the way to go. I don’t think the politicians give enough consideration to diplomacy. We need to use diplomacy first. We win the small battles through diplomacy before we take other means.”

Don’t misunderstand this veteran, though. He remains a strong supporter of the U.S. military. And he is proud of his lengthy military service and of the battles he’s fought.

And today, his record shines brighter than Courtesy James Warren ever.

Warren in the cockpit of a B-25 at Godman Field in Kentucky.

Still Taking Stands Warren today is still taking stands. He spends his retirement in Vacaville, Calif., with his wife of 52 years, Xanthis. He writes, works out at a health club three days a week, and spends time with his three sons and four grandsons. “I’m a very happy, very lucky man,” he says.

But retirement doesn’t mean he’s inactive. Warren often travels the country giving speeches about his experiences in the military, most notably as one of the original members of the acclaimed Tuskegee Airmen. He also promotes his book, “The Tuskegee Airmen: Mutiny at Freeman Field.”

It’s all a long way from Alabama, where Warren was born and raised until he was 14. His family then moved to Evanston, Ill., and on Nov. 19, 1942, Warren enlisted with the U.S. Army Air Force, training in Tuskegee, Ala. The first black U.S. fighter pilots, the Tuskegee Airmen were part of an “experiment” in the nation’s segregated armed forces to see if blacks had the “intellectual capacity” to be pilots. The pilots’ successful wartime record laid doubts to rest.

“We knew then that we were part of an elite group, and that we had a special mission to perform,” Warren says. “We were well aware that performance carried the hopes and dreams of thousands of other black youths Warren recounts the who were not so fortunate.”

Freeman Field mutiny in For more than 40 years after his 1996 book published the war, though, the pioneering

by The Conyers aviators went largely unnoticed.

Publishing Co. But interest picked up in 1995 when HBO aired an award-win-

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MARCH 2003 • 9

Street Smart

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s an award-winning analyst with the Edward Jones financial services firm, Brian Youngberg’s job has more ups and downs than a carnival carousel. And he says he finds it just as entertaining.

The 1986 UNO graduate has gone from selling shoes to charting the course of millions of dollars in investments and billions of dollars in utility companies’ profits and losses. Along the way, his insightful, timely recommendations have brought him public recognition and industry respect.

“Who wouldn’t find that exciting?” he asks. Youngberg urged clients to sell their shares of Enron before other analysts made the same recommendation, thus enabling those who listened to rescue more of their investment. The advice got him named “Best on the Street” in the utilities sector by the Wall Street Journal in its annual analyst survey. The ranking was determined solely on the success of his recommendations during 2001, when he outperformed better than 95 percent of his industry peers.

Youngberg was “among the earliest to advise investors to sell their shares in the troubled Enron Corp.,” the Journal reported.

Youngberg says the recommendation to sell shares of Enron had followed the issuance of a lowered opinion of the stock by Edward Jones. Later, when the utility company’s quarterly statements came out, “even reading them casually, there were some alarming statements,” he said. “We’re not auditors,” he adds.

“We rely on auditors to provide accurate information, which they were not. It turned out to be the right call.”

On the flip side, some of Youngberg’s top picks enjoyed a positive year. “So there was good news along with the bad,” he says.

Receiving the Wall Street Journal honor left the 39-year-old “pleasantly surprised.” “Really, it was my first year

10 • MARCH 2003

of being eligible,” he says. “We’ll see if I can repeat it.”

An Omaha native, Youngberg is a 1981 graduate of Burke High School. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in business at UNO, then Youngberg earned an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. While at UNO he played trumpet in the marching band. During those long hours of practice he met flute player Michele Reit. They married 16 years ago and today are the parents of four girls ranging in age from 3 to 12.

Youngberg, whose mother, Jean, was a secretary at UNO in the counseling and testing offices until her retirement five years ago, was active in several university organizations, including the student ambassadors program and as a student orientation leader assisting incoming freshmen.

“I felt being involved was a great part of the overall university experience,” he says. “For some at UNO, it seemed to be difficult to get involved.

Not for me; I found it relatively easy.

The music program was my foot in the door for some of my other extracurricular activities. I kept very busy, and I look back fondly on my time there.”

He worked at the Haney Shoes store in Benson while attending UNO, hiring into the accounting department at Mutual of Omaha his final year. He worked for the Farm Credit Administration in Omaha before moving in 1988 to St. Louis to attend Washington University.

After his graduation from WU in 1990, he worked for NBD Bank in

Photo courtesy Edward Jones

By Nick Schinker

Detroit, evolving over five years into a commercial loan officer. Because of an interest in the stock market, be began the lengthy certification process to become a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). While continuing that process, he accepted a commercial lending position with a bank in Chicago, Ill., then a job with a credit rating company in Chicago. “That’s where I started getting involved with utility companies, assigning credit ratings, monitoring risks,” Youngberg says.

That Chicago credit rating firm underwent a merger about the same time Youngberg was completing his CFA requirements. “By 2000, I made it through the merger, passed the CFA and knew the utility sector very well,” he says. About the middle of 2000, he was offered a position with Edward Jones.

The job afforded the opportunity to move back to St. Louis. Today, Youngberg and his family have a home in Wildwood, Mo., about 20 miles from downtown St. Louis. Both he and his wife have family in Omaha, and with a sizeable crew of Edward Jones investment advisors here, Youngberg visits his hometown often.

He says he is impressed by the expansion of the UNO campus. “The transition of the west campus really got started while I was there. The improvement of the physical campus and the overall quality of the university programs makes me very proud of what the university has done.”

Although the stock market remains volatile, often rising and falling in one week as much as it used to in an entire year, it is not necessarily a time for the casual investor to stuff his money into a mattress, Youngberg says.

“I’d recommend people continue to invest in an orderly fashion. That means to invest regularly and keep in mind that the overriding factor is diversification.” He suggests investors not have more than 5 percent of their investable assets in any one security. Think positive and be patient, he says. “Don’t focus on the one- or two-day movements of the market. People should always invest for the long term.”

Good advice from a man whose specialty is natural gas, not hot air.

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Eric Francis

Scott Residence Hall on the South Campus at Aksarben.

Room to Grow

By Eric Stoakes

S

ince taking the reigns of UNO five years ago, Chancellor Nancy Belck has been a strong supporter of dorms at UNO. And no wonder.

The new residence halls have “changed the culture and character of all the classes of all of our community students,” Belck says. “I kept saying to people even before the housing was built that they would see a difference they wouldn’t believe possible.

“And that’s proving true. Students and faculty really can benefit, whether they’re living on campus or not, from that community of scholars.”

UNO’s first dorms, which house 556 students, opened in the fall of 1999 on the main campus on Dodge Street. In 2000 on the south campus there was opened a 164-bed hall, a project financed by the Suzanne and Walter Scott Foundation.

And more beds are on the way. Last spring the University of Nebraska Board of Regents approved a ground lease agreement with the Scott Foundation to construct additional student housing on UNO’s South Campus. The proposed

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“Scott Village” will have 480 units in 10 buildings joining the two other residential facilities.

That will bring UNO’s total housing capacity to more than 1,200 beds. The new facilities should be available for fall 2003 occupancy.

The three-story buildings will consist of four-bedroom suites, each with a living room. The suites are similar to the existing south campus hall and those on the main campus. Estimated construction cost of Scott Village is between $12.5 and $15 million, funded by the issuance of tax-exempt revenue bonds.

No university funds will be used.

As with UNO’s existing residential halls, a professional management company will be hired to manage the facility.

Students enrolled in Information Science, Technology and Engineering will have priority for assignment in Scott Village, followed by students enrolled in programs for which UNO has statewide responsibility.

Belck says she is grateful to the Scott Foundation for helping UNO address the critical need for additional campus housing. “For example,” the chancellor

notes, “more than 700 students were placed on a waiting list last year. This additional housing will allow us to serve students who want to live on campus and attend UNO because of our academic programming.”

Belck says dorms help UNO reach two important goals: The recruitment and retention of students; and “It also helps those students meet their goals and serves a diverse population.”

According to statistics released by the Office of Institutional Research, the midyear retention rate for first-time freshman students climbed to 88.5 percent — an increase from 86.4 percent in 2001.

The statistics are based on the number of first-year freshmen who started at UNO in fall 2001 and then returned for classes in spring 2002. The stats follow a general trend that started in spring 1998 and has continued each year after. In 1998, retention rates increased to 81.4 percent from 76.8 percent in 1997. The following year, the rate climbed to 85.6 percent and in 2000, the retention rate reached 86 percent.

“These latest figures illustrate our continued commitment to placing students first,” Belck says. “Our retention rate has experienced a 15.2-percent overall increase in only five years’ time. It’s further evidence of our progress in becoming a metropolitan university of distinction.”

M A R C H 2 0 0 3 • 11

A Matter of Justice By Sonja Carberry

S

tanding in a crowd of 100 people at the German presidential palace, UNO alumna Jody Manning realized she was experiencing history in the making. It was December 1999, and German Federal President Johannes Rau was speaking to the world: “I pay tribute to all those who were subjected to slave and forced labor under German rule and, in the name of the German people, beg forgiveness. We will not forget their suffering.”

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The candid apology followed a radical and hard-won agreement to create a $5 billion German foundation to directly reimburse World War II forced laborers.

As foreign affairs officer in the Office of the Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues, Manning was a member of the negotiating team that reached this bilateral agreement with Germany, as well as ones with Austria for $500 million and France for $450 million. “I played a very small role. But for me, a kid from Nebraska, it was an amazing moment,” Manning says.

In the three years since, money has been paid to 1 million Holocaust survivors and their descendants in 73 countries. “For people in Ukraine and Belarus, that’s money that will probably sustain them for the rest of their living years,” Manning says.

Accomplishing this meant hopscotching the Atlantic Ocean 13 times during a 10-month stretch to participate in contentious European negotiations. “I spent more significant days—birthdays, anniversaries—with my boss in foreign countries than at home,” Manning says.

“I worked my tail off.”

International Exposure The international bug first bit Manning when her family moved from Omaha’s Fontenelle Park area to Germany. Her father, Dan, had taken an assignment with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to work for the Department of Defense in Frankfurt.

From the eighth to 11th grades, Manning attended Frankfurt American High School and soaked in all Europe had to offer, visiting 14 different countries. “I kind of consider those my formative years," says Manning. “It kind of laid the foundation for what I wanted to do.”

Still, when she returned to Omaha and began classes at UNO, Manning chose a business major. She completed two years of accounting and business courses without real direction.

Then serendipity disguised as hassle struck.

“I needed a Tuesday/Thursday class.

My choices were Terrorism, which sounded like a bit of a downer, or International Studies.” She chose the latter and was immediately hooked. “I

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“I played a very small role. But for me, a kid from Nebraska, it was an amazing moment. For people in Ukraine and Belarus, that’s money that will probably sustain them for the rest of their living years” Jody Manning truly attribute the path my life has taken the last 12 years to taking that class.”

Manning’s mother, Ruth, who worked in UNO’s University Relations department then, recalled seeing a dramatic change in her daughter. “She was really looking for herself and it was like a light bulb went on,” she says.

