Nancy Lopez to Keynote at Women's Walk Luncheon

World Golf Hall of Fame member Nancy Lopez, who won 48 tournaments during her LPGA career, will be the keynote speaker at this year's Diet Pepsi/Women's Walk Kick-off Luncheon. The Tuesday, March 6, event at the DoubleTree Hotel is open to the public.

"We are very fortunate and excited to have Nancy Lopez join us for this year's event," UNO senior woman administrator Rose Shires said. "She is known as a fierce and focused competitor who is a great role model for all athletes."

The Diet Pepsi Women's Walk, now entering its 22nd year, has raised nearly $3 million for scholarships for female student-athletes. This year's event will also feature a Nebraska Medical Center women's health fair.

Lopez will speak at the 11:30 a.m. luncheon and will conduct clinics at the Chili Greens Dome that afternoon.

The First National Bank luncheon will feature the induction of Linda Aust, Nancy Witted and Virginia Klug into the Women's Walk Hall of Honor.

Tickets for the luncheon are $55 per person or $500 for a table of 10. The demonstration clinic, set from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Chili Greens Dome, costs $25 and requires advanced registration. Reservations for the events may be made by calling the UNO Athletic Office at 554.2533.

Lopez sprung onto the women's golf scene as a 21-year-old rookie in 1978 and won nine events - including a record five in a row - and captured the tour's rookie of the year, player of the year and Vare Trophy honors.  She went on to record 48 tournament titles, including three LPGA championships, with career earnings of $5.3 million. 

She retired from tournament golf in 2002 but, in 2005, captained the U.S. Solheim Cup team to a three-point victory over the European team.

MavCard Discounts Available

Again this semester, UNO Student Government is sponsoring the Student Savings Club.

Student Savings Club is a program where, currently, 19 local businesses are offering discounts and deals to individuals who present their MavCard. It is free for all students, faculty and staff.

"I've been working on it for a year – it's finally up and running," said James Hulstein, vice president for Student Government. "All you need to do is show your MavCard, and you will save!"

To find out which local businesses are participating, check the Web at http://www.studentsavingsclub.com and find UNO under "For students - offers and discounts."

For more information, contact Hulstein at 554.6023.

UNMC Announces New College of Public Health

Less than six months after it was approved by the University of Nebraska Board of Regents, the College of Public Health at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) is now fully operational. The announcement was made Jan. 18 at a news conference at UNMC. UNO Interim Chancellor John Christensen took part in the event.

"We have been working extremely hard to make this happen," said Jay Noren, M.D., dean of the College of Public Health. "We now have the only public health college in Nebraska and the only one in a large north central section of the country, spanning 1,400 miles east-west and 800 miles north-south. This is truly a landmark event for our state to celebrate."

Although there are 125 academic medical centers in the United States, similar to UNMC, only 38 of these centers have accredited schools or colleges of public health. UNMC's college will be the 39th when it is fully accredited. It is the first new college at UNMC since 1968.

Dr. Noren said public health education, research, and practice have become critical issues to ensure a healthy future in the United States, particularly given the national concerns about pandemic disease, childhood obesity, health care costs, improved methods for prevention of major chronic diseases (Alzheimer's/dementia, heart disease, cancer and stroke), environmental health risks, bioterrorism preparedness and health disparities.

"UNMC is well positioned to be an important regional and national player through the growth of the new College of Public Health," said Harold M. Maurer, M.D., UNMC chancellor. "The college will enhance access to additional federal and state resources and programs that are typically only available to colleges of public health. It is a very important addition that gives UNMC all the assets it needs to achieve its goal of becoming a world-class academic medical center."

As the College of Public Health has become operational, Dr. Noren said several key developments have taken place or will occur in the near future. These include:

- Bringing together all faculty, staff, programs, space and budgets of the Department of Preventive and Societal Medicine, the Rural Health Education Network, the Health Professions Tracking Center, Center for Health Services Research (including Centers for Rural Health Research and Rural Health Policy Analysis), Center for Health Disparities, and the UNMC components of the Center for Biosecurity and Center for Biopreparedness Education into the College of Public Health.

