The Massara Report

Greetings:

My name is Steve Massara, and I am the current student body president/regent for UNO. After the first installment of my report in February, I decided it would be prudent for me to continue my educational quest. I am here to represent the interests of you, the student, in any capacity possible. That is why this month's topic will revolve around my administration's proposed smoking ban on campus. 

After fielding numerous student complaints and seeing the impact of smoking on campus every day, we decided to take a stand this semester. Obviously, health concerns are a consideration for those allergic to the carcinogenic components in smoke, but the aesthetic factor is also a major concern. I encourage you to walk down any major corridor on campus and examine the tremendous amount of litter caused by smokers. The university pays employees to engage in the labor-intensive task of picking up cigarette butts. This problem becomes so bad that large beds of mulch must be replaced annually due to this unsightly litter. It is obvious that the current smoking "compromise" is not working and needs to be amended.

Student Government sponsored a forum in February on the topic of banning smoking on campus. I thank those who attended and voiced their opinions. Notes were taken, and you have my solemn vow that I will include your ideas in my forthcoming proposal. To briefly preview the concept, Vice President VaShawn Smith and I are proposing a ban on smoking on the main corridor of campus running from Kayser to Durham. Several designated smoking areas on peripheral sidewalks would provide a more constrained enforcement opportunity. 

I realize it will be a battle and enforcement will be difficult, but I feel the compromise I am currently working on will encompass the concerns of all parties. It is important to note that the student body comprises only a third of the campus community. Our voice is strong, but we must focus it sharply.

I intend to work closely with faculty and staff representatives to forge a positive outcome for all parties involved. I entreat you to let me know how you feel about this or any other topic. Please do not hesitate to surf our new Web site at http://sguno.unomaha.edu/ for more information. We meet at 7 p.m. Thursdays in the Milo Bail Student Center and always love to have visitors. 

You may also contact me at any time at smassara@mail.unomaha.edu or 554.3578. Thanks for reading!

UNO Student Selected for Prestigious Jazz Residency

A UNO student will spend a week in Washington, D.C., this spring making music with some of the country's top jazz musicians.

Jazz pianist Jordan Elsberry, a creative writing major from Fremont, Neb., has been selected to participate in Betty Carter's Jazz Ahead Residency Program at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts April 12-22.

The Jazz Ahead program identifies outstanding, emerging jazz artists in their mid-teens and twenties, and brings them together under the tutelage of experienced artist-instructors who coach and counsel them, helping to polish their performance, composing and arranging skills.

The weeklong residency program will include daily workshops and rehearsals with established jazz artists, and will culminate in three concerts on the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, which will be broadcast live over the Internet.

Carter, who possessed one of this era's most extraordinary voices, was devoted to jazz education. She brought her Jazz Ahead program, which has launched the careers of several of today's stars, to the Kennedy Center in 1998. 

"This is a real honor for Jordan, and we are proud to claim him as one of our own," said Pete Madsen, coordinator of jazz studies at UNO. "This opportunity will enable him to excel and grow as a composer and musician.  He is a talented young man and very deserving of this recognition."

Elsberry, 19, is the son of James and Ardeth Elsberry of Fremont. "I'm looking forward to meeting other composers and players of my generation, generating new connections," he said.  He is the recipient of a scholarship from the Earl Family Fund for Excellence in Jazz Studies and a Regents Scholarship.

Application Deadline for Cyber Corps Scholarships April 21

Applications for the National Science Foundation (NSF) Cyber Corps Scholarship for Service (SFS) at UNO are due Friday, April 21.

This program provides scholarship funding in exchange for service at a federal agency as an information assurance professional. While participants complete their studies, they will gain practical experience working with a federal agency as a summer intern. Once they graduate, their hands-on experience in information assurance at a federal agency will continue as they serve in a full-time position in the federal government.

Student participants receive scholarship funding for up to two years in exchange for service at a federal agency for the period equivalent to the length of the scholarship or one year, whichever is longer.

