uno magazine fall 2012
DESCRIPTION
Flagship publication fo the University of Nebraska at OmahaTRANSCRIPT
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ArlAn’s BArBer shop
The AfTernoon
BlAck oAk Grill
Brix
cAllAhAn finAnciAl plAnninG
cAnTinA lAredo
cold sTone creAmeryrocky mounTAin chocolATe
crAVe
dÉlice europeAn BAkery
definiTiVe Vision
fAshion cleAners
Glo lounGe
The Grey plume
inGredienT
lenny’s suB shop
mArcus midTown cinemA
nT nAils
pAnA 88
pArmidA home
prAirie life fiTness
sAinTs puB + pATio
Three doG BAkery
Tru sAlon & spA
elemenT By wesTin
wohlner’s neiGhBorhood Grocery & deli
Z-wireless
Living in Omaha means access to the best in culture, athletics, art and entertainment. Living at Midtown Crossing means more sophistication, more fun and less fuss.
Midtown Crossing offers a vibrant mix of exclusive, four-star restaurants; the best in outdoor, community-focused events; unsurpassed, local bakeries and grocers; a five-screen cinema with in-seat dining and more.
www.midtowncrossing.com
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CREDITS 10 Philanthropy Matters
14 Partners
Managing Editor Anthony Flott
associatE Editors Jennifer Arnold, Tim Kaldahl
art dirEction Emspace Group
covEr illustration Linda Huber Graphite on paper
contributors Dave Ahlers, Noelle Blood, Becky Bohan Brown, Sarah Casey, Nancy Castilow, Rick Davis, Tim Fitzgerald, Colleen Kenney Fleischer, Eric Francis, Joel Gehringer, Greg Kozol, Nate Pohlen, Lori Rice, Charley Reed, Bonnie Ryan, Kara Schweiss, Hanan Shafir, Terry Stickels, Kevin Warneke, Jenna Zeorian.
UNO Magazine is published three times a year by the University of Nebraska at Omaha, the UNO Alumni Association and the University of Nebraska Foundation.
Direct editorial inquiries to Managing Editor UNO Alumni Association 6705 Dodge St., Omaha, NE 68182-0010 Phone: (402) 554-2444 Toll-free: UNO-MAV-ALUM Fax: (402) 554-3787 Email: [email protected]
Send all changes of address to attention of Records or visit www.unoalumni.org/records
Fall 2012www.unoaluMni.org/unoMag
vol. 3, no. 3
AlumniAssociation
50CLASS NOTES
LetterfromtheChancellor
Views expressed within this magazine do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the University of Nebraska at Omaha, the UNO Alumni Association or the NU Foundation.
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GettoKnow
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Athletics
Foodies
FaithandFood
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FoodFight
TongueTwisting
Freshman
DealHunters
ForFun
Sights&Sounds
The rising cost of groceries is pinching pocketbooks
UNO is no culinary institute, yet finding graduate
“foodies” proved easy as pie
UNO Professor Suzanne Sollars researches the science of taste
Nourishing our body, soul and religious heritage, food plays a central role in most religions
TheColleges
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FROM THE CHAnCELLOR
Dear alumni and friends:The subjecT of This issue’s UNO Magazine is one near and dear to the hearts of us all — food.
food has the power to comfort us, evoke memories of childhood, bring folks together, celebrate secular and religious holidays, and even inspire us as we create a new recipe for family and friends.
The heartland’s plentiful food supply reminds us of how fortunate we are to live in a region and community where food is more than merely sustenance, where we have the luxury of food as an important component of our Midwestern culture and social fabric.
as another fall semester commences, it is easy to draw comparisons between food’s nourishment of the body and education’s feeding of the mind and soul. like the air we breathe, both satisfy a basic human need. but beyond this most fundamental quality, both have the power to enrich our lives, expand our horizons and help us live life more fully.
like food, education brings people together to share their thoughts and experiences; both can lead us down a path of discovery and create memories to last a lifetime.
feeding the mind is uNo’s mission, and i am proud of the way faculty and staff invite everyone to the table, every day, for a feast of new ideas, a heaping portion of knowledge and seconds on building a better future.
We invite you, too, our alumni, to come back often to see “what’s cookin’’ at your alma mater.
i guarantee you won’t leave hungry.
until next time,
chancellor john e. christensen
A SCARRY COVERGreat job on the latest issue of UNO Magazine. I went out and bought two Richard Scarry books for the kids: “What People Do All Day” and “The Best Word Book Ever.” After looking through them I can remember looking at these books over and over as a kid. This was a really great concept.
Ryan Stowe, ’00Omaha
FIRST-TIME FLATTERYI recently received my first copy of UNO Magazine, and I feel compelled to share my positive impressions. The cover illustration was wonderful, and the vast majority of the articles were interesting and many contained very useful information. Keep up the good work!
Johan Windmuller, ’12 Blair, Neb.
PRIDE & PREJUDICELove the Summer 2012 UNO Magazine. The Scarry style used is fun, interesting and unique. Plus, the magazine is very informative and inspiring. Bottom line: The magazine makes me feel honored and proud to be a UNO Mav alumni!
Vincent J. Leinen, ’79 Reseda, Calif.
LETTERS TO THE EDITORReader feedback is key to making UNO Magazine among the best university publications in the country. Write us about the magazine, the university, or suggest a story. Letters must include the writer’s first and last names, address and phone number and may be edited for taste, accuracy, clarity and length. www.unoalumni.org/unomag-led
on summer 2012 THE MAG & MEMORIESThank you for your Summer 2012 cover (ala Richard Scarry). They stirred warm memories of my own
“busy” reading with our son and daughter and, later, grandchildren.
This issue also prompts me to salute the Alumni Association Board members of 1953. Those dedicated women and men undertook three pretty
“scary” actions that year:
• They surrendered the Alumni Association’s only source of income by abolishing dues-paying memberships;
• They stepped into an unknown territory by declaring all future students (graduates or not) to be members of the Association; and,
• They risked their personal reputations by publicly announcing an “Annual Fund” campaign.
We have reached 60 years now of broadening and deepening our services to faculty, staff, students and alumni! Let’s give thanks.
Rev. Tom Townsend, ’51 Alumni Association Executive Secretary, 1952-55 West Bend, Wis.
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FROM THE EDITOR
Sara Sabaliauskas Class of 2013 Master of Public Administration Student Government Graduate Class Senator
UNO graduate degrees in Public Administration:
Master of Public Administration (on campus or online)
Master of Public Administration-Master of Science in Management Information Systems (dual degree)
Master of Public Administration-Master of Social Work (dual degree)
Master of Science in Urban Studies
Doctor of Philosophy in Public Administration
Certificate in Public Management
Did you know?
•According to U.S. News & World Report, UNO’s Master of Public Administration program is ranked in the top 15% in the country.
•The Public Administration program is the only accredited master’s program in Nebraska by NASPAA, the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration.
•Twenty-five percent of UNO’s School of Public Administration faculty are fellows in the prestigious National Academy of Public Administration.
•Faculty are recognized national leaders in the field of public administration.
cpacs.unomaha.edu | facebook.com/unospa | 402-554-2625
CONNECT WITH WHAT’S NEXTIN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION.
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FROM THE EDITOR
Your Home for the HolidaysFREE ROOM RENTAL
When you host your holiday party at the Thompson Center
www.thethompsoncenter.org 402-554-3368
TheThompson Center
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ALUMnI ASSOCIATIOn
Food for Thought about Monthly GiftssusTeNaNce — all bodies need it. it’s the everyday fuel that helps us grow,
gives us strength and powers our activities and accomplishments day in and
day out.
just as food sustains the human body, gifts to the uNo annual fund sustain
the alumni and student bodies in their daily pursuits of education and profes-
sional achievement.
and just as our need for vitamins and nutrients is constant, the uNo annual
fund uses alumni gifts daily to support programs and activities for our alumni
and, ultimately, scholarships for our students.
Mark swanson (‘10) understands this continuing need for support — his
lasting experiences with the uNo Writer’s Workshop in the college of
communication, fine arts and Media encouraged him to enroll in the annual
fund’s monthly giving program.
“The monthly giving plan allows me to spread my donation out over the year,”
swanson says. “it is easy to psych yourself out of giving once, all at once.
Maybe i cannot afford to write a $100 check for the annual fund at one given
point in time, but i can afford, say, $10 a month, making a realized donation of
$120 over the year.”
for many alumni, monthly giving is the best way to make a significant impact
in the lives of other alumni and current students. for a monthly gift equal to
the price of a pizza delivery or a night at a local restaurant, alumni can make a
generous contribution to advancing uNo over the course of a year.
uNo and the alumni association have been going through quite a growth
spurt over the past decade, and just like any growing body, it’s the cumulative
effect of a sustained and healthy diet (whether calories or monthly gifts) that
promotes strength and ability.
Patricia Kizlin burton (’64) said she’s most proud of giving to the annual fund
because she likes to support uNo students in their daily education.
“i’ve always contributed to the annual fund,” she says, ‘but i decided this year
to give monthly because it’s easier than writing a check at the end of the year.
and i’m giving more in the long run.”
When we support our students and other alumni through monthly giving to
the uNo annual fund, we fortify and strengthen uNo and its students today
for a bright and healthy tomorrow.
To make your monthly gift, see the envelope in the center of this magazine, or
go online to www.unoalumni.org/give.
“it is easy to do and every bit can help,” swanson says. “it is a great way to give
back to the university and stay in touch with uNo.”
