Meeting technology challenges

FROM
THE CHANCELLOR
Meeting technology challenges
Season’s Greetings from the
University of Nebraska at Kearney! By
the time you read this, another semester – and another calendar year – will
have come to an end. More than 385
new graduates will have received their
diplomas at our 2007 Winter
Commencement and will be on their
nce
ways to new careers and new opportuExperie .
nities, well-prepared to meet the chalKearney
lenges of our rapidly expanding technological world.
Today’s ‘Net Generation’ students come to campus armed with
iPods and laptops, and email and text messaging are their preferred
means of communication. Technological advances are being made at
an astonishing rate. What is new today is old tomorrow, and keeping
pace is a challenge that all colleges and universities face. UNK is not
only meeting this challenge but, in many cases, is exceeding it. For
example, due in large part to the dedication and careful planning of
Assistant Vice Chancellor for Informational Technology Debbie
Schroeder and her staff, all of UNK’s campus buildings, including our
residence halls, now enjoy wireless access. This is a tremendous
advantage to the approximately 1,700 students who live in our residence halls, 80% of whom own their own computers. Further, there
are more than 2,000 wireless devices (laptops, PDAs, etc.) on campus
each day, and over 1,000 of those connect wirelessly in every 24-hour
period. This is quite a change from just one year ago when not more
than 100 wireless connections were made on an average day. An estimated 39 miles of cable were required to “connect” Antelope Hall.
39 miles! Included was connectivity to Ethernet jacks, cable, telephone
service, and both wired and wireless access, and it translated to 5 wires
per student resident.
To support all of this activity, our Information Technology division
now offers a round-the-clock help desk to students and faculty. And,
beginning this December, I.T. will be providing an exciting new service
– UNK email accounts for alumni. Read more about it in the “Alumni
@ UNK” feature story contained in this publication. It promises to be
a great way for all of us to “stay connected.” I hope you will consider the possibilities.
Thank you for your friendship and support during the past year.
The help that you give touches more lives than you can imagine. Best
wishes for 2008. Go Lopers!
Sincerely,
Douglas A. Kristensen, J.D.
Chancellor
UNK Today l Winter 2007
ON
THE COVER
GLOBAL CONNECTIONS
We live in a shrinking world with communication now more
important than ever. Staying in touch with alumni around the
world is important to the university and its mission. With
today’s technology – email, text messaging, myspace.com and
facebook.com; keeping alumni informed about UNK and
maintaining contact with college friends is essential. A new
program that allows graduates to keep their UNK email
address will assist in this effort. Those who have graduated can
register to get their email account. See the story on page 1.
BY
THE
NUMBERS
2
The second phase of new residence halls will be completed by
the fall semester. It will feature two buildings, a bridge between
the two that will cross 26th Street and will accommodate 332
students. See page 3.
33-5
Record of the volleyball team that reached the finals of the
NCAA regional tournament. See page12.
135
And counting. Heavyweight Tervel Dlagnev passed Bryce
Abbey as the all-time winningest wrestler in school history. See
page 14.
$100,000
Amount of a scholarship created by Bob and Dode Sahling to
benefit football student athletes. See page 15.
$14,500,000
The cost of a Bruner Hall of Science project that will begin this
spring. See page 2.
FALL ENROLLMENT
6,478
HIGHEST IN SEVEN YEARS
Fall enrollment edged up, reaching a headcount of 6,478. That is
10 students more than in the fall of 2006 and is the highest overall enrollment in seven years.
Once again, UNK has students from every county in Nebraska.
Although first-time freshmen declined by 18 students, quality
indicators were significantly up. The average freshman ACT composite score rose half a point to an all-time high of 22.4.
The number of freshmen enrolling in the Honors Program rose
to 135 from 106 last year.
Dusty Newton, director of undergraduate recruitment and
admissions, said the number of students from contiguous states
and underrepresented populations grew.
In UNK’s traditional ‘homebase’ – Buffalo County and the contiguous counties – freshman enrollment rose to 412 from 391 a
year ago.
Enrollment in distance education programs, including eCampus
classes that make UNK courses available to all students regardless
of their location, has continued to increase markedly at both graduate and undergraduate levels.
Chancellor Doug Kristensen characterized the fall enrollment
numbers as “encouraging in a tough demographic and competitive
environment.” CLASS NOTES
Cory ’96 and Brenda Hoestje
McIlnay ’95 of Omaha are parents
of twin sons, Devin Richard and
Trevor Paul, born August 12. They
have three daughters, Lauryn 7,
Morgan 5 and Olivia 2.
Jon and Karlene Konz McClung
’94 of Lincoln are parents of a daughter,
Lauren
Elizabeth, born
September 11. They also have a son,
Jackson 1. Grandfather Dan McClung
is a 1974 UNK graduate and Great
Grandmother Edna Glidden is a
1969 graduate.
Ryan and Sandra Uhlig Murphy
’97 of Saline, Michigan, are parents of
a son, Treston Ryan, born March 27.
They also have a daughter, Shaelee 2.
Adrienne and David Oliphant ’03
of Sammamish, Washington, are parents of a son, Estes Peter, born
October 25.
Matt ’97 and Ranell Spieker Otte
’98 of O’Neill are parents of a
daughter, Anna Renee, born May 9.
They have two other children,
William 5 and Emma 2. Matt is a sergeant
with
O’Neill
Police
Department. Ranell is a stay-at-home
mom and is developing her art business, Ottestry.
Nick and Shana James Platt ’94 of
Yankton, South Dakota, are parents
of a son, Shayce William, born April
23. They also have a son, Shaylor
Hugh 2.
Justin ’99 and Caroline StecherPoston ’99 of Omaha are parents of a
son, Hayden Christopher, born May 14.
Philip and Dr. Paige Dye Rackliffe
’93 of Lindenhurst, Illinois, are parents
of a son, Xavier Thomas, born July 25.
They also have a daughter Ella 2.
Jason and Lisa Noller Reynoldson
’98 of Albion are parents of a daughter, Elissa Averi, born September 28.
Tom ’03 and Tina Reiman
Rowland ’03 of Hickman are parents of a daughter, Kylie Ann, born
August 4.
Jeremy ’99 and Dara Wisnieski
Schroeder ’99 of Wahoo are parents of a son, Carson Patrick, born
October 7. Jeremy is a radiofrequency engineer for US Cellular in
Omaha. Dara is a physician assistant.
Kevin and Elizabeth Edwards
Sherbeck ’00 of Lincoln are parents
of twins, Carson William and Owen
Matthew, born June 3.
Patrick and Christina Stokes
Severson ’91 of Hickman are parents of a son, Ethan Owen, born
August 1. They have two daughters,
Kara and Emma, and a son, Justin.
Matt ’96 and Wendy Wemhoff
Sheffield ’98 of Gretna are parents
of a son, Sawyer Matthew, born
September 21. They also have two
daughters, Lainey Ann and Sophie
Ellen.
Pat ’95 and Cara Bethscheider
Small ’96 of Lincoln are parents of
a son, Alec Holt-Thomas, born
August 21.They also have a daughter,
Saylor 7, and a son, Dane 4.
20 l
UNK Today l Winter 2007
Timothy and Casey Lewis
Smith ’01 of Kearney are parents of a son, Haydan James,
born August 20.
Darren and Tara Wood Spiehs ’02,
MSE’07 of Davenport, Iowa, are parents of a son, Riley Darren, born May 1.
Jason ’02 and Amanda Nunley
Stark ’02 of Hazard are parents of a
son, Gavin, born March 16.
Kim and Chad Stengel ’97 of
Maywood are parents of a daughter,
Karissa Rosalie, born August 8.
Kevin ’96 and Krista Keith
Stevens ’97 of Lincoln are parents
of a son, Zachary Keith, born July 26.
Kevin works for Nebraska Book
Company and Krista works for
Ameritas Life Insurance Corp.
Robert
’98
and
Wendi
Schroeder Swartz ’02 of Ames,
Iowa, are parents of a son, Cale
Robert, born September 9. They also
have a daughter, Maddie Leigh 2.
Will ’00 and Jessica Proskocil
Thoene ’01, MSE’03 are parents of
a daughter,Ava Shae, born October 9.
Tobian
’98
and
Heather
Peterson Tool ’00 of Elm Creek are
parents of a daughter, Aspen Belle,
born August 8. Tobian is a district
sales manager with Stauffer Seeds
and Heather is a teacher with
Lexington Public Schools.
Kimberly and Joshua Townsend
’04 of Kearney are parents of a son,
Gage Michael, born October 9.
Donnette and Doug Van Pelt ’04 of
Central City are parents of a son,
Kaden Douglas, born July 25. They
also have five other sons between
them – Josh and Jake Van Pelt, and
Logan, Micah and Noah Carlson.
Doug is a high school social studies
teacher and coach. Donnette is an
elementary special education teacher
at Central City Public Schools.
Joseph MBA’01 and Allison
Merriman Victoria ’99 of Kearney
are parents of a daughter, Indika
Anne, born October 31.
Dr. Matthew ’01 and Heather
Juel Walters ’02 of Whitmore Lake,
Michigan, are parents of a son, Ryan
Matthew, born July 26. Matthew graduated from University of Texas
Medical Center at Dallas with a Ph.D.
degree in microbiology in June 2006.
Cody MBA’02 and Aubrey
Blomendahl Weitenkamp ’03 of
Hooper are parents of a daughter,
Ella Rose, born August 22. Aubrey,
who earned a MSE from UNL in
2007, is an advanced math teacher
with Scribner-Snyder schools.
Kris and Rebecca Gray Wohlert
’02 of Kenesaw are parents of a
daughter, Aubrey Grayce, born
September 29. They also have a
daughter, Delaney 2. Becky is a second grade teacher at Kenesaw Public
School.
Chad and Michelle Beezley
Worm ’01 of Kearney are parents
of a son, Alex Michael, born August 8.
They also have a son, Drew.
Abbey and Bryan Wroblewski ’00
of Kearney are parents of a son,
Brady Joseph, born October 17.They
also have a son, Owen 2.
Samuel and Jami Svoboda Wulf ’02
of Kearney are parents of a son,
Zachary Michael, born September 19.
Mark and Angie Link Zmarzly ’99
of Lincoln are parents of a daughter,
Margot Jane, born July 21.
Deaths
Faithe Adee Achterberg ’41 of
Lewisville, Texas, died October 11.
She was 89.
Doris Alberts ’65 of Grand Island
died October 15. She was 92.
Matthew Brecht ’05 of Kearney
died October 28. He was 26.
Michael Broekemeier ’83 of
Central City died October 24. He
was 48.
Rev. David Bronstad of Omaha
died in October. He was a former
Lutheran campus minister. He was
63.
Rev. Robert Caldwell ’74 of Ord
died November 12. He was 57.
Bertha ‘Bea’ Curry ’40 of
Overland Park, Kansas, died May 25.
She was 85.
Dr. David Demuth ’72 of York died
October 9. On October 3, Dr.
Demuth had been honored by the
American Academy of Family
Physicians as the 2008 Family
Physician of the Year. He was 57.
Col. Dana Dillon MS’72 died July
20. He was 68.
Janice Garbers of St. Paul died
September 10. She was 75.
Owen Hoiberg ’66 of Beaver
Creek, Oregon, died April 1. He was
68.
Keith Laddie Lysinger ’41 of
Boise, Idaho, died August 16. He was
an educator and musician. He was 91.
Nancy Koehn ’03 of Grand Island
died October 15. She was 32.
Courtney Massoudi ’04 of
Holdrege died September 17. She
was 27.
Robert E. Miller ’56 of Dundee,
Oregon, died September 22. He
developed and manufactured automated equipment for the award ribbon and specialty graphics business
and operated Crocodile Industries.
He was a founding member and past
president of the UNK Northwest
Alumni Club. He received that
group’s first Distinguished Service
Award. He was 72.
Bernice Grosh Oran ’41 of
Kearney died August 22. She was 87.
Lilas Schmidt ’80 died in
September 2006.
M. Ann O’Shea ’79 of Kearney
died September 25. She was 90.
