Board Meeting Minutes
April 12, 2012
Daily Nebraskan > A & E
UNL Dance Marathon successful in raising funds, student involvement
By Kevin Moser[To view the video click here]
Dancing for 12 hours may seem excessive to some, but participants in this year’s University of Nebraska-Lincoln Dance Marathon say it was time well spent.
The marathon is an annual event that raises donations for the Children’s Hospital and Medical Center in Omaha. This year’s participants raised a total of $48,704 before the event, with 430 students officially registering.
The marathon started at 7 p.m. Feb. 17 and ran until Saturday morning, bringing together students, families and other supporters to dance the night away in honor of the children the donations will support.
Sophomore advertising major Megan Merrill attended this year’s marathon and said there was never a dull moment.
“The atmosphere was always super high,” Merrill said. “Everyone who was running (the event) did such a good job of making sure everyone’s spirits were up.”
Merrill said time flew by with the various activities.
“All of a sudden you look at your phone, and it’s like ‘Oh, I’ve been dancing for five straight hours,’” she said.
Despite the non-stop dancing, the event was split up with various activities, including a performance by D*Funk, a cover band based in Lincoln. Ultimately, though, participants showed up to support the hospital.
Alyssa DeFrain is the marathon coordinator for the Children’s Hospital and Medical Center in Omaha and has been assisting the UNL branch with fundraising for several years.
DeFrain explained the funds will benefit the hospital by allowing it to purchase equipment that could improve a patient’s stay.
“It could be anything from a box of crayons to a new wing of the hospital,” DeFrain said.
The Children’s Hospital strives to serve all children, even if they aren’t able to pay, DeFrain said.
The hospital supports children like Ian Johnson.
According to the hospital’s website, when Ian was born he was diagnosed with a rare condition that stopped his heart from fully developing. The condition is life-threatening unless treated, so one week after he was born, Ian underwent his first open-heart surgery at the Children’s Hospital. The surgery was a success and now Ian leads the life of a regular child, participating in school and sports.
The Dance Marathon also supports children by sharing stories of other survivors between the dances. Members of the marathon’s leadership team said planning the event was no easy task.
The Dance Marathon chair Jaime Michelsen said preparation lasts all year.
“It was a lot of work at first, but nothing that is too much for me because it’s a really great cause,” Michelsen said.
Michelsen has been involved in the Dance Marathon since she first participated her freshman year and she said the event gets larger every year. The 2012 marathon raised $21,000 more than last year’s event.
Still, Zach Owens, the advisor for the event, said the marathon needs to get larger to compete with similar events at other Big Ten schools.
“Northwestern raises over a million dollars at their event,” Owens said. “Other Big Ten schools raise upwards of a million dollars. We have a long way to go.”
Owens said the organization is building foundations to compete with other schools.
“In past years it became more about the event, itself,” Owens said. “We have since shifted our focus to fundraising.”
Despite the competition with UNL’s counterparts, Owens and Michelsen are pleased with this year’s progress.
Many of this year’s participants agree.
This was Merrill’s first year participating in Dance Marathon, but she said she was inspired to become more involved, possibly in planning the event.
“It looks like so much fun and I would love to be on the team,” she said.
DeFrain said the event is an important way to put things in perspective for students.
“I think it’s a really good idea to get students involved with giving so they realize what’s going on in their world.”
kevinmoser@dailynebraskan.com
PRESIDENT’S COLUMN February 2012
Happy New Year Huskers! I have been watching the football recruiting season with interest this year as the coaching staff has targeted some of the top players in the country. If you have been watching news from Dear Old Nebraska University (DONU) you might have noticed the University is targeting the best and brightest students from all over the world. The goal is to increase the number of students enrolled at DONU beyond the increasing numbers the University has already reached in the past few years. The B1G Ten Conference will continue to be a positive influence for years to come for DONU and it will be fun to watch the growth.
SOAZ4NE is in thick of this growth right here in Tucson. We helped staff the University of Nebraska station at three high school college night programs. We also have a very good candidate from Tucson for our SOAZ4NE scholarship. We are very lucky to have a dedicated scholarship Chairperson in Lucia Konrath spearheading our efforts in attracting students to Nebraska and managing our scholarship program. The late Keith Bauman spent many years managing our scholarship and the SOAZ4NE board recently voted to place his name on our scholarship to honor his dedication to maintain this program for Southern Arizona.
The SOAZ4NE Board feels its primary mission is to manage this scholarship fund. There are so many other things we can focus on for the group but the rest comes down to a B1G social organization. This includes football watch sites, fund raisers like our April 21, 2012 Spring Golf Tournament, migration trips to Nebraska events, picnics and gatherings. Check our website – www.SOAZ4NE.org – for the latest events. The other Arizona clubs; Huskers-N-Arizona and Sun City Huskers are helping with softball & baseball events in the Phoenix metroplex in February. John Cook, Head Volleyball Coach will speak at a luncheon sponsored by the Sun City Huskers on Feb. 18. There is a lot of stuff out there to do!