— Katey Wennekamp, University of Nebraska Foundation
Foundation Welcomes New Director of Annual Campaigns
Mark your calendars to join fellow grads and their families at the 10th annual UNO Alumni Night on the Ice Saturday, March 2. Get ready for the Mavs’ final regular season game, against the University of Wisconsin. The fun will include a buffet reception at CenturyLink Center, door prizes, great Lower Bowl seating and more.
More information will be available in the Spring 2013 UNO Magazine and online at www.unoalumni.org. For more information call Elizabeth Kraemer at 402-554-4802 or email [email protected]
Mark the nIGHT
The University of Nebraska Foundation welcomes Joel Gehringer as its new director of Annual Campaigns in the Omaha office.
Gehringer will be responsible for planning and implementing all annual giving efforts for UNO and UNMC, including raising funds for the UNO Alumni Association and the UNO Annual Fund. He began work at the Omaha office July 9.
A native of Omaha, Gehringer holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a master’s degree in social sciences from the University of Chicago. He has previous annual giving experience as the direct mail coordinator for Creighton University, and he gained direct mail and marketing experience as marketing assistant at the Lied Center for Performing Arts in Lincoln.
“I am thrilled to be a part of the foundation and to be working with the UNO Alumni Association,” Gehringer says. “The University of Nebraska has played a transformative role in my life, and UNO has had a major impact in the lives of my family members and friends. I am proud to be doing my part to support the Alumni Association and to raise the profile of UNO and its alumni.”
Gehringer can be reached at 402-502-4924 or [email protected].
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ALUMnI ASSOCIATIOn
start for scholarsThe uNo aluMNi associaTioN welcomed its fifth class of uNo alumni scholars at the start of the fall semester. four students received uNo alumni association scholarships, awarded to graduating high school seniors who have demonstrated leadership and involvement during high school.
Recipients also must have a minimum acT composite score of 24 and either rank in the top 25 percent of their class or have a minimum cumulative GPa of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale. The $2,500 annual scholarships are renewable for up to four years total.
Receiving 2012 uNo alumni association scholarships (pictured, from left): Renae seipel, Ravenwood, Mo.; adam heier, Kenesaw, Neb.; Robinn Qasimyar, omaha; and Matthew ehlinger, omaha. The uNo alumni association now is supporting 16 uNo alumni scholars at a total of $37,500.
bios of the four recipients and other uNo alumni scholars are available at www.unoalumni.org/scholarships
NOTHING’S GETTING OLD about the recognition the UNO Young Alumni Academy is receiving.
In June CASE’s International Circle of Excellence awards program recognized the academy with a Silver Award for New Program Initiatives — the top award in its category and the association’s first-ever International Circle of Excellence honor.
CASE — The Council for Advancement and Support of Education — is one of the largest international associations of education institutions, serving more than 3,400 universities, colleges, schools and related organizations in 74 countries. The International Circle of Excellence awards program recognizes outstanding work in advancement services, alumni relations, communications, fundraising and marketing as judged by peer professionals at schools, colleges and universities as well as by professionals from outside education.
The UNO Young Alumni Academy was founded in 2010 to facilitate networking and professional growth among alumni under 40.
“We embrace innovation as one of our core values, which gives our team the freedom to explore new and creative ideas,” says Lee Denker, president and CEO of the UNO Alumni Association. “I’m so proud of our staff and dedicated volunteers who were willing to try something different and are generating high praise for UNO.”
In January the Academy was one of three alumni programs to receive an award during the CASE District VI Conference in Denver, winning a gold award for special group programming. Denker and Elizabeth Kraemer, alumni programs coordinator and manager of the academy, were invited to give a presentation on the academy to other alumni professionals at the conference.
More than 60 young alumni have participated in the academy in its two years, getting an insider’s view into the administration of UNO. Sessions are held at unique locations on and off campus, and UNO leaders address members on topics such as athletics management, student focus and community engagement.
The third UNO Young Alumni Academy begins Oct. 25. See more at www.unoalumni.org/unoyoungalumni
Young alumni academy recognized with international award
PartnErshiPsCreditThe UNO Alumni Association has partnered with Capital One to offer members a wide range of credit card choices. Please visit the UNO Alumni Association at www.unoalumni.com/card for more information.
InsuranceAre you in need of home, life, auto, health or life insurance? The UNO Alumni Association offers graduates insurance for these and other needs at discounted rates. See all the coverage available at www.unoalumni.org/insurance.
TravelThe UNO Alumni Association is pleased to announce discounted travel opportunities for alumni through a new partnership with travel provider Go Next! Join fellow graduates on one of these three cruises in 2013:
• Antebellum South, New Orleans to Memphis, April 19-28, 2013
• European Mosaic, Rome to Lisbon, June 5–13• Mediterranean Inspiration, Rome to Venice,
Oct. 18–29, 2013
For more information, visit www.unoalumni.org/travel. To receive a brochure, call the association toll-free at UNO-MAV-ALUM (866-628-2586).
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ALUMnI ASSOCIATIOn
MARK YOUR CALENDAR for an expanded UNO Homecoming 2012 — so big it will be held on two days!
The fun begins Friday, Nov. 9, when the university celebrates UNO basketball’s inaugural game at the new Ralston Arena (see story page 24).
The UNO Alumni Association will host a Homecoming Tailgate Party in the arena beginning at 5:30 p.m. and lasting until tip off. The first 400 people at the tailgate will receive FREE food (hotdog, chips and pop)!
A game ticket is required for entry to the tailgate. UNO Athletics is offering a limited number of $5 tickets for the game. Call 554-2001 or visit OmahasTeam.com for more information.
Tailgate activities will include balloon creations from the Balloon Brigade, performances from UNO Cheerleaders and other fun games and activities.
The Division I Mavs will play Northern Illinois University at 7 p.m. The Huskies are members of the Mid-American Conference.
On Saturday, Nov. 10, UNO Homecoming 2012 hits the ice for a Maverick hockey game against 2011 national champion Minnesota–Duluth at the CenturyLink Center.
“Our 2012 Homecoming events will bring the celebration of UNO to different areas of Omaha, from campus to the new Ralston Arena and downtown,” says Lee Denker, UNO Alumni Association president. “It will be an exciting time for alumni, students and fans to begin a new era of UNO basketball while also supporting the Mav hockey team.
UNO’s on-campus homecoming traditions include a lively parade, an office decorating contest and crowning of a king and queen. More information will be provided soon to graduates in emails and online at www. unoalumni.org/homecoming.
Contact Elizabeth Kraemer with questions: 402-554-4802 or [email protected]
New Home, New HomecomingJoin us at 2012 UNO Homecoming Nov. 9 &10!
Proof there’s no one “bored” at UNO Alumni Association board meetings … members of the 2012-13 UNO Alumni Association Board of Directors donned official UNO Alumni Shades at their first quarterly meeting. Association staff and volunteers also gave glasses to more than 3,100 students during 2012 Welcome Week.
Front row: Laurie Ruge, Devin Bertelsen (student president/regent), Larry Gomez, Laura Kapustka, Sarah Waldman. Middle: Chuck Holderness, Brandon Steenson, Chris Denney, Shari Munro, Susie Melliger, Andy Rikkli, Garrett Anderson (chairman). Back: Jamie Hebert, Steven Schmitz, Allen Hansen, Lee Denker (president & CEO), David Craft, Chancellor John Christensen, Scott Durbin.
See the full board lineup at www.unoalumni.org/board
board, not bored
a successful swing33rd Scholarship Swing nets $40,000
The uNo alumni association hosted the uNo chancellor’s scholarship swing Monday, sept. 10, at Tiburon Golf club, netting more than $40,000 in its largest single fundraising event of the year.
The association now has raised more than $750,000 since it began hosting the swing 17 years ago. almost 120 golfers and 50 sponsors participated in the tournament. The money raised supports various associ-ation-sponsored student scholarships.
uNo graduates David craft (’90, ’92) and scott Durbin (’84) chaired the committee that oversees the tournament’s organiza-tion. other committee members included blake edwards (’99), Rochelle eigsti, larry Gomez (’71), Mack laRock (’01), Rob Randels (’91), jacob Rehder (’03), and steven schmitz (’95).
among the scholarships the swing sup-ports are four uNo alumni association scholarships, $2,500/year grants to gradu-ating high school seniors who have demon-strated leadership and involvement during high school. uNo alumni scholars were at the tournament to thank swing sponsors and participants.
Pictured from left to right: Scott Durbin, Chancellor John Christensen, David Kraft, Alumni Association President Lee Denker.
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PHILAnTHROPY MATTERS
summerworksBy Colleen Kenney Fleischer
The TeeN looKeD scaReD.
he walked up to the director of uNo’s summerWorks program and confessed.
i really didn’t mean to do it.
he’d been trying to make some rap music, he told her, and was tapping on a window at elmwood Park’s old pavilion. Tapping out the beat.
he thought he was doing it gently, but the glass cracked.
The teen was one of the young participants last year in summerWorks, an employment academy for omaha-area youth 15 to 18 years old. like all of the kids in the program, this job was his first. like all of the kids, he was trying to learn how to be a good employee and to be part of a team and to be responsible.
he and the others were making $7.25 an hour pulling weeds, planting trees, painting and fixing things in parks and other public places. Making the city more beautiful.
he figured the money to replace the window would come out of his paycheck, but he was oK with that.
he looked surprised by what “Miss Kathe,” the summerWorks director, told him.