David Riese ’77 of Norfolk died
September 24. He was 57.
Susan ‘Susie’ Stoll ’70 of Grand
Island died October 24. She was 60.
Kasey Walker Warner ’03,
MSE’06 of Arapahoe died in
October in a pedestrian-car accident. She was 28.
Marilyn Goldenstein Weatherly
’57, ME’70 of Springfield, Missouri,
died August 12. She was 73.
Maurice White ’76 of Las Vegas
died October 27 as the result of an
airplane accident.
LOPER CUP: Scott
Bruha watches Tom
Wisdom hit a chip at the
ninth annual Loper Cup
competition, a Ryder
Cup format event
between varsity and
alumni golfers.The varsity
won the event for the
third straight year. Coach
Dick Beechner said the
event is designed to promote
interaction
between current and former Lopers. Other alumni players were Nick
Swaney, Wes Bernt,
Bruce Beebout, Brian
Fehr, Eric Hauserman,
Monte Johnson, C. J.
Farber, Kevin Slocum,
Lucas Dart and Dan
Bahensky.
FEATURE STORY
simple question by an
alumnus more than a
year ago set in motion
a new service that will enhance
communication between alumni
and the university.
That question concerned
why alumni could not keep
their UNK.edu email address
once they graduated.
“It seemed like a simple
question,” said alumni director
Jim Rundstrom. “So we forwarded it to the office of information technology services to
see if that was possible.
What we found was that the
issue was complex but that there
might be a solution.”
Now, a solution has been
found.
Beginning with the December
graduates, alumni will automatically be transferred to an alumni
email account. Those who have
graduated can register to get their
account at www.unk.edu/alumni.
Deborah Schroeder, assistant
vice chancellor for information
technology, took the initial
request and began investigating
the options.
The complexity of the issue
starts with the licensing agreement with the unk.edu email
accounts.
That arrangement with Lotus
Notes, Schroeder said, is based
on the number of students and
employees at the university.
“After a student leaves,” she
said, “we must deactivate their
UNK account. We have been
able to allow students to keep
their email address for a time
after they graduated but it was
not permanent with our Lotus
Notes agreement.”
Schroeder said her office
looked at a number of possibilities that would satisfy the alumni
A
Anne Drinkwalter ’06
association, the university and
the user.
Google provided the solution;
free.
Based on a pilot that began
with more than 60 volunteers
from summer graduates, the program is now in place and working.
“When we asked for the initial group of volunteers in July,
we didn’t know what to expect.
We were pleasantly surprised at
the number of alumni who were
interested and how smoothly the
program has worked,” she said.
As a result, the process is in
place for all December graduates.
“A notification will be part of
the
graduation
process,”
Schroeder said. “When students
apply to graduate, information on
the alumni email account will be
part of the information they
receive.”
There will be a slight variation in their account, but essentially it is the same as their college account.
It will have their user name as
follows: name@alumni.unk.edu.
Schroeder did say that since
the unk.edu address will be terminated, users of the new
account will have to move items
they wish to save to their new
account. Otherwise, the continued use will be automatic.
Other alumni and friends who
wish to establish an account can
do so by registering on the website – unk.edu/alumni. There is a
link ‘request an email account’
that will provide users with the
necessary information.
Offering UNK email accounts
to alumni is an important part of
the UNK strategic plan to
enhance collaboration with the
Alumni Association and the
University
of
Nebraska
Foundation to increase alumni
and benefactor awareness of the
support of UNK needs.
Rundstrom said that offering
UNK email accounts to alumni
will “allow us to stay in touch
with an important audience.”
Such things as regular electronic newsletters provide a valuable means of reaching large
audiences instantaneously.
Schroeder said that an alumni
listserv will be maintained to
allow the Alumni Association to
send email messages to all alumni email accounts. “Alumni can
unsubscribe from the mailing
list, but we hope they won’t. We
can distribute alumni and university news very quickly through
the listserv.”
For the ‘Net Generation’ students, that is, those born after
1982, electronic communication
is absolutely necessary because
email instant messaging and text
messaging are their preferred
means of communication.
“UNK alumni email is a tactic
to build and retain loyalty and
stay connected with our graduates,” Rundstrom said.
“We may lose track of postal
mailing addresses as alumni
move from place to place, but an
email account is not tied to a
physical location.” Schroeder said that
before the new
email opportunity
was announced
and advertised,
information was
placed on the
unk.edu/alumni
website. Within 48
hours, requests had
already been made
by alumni who
wanted the new
account.
Winter 2007 l UNK Today l
1
FEATURE
Bruner Hall to get $14 million makeover
ork will begin this
spring on a more than
$14 million Bruner
Hall of Science project that will
create a state-of-the-art building
of classrooms, laboratories and
research space.
The project will include renovating nearly half of the
87,500-square foot building,
demolishing Mary Morse
Lecture Hall and building a
26,000-square-foot addition to
Bruner with new laboratories,
classrooms, a herbarium and a
new planetarium.
The new addition will be a
two story structure located 45
feet north of Bruner Hall in the
area now occupied by Mary
Morse. This area will house the
Health Sciences program and
five new classrooms. The space
between the buildings will be
expanded and will be a green
space and outdoor classroom.
Chancellor Doug Kristensen
said the renovations will
advance the academic mission
of the university and help train
students in science education.
“This is just one more phase
W
BRUNER: A major asset of the project will be a new planetarium featuring a 24 x 30 foot visible
dome.
in our enhancement for academic excellence,” Chancellor
Kristensen said.
A major feature of the project
is a new planetarium that will
feature a 24x30-foot dome. The
planetarium will be used to
teach physical science, earth sciences, physics classes and
astronomy.
The Physics Department
received a $551,000 grant from
NASA for planetarium equipment.
Dr. Jose Mena-Werth, professor of physics and physical science, said when the planetarium
is completed it will be the most
advanced in Nebraska and one
of the best in the Great Plains.
Frank Harrold, dean of the
College of Natural and Social
Sciences, said science teaching
has evolved tremendously since
Bruner was built in 1966.
“We need a 21st-century
building. We need a building
that will support our lab work
and help our student’s and our
faculty’s research.”
The project will be done in
four phases and should be completed by December 2009. $18.5 million project will improve infrastructure
ork will begin this
spring on a project to
expand, enhance and
consolidate the campus heating
and cooling infrastructure.
The $18.5 million project
will be constructed in the
Spillway
Park
area
on
University Drive, north of
W
2 l
UNK Today l Winter 2007
Cushing Coliseum.
Two new buildings will be
constructed. One will house new
central boilers. The second will
house new air conditioning
chillers. Related support facilities will also be developed on
the site.
To construct the new facili-
ties, the Kearney Power House
was razed in October.
That building, which was
constructed in the late 1800s,
was no longer structurally
sound and was torn down to
make way for the new Central
Utility Plant to serve the growing UNK campus.
The project will be coordinated with Nebraska Public
Power District with construction
to begin in early 2008 and completion by July 2009.
THE SPILLWAY PARK
committee and the historical
groups worked to save the
Kearney Power House building
but engineers who inspected the
building determined that it could
not be preserved. The structural
condition was too poor to be
modified and could not economically be brought to current code
compliance.
NPPD’s
still-functioning
hydroelectric facility, including
the round tower building and the
Spillway itself will remain in
place.
State Senator Joel Johnson,
chair of the Spillway committee,
said the new buildings will
enhance the park and preserve
the 120-year historical area. Births
What’s happening?
LOPER PRIDE: Motorist Donavan Johnston ‘05 of Winter
Haven, Florida requested this custom plate option for $12 a
year to show that he is a Loper at heart. Shortly thereafter, he
was driving through Winter Haven when he approached a car
with a Cornhusker plate frame. Donavan raised his thumb up
in a motion to say, “You like?” and she nodded in approval.
Donavan says, “It was worth every penny I will pay for the plate,
just for that one reaction.” Donavan is a photographer for
Walt Disney World Cooperation.
Alumni
Update
First Name
Send your update for UNK Today to: UNK
Alumni Association, Campus Box 21,
Kearney NE 68849-6120 or “sign” our online
guestbook at http://www.unk.edu/alumni
Middle Initial
Street
City
Last Name
Maiden Name
State
Zip+4
Phone
Date of Birth
E-Mail Address
Grad Month & Year
Employer Name
Spouse Name
News
Major/Minor
Occupation
Is he/she a grad of UNK UNL UNO UNMC
Year
Chelsie and Douglas
Ahrens ’06 of Kenesaw are
parents of a daughter,
Hannah Marie, born August 14.
Brandon and Sara Hengen Altig
’02 of North Platte are parents of a
son, Colten John, born October 25.
Matthew and Jenae Christensen
Batt ’95 of Saint Paul, Minnesota, are
parents of a son, Emory Tucker, born
September 6. Matthew is an assistant
professor of creative writing at the
University of St. Thomas.
Heidi and Joshua Bauer ’02 of
Frankfurt am Main, Germany, are parents of a daughter, Madilynne Eve,
born October 1.
Todd ’01 and Kelly McMuller
Bertucci ’02 of Omaha are parents
of a son, Pierce Michael, born April 2.
Kimberly and Doug Blum ’94 of
Fishers, Indiana, are parents of a
daughter, Madeline Elizabeth, born
July 10. They also have a daughter,
Kaitlyn 2. Doug is an actuary for
OneAmerica Financial Partners in
Indianapolis.
Tesha and Ryan Broadfoot ’01 of
Kearney are parents of a son, Trevor
Edward, born August 10.
Kim and Doug Brunnert ’94 of
San Antonio, Texas, are parents of a
son, Lincoln
Douglas, born
November 15.
Jennifer and Jason Christo ’98 of
Omaha are parents of a son, Asher
David, born July 13. Jason is agency
sales director for MetLife Financial
Services.
Jamie and Lorraine Penrod Clark
’99 of Kearney are parents of a son,
Kael William, born July 1. They also
have a daughter, Parker, and a son,
Landon.
John and Lindsay Skaden Crossno
’00 of Bonney Lake, Washington, are
parents of a son, Johnathan Orion,
born September 9. Lindsay is a stayat-home mom and John is a commercial plumber for the Seattle Plumbers
& Pipefitters Union Local 32.
Dr. Ben ’00 and Megan Shelden
Fagot ’00 of North Platte are parents of a son, William Edward, born
July 19.They have two other children,
Paul 4, and Lucy 2. Ben is a physician
at Great Plains Regional Medical
Center in North Platte.
Jimmy ’93 and Sarah Mahlin
Feckner ’94 of Citrus Heights,
California, are parents of a son,
Christopher James, born September
28.
Jenny and Scott Fellers ’94 of
Parker, Colorado, are parents of a
daughter, Margaret Reese, born
October 13.
Drs. Andrea and Brent Gage ‘92 of
DeKalb, Illinois, are parents of a
daughter, Kenna Corene, born
October 16. Brent is vice provost for
enrollment services at Northern
Illinois University.
Janelle and Brian Gegg ’86,
MAE’92, EDS’06 of Weeping
Water are parents of a daughter, Erin
Ruth, born October 8.
Rick and Kathy Tinnes Glow ’92 of
Omaha are parents of a son, Colin
Matthew. They also have sons, twins
CLASS NOTES
Joey and Jack 4 and Adam 2.
Dustin and Elizabeth Conklin
Hanson ’00, MS’03 of Axtell are parents of a son, Derek Bryce, born
October 31.They also have a son,Tyler.
Derick and Jessie Prosser
Hardesty ’98 of Kearney are parents of a son, Garrett Joseph, born
July 30.
David and Melissa Bokoskie
Harmon ’03, MSE’05 of North
Platte are parents of a daughter,
Maleighya Joy, born September 18.
Melissa is a speech pathologist at
Great Plains Regional Medical
Center.
Jeremiah
’02
and
Holly
Cunningham Harris ’02 of
Edwards, Colorado, are parents of a
daughter, Audree Rebecca, born
November 13. They also have a
daughter, Madeline 2.
Tony and Kristin DeBuhr
Hoffman ’93 of Beatrice are parents of a daughter, Abbie Elizabeth,
born December 26, 2006. They also
have two sons, Zach 6 and Zane 5.