Before I get accused of being long winded (happens all the time) I would also like to mention two other events we need to address today. The Huskers will be in the Rose Bowl playing UCLA this fall. If we can get a large enough group we will help with travel arrangements to LA. Go to the Nebraska Alumni Association web site to fill out a ticket request form before March 2012. Write SOAZ4NE in the local organization box. You must be an Alumni member to qualify for these tickets, the good news is anyone can join it just takes a monetary commitment. This fall we will have a football season kickoff dinner to announce the Keith Bauman Memorial Scholarship so watch for details.
The next board meeting will focus on the football watch sites. As always your suggestions and input are important to your Board of Directors. You can email me at omshusker@msn.com, come to a Board meeting on the second Thursday of January, April, July, and October at Metro Grill, or corner a board member at a watch site. GO BIG RED!
Jerry Holbrook, President SOAZ4NE
Daily Nebraskan > News
NU President Milliken requests millions from NE cash reserve
By Frannie SproulsUniversity of Nebraska President James B. Milliken announced his “Building a Healthier Nebraska” initiative to the Nebraska Legislature Jan. 18.
This proposal requests $91 million from Nebraska’s cash reserve fund for projects in Lincoln, Omaha and Kearney. An additional $300 million will come from private donors, patient revenues and other sources, according to a UNL press release on Jan. 18.
Milliken said education and job creation are high priorities for Nebraska and will help the state become stronger and more competitive.
On Thursday, Gov. Dave Heineman said the legislature in Nebraska cannot afford to pay the amount Milliken is requesting, according to a report in the Lincoln Journal Star .
Heineman said the cash reserve needs to be rebuilt before using the money for one-time funding projects.
Milliken proposed four components to the initiative, two of which would affect students in Lincoln.
The first project is building a new University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing.
This would replace the current building in Lincoln, according to Juliann Sebastian, dean of UNMC’s College of Nursing.
“We’ve been turning away qualified applicants to the Lincoln division,” she said in a phone interview. “With the shortage of nurses in Nebraska and a continued estimated shortage, we want to do our part and expand our space to accept more applicants.”
The Lincoln division of UNMC’s College of Nursing has a total enrollment of about 250 students. With the new building, Sebastian said they expect to increase the total enrollment by 64 students during the next few years.
The new building would also provide space for a more vibrant research program with more research faculty and new technology, Sebastian said.
“We see ourselves as having a research culture where students can learn as that science is developing,” she said. “As tech has expanded, we need very highly educated nurses whether it’s for diagnostics, therapeutic services or health education.”
The second project proposed is to plan and design a new Veterinary Diagnostic Center (VDC) at UNL’s Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
The current VDC is a 35-year-old building and is in good condition, said David Hardin, director of the School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences.
“We’ve simply outgrown the building,” Hardin said in a phone interview. “We don’t have any space left.”
Hardin listed three reasons for a new building. One relates to safety and another to the risk of cross contamination due to a poor ventilation system.
“The third is simply the ability to expand and add new services to better serve the needs of the state,” Hardin said.
The VDC provides diagnostic services, running lab tests on samples sent in from practicing veterinarians and from state agencies. In the summer, the lab does testing for the West Nile virus, he said.
Livestock is also tested at the lab, Hardin said.
The third project is looking for financial support for a cancer research tower at UNMC. With this tower UNMC would be able to become one of only 40 institutions in the U.S. to earn a Comprehensive Cancer Center designation from the National Cancer Institute, according to the press release.
The tower would host 98 labs and allow UNMC to add more faculty, receive more grant funding and have all of its researchers in one location.
The final project would be a 30,000-square-foot addition to the Bruner Hall of Science at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. This addition would provide space for health sciences education programs and expand the Kearney-based UNMC nursing division, as stated in the press release.
Three senators introduced the bills centering on Milliken’s initiative: Sens. Tony Fulton of Lincoln, John Nelson of Omaha, Galen Hadley of Kearney and Tom Hansen of North Platte.
franniesprouls@dailynebraskan.com
Board Meeting Minutes
January 12, 2012
Huskers Second in Big Ten Recycling Challenge
Lincoln, Neb., Jan. 13, 2012 — After the mountains of waste were measured and reported, the Huskers finished second in the Big Ten Conference in two key categories of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Game Day Challenge 2011, with 6,880 pounds of waste recycled.
The friendly competition among 69 universities nationwide measured the amount of waste from university stadium crowds and how much fans and volunteers diverted or minimized gameday trash by focusing on recycling.
UNL’s gameday recycling event was Oct. 29 vs. Michigan State. On that day more than 75 student and staff volunteers participated in the recycling effort inside and outside Memorial Stadium. EPA released the results of the nationwide Game Day Challenge 2011 earlier this week.