“i listened to him and i said, ‘You know, what was really important is that you were honest, and you learned that honesty really is an important trait in the workplace,’” recalls uNo Professor Kathe oleson lyons.
“and we used his story as a wonderful model for the rest of the group.”
The kids work Monday through Thursday. They get free breakfast, lunch, snacks and transportation. They get matching green T-shirts.
each friday they spend the day learning about the community. This summer, field trips included the old Market, joslyn art Museum and the county courthouse.
You can’t be part of the program, oleson lyons says, and not be changed — either as a participant or a supervisor.
she’s seen that change on the faces of the young participants. They begin the summer somewhat naïve and nervous. They grow confident.
“You can see it in their walk and you can see it in their articulation of who they are, what they’re about in their work that they’re doing.”
one of this summer’s participants, syranda Poole, says summerWorks changed her. she says she came into the program “on the immature side.”
“Thank you guys so much for letting all these kids get the opportunity, because a lot of people come from very low-income families, and the neighborhood that we’re in now — it’s keeping a lot of people out of trouble,” Poole says. “a lot of lives are actually being saved. i had three friends die in the last two years, so thank you guys so much …
“it’s a miracle that you guys are doing this.”
summerWorks changed jamar smith:
“before, i wasn’t really big on working with people. but then i met my team leader, Mr. Morgan, and i learned that you have to do that to make it through a lot of things — not just this program, but in life, you have to get to know people.”
Sponsoring the program was a natural fit for us – to serve the
needs of our community, to serve our youth, to serve our families
and our neighborhoods...
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PHILAnTHROPY MATTERS
learning about the cutting-edge research taking place at NBCF under the direction of Professor Nick Stergiou.
“I’ll never forget the first time I met Dr. Stergiou and heard about his amazing research,” Ruth Scott says. “He and his staff are improving the lives of people of all
ages throughout the world, and it’s incredibly inspiring.”
The work done at NBCF has impacted patients affected by movement-related difficulties. Research has led to new treatments for people who have problems moving due to aging or stroke or diseases like Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis. It also has led to earlier interventions for babies with cerebral palsy and has helped teach astronauts how to walk normally again after long stints in space.
“This is a tremendous gift to science, to biomechanics and the future of the state of Nebraska through the extraordinary generosity of the Ruth and Bill Scott family,” Stergiou says. “This is the first building dedicated to this type of research in the entire world and clearly demonstrates that our state and our community take science very seriously.”
summerworks
SUMMERWORKS AND OTHER PROGRAMS of the Student-Community Leadership and Service Department will have a new home when UNO’s Community Engagement Center opens in 2014.
The department will join UNO’s Service Learning Academy, Brennan Labor Institute and the Civic Participation Project in addition to several local nonprofit organizations in the 60,000-square-foot facility. It will be located west of the College of Public Affairs and Community Service building and south of the Criss Library.
On Oct. 24, campus will officially break ground for the $24 million facility during a ceremony to recognize the project’s lead donors: The Weitz Family Foundation, the Ruth and Bill Scott Family and Union Pacific.
“Union Pacific has made a significant investment in this project as it will be a centralized resource to the Omaha community and especially to all the nonprofit organizations that will gain value and support in
strengthening their services,” says Jim Young, chairman of the board, Union Pacific and a 1978 UNO graduate. “In addition, UNO students will gain leadership insights and a keen sense of civic responsibility as they become the next generation of leaders in our community.”
The Community Engagement Center will serve as a living laboratory for effective community engagement by providing a defined space to strengthen existing and develop new research, outreach and learning initiatives.
This student/community resource center will offer offices for nonprofits, learning spaces, collaborative work and meeting rooms — areas to support the university’s engagement and work with community partners and the public. It will create a single place of contact for students, students groups and other potential volunteers and the organizations that seek them.
For more information, contact Renee Reding at 402-502-4119 or [email protected].
summerWorks completed its second year this summer. it’s made possible by the generosity of a group of local donors and is organized through uNo’s student-community leadership and service department.
“a lot of people ask why we are doing this,” says oleson lyons, who’s head of that department. “uNo is a metropolitan university — the only one in the state of Nebraska. and part of our mission is about community stewardship and community engagement.
“sponsoring the program was a natural fit for us — to serve the needs of our community, to serve our youth, to serve our families and our neighborhoods, as well as to build a model program that will hopefully in a few years we can share with other cities across the nation.”
Community Engagement is one of the top campaign priorities for UnO. If you would like to help its Student-Community Leadership and Service Department – and its programs like SummerWorks –contact the University of nebraska Foundation’s Renee Reding at 402-502-4119.
RESEARCHERS AT UNO’S Nebraska Biomechanics Core Facility (NBCF) know a bit about movement. After all, UNO is a world leader in the field of biomechanics — the study of human movement and the forces that produce it.
Late next summer the NBCF staff will make a move of its own into the new Biomechanics Research Building — the first building of its kind anywhere.
On Oct. 24, UNO will break ground for the research building, funded entirely through private support. The 23,000-square-foot facility will be located just east of UNO’s Health, Physical Education and Recreation (HPER) Building.
Omahans Ruth and Bill Scott, longtime supporters of UNO and the Omaha community, made the lead gift to the Biomechanics Research Building project after
Moving on
breaking ground
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PHILAnTHROPY MATTERS
All statistics as of July 31, 2012. The Campaign for Nebraska began in July 2005 and will conclude December 2014.
UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA AT OMAHA
Private support transforms opportunitiesWith the construction of UNO’s new Biomechanics Research Building, funding is needed to equip the facility to a standard that will match its potential. Currently UNO seeks to raise $2 million for the Nebraska Biomechanics Core Facility (NBCF) in key areas:
•Equipment and technology that will support groundbreaking discoveries in biomechanics.
•Recruit and retain outstanding faculty researchers who will advance key biomechanics research.
•Support for patients to participate in innovative clinical trials.
UNO is a world leader in biomechanics, the study of human movement and the forces that produce it. The work of the NBCF staff already has impacted patients of all ages. With the new building, equipment and additional personnel, the opportunities will expand tremendously.
To learn more, contact Nicole Massara at 402-502-4105 or [email protected].
campaignfornebraska.org/uno
of UNO campaign gifts are from Nebraska households/organizations.
new funds have been established during the campaign to support UNO.
478UNO CAMPAIGN PRIORITIES
• Building the educated workforce of tomorrow.
• Engaging our community.
• Enriching campus and community life.
The Campaign for Nebraska is a four-campus fundraising campaign benefiting the University of Nebraska.
9,734individuals have made donations
to UNO during the campaign.of UNO students apply for
financial assistance.
80%56%of UNO donors have donated
for the first time during the campaign.
90%
Amount Raised Toward $150 Million Campaign Goal2005 2014$162,029,379
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PHILAnTHROPY MATTERS
Foundation names new cEo
conagra scholarship program helps feed students’ minds
if bRiaN hasTiNGs has ever demanded “more cowbell!” — well, he’s about to hear it.
as the university of Nebraska foundation’s newly named president and ceo, hastings assumed his role in early fall and has begun acclimating himself with the four university of Nebraska campuses and cultures.
and, yes, that includes uNo and the Maverick cowbell.
hastings, a self-proclaimed hockey fan, was named to the position in july by the foundation’s board of directors. he most recently served as executive director of The ohio state university’s $2.5 billion fundraising campaign, in addition to his duties as senior associate vice president at the university.
To the foundation, he brings more than two decades of experience in higher education fundraising, along with strong expertise in implementing university-wide advancement strategies.
To Nebraska, he brings his wife, sharon, their two young children and an eager-ness for the opportunity to work with the outstanding foundation staff in ser-vice to the university and the citizens of Nebraska.
“i was impressed with the great accom-plishments occurring on each of the four campuses, inspired by the leadership and commitment of the volunteers, and warmed by the incredible sense of pride exhibited by everyone,” hastings says. “i look forward to working with alumni, friends, faculty and staff in realizing the unlimited possibilities that lie ahead in the campaign for Nebraska and beyond.”
The University of nebraska Foundation is an independent, nonprofit organization that has connected donors to the mission of the university for more than 75 years. The foundation’s current fundraising initiative, the Campaign for nebraska: Unlimited Possibilities, concludes in 2014. Gifts to the campaign currently exceed $1.2 billion.
What does the college of information science and Technology (is&T) have to do with Marie callender’s frozen pot pies? While a pot pie has probably fed a hungry college student a time or two, the real con-nection is conagra foods, one of North america’s leading food companies.
conagra, which owns brands found in 97 percent of america’s households — includ-ing Marie callender’s — and is headquar-tered in omaha, made a gift in 2011 to the university of Nebraska foundation to create the uNo conagra foods iT scholarship program for students in the college of is&T. The first two scholarships were awarded that year.
The scholarships are worth $2,500 each and are awarded annually to two freshman in the college who have a minimum acT score of 28. The students also must have evidence of prior or current community involvement and leadership potential.
“The conagra foods iT scholarship at uNo is part of an overall strategic relationship with the college of information systems and Technology,” says Gerrit schutte, senior vice president and chief information officer of conagra. “it enables a four-way win for stu-dents, the university, the omaha community and our company. We are proud to sponsor the program, which helps is&T to both draw and retain highly talented students.”
The scholarship allows the college to recruit and retain the best and brightest under-graduate students who are either financially disadvantaged or would not have attended uNo due to competitive offers from oth-ers universities, says Professor Deepak Khazanchi, is&T’s associate dean for aca-demic affairs.