Thomas Gouttierre, dean of International Studies and Programs and director of the Center for Afghanistan studies, remembers Manning as organized and action-oriented. “She also had a healthy dose of intellectual curiosity,” Gouttierre says.

Manning immersed herself in the International Studies program and was elected International Student Services Student Director, a student government position. Manning completed her bachelor’s degree in international studies/ business and management in 1990 graduating magna cum laude, then earned a second degree in political science in 1992, once more with honors.

International Life Her next step was graduate school.

Manning chose Washington, D.C.’s, American University partly because of the city’s international flavor. She received her master’s degree in international communication from AU’s School of International Service in 1995.

Along the way she worked. A parttime job at UNO coordinating international admissions suddenly came in handy. “Because of that experience, when I came to D.C. looking for a part-

time job, I found the law school at AU needed some help in international admissions,” she says. Manning also held a similar position at Georgetown University Law Center.

In the meantime, Manning married Brian Stutheit, a fellow Midwest transplant who works as an electrical engineer for the Department of Defense.

Manning was enjoying married life when providence again struck, this time disguised as a temp job.

“I heard from a friend that the State Department was having a conference on Holocaust assets and was looking for help,” Manning recalls. During the sixmonth assignment, Manning helped coordinate attendance by more than 500 people from 44 countries. After the successful conference, Manning compiled and edited transcripts of the proceedings.

In the process she became so wellversed in Holocaust issues past and present that Ambassador J.D. Bindenagel, U.S. Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues, “snatched her up” for his full-time staff.

“We found in her excellent organizational skills and that Nebraskan openness,” Bindenagel says. “It is critical in any negotiation to understand the other side’s point of view. Jody has those qualities of openness, direct communication and willingness to listen.”

Bindenagel also cites Manning’s contribution to a particular sticking point in negotiations—the precise allocation of funds. “Jody was able to come up with several variations on the allocations. The key to that agreement was to find the lowest level of dissatisfaction for everyone concerned. Jody made it possible to find that agreement,” he says. “For Jody, the goal of bringing justice to Holocaust survivors was never lost in her work,” says Bindenagel.

Manning’s four-year position ends in 2003. Meanwhile, she continues working on Holocaust issues, for example coordinating United States involvement in the International Holocaust Education Task Force. “I think I’ve been really fortunate in the opportunities I’ve had and trust me, I appreciate them. Because I always remind myself I’m a kid from Nebraska.”

M A R C H 2 0 0 3 • 13

Photo by Eric Francis

Safe at Home

By Rich Kaipust

I

t’s 35 degrees and windy on a January weekday, but Bob Herold is wearing shorts and a Maverick baseball T-shirt. He’s cooped up inside, desk-bound in his UNO athletic department office where he tends to paperwork and a ringing telephone in the temperature-controlled bowels of Sapp Fieldhouse.

14 • MARCH 2003

If only it were 75 and sunny. If only he had the dirt and grass of a baseball field beneath his feet.

“If you’re a player or once a player, you’d rather be out there competing in a game rather than scouting or recruiting,” UNO Assistant Coach Chris Gadsden says. “That’s no different with Bobby.”

That was the sacrifice Herold made when he came to the University of Nebraska at Omaha as head baseball coach after the 1999 season.

During a 12-year coaching career in the Kansas City Royals’ organization, Herold never had to recruit players, put together a schedule or line up buses or hotel rooms for a road trip. When spring

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training rolled around, he was always in sunny Florida and didn’t have to worry about trying to squeeze a practice inside a gym.

But the flip side was that Herold was able to come back to the school where he played baseball and ended his career as an NAIA All-American in 1971. And he would be back near his family during the baseball season instead of trying to be a good husband and father from hundreds of miles away.

All this without giving up being a part of the game that he loves.

“I feel very, very blessed, to be in this position and to be at home with my wife and kids,” Herold says. “I know a lot of guys who are losing their jobs, a lot of guys who move to another city for their jobs, and I’m so very aware of that. I very much appreciate what I have here.”

What Herold has, finally, is what he envisioned upon his return.

UNO finished 33-17 last season and qualified for NCAA Division II regional play for the first time in 21 years. That erased some of the disappointment from the Mavericks hanging around the .500 mark for most of Herold’s first two seasons, when he admitted that learning the college game and building a program perhaps took more than he bargained for.

No wonder Herold couldn’t wait to get out of this office and get the 2003 season started.

With a wealth of returning firepower, it’s not a stretch to say that UNO is on the verge of being a Top 25 team and national contender.

“I’m not a big believer in evolution,” Herold says, “but I can tell you this team has evolved the last few years.”

Herold has fought to get Omaha high school players interested in the program, something that’s slowly changed. His first recruiting class becomes his first true senior class this spring and anchors the Mav lineup.

“The Achilles for me has always been this recruiting thing, because I didn’t know how to do it,” Herold says. “But every year I learn a little more, as far as what guys have interest in you, what guys you’re interested in, and how you go about getting them.”

Generating interest outside the pro-

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gram also has taken time. Herold immediately set out to find former UNO and Omaha University players and get them involved, feeling that it was important to tie with the past.

Get them to spend some time with Herold and his excitement about UNO baseball certainly would rub off.

“The energy he brings picks everybody up, whether in the office or on the diamond,” Gadsden says.

From the coaching side, Herold says dealing with college players isn’t much different than working with minor leaguers. Sometimes you just deliver the message on a different level.

“Some guys are just more sophisticated in what they already know,” Herold says. “The coachability factor—I’m not sure if that has an age on it. Some guys think they know it all when they’re 18.

Other guys you can’t tell them enough when they’re 26.”

UNO senior David Kros says it’s not quite as complicated as you might think with a coach who’s accumulated the knowledge Herold has through the years.

“When it comes down to it, he just wants you to play the game the way it’s supposed to be played,” says Kros, an infielder from Millard West High School.

“Shut your mouth, take care of business and don’t worry about outside factors

that you can’t control.”

At UNO, where hockey and football rule, and where several women’s sports have risen to acclaim in recent years, the baseball team is starting to find its niche.

That’s what Athletic Director Bob Danenhauer hoped for when Herold emerged from a list of four finalists to replace the retiring Bob Gates. Herold had been an assistant at the University of Louisville (1974) and at Creighton University (1985-87), but got most of his coaching experience with the Royals as a manager and hitting instructor.

“We were very fortunate to get him,” Danenhauer said. “He’s an alum (BA, ’72; MS, ’76), which means a lot, and an Omahan, and a guy with a strong passion for baseball. Those variables were very important for us.”

With Herold, you wonder if he’d be happy no matter where he might be, as long as he was wearing a baseball uniform. Yet Gadsden says go ahead and put a three-piece suit on him and expect the same success.

“He’s done so well at the baseball thing, at being the guy on the field that people look to as a leader and for instruction,” Gadsden says. “That’s where he thrives, but that’s just where he ended up. I’m sure he would be able to do the same things—be the same kind of guy—in a different atmosphere.”

Three Coaches, 57 Seasons ow long can UNO fans expect Bob Herold to be at the reins of UNO baseball?

If he follows the paths of his predecessors, a long time.

When Herold took over as head coach in 2000 he was just the third man to formally hold that title. The program began at what was then Omaha University in 1947 under Virgil Yelkin. Yelkin coached 28 seasons, compiling a record of 439196.

Yelkin was absent from the helm for most of three years, though.

Thurman Johnson temporarily replaced Yelkin in 1952 when Yelkin served in the Korean War. Carl Meyers coached UNO in 1970 when Yelkin stepped aside for health rea-

H

sons. And UNO went 33-12 in 1976, qualifying for NCAA Division II regional play, but assistant Dave Benedict handled most of the duties that Herold’s season. Yelkin predecessor at died March 13 UNO, Bob Gates the following year.

He was replaced by Bob Gates, whose first team also qualified for the regional playoffs. Gates coached through 1999, compiling a record of 464-473 with two conference championships and one division title.

AR H 2 0 0 23 • 1155 N O V E M B E R / D E CM EM BC ER

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Full Ride

By Warren Francke

Photo by Eric Francis

I

dollar DVD, “Fresh Aire 8: Infinity,” for Chip Davis. If that n a city full of Andy Andersons, only one was born Bruce sounds tame, consider that Mr. Mannheim Steamroller saw a and sometimes calls himself Oslo Anderson, the dashing painting of a waterfall and flew Andy to shoot the real thing— Norwegian cinematographer. If you heard Bullet Soup near Amalfi in Southern Italy. playing at the Mardi Gras on Pacific, Andy was the drumCame the new century with a half dozen big shoots and mer. Just a kid then, Westside High class of ’73. He never some major awards under his belt, Andy was ready to slap on stopped the music, still beating the drums when the Neal his bush hat and photograph his own feature film. With Mark Davis Group performs First Friday Jams at Joslyn.

Hoeger and Thompson Rogers, he formed Oberon It was music that helped him get serious about college.

Entertainment Properties.

MTV began airing on cable in the early ’80s, and Anderson They raised more than a million dollars, hired two stars saw something exciting that mixed his interests in music and photography. But, before shooting his own rock star videos, he well known to young audiences and in May 2001, shot “Full Ride.” Last August it ran in prime time on WB Network and became the man in the lab apron, running the darkroom for now appears in such exotic venues as HBO Poland.

UNO photo classes and snapping news pix for the Gateway.

At age 47—father of two daughters and married to Nancy He buckled down in the classroom, graduating with honors in Einerson, the girl whose charms drew him home from ’84.

And that’s when the story of Andy, discarding the Bruce on Mexico—Andy’s making movies. his birth certificate and adopting Oslo for screen credits, gets Making Movies hotter than Bullet Soup.

Rogers (Warren Buffett’s nephew) is the moneyman and His first job after graduation? Windsurfing instructor for chairman of the Oberon board, cinematographer Anderson Club Med near Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. They paid him for and director Hoeger are co-presidents. If you haven’t seen putting up with beer, bikinis and beaches, then love brought “Full Ride,” eye the big color poster featuring football players him back to Omaha, where he started Anderson Productions. and the usual credits, with the team of But don’t be yawning yet. A few movieAnderson and Hoeger in smaller type than making highlights of his 1990s: Riley Smith, their young star.

• Serves as “human sacrifice” photog Andy jumped on a The large poster hangs in their Farnam when Sean Penn makes “Indian Runner.” boat and shot a Plaza office overlooking the Douglas • Shoots “Omaha the Movie” with barge coming down County courthouse lawn. Neighbors to scenes ranging from the stockyards and Del Weber’s UNO office all the way to the Missouri straight Rogers’ Odin Capital Group, they’re seven floors above Opera Omaha, where Rogers Carhenge. (It’s the film that opens with at him. That’s when once served as executive. Hoeger, who Mayor P.J. Morgan clad in black leather and the thought struck teaches film classes at UNO, held a similar rumbling down an alley on his Harley.) post with the Emmy Gifford Theatre before • Communes with Willa Cather and him that “they and during its move to the Rose as the hangs with Jessica Lange as second unit needed a human Omaha Theater Company for Young People. photographer for the Hallmark Hall of sacrifice.” They had This morning the co-presidents are Fame “Oh Pioneers.” watching a video, the four-minute version • Same job with “Citizen Ruth” tests his spared their more of the “Full Ride Investor Trailer.” Andy’s professional poise when director Alexander expensive computer screen fills with square images, Payne asks Laura Dern to disrobe for art cinematographer, representing clips he can pull up to revise (not for Andy). the trailer. Hoeger and Anderson are • Plays foosball with Matthew Broderick and “I was between films, working to build a bigger at the wrap party for Payne’s “Election.” expendable.”