- The joint Master of Public Health Program involving UNMC and UNO will transfer to the new college and continue as a joint effort of the two campuses.

- UNMC will assign initial space for the college in newly acquired facilities in the campus area.

- Within the next few years, the college will be housed in a new building - which is the top priority on UNMC's facilities expansion plan.

- New, expanded relationships are emerging with the joint Environmental Toxicology Center involving UNMC and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

- Additional partnerships are developing with UNO faculty in public administration, sociology, gerontology, social work, health education and other elements of the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation.

- Enhanced partnerships with the Nebraska Health and Human Services System (HHSS).

Dr. Noren said the college hopes to recruit 10 new faculty in the next two years and 20 new faculty in the next four years. "Our goal is to have at least six new faculty in place for the fall 2007 semester," he said. "This is very ambitious, but we're optimistic we can get it done. The ads for the faculty positions have already been placed."

In addition, Dr. Noren said an external advisory council has been established by the College of Public Health. The External Advisory Council presently includes 30 people from around the state – many with public health expertise. Being connected to individuals and organizations around the state is the norm for colleges of public health, Dr. Noren said.

"Public health is very much a multidisciplinary endeavor. It's vital that we establish strong ties in the state with experts in many different areas, including medicine, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, all allied health areas, public administration, education, government, behavioral sciences, political science, social work, law and communications," he said. "We also will be dealing extensively with colleagues in health and human services and education institutions throughout the community."

"Nebraska, along with the rest of the nation, is experiencing a public health workforce shortage," said Joann Schaefer, M.D., chief medical officer for the Nebraska Health and Human Services System. "One of the most difficult challenges facing our state today is ensuring there are enough people to respond to public health threats. The UNMC College of Public Health will bring much-needed people into our public health pipeline."

Dr. Noren said three new doctoral programs are planned – Health Services Research/Health Administration, Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research, and Environmental Health Sciences – and the college plans to implement these programs by the fall 2008 semester.

In addition, the College of Public Health plans to provide several expanded areas of specialization in the existing Master of Public Health Program with UNO. These expanded areas include biostatistics/epidemiology, health promotion/ disease prevention and environmental health, which will be additions to the existing specializations in community health education and public health administration.

"This is an exciting day for the entire university system. This new college will be paying ongoing dividends to our city, our state, the region and the nation," Dr. Christensen said. "Public health practice is important to all of us. The work and research in the college will contribute to overall better health and to the potential reduction in costs for critical care."

Dr. Christensen added that the UNO-UNMC relationship on public health policy development, thanks to work already being done in the Master of Public Health Program, will only be strengthened as the new college grows. Collaboration naturally leads to innovation when different academic professionals concentrate on an issue, he said.

Dr. Maurer noted the potential economic impact of the college. Among the current 38 colleges of public health, nationally, the average external grant funding is $38 million. As the new UNMC College of Public Health develops, its external grant funding will increase and could result in as much as $30 million in new funds - resulting in a $67.5 million boon to the state's economy, which equates to about 700 to 750 new jobs.

UNMC's planned investment in establishing the College of Public Health is estimated at approximately $12 million in the first five years. These expenses will be met by reallocating nearly $3.5 million in existing resources from several UNMC departments, infusing more than $5 million in state and university funds, and bringing in more than $3.5 million in extramural grants, contracts and gifts.

The College of Public Health is initially being housed in existing campus facilities where current faculty work. Rubens Pamies, M.D., vice chancellor for academic affairs and dean of graduate studies, said UNMC hopes to eventually consolidate all the college's activities into a new facility that would be located on 40th Street, just to the south of the UNMC Eye Clinic on Dewey Avenue.

The UNO Speech Center Introduces New Web Site

The UNO Speech Center's Web site (http://www.unomaha.edu/speechcenter) has a new look and feel.