Kristin teaches second grade in
Beatrice.
Mike ’00 and Sheila Broderson
Hollander ’01, EDS’04 of Omaha
are parents of a daughter, Evangeline
Maxine, born May 18. They also have
a daughter, Olivia 2.
Matthew ’03 and Jenny Knowles
Huls ’02 of Kansas City are parents
of a son, Griffin Jesse, born August 12.
Michael and Cassie Kaser Johnson
’97 of Encino, California, are parents
of a daughter, Skyler Sienna, born
June 6.
Joe and Sherri Cords Kaplan ’94
of Marana, Arizona, are parents of a
daughter, Carly Grace, born July 12.
Yuji ’05 and Brenda Russell
Kitabatake ’05 of Kearney are parents of a son, Koji Michael, born
August 15.
Curtis ’00 and Kara Martens
Larshus ’00 of Oakley, Kansas, are
parents of a son, Ian Marten, born
July 22. They also have a daughter,
DaNae 5, and a son, Noah 2.
Brett and Belinda Beavers Larson
’99 of Kearney are parents of a
daughter, Baylee Austyn, born
October 7.They also have a daughter,
Tristan and a son, Preston.
Tim
and
Katie
Hause
Lewandowski ’95 of Ravenna are
parents of a daughter, Abby
Katherine, born October 4.
Jerome ’06 and Kari Brooks
Malleck ’05 of Kearney are parents
of a son, Easton Alexander, born
August 6.
Todd ’95 and Julie Buman McCoy
’94 of Grand Island are parents of a
daughter, Celia Jayne, born June 25.
They have two other children, Anna
5 and Emma 3.
Winter 2007 l UNK Today l
19
CLASS NOTES
UNK Today, official alumni publication of the
University of Nebraska at Kearney is published three times a year by the Alumni
Association, Kearney, Nebraska 68849. Third
class postage paid, Kearney, NE 68847.
Phone: (308) 865-8474
FAX: (308) 865-8999
E-mail: jrundstrom@nufoundation.org
Internet: http://www.unk.edu/alumni
BOARD OF
DIRECTORS
OFFICERS
Maureen Nickels ’74, President - Chapman
Brenda Christensen ’83, President-elect - Minden
Bob Warren ’64, Secretary - McMinnville, OR
Larry Edwards ’64 Past-President - Fort Collins, CO
Larry Feather ’66, Trustees - Grand Junction, CO
DIRECTORS
TERM EXPIRING 2008
Tammy Adelson Hayden ’90 - Kearney
Greg Shea ’89 - Kearney
Marsha Rodehorst-Wilkerson ’90 - Kearney
Judy Johnson Hall ’64 - Lincoln
Bill O’Neill ’95 - Omaha
Jerry Stine ’67, MSE ’76 - Bertrand
Mary Howington ’62 - Fort Worth, TX
Allison Jonas is a sixth grade
teacher at Broken Bow Public
Schools.
Angela Lewis is a K-6 special education teacher in Springfield.
Allison Nissen works for KONST
Lifestyle Showroom in Bethesda,
Maryland, designing kitchens and selling German cabinetry.
Kina Stefka is the first and second
grade teacher at Loup County Public
Schools.
2007
David Beach is the graphic designer
for the Bosselman Family of
Companies in Grand Island.
Cathy Walters Cook MSE is a fifth
grade teacher with Grand Island
Public Schools. She and her husband,
Joe, have two children, Sydney 6 and
Brady 3.
Kristina Davis is a fourth grade
teacher
at
Emerson-Hubbard
Community Schools.
Trudy de Goede MA is a librarian
at UNK.
Becky Keilig MAE is media specialist and assessment coordinator with
Ravenna Public School.
18 l
UNK Today l Winter 2007
Shelly Marks ’02, MSE ’05 - Atlanta, GA
Christa Boroff Spencer ’92 - Overland Park, KS
EXPIRING 2009
Fred Arnold ’83 - Fairbury
Sue Batie ’73 - Cypress, CA
Candy Fernau ’96 - Dallas, TX
Andy Romatzke, J.D. ’01 - Kearney
Chad Rutar ’97 - Omaha
Deb Schwenka ’76 - Minden
Stephanie Hueftle Vogel ’89 - Lincoln
EXPIRING 2010
Cynthia Schug Bahler ’94 - Lamar
Doug Burritt ’95 - Osceola
Denise Strother Christensen ’80 - Kearney
Steve James ’77 - Danville, CA
Lanny Jorgensen ’63 - Tucson, AZ
Bryan Kuntz ’95 - Kearney
Holly Nikels ’93 - Bettendorf, IA
Nancy Yurges Osterbuhr ’95 - Minden
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION STAFF
Jim Rundstrom ’64 Executive Director and Editor
Michelle Widger ‘90 Assistant Director and Assistant Editor
Suzanne Exstrom - Office Associate
Joe Krula is an associate broker with
Buyers & Sellers Discount Realty, Inc.
in Grand Junction, Colorado.
Kristin Moncrief is an accountant
with McDermott & Miller, P.C. in
Kearney.
Barb Price Olson MSE is a
speech-language pathologist with ESU
#7 in Albion.
Robert Porter EDS is superintendent of McPherson County Schools.
Angela Swanson Richeson MAE
is a first grade teacher with
Gothenburg Public Schools.
Allison Swendener is a student in
the physicians assistant program at
UNMC.
Dee Rogers Tiller is the 6-12 vocal
music instructor with Broken Bow
Public Schools.
Jennifer Anderson Warren MSE
is an outpatient therapist with Visinet,
Inc. in Hastings.
Andrew Wood MAE is a science
teacher at East Butler High School.
Marriages
Kristy Borgheiinck ’00 and Kevin
Essink September 22 in Grand Island.
Abby Brunt ’04 and Ross Jones ’05
November 17 in Columbus.
Tanner Cavenee ’02 and Chassity
Meads July 21 in Kearney.
Brandi Cruise ’03 and Kenny Riley
July 14 in St. Edward. Kenny is manager of Runza North in Kearney.
Brandi teaches Kindergarten in
Pleasanton.
Stephanie Cude ’01 and John
Meese Jr. October 6 in Nebraska
City.
Timothy Donner ’01 and Sarah
Vath September 7 in Lincoln.
Marcy Feik ’07 and Brad
Stallbaumer ’94 August 12. Marcy
is a substitute teacher and Brad owns
Stallbaumer Construction in Cozad.
Melissa Fladseth ’04 and Wes
Truelson October 27 in Plymouth,
Minnesota.
Kevin Floth ’98 and Shanandoah
Lenling June 30 in Newport Beach,
California.
Katie Fougeron ’01 and Peter
Welsch in August. Katie is a third-year
associate attorney in commercial real
estate and lending at the firm of
Fabyanske,Westra, Hart & Thompson,
P.A. in Minneapolis. They live in
Burnsville, Minnesota.
Rachel Goldfish ’05 and Ben
Klein ’06 June 9 in Ord.
Justin Hall ’00 and Heather
Edwards July 7 in Kearney.
Maheah Hodson ’06 and Corey
Johnson May 19 in Belleville, Kansas.
Lexie Hollertz ’00 and Shane
Frahm August 11 in Holdrege.
Tanner Holscher ’06 and Jackie
Suing August 11 in Kearney.
Brian Hopkins ’06 and Lisa
Simpkins August 25 in Kearney.
Katherine Hoskinson ’05 and
Matthew Rude ’04 July 28 in
Omaha.
Leslie Hubbard ’06 and Benjamin
Chambers October 6 in Kearney.
Ariel Huber ’03 and Justin Derr
October 6 in Scottsbluff.
Brittany Kahrs ’07 and Justin
Marks June 23 in Franklin.
Alison Kraeger ’97 and Patrick
Bonner March 25 in Orange Beach,
Alabama. They live in Auburn,
Alabama.
Kristy Lavington ’02 and Joshua
Just October 6 in Gibbon.
Jill McCaslin ’98, EDS’02 and Ty
Timmons ’99 July 7 in Lincoln. Ty is
a sales representative with Frito Lay
and Jill is a school psychologist for
Lincoln Public Schools. They have a
son, Ethan 3.
Ryan McGinnis ’01 and Jasmin
Addy August 30 in Kearney. They live
in Lincoln.
Candace McPhillips ’07 and
Jeremy Poss June 9 in Lindsay.
Rachel Neujahr ’04 and Ricci Fast
’04 July 7 in Gothenburg.
Erin Riedel ’07 and Brian
Dunagan ’04 September 1 in
Kearney.
Nicole Ruybalid ’07 and Tom
Eschliman ’05 April 14 in Kearney.
Monica Schleicher ’05 and Derek
Goodell June 2 in Kearney.
Luke Simpson ’07 and Lillian
Younes July 21 in Kearney.
Rachel Sitzman ’07 and Matthew
Boshart June 2 in Grand Island.
Heidi Stahmer ’90 and Mike
Mason October 20 in Lincoln.
Jillian Tangeman ’05, MAE’06 and
Dr. Chris Wenburg July 6. Jillian has a
graphic, publication and website
design business, Rural Designs, in
Ord.
Marcee Timmermans ’78 and
John Courtney July 13 in Omaha.
Sara Van Ackeren ’05 and Chad
Rood ’03 October 6 in Lincoln.
Suzanne Vonderfecht
’96,
MSE’06 August 4 in Kearney.
Melinda ‘Mindy’ Warner ’03 and
Ben Matheny ’03 August 18 in
Kearney.
Lisa Walters ’04 and Chad
Carstensen ’05 May 26 in Kearney.
Mary Wendorff ’07 and Darin
Malcom July 14 in Kearney.
Jamie Werner ’02 and Tate Higgins
October 20 in Syracuse.
Taressa Wortman ’04 and Shawn
Poppert July 20 on the island of St.
Lucia.
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UNK Today!
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return to:
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FEATURE
Halls set for fall openings
rogress continues on the
second phase of the residence hall project with
completion scheduled for the
fall of 2008.
The first phase, opened to
students in August, has provided popular ‘suite-style’ living
for students. Antelope Hall,
which was built on the site once
occupied by Green Terrace Hall
and Ludden Hall, is comprised
of 20 two-bedroom and 30 fourbedroom suites that contains
160 private bedrooms.
The second complex will be
named in honor of former
Chancellor William R. Nester.
Dr. Nester led the university
from 1983 to 1993 and played a
key role in the university’s transition from Kearney State
College to the University of
Nebraska at Kearney.
P
THE NESTER complex is
composed of two halls. One is
being constructed south of 26th
Street, immediately north of
Founders Hall. The other is in
the area that was formerly Case
Hall. A bridge over 26th Street
will connect the two buildings.
The buildings were designed
to create an archway entrance
PROGRESS: Work continues on the second phase of the residence hall project slated for completion by the fall semester. One of the features will be a bridge that crosses 26th Street connecting the
two new halls that are now under construction. Those halls are in the foreground. The hall at the top
of the drawing is Antelope Hall. It was opened to students last fall. Antelope Hall is located on what
was once Green Terrace Hall and later Ludden Hall. One of the halls under construction is located
immediately north of Founders Hall. The other is on the site where Case Hall was located.
to the campus west of 9th
Avenue on 26th Street.
Rick Larsen, director of residential and Greek life, said the
new halls are popular because
they provide students with an
option for a more independent
living environment.
When completed, the new
residence halls will accommodate 332 students.
THE NEW residence halls
have been part of the universi-
ty’s long-range plan for some
time. They will assist in recruiting students, retaining upper
division students in campus
housing and preserving the
essential character of UNK as a
residential community. Larsons’ gift benefits
Marshall’s fellowship
aids speech pathologists communications majors
B
ill Marshall ’64 of
McCook has established
a $10,000 memorial
fund in speech pathology to
commemorate the life of his
wife, Jean Ann Schnoor
Marshall ’78 who died August 8.
Jean was employed by
Columbus Public Schools from
1978 to 1980, by Educational
Service Unit 15 in Trenton from
1981 to 1988 and by McCook
Public Schools from 1988 to
2001. While in McCook she
served pre-school and elementary students and was instrumental in developing augmentative communication systems for
children.