“our partnership with conagra and other businesses in the omaha metro area is cre-ating opportunities for students to study at is&T and subsequently work in omaha as interns and employees,” he says.
Brian Hastings, University of Nebraska Foundation’s newly named president and CEO.
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PARTnERS
IT’S OFTEN SAID THAT FOOD BRINGS PEOPLE TOGETHER. A recent partnership between UNO, Blackburn Alternative Program and the Adams Park Community Center is showing how powerful those bonds can be.
Food for Thought, organized through UNO’s Service Learning Academy P-16 Initiative, brings culinary students from Blackburn to provide meals for seniors who gather at Adams Park, located in northeast Omaha. UNO’s P-16 Initiative, a partner of Omaha’s Building Bright Futures program, connects course-learning outcomes of K-12 and university students with community needs.
Food for Thought was created during a service-learning seminar at UNO in 2010 when Lyn Holley, associate professor of gerontology, learned that the decades-old Near North Omaha Senior Center would be closing its doors.
“I was attending the seminar and bragging about how great the
service-learning opportunities were with these people, for our students,” Holley says. “I was up in front of this group and was asked to take this call and it was one of the members of the senior center who let me know that they had just been notified that their center was going to be closed. I came back to the podium and everyone could see I was really upset.”
Seniors began using the Adams Park Community Center near 30th and Bedford Streets in North Omaha. That location, though, lacked a food program.
“We were at the seminar and heard Lyn tell this story,” says Cathy Nelson, a teacher at Blackburn. “We realized that we had all of the elements [for a service-learning project] with our culinary students, Lyn’s gerontology students and the Service Learning Academy.”
An agreement was reached among the three groups in which, starting with the fall 2010 semester, students from Blackburn would apply culinary lessons they had learned in class to serving a weekly meal for seniors at Adams Park. It was a community with whom Nelson says many of her students were unfamiliar.
“Many of our students have not been exposed to healthy senior citizens engaging in positive activities,” she says. “Doing so helps them see beyond their adolescence into their own adulthood, because some of the students we work with don’t see into their own adulthood.”
As time went on, the students became closer to the seniors and began adjusting their meals to account for individual dietary needs.
“[The seniors] really opened up their fellowship,” P-16 Coordinator Julie Dierberger says. “And one of the things I thought was fascinating was that the students began talking about how they were going to develop the program.”
Part of that development came that Thanksgiving when the students invited the seniors to Blackburn for a traditional holiday meal.
“We had no idea if anyone would come, but more than 60 people came,” Nelson says. “It was good for the kids, it was good for the seniors and it was good for the school. It was a win-win-win situation.”
The second year into the project, UNO’s gerontology students followed Blackburn’s lead and produced a special Thanksgiving celebration for the seniors.
“They raised their own money and got their families involved so they could give this meal to the seniors,” Holley says. “That intergenerational bonding is key to keeping our society together.”
In June, the program received the ServeNebraska Outstanding Community Partnership in Education award. After presenting the award, Nebraska First Lady Sally Ganem visited Adams Park to see the impact the project had made in just two years.
Plans for the third-year include the culinary students bringing physical education classes to Adams Park so they can supplement their healthy cooking with healthy activity for the seniors.
“These people have come together in the all the right quantities and have created something that we never knew would have this impact but just continues on,” Dierberger says.
Nelson agrees, especially for her students.
“When your experience with school has been that you’re the kid that gets in trouble, for someone to look at you and see that those behaviors can be transformed into leadership skills, it gives you a new lease on life.”
— Charley Reed, University Relations
Food and FellowshipFood For Thought service-learning project earns community partnership award
Partner with UnO. Call Associate Editor Tim Kaldahl at 402-554-3502 with your ideas!
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THE COLLEGES
REbECCA MORRIS A Full PlateBeer, candy, french fries and pork stomachs.
Not the healthiest of combinations, perhaps. But it’s a lineup Rebecca Morris is proud to put on her resume.
Morris, a professor of marketing and management for UNO’s College of Business, regularly supervises international consulting projects for students in UNO’s Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) program. She’s also supervised spring semester study abroad programs CBA in Ireland (for 10 years) and CBA in Costa Rica.
That’s meant guiding UNO graduate and undergraduate students on tours of manufacturing facilities dealing with brewing and confection (Lithuania), frozen potatoes (Indian), bananas (Costa Rica), corn (Hungary), pasta (German), popcorn (UK) and, everyone’s favorite, pork stomachs (China).
She’s also overseen student work on food-related marketing plans, including packaging design, product names and pricing strategies.
“Our EMBA projects are designed to help firms determine the feasibility of market expansion into new global markets,” Morris says. “We have had great success with companies adopting our recommendations, and students feel that their contributions have benefitted many people as well as the sponsoring firm.” — B. B. B.
AVERY MAzOR The Real ThingWhen Assistant Professor Avery Mazor and his graphic design students began re-thinking UNO’s graduation ceremony program two years ago, they went big — photos of students and campus, an easy-to-follow format, and strong use of spot color to highlight text and information.
That includes the color Mazor calls “Coca-Cola red.”
He should know.
Prior to teaching at UNO, Mazor had served as a website art director and done other graphic design work for the giant soda maker.
“I was continuously updating and redesigning Coca-Cola Company’s proprietary online knowledge base of brand and marketing research and best-practices for about two years,” Mazor says. “I inherited the site, and it wasn’t the most glamorous of design projects, but it certainly was one of the most interesting.”
Last year, Mazor’s students did work for another massive food company — ConAgra.
“We worked with the Healthy Choice brand. I can’t tell you the details, but suffice to say we learned a lot about food and food science along the way.
“It was great to bring students into the design process at such a high level.” — T. K.
bIRUD SInDHAV Saying ‘I Do’ at KFCCelebrating nuptials at Kentucky Friend Chicken?
That’s finger lickin’ good in Asia.
“In China, the first KFC was a place that wealthy people booked to get married there,” says Birud Sindhav, an associate professor of marketing and management for UNO’s College of Business Administration. There he teaches courses such as Basic Marketing, Marketing Research, and Marketing and Technology and Doing Business in China.
And, occasionally, he gives his class a taste of home — India.
“My students are surprised when I tell them that in my hometown, when Pizza Hut opened, many used to dress up in a suit and tie while going there for a dinner,” he says.
Sindhav can talk turkey — and other foods — with expertise. In his native India he was a senior marketing executive for three years with Amul, that country’s largest food enterprise. He was second in command of the $33-million profit center that piloted a way to deliver liquid milk throughout the country.
So why do Asians get so fancy for fast food?
They are, he says, a place to relish an “American experience.” — S. C.
KAREn DWYER nuclear OptionKaren Dwyer’s students know she’s ahead of her time. She’s always been that way — even before becoming a professor of communication in UNO’s College of Communications, Fine Arts and Media.
Dwyer worked her way through graduate school at UNO by promoting Sharp microwaves in the late 1980s. Believing that microwaves were the future of food preparation, Dwyer converted all her favorite recipes to make them microwave-ready. Later, she even wrote three microwave-based cookbooks: Easy Livin’ Microwave Cooking, Easy Livin’ Low-Calorie Microwave Cooking, and, her favorite, Easy Livin’ Microwave Cooking for the Holidays.”
Dwyer, also assistant director of the School of Communication, today teaches courses including Communication Training and Development, Communication Teamwork and Facilitation, and Instruction Communication.
She’s gone from writing cookbooks to textbooks for her speech communication courses.
“My emphasis is preparing people to go out into the field and be speakers, or communicators in instruction settings, or corporate trainers,” Dwyer says.
Now she’s cookin’. — S. C.
Continued on Page 16
Rebecca Morris, CbA Avery Mazor, CFAM Karen Dwyer, CFAMbirud Sindhav, CbA burch Kealey, CbA
A look at five UNO faculty with extensive food industry experience — from India’s largest food brand to the world’s soft drink champ
Faculty & Food — Becky Bohan Brown, Sarah Casey and Tim Kaldahl (associate editor), University Relations
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THE COLLEGES
A WALK THROUGH UNO’S PICTURESqUE CAMPUS filled with flora and fauna is yielding new views these days — tomatoes and peppers.
It’s what Patrick Wheeler of UNO Environmental Health and Safety refers to as “Guerilla gardening.” Staff on occasion put their green thumbs to work on unused real estate, and by the time the fall semester starts, produce is popping up. Southeast of the Milo Bail Student Center, for instance, there grows the makings of tasty Italian sauce.
By next year, though, such green thumbers might get the official UNO thumbs up with the university’s first-ever community garden.
Still in the planning stages and needing approval by the Chancellor’s Cabinet, a community garden would be located in open space between the Strauss Performing Arts Center and Milo Bail Student Center. Alicia Andry, coordinator in the UNO Office of Graduate Studies, is leading the initiative. A 2012 graduate, Andry’s capstone project while earning a degree in urban studies was all about starting a community garden.
bURCH KEALEY King of (Dairy) Queens It’s hard to imagine accounting department faculty member Burch Kealey serving up soft serve.
Today, the associate professor of accounting in UNO’s CBA embraces technology to access huge volumes of information that can help investors, creditors and other financial statement users get real-time access to business performance facts and figures.
At one time, though, he was embracing Blizzards, Dilly Bars and other sweet tasties while working the counter at Dairy queen.
Kealey’s work at Dq opened him to an early career in the food industry in the 1980s. Once upon a time he dropped out of college and eventually became the franchise owner of three restaurants in a Texas-based steakhouse chain.