The center launched the new site to provide users with an updated, user-friendly resource of information on its consulting, workshops and hours of operation.

The Speech Center invites all UNO students, faculty and staff to seek assistance in preparing oral presentations and/or incorporating effective presentational skills into their courses. For details, visit the new site at http://www.unomaha.edu/speechcenter.

For more information, contact Marlina Howe at 554.3263 or mmhowe@mail.unomaha.edu.

Nominations Sought for Student Service-Learning Award

Each year, the Service-Learning Academy recognizes one UNO student who has gone above and beyond the required community engagement in the context of a service-learning class. This year, the recognition will come with an honorarium of $250.

To be nominated, a student must have demonstrated, and upheld in an outstanding way, the key principles of effective academic service learning, including:

- Establishing and maintaining a reciprocal relationship with a community partner;

- Providing a useful and meaningful community service; and

- Mastering the course's academic objective(s), as related to the service performed.

The award will be presented at the Student Honors Convocation Friday, April 13, at 3 p.m. in the Strauss Performing Arts Center.

Nominations must be delivered to the Service-Learning Academy no later than Friday, Jan. 26. Nomination forms are available for download on the Service-Learning Academy Web site at http://www.unomaha.edu/servicelearning/. For more information, contact Carlynn Hartman-Kurtz at 554.2712 or chartmankurtz@mail.unomaha.edu.

Massage, Dance Lessons and Yoga Available at HPER

Campus Recreation and the Wellness Stampede will offer massage, dance lessons and instructional yoga this semester in the Health, Physical Education and Recreation (HPER) Building.

Sessions will be offered according to the following schedules:

Chair Massage
When: Third Friday of the month. (Exception: March 16 session will be held March 23.)  The first session of the spring semester is set for Friday, Jan. 18, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Cost: $10 per 15 minutes or $20 for two time slots. Register in 100 HPER. Walk-ins will be accepted if time permits.
Massage Therapist: Andrea Porter, licensed massage therapist.

Instructional Yoga
When: Session One (six classes) will be held Jan. 22 through Feb. 26 on Mondays from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in 230 HPER.
Cost: $15 for students, $20 for faculty/staff activity cardholders and $25 for general public/non-activity cardholders.
Instructor: Amy C. Anderson, certified instructor through the Omaha Yoga and Bodywork Center.

Swing and Latin Dance Lessons
When: Sundays from Feb. 11 to March 4.  Swing meets from 2 to 3 p.m. and Latin from 3 to 4 p.m.  All classes will be held in HPER.
Cost: Activity cardholders - $15 for the first person, $13 for a friend. Non-activity cardholders - $18 for the first person, $15 for a friend. Add $5 more per person if you sign up for both classes.
Instructor: Marty Hebert, who has taught for years at various locations in the Omaha-area.

Maverick Wrestling to Air on NET2

The 2006 defending national champions and their coach, Mike Denney, can expect plenty of competition from NCAA Division III wrestling powerhouse Augsburg Friday, Jan. 26, at the Sapp Fieldhouse. The UNO vs. Augsburg match up will air live at 7 p.m. on NET2.

Torri Pantaleon will call the mat action, with color commentary provided by R.J. Nebe.

"Maverick Wrestling" is a production of UNO Television for broadcast on NET2. NET2 is part of NET Television, a service of NET. For a complete program schedule, visit NET's Web site (http://www.netNebraska.org) and click on Television.

Discount Tickets Available to Masterworks/Chamber Concerts

UNO students are eligible for rush tickets at Masterworks or Chamber concerts this season at the Omaha Symphony. The next concert, Gustav Holst's "The Planets Beyond Our Universe," will be performed Friday and Saturday, Feb. 9 and 10, at 8 p.m. at the Holland Performing Arts Center.

