Swearing In Ceremony for Student Leaders Jan. 19

The new leaders of student government at UNO will take the oath of office Thursday, Jan. 19.

Steve Massara was elected student body president/regent and VaShawn Smith was elected student government vice president in online elections held last fall. The swearing in ceremony will take place at 12:30 p.m. in the Milo Bail Student Center Nebraska Room. Donal Burns, corporation secretary of the University of Nebraska, will execute the oath of office for Massara.

Massara, the son of Bob and Kitty Massara of Elkhorn, Neb., is a senior majoring in exercise science. A graduate of Elkhorn High School, he has been an active member of Student Government at UNO throughout his university career, serving as recording secretary, Faculty Senate liaison, College of Education senator and speaker of the Student Senate.

Massara's campus activities include the Alliance of Fitness Professionals, where he served a two-year term as president. He also has taken an active role in Pi Kappa Alpha, his social fraternity, having served as campus involvement chair, philanthropy chair, vice president of administration and social chair. This past year, Massara has served as the treasurer of the Order of Omega, a Greek leadership honor society, and vice president of programming for Omicron Delta Kappa, the national leadership honor society.

Smith, the son of Carol Smith of Toledo, Ohio, is a graduate of Calvin Woodward High School in Toledo. He then enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, where he served as a logistic management specialist for the 45th Reconnaissance Squadron at Offutt AFB. Upon honorable discharge, he began attending UNO and declared a major in secondary education with an endorsement in math. Smith has been involved with the Minority Intern Program at Omaha Public Schools for three years, working at both Monroe Junior High and Omaha North High School. He served as a tutor at the Butler-Gast YMCA in Omaha through the UNO Multicultural Intern Program. 

Smith's campus activities and service include membership on the College of Education Appeals Committee and the Chancellor's Committee on Minority Male Retention. His involvement in Student Government includes serving on the Student Allocation Budget Committee and as a student senator for the College of Education.

A reception will follow the program. For more information, call 554.2779.

Anita Walker to Speak at Gallup Class Jan. 20

Anita Walker, director of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs, will be speaking to a unique UNO class examining innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship Friday, Jan. 20. Students in the class are developing plans to move Omaha toward being recognized as a "creative class" city.

"Anita Walker very much fits in with what the class is researching and learning," said course creator Gerald Wagner, a distinguished research fellow in the UNO College of Information Science and Technology. "Not only is she a dynamic speaker, she has been leading a movement in Iowa to recognize the role of the creative economy in building prosperity in rural and urban communities. Those are lessons we can learn from in Nebraska."

Dr. Wagner's class is being taught at the Gallup Organization's downtown Omaha campus. Walker is one of eight guest lecturers that are being brought in during the semester. Her talk is titled  "Iowa Great Places: Embracing an Authentic Sense of Place." She will be speaking to the general public on the same topic before the class at 7:30 a.m. at Gallup University. There is no cost to attend.

Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack appointed Walker to her post in 2000. In that capacity, she serves as executive director of the Iowa Arts Council, administrator of the State Historical Society and as State Historic Preservation officer.

Walker introduced her state to the work of creative economy guru Richard Florida. Last October, during a keynote address for a gathering in Iowa City, Iowa, Florida said, "Anita Walker has positioned arts and culture at the forefront of economic development and community building. I could think of no other arts and cultural leader at the local, community, state or national level who has provided that kind of leadership."

For more information, call 554.3502.

UNO Writing Center Announces Spring Hours

The UNO Writing Center, located in 150 Arts and Sciences Hall (ASH), has announced its spring schedule, which is listed below. The center's services are available to all interested students, faculty and staff.

Monday

9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday

9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Friday

9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Clients may drop in or make an appointment via the Web at http://www.unomaha.edu/writingcenter. 

"We encourage members of the campus community to use the center at any stage of the writing process, whether they are gathering ideas for a writing project or finishing a final draft," said Connie Eberhart, the center's director. "Our services are not remedial; all writers benefit from professional feedback."

The center's writing consultants, who are experienced composition instructors or English department graduate teaching assistants, can assist with a wide range of documents such as essays, reports, business letters or grant proposals. 

Faculty are also encouraged to use the center to enhance the teaching of writing in their courses. "Our consultants can visit a classroom to help with a writing project, or faculty can reserve the center for a class session on a focused writing issue," Eberhart said. "Also, faculty may contact the center to schedule a 10-minute orientation for a class."