“The part I liked going into restaurants was working on operational issues and making them better,” Kealey says “It was fun. It was a lot of fun, actually.”
It also was a lot of hours. Kealey says he’s never had a 40-hour-work week, and that’s a good life lesson — hard work and hours do pay off.
Kealey says that back in his restaurant days he lacked business training and borrowed too much money. He ended up bankrupt.
Still, he’d recommend the food industry as a career, he says.
And perhaps a double twist in a waffle cone. — T. K.
A CHUNK OF FISH, rice with a little vinegar, a few diced vegetables, and a dried seaweed wrapper.
Nope, this isn’t your standard student center fare.
It’s sushi — and UNO diners love it.
“This really is one of our top sellers,” say Mike Milone, UNO’s longtime manager of Food Services. “It’s right behind pizza, hamburgers and chicken strips.”
UNO tried to sell sushi a few years ago but sales were less than terrific. That sushi actually came from Chicago.
Last year, a small local company — KKC Sushi — started making sushi on campus. Its various rolls — technically, makizushi — and fish slices on top of rice (nigrizushi or hand-formed sushi) are accompanied by a touch of wasabi mustard and sweet pickled ginger, attractively boxed and sold in the student center, Criss Library and HPER Building cafes. Selections include completely raw fish, like tuna and salmon, to cooked. Chopsticks are optional — and popular.
Milone says the two price points for campus sushi — $5.50 and $6.99 — make it attractive, too. During the academic year, Food Services can ring up 600 sushi sales a week and sometimes more than 200 a day.
“The key thing with sushi is that it has to be fresh,” Milone says. “It’s sushi-grade fish and, believe it or not, sushi-grade vegetables, as well. quality makes a difference.”
The chefs from KKC re-stock the sushi boxes frequently and take fresh boxes to the library and HPER Building in wheeled coolers. Their day starts at 6 a.m. when they start cooking rice.
Gary Freeman, associate athletic director, a longtime sushi lover, says he was surprised by KKC’s sushi.
“My first thought was, ‘What are the odds of this being good?’” he says. “When I tried it, that became, ‘Wow, this is pretty good’ just that quickly.”
Milone says that food trends or fads come and go. From what he’s seen, he believes sushi at UNO is going to remain popular for some time. Staff in his office end up being “sushi guinea pigs” when KKC Sushi creates new items. The only sushi that hasn’t been a winner so far? Eel.
“That’s not going to go over real well,” he says.— Tim Kaldahl, associate editor
Napoleon Bonaparte famously said an army marches on its stomach. Here’s a week’s worth of chow ordered to keep the Maverick legion marching: • 480 pounds of chicken breasts and thighs • 500 cartons milk • 240 pounds of chicken strips • 400 pounds of french fries • 150 gallons of soup • 240 pounds of cheese for pizza • 320 pounds of hamburger • 750 pieces fruitThese amounts do not include café sales at Mammel Hall (Wohlner’s Grocery runs the operation there) or the cafeteria at the Scott Conference Center.
Faculty & FoodContinued
green acres
Community Gardening at UnO
green acres
Community Gardening at UnO
sushi in the student center
FEEDInG UnO
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THE COLLEGES
Dinner etiquette classes may seem antiquated, but for students in the uNo Masters of business administration (Mba) and executive Mba programs, they are integral to their studies — and, perhaps, to a successful career.
for the past 11 years, the college of business administration has been working with two etiquette instructors, christina fielder and jennifer bradley, to teach uNo students the importance of proper manners in a business setting. fielder is assistant director for the university of Nebraska-lincoln career services office and bradley is a pharmaceutical consultant, uNo alumna (McKee, ’97) and former Mrs. Nebraska.
“When i was in college i was an ambassador for our chancellor, and that meant going to events at his home and on campus representing the students,” fielder says. “When i started [at uNl] they asked if someone could do etiquette presentations and i was happy to step up.”
Much of what fielder and bradley cover in their lessons fall into two categories: mix-and-mingle protocol and table manners.
Mix-and-mingle lessons cover basics like greetings, handshakes and nametag placement. Table manners delve into napkin use and proper use of silverware.
fielder often reminds students that understanding the environment is often more impor-tant than understanding specific techniques.
“it’s not necessarily about being more formal,” fielder says. “i try to really make sure people understand etiquette is contextual and it depends on where you are and who you are with.”
bill swanson, director of uNo’s executive Mba program, adds that being comfortable and making hosts comfortable is particularly important in international settings.
“because uNo students take international trips they need etiquette dinners to talk about different social settings and cultures,” he says. “We need to make sure individuals repre-senting uNo and the Mba programs are well equipped for business luncheons and din-ners here and internationally.”
both fielder and swanson agree that having good etiquette skills alone are not enough to ensure success in the workplace, but it can help students stand out among their peers.
“it’s all about trying to bring a pragmatic approach to how etiquette comes into your daily life,” fielder says.
— Charley Reed, University Relations
“After studying this for so long,” Andry says, “I can put my research into action.”
Others involved in the effort include Wheeler, UNO’s sustainability champion, and Nate Steele of Landscape Services.
Typically, Andry says, individuals rent plots for a fee in a community garden. “The goal is to grow a lot of food in a small place,” she says.
UNO plans call for a triangular garden with raised beds and an outer and inner fence to keep out
critters. No fee would be charged, but if interest is high a lottery might be needed to distribute plots.
“First-come, first-serve or lottery,” Wheeler says. “If enough people are interested we can make it work.”
Other variables still are being determined. For instance, who maintains or waters the garden? And who gets the produce — individuals, groups or UNO Food Services? Steele, who has a background in organic farming, says to maintain costs growing will be done from seeds. Other answers still were being
explored when the fall semester began.
Andry, who was born in Omaha but raised in the Tampa/Clearwater area in Florida, has maintained a garden plot for three seasons.
“I’m walking proof you don’t have to have a farming background to garden,” she says.
All you need now is a university and spot of land.
— Becky Bohan Brown, University Relations
Earning a Master’s in Minding MannersDO give firm handshakes
Handshakes should last long enough to exchange names and be firm, but not painful for the other person. The webbing between your thumb and index finger should meet the webbing of the other person.
DO ask open-ended questions
Open-ended questions usually prompt more information and keep conversations moving. Focus on topics of interest to the other person rather than potentially controversial topics like politics or religion.
DO carry food in one hand
The left hand should hold a napkin, which in turn holds a plate, which in turn holds a glass. That leaves the right hand free for handshakes and greetings. And don’t stuff your plate with snacks — always leave space for your glass.
DOn’T ask for a take-home box
When ordering food, it’s best to ask for something mid-priced and easy to eat — but don’t expect to finish your meal. Even if your meal is unfinished, do not ask for a take-home box — it can signify greediness and lack of self-control.
DOn’T consume alcohol or smoke
Drinking and smoking are considered addictive and personal vices to many people, so it may leave your host with a bad impression. Also, alcohol tends to lead to inappropriate or rude comments and smoking can leave a bad smell in upholstery and curtains.
DOn’T let your used silverware touch the table
When not using or done with eating utensils, don’t let them touch the table or tablecloth; instead, lay silverware on a plate to avoid stains or spreading germs.
Edited from Christina Fielder presentation for UNO MBA, EMBA students
Dining Dos & Don’ts
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THE COLLEGES
eveRY sPRiNG, the Girl scouts get people thinking cookies.
and every summer now, uNo is getting Nebraska Girl scouts thinking college.
and career.
Now in its second year, uNo’s cookie university brings Girl scouts from all over Nebraska to campus for three days to learn personal finance and marketing lessons from college of business administration faculty.
“The [Girl scout] board of directors was looking for a special activity for high school students, particularly aiming at leadership and those kinds of issues,” says Mary lynn Reiser, associate director of the center for economic education at uNo.
This year’s 25 participants began the three-day program by moving their belongings into the scott hall residence building and taking a tour of campus. Then came a movie and snacks in nearby aksarben village.
“just being in the dorms and going on a tour and getting comfortable in a college setting is a great part of the program,” says julie Madsen, a Great Plains program specialist with Girl scouts of Nebraska. “even if they don’t go into business, just having that experience makes them more comfortable thinking about their future.”
some of the topics covered during this year’s cookie university included the importance of business cards, maintaining a good credit rating and personal branding. Reiser, who led the session on
credit, adds that many of the girls had negative associations with necessities like credit cards.
“Part of what i was trying to do was say credit isn’t bad, it’s how you use it,” she says. “so, i was trying to bust some myths about credit cards and giving them suggestions on working with their parents, if they go away to college, so that they are opening a checking account and doing some things that will allow them to start their financial lives on a good footing.“
Mba Program Manager Melanie Krings led the session on personal branding.
“it was really focused on how they become the product and the steps they can take in junior high and high school to start building their brand,” Krings says. “i focused on how to get involved in leadership roles in high school while in the Girl scouts and how that would help them build their resumé and how that would transition into successful scholarship applications, college applications and job applications later on down the road.”
Krings also covered the interview process and had the girls recall positive success stories they could use if they were applying for college or a job.
“i printed out actual job postings for student worker positions on campus,” she says. “i said, ‘Now you’re going to pretend you are interviewing for this position and i want you to build into your practice interviews an actual story about a time you achieved success, because stories make you memorable.’ it’s one thing to know your story, but to be able to communicate it successfully is a whole other thing.”
on the final day of the program, the Girl scouts traveled to sioux city to visit abc bakers, the manufacturing plant where all of Nebraska’s Girl scout cookies are made — from caramel delites to Thin Mints.