The Marshall family has a
long history with Kearney State
College and UNK.
Nellie Lahm Marshall, Bill’s
mother, received normal school
training in 1922 when the university was known as Nebraska
State Teachers College at
Kearney.
Six of Jean’s sisters-in-law
attended Kearney State College
and all taught in rural schools in
Dawson and Buffalo counties.
“Jean had a deep-seated commitment to working with children with speech and language
disorders and I believe that her
spirit will live on serving countless future children through this
scholarship,” Bill said.
The fellowship will be
awarded to students studying for
a master’s degree in speech
pathology and communication
disorders. Professor emeritus Robert
Larson and his wife, Donna,
have provided a $30,000 gift to
endow the Robert and Donna
Larson Scholarship Fund. Both
are 1950 graduates.
THE ENDOWMENT will
provide scholarship support to
deserving sophomores, juniors
and seniors majoring in organizational communication, speech
communication and speech
communication teaching.
Professor Larson, who joined
the staff in 1958, was instrumental in developing the broadcasting program at the university. He directed the campus radio
station from 1962 to 1969. In
1969 he obtained a federal grant
and built the telecommunica-
tions center in Thomas Hall.
Larson arranged for television delivery with the ETV network and began the first closedcircuit television distribution
system. He helped design the
Mitchell
Communications
Center and served as director of
the telecommunications area
until 1986. He retired in 1990.
Donna was a long-time educator in the Glenwood and
Odessa schools near Kearney.
The first recipient of the
Larson scholarship will be
announced this spring. Winter 2007 l UNK Today l
3
FEATURE
By Mark Hayden
The Antelope staff writer
t might be an understatement to say that Ryan
Quincy ’96 has gone on to
pursue his dreams. Comedy
Central’s always topical,
always alarming ‘South Park’
won an Emmy in September.
Quincy was one of five to
accept the award.
Quincy, director of animation, is now in his 10th year at
‘South Park.’
He got his start working on
the student newspaper in college where he majored in
English and minored in graphic
design.
“It was a good experience. I
liked
working
on
The
Antelope,” Quincy said.
An animation class he took
led him down the career path he
eventually chose. “If it wasn’t
for that animation class, I probably wouldn’t have gotten into
animation.”
Quincy’s first job out of college did not come easy.
“I moved out here (Los
Angeles) in the fall of ’97 and I
was living with some friends. I
didn’t have a job. I was under
some false pretensions that I
was going to get a job right
away. Then reality sunk in,” he
said.
With the help of an old
friend from UNK and his own
creative mind, Quincy got his
first job in animation on
MadTV, where he stayed for
five months.
“We did a “South Park meets
Charlie Brown.” We actually
did construction paper cutouts
like they did for the original
‘Spirit of Christmas” episode
I
4 l
UNK Today l Winter 2007
Quincy ’96 ‘DRAWN’ to L.A.
like those guys did,” Quincy
said. That knowledge of their
processes helped him when he
applied for a job with ‘South
Park.’
Drawing has always been
Quincy’s first love. His parents,
Dr. Wayne ’69 and Jerrie
Ninegar Quincy ’69
of
Holdrege, remember him drawing ever since he could get his
hands on his first set of crayons.
Dr. Quincy, an optometrist,
recalled talking to Ryan about a
particular comic strip he was
creating when he was in the
sixth grade. “When is this going
to end?” he said. “The answer
was, ‘It never finishes.’”
“We have been proud of
him. It has been a nice opportunity for him,” Jerrie Quincy
said, showing a photo of her
son with his animation team
accepting their Emmy.
“We encouraged him. We
said, ‘If you want to find out
what it’s all about with animation, you better go out there
(California),’” Dr. Quincy said.
And with that advice, Ryan
Quincy ventured off to try his
luck.
His first position at the cartoon was lead animator. He then
became animation and technical
supervisor before being named
director of animation.
“I was overseeing a dozen
animators as lead animator.
Now I oversee those animators
and also another group of artists
that built the characters, set up
the shots and get everything
ready for the animators. So I
oversee both of those departments and they add up to about
25 people,” Quincy said.
Overseeing 25 people is a lot
but the real task is keeping the
content current. A large part of
the appeal of ‘South Park’ is
how the show capitalizes on the
latest political goofs or social
issues.
To be as timely as they are,
they can’t start an episode until
the week before it comes out,
Quincy said. This can turn into
late nights spent staring at Mac
screens with bloodshot eyes
and replacing sleep with bottomless pots of coffee.
“Unlike other animated
shows, we do ours in less than a
week. We’ll do a 22-minute
episode in five
or six days.
Other animations take nine
to
twelve
months to do
one episode,”
Quincy said.
“I sit in on
the meetings
with producer
Eric
Stough
who is the
direct link to
the
creators
Trey
Parker
and
Matt
Stone. They feed down the link
and I convey what they want to
the animators, make sure shots
look right and the characters are
in the right spot,” Quincy said.
“Make Love, Not Warcraft,”
the episode that won the Emmy,
pokes fun at the on-line game,
“World of Warcraft.” The creators of the game did not mind
at all. This episode has made
“South Park” and “World of
Warcraft” successful, while
showing off the online game
experiences and the animation
team’s abilities.
“We actually got help from
Blizzard, the company that does
World of Warcraft. They came
in and gave us a lot of their
characters to animate. It was a
big help so we didn’t have to
create them from scratch. They
signed on, it was a big boost . It
got them a lot of exposure and
they were totally into it,”
Quincy said.
“South Park,” a staple of
Comedy Central, continues its
popularity and has signed on
through 2011 which will be its
15th season.
So what contributes to its
longevity?
“I think it’s because they can
still be topical and timely and
Ryan Quincy ’96 is director
of animation for the Emmywinning program.
just stuff that is happening right
now in the news and make it
hilarious,” Quincy said.
For graduates, Quincy has
this advice:
“You have to persevere. I
remember how scary it was
when I graduated. I was like,
‘Oh, man, what am I going to
do?’ It’s scary, but you have to
get after it. Especially in my situation, it was kind of against
the odds, but you just gotta persevere,” Quincy said.
And sure, he might be living
it up in Los Angeles with the
sunny beaches, Rodeo Drive
and the endless sea of people,
but even he misses peaceful
Nebraska once in awhile.
“I don’t get there as much as
I used to, but I miss ‘The Good
Life’ for sure,” Quincy said. Matt Krogmeier is newscast director and commercial producer for
KCTV and KSMO in the Kansas City
area.
Anita Wilke teaches freshman
English at Jackson Hole High School
in Wyoming.
1994
Jeffery Leever of Blue Springs,
Missouri, has released his latest mystery/suspense novel, Dark Friday.
Information about the book is available on his website, jeffreyleever.com.
Reggie Ryder of Lincoln has been
appointed to serve as a judge for the
Separate juvenile Court of Lancaster
County, which handles cases involving minors in Lincoln and Lancaster
County. Ryder has spent the majority of his legal career working in juvenile law most recently as a Lancaster
County Public Defender. He received
his law degree from the University of
Nebraska in 1997. His wife, Keri ‘94,
is the director of Little Kingdom
Children’s Center. They have two
children, Trevin 8 and Avery 3.
1995
Robyn Sterner is the North
American head of regulatory affairs
for Oncology for Johnson and
Johnson
Pharmaceutical
Development. She received her
doctor of pharmacy degree from
UNMC in 1998. She and her husband, Eric, live in Bridgewater, New
Jersey. They have two daughters,
Zoe 3 and Piper 1,
1997
Lisa Dolan Neely is a special education teacher with Broken Bow
Public Schools.
Kurt Polt is principal and athletic
director at Giltner Public School.
CLASS NOTES
He has taught physical education at
Giltner since 2000.
1998
Jami Dunn works for Mattel as an
art director for Hot Wheels
Package Design. He and his wife,
Honor, live in Los Angeles and have
a daughter, Chloe 1.
John Ritchie MS ’00 of
Manhattan, Kansas, passed certification requirements to become a
National Board Certified English
Teacher.
2000
Becky Tegeler is a post-secondary
counselor at Lincoln Southwest
High School. She had been a middle
school teacher in Lincoln.
2001
NEBRASKATS:
An alumni reunion of the Nebraskats,
UNK’s show choir, will help the group
celebrate its 40th year in 20072008. The reunion is planned for the
weekend of the spring concert, April 6.
The Nebraskats were started by professor Bill Lynn and is the oldest active college show choir in Nebraska.
Wes Hinze and his wife, Katie, run
the Satellite Central store in
Norfolk. They have two children,
Taylem and Kaylee.
Dr. Jonna O’Connor has joined
the Lincoln Veterans Administration
Hospital as the first optometrist in
the VA system in Nebraska. She
graduated from Indiana University
School of Optometry in 2006. She
completed a one year residency in
ocular disease and low vision at the
Kansas
City
Veterans
Administration Hospital in Kansas
City before returning to Nebraska
this fall.
JoHanna Wilson is teaching
English at Wauneta/Palisade High
School.
2003
Trapper Mitchell is a resident
director at the University of
Wisconsin-Platteville. After graduating, he was a director in Martin Hall
at UNK for four years.
Dr. Michael Hausmann Jr. is an
optometrist at Heartland Optical in
Lincoln. He graduated from
Southern College of Optometry in
Memphis in May. He and his wife,
Alicia Still ‘03, live in Lincoln.
2002
Coordinating the reunion are
two former directors,
Annabell Zikmund 308-234-3263 and
Eileen McDole Jahn 308-236-9067.
[Two alumni publish books]
JEFF LEEVER’S ’94 second mystery/suspense novel,
Dark Friday, was released this
fall.
The plot involves an investigative reporter
who travels to a
small, Indiana
town to investigate a series of
horror-movieinspired murders and uncovers a conspiracy
involving local
teens.
Leever’s first novel, Even in
Darkness, was published in 2001
and follows a Midwestern college student who discovers a
mysterious cult-like group meeting secretly in catacombs
beneath the college.
“My first book did okay,” he
said. “Got good reviews. It was a
stepping stone up to this new
one, which is with a more noteworthy publisher that has a track
record of successful mystery
books.”
After graduation, Leever
served as an après office staff
member for Colorado Governor
Bill Owens and then as a senior
editor for a nonprofit organization. He currently serves as a
copywriter for a Kansas City
advertising agency, Trozzolo
Communications Group.
He said he writes mysteries
“because they are the kinds of
books that I like to read. I also
think they’re the best genre for
people who struggle to get
through a book.”
For more information, go to
www.jeffreylever.com.
book, The China Challenge:
Standing Strong Against the
Military,
Economic, and
Political
Threats
that
I m p e r i a l
America. The
book focuses
on issues that
will confront
the
United
States during this century.
Dillon is senior strategic analyst at BCP International. He
served 20 years in the U.S.
Army, 10 years as an Asian foreign area officer. After his service in the Army, Dillon spent six
years as a senior policy analyst
for the South and Southeast Asia
at the Heritage Foundation. He
has written extensively and is a
DANA R. DILLON ’79 of frequent commentator on Fox
Fairfax, Virginia, has released a News, CNN and MSNBC. Sarah Hardin is the high school
science and junior high physical
education teacher at Mullen Public
School.
Jody Johnson has joined the staff
of Wholeness Healing Center in
Grand Island. She earned a master’s
degree in social work from UNO.
Rhonda Mogee Veleba is a development coordinator for Big
Brothers Big Sisters in Grand Island.
Her husband, Aaron ’03 is a sixth
grade teacher at Giltner Public
School.
2004
Jessica Jurzenski MS’07 is a lecturer at Doane College in Crete.
Amanda Jochum Kuhlman is
communications coordinator at the
Love’s Travel Stops corporate office
in Oklahoma City. She and her husband, Jeremy, were married August
6, 2006.
Christopher Hays practices law
with the firm Schmiedeskamp,
Robertson, Neu and Mitchell in
Quincy, Illinois. He graduated cum
laude from the University of Illinois
Law School in May.
2005
Robyn Sanders is a graduate student at Regis University. After graduation she worked in several marketing and public relations positions
before returning to school.