(Continued on next page) • Creates an hour-long, multi-million w w w. u n o a l u m n i . o r g

M A R C H 2 0 0 3 • 17

nest egg—hopefully $10 to $20 million—for future projects.

“I’m used to flying without a net,” Andy said.

“Nancy and I have both been real entrepreneurial.” She’s been in marketing and landscape design, and he started Anderson Productions rather than seeking 9-to-5 employment. That’s never been his bag; after he graduated from UNO, he worked those music gigs at Mardi Gras, Oliver’s Back Alley and Arthur’s, plus those four months windsurfing in Mexico, “non-stop hard work and fun, a great experience, but mostly chasing people to get them off the rocks.”

His father, a corporate troubleshooter, often in the Chicago area, had introduced his son to sailing on Lake Michigan. Before basking in the tropics, Andy taught windsurfing in Omaha and met Nancy while helping her photograph her sister’s instruction session. Teaching the water sport even Photo courtesy Andy Anderson added to his MTV dream. His entire portfolio, as Hollywood hobnobbing . . . Anderson poses with “Citizen Ruth” direche started his video production business, consisttor Alexander Payne and its star, Laura Dern. ed of work he’d done in UNO classes—a piece on more expensive cinematographer, and “I was expendable.” stagecraft, one on windsurfing and the like.

But he made it back to shore and a guy in blue jeans came After taking music classes for a few years, he got serious running up asking, “Did you get it?” It was the dude from about school and signed up for an 8 a.m. anthropology class.

Professor Andris Skreija was impressed with Anderson’s faith- Ridgemont High, Madonna’s ex, the film’s director and ful attendance at that hour despite getting home at 2 a.m. from Hollywood badboy himself, Sean Penn. Andy still feels the rush of “all the adrenaline and excitement” that night. He got night club gigs. Skreija made sure his student knew that acadthe barge footage, and he became second unit director of phoeme was about the only career path for anthropologists. tography for “The Indian Runner.”

“So, a little older and smarter at 25, I went to see Hugh That river risk didn’t end his stint as human sacrifice. Penn Cowdin,” chairman of the Communication Department. had him shoot a ’56 hot rod speeding at him, then sliding into “Nothing really fit what I needed,” but Dr. Cowdin said yes when Andy asked to combine courses in photography, TV pro- a sharp turn. “They hooked me up to a harness so a guy could pull me out of the way,” he explained. duction and dramatic arts—such as lighting and stagecraft. “I Penn’s film provided some decent paydays, but “Omaha saw myself making music videos and films.” the Movie” served purely to add to his experience with feature He also realized “this wasn’t the music capitol of the films. On the UNO campus, it may live in infamy for world.” The good news was that “every band wanted to do a Chancellor Weber’s rather wooden scenes where he holds up a video.” The bad news? “They didn’t have the money.” Still, he crude sign identifying his name and title as he boasts of the shot videos for groups such as “Shades of Danger.” school’s “broad range of classes and superb faculty.”

“Oh Pioneers” put Anderson in touch with a helpful pro, TV Land line producer Andrew Stone, who watch-dogged the budget in His first income, however, came when ad agencies hired the field. Shot mostly west of Lincoln, the Willa Cather story Anderson Productions to shoot television commercials for a made Andy more intimate with a pair of butterflies than with savings and loan, car dealer and pizza parlor. “We tried to star Jessica Lange. For nearly three days he focused on two make them as cool as we could,” he recalled. Andy started his butterflies, first semi-frozen then delicately alive. “The idea business in 1985, married in 1987, and got his first crack at a was, wanting the two to mingle in flight, then separate,” Andy big league feature-length film when “The Indian Runner” was noted. Shooting horses and other rural scenes proved easier. shooting here in 1991.

Working with Stone helped him hook up with Payne, the That’s when he first risked his life for a little fame and less kid from Creighton Prep, on “Citizen Ruth.” The first of fortune. “I bribed a makeup person to tell me where the proPayne’s three feature films shot in the Omaha area, the dark duction office was located”—a site kept secret to avoid being comedy spoofed extremists on two sides of the abortion mobbed by wannabes. He found an assistant director, volundebate. Stone again served as field producer, Andy as second teered to shoot, and was told, “Maybe. We’ll call you.” unit director of photography.

They did. “Show up at the Blair bridge at 3 a.m.” He did.

So why Andy, instead of chief cinematographer Jim Andy jumped on a boat and shot a barge coming down the Glennon, when Payne set out to undress Laura Dern near Missouri straight at him. That’s when the thought struck him Cunningham Lake? “Good question. Maybe cuz Jim costs that “they needed a human sacrifice.” They had spared their

18 • MARCH 2003

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more, but it was an honor, a compliment.”

Dern shivered that chilly day for art’s sake. Payne’s concept was a drug-induced dream where she stretched in the field, facing away from the camera, a hand reaching out in recreation of Andrew Wyeth’s famed painting, “Cristina’s World.”

It didn’t make the final cut, but a tasteful pose hangs framed in black and white on the office wall at Farnam Plaza. “We wore jackets, but she didn’t complain about the cold. She’s a really sweet person,” Andy said.

So viewers get a coach ambitious for a better job, a teenager striving for a college scholarship and a love story that fogs the lens at poolside. We get: Riley: “What’s there to do in this town?"

Meredith: “There’s nothing to do in this town.”

Riley: “I think you’re really hot.”

And much, much more, of course, in the 90-minute version cut from 12 hours of raw footage. Football scenes were shot at Al Caniglia Field, and one gridiron role went to Mike Callahan, a student in Hoeger’s UNO film class.

Andy found himself shooting a troupe of Hawaiian dancers, appearing at a “beach party” hosted by the football players. That came after he saw “a big Samoan guy talking on a pay phone on (the Dana College) campus” and asked Dana’s PR man, UNO grad Barry Anderson, if they had any Hawaiian students? “Yes, 25 or 30,” Barry said. “Full Ride” added a luau scene.

So that’s show business. Years raising money, 20 days shooting a feature film, and Polynesian garb scavenged from a dumpster stuffed by students heading home for the summer.

For Andy Anderson, it means using creativity honed in the classroom, on TV commercials and on the films of other producers to make his own full-length movie.

This time, the climax came at a small family gathering the August evening “Full Ride” played on the WB network. Wife Nancy and their two daughters were joined by other family and friends for popcorn and pizza. Andy, who’d seen the footage so many times before, sat in the stairwell and listened to their comments.

They liked what they saw, and he liked the encouragement.

But, whatever the reaction this time, Andy is in filmmaking for the full ride.

Full Ride Andy did less shooting on “Election,” the film that won more critical acclaim for Payne and young Reese Witherspoon as the ambitious high school hottie. That’s when Andy spent the wrap party in a long foosball battle with Broderick. He didn’t join Payne for “About Schmidt.” When Jack-mania made headlines with any sighting of Mr. Nicholson, Andy was too busy shooting “Full Ride.”

“Their schedule kept moving back, our star Meredith Monroe had another film to shoot and the actors’ strike was pending, so we couldn’t avoid the conflict.”

The teen-age love story and football film started as a memoir by ex-Husker and UNO grad George Mills, based on his Shrine Bowl experience. Five years ago, Mills was a county commissioner when he approached Mark Hoeger about turning the book into a movie.”If you’re serious,” Hoeger said, “do a video.” Mills asked, how much would it cost? “I said off the top of my head it would cost $40,000.” Mills said OK. From that conversation evolved the working agreement that formed Oberon. Both Hoeger and Anderson had done all facets of filmmaking, but “Andy’s a much better shooter,” says Hoeger. “I’m a director who also shoots, he’s a shooter who also directs.”

They share “a dogged determination to make this happen. Patience is 99 percent of it.”

Both also edit, but brought in UNO grad and Oscar winner Mike Hill as “Full Ride” final editor. They recruited Omaha native Peter Buffett to compose music, Don Winslow to convert Mills’ story to a film script and Peter Heller as co-producer. Heller’s Hollywood savvy “helped us get our stars and to hook up with Porchlight,” the company distributing the film. Where Nicholson’s millions made up more than half of the $32 million budget for “About Schmidt,” “Full Ride” made do with $300,000 for talent, less than a fourth of its budget.

The main character in Mills’ version was “not as troubled, the stakes weren’t high enough.” As the producers put it, “George brought authenticity to the Photo courtesy Andy Anderson interaction of coaches and players,” On the set . . .

Anderson and Doug Shelbon take a break while filming for the Winslow “brought romance and plot Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. lines.”

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M A R C H 2 0 0 3 • 19

From left, Cathy Wells Kurz, Scott Kurz and Amy Kunz.

Photo by Eric Francis

Now Playing

By Warren Francke

A

my Kunz, blond hair down her back, is dressed in black. She’s been Medea, Maggie the Cat and Blanche Dubois. Now she commands the stage where her acting has won acclaim as Nebraska’s best and speaks to 19 Girl Scouts, mostly fourth graders. “Ladies, please stand up.

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Now look in my eyes, right at me. We’re going to be actors.”

Scott Kurz, lip swollen from a martial mishap, visits Burke High armed with broadsword and shield from his role as Shakespeare’s Prince Hal. He’s also been Stanley Kowalski, Romeo and the Playboy of the Western World. But now

he asks an English class, “Did you see ‘Gladiator’? Thought the fighting was cool? It sucked.” Soon the students, whose teacher called Scott her “favorite Omaha actor,” hear his sword crack loudly against a classmate’s shield as he shows them a more realistic combat technique.

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At the College of St. Mary, Cathy Wells Kurz watches from the third row. On stage, five women rehearse a scene from “Dancing at Lughnasa,” the 10th anniversary production of her Brigit Saint Brigit (BSB) Theatre Company.

Aggie, one of the five Irish sisters, speaks: “Wouldn’t it be a good one if we all went?”

“Went where?”

“To the harvest dance.

Just like we used to. All dressed up.”

Soon Rosie is dancing and singing, and all but Kate, the eldest at 40, share the excitement when Aggie says, “I think we should all go.”

Cathy, artistic director of the company, directs this Brian Friel play. She stops the players and explains to Stephanie Beerling as Aggie, “It’s not a (she jumps up and down, gleeful), it’s a craving.” The scene builds to Cathy’s favorite line. Aggie longs for a fuller life and she says: “I’m only 35. I want to dance.”

Her words capture the purpose of the theater Cathy Wells founded 10 years ago: to nourish the human spirit with timeless classics and to share the drama experience through a teaching program. Now in residence at the College of St. Mary, with Amy as education director and Scott as technical director, Brigit Saint Brigit had its roots on the University of Nebraska at Omaha campus.

Cathy completed her MA in dramatic arts in 1983 by directing Ibsen’s “Hedda Gabler” at UNO with Amy in the title role. Amy played other campus parts but left nine hours short of her UNO English degree when her son’s birth intervened.