UNL competed in four of five categories: Diversion Rate (recycled materials vs. garbage), Waste Minimization (measuring waste per person), Greenhouse Gas Reduction, and Total Recycling (figuring out the amount of materials recycled per person).
Among the seven schools in the Big Ten reporting their numbers and participating in the competition, UNL’s total of 6,880 lbs. was ranked second in the Big Ten in Diversion Rate and in Waste Minimization. Out of 69 universities participating in the competition, UNL ranked eighth overall in Waste Minimization and 24th in Diversion Rate. Its Diversion Rate of 43 percent was an increase of nearly 18 percentage points over the 2010 Game Day Challenge totals.
UNL places recycling receptacles throughout the stadium that are accessible to fans, and individual recycling within and surround the stadium has been increasing, said Jeff Henson, UNL’s co-recycling coordinator. Plastic water and soda bottles, aluminum cans (outside the stadium) and cardboard are the primary materials recycled.
Participation in the Game Day Challenge 2011 was led by the student group Sustain UNL as well as UNL’s recycling coordinators, with support from the Athletic Department. Other key participants included Recycling Enterprises, UNL’s Landscape Services, Department of Philosophy graduate students, Alpha Gamma Sigma, and the ASUN Sustainability Committee.
“We would like to participate in the Game Day Challenge again next year,” Henson said. “A lot of the success is dependent on student leadership and their planning, recruiting and volunteering for the effort. If anyone is interested in helping next year they can certainly contact us and we’re happy to start a list.”
For more information about UNL Recycling services contact UNL’s recycling coordinators Prabhakar Shrestha or Henson at 402-472-9139 or recycling@unl.edu. Henson said it’s not too early to gather volunteers for next year’s challenge.
UNL ranked ‘Best Value’ among public colleges
By Jacy Marmaduke Daily Nebraskan
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has hovered in the upper 60s on Kiplinger’s Best Values in Public Colleges ranking for at least three years, and this year is no different: Kiplinger’s ranked UNL No. 68 for in-state on its list of 100 public colleges and universities that define “value.” For out-of-state, it was listed No. 82.
“Value is getting a good education for an affordable price,” said Marc Wojno, senior associate editor for Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine. “That’s why we put this ranking together in the first place: we want to show our readers that very high quality education is out there at very reasonable prices.”
The ranking is a much-publicized resource for frugal prospective college students and their parents, so a high ranking on the list could mean greater enrollment for UNL. Kelly Bartling, news director for the Office of University Communications, said the school “puts stock” in rankings such as Kiplinger’s because they can “provide valuable information.”
“Anytime we’re on a ranking like that, we’re going to scrutinize it just as we hope a consumer would, looking at the methodology and what all was taken into account when whatever publication put together the rankings,” Bartling said. “We’re looking at it in terms of what’s valid and what’s not.”
Wojno said the magazine “focuses strictly on numbers” for the ranking and has done so for the past 11 years. Factors include cost of tuition (both in- and out-of-state) and room and board, availability of financial aid and average student debt at time of graduation. This year, Kiplinger’s added a few new criteria to the list, taking into account average test scores of admitted students, the yield (or percentage of accepted students who choose to attend the university) and four-year graduation rate.
UNL, the only university in the state to make an appearance on the list, gained points for a relatively low “sticker price” (the yearly cost of tuition and fees, books and room and board) of about $17,000 in-state and $29,000 out-of-state) and ample financial aid but took a hit due to a low four-year graduation rate, among other factors.
“In the case of the UNL, the four-year grad rate is 29 percent, which is pretty low compared to other schools on our list,” Wojno said.
Although public university tuition is less costly than that of private universities, public tuition has risen nationwide due to an unsteady economy.
“The public colleges depend on state subsidies, (which) have been declining nationwide for decades,” said Mark Kantrowitz, a financial aid and college planning expert who created FinAid, a website that navigates students and parents through the process of acquiring financial aid, and FastWeb, a free scholarship search tool. “During a recession and for a few years afterward, you have high unemployment, which means state income tax revenues are down. The first place they cut to balance the budget is support of higher education. If state appropriations go down, public tuition goes up.”
This trend leads to more debt for students, who are often forced to resort to loans to make ends meet.
“The time to determine how much college is really going to cost you and how much debt you’re going to incur is before you incur the debt,” Kantrowitz said. “Do you go to the more expensive school that’s well known for your field of study but leaves you with so much debt you can’t pursue a job in that field? Do you have to abandon your dreams to pay the debt that enabled your dreams?”
Average student debt at time of graduation, at about $16,600, is comparatively low for UNL students.
Average debt for out-of-state students is about $22,000. According to Wojno, this number is indicative of the current state of rising college costs.
“It is a fact of life nowadays that students will have to take out loans and have to pay back the debt,” Wojno said. “There used to be a time when we’d take pride in saying, ‘I graduated debt free,’ but that’s not the case anymore.”
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