2006
Cory Ciccone is a student at Lake
Erie College of Osteopathic in
Bradenton, Florida. A tennis player at
UNK, Cory still plays several times a
week as time permits.
Winter 2007 l UNK Today l
17
CLASS NOTES
1955
Dale and Kathleen Freeman
Taylor ’59 of Aurora, Colorado, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in May. Both retired from the
Jefferson Public School system, Dale
after 30 years and Kathy after 20
years.
1957
Leona Anderson of Hastings
received the National Retired
Teachers Association Individual
Excellence ‘With Our Youth’ Award
at the eighth annual NRTA With Our
Youth! National Awards banquet in
September. Anderson is a community
volunteer and leads numerous service activities that include reading to
elementary students, working on the
Cancer Relay for Life and serving as
the state community service chair
for Nebraska Area Retired School
Personnel. She taught 36 years in the
Hastings Public Schools.
1959
Dyle
Buckbee
retired
in
September from American Red
Cross Blood Services in Grand
Island. He also taught and coached
for 15 years at Sargent, Rising City
and Mullen.
1964
Carolyn Wagner Snyder retired
in 2006 from Southern Illinois
University in Carbondale where she
was director of foundation relations
for five years and dean of library
affairs for nine years.
1967
LaVern Franzen will retire from
Central Community College June 30.
Franzen, who has been president
since 2002, has been on the CCC
staff for 41 years.
1970
Steve Petersen of Las Vegas has
retired after 30 years as a pilot for
Northwest Airlines. He flew captain
on aircraft such as DC-9, MD-80 and
Airbus 319/320.
1971
Linda Sillivan Bond teaches
Spanish at Ansley Public Schools.
Stephen Heaton retired from
JPMorgan Chase in 2004 and recently completed a second trip around
the world.
Don Lawson is director of
Americas Real Estate for Sybase, Inc.,
a software company headquartered
in Dublin, California. He manages real
estate transactions and office build
outs in both North and South
America. He and his wife, Joan,
moved to Florida two years ago after
spending 30 years in Colorado. After
graduating, Don first worked at
newspapers in Alliance, Grand Island
and Loveland, Colorado. They live in
Cape Coral, Florida.
Historical
Society
in
Hagarstown, Maryland. He was
commissioned through the
ROTC program in 1973, spent six
years on active duty and continued
to work for the Department of
Defense for another 27 years. He
lived in Germany 14 of those years.
1976
Richard Wilson is teaching and
coaching volleyball and wrestling at
Wauneta/Palisade Public Schools.
Bill Keck EDS’89 is director of the
Miracles Treatment Center at the
Siena/Francis House Homeless
Shelter and also serves as executive
director of the shelter. He has recently written a book “From Addiction to
‘Miracles,’” a biography about alcohol
and drugs and a step by step account
into sobriety. The book is available at
www.atlasbooks.com.
1979
Janelle Godberson Beveridge will
retire from active duties at Bank of
Paxton at the end of December.
Beveridge taught and was volleyball
coach for eight years. Following the
death of her husband, Jody, Janell
began her banking career
and held the position of
chairman and president
until October 2006.
1980
Cathy Foster earned
her 400th volleyball
coaching victory during
the fall season. She
coaches at Loup County
High School.
Ed Lowe is the principal at Shelton High
School.
1981
Peggy Lloyd Lowe is
an elementary music
teacher with Broken
Bow Public Schools.
1982
Dr. Jim Tenopir EDS
will become president of
the National Federation
of State High School
Associations in 2008-09.
Dr. Tenopir, who is executive director of the
Nebraska
School
Activities Association
will be the first NSAA
executive director to be
president of the association that oversees the
nation’s high school
activities. Dr. Tenopir
also serves as an adjunct
instructor for the UNK
E d u c a t i o n a l
Administration
Department.
1984
Chuck Kinzer has
been named president
and chief operating offi1973
James Neville retired from the gov- cer of Omaha Print.
ernment last year and now is direc- Kinzer has been with
tor of the Washington County the 149-year-old printing company for 21
years. He was the company’s executive vice
president of sales and
16 l UNK Today l Winter 2007 administration.
Roberto Lee Vialpando is the
head coach for the USA Native
American Wrestling Team. He is also
national director and head coach for
the USA Deaf Wrestling Team.
1985
Lori Pellegrino Jackson is a counselor at East Union High School with
the Manteca Unified School District in
California. She and her husband, Steven,
who is a teacher and football coach,
have three children, nine-year-old twin
daughters and a ten-year-old son.
Kurt Haecker is vice president of
commercial banking at Home Federal
Bank in Grand Island.
1986
Barb Moomey Shelden of York
received the 2007 York News-Times
Golden Apple Award for excellence in
teaching. She has been a teacher in the
York system for 31 years.
1988
Richard Salmen ’88 of Olathe,
Kansas, has been named presidentelect of The Financial Planning
Association for 2008.
1991
Eva Hidy Nickel-Drabek MSE’95
of Kearney opened her own counseling agency in July, A Better Choice
Counseling Services Inc. It is also
known as ABC Counseling.
Bonnie Kahl Lee is a pilot for
Frontier Airlines, along with her husband, Rob. They live in Fort Collins
and have a son, Rorke Henry 2.
Andrea Miller completed her master of arts degree from the
University of Missouri-Columbia in
August. Her degree is in information
science and learning technologies
with an emphasis in library science.
She is a faculty member at Southwest
Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri,
as the acquisitions/collection development librarian.
1992
Sanae Shea is an account executive
with SCORR Marketing in Kearney.
1993
Lisa Willis Ellis is communications
director for Nebraska Congressman
Lee Terry. For the past 10 years, she
has been assignment manager at
KMTV-TV in Omaha.
Alumni are am
ong UNK’s b
est
recruiters an
d the univers
ity
could use yo
ur assistance
.
There are man
y ways you c
an
assist in attrac
ting prospecti
ve
Lopers.
ce
n
e
i
r
e
p
Ex
y.
Kearne
Make a p
oint to visit w
ith stu
friends about
your experie dents and
nce at UNK
encourage th
and
em to give us
a look
Encourage
them
at www.unk.e to check us out on the
web
du
Send their
name
information to s, addresses and high sch
ool
the admission
s office
1-800-KEAR
NEY
admissionsu
g@unk.edu
Help Them –
EXPERIENC
E KEAR
NEY
FEATURE
Music Department honor
goes to Fahrlander
hil Fahrlander MS’68
received the Gary
Thomas Distinguished
Music
Award
during
Homecoming
week.
Fahrlander
retired in 1997
after 38 years
in music. The
last 29 were
with
the
Minden Public
Schools where
he
taught Phil
instrumental Fahrlander
music
for MS ’68
grades
five
through 12. He also taught
humanities classes and the high
school gifted program. Prior to
that he taught at Diller and
North Loup-Scotia.
Fahrlander’s concert bands at
Minden received consistent
superior ratings at district music
contests and the Minden marching band won more than 100 trophies and other awards.
Fahrlander served as president of the Nebraska State
Bandmasters Association and
the Nebraska Music Educators
Association. An active member
P
in both organizations, he chaired
many committees for those
groups.
Among his honors include
the Nebraska State Bandmasters
Distinguished Service Award,
the Don Lentz Outstanding
Band Director Award, the
Nebraska Music Educators
Distinguished Service Award,
the
Cooper
Foundation
Excellence in Education Award
and the Minden Area Jaycees
Outstanding Young Educator
Award.
Fahrlander has played a key
role in the performing arts in
Minden. He was active in the
planning and restoration of the
Minden Opera House. He established and coordinated the
Minden Bandfest Marching
Contest and was a cast member
and director of several community plays.
For more than 12 years, he
wrote a humorous column for
the Nebraska Music Educators
magazine and provided artwork
for the magazine covers. He
designed logos for Nebraska
Music Educators Association
and Nebraska Bandmasters
Association. Chemist Neal ’75
is 27th Fox Lecturer
r. Timothy Neal ’75 was
honored
by
the
Chemistry Department
as the 27th annual Don Fox
Lecturer at Homecoming.
Dr. Neal, who is director of F18 radiochemistry research with
IBA Molecular in Sterling,
Virginia, gave a public lecture and
presented two classroom presentations in organic chemistry. His
public lecture was “Nuclear
Medicine in the United States – a
Chemist’s Perspective.”
Dr. Neal earned a Ph.D. in
organic chemistry from the
University of Utah. He completed
a post-doctoral fellowship in the
D
M e d i c a l
Chemistry
Department at
the University
of Utah.
IN 1983, he
joined the agricultural chemiDr. Timothy cals division of
Neal ’75
Diamond
Shamrock
Corporation. In 2002, he took a
position with 3D Imaging, LLC,
in Cleveland, a contract research
company working with radiopharmaceutical products labeled with
positron-emitting isotopes. Biology professor
Carlson gets patent
for HIV research
esearch by Dr. Kimberly Carlson ’92,
MSE’94, UNK assistant professor of biology, may open the doors to a new therapy
for HIV.
“We inhibited HIV replication in human cells in
a Petri dish,” Dr. Carlson said of research she did as
postdoctoral research fellow at UNMC.
She and other members of the research team
have been granted a second patent on the groundbreaking research. The first patent describes the
basis of the patent as: “materials and methods are
provided to inhibit HIV replication in targeted host
cells.” That patent was granted in February of 2004
for human gene therapy.
“That research discovered a human gene, which
our team named NEBR1,” she said. “The accepted
gene name is OTK18.”
“We all have it (the gene), she said. “When we
become infected by HIV, we begin making more of
it, especially in the brain of people with severe HIV
encephalitis.
“We think that it’s possible that the gene may be
a regulator of the immune system, overall,” she
said.
According to Dr. Carlson, the second patent is
also based on the functionality of the gene and for
its use as a pharmaceutical agent. The second
patent was applied for in December of 2003, the
year that Dr. Carlson joined the faculty.
The U.S. Patent Office granted the patent last
year but Dr. Carlson did not learn about it until this
fall when she was to be among a group of
researchers honored as part of UNMC 2007
Research Innovation Awards ceremonies. R
Winter 2007 l UNK Today l
5
ALUMNI NEWS
MAUREEN
GAFFNEY
NICKELS ‘74
leads Association -
8
Eight begin
three-year terms
M
aureen
Gaffney
Nickels ’74, MSE
’78 is the newlyelected president of the UNK
A l u m n i
Association.
Nickels,
who
lives
n e a r
Chapman, is
a UniServ
Director for
the Nebraska
S t a t e
E d u c a t i o n Maureen Gaffney
Association.
Nickels
She works
with teachers
and local chapters in the north
central part of the state as well
as being the staff liaison for the
NSEA-Retired and coordinating
the NSEA Intergenerational
Mentoring Program. Prior to
her work with NSEA, she was
an elementary teacher for 26
years with the Grand Island
Public Schools.
She assumed the duties at the
Alumni Association’s annual
board of directors meeting in
conjunction
with
2007
Homecoming activities. Nickels
replaces Larry Edwards ’64 of
Fort Collins, Colorado.
Other officers for 2007-2008
are
Brenda
Snodgrass
Christensen ’83 of Minden, president elect; and Bob Warren ’64 of
McMinnville, Oregon, secretary.
Nine individuals completed
three-year terms on the board of
directors. They are now trustees of
the association.
They are Ron Cropp ’65 of
Kearney; Lee Ann Purdy Hogins
’82 of Kearney; Dr. Shane Jensen
’96 of Kearney; Rich Rehnberg
6 l
UNK Today l Winter 2007
’71 of Holdrege; Ken Vergith ’78
of Lincoln; Erik Estes ’01 of
Littleton, Colorado; Keith
Jorgensen ’50, ME ’58 of
Mission Viejo, California; and Dr.
Teresa Thomsen Paper ’84, MSE
’90 of Walcott, Iowa.
Larry Feather ’65 of Grand
Junction, Colorado, also completed his term. He will serve as the
liaison with the Trustees during the
upcoming year.