Ten years later, Cathy launched the

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theater named for two Brigits—a goddess of culture and St. Brigit of Kildare, a patron saint of Irish women. She asked Amy to return as Hedda with David Dechant (drama MA ’82) cast again as her husband.

The opening show at the Joslyn Museum Lecture Hall reprised Cathy’s thesis play with her UNO stars, and the second production, a pair of Christmas plays, brought Scott Kurz on board. His university claim to fame? While working on a secondary education degree, Scott became the first male recipient of the Child Care Provider of the Year award for nurturing work at the UNO Child Care Center. “I was nominated by their parents,” notes Scott, who now works at the First National Bank Child Development Center to supplement his BSB pay.

Cathy Wells, now Mrs. Scott Kurz, was determined to offer professional theater, paying actors to perform classic roles. An injustice of most theater in Omaha is that even ordinary musicians are paid, but extraordinary actors are not.

Amy moved from a full-time salary at the Rose (Omaha Theater Company for Young People) for 10 years to parttime pay with BSB. She’s often performed with Equity actor John Durbin, a member of the theater’s board. He was paid union scale for roles in “Harvey,” “Juno and the Paycock” and other BSB classics. Back on the campus green, Amy worked professionally with the Nebraska Shakespeare Festival. As Beatrice in “Much Ado About Nothing” and Regan in “King Lear,” she shared the outdoor stage with actors imported for the other lead roles.

Cathy’s dream of doing great drama gave Amy an alternative to the ingenue roles befalling her petite blondness.

Scott flirted with fame when John Jackson (Durbin in his Talent Pool casting role) tried landing him the Chris O’Donnell part opposite Al Pacino in “The Scent of a Woman.” His future wife first directed him at the Bellevue Little Theatre in “Romeo and Juliet.” It also marked Scott’s “first time I had a sword in my hand,” coached by Terry Doughman, the master combat choreographer who often appears in BSB plays.

Earlier at UNO, Cathy directed “Glass Menagerie” and played Martha to Matt Kamprath’s George in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolff.” By the time she founded her own company, she often directed at the old Norton and other area theaters. Jim Delmont, the Omaha World-Herald critic, named her director of the year for her “Our Town.”

But it takes more than stage credits to start a theater. Especially when “So many people told me nobody would come to these shows,” Cathy recalled. It takes money and a place to perform, and she “kept getting advice to use high school gyms.” They began, instead, at Joslyn. With “Hedda Gabler” scheduled there, a news story carried this quote: “We’re launching with optimism, enthusiasm and a need for further financing.

Some Omaha business people have been very generous, but we’re not in the pipeline yet for grants and Arts Council funding.”

Translation: she could afford the Joslyn hall for only one rehearsal before opening. Until then, the cast squeezed into an oozing, musty basement of Crawdad’s Furniture in the Old Market.

One night water gushed into the small room shared by some of Omaha’s finest actors—not just Kunz and Dechant, but also Durbin, Phyllis Doughman, Steve Tipton and Connie Lee. Then, just before opening night, they saw daylight in Joslyn. “Everything had to change after rehearsing in such a tiny space,” Cathy said. “Voices had to be louder, the staging, everything.”

Fortunately, 106 playgoers showed up on opening night. Unfortunately, Joslyn was never a perfect fit, and after two seasons BSB moved to Bellevue University. Then they could rehearse where they’d perform.

“They were so good to us, and we didn’t have to pay for the theater,” Cathy noted, “but… .” She didn’t need to complete the sentence; her listener had experienced the unsloped seating there. Amy, Scott and Cathy laughed recalling efforts to add more padding to each further row of seats so spectators could peer over the ones in front. They tried roping off seats to solve sight-line problems, irritating people forced to sit (Continued on next page)

M A R C H 2 0 0 3 • 21

apart. The problem was solved in the worst way when few attended “Requiem for a Heavyweight.”

Still, the Bellevue site saw brilliant performances of such plays as “Cyrano de Bergerac” and “A School for Scandal.”

And early benefactors such as Fred and Eve Simon stuck with them and brought friends along.

From the outset, theater critic Jim Delmont praised their work. He’s the one who dubbed Amy “perhaps Nebraska’s finest actor.” And he reported their move in 1997 to the College of St. Mary: “In her sunny new office on campus, director Wells couldn’t be happier. ‘It is such a pleasure to be here,’ she said.”

Scott agreed. After Wild-bearded Scott Kurz clutches a dagger while Cathy the dark, windowless him. space in Bellevue, “Everything is better “incredibly instinctive about human here. We were feeling hamstrung there.” relationships.” With all of Amy’s oft-recThe arrangement with the college ognized talent, “she works very hard,” includes teaching (Cathy is adjunct facaccording to Cathy. After years of collabulty) and other cultural outreach. oration, “We’re so connected in every “We couldn’t have attempted ‘The way.”

Trojan Women’, our first play here, in Thanks to videotape, it’s possible to Bellevue,” he added. The current season see the first product of this connection. opened with “A Man for All Seasons,” Amy enters as Hedda Gabler. She then “Crimes of the Heart” and “Henry stretches in her red robe and yawns as IV, Part One.” It continued by alternather stage husband asks, “Has the young ing two Brian Friel works, “Dancing at bride slept well?”

Lughnasa” and “Freedom of the City” Publicity photos add new images through March followed by “The Rival.” with each play.

Wild-bearded Scott The season always includes a modern clutches a dagger, Cathy’s Lady Irish play, and strong roles for Scott and Macbeth clutches him.

Amy’s Maggie Amy. Cathy does most of the directing, the Cat in silky slip holds Scott’s Brick but Scott guided two recent plays. “With in her embrace.

Amy’s Blanche in “A Cathy and Scott,” Amy explained, “we Streetcar Named Desire” eyes Scott’s have a real connection on stage. We Stanley Kowalski, head resting on Stella understand each other’s language.”

(Jenni O’Rourke, BA 1997).

She considers Cathy a scholar who is

22 • MARCH 2003

Photo by Andrew J. Baran

Wells Kurz’ Lady Macbeth clutches

That’s how theater audiences see them. Those Girl Scouts saw Amy reciting “Round and round the rugged rock the rapid rascal ran” as she showed them how to unroll their tongues like rugs. Burke High students saw Scott in blue jeans, flashing his broadsword and debunking bad movie brawls.

And those Irish sisters in “Dancing at Lughnasa” heard Cathy’s quiet insights into their roles. They knew she’d soon fill the auditorium with a familiar sound.

It’s the mission of Brigit Saint Brigit to “magnify the presence of the human spirit,” but no megaphone need amplify her mirth. She directs serious literature, and moments in each play make her “puddle up.” But Cathy Kurz has lived her dream for 10 years and her joy erupts into hearty laughter.

UNOALUM

Young Alum Profile

For the Birds

By Tom McMahon

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Photo by Eric Francis

J

oel Jorgensen was shivering—not from a winter blast of Nebraska wind or post-nightmare terrors. This was good shivering—from excitement—at a flooded basin near Axtell, Neb., in 1993. Jorgensen had just spotted a ruff, a bird that had never before been seen in Nebraska.

To a birder (a.k.a. birdwatcher), this is the ultimate achievement.

And nothing new for Jorgensen, a 1997 UNO biology graduate. In addition to his discovery of the ruff, Jorgensen has five other first-time Nebraska sightings: the little gull (April 1996), glossy ibis (April 1999), white ibis (July 1999), yellowbilled loon (November 1996; found with W. Ross Silcock) and curlew sandpiper (July 1997). As far as Jorgensen knows, only one other person in the state has more—Dr. Stephen J. Dinsmore with seven firsts.

Says Jorgensen, who is friends with and has worked alongside Dinsmore: “We’d be tied at seven if a Slaty-backed Gull I was viewing hadn’t flown away prematurely. Thus, I wasn’t able to get the necessary documentation to be an ‘accepted’ record.”

Jorgensen’s passion for the birds of Nebraska runs deep.

Along with former UNO biology professor Roger Sharpe and W. Ross Silcock, he wrote “Birds of Nebraska: Their Distribution and Temporal Occurrence.” The 520-page tome is a birder’s ”All You Ever Really Wanted to Know ….” anthology, chronicling the 450 species of birds known to have made an appearance in the state.

Jorgensen's avian interest began as a child. “I remember a family trip to Florida when I was nine and how excited I was to see all the different birds,” he says. The trip made such an impression on the young Blair native that five years later he asked his parents if they could return. “They told me we could go if I came up with the money,” laughs Jorgensen. “I think they thought that would be the end of it.”

But Jorgensen raised enough cash to send himself south, and his father accompanied him to Florida again.

Jorgensen also remembers riding his bike to the Blair countryside as a boy to bird-watch. When he got his driver's license at 16, it was off to DeSoto Bend to catch the magnificent migration of snow geese through the area.

“DeSoto Bend and the annual migration of the sandhill cranes in central Nebraska are showcase events for birding in the state,” Jorgensen said. But his enthusiasm for winged creatures runs deeper, toward finding new treasures or recording data for fellow-birders looking to discover old ones.

While Jorgensen has birded throughout the country, his favorite venue is the Rainwater Basin in south-central Nebraska between Lincoln and Hastings. “It does not get the

credit it deserves. There is so much to see there,” he said.

Cataloguing the Rainwater Basin birds is one of Jorgensen’s major contributions to the book. And one of his passions. He recently wrote an article reporting that sandhill cranes are nesting in the area.

“They were wiped out in the late 1800s, so their reappearance is significant.” In addition to birding in the Basin, Jorgensen recently purchased 15 acres there, some of which is virgin prairie. He built a cabin and is planting native grasses.

“To understand what is going on with birds, you need to dig deeper as to changes in the land, seedings and vegetation,” he said.

Birding magazine book reviewer Rich Wright said, “Thanks largely to Joel Jorgensen, these (Rainwater Basin) marshes are now recognized as one of the most important sites in North America for migrant waterfowl, cranes, and shorebirds—the last group represented by over 200,000 individuals of some 30 species each spring.”

Jorgensen, who is single, goes birding mostly in the spring, heading out at least once a week, but sometimes more, especially during the height of migration (mid-May). He currently works as a construction foreman for Jorgensen Contracting, his father's business.

Still living in Blair, Jorgensen is returning to UNO to pursue a master’s degree in biology, which he hopes will lead to a job closer to his heart.

His career options remain open—as free as the geese flying south after a pit-stop in DeSoto Bend.

M A R C H 2 0 0 3 • 23

Future Alums

Sons & Daughters of UNO Alumni

Send us news of your baby—we’ll send a T-shirt and certificate and publish the good news. Include address, baby’s name, date of birth, parents’ names and graduation year(s). Please send the announcement within one year of the birth to: Future Alums, UNO Alumni Association, 60th & Dodge, Omaha, NE 68182. FAX (402) 554-3787.

SUBMIT A FUTURE ALUM ON THE WEB: www.unoalumni.org/communications/submitfa.asp

A New Generation of UNO Mavericks Sean Patrick O’Gara, son of Chris and Christy (’93) O’Gara of Omaha Gage Grant Sayles, son of Rich and Anni (Lawson, ’00) Sayles of Omaha Alexis Nichole Jansen, daughter of Jim and Nichole (Fornoff, ’97) Jansen of Gretna, Neb. Michael Jacob Pratt, son of Leslie and Michael (’00) Pratt of Louisville, Ken. Alexis Renee Hanson, daughter of Robin (’84, Jessen) and Tim (’86) Hanson of Millard, Neb.