Application materials and instructions on how to apply are available at http://nucia.unomaha.edu/coeannounce/cybercorp.php.

Full program details are available at http://nucia.unomaha.edu/academics/academics.php.

Susan B.'s Coffeehouse March 28

Wealth advisor Roland Manarin will be on campus to offer women financial planning advice at the Chancellor's Commission on the Status of Women's Susan B. Anthony Coffeehouse Tuesday, March 28. The event will be held from 10 to 11 a.m. in the Milo Bail Student Center Council Room.

Manarin, president and founder of the Manarin Investment Counsel Ltd., will discuss his investment philosophy that is based on education, opportunity, common sense and discipline. In January 2004, he was named one of America's top 100 wealth advisors by Barrons Magazine.

Weiyu Guo – associate professor of finance, banking and law at UNO – will co-present at the coffeehouse. She will discuss the four decisions to be made when formulating an investment strategy.

Refreshments will be served. For more information, contact coffeehouse facilitators Esther Scarpello at 554.3660 or Dr. Guo at 554.2655.

Echotrope Film Series Continues March 30

The Echotrope Spring Experimental Film and Media Series at UNO continues Thursday, March 30, with a screening of "Apparition of the Eternal Church" by Paul Festa. The event will begin at 7 p.m. in the UNO Art Gallery.

The cast of this 57-minute documentary puts words to the experience of hearing Olivier Messiaen's monumental organ work, "Apparition of the Eternal Church." This film contains adult language.

Director/producer/editor Festa, a native of San Francisco, studied violin at the Juilliard School before graduating in English from Yale in 1996 with honors and prizes in writing and musical performance. His essays have appeared in Salon and Nerve, among other publications, and in the anthologies Best Sex Writing 2005 and Best Sex Writing 2006. He is revising a novel about California's medical marijuana industry.

"Apparition of the Eternal Church," his first movie, first played at the Asheville Film Festival 2005.  For more information about Festa, visit the Web at http://www.paulfesta.com.

This experimental film and media series is sponsored by Echotrope, a local arts group dedicated to expanding the presence of experimental art and digital literacy in the metro area, and the UNO Art Gallery.

Echotrope was founded by the wife and husband team of Jody Boyer and Russ Nordman, both art and art history faculty members at UNO. Boyer serves as the group's curator/organizer, and Nordman is Echotrope's technical director. All screenings are free and open to the public. The remaining schedule is listed below.

Friday, April 28

Echotrope and the Visuals present: Spring Shorts

7 p.m.

UNO Art Gallery

An evening of contemporary video, film and media co-curated by Jen Lukas and the Visuals.

Friday, May 5

Echotrope and the Visuals present: Spring Shorts

7 p.m.

The Mary Reimpa Ross Theater, Lincoln, Neb.

An evening of contemporary video, film and media co-curated by Jen Lukas and the Visuals.

The UNO Art Gallery is located on the first floor of the Weber Fine Arts Building.

For more information about the spring series, contact Boyer at activate@echotrope.org.  For more information about Echotrope, visit the Web at http://www.echotrope.org.  For more information about the UNO Art Gallery, call 554.2796.

AID to Host Screening of "The Peacekeepers" March 31

Americans for Informed Democracy will host an exclusive viewing of "The Peacekeepers" Friday, March 31.  The screening will begin at 8 p.m. in the Milo Bail Student Center Dodge Room.  It is free and open to the public, and refreshments will be provided.

This new documentary details the U.N. mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

For more information, visit the Web at http://aid.unomaha.edu.

UNO Swing Dance March 31

The UNO Jazz Ensembles and Moniker, a jazz combo, will take center stage at the UNO Swing Dance Friday, March 31. The event will be held in the Milo Bail Student Center Ballroom.

Dance lessons will begin at 7 p.m., and the music and dancing will begin at 8 p.m. Admission is $5 for students and $7 for the general public. Proceeds will be earmarked for the UNO Jazz Program and the UNO Wind Ensemble's 2006 European tour.