“They just get the cookies and get to go out and sell them,” Madsen says. “but when they think about how much is involved before the box of cookies even gets to them was a really cool way for them to see the business side of it.”
a third year of cookie university already is planned for 2013 and Madsen says that some of the previous years’ participants have asked to return in a supervisory role for the next year’s newcomers.
Reiser adds that cookie university is just one of the projects the college is involved in with the Girl scouts and other omaha community organizations.
“We are trying to reach out to younger students and at least get them in the building doing some activities here so they can see themselves as potential uNo students in the future.”
— Charley Reed, University Relations
UnO, Girl Scouts partner on innovative
mentor program Cookie U
we are trying to reach out to younger students.
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THE COLLEGES
hisToRY 101 Was a bReeze, so undoubtedly you remember why the Mayflower pilgrims decided to land at Plymouth, right?
of course you do. The pilgrims, everyone knows, decided to come ashore there because they had … run out of beer.
That’s right — look it up. or just ask any uNo student taking science of food, a class offering that sudsy historical tidbit — and a whole lot more.
offered through the university of Nebraska-lincoln’s food science and Technology program, science of food crosses several disciplines while presenting chemical and nutritional perspectives on food and tracking it from production to consumption.
“The course is designed to teach science principles in physics, chemistry and biology using food as the model,” says john Rupnow, professor of food science and technology at uNl.
science of food has been offered at uNo for 12 years as a lecture class, six as an online class. The lecture attracts 80 students each semester, the online version 300. students from all departments enroll, most to satisfy a general science requirement.
students in the class learn how to apply food science to their daily lives:
• how are calories measured, and how do microwaves heat our food? Physics answers both questions.
• Why do apples turn brown and why can’t fresh pineapple be used in jell-o? chemistry can tell us.
• Why does meat change color when it is cooked — or not cooked soon enough? biology knows.
using biology, students also learn the causes of food poisoning and food allergies. The latter topic gets heavy play in science of food, a response to the increased prevalence of those with food allergies. Media today commonly report on food allergies, leading more people to be tested for and discovered to have them. about 8 percent of children and 2 percent of adults have some kind of food allergy.
but the actual incidence is rising, too. uNo students discover why.
“There is no definitive evidence for the reason behind the rise in food allergies over the past decade or so, but one of the most popular explanations is the hygiene hypothesis,” Rupnow says. The uNl food science and Technology department where he works has a world-recognized allergy research group.
“The main premise of the hygiene hypothesis is that decreased exposure to germs and other disease-causing substances early in life has affected the human immune system’s opportunity to develop standard immune responses. Due to this lack of opportunity, the immune system becomes prone to respond by reacting to otherwise harmless substances by developing allergies.”
That even can include an allergy to beer.
something our forefathers, apparently, never had to worry about.
— Sarah Casey, University Relations
Fun with Food Science
Five things UNO students learn in Science of Food.1. It is dangerous to kiss someone who just ate peanuts if you
have a peanut allergy.
2. In the Early Colonies in America, lobster was so plentiful it was commonly used as farm fertilizer. Oh, and some lobsters can live to be more than 100 years old.
3. To ripen a banana more quickly, seal it in a brown paper bag with an apple overnight. Natural gases emitted by the apple speed the process.
4. The colors carmine and cochineal, commonly used to color foods and cosmetics such as lipstick and gloss, are obtained from ground up bugs.
5. Children under age 1 should not consume honey, which may contain spores of the bacterium Clostridium botulinum — linked to cases of infant botulism.
BonuS:In the opinion of many food microbiologists, the food most likely to get you sick is … raw oysters. Oysters filter organic matter out of the water and concentrate microorganisms in their intestinal tract. They are not cleaned during the shucking process and could carry a concentrated form of a variety of bacteria and viral pathogens. Nasty stuff like vibrio, hepatitis A, Norovirus and parasites. Even in healthy individuals, these pathogens can cause illness. Cook your oysters thoroughly.
5 Fun Food FactsFood For Thought service-learning project earns community partnership award
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THE COLLEGES
Those Who iNGesT WaTeR oR fooD might also want to take in the work of uNo Professors alan Kolok and l. laReesa Wolfenbarger.
The two uNo biology faculty members teach and research environmental issues — Kolok focusing on water, Wolfenbarger on the effects of agriculture on grassland ecosystems. for those with questions about what they consume, both suggest getting educated — more than ever, they say, facts and figures about water and food safety are ready available and easily understandable.
both are doing their part to make that so.
water waysKolok, whose research focuses on land use and its impact on water quality and environmental health, is known for getting students and lay people involved with his work. his elkhorn River Research station, the first of three small facilities that will monitor water quality, began operating last spring. atrazine, a commonly used herbicide, has been a specific focus because it can affect how fish and frogs grow and develop.
in 2010, Kolok wrote an article with the eye-catching title “frogs and atrazine: What Doesn’t Kill You can Turn You female.”
“atrazine is everywhere,” Kolok says. “everywhere you look for it, it’s found.”
That includes a south carolina island where Kolok and colleagues earlier this year found the herbicide in a golf course pond — though atrazine hadn’t been used in the area for a decade.
Kolok says water in the omaha metropolitan area is well monitored and safe. he forgoes bottled water (see sidebar), sticking instead with omaha’s tap water while using a filter out of personal preference.
“i’m not in the position to tell anybody what they should or shouldn’t do, but at least
consider the concept of caveat emptor — buyer beware,” Kolok says. “and if you’re concerned about it, there are home filtration systems that are relatively cheap.”
crop controlWolfenbarger, an associate professor, teaches conservation biology, fauna of the Great Plains, and environmental Problems and solutions. she says she finds the social impact of genetically engineered crops fascinating.
in the united states, and particularly Nebraska, the use of genetic-engineered (Ge) soybeans is extensive. Nationally, 95 percent of soybeans that are planted and harvested are Ge. “Roundup Ready” soybeans have genetic material from a soil bacterium that makes them able to withstand exposure to Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide. When farmers spray their fields with the herbicide the weeds die while the soybeans are unaffected. labor savings have resulted.
While Ge crops — primarily corn, soybeans and cotton — have been around for about 20 years, other such plants are being developed. similar work also is being done higher up the food chain — Wolfenbarger points to genetically engineered salmon that put on weight faster.
Wolfenbarger says long-term studies and monitoring of possible affects of Ge crops continue to be necessary to fully understand what they do in the environment. The benefit of more crops for food and other products needs to be balanced against whatever negatives might be present, she says. Those with concerns, she adds, should read more and make their own decisions.
“There’s a critical mass of information that we need to assess the acute effects on human health, acute effects on the environment,” she says. “i think an informed public is always a good thing.”
— Tim Kaldahl,associate editor
bread and waterTwo UNO professors study just how clean our food and water supplies really are
Alan Kolok
L. LaReesa Wolfenbarger
UNO water researcher Alan Kolok will tell people who have concerns about their tap water that they should educate themselves. As far as drinking water from a plastic bottle, he has a position that is much more adamant — you’re better off filling an aluminum-drinking bottle at your kitchen sink, he says.
“People don’t know where the bottled water is coming from,” Kolok says. A bottler’s marketing campaign may give the impression that their product is coming from a spring, but it could easily be from some municipal tap in another state.
And, says Kolok, water and plastic don’t mix. The worry is that chemicals in a plastic bottle could leach into what it contains — water — particularly when exposed to sunlight. And there are no standards that a water bottler must maintain.
“Furthermore the standards applied to a municipal water system, such as Omaha’s drinking water system, are more stringent and transparent than those from a plastic bottle water supplier,” Kolok says.
— Becky Bohan Brown, University Relations
Pooh-Poohing Plastic
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GET TO KnOW
Baked goods. It is my Achilles’ heel, my Kryptonite, the one thing to which I can’t say no. I love cookies, cakes, breads, muffins, pies, brownies, bagels … the list goes on. I learned to cook with cast iron Dutch ovens primarily to bake on camping trips. The best way to top off a day of climbing or paddling is cherry brownie cobbler. Not a bad way to start the next day, either.
My food obsession definitely comes from my mom’s side of the family. Her family is 100-percent Sicilian, and I can never get enough of the amazing food. We get together for holidays and family dinners often and there are always pestos, olives and tons of pasta with homemade sauce.
answered
Joe Marinkovich Midfielder, UNO Soccer
Yogurt. Just kidding — I eat it but don’t like it. Pizza, no food is even a close second. The older I get, the more I like it. If the doctor approved (which he won’t), I could eat it five days a week. In order of my favorite Omaha pizza restaurants: Sortino’s, Oscars and Vincenzo’s.
answered
Jim “Wally” WelchDirector, Milo Bail Student Center
My “relationship” with galbi started in 2008 when a good friend of mine invited me to dinner at a Korean restau-rant. Galbi is marinated beef that melts in the mouth like candy. What’s interesting is “galbi” means “my heart” in Arabic, my native language. And, yes, the Korean dish galbi has a very special place in galbi.
answered
Khalid Al MashikhiUNO student
we asked
Vietnamese pho, a large, steaming bowl of the most delicious broth ever with rice noodles, chicken, bean sprouts and cilantro. The best pho I have ever had was at a little Vietnamese restaurant in Belgium, where my husband and I lived while he was stationed there with the U.S. Air Force. But there are several local places in Omaha that serve great pho, too!
answered
Hayley Patton Director, UNO Military and Veteran Services Office
we asked
WHAT IS YOUR FOOD ObSESSIOn?