Dillon Alan Meyer and Halle Lynn Meyer, son and daughter of Riley and Chad (’96) Meyer of Omaha Sarah Rachel Rosenberg, daughter of Jeri and Steve (’83) Rosenberg of Bloomington, Minn.

Jordan Claire Oltmanns, daughter of Jay (’86) and Kristi Oltmanns of Elkhorn, Neb. Kennedy Jaye Elwod, daughter of Shana and Kevin (’02) Elwood of Silver City, Iowa Zachary Samuel Long, son of Dale and Lori (Kitta, ’94, ’98) Long of Bellevue, Neb. Kennedy Nicole Benne, daughter of Stephanie and Dale (’98) Benne of Oakland, Neb. Abigail Helen Friskopp, daughter of Aron and Amanda (Herd, ’00, ’02) Friskopp of Omaha

24 • MARCH 2003

Ian Daniel Mathouser, son of Matt and Tobi (Trapp, ’01) Mathouser of Omaha.

Nathan Hunter Parkins and Benjamin John Parkins, sons of John Parkins and Denise M. (’96) Hunter-Parkins of Indianola, Iowa Branson Edward Darveau, son of Brandi and Steve (’99) Darveau of Falls City, Neb. Mary Claire Ann Daubendiek, daughter of Jim and Kay (Mausbach, ’97) Daubendiek of Omaha Rebecca Kay Humphus, daughter of Kyle and Cheri (Sash, ’92, ’94) Humphus of Omaha Rodney Vernon Wassom, son of James and Anna (Gardine, ’93) Wassom of Alexandria, Neb. MacKenzie Rose Wheatley, daughter of Bryan and Jana Marissa (Osborne, ’94) Wheatley of Omaha

Mitchell Joseph Pupkes, son of Bryan and Deborah (’90) Bryan of Hiawatha, Kansas Kalin Elizabeth Rice and Katherine Sheryl Rice, daughters of Lori (Lenagh, ’97) and Kevin Rice of Omaha Thaddeus Koi Wilson, son of Valencia (Blanks, ’01) and Eric (’00) Wilson of Great Falls, Mont.

Mallory Malin Comley, daughter of Kathryn and William (’99) Comley of Fort Worth, Texas Grant Rohmiller Abbott, son of Michael Abbott and Carol Rohmiller (’97) of Nehawka, Neb. Jared Anthony Burns, son of Aliice and Tim (’86) Burns of Omaha Blythe Anne Applegarth, daughter of Marissa (Brownawell, ’97) and Darrel (’96) Applegarth of Lake Jackson, Texas.

J.J. Armour, grandson of Bev Armour (’01) of Omaha Carter James Pollard, grandson of Joanne (Hicks ’69) of Omaha H.S. Corban Inclan, grandson of Jose (’59) Inclan of Las Vegas and Virginia (’69) Inclan of Omaha Kamryn Ann Schreck, daughter of Ryan and Michele (Muhlbauer, ’01) Schreck of Carroll, Iowa, and granddaughter of Richard Muhlbauer (’74) Jared Michael Miller, son of Shirley and Phillip (’92) Miller of North Mankato, Minn.

UNOALUM

Class Notes

SUBMIT A CLASS NOTE ON THE WEB www.unoalumni.org/communications/submitcn.asp

M A R C H

2 0 0 3

Flashback File

Our Boys in the Service From the 1918 Gateway yearbook, Vol. VI he 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.

“Johnny” Taliaferro was the first to go. He was able to attend school but three days when he was called in the first draft, and is now on overseas duty in France.

“Ed” Elliott was the next to leave. When the new draft registration ruling was made Ed took his last opportunity and enlisted in the Aviation Corps, leaving the next day for Fort Logan. He is now on the Atlantic seaboard waiting to go across.

Clyde Nicholson and Austin Owens volunteered for Base Hospital duty at the same time.

They were called the last of March and are now at Fort Des Moines.

“Don” Nicholson shortly after was taken with the enlistment fever, and after the first of the year went into the Aviation Corps and is now “fortunately” stationed at Waco, Texas.

“Bobbie” Cohan at the beginning of the second semester quietly slipped down to Fort Crook and enlisted in the Post Hospital, from which he frequently visits us.

Reuben Leavitt was the last to leave, and he has entered the Canadian Jewish contingent, and left for immediate service.

T

Class Notes March 2003 1940 Jane Cook Cawthon, BA, writes from Dallas: “After a severe heart attack in Granbury, Texas, in 1998, the doctor advised . . . I should now be near my children. I am very happy back in Dallas in a lovely retirement home. I am happy to say that my nephew, Joseph Doyle, entered UNO this fall.

Would love to hear from [classmates]. I . . . entered U. of Omaha in fall of ’35. Went ’36’40 on work study plan.”

1942 John Holland, BA, was elected president-elect of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM), an international medical society of more than 6,000 occupational and environmental physicians.

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1949 William L. Maloy, BS, sends this e-mail: “After 50 years of service at all levels of Florida’s education system, the governor and cabinet inducted Dr. Maloy into Florida’s Education Hall of Fame in November 2001.” He lives in Pensacola, Fla. Send Maloy an email at wmaloy@uwf.edu 1952 Thomas Jauss, BS, is owner of Metropolitan Interiors and lives in Bedford, Mass. He accepts email at tjauss@attbi.com 1953 Edward J. Koznarek, BSBA, is retired from General Electric. He lives in Hinsdale, Ill., and takes e-mail at edkoznarek@attbi.com Larry Boersma, BA, notes from San Diego that he “just completed work on my 10th book (under the name Larry Allan) to be released in January 2004 by Allworth Press. The working title is ‘Creative Canine

Photography.’ It’s a ‘how-to’ book which includes dogs, wolves, foxes and coyotes. Over 150 of my photos, too.”

1956 Joann Elseffer London, BS, lives in Novato, Calif., and recently was profiled in the Novato Advance newspaper. Go to www.novatoadvance.com/ archives/11_13_02/news.html#d fgad for the full story. Send London e-mail at syc59@aol.com 1959 Edward A. Baumer, BSBA, lives in Las Vegas and is retired. Email him at edbinlv@cs.com 1960 Rodney E. Thralls, BGE, lives in Naples, Fla., and is a real estate broker, a second career he began in 1977. A retired (1970) Lt. Col. with the U.S. Army, Thralls also worked for Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Virginia from 1970-77. Send him e-mail at rethralls@aol.com

Gary Sallquist, BA, is president of Wellspring School of Theology in Newtown, Ohio. It was “created for area ministers and traditional theology students, as well as lay church leaders, business professionals and recent graduates. Wellspring offers a nontraditional ‘executive model’ approach to Christian higher education, leveraging technology, career networking and faculty resources for distributed as well as traditional classroom learning opportunities.”

Send him e-mail at gsallquist@wellspringschool.org 1962 Georgia Clark, BS, is a substitute teacher with Omaha Public Schools. Send her e-mail at georgiaclark2000@hotmail.com 1966 Sigurd C. Brekke, BS, is marketing vice president for Munich American Reassurance. He lives in Marietta, Ga., and takes email at scbrekke@msn.com

M A R C H 2 0 0 3 • 25

Class Notes Mike Moran, BS, forwarded the following information from a release from NYC2012. NYC2012 has named Mike Moran as Senior Communications Counsellor. Moran, a 25-year veteran of Olympic media and public relations, retired on Jan. 31 as the U.S. Olympic Committee's Chief Communications Officer after directing its media and public relations programs for almost a quarter of a century. He was the organization's chief spokesman through 13 Olympic Games. He designed and implemented the USOC’s media efforts as the organization grew from a dozen employees to more than 500, and through two boycotts and numerous controversies. “I am delighted that Mike Moran will join our team as we look ahead to the challenge of winning the right to bring the Olympic Games to America and New York City,” said NYC2012 Founder Daniel L. Doctoroff. “Mike is greatly respected in the United States and internationally and we will benefit enormously from his broad knowledge of the Olympic Movement and his vast media contacts.” Moran is regarded as a skilled public speaker and has been the keynote speaker or master of ceremonies at more than 1,000 Olympicrelated events during his career.

Moran will serve as a consultant to NYC2012, helping to coordinate outreach to local, national and international media, act as spokesman and expert on the bid, speak at corporate and other NYC2012 events, and author articles for the bid. “Nothing is as important to the U.S. Olympic Movement than bringing the Games back in 2012,” said Moran. “And New York’s bid, which is technically superior in every respect, is perfectly positioned to win. I’m excited about becoming part of the bid team and continuing my long-standing involvement with the U.S. Olympic Family.”

Moran and his wife Gretchen live in Colorado Springs. They were married in New York City in 2002 and both have family living in or near New York City. They expect to relocate to New York in the future as the international bid process moves ahead. The USOC will officially submit New York on July 15 to the International Olympic Committee as America’s candidate city for the 2012 Olympic Games.

1967 Michael R. Hill, BA, received the Harriet Martineau Sociological Society Award for 2002. The award, presented annually for significant contributions to the study of early women sociologists, was conferred in May 2001 at a ceremony during the Society’s Bicentennial Working Seminar in Ambleside, England. Hill was cited for his “outstanding leadership, schol-

26 • MARCH 2003

arship and camaraderie.” Hill, a writer and social scientist, is credited with helping to revitalize current sociological interest in Martineau, the first woman sociologist. He is the editor of Martineau’s “How To Observe Morals and Manners” (the first “methods” text in the social sciences) and is coeditor of the recently published “Harriet Martineau: Theoretical and Methodological Perspectives.” Hill is a founding member of the Harriet Martineau Sociological Society and is currently chair for the American Sociological Association Section on the History of Sociology.

1968 Raymond E. Ramsey Sr., MS, retired from Omaha Public Schools in 1999 as principal of Bryan Middle School. His 31 years of tenure with the school system included various responsibilities: Horace Mann Junior High School and Technical Junior High School visiting teacher; Neighborhood Youth Corps counselor at Central and North High Schools; counselor at Tech High School. Ray was designated Tech High assistant principal, assuming duties of athletic director and dean of students. He then became assistant principal at Bryan Senior High School.

Data processing and senior class sponsor were his primary responsibilities. Retirement has increased his involvement with Pilgrim Baptist Church. He is chairperson of the Board of Trustees; an active participant in church drama presentations, and sings with the male choir. He also continues to volunteer as a Nebraska State Track Meet official.

1969 Gene Kathol, BS, is chair of Technical Committee 68 (TC 68) Financial Services, an official committee of the International Standards Organization (ISO) headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. Kathol is vice president of research and development at First Data Corp. According to a news release, “Kathol assumed the post by unanimous acclamation of the TC 68 membership during its annual meeting in Delft, Netherlands. The work of TC 68 is to formulate banking, securities and other financial services standards, vital to assisting worldwide commerce. The global committee includes several working groups staffed by experts representing 56 countries who prepare standards made up of written processes and procedures for the banking and financial services industry. Standards are documented agreements containing technical specifications and other precise criteria to be used consistently as guidelines, or definitions of characteristics, to ensure that products and services are fit for their purpose. The standards assist the international

industry in ensuring that financial transactions are efficient, accurate, secure and in the general public’s best interest. An example of an international standard is the credit card. The standard format specifies shape and thickness as well as communications elements for card processing, assuring cards adhering to ISO standards can be honored worldwide.”