For more information, visit the Web at http://www.unomaha.edu/writingcenter, or contact Eberhart at 554.3322 or ceberhart@mail.unomaha.edu.

HPER Closed Jan. 16 for MLK Jr. Holiday

The Health, Physical Education and Recreation (HPER) Building will be closed Monday, Jan. 16, in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  The HPER Building will reopen Tuesday, Jan. 17, at 6:30 a.m.

For more information, call 554.2539.

Maverick Watch

Go Mavs! Support your Mavericks by attending their home events.

Students are admitted free to all home athletic games with a valid UNO ID and game-day ticket. The spouses, significant others and children of students also are admitted free. At the game, students must present a valid UNO ID to receive a ticket. Tickets do not have to be ordered in advance. Tickets will be available on the day of the game at each home event. For more information, call 402.554.MAVS (6287).

At home this week…

Thursday, Jan. 19

- Women's basketball vs. South Dakota

Sapp Fieldhouse

6 p.m.

- Men's basketball vs. South Dakota

Sapp Fieldhouse

8 p.m.

Friday, Jan. 20

Hockey vs. Michigan State

Qwest Center Omaha, 455 N. 10th St.

7:05 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 21

- Wrestling (Brand Open)

Sapp Fieldhouse

9 a.m.

- Women's basketball vs. Upper Iowa

Sapp Fieldhouse

6 p.m.

- Hockey vs. Michigan State

Qwest Center Omaha, 455 N. 10th St.

7:05 p.m.

- Men's basketball vs. Upper Iowa

Sapp Fieldhouse

8 p.m.

For more information about UNO Athletics, visit the Web at http://gomavs.unomaha.edu/.

Group Exercise Spring Schedule Begins Jan. 17

Campus Recreation and the Wellness Stampede have teamed up to host a variety of group exercise classes this spring at UNO. Classes begin Tuesday, Jan. 17.

All classes will be held in the Health, Physical Education and Recreation (HPER) Building. Group Exercise classes are free to all current students and Campus Recreation activity cardholders. Classes will not be held Jan. 16 and March 13-17.

To access a schedule, click on the following link:

Spring Group Exercise Schedule

For more information, contact Dave Daniels at 554.2008.

"Saving Faces" Exhibition at UNO Art Gallery

Omaha is the third stop for a North American tour of a unique art exhibition that provides an in-depth look at the physical and emotional aspects of patients who underwent head and neck surgery subsequent to trauma, disfiguring forms of cancer or other problems. 

The exhibit runs through Friday, Feb. 24, at the UNO Art Gallery. It is accompanied by a five-part speaker series to highlight issues related to healing that are raised by the paintings.

Bringing the art exhibition, "Saving Faces: Art and Medicine," to Omaha has been a cooperative venture between UNO and the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC).

The exhibition features 42 portraits by Scottish artist Mark Gilbert showing patients at various stages of their treatment. Gilbert's exhibition was spawned by an invitation from Iain Hutchison, M.D., a British maxillofacial surgeon, to come to the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Unit of St. Bartholomew's and Royal London Hospital and see for himself what these patients go through. The paintings he created provide a visual narrative of the healing process.

Some of the exhibition portraits are nearly six feet tall. They were first displayed at the National Portrait Gallery in London and then toured throughout the British Isles and Europe. Prior to coming to Nebraska, the portraits had been on display at Yale University in New Haven, Conn. "This is a tremendous honor to have this exhibition in Omaha," said Virginia Aita, Ph.D., associate professor of preventive and societal medicine at UNMC and director of the planning committee for the event. "It has been highly acclaimed and has been the source of widespread media coverage."

The portraits depict the patients' appearance before, during and after reconstructive facial surgery, Dr. Aita said, capturing their changing emotions during the healing process and allowing the viewer to experience the transformation the patients go through.

"The exhibition truly combines the best of art, science, hope and healing," said Deborah-Eve Lombard, director of the UNO Art Gallery. "It will provide a moving and powerful experience to all who view it."

All of the events associated with the exhibition are free and open to the public, Dr. Aita said, and will provide a rare opportunity to explore the integration of art and medicine and the nature of healing.

The speaker series will take place over a five-week period with each program beginning at 7 p.m. The remaining dates, titles of the programs, speakers and locations for the series are listed below.