Cynthia Schug
Bahler
Doug Burritt
Denise Strother
Christensen
Steven James
Lanny Jorgensen
Bryan Kuntz
Holly Nikels
Nancy Yurges
Osterbuhr
ers and administrators.
Doug Burritt ’95 of Osceola
is an insurance agent with The
Pinnacle Agency.
Lanny Jorgensen ’63 of
Tucson, Arizona, is retired after
a career as a city administrator.
He was president of three downtown development corporations
in Lincoln; Racine, Wisconsin
and Greenville, South Carolina.
He also was senior project coordinator for affordable housing in
Tucson, Arizona.
Dr. Holly Nikels ’93, MSE
’96, EDS ’99 of Bettendorf,
Iowa, is an assistant professor at
Western Illinois University in
the Department of Counselor
Education.
Steven James ’77 of Danville,
California, is founder and chief
operating officer for Background
Profiles. He is president of the
UNK
Northern
California
Alumni Association. EIGHT BOARD members
were elected to three-year terms that
began with the annual meeting.
Denise Strother Christensen
’80 of Kearney is the coordinator
of the Family Advocacy
Network at Good Samaritan
Hospital.
Bryan Kuntz
’95 of Kearney is
vice president of
operations
for
Intellicom
C o m p u t e r
Consulting.
Nancy Yurges
Osterbuhr ’95 of
The Commitment Continues
Minden is a perUNK is our common bond. Our experiences on this campus, even
sonal banker with
though they may not have happened during the same years or even
Platte Valley State
during the same decades bind us together with the obligation to give
Bank and Trust
Company
in
something back to the University that launched us on our professional
Kearney. She is
lives. I feel the obligation and I know you do as well. It is through
Nebraska Central
the Alumni Association that we can best give back to the school that is
Group president
so important to our early lives. We need your support, both with your
of
Financial
donations to the Foundation and your time. The Alumni Officers and
W o m e n
Board represent “you”. We will seek greater participation from the
International.
alumni membership in advancing the goals of the UNK Alumni
C y n t h i a
Schug Bahler ’94
Association. If you have not checked out the UNK Alumni
of Lamar works
Association web page recently please do so. This year our commitfor Educational
ment is be the best Alumni Association we can be and to provide our
Service Unit #15
fellow alums with a wide variety of services and opportunities.
in
southwest
President,
Nebraska as a
behavior consultant for area teach-
FOUNDATION NEWS
$100,000 Sahling scholarship
benefits football student athletes
W
hen Kearney businessman Bob Sahling
graduated
from
Kenesaw High School in 1943
he didn’t have the opportunity to
pursue
higher
education.
Sahling joined the navy and
served during World War II.
“It would have been nice to
have had some formal years of
education past high school,” he
said. “It would have put some
polish on the apple.”
Sahling and his wife, Dode
who died October 19, wanted to
help others have that opportunity.
The Sahlings established a
$100,000 scholarship to benefit
graduates of a Nebraska high
school who are student athletes
on the UNK football team and
who demonstrate financial need.
Sahling, who is retired, said
he rarely misses a Loper football
game. “UNK football is good
for the community. It is fun to be
there and be a part of it.”
When he and Dode established the scholarship before her
death, he said they both believed
the football student athletes
needed their support.
“I knew the team needed
scholarship money,” he said.
“They can still use much more.”
Sahling, who had been selling trucks in central Nebraska
since he got out of the navy in
1948, started Sahling Kenworth
Inc. in Kearney in 1972 specializing in sales, parts and service.
Since that time he has been a
community leader and a longtime university supporter.
FOR THEIR work, the
Sahlings were recipients of the
2007 Ron and Carol Cope
Cornerstone of Excellence
Award, an award that is presented by UNK to a member of the
Kearney community in recognition of his or her service to the
campus.
“Both Dode and I know the
importance the university plays
in the lives of young people. I
have good feelings for the university and for Chancellor Doug
Kristensen.” Bob said. “If you
can’t help young America, who
can you help?” The 20th annual
Blue/Gold
Golf Scramble
June 8-9
Traditionally, the largest
fundraiser for athletic
scholarships, the event
raised a record $48,000
last year. There will be a
program, dinner and
auction on Sunday, June
8, and a six-person golf
scramble on the
Meadowlark Hills and
Kearney Country Club
golf courses on Monday,
June 9.
For additional information,
contact the UNK Athletic
Department at
(308) 865-8330
Grants supports entrepreneurship, rural life
T
wo UNK programs with
goals to promote economic
development and encourage young Nebraskans to stay in
the state have received funding
this year from the NU
Foundation. Much of the funding
awarded annually to worthy campus projects is made available
through these type of unrestricted
donations.
“We are grateful for the financial support provided by the NU
Foundation,”
said
UNK
Chancellor Doug Kristensen.
“The value of this support is literally boundless in that, as an
investment in education, it is truly
an investment in our future. The
benefits are perpetual.”
The Entrepreneurship and
Innovation Program will receive
$133,750 in funding while the
Empowering Rural Youth to
Empower Nebraska received
$82,500 in funding.
Empowering Rural Youth to
Empower
Nebraska
Communities:
The Department of Political
Science will use the funding for
research to identify the positive
features of small town rural life.
The information they learn will
be used to create programs aimed
at
encouraging
young
Nebraskans to stay in the state.
The research will involve
UNK political science faculty and
teams of high school students
from five small towns in
Nebraska who will engage their
communities in discussions. The
program also focuses on population retention by encouraging
communities to have serious discussions about the positive and
negative aspects of small town,
rural life.
“We are so very grateful for
the University of Nebraska
Foundation’s generous support,
as the grant will allow high
school students, the larger
Nebraska community, policymakers and academics to better
understand the variables which
make Nebraska the ‘good life,’”
said Peter Longo, a political science professor who worked with
other faculty members on the proposal for the grant.
“Professor John Anderson and
I, as well as other faculty, have a
sustained interest in the politics
and social capital of rural
Nebraska,” Longo said. “Dr.
Anderson has done considerable
amount of work in rural towns
and public schools through the
National
Network
for
Educational Renewal.”
Political science faculty members will team up with high
school students in grades 10 to 12
from partner schools in the
Nebraska
Network
for
Educational Renewal to conduct
research in towns with populations of 5,000 or less. Students
will then write community plans
to offer suggestions for improvements to local leaders and policymakers.
By increasing awareness of
issues facing young Nebraskans
living in rural areas, the
researchers believe students will
be more encouraged to attend the
University of Nebraska and then
return to Nebraska communities.
The Entrepreneurship and
Innovation Program:
The College of Business and
Technology received a grant for
its
Entrepreneurship
and
Innovation Program. With the
funding, it plans to hire a new faculty member to teach and perform
research in entrepreneurship and
to lead students in becoming
entrepreneurs themselves through
development of businesses in the
community.
In addition to teaching entrepreneurship courses, the new faculty member will conduct
research on increasing entrepreneurial innovation in rural
Nebraska and promoting economic development. Both aim to
increase retention of the young,
educated population in Nebraska.
The award also provides the
start for a venture capital fund
that will be used to help students
interested in starting their own
small business.
“The overall critical economic
need for Nebraska, especially
out-state, is to create wealth and
employment opportunities,” said
Deborah Murray, director of the
Center for Rural Economic
Development. “Funding awarded
from the NU Foundation will
expand faculty expertise and curricular capability.”
Winter 2007 l UNK Today l
15
LOPER SPORTS
By Peter Yazvac
Sports Information Director
hen USA Wrestling
fills out it's roster for
international competition, a majority of the wrestlers
come from Division I schools
that have long dominated the
mats; Iowa, Iowa State,
Oklahoma
State,
and
Minnesota, to name a few.
But, don't be surprised in a
few years -- possibly 2008 -- if
you see the University of
Nebraska at Kearney as an alma
mater of one of America's top
wrestlers.
Senior Tervel Dlagnev is not
only considered the best heavyweight in NCAA Division II at
this moment but also in all of
the collegiate ranks.
Furthermore, the Texan is
third on the U.S. Olympic ladder, showing he is among the
top candidates to make the U.S.
Olympic team in 2008 and
beyond.
Not bad for someone who
started wrestling as a sophomore in high school and who is
still considered a bit small as a
heavyweight.
Born in Bulgaria and raised
in Arlington, Texas, Dlagnev
heard about UNK through a
high school coach, Andrew
Bauer. Andrew's brother just
happens to be Loper head
wrestling coach Marc Bauer.
Competing first at a 184 lbs.,
Dlagnev bumped up two classes
to heavyweight for his first varsity season in 2004-05.
Despite being outweighed
every match, Dlagnev broke the
school record for wins in a season (38-8) and placed sixth at
the
NCAA Division
II
Championships.
As a sophomore, Dlagnev
began to consistently beat top
Division I competition and would
go 42-10, breaking his own school
record for wins. He finished
W
14 l
UNK Today l Winter 2007
national runner up, falling to
Nebraska-Omaha's Les Sigman,
1-0, in the national finals.
That was Sigman's fourth
straight national title and about
the only Division II individual
who challenged him that year
was Dlagnev.
Last season, a bigger
Dlagnev dominated the competition, going 49-1 and winning a
national title by pinning rival
Josh LeadingFox of Central
Oklahoma in front of a large
Health & Sports Center crowd.
During the regular season,
Dlagnev won his class at the
prestigious
Midlands
Championships,
beating
Northwestern's Dustin Fox on
his home mat in Evanston, Ill.
In the current all-class rankings, Dlagnev is the nation's top
heavyweight and Fox second.
The two are likely to meet at
least once during the 2007-08
season.
This past spring Dlagnev
journeyed to Las Vegas and
placed fourth at the U.S.
National
Championships
(Senior
Men's
Freestyle
Division).
Then, this fall, he won the
Men's Freestyle Division at the
Sunkist Open in Arizona.
Thanks to two take downs, he
edged Sigman in the finals.
His next big non-college
event is the U.S. Olympic
Trials, held early next summer.
A win there could punch his
ticket to the 2008 Olympics.
Entering his final campaign a
gaudy 129-19, just five wins
short of setting a new UNK
mark for career wins, Dlagnev is
taking his great success in
stride. And aiming to get even
better.
"I'm going to focus on my
performance this year. Fine tune
my technique and not worry
about wins and losses but focus
on getting better all around,"
said Dlagnev. "I want to
improve in every single position. I don't plan on stopping
after this year and the competi-
Senior Tervel Dlagnev
tion just gets stronger."
Dlagnev likely won't be
pushed into many matches this
year. But, one of the reasons he
has become so good so fast is a
tremendous work ethic and a
thirst to know more about
wrestling.
"Even if I'm beating guys, I
don't want to settle for something sloppy that works. I want
to compete and train like I'm on
the world level," he said. "I've
been blessed with all these
opportunities and it's been very
exciting. Wrestling isn't a sport
that's based on how fast you can
run or high you can jump.
There's a huge pool of knowledge and it has been fun to make
improvements and see how far I
can get."
Now weighing about 240
lbs., Dlagnev is aiming to gain
about 10 more pounds for international competition. Next year,
he'll be on staff at Division I
power Northern Iowa where he
can begin to get used to a new
life as a "full time" wrestler.
"I'm going to do everything I
can to win (the trials) but I have
2012 in my mind. Maybe I can
make a world team in between
those years," he said. "The six
month college season is such a
big grind. Once I graduate, I can
train to peak and have time to
heal my body."
Before he can rest and focus
on the Olympics, Dlagnev and a
great senior class aims to lead
UNK to it's first-ever national
title this March. The Lopers
have been runners up three
times, including in 2007.
"I would just be awesome to
win the national title this year.
Joe
(Ellenberger),
Jeff
(Rutledge) and I came in together and we talked as freshmen
about winning a title. To do it
this year would be special," said
Dlagnev
Another thing that has been
special for Dlagnev is UNK and
the city of Kearney. Graduating
in May with a Biology degree,
Dlagnev says he won't forget his
soon-to-be alma mater.
"This has been a real comfortable and relaxed setting for
me. I've been able to build some
of the best relationships of my
life here."
When Dlagnev first came to
campus, he had an idea of going
to pharmacy school. While that
might be the case some day, his
plans now involve a sport he
wasn't competing in 10 years
ago.