James C. Berg, BS, is a financial consultant for Wells Fargo and lives in Excelsior, Minn. He takes e-mail at jcbjvbsmb@qwest.net D. (Doreen) Moritz, BS, was honored in Dallas in July at the National Education Association Human and Civil Rights Dinner. She received NEA’s 2002 Virginia Uribe Award for Creative Leadership in Human Rights. Uribe is a high school teacher, counselor and a leader in the movement to improve the lives of gay and lesbian youth. Moritz was nominated

by Millard West Counselor Scott Butler. She now is retired after a 31year career. From a release on the NEA web site: “Since retiring as a high school counselor, Moritz continues her tireless fight to advocate for the civil rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students. During the past decade, this gay educator, committed to opening hearts and minds to the struggle of young people grappling with their sexual orientation, started a gay/straight support group at the high school where she used to teach. In one highly publicized case, Moritz came to the aid of a student forced to wear a gym shirt with ‘homo’ written on it. The student's school district later added sexual orientation to its nondiscrimination policy.” Send Moritz e-mail at dmoritz@cox.net 1970 Yvonne Greenberg, BS, earned a master’s degree in Spanish Literature from San Diego State University and now teaches at the University of California at San Diego. She also is an interpreter and feature writer. Send her e-mail at media4me@aol.com Norman A. Crews, BGS, is retired and lives in Virginia Beach, Va. Send him e-mail at normancrews@msn.com John E. Kizlin, BS, lives in Newburgh, Ind., and is a sales representative for Eastman Kodak. He takes e-mail at john.kizlin@kodak.com 1971 Isabella Byrne Threlkeld, MA, notes that she “had a birthday bash in June at the Alumni Center — beautiful setting. Still running the Threlkeld Art Studio.” Send her e-mail at ibfart@radiks.net

David G. Ball, MBA, lives in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and is senior economist for Dandwell Engineering Inc. Write him an e-mail at dball@ca.inter.net Roger Young, BGS, was included in the seventh edition of “Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers 2002.”

Young teaches history and is an academic adviser at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith. He is listed with other teachers selected by one or more of their former students who themselves have been listed in “Who’s Who” or on the National Dean’s List.

Young is a licensed professional counselor in Arkansas, a biofeedback specialist and a former board member of the Arkansas State Board of Examiners for counselors. Send him email at rlyoung@ipa.net Bill Vickery, BGS, notes that he moved to Crestview, Fla. He is director of acquisition security with Air Armament Center at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. Send the retired CMSgt e-mail at vickery2@cox.net 1972 David C. Bishop, BSBA, lives in Rapid City, Ill., and takes e-mail at morrisgarage88@hotmail.com Gary F. Ballard, BSBA, is retired and lives in Overland Park, Kansas. Send him e-mail at garyb8888@aol.com 1972 Craig B. Forney, BS, lives in Cedar Park, Texas, and writes that he was “Recently promoted to vice-president of planned giving for the Texas Affiliate of the American Heart Association. Founded in 1924, The American Heart Association is a national voluntary health agency whose mission is to reduce disability and death from cardiovascular diseases and stroke.” Send him e-mail at craig.forney@heart.org 1973 Roger E. Reese, BS, is retired after a career as a special agent/AFOSI. He lives in Fosston, Minn., and takes email at rreese@gvtel.com John Masengarb, BA, writes from West St. Paul, Minn., that “I’ve finally done it—taken an early retirement.

My ‘job’ now is to get my city house ready for sale and use the equity to buy a cheaper house in a small town in southern Minnesota.”

1975 David J. Byrne, BSBA, is an assistant treasurer for National Indemnity Company and lives in Omaha. Send him e-mail at djbyrne@cox.com

UNOALUM

M A R C H Flashback File

Operation Blue Blanket ayor Eugene Leahy, KMTV “Creature” Dr. Sam Guinary, KETV weatherman Mike May, WOW newscaster Gary Kerr, KOIL dee jay Joe Light, World-Herald entertainment columnist Pete Citron and Burger King President Wally Orwell were kidnapped and held for ransom Nov. 20 as part of “Operation Blue Blanket.”

Sponsored by Tau Kappa Mayor Leahy is taken for ransom. epsilon fraternity, “Operation Blue Blanket” raised $746.36 in cash, checks, pledges and food for the C. Lewis Meyers Children Rehabilitation Center.

The “prisoners” were held in a paper mache jail in the Milo Bail Student Center. Collection boxes for money and food to ransom them were located in the Student Center, Hinky Dinky stores and Bakers stores.

Each box was manned by a Teke and a girl from Sigma Kappa sorority or the College of St. Mary. Bob Tait was the chairman of the event. The Tekes hope to make “Operation Blue Blanket” an annual event.

M

Jean Swenson, BM, notes that she “successfully completed national board certification in Early/Middle Childhood Music.” Swenson is one of two nationally board certified music teachers in Iowa, where she has taught for 27 years. Send her e-mail at J-Swenson1954@yahoo.com 1977 Bruce E. Cramer, MBA, was appointed president of Bank of Nebraska in Omaha in September.

His family has several university ties.

His wife, Mary, is an assistant professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing.

Son Jonathan began his first year of schooling at UNMC in the fall. His other son, Tom, is a construction sciences/engineering major at UNO and the football team’s starting defensive tackle. Send Cramer e-mail at cramer115@aol.com David E. Busch, MA, has co-edited “Monitoring Ecosystems: Interdisciplinary Approaches for Evaluating Ecoregional Initiatives

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(Island Press, January 2003),” along with Joel C. Trexler. The book, according to an Island Press (www.islandpress.org) news release, “Brings together leading scientists and researchers to offer a groundbreaking synthesis of lessons learned about ecological monitoring in major ecoregional initiatives around the United States. Contributors present insights and experiences gained from their work in designing, developing, and implementing comprehensive ecosystem monitoring programs in the Pacific Northwest, the lower Colorado River Basin, and the Florida Everglades.” Busch is a biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center in Portland, Ore. 1979 Darrel Draper, BS, writes from Omaha that “after retiring from the Navy in 1997, I am now a historical re-enactor with the Nebraska Humanities Council portraying “Peter Sarpy,” Sterling Morton and Lewis and Clark Expedition member George Drouillard. I travel all over Nebraska and the Midwest doing 200 presentations per year.” Send him email at petersarpy@aol.com

work can be found at www.jordanhallresearch.com. Send her e-mail at jhra@mindspring.com Harry Williams, BGS, lives in Mishawaka, Ind., and is director of imaging services for Memorial Hospital of South Bend. Send him email at hwilliams02@sbcglobal.net

From the Fall 1971 Breakaway Yearbook

1976 Michael L. Knott, BS, is vice president of finance for Skinner Baking Company. He lives in Omaha and takes e-mail at mknott@microlnk.com

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1980 Todd W. Trofholz, BS, is owner-operator of Nebraska’s Oldest Tavern, the historic Glur’s Tavern in Columbus, established in 1876. He also is music coordinator for UNO home hockey games and former owner of McFly’s Center Street Tavern in Omaha.

1981 Mark G. Cianciolo, BGS, is a Lt. Col. with the U.S. Marine Corps. He takes e-mail at sailaway@cconnect.net 1982 Jose Regalado, BGS, is an electronics technician for the U.S. Postal Service. Send him e-mail at etnine@hotmail.com 1984 Dennis M. Burnside, BGS, lives in Omaha and takes e-mail at dbside99@aol.com Elizabeth J. Ridlon, MA, sends electronic correspondence from her home in Troy, Ill., indicating that she and her husband, Robert W. Ridlon Jr., have written their third book, “Creation or Evolution: Does It Matter?” The Ridlons are the founders and principals of Jordan Hall Research Associates, Inc. Information about the book and their

Gregory D. Brokke, BSBA, is controller for Peter Kiewit Sons’, Inc. and lives in Papillion, Neb. He takes email at Gbrokke@cox.net Brian J. Nastase, BA, notes that he, his wife and their three boys recently moved into a new home in Omaha.

He also was promoted to field director with the Mid-American Council of Boy Scouts. Send him e-mail at bnastase@mac-bsa.org 1985 Bobbie Escolas, BS, in October was named director of public relations at Metropolitan Community College in Omaha. She previously was director of marketing for the National Resource and Training Center at Girls and Boys Town.

Joseph G. Beal, BSBA, is the chief financial officer at Redfield Co. He also is a CPA. He’s married to fellow UNO Alum Laura Beal (’91), a finance professor at UNO. They have three children. Send Joseph e-mail at jbeal@redfieldandcompany.com 1986 Timothy M. Hanson, BS, notes via email: “I am still in the Marine Corps Reserve and currently serve as an ombudsman for the Nebraska Committee for the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR).

The ESGR is a program out of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense which assists members of the National Guard and Reserve with employment problems relating to military service. A collateral goal is to educate employers, community leaders and the public regarding the necessity and benefits of reserve training.” Correspond with him electronically at thanson@monarch.papillion.ne.us Jo M. Williams, MS, is vice president of business development for Northern Natural Gas and lives in Omaha. Send her e-mail at jo.williams@dynegy.com Judy Epstein, MS, sends an e-mail from Las Vegas noting: “I was awarded the Fulbright Memorial Fund study trip to Japan last November.

The assignment was to study the educational system of Japan and learn first hand about the Japanese culture. To top off this wonderful

M A R C H 2 0 0 3 • 27

Class Notes opportunity, it was being paid by the country of Japan. The Japanese government wants to foster close relations with American educators and to infuse more of our teaching methods into their schools because of the changing Japanese economy. Two hundred United States educators accompanied me on the trip—librarians, principals, superintendents, art, special education, dance, geography teachers like myself, etc. Teachers are honored and respected more than I ever could explain. However, as it was explained to us, Japanese students are in a “pressure cooker” with test scores meaning success or failure to their future. Japanese businesses and government want students that can do more than take tests and memorize answers. They are looking at the way American teachers teach to help the students learn to be problem solvers and critical thinkers. I think we can all be proud that we have this reputation abroad. I wrote this piece because I owe a lot of my success to the University of Nebraska at Omaha. I went through the Teacher’s CADRE project from the College of Education from 1995-1996. The CADRE Project was the most intense year of my life, teaching full time, a full time graduate student, and full time wife and mother. Nancy Edick and her associates put together the program and classes. I am also endorsed in Geography. The department of Geography was the best during the years I attended. Thank you, Dr. Charles Gildersleeve. Because of the UNO College of Education, I am the best trained teacher I can be.”