For more information, call 554.2297.

OAA to Host Movie Night March 31

The Organization for the Advancement of the Arts (OAA) and the UNO Film Society will host a free movie night for all interested UNO students Friday, March 31.

"Dr. Strangelove" will be screened at 7 p.m. in Eppley Auditorium. For more information, contact the OAA at unooaa@mail.unomaha.edu.

UNO Symphonic Wind Ensemble Benefit April 2

The Symphonic Wind Ensemble at UNO will hold a silent auction and concert March 31-April 2 to benefit its fifth international tour. Fifty students and faculty will depart Omaha May 5 for a tour of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Norway. Although the tour is supported by UNO, the majority of funds is the responsibility of the tour participants and is supplemented through fund-raising projects like the silent auction.

Students, faculty, staff and the public can view and bid on items in a silent auction in the Strauss Performing Arts Center (SPAC) foyer at UNO according to the schedule listed below. Auction items also will be viewable online beginning Saturday, April 1, at http://music.unomaha.edu/windensemble.html.

Silent auction bidding and viewing hours

- Friday, March 31

1 to 5 p.m.

- Saturday, April 1

9 a.m. to noon

- Sunday, April 2

2 to 5 p.m.

The benefit concert will begin at 3 p.m. April 2 in the SPAC Recital Hall. The doors will open 30 minutes prior to the concert. Following the concert, the silent auction winners will be announced, and a reception will be held in the Milo Bail Student Center Chancellor's Room.

The Symphonic Wind Ensemble will open its international tour this spring with a performance hosted by the U.S. Ambassador in Vilnius, Lithuania. The group will then travel to Omaha's sister city and UNO's sister university in Siauliai, Lithuania, to perform at the Baltic International Music Festival and perform with the Siauliai University Studium Chorus and the Lithuanian Professional Chorus. 

Another UNO sister university will host the ensemble in Riga, Latvia. The final concert in the Baltics will be in Tallinn, Estonia. To celebrate Norway's Independence Day, the U.S. Ambassador will host a special concert at the Embassy that will be presented with a Norwegian Concert Band. The ensemble will finish its tour in Kristiansand by presenting two concerts hosted by Adger, UNO's sister university. 

Individual tickets to the April 2 concert are $4 for adults, and $3 for students and seniors. All UNO students, faculty and staff are admitted free of charge with a valid ID. Tickets will be available at the door.

For more information, call 554.3427.

SPO to Host Benefit Concert April 3

This concert has been designated as a UNO Spirit Committee event.

The Student Programming Organization (SPO) has announced plans to host a concert featuring The Rocket Summer to benefit the "UNO to UNO Hurricane Relief Project" Monday, April 3.

The free concert, featuring pop/rock bands The Rocket Summer and Epic Hero, will be held in the Milo Bail Student Center Nebraska Room and Ballroom from 7 to 10 p.m. The doors will open at 6 p.m.

While the concert is free to UNO students and the public, SPO is asking for an optional donation, the proceeds of which will go to the University of New Orleans.

"We have had the ‘UNO to UNO' containers at most of our events," said T.J. Jones, the student director of SPO, "but we thought we should plan a show that would put the spotlight on the fund-raiser."

Hailed as one of Alternative Press Magazine's "100 Bands to Know in 2006," The Rocket Summer is the piano/guitar driven, pop/rock brainchild of multi-instrumentalist singer/songwriter Bryce Avery.

Since the release of his first album in 2003, Avery has toured as The Rocket Summer with Something Corporate, Hellogoodbye, Reliant K, Mae, Sugarcult, Jimmy Eat World and The All American Rejects, among others.  His newest CD, "Hello, Good Friend," was released in May 2005. 

"UNO to UNO" was set up in the fall of 2005 following Hurricane Katrina's destruction of New Orleans. The project hopes to raise money in order to help those in the Louisiana UNO community who lost so much rebuild. The fund-raiser will conclude in May at the end of the academic year.