DEbORAH SMITH-HOWELL
Dean, UNO Graduate
Studies
WHAT IS YOUR FOOD ObSESSIOn? Shrimp — boiled, fried, stuffed, creole, etouffee, grilled, gumbo, etc. Shrimp have been a favorite since I was very young. Shrimp bring back memories of summers on the gulf coast — my mother usually has fresh shrimp when I visit. I am very good at making boiled shrimp and shrimp creole.
WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST JOb? Girl Scout Summer Day Camp Counselor. I was responsible for the youngest Scouts. They didn’t always make it around the lake on their hikes without being carried part of the way and they only had one overnight in the tents. It was an adventure for all of us.
WHAT WAS THE bEST ADVICE YOU EVER RECEIVED? “You can.” I’ve had tremendous mentors over the years and, many times, they have believed in me more than I have myself.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE WEEKEnD HAnGOUT? I love to work in my garden — weeding, watering, planting, replanting. And my deck, enjoying the flowers, birds, butterflies and even the squirrel’s antics.
WHAT IS YOUR SECRET TO HAPPInESS? Learning to live and love each day.
she answered
Text, photos by Jenna Zeorian, University of Nebraska Foundation
answered
Joel bauchAssistant director, Outdoor Recreation
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ATHLETICS
bits of the bull
The thought of winter weather may chill the bones of most, but the student-athletes and coaches who make up UNO’s winter teams can’t wait for the season that’s ushered in by Old Man Winter.
Beginning this year, the Mavericks will take the next step in their reclassification to Division I — a step forward in competition and venue.
The Mavericks are playing their first full sea-son in the Summit League in all sports save hockey. Here’s a look at each team and its prospects in 2012-13.
Hoops is Hot Perhaps no season is more anticipated than men’s basketball. The summit league is a strong basketball conference, and the Mavericks expect to be a good fit, especially with a move to the new Ralston arena.
“it’s going to be a great home-court advantage,” says Derrin hansen, head men’s basketball coach. “To be able to play in a state-of-the-art arena close to campus will provide our students and fans with a great environment.”
The Mavericks will play the first basketball game in the new building Nov. 9 when
they host Northern illinois as part of homecoming weekend. They play their first summit league home game Dec. 29 when they host south Dakota.
hansen says the new building already is paying dividends when it comes to recruiting, and he expects it to be an even bigger draw for future Mavericks as his team begins playing there.
The Mavericks return seven players who saw action last year including dynamic guard c.j. carter, a benson high school grad who is just a sophomore. The Mavs also added four players, including 6-foot-8 Koang Doluony, a transfer from indiana state who played at omaha bryan high school.
Home Stretch uNo women’s basketball is giving fans plenty of opportunities to catch the action this winter. The Mavericks will play 10 straight home games to start the season. opponents hail from all over the map: in-state rival Nebraska-Kearney, North carolina a&T, louisiana-lafayette, Northern arizona, saint louis, Texas-arlington and Tulsa.
altogether, uNo will host 19 games at sapp fieldhouse this winter. The Mavs’ first home summit league game comes jan. 3 when they host oakland followed by a game against fort Wayne on jan. 5.
The Mavs return three regular starters from last year in seniors Paige frauendorfer and jamie Nash and junior stacia Gebers. frauendorfer led the Mavs in scoring and re-bounding with 13.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. Nash added 12.9 points per game and a team-high 6.1 assists per game.
Ice Time While men’s basketball and uNo’s other winter sports look forward to competition in a new league, the uNo hockey team will be saying goodbye to its current league this season. The Mavericks play their third and final season in the Western collegiate hockey association this winter before starting the National collegiate hockey conference next year as a charter member.
uNo fans have plenty of dates to circle on their calendar during this year’s hockey schedule. The school will play its first-ever outdoor game feb. 9 when it hosts perennial power and budding rival North Dakota at TD ameritrade Park for “Mutual of omaha battles on ice.” The two teams also will play the night before at the centurylink center.
“our players are already excited to play in a game like this, which is sure to receive plenty of local and national attention,” says Dean blais, uNo head coach. “We have had very competitive games against North Dakota since we joined the Wcha, and playing outdoors in front of a big crowd will only make this game more fun for everyone.”
The Mavericks begin the season at the icebreaker Tournament at the sprint center in Kansas city oct. 12 and 13. easily the Mavs’ shortest road trip of the year, fans who venture south will see the team play army on friday night and either Maine or Notre Dame on saturday.
october is easily the busiest month of the season at home for uNo. The Mavs host former central collegiate hockey
Maverick teams begin winter play in new homes
on and off the court
Heating the House
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ATHLETICS
bits of the bull association rival Northern Michigan oct. 19 and 20 then welcome current rival bemidji state the following weekend to open conference play.
The Mavericks also will host Minnesota Duluth (homecoming), Minnesota state and former coach Mike hastings, colorado college, Michigan Tech and Wisconsin in other Wcha action. They’ll also welcome alabama-huntsville for a non-conference series on Thanksgiving weekend.
uNo will shoot for its first-ever appearance in the Red baron Wcha final five in st. Paul, Minn., March 21-23 after falling short in the first two seasons.
uNo has more players drafted by National hockey league teams on its roster (eight) than at any other time in its history. in spite of losing talented forwards Terry broadhurst and jayson Megna to professional hockey, the Mavericks should provide opponents with another stiff test this season. last year’s leading scorer, Matt White, returns, as do Ryan Walters and josh archibald, who scored 10 goals each last year. The Mavericks should be particularly strong on defense and in goal. senior bryce aneloski and juniors andrej sustr and Michael Young anchor the blue line while senior john faulkner will work alongside promising freshman anthony stolarz in net.
In Water, On Track uNo’s two other winter teams, swimming & diving and track & field, are no strangers to Division i competition. out of necessity, both teams have been competing against D-i competition for years.
This season, the swimming & diving team will face summit league opponents south Dakota and south Dakota state while also
swimming home-and-home series with Nebraska, a yearly opponent, and Northern iowa. The Mavs also will have home meets against Kansas and Northern colorado and visit air force, illinois state and iowa state.
The Mavericks should be competitive in the summit league championship, which will be held at oakland feb. 20-23. among the top returning swimmers is sophomore lexi bergeron.
like swimming, the uNo track & field team has consistently faced top Division i teams, and this season will be no exception. The Mavericks will head to meets at Nebraska, Minnesota, Northern iowa, Wichita state and iowa state before the summit league indoor championship feb. 22-23 at south Dakota.
The Mavericks expect to get leadership from seniors sami spenner and amanda vorthmann and junior Kathie-lee laidley. spenner has excelled at the pentathlon and heptathlon since coming to uNo. she missed qualifying for the u.s. olympic Trials in the heptathlon by just seven points last spring. vorthmann set three school records in the distance events last year while laidley tied the school record in the long jump outdoors.
— Dave Ahlers, director of communications, UNO Athletics
uNo aThleTics this summer intro-duced angie Quinn and Mickey anderson as co-chairs of this year’s the one fund campaign supporting uNo athletics.
The one fund supports more than 250 uNo student-athletes. More than $300,000 has been raised in the first two years of the campaign.
Quinn and anderson will oversee a third-year goal of $250,000. They are the chil-dren of uNo graduate and omaha auto dealer Tal anderson, who died in august 2009. he and his wife, Mary joy, were longtime supports of uNo athletics.
Their children continue that tradition.
“angie and Mickey have been tremen-dous supporters to the overall mission of uNo and uNo athletics,” uNo Director of athletics Trev alberts says. “They have worked tirelessly for the success of omaha as a community. We are honored to have them as part of our team.”
To contribute to the one fund, or for more information, contact Terry hanna at 402-502-4106 or Pat Morris at 402-554-2569.
All for OneCo-chairs announced for the One Fund campaign supporting UNO Athletics
Angie Quinn
Mickey Anderson
ATHLETICS4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58
fans heading to the new Ralston arena for a uNo men’s basketball game this season are in for a real treat — on and off the court.
Months of menu planning will come together when the arena opens its doors this fall as the home of Maverick basketball (and omaha lancers hockey).
brad Groesser, a veteran of the hospitality industry for 25 years, is the food and beverage manager at the venue and has planned a delicious lineup of concessions for Maverick fans. That includes traditional fare and a few surprises.
The main concourse will feature four corner concession stands. Two on the north end will have in-house offerings — one with traditional arena food and another with an international theme. The international grill will serve sweet chili pork and teriyaki chicken skewers, adobo steak, egg rolls and empanadas. stadium-style items include hebrew National hot dogs, bratwursts, footlong corndogs and nachos. a kiosk on the concourse will have specialty pretzels with kosher salt, white cheddar jalapeno cheese or sweet cream cheese with cinnamon sugar.
There’s also a local flair at the arena. on the south end will be Maria’s Mexican Restaurant, a longtime favorite in downtown Ralston. Maria’s will have its own concession stand, serving house specialties like signature soft tacos, burritos and margaritas.
famous Dave’s and Domino’s Pizza will take the fourth concession stand with a variety of pizzas and barbeque. options
likely are to include featherbone ribs, barbeque beef brisket and pulled pork sandwiches.
“We’re keeping it family friendly in terms of offerings and pricing so a family can visit us multiple times a month, not just once,” Groesser says. “These days, stretching the entertainment dollar is more important than ever.”
for health-conscious fans, Ralston is con-sidering grab-and-go cup options: teriyaki chicken salad with dressing on the side, meat and cheese combinations and fresh fruit. vegetarian egg rolls will be sold at the international grill, and the venue will strive to use local produce from area farmers.