Send Epstein e-mail at judyjaben@aol.com 1987 Ralph J. Werthmann, BSBA, writes from Davenport, Iowa: “I joined the Corps of Engineers Real Estate Division shortly after graduation in 1988. I spent several years in Omaha and Kansas City. I recently relocated to Rock Island, Ill., with the Corps as the chief of the Real Estate Division. I am married to the former Cindy Reding (a 1984 graduate and successful computer analyst). A couple of things I miss about Omaha is occasionally running into former UNO grads and the great UNO hockey team.” Send him e-mail at werthmann4@mchsi.com Jay Brader, BSBA, is vice president/controller of Leo A. Daly Company and lives in Omaha. Send him e-mail at jbbrader@leoadaly.com Al Paulson, writes from Oskaloosa, Iowa: “I am currently director of band at Oskaloosa High School, where I conduct the wind ensemble, jazz ensemble and marching band. I am

28 • MARCH 2003

also the department chairman.” He is married with three children. Send him e-mail at paulsona@aea15.k12.ia.us Michael N. Sterba, BGS, writes via email: “I wrote a novel, ‘Little Voices,’ that was published by Sensory Publishing, Inc. The story speaks to the Catholic Church scandal. The book was released nationally in November 2002. To date, the response from the media and from readers has been fantastic! Also, I have a website—www.MichaelSterba.com. Here, people (including fellow alums) can get all the information they need about the book (e.g., reviews, articles, interviews, excerpts, etc.). In addition, they can link to the publisher's web site to purchase a copy. The book is also available in bookstores (e.g., Borders, Barnes & Nobel, Waldens, etc.).” Currently, Sterba is a senior writer/editor for Girls and Boys Town in Omaha, NE. Send him e-mail at mnsterba@cox.net Michael Berman, BGS, is working toward a master’s degree in professional leadership and liberal studies at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pa. He also is self-employed as an independent broker in the bankcard and insurance industries. Send him email at bermar5555@stargate.net 1988 Lisa L. Vierregger Burnside, MBA, lives in Omaha and is senior manager-real estate for Union Pacific Railroad Company. Send her e-mail at LLBurnside@aol.com 1989 Deneen M. Weygant Clarke, BSBA, lives in Minneapolis and wrote this email: “I have recently changed jobs and now work as a clinical program analyst (data analyst). Although my job entails a wide set of duties, my expertise is in productivity improvement and volume analysis. It is my solid UNO education that allowed me to more easily complete my MBA in healthcare at the University St. Thomas in 1998 and make the transition into data analysis from health care operations.” Send her e-mail at deneen_clarke@go.com Mark J. Elliott, BS, is circulation manager for USA Today and lives in O’Fallon, Mo. Send him e-mail at melliott@usatoday.com Loren Wilshusen, MA, was profiled in the Fremont Tribune regarding his reception of the 2002 Nebraska Outstanding Lutheran Educator Award for the Nebraska District of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. He is an 8th grade teacher and director of physical education and athletics at Trinity Lutheran School in Fremont.

1990 Mary M. Reding, BS, was among 100 teachers nationwide to receive a $25,000 Milken Family Foundation teaching award. She teaches sixth grade at Central Elementary in Bellevue. She has a master’s degree in elementary education, earned in 1996.

Dale A. Spartz, MS, lives in Scottsdale, Ariz., where he is the vice president of human resources for John C. Lincoln Health Network. After living in Nebraska for 12 years and earning his MA from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and his MS from UNO, he moved to Illinois and worked as the vice president of human resources for Riverside HealthCare. He recently moved to Arizona and completed his Ph.D. in Organization Development from Benedictine University in Lisle, Illinois. Dale is married and active in both professional and academic human resource and organization development associations. He received the ODI Outstanding OD Project of the Year award in 1998.

Send him e-mail at dspartz26@cox.net 1991 Robbin Rockwell Cogdill, BSBA, writes: “After graduation I took a financial auditor position with a local bank in Omaha. After about six months I realized that I needed a job with more excitement and responsibility. I then went back to school and became a pharmacist, graduating from the University of Colorado School of Pharmacy. I am now a pharmacy manager with a prominent, worldwide retail chain and love my job. My husband and I just celebrated our 10-year anniversary. [We] are really enjoying Colorado and travel back to Omaha quite often to see our family and friends. Even though we live in the ‘Land of Buffaloes’, we ONLY cheer for Go Big Red!!!”

Michael D. Buchanan, BGS, is a lieutenant with the U.S. Air Force. Send him e-mail at Megabags@hotmail.com 1992 Dane P. Doty, BS, lives in Sioux City and is a human resources representative for Gateway. Send e-mail his way at TEAMDOTY12@aol.com Roger D. Sheffield, MPA, was named vice president for institutional advancement for Doane College. He most recently was director of development at Lawrence University, Appleton, Wis., where he supervised the annual giving program, foundation and corporate relations, donor relations, and the advancement operations department. For six years, Sheffield was employed at The Colorado College, Colorado Springs,

Colo. Sheffield also served as regional development director for the Hastings College Foundation, Hastings, Neb., where he directed the annual giving programs and worked with alumni and parents in solicitation and event programs.

1993 Rodney J. Bradley, MAC, lives in Denver and takes e-mail at bradleyrj@msn.com Ralph J. Werthmann, MPA is chief of real estate division for the Corps of Engineers. He lives in Davenport, Iowa, and takes e-mail at Werthmann4@mchsi.com Milind Vasant Kulkarni, MBA, is senior manager for quality management with BNP Paribas. He lives in Mumbai, India, and takes e-mail at milind.kulkarni@asia.bnpparibas.com Chuck Monico, BSBA, was inducted into the Daniel J. Gross High School Hall of Fame. Owner of CM’s Custom Lawn and Landscape in Omaha, he remains active at Gross, donating his time to maintain several of the school's gardens.

1994 Anthony Arnold (BSBA; MA 1997) along with his wife, UNO alumna Aimee Arnold (BSBA, 1997), were honored in December for their Internet business strategies, according to a press release by Rosalee Roberts Public Relations. The Arnolds' PremiumKnives.com company was one of five companies to receive Inc. magazine's prestigious 2002 Web Award in the “Start Up Strategies” category. Premium Knives was the only Nebraska-based company to receive the honor and is one of 15 featured in Inc's December 2002 issue.

“Start Up Strategies” judged company founders who treat the web as a tool, not as a platform for building their company. PremiumKnives.com is an “upscale general store” that sells many exclusive and one-of-a kind knives and other kitchen gadgets, utility and gardening tools and gifts.

PremiumKnives.com revenues will be about $1 million this year with projections of $10 million by 2005.

John S. Schleicher, MA, writes from Omaha that “After eight years with the Nebraska State History Society in Lincoln, I have moved back to Omaha. Since Aug. 1, 2002, I have been an assistant professor and head of special collections at the McGoogan Library of Medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. I am in charge of archives, artifacts, and rare books.” Send him e-mail at jschleicher@unmc.edu

UNOALUM

M A R C H Flashback File

TV Classroom From the June 1952 Injun newsletter our University entered the uncharted waters of educational-credit television programming on April 28—among the first six universities in the nation to launch such a program.

It was the middle of March when Dr. Bail and KMTV’s manager conceived the Midwest’s first TV Classroom. A few days after the initial program more than 100 viewers had registered for the course, a William Utley gives “The Washington Scene.” humanities offering called “Six Views of Life.” The 15minute lectures five mornings a week are aimed primarily at housewives.

The University has accepted a 52-week commitment to provide college-level educational fare for the 130,000 television homes in the viewing area. Certificates of Completion will be issued to viewers who use the weekly quiz and scoring services.

Y

1997 Aimee Arnold, BSBA. See Anthony Arnold, 1994.

Benjamin W. Thompson, BS, writes: “I graduated from the University of Iowa College of Law in 2000 and then clerked for Judge Wright on the Nebraska Supreme Court. I recently co-founded the law firm of Johnson, Thompson & Williams LLP and office out of Omaha.” Send him e-mail at bwthomps@hotmail.com Marc C. Butterfield, BSBA, is manager-portfolio development for First National Bank of Omaha. Send him e-mail at marcbutterfield@yahoo.com Julie A. Grinnell, BS, recently completed a six-month deployment to the Western Pacific and Arabian Gulf while assigned to the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit based in Camp Pendleton, Calif. A 1st Lt., Grinnell was one of more than 10,000 Pacific Fleet sailors and Marines aboard two ships. Grinnell’s unit is an expeditionary intervention force with the ability to rapidly organize for combat operations in virtually any environment.

Melissa Stricherz, MPA, is the director of finance services for the local

w w w. u n o a l u m n i . o r g

Boy Scout council in Omaha. She oversees all fund-raising activities, including grant writing, annual giving, endowment and capital endeavors. Send her e-mail at mstricherz@mac-bsa.org 1998 Tugba Kalafatoglu, BA, has graduated from Georgetown University with a master’s degree and is returning to her home country, Turkey. There she will become involved in politics. She is planning to run for office in the next Turkish parliamentary election.

While in the United States Kalafatoglu wrote the election program 2002 for the Democratic party and became the youngest advisor to the president. Send her e-mail at gstugba@yahoo.com Kate Sobetski Bratetic, BSBA, is employee development manager for First National Bank of Omaha. Send her e-mail at kbratetic@fnni.com Janice D. Blake, BGS, sends this email: “I am currently working at the Air Force Historical Research Agency while I pursue my master’s degree at Auburn University Montgomery.

After graduation I hope to work in either the State Department or the Department of Defense.” Send Janice,

who lives in Prattville, Ariz., e-mail at dblake1126@knology.net Cori L. Polito Botts, BS, is a manager for Willis & Willis, Ltd. She lives in Tabor, Iowa, and takes e-mail at cbotts@willis-willis.com Stephen B. Cacioppo, BS, is a GIS specialist for Lower Platte North NRD. He eanred an MA from UNO in 2002. Cacippo lives in Omaha and takes e-mail at cacioppo@cox.net Rick Burns, BSBA, is director of client support for First Data Resources. Send him e-mail at Rick.Burns@FirstDataCorp.com Paul C. Birney, MBA, lives in Spring, Texas, and is business planning manager for Hewlett Packard.

Send him e-mail at paul.birney@hp.com Steven A. Meier, BSBA, lives in Brighton, Colo., and is a consultant for RDS Enterprises.

Mike H. Antonucci, BSCJ, lives in Las Vegas and is a parole and probation officer for the State of Nevada Division of Parole and Probation.

Send him e-mail at mandn@lvcm.com

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1999 Lyle M. Jones, BGS, writes in an email that he’s “Happy to be living back in Omaha even though I work out of Denver and Chicago. Before graduating I left school to start my career as an airline pilot with Great Lakes Airlines. I finished my degree via distance learning with the aviation department of the college of Public Administration. Currently, I am an instructor pilot and check airman for Air Wisconsin Airlines Corporation/United Express.” Send Jones e-mail at lmj190@aol.com Carol Roenfeld, BSBA, is a human resources employment coordinator for MCH Health System. She lives in Omaha. Send her e-mail at croenfeld@mchhs.org Carol Napolitano Andrews, MA, is president of CWJ Consulting, Inc. and lives in Omaha.