Thursday, Jan. 19

"Healing through the Art and Science of Head and Neck Surgical and Related Interventions"

Panel discussion headed by William Lydiatt, M.D., a UNMC head and neck cancer surgeon.  The panelists will include Dr. Aita (moderator); Perry Johnson, M.D., a UNMC plastic and reconstructive surgeon; and Tom Salinas, D.D.S., a UNMC prosthodontist.

Eppley Science Hall Amphitheater at UNMC, 43rd and Dewey Ave.

Thursday, Jan. 26

"Healing through Poetry"

Speaker – Ted Kooser, the U.S. poet laureate who is a head and neck cancer survivor

Scott Conference Center, 6450 Pine St.

Thursday, Feb. 9

"Regarding Transformation: Healing and the Perception of Integrity of Persons"

Speaker – Michael Gillespie, Ph.D., senior lecturer, University of Washington – Bothell and UNO professor emeritus

UNO Art Gallery

Thursday, Feb. 16

"Healing and its Relationship to the Depiction of Illness"

Panel discussion headed by Mark Gilbert, "Saving Faces" artist, with panelists Barbara Simcoe, associate professor, UNO Department of Art and Art History (moderator); Al Harris-Fernandez, director of the Sioux City Art Center; and Aaron Holz, assistant professor, College of Fine Arts, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

UNO Art Gallery

The UNO Art Gallery is closed Saturdays and Mondays.  It is open noon to 4 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays; noon to 8 p.m. Thursdays; and 2 to 5 p.m. Sundays.

The "Saving Faces" Exhibition was made possible thanks in large part to a $3,500 grant from the Nebraska Arts Council. The speaker series was made possible by a $6,165 grant from the Nebraska Humanities Council. Additional support was provided by the UNMC College of Medicine; the UNMC Department of Preventive and Societal Medicine; the UNO College of Communication, Fine Arts and Media; the UNO Art Gallery; the UNMC Center for Continuing Education; the Wilson Humanities in Medicine Program; and the UNMC Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery.

For more information about the exhibition and speaker series, contact Dr. Aita at 559.5157 or Lombard at 554.2796.

Masters and Music Series Continues Jan. 29

The Masters and Music series at UNO continues Sunday, Jan. 29, with a tribute to the late Kent Bellows.

The event, "Capturing the Human Spirit in Art," will begin at 5 p.m. in the UNO Art Gallery. Tickets are $15 per person, and all proceeds benefit the Friends of Art Scholarship Fund.

Nationally recognized Nebraska artists Keith Jacobshagen, Paul Otero and Stephen Cornelius Roberts will reflect on the life and work of Bellows, one of America's greatest masters of figurative drawing, in a panel discussion. Audrey Kauders, director of the Museum of Nebraska Art in Kearney, will serve as the moderator.

Pete Madsen, coordinator of jazz studies at UNO, will explore the strength and drive of the personal, individual character of jazz as it creates its own life force.

"The power of the human spirit is alive through the work of these extraordinary artists," said Shari Hofschire, coordinator of the series.

Masters and Music is a series blending artistic imagery and musical composition. It is sponsored by Friends of Art, a support group for the UNO Department of Art and Art History. For more information or to make a reservation, contact Hofschire at 554.2402.

Discounted Tickets Available to Madama Butterfly

UNO students, faculty and staff can purchase discounted tickets to Opera Omaha's spring production of Madama Butterfly at the Orpheum Theater.

Performances of the new production by renowned Omaha artist Jun Kaneko are set for March 17, 19, 22 and 25. Kaneko's well-known and widely collected large ceramic pieces (called "dangos") can be seen prominently at the Hilton Omaha Hotel and the Holland Performing Arts Center. The run of Madama Butterfly is as follows:

Friday, March 17 – 7:30 p.m.;

Sunday, March 19 – 2 p.m.;

Wednesday, March 22 – 7:30 p.m.; and

Saturday, March 25 – 7:30 p.m.

ConAgra Foods is the production sponsor of Madama Butterfly.

Tickets must be purchased March 15 in order to receive the discount. To purchase tickets, click on the following link:

http://www.operaomaha.org/downloads/Butterfly/UNO.pdf.

For more information, contact Steve Grupe at 402.346.4398, x109, or sgrupe@operaomaha.org.