"I'm going to take things on a
year-to-year basis but I plan on
wrestling until my body won't
let me," he said. Gold Torch Society
Spreading the flame of knowledge
“If only I would have had
this when I was in college ... ”
was the sentiment expressed by
many alumni at the 2007 Gold
Torch Society that met in
September at the UNK Alumni
House for its eighth annual
meeting.
Sponsored by the UNK
Alumni Association, The Gold
Torch Society provides 25
women alumni the opportunity
to return to campus and share a
weekend of networking, motivational activities and special
events with a select group of 25
UNK undergraduate women.
Through The Gold Torch
Society, a group of alumni
women are lending their guidance, encouragement and career
experience to young women at
UNK.
THE MEETING featured
sessions that included such topics as balancing career and family, leadership, financial planning, networking and taking the
leap into the workforce after
graduation. Alumni and students
are spending time networking
and establishing mentoring relationships.
“The society’s alumni members are strong, successful
women from a variety of backgrounds including education,
politics, medicine, business and
journalism,”
said
Jim
Rundstrom, executive director
ALUMNI NEWS
GOLD TORCH SOCIETY Back row: Katie Ramsey ’85, Deonne Hinz, Kathy Mohlfeld ’91, Brittany
Reman, Megan Reiman, Jennifer Foster, Cathy Sanchez ’99, Jaime Coolidge, Jenn Riggs-Slack ’95,
Maureen Nickels ’84, Kailey Rock, Laure Smith ’95, Faouza Yasmin Abdallah, Bridget Egger, Lisa Elson,
Laura Ceron, Ciara Benson, Barbara Ann Schroeder ’74, Dr. Holly Nikels ’93, Susan Gierhan ’79, Sandy
Rosse ’93, Candy Fernau ’96, Lisa Hibberd ’93, Tammy Hayden ’90, Marsha Wilkerson ’90, Franny
Madsen ’83, Dee Dee Kitzelman ’90 Middle row: Lauren Sedlacek Petersen ’02, Renae Zimmer ’91,
Wendy Clark ’90, Audrey Rowley, Jeannette Wojtalewicz ’84, Kendra Stahl Sibbernsen ’89,Tammie Blaha
’84 Front row: Sara Brady, Brittany Davidson, Hope Marsh, Amber Davis, Jami Hockenbary, Kylee
Gardner, Natalie Peterson
of
the
UNK
Alumni
Association. “It is wonderful to
see the relationships that have
formed because of the Gold
Torch Society.”
Alumni are nominated for a
three-year membership in the
society.
HANDIWORK: Kendra Stahl Sibbernsen
’89 and undergraduate Ciara Benson practice a
confident handshake at the eighth annual Gold
Torch Society meeting.
Student membership is for
one year and is by application
only.
Twenty-four UNK alumni
are participating this year. They
are Maureen Nickels ’74
Chapman; Katie Shada Ramsey
’85 Grand Island; Wendy Welsh
Clark ’90, Stacie Pearson ’96,
Jenn Riggs-Slack ’95, Tammie
Stump Blaha ’84, Sandy Rosse
’93, Catherine Luebbe Sanchez
’99, Susan Brown Gierhan ’89,
Lisa Hibberd ’93, Dee Dee
Schutte Kitzelman ’90, Marsha
Rodehorst-Wilkerson
’90,
Renae Riddle Zimmer ’91, Amy
Kempf Graham ’93 and Tammy
Adelson Hayden ’90 Kearney;
Laure Smith ’95
Lincoln,
Franny Hauver Madsen ’83
Minden and Barbara Schroeder
’74 and Jeanette Keller
Wojtalewicz ’84 Omaha.
Kendra Stahl Sibbernsen ’89
Papillion; Kathy Mohlfeld ’91
Wayne; Holly Nikels ’93
Bettendorf, Iowa; Lauren
Sedlacek Petersen ’02 Jenks,
Oklahoma and Candy Fernau
’96 Dallas, Texas. Winter 2007 l UNK Today l
7
FALL
ALUMNI NEWS
alumni gatherings
OPERATION
GRADUATION: The Alumni Association
and Student Alumni Foundation
hosted December graduates to
congratulate them on their
accomplishment. Assistant director Michelle Widger and board
member Tammy Hayden visit with
Casey Hemmingsen and Lacy
DeTurk.
NATIONAL TV: Alumni and
friends around the country had
the opportunity to watch UNK
play Chadron State on national
television
in
October.
Gatherings were at various
sites, including this one at
Ricky’s sports bar in San
Leandro, California, with “special guest” Howard Cossell.
LINCOLN LOPERS: Golf
carts are lined up for the start
of the third Lincoln Lopers golf
outing. Nearly 70 participated
in the event that raises scholarship funds.
8 l
UNK Today l Winter 2007
SOUTH
TEXAS:
Kylie Keller, Ashley
Mostek,
Danielle
Kreher, Kimberly Short
Keller and Kevin Keller
at a luncheon in The
Woodlands.
Kylie,
Ashley and Danielle
were student teaching in
the Alief School District
in Houston. Kevin and
Kimberly, who were
married July 14, are
teachers with Alief.
Winter Sports
Basketball
Women experienced; men young
T
he Loper basketball
teams head into the season with opposite expec-
tations.
The women return four
starters, all of whom earned AllRMAC honors last year, from a
22-10 team that advanced to the
Sweet 16 of the NCAA
Tournament.
The men lost seven top players from last year’s 24-7 team,
including
two-time
AllAmerican Dusty Jura, that
advanced to the second round of
the NCAA tournament.
The women’s goal is to be
playing in March in Kearney.
That means in the Elite Eight,
held again this year at the Health
and Sports Center March 26-29.
Sixth year coach Carol
Russell and the Lopers must
replace point guard Liz Fischer,
the leading scorer the past two
years, but all the other pieces are
in place for another March run.
“Having the Elite Eight in
Kearney last year was a big
boost for our kids. They were
able to watch all the games and
realize they can play with those
team,” Russell said. “Last year,
we wanted to play in the Elite
Drake
Beranek
Eight but I’m not sure how
much the players believed. This
year, we believe we can be there
at the end.”
Six-foot senior forwards
Melissa Hinkley, of Lincoln
East, and Amy Mathis of
Millard North, are both about to
become 1,000 point scorers.
Juniors Jonni Mildenberger of
Sterling, Colorado, and Jade
Meads of Elm Creek, return on
the wings. Other keys will be 62
junior
center Ashlee
Schneider, a Fort Hays transfer
from Dannebrog, and junior
Wrestlers set sights
on national title hunt
After finishing runner-up at
the NCAA Division II Wrestling
Championships the past two
years, the Lopers expect to challenge for the national title again
this year.
Heading into the season,
UNK was tied with Central
Oklahoma for the top spot in the
pre-season Top 20 poll and was
an overwhelming favorite to
win the RMAC title.
Individually, senior heavyweight Tervel Dlagnev, of
Arlington, Texas, and 133
pound Brett Allgood of
Bennington, are ranked No. 1 in
their weight class. Sophomore
Kelsey Empting of Ponca City
Oklahoma is ranked second at
197 pounds.
Dlagnev and Allgood are
defending national champions.
Empting was eighth nationally
last year.
OTHERS RANKED in the
top six are 157 pound senior Joe
Ellenberger of Millard South,
141 pound senior Jeff Rutledge
of Lincoln East, 184 pound junior Matt Farrell, a transfer from
UNL, and 165 pound sophomore Taylor May of Imperial.
point guard Kassi Schuppe of
Sterling.
Coaches Tom Kropp and
Kevin Lofton have just the
opposite situation with the men.
Four players, all sophomores,
return and the remainder of the
team is composed of seven
freshmen.
The men have won 343
games in the past 15 years and
made six straight NCAA appearances.
“I’ve been involved with this
program as a player or coach
since 1971 and we’ve never
gone into a year with this many
unknowns,” Kropp said. “It’s
going to be a big growing
process for us.”
Sophomores Drake Beranek
of Ravenna, and Jeff Martin of
Bellevue West, started all 31
games last year and will be the
‘veterans’ of the squad.
“As returning starters, those
guys need to step up and take
leadership roles. That’s not easy
for sophomores to do,” Kropp
said. “What we’ve seen in preseason conditioning is that they
have taken that role upon themselves. That will be a real positive for us.” LOPER SPORTS
Tracksters
Prep for winter
competition
he track team will feature rosters that have
plenty of new faces.
An already young women’s
team has added a dozen freshmen or transfers while the men
have added 30 newcomers.
These young Lopers will
need to contribute right away
as head coach Andy Meyer
will redshirt two of his stars,
men’s Dane Tobey of Waco,
and women’s Sam Murphy of
Franklin.
Tobey is already a four-time
All-American and Murphy was
among UNK’s top scorers the
last two seasons.
The women still have the
services of All-American Kelli
Dring of Kearney, a standout in
the jumps and sprints. At the
2007
NCAA
Outdoor
Championships, she finished
fifth in the long jump.
Other veterans to watch
include senior distance runners
Michelle Dill or Imperial,
Jacquelyn Dibbern of York and
Kaci Lickteig of Dannebrog
along with sprinter Crystal
Follis of Hoxie, Kansas, and
jumper Shayna Fruit of
Ogallala.
The men will be led by senior hurdler Darrel Branz of
York, senior jumper Ross
Fellows of Kearney, junior
thrower Chris Campbell of
Beatrice and junior jumper
Spencer Huff of York. T
For the latest on ALL 16
UNK Sports visit
www.lopers.com
Winter 2007 l UNK Today l
13
LOPER SPORTS
Women runners
third in RMAC
VOLLEYBALL
a ‘Sweet 16’ team
F
or a team filled with
young players, the volleyball team grew up
fast.
The Lopers had a banner season finishing 33-5 and advancing to the ‘Sweet 16’ of the
NCAA Tournament.
Sharing the RMAC regular
season title with Fort Lewis and
winning the league tournament
earned UNK the No. 1 ranking
in Southwest region and the
opportunity to host the regional
tournament.
THE LOPERS beat Mesa
State and Central Oklahoma
before falling to 10th ranked
West Texas A&M in the finals.
Cola Svec of Elkhorn earned
RMAC Setter of the Year and
RMAC ‘Co-Freshman of the
Year’ honors. She was also
named to the conference and
regional all-tournament team.
She was joined on the
league’s first team by freshman
middle Jeri Walkowiak of
Grand Island and sophomore
middle Nikki Scott of Broken
Bow. Both also made the conference and all- tournament
squad.
Making the second team
were sophomore right side
Shannon Clausen of Beatrice
and sophomore outside Erica
Burson of Gretna.
Rick Squiers was named
RMAC Coach of the Year for
the fourth time in his nine years
as Loper head coach. He has a
career coaching record of 28944 at UNK with a home mark of
159-9. Freshman Cola
Svec RMAC
Setter of the Year
A third place finish by the
women in the RMAC cross
country meet was the highest
finish since 1994. The Lopers,
ranked 13th nationally, trailed
only Adams State and Western
State, the top two teams in the
country.
Kaci Lickteig, Dannebrog
junior, finished ninth.
At the NCAA regional
meet, the women finished
sixth, completing one of their
best seasons. However, needing a top five finish to secure
the programs first-ever trip to
the NCAA Championships,
UNK was bested by five
nationally-ranked teams.
Michelle Dill, Imperial
senior, was the top individual
with a 26th place finish.
A young men’s team finished ninth in the RMAC meet
and 16th in the regionals. Gridders finish 6-4
Two players were named to
the All-RMAC football team
after the Lopers finished the
year with a 6-4 record and a 5-3
conference mark.
Senior Cory Sleeth of
Westminster, Colorado, earned
first team honors at kick return
and co-captain Jack Hiett of
Arvada, Colorado, was picked
as a first team center.
Last year, Sleeth was a second team pick at wide receiver
with Hiett being the Offensive
Freshman of the Year.