2000 Caron A. Westland, BS, notes that, “While attending the Council for Exceptional Children conference, I was recruited to teach middle school in metro-Denver. So, I packed my bags and moved. While I thoroughly enjoy working with hormonally charged teenagers, I prefer coaching preservice K-12 teachers. Currently, I am a full-time professor at the University of Colorado at Denver teaching in the teacher education program.” Send Westland e-mail at cwestland@hotmail.com Steven E. Erb, MPA, is an aviation analyst for the U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of the Inspector. He takes e-mail at Steven.E.Erb@oig.dot.gov Crystalle M. Cotton, BMIS, sends this e-mail: “I am a past member of IEEE and a current member of IEEE Computer Society. I was appointed as a biographical candidate for inclusion in the International Executive Guild's registry, 2001-2002 edition. I am also a current member of the Society of Women Engineers. I have received a Certificate of Achievement for 50 or more hours of continuing education credit from the American Business Women’s Association and my accomplishment was announced at their 2002 National Convention.

Send her e-mail at Cmc695@aol.com 2001 Jerry J. Evans, BGS, is group leader for Kansas Memorial Union. E-mail him at jjevans@sunflower.com Angela T. Luebe Tomasek, MS, is principal at Omaha’s St. Joan of Arc Grade School. E-mail her at btomasek@cox.net

M A R C H 2 0 0 3 • 29

Class Notes Jennifer L. Heeren Helms, BSBA, sends this e-mail from overseas: “I am currently living in Heidelberg, Germany, with my husband, Allen Helms, who is in the U.S. Army.

When we are not traveling around Europe, I am the office manager for the University of Oklahoma European Contract Support Office. OU offers master’s and Ph.D.-level degrees to soldiers and civilians throughout the world through contracting with the U.S. Military. I am currently pursuing my MBA with Cameron University.”

Send her e-mail at jenhelms914@yahoo.com 2002 Levin D. Collins, MA, lives in Blue Springs, Mo., and takes e-mail at LColli3@aol.com Heather L. McKinney Henry, BS, works for the University of NebraskaLincoln. Send her e-mail at hmacmama@hotmail.com Amy R. Mettenbrink, BSBA, is corporate sales assistant for GiftCertificates.com. She lives in Omaha and takes e-mail at mettenbrink007@yahoo.com

Flashback File

Long Live the King From the 1956 Tomahawk yearbook. r. Milo Bail was presented as King Ak-Sar-Ben LXI on October 21, 1955. By capturing Omaha’s highest civic honor, he holds the distinction of being the first educator to rule the mythical realm.

Since coming to Omaha in 1948, Dr. Bail has endeared himself to students, faculty and friends, and has promoted much growth and progress at the University. As an educator he has been associated with fields from chemistry and physics to football, basketball and track.

A quotation of Dr. Bail’s following his presentation as King of Quivera typifies his unselfish, humble personality . . . “The record that you—faculty, staff and students—have made at the University during my seven years made it possible for me to get this high honor. You are the ones being honored. I am very humble but happy to bring this high distinction to your University.”

And so to the man who has accumulated honors “one at a time” and has so successfully reached the top, to the man who symbolizes education at its best—to you, Dr. Bail—we are proud to dedicate this 1956 Tomahawk.

D

Retirees Note Del Weber, former chancellor, is president of the Omaha Community Foundation. Send him e-mail at dweber777@home.com Otto Bauer, communication professor, writes that “Since retiring in 2000, Jeanette and I have cruised to several Caribbean Islands, including the Amazon River, traveled to Peru, including Machu Picchu, and traveled to Sweden, including visit to the Ice Hotel above the Arctic Circle. We miss our friends in Omaha, and I especially miss my students. Jeanette continues to weave and is an active docent at the University of Iowa Art Museum. I continue to work on my book on trust.” Bauer most recently penned “Lower Moments in Higher Education” and “Fundamentals of Debate: Theory and Practice.”

In Memoriam 1929 Mattie Margaret Toft McCart 1934 Joe Brewster Virginia Soderstrauer Mulholland 1936 June Erickson Mead 1938 Harold H. Johnk Lewis R. Leigh 1939 Louise Fore Sholes Jack A. Maloney 1940 Irvine A. Obermiller 1941 Robert W. Johnson 1942 Robert E. Shirck Bruce L. Moore Margaret Brown

30 • MARCH 2003

1943 Margaret Robinson 1947 Ervin W. Lowery Robert K. Reida 1948 Jeanne F. Filter William Mansur Marjorie E. Norwood Richard E. Anderson 1949 William R. Hughes William R. Spickerman Evan (Gene) Evans Sr. 1950 Russell E. Callahan Archie Arvin Jr. James H. Ross Jr. Bob O. Brown Joseph M. Scheiblhofer 1951 Helen B. Remer 1952 Jack Setzer 1953 Gwendolyn W. Geer 1954 William Whittaker Margaretha E. Claeson Gibson 1955 Richard Palmquist Della J. Clark 1956 Olga A. Tisthammer Ovila H. Garceau Harold H. Koch Gladys M. Quigley Lawrence Means Patricia A. Green 1957 James William Rhode Bernard J. Troshynski Aileen M. Conlee Richard C. Miller 1958 Orval O. Jensen Gary L. Johansen Harold E. Walker Jr. Orvel M. Peterson Helen S. Elliott

1959 Jack M. Valentine Fred E. Karhohs John W. Ashley Walter K. Maddux 1960 Col. (Ret) Joseph L. Parker William Poovey Marjorie Radenbaugh Ronald D. Stribling Allen E. Charnquist 1961 John J. Sedlock Jr. Martha Lucille Spooner Roland Hall Donald F. Peters Cyrus L. Gibbs 1962 Lawrence H. Brandon Marie D. Leopold Ltc Malcolm M. McClenahan Robert H. Millward Ltc. (Ret) Gordon H. Baumann Dora Geissendorfer Sue Lane Bennett 1963 Ellis G. Buzan Ben D. Moorhead Robert Huebner 1964 Pauline E. Love George E. Stegman Vivian B. Higgins (Rev.) Dianne Picton 1965 Warren G. Abolt Richard L. Lewis Ronald H. Emery Maj. (Ret) Joseph A. Greco 1966 R. Craig Hoenshell LTC (Ret) Carl A. Janssen 1967 Charlie E. Stone Ralph E. Hammack James A. Kelker 1968 Maj. (Ret) Robert L. Silven

1969 Karen J. Hannigan William T. Ashley Merlin Rocker Philip Secret Kenneth E. Allbee Robert V. Dunne 1970 Vincent Hoefer Ralph J. Cantrell Russell K. Cleveland Jackie W. Daniels John H. Deitz 1971 Ellen P. Szydel Donna Lavone Allen John Turnbull Nathan Owens CMS (Ret.) Purl G. McCoy Jr. Jonathan N. Brooks Franklin L. Darrell Charles D. Brumit Ray M. Chacon Kay S. Currey 1972 Arthur J. Keinarth Dean H. Beatty Gary E. Carlson Joe Edmonson Richard Podlesak Edward J. Collins Charles G. Cummings Jack B. Embry 1973 Betty Jean Jacobsen Stephen Savage Michael D. West Ramon L. Castro 1974 James J. Walker Norma J. Marts Valerie Jean Nelsen James F. Estes 1975 David W. DeGarmo David F. Fowler

UNOALUM

M A R C H 1976 Paul S. McKibben Sr. 1977 Rhonda K. Martin William B. Goodson 1978 CMsgt (Ret) Edmond P. Yingst Leon R. League 1979 Russell F. Rapier Ian H. Breslow 1980 Thomas W. Gannon 1981 Todd P. Hendrickson Stan Stednitz Rita M. Deppe (Dr.) Michael David Driscoll Donald R. Clark Laurence M. Clegg 1982 Barbara Ann Gunther Louis G. Martin Nancy Cohn Beth A. Fine-Kaplan 1983 Dennis T. Caauwe Nancy Newton Amstutz Elaine A. Cole 1984 Gary A. Walander 1985 Sara J. Brix Michael K. Paul 1987 Myrna L. Powell 1988 Roxanne Paul 1989 Robert J. Golonka 1990 Adam Albright Bruce F. Berg 1992 Lawrence William Jeffries Ray E. Palmer Archie J. Brown 2000 Monte Smith

Class Notes

Submit your class note over the web at www.unoalumni.org What have you been doing since graduating from UNO? Your fellow alumni would like to know! Give us an update by filling out the form below. We’ll publish the news in a future issue of the UNO Alum and on our web site. Send the news to Class Notes Editor, UNO Alum, 67th & Dodge, Omaha, Neb. 68182-0010, or Fax to (402) 554-3787.

Name________________________________________ Address______________________________________ _____________________________________________ City, State, Zip________________________________ New Address?

❑ Yes ❑ No Phone__________________

E-mail_______________________________________ May we post your name and e-mail address on our web site?

❑ Yes ❑ No

May the UNO Alumni Association periodically share info with you via e-mail?

Faculty/Staff In Memoriam Dr. Todd Hendrickson, adjunct faculty member in the School of HPER. UNO service: 1999-2002.

Ron Kaiser, accountant with accounting services. UNO service: 1972-2002.

Bernie Kolasa, professor of political science. UNO service: 1968-2000.

Steele Lunt, professor of biology.

Years of service to UNO: 1964-2000.

Philip Secret, professor, criminal justice. UNO service: 1972-2002.

Merle Smith, inventory control clerk, UNO Bookstore. UNO service: 19871999.

Orval Knutson, groundskeeper, Landscape Services. UNO service: 1986-1994.

Kathleen “Kate” Granrose, assistant professor, Spanish and women’s studies. UNO service: 2000-2002.

Gary Bucchino, instructor, finance, banking and law. UNO service: 19872002.

Willis Rokes, retired professor, law and insurance. UNO service: 19611989

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❑ Yes ❑ No

Class Year_________ Degree__________ Business Name _______________________________ Position______________________________________ News________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________

Spend a Night with the Bard Shakespeare on the Green Pre-picnic “Twelfth-Night” performance

Here’s what your $10 gets you!

Wednesday, July 2 Picnic: 6 to 7:15 p.m.

Performance: 8 p.m W.H.Thompson Alumni Center (rain or shine) Just $10 per person!

• Picnic Buffet (Chicken, BBQ pork, potato salad, baked beans, cole slaw, cookie, beverages) • Reserved spot “down front” at the play • Transportation to or parking near “The Green” • “Twelfth-Night” preview by UNO Professor Cindy Melby Phaneuf, co-founder/artistic director of Nebraska Shakespeare Festival • Satisfaction knowing part of your fee helps underwrite a donation to the Nebraska Shakespeare Festival.

Questions? Call Sheila King at 554-4802, or e-mail sking@mail.unomaha.edu To register, send a check (payable to UNO Alumni Association) for $10 per person with the form below to: Shakespeare Picnic, UNO Alumni Association, 6001 Dodge St., Omaha, NE 68182-0010

Shakespeare on the Green/“Twelfth-Night” UNO Alumni Picnic Registration Name_________________________________ Guest_________________________________ _______ I (we) will attend “Twelfth-Night” _______ I (we) will only attend the picnic.

AND join you for the picnic!

_______ I (we) will only attend the play.

E-mail or phone No. (for confirmation notice)______________________________

University of Nebraska at Omaha Alumni Association W.H. Thompson Alumni Center Omaha, NE 68182-0010 Address Service Requested

NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT #301 OMAHA, NE