“We’ve put thought into healthy offerings,” Groesser says. “it’s important that everyone enjoy the gameday atmosphere with a wide variety of nutritional options.”
That gameday atmosphere will be pleasing for fans with a variety of amenities and choices available.
in club seating, servers will have hand-held systems to place orders directly from the seats, and the fully-stocked club bar will have televisions and an open sightline to the action on the court.
Twelve executive suites will have private seating for 16 in an open-air environment, along with a refrigerator, wet bar, buffet and personal concierges.
another full bar is planned on the south side, serving up to eight beers on tap,
including coors light, Miller lite and boulevard.
While the specialty stands will prepare foods on equipment in their areas, the other side of the venue will rely on the central kitchen to cook and quickly distribute
items. The focus on the traditional concession side is to minimize lines and provide prompt service.
“The freshest and highest quality products should be available to fans at our concessions, and we don’t want items to lose their heartiness by sitting too long,” Groesser says. “We’re reliant on the service of our kitchen to give customers the best food possible.”
concession service is a large undertaking, and Groesser has lofty plans to incorporate community outreach into his staffing. little league teams, church groups and other community organizations will have the opportunity to take orders and serve items, then earn a share of the profit for the night.
“community is a major part of our plans at Ralston arena,” Groesser says. “from incorporating local foods to bringing in local people to help us run our operation, it’s the community that will make this venue special.”
— Bonnie Ryan, UNO Athletics
Home Cookin’Ralston Arena sets concessions lineup
We want our food to be something that people remember.
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Former Mav great Pinar saka makes turkish history at 2012 summer olympicsPINAR SAKA IS ACCUSTOMED to a big stage. A two-time national champion sprinter for the UNO track and field team, Saka was an eight-time All-American for the Mavericks, helping them to conference championships and top-five finishes in NCAA Championships.
But she topped even those lofty venues in August, competing for her native Turkey on track’s biggest stage — the Olympic Summer Games in London.
Saka says her lifelong dream had always been to compete in the Olympics, but once she got to London, reality surpassed those dreams.
“I had attended the European Championships and World Championships,” she says. “I never thought it would be so different since the same athletes compete.
“But I was wrong. The Olympics is the highest level of [competition] that an
athlete may ever compete in, and I feel so happy, proud and honored that I represented my country and made people hear that Turkey was also in the 400 meters.”
Saka, a native of Istanbul, ran to history as the first woman from Turkey to compete in the 400 meters in the Olympics.
“Being the first Turkish woman athlete in the 400 meters, running in front of that huge crowd of 80,000 people, was completely the meaning of my track life,” she says. “I did not run my personal best, but it was still the best moment in my track life that I would not trade for any other moment that I have experienced so far. Right after the race, I felt like I wanted to compete again.”
Saka ran a time of 52.38, just missing a berth in the semifinals of the event in which she set the school indoor and outdoor record in 2009 when she was named the nation’s track athlete of the year. She was 25th overall in a field where the top 24 advanced. She missed by only .07 seconds, finishing just behind a runner from Namibia in her quarterfinal heat.
Saka also ran the lead leg of Turkey’s 4x400 meter relay, posting the fastest split among her teammates. Turkey finished last among the 16 teams in the preliminaries.
Saka will be 30 when the Olympic Summer Games are staged next in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2016. She says her London experience may be just enough to motivate her to compete again for her country.
“The people’s cheers, especially in the first 100 meters, made me feel like these people came there only for me,” she says. “I was not planning to run for the next four years, but after this special Olympics experience, I started thinking, ‘Why not?’ just to live the same excitement and experience once more.
“Rio sounds so tempting.”
— Dave Ahlers, director of communications, UNO Athletics
chasiNG a DReaMWithout a training table available at UNO, getting Maverick student-athletes to eat right can be a challenge.
For UNO head men’s soccer Coach Jason Mims, that meant a trip to the grocery store.
Mims and Assistant Coach Tim Walters prepped for fall camp this year by stocking up on bread, lunchmeat, cheeses, bagels, apples, bananas, oranges, granola bars and more, making sure his players had all the nutritional content needed to survive a grueling schedule. Beginning Aug. 10 the team practiced twice a day for a week, then played three games in nine days.
“For that first week, our guys are training twice a day or training and then lifting, so it’s important that we watch what they’re eating,” Walters says. “Fitness is especially important in soccer. If our guys aren’t fit enough, they can’t play.
“Providing them with nutritional foods is just one way we can monitor them to make sure we are doing everything we can to help them get in the best shape possible.”
Most UNO athletes who live on campus eat meals from a gourmet spread at Scott Hall. Not everything there, though, is the right choice.
“We’re working with our student-athletes as far as breaking down what’s at Scott Hall,” says UNO Athletic Trainer Erin Hicks. “What’s good for them and what’s bad for them.”
Away from Scott Hall, meals for Mavs require even more thought.
Rodney Kuhl, director of operations for the UNO men’s basketball team, schedules meals for his team when they’re on the road. Last season, UNO’s first as a Division I entry, the Mavericks traveled to 18 of 29 games. Kuhl’s challenge is to balance healthy eating with efficiency. That often means hitting a buffet on the way to a game.
“I try to choose places that offer a wide variety of food, because everyone has different tastes,” Kuhl says. “We like our players to choose foods that they know will sit well in their stomachs and give them energy for the game the next day.
“For the most part, we try to eat sandwiches and pasta on game day. When you’re dealing with 18-to-22-year-old college athletes, they work out so much and expend so much energy that they can’t possibly get too much food on road trips.”
After games, Kuhl typically grabs pizzas — Domino’s or Papa John’s, to be exact.
“After games, we’re just trying to get the guys something filling while trying to get home as soon as possible for them to get back to school the next day, and pizza is usually the easiest option,” Kuhl says. “At the end of the day, college kids and pizza just seem to fit together.”
— Nate Pohlen, UNO Athletics
AT THE TRAInInG TAbLE
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ofTeN, ThaT MeaNs ResTauRaNT food at half price or less. Pizza, sushi, barbecue and pasta; cajun, indian, Thai and czech — the tasty offers roll into email boxes each day.
economic downturn spurred the growth of deal sites, says birud sindhav, associate professor of marketing at uNo.
“People are cutting down on discretionary expenses,” says sindhav, whose research interests encompass internet marketing, including “e-tailing” and social networking. “eating out is a discretionary expense.
“but with Groupon, consumers are more able to afford it.”
uNo graduate Rachel Manley, a stay-at-home mother of four, uses Groupon, livingsocial and other deal-hunting sites to find affordable activities for her family.
“i’ve had great luck with the group deal sites,” Manley says. “We got our family of six to the pumpkin patch last fall at a great rate, and without it we may not have been able to afford to go.”
The popularity of online deal sites has ushered in the age of the deal hunter — savvy consumers who only visit a business with coupon or voucher in hand, tracking down the best bargains with no intention of returning after the initial kill on a discounted purchase.
Win-win-win?Groupon’s reach is extensive. according to a july 12 bloomberg businessWeek article, Groupon serves 36 million customers in 48 countries. The premise is that with group buying, everyone wins: customers save money, restaurants and other dealmakers get business, and Groupon gets its cut.
but not everyone sees the win. some restaurant owners say group buying only attracts deal hunters — not loyal customers or repeat business.
That’s unwarranted criticism, says Keith fix, a senior in uNo’s college of business administration and co-founder of DailyMav.com, a deal-of-the-day coupon site targeted toward the uNo community and local businesses.
“There’s been a lot of criticism accusing daily deals of devaluing restaurants,” he says, “but nearly every restaurant we run on DailyMav signs up to run again the next semester. it’s had a positive impact in that restaurants can now fill seats during what would otherwise be slow periods.”
however, not all businesses targeted by daily deal providers are prepared for the risk involved,
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and sales representatives don’t necessarily target highly successful businesses.
“The anecdotes are legendary,” says alexander adkins, uNo alumnus and general manager of the Grey Plume restaurant in omaha. “about 10 percent are redeemed within the first 10 days or so and then as the expiration nears, restaurants are said to get a very large rush of business — often to the point of not keeping up.”
sindhav used a Groupon at a Papillion restaurant and waited more than an hour after ordering before getting his food. The establishment was at 100-percent capacity — swamped with deal hunters. When first-time customers see service lagging behind what is normal, they might not see reason to return. “You don’t want to give the first impression as a bad impression, particularly to new customers,” sindhav says.
The Grey Plume has never used Groupon or livingsocial, but it has worked with Restaurant.com to provide deals. “We were lucky to have maintained a few relationships from the coupon,” adkins says. “There seems to be little long-term customer retention. The deal is what got their attention, and it will take another similar or better deal to keep it.”
fix says the burden of repeat business lies on the business itself — not the deal provider. Restaurants are more likely to “break even or
profit by properly training staff to suggest drinks, appetizers and desserts to deal patrons,” and business owners must believe their products or services are strong enough to draw back customers.
The long-term benefit is much smaller than the initial bump restaurants receive from group deals, sindhav says, but the promotional expense is worth it for companies offering “unique services that people would only get if they tried it,” such as flight lessons, photography classes or ethnic cuisine.
When offering such distinctive services, it’s essential to target the correct audience for the maximum return. Manley says she would purchase vouchers more often if the offers were personalized to her needs.
“i have no need for skydiving or clogging lessons,” she says. “i find that if i buy things i really need, like oil changes or zoo admission, then i really do save money