Selected to the second team
were running back Jake
Richards of Littleton, Colorado,
senior receiver Tyler McNitt of
Kearney, Sleeth as a receiver,
senior linebacker Nick Oberle
of O’Neill, senior defense tackle Zach Cerise of Fremont, junior defensive end Nate Reicks of
McCook, junior receiver Eric
Myrick of Jacksonville, Florida,
and junior kicker Geoff
Carnahan of Kearney Catholic.
Of note statistically, Sleeth
averaged 30.9 on kickoffs,
bringing back one 95 yards for a
12 l
UNK Today l Winter 2007
score against UNO. Carnahan
made 11 of 13 field goals and 40
of 41 extra points. He made one
field goal of 55 yards and another of 52.
Richards ranked third in the
RMAC in rushing (78.9) and
scored seven touchdowns.
Myrick led the RMAC with
eight TD catches despite missing the last three games with an
injury.
The Lopers six victories
came over Wayne State 31-7,
Fort Lewis 61-0, Western State
42-18, Adams State 56-34, New
Mexico Highlands 17-7 and
Western New Mexico 54-23.
All four losses came to teams
that qualified for post-season
play. Chadron State, who
defeated the Lopers 28-16 in a
nationally-televised game, and
UNO, who won 41-24, both finished the year undefeated and
were ranked second and third in
the final D-II regular season ratings. Mesa State, a 19-18 winner, compiled a 10-1 record and
also qualified in the D-II playoffs. The other loss came at
Colorado Mines, 28-20. Mines
played in the Dixie Rotary
Bowl. If you have an interest in Loper sports history, a book
recently published by history professor Dr. Mark Ellis is just
the ticket.
Dr. Ellis co-authored A Century of Sports at the University of
Nebraska at Kearney with graduate student Jordan Kuck ’05,
MA’07.
Dr. Ellis relied on a variety of sources including nearly
40,000 photographs collected by former sports information
director Don Briggs, old newspapers, Blue and Gold yearbooks and interviews with former coaches and athletes. Most
of what is in the book is pre-1970s.
“We wanted to focus on this historical development,” Dr.
Ellis said. “The school’s early years included so many outstanding athletes who have all but disappeared. A lot of these
guys deserve recognition.”
The books are available at the Antelope Book
Store for $19.59. Mention that you read about it in the
alumni magazine and receive 20 percent off.
1-800-865-8398
www.antelopebook.com
ALUMNI NEWS
all alumni events were
spread around the country with activities that
included a golf tournament,
luncheons, socials, football
watch parties and receptions.
The Association also hosted
December graduates at the
Alumni House for an event
called Operation Graduation.
The pizza party social provided
an opportunity to connect with
seniors before they leave campus.
Lincoln Lopers gathered for
a golf outing to raise money for
a scholarship. After just two
years, that scholarship fund has
raised more than $3,000.
Texas alumni met in the
Houston area. Hosts of this
year’s event were Carol Albers
and Joe Davenport.
Board member Christa
Boroff Spencer organized an
August social in Kansas City.
Guests were members of the
volleyball team who played in a
tournament at Rockhurst
University.
Association president Larry
Edwards hosted a reception in
Fort Collins for more than 40
alumni and friends. Board
member Larry Feather hosted
an event in Grand Junction in
conjunction with the Loper
football game against Mesa
State.
A first-time opportunity to
watch the football team on
national television provided
alumni opportunities to get
together around the country.
Spring semester events are
planned for Southern California
and Arizona in February,
Washington D.C. and Denver in
March and Northwest and
Northern California in April.
For information, contact the
alumni office or go to
www.unk.edu. F
GRAND JUNCTION: Darla Morris,
Amy Carlson and past Alumni Association
president Kent Holen at an evening social
prior to the UNK football game with
Mesa State. Darla and her husband, football coach Darrell Morris, were guests of
the event.
GRAND
JUNCTION:
Denny
Eschielman, Larry Feather and Phil Kozera
share stories at a reception, the first in
Grand Junction.
FORT COLLINS: Lynn Rundstrom, Logan Stickney, Jessie George, Dr. Ed
Scantling and Kyle George in Colorado. Dr. Scantling, dean of the College of
Education, was the special guest at the event.
INDIANA: A basketball exhibition game against Indiana State
provided an opportunity to
gather in Terra Haute. Coaching
staff members John Webber,
Adam Bennett, Kevin Lofton and
Tom Kropp with former Alumni
Association president John Ryan
(second from left) and Morrey
Hester (right).
Winter 2007 l UNK Today l 9
H OMECOMING N EWS
opers around the
World found just the
right
theme
for
Homecoming 2007 as the
campus was filled with a
week of activities for students, alumni and friends.
At the 28th annual
Homecoming awards banquet, five individuals
received awards from the
Alumni Association and
five people were inducted
into the Athletic Hall of
Fame.
R e c e i v i n g
Distinguished
Alumni
Awards were Dwayne
‘Butch’ Brown ’69, president and general manager
of Brown Transfer in
Kearney; Kevin Rader ’84,
a 12-time Emmy Awardwinning reporter with NBC
affiliate
WTHR
in
Indianapolis;
Judy
Henggeler Spohr ’63 of
Burbank, California, a
retired elementary teacher
with the Los Angeles
schools who has been recognized for her master
teaching; and Dr. Don Unger
’65, MSE’69, an educator and
civic leader who spent 40
years in education retiring as
superintendent of the Poudre
L
ni
Alum
on at the .
e
h
c
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s
r
me Lope ats and hot dog
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e pre-ga
b
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r
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for g
TAILGA traditional spot
a
is
House
CONVERSATION: More than 250 alumni and
friends took part in the Alumni Association’s
Loper Luncheon that featured food and conversation in the newly-remodeled California Room
of the Alumni House.
10 l
UNK Today l Winter 2007
f Fame
: Hall o
Y
L
I
M
A
F
ltz, her
LOPER im Vokolek Pe dren
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chil
inductee utch and their
gold.
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blue and
husband
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are deck
District in Fort Collins,
Colorado.
Jeff Stelling ’93 of
Kearney
received
the
Distinguished
Alumni
Service Award for his development of an artist-quality
saxophone that could be
played with one hand. The
creation provided music professor Dr. David Nabb with
the ability to continue his
playing and teaching career
after he suffered a stroke in
2000 that left him without the
use of most motor skills on
his left side.
FOUR athletes and a former coach were inducted into
the Athletic Hall of Fame.
Wayne Gappa ’66 was a
three-year defensive back
who earned all-conference
and NAIA All-American honors. The Kearney businessman has been a long-time
supporter of UNK athletics.
Ted Mills ’58 of Buffalo,
Wyoming, was a three-year
starting tackle who was allconference twice and a
Williamson Rating Service
All-American
honorable
mention selection. He also
was a successful high school
coach.
FRIENDS: Judy
Henggeler Spoh
r (second from
enjoyed Homecom
left)
ing banquet with
friends.
Kim Vokolek Peltz ’93 of
Lincoln was a four-year letter
winner in volleyball who set the
school record for kills with
1,526.
Gary Shubert ’62 was an AllAmerican in track and cross
country. He finished in the top
ten twice at the national meet in
cross country and had a second
and fourth place finish in the
steeplechase. He ran on two
relay teams that finished eight
nationally. He competed on
teams that finished in the top ten
nationally three times in cross
country and three times in track.
Baseball coach Guy Murray
joined the staff in 1972 and
spent 29 years as head baseball
coach. He owns the most wins
in UNK history with 614.
Phil Fahrlander MSE’68
received the Gary Thomas
Distinguished Music Award for
his distinguished career that
included 29 years as a teacher in
Minden. He served as president
of
the
Nebraska
State
Bandmasters Association and
has been a state-wide and community leader in the arts.
Dr. Timothy Neal ’75 was
honored by the Chemistry
Department as the 17th annual
Don Fox Lecturer. Dr. Neal,
who earned a Ph.D. from the
University of Utah is director of
F-18 radiochemistry research
with IBA Molecular in Sterling,
Virginia.
The Loper football team
treated more than 3,500 fans to
a 42-18 win over Western State.
Criss Salinas, a junior from
Schuyler, and Lea Schneider, a
senior from Grand Island were
crowned Homecoming king and
queen. Salinas is the director of
student organizations and affairs
with the student government, a
chancellor’s ambassador and the
recruitment chair for Sigma
Lambda
Beta
fraternity.
Schneider is president of Alpha
Phi sorority, a chancellor’s
ambassador and student enrollment leader. She has been a
member of the track team,
Order of Omega and
Panhellenic.
The crowning was part
of a Thursday night celebration that featured the popular lip sync competition
between campus groups.
More than 2,500 students
attended the event that was
won by a Martin Hall/Conrad
Hall/The Antelope. That combination also captured the student sweepstakes competition
among student organizations.
The week-long events for students were the limbo, banner,
spirit, trike race and lawn display float in addition to the lip
sync.
The always popular Loper
Luncheon tailgate sponsored by
the Alumni Association at the
Alumni House attracted more
than 250 following the
Homecoming parade that began
in downtown Kearney and
ended on campus. ctor Al
d athletic dire
an
h
ac
co
er
ubert
CTEES: Form
ctees Gary Sh
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m
NEW INDU
Fa
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Zikmund flank
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at th
and Ted Mills
HOMECOMING
NEWS
BOARD
Associati MEETING: T
o
h
Andy Ro n board of direc e annual meet
ing of
tors inclu
matzke,
the
Tammy H
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ayden, D ed this group se Alumni
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usty Ne
and Pres
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ureen N ton, Bryan Kun h
ickels.
tz,
d Lea
Salinas an wned
s
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:
o
Y
cr
ROYALT
were
een at
Schneider ing King and Qu during
Homecom r lip sync contest
RECRUIT: Distinguished
the popula.
Alum
k
ni Award recipient Kevin
e
e
w
e
th
Rader would like his 18-yearold daughter Ali to consider
UNK after high school graduation.
LIP SYN
zations p C: More than 2,5
2007 Ho articipated in an 00 students and v
“Lopers Amecoming royaltyevening of lip syncarious student or
ga
round the
c
c
World.” rowning with a thompetition and thnieme that
e
reflected
Winter 2007 l UNK Today l
11
UNK TODAY
University of Nebraska at Kearney
Alumni Association
Kearney, NE 68849-6120
MONA Gallery
SLEDS
SLEIGHS
THE SATURDAY EVENING POST
JOHN FALTER (DECEMBER 21, 1971)
AND
magazine cover
Museum of Nebraska Art Collection
Gift of Tom & Peg Pollard
he poetess Dame Edith
Sitwell once said,
“Winter is the time for
comfort – it is the time for
home.”
For many of us, the sentiment of “home” is most clearly
reflected in the endearing memories that we have of the careless joys of our youth. For some,
there are no fonder memories
than those of Midwestern
snows.
Sleds and Sleighs celebrates
the grand theme of winter fun by
bringing together artwork featuring all manners of cold
weather diversions. Sleds,
sleighs, skates, snowballs, and
snow angels bring cheer to this
seasonal exhibition featuring
works by Terence Duren, John
Falter, Aaron Pyle, and Grant
Reynard.
At the center of the exhibition is MONA’s own original
cover illustration for The
Saturday Evening Post. The
Winter 1971 cover is the last by
John Falter – his 128th for the
magazine.
Within the illustration, one
T
PAID
NON-PROFIT
U.S. POSTAGE
PERMIT NO. 14
KEARNEY, NE 68847
can find a number of activities
to be enjoyed on a mid-week
snow day. Nestled in the deep
panoramic scene, children happily set forth in a winter wonderland with skates and the hint
of a sled.
A frozen lake is laden with
skaters and hockey players, and
a single horse and rider blaze a
snowy trail.
A horse-drawn hayride provides marked contrast to the
weary snowplow struggling
querulously to clear the
way…perhaps for a school bus.
Nonetheless, the day is
meant for fun. Tomorrow is but
a cloud on the horizon.
Travel “home” this season by
visiting Sled and Sleighs at
MONA. We’re waiting for you!
The exhibition is on view
until January 6, 2008.
MONA is the official art collection of the State of Nebraska.
The Museum is located at 2401
Central Avenue and open to the
public
Tuesday
through
Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.,
and closed major holidays.