For more information, contact Erin Cron at 554.2711 or ecron@mail.unomaha.edu.

Those in attendance at the April 3 concert will be eligible to receive a "Spirit Ticket" from the UNO Spirit Committee. A drawing for one Island Tropics bath and body care gift set will take place. Participants do not have to be present to win. For more information, contact Becky Bohan Brown at 554.2243 or Mary Sweaney at 554.3668.

MTV "Real World" Personality on Campus April 4

The Student Programming Organization (SPO) is bringing Landon Lueck from MTV's "Real World Philadelphia" to campus Tuesday, April 4.  The event, which was originally scheduled for March 21, will begin at noon in the Milo Bail Student Center Dodge Rooms.  It is free and open to the public, and refreshments will be provided.

Lueck will discuss his experiences on the reality show and also will talk about alcohol awareness.

For more information, contact Erin Cron, SPO advisor, at 554.2711. 

Women's History Museum Set for April 4-5

The Women's Resource Center at UNO will host its annual Women's History Museum Tuesday and Wednesday, April 4-5.  The event, which features information displays about notable women and their accomplishments, will be held in the Milo Bail Student Center Fireplace Lounge from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day.

All interested members of the UNO community are invited to stop by the museum. For more information, contact Tumelo Gobagoba at tgobagoba@mail.unomaha.edu or 554.2730. 

Symposium, Gandhi Award Luncheon April 7

The UNO School of Social Work will host its ninth annual symposium and Gandhi Award Luncheon Friday, April 7.  The event will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the W.H. Thompson Alumni Center.  The luncheon will get under way at noon.

Ako Abdul-Samad, founder and CEO of Creative Visions Human Development Institute, will facilitate this year's symposium, titled "What is America Losing…?"  Alberto "Beto" Gonzales from the Omaha Boys and Girls Club will deliver the luncheon address, titled "The Truth About Gangs."

During the luncheon, the ninth annual Gandhi Award will be presented to longtime Nebraska peace activist Frances Mendenhall for her dedication to using nonviolent methods and her work in peace and justice.

Established in 1996, the Gandhi Award honors individuals and organizations that exemplify Mahatma Gandhi's principles of nonviolence, selfless service and social action, which are consistent with social work values.  Since 1999, the Gandhi Award has been presented annually during the UNO School of Social Work Symposium. 

"The award luncheon and daylong symposium are excellent opportunities for social workers, youth agency workers, alternative and secondary school teachers, social activists, mental health practitioners and other human service professionals to come together for learning and celebration of our collective commitment to social justice," said Ashlie Hurt, event organizer in the UNO School of Social Work.

On-site registration will be conducted on a space-available basis.  Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota social workers may receive 6.0 CEUs for attending the symposium.  Some scholarships are available for full-time social work students to attend the symposium.

To access the registration forms or for more information, visit the Web at http://socialwork.unomaha.edu/gandhi.htm, or contact Hurt at 554.3057 or ahurt@mail.unomaha.edu.

University of New Orleans Student to Speak at UNO

A student from the University of New Orleans will discuss what life on her campus is like post Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in a series of events set for April 13-14 at UNO.

Chevita Phifer will be the keynote speaker at UNO's annual Greek Week Banquet Friday, April 14. The event will be held at 5:30 p.m. in the Milo Bail Student Center Ballroom.

The UNO Greek Week Planning Committee has adopted the "UNO to UNO Hurricane Relief Project" as its philanthropy during Greek Week 2006, which is set for April 10-14. In the fall of 2005, UNO students, faculty and staff launched the "UNO to UNO Hurricane Relief Project," a sustained fund-raising effort aimed at providing relief to their colleagues at the University of New Orleans.

All funds raised by the Nebraska UNO during the course of the year will be earmarked for a recovery fund established by Tim Ryan, chancellor of the Louisiana UNO, for members of his university community who lost everything.

Throughout Greek Week, students will be selling raffle tickets and "UNO to UNO" bracelets, as well as hosting a silent auction. 

Phifer will be honored at a reception Thursday, April 14, from 1 to 3 p.m. in the Student Organizations and Leadership Programs Office.  All interested UNO faculty, staff and students are invited to attend.

The 2006 Greek Week Banquet is the culmination of a week of competitive events in the Greek community.

For more information, call 554.2711.

UNO Ambassadors Program Seeks Applicants

The UNO Ambassadors Program is recruiting for the 2006-07 academic year. Twelve student Ambassadors will be selected based on their academic achievement, leadership and communication skills.

Ambassadors represent the university at a variety of social and business functions hosted by the chancellor, vice chancellors, deans and other individuals and organizations on campus. They wear UNO blazers or business casual UNO polo shirts to activities and receive a $200 scholarship for the academic year in which they serve. Two non-scholarship alternate members of the program also will be chosen.

Criteria for selection include 27 credit hours earned by May 2006 and a 2.5 G.P.A., full-time student status in the 2006-07 academic year, superior communication skills and a strong interest in service to the university.

Applications are available in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs, 202 Eppley Administration Building. The application deadline is Friday, April 7, at 5 p.m. Twenty-five applicants will be interviewed. 

For more information, call 554.2779.

Maverick Watch

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

At home this week…

Friday, March 31

- Softball vs. Minnesota State, Mankato

Claussen-Westgate Field, 8121 D. St.

3 and 5 p.m. (Double header)

Saturday, April 1

UNO Tournament Softball

Dill Field, 66th and Military Ave.

- Softball vs. Wayne State (Neb.)

9 a.m.

- Softball vs. Washburn

11 a.m.

- Softball vs. Northwest Missouri State

3 p.m.

- Baseball vs. Northwest Missouri State

The Ballpark at Boys Town, 137th and West Dodge Road

Noon and 3 p.m. (Double header)

Sunday, April 2

UNO Tournament Softball

Dill Field, 66th and Military Ave.

- Softball vs. Truman State

11 a.m.

- Softball vs. Southwest Minnesota State

1 p.m.

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

UNO Forensics Team Results

The UNO Forensics Team hosted the "University of Nebraska at Omaha Cheap Forensics Invitational" March 4. The tournament was a free competition offered as a service to the forensics community. Students from nine colleges and universities attended. In addition to performing duties associated with hosting the tournament, several UNO students entered the competition.

Marty Ertz finished sixth in communication analysis. The duo interpretation team of Channa Rench and Matt Eledge placed second. Rachel Samson was sixth in prose interpretation and was the tournament champion in program oral interpretation.

On March 5, UNO's team traveled to Lincoln to compete in the "University of Nebraska-Lincoln Easy Forensics Invitational." Despite the name, the tournament offered tough competition from nine colleges and universities. Marty Ertz placed second in communication analysis and informative speaking.

These final round rankings, combined with those from the many other tournaments UNO's team has attended this year, have helped UNO students qualify four additional events for competition at the American Forensics Association's National Individual Events Tournament March 31-April 3 at the University of Florida. Samson has now qualified in program oral interpretation, Ertz in communication analysis, Eledge in prose interpretation, and Rench and Eledge in duo interpretation. These students, along with teammates Buey Ruet and Teresa Oberdorfer, have qualified 15 events for national competition.

Forensics Team to Host "Night Before Nationals" Reception

All students, faculty and staff are invited to wish the 2005-06 UNO Forensics Team well before they leave to represent the university at the American Forensics Association National Individual Events Tournament. The "Night Before Nationals" reception will be held Tuesday, March 28, at 5:30 p.m. in 101 Arts and Sciences Hall.

The team will present several of their nationally qualified events as they prepare for competition, including persuasive speaking, after-dinner speaking, dramatic interpretation, dramatic duo interpretation and program oral interpretation.

For more information, contact Susan Schnase at 554.3967 or sschnase@mail.unomaha.edu.