Rush tickets are $10 (cash only). In order to receive the discount, ticket vouchers must be presented with a student ID one hour prior to the event at the Holland Performing Arts Center Box Office for Masterworks concerts or the Strauss Performing Arts Box Office for Chamber concerts. Ticket vouchers are available online at http://music.unomaha.edu.

Thomas Wilkins, Omaha Symphony music director, will conduct the concert. Dame Evelyn Glennie, the first successful solo percussionist in musical history, will also perform. The concert will feature Holst's symphonic masterpiece "The Planets, Daugherty's UFO" and Josef Strauss's "Music of the Spheres."

For more information, call 342.3560 or visit the Web at http://www.omahasymphony.org.

Discount Available to Omaha Symphony Pops Series

The Omaha Symphony is offering a 20 percent discount on tickets to UNO students, faculty and staff interested in attending the symphony's Pops Series concert featuring UNO alumna Karrin Allyson. The discount is available on tickets to the performances set for Friday through Sunday, Feb. 16-18, at the Holland Performing Arts Center.

To order tickets, visit http://secure.omahasymphony.org/password/index.asp and enter the promo code "enote." The discount is valid on tickets purchased by 5 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 14.

A force on the jazz music scene since 1992, Allyson has recorded 10 CDs - including her most recent, Grammy®-nominated effort, "Footprints" - and has been compared to jazz legends Ella Fitzgerald and Shirley Horn. For more information about Allyson, visit http://www.karrin.com/.

For more information about the concert and future Omaha Symphony events, visit http://www.omahasymphony.org or call 342.3560.

Writing Center Spring Hours Announced

Spring hours are officially under way at the UNO Writing Center. In addition to the main Writing Center, located in 150 Arts and Sciences Hall (ASH), members of the campus community can visit a Writing Center Satellite in Criss Library or access an online Writing Center via the Web.

The spring hours for each location are listed below:

Writing Center (150 ASH)
- Monday through Thursday
9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
(Closed Wednesdays from 3 to 4 p.m.)

- Friday
9 a.m. to noon
Walk-ins are accepted on first-come, first-served basis, or individuals can book appointments at http://www.unomaha.edu/writingcenter.

Writing Center Online (http://www.unomaha.edu/writingcenter)
- Sunday
6 to 10 p.m.

- Monday through Wednesday
7 to 9 p.m.

Writing Center at the Library (first floor)
- Monday through Thursday
12:30 to 3:30 p.m.

For more information, contact Connie Eberhart, director of the UNO Writing Center, at 554.3322 or ceberhart@mail.unomaha.edu.

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 (MavCard) and game-day ticket. The spouses, significant others and children of students also are admitted free, except to hockey. At the game, students must present their MavCard to receive a ticket. Tickets will be available on the day of the game at each home event. For more information, call 554.MAVS (6287).

inPlay, located downtown at 15th and Cuming St., will offer free parking and shuttle service from its parking lot to the Qwest Center Omaha for all UNO home hockey games in the 2006-07 season. Shuttle service is available for all UNO hockey fans, but a shuttle ticket is required to receive free transportation. Tickets will be available for fans at the counter inside inPlay.

At home this week...

Thursday, Jan. 25
-Women's Basketball vs. Augustana
Sapp Fieldhouse
6 p.m.

-Men's Basketball
Sapp Fieldhouse
8 p.m.

Friday, Jan. 26
-Swimming and Diving vs. Nebraska
Health, Physical Education and Recreation Building (HPER) pool
5:30 p.m.

-Wrestling vs. Augsburg
Sapp Fieldhouse
7 p.m.

-Hockey vs. Northern Michigan
Qwest Center, 455 N. 10th St.
7:05 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 27
-Swimming and Diving vs. Northern Iowa
HPER pool
2 p.m.

-Tennis vs. (Alumni Match)
Hanscom Park, 3200 Ed Creighton Ave.
6 p.m.

-Hockey vs. Northern Michigan
Qwest Center, 455 N. 10th St.
7:05 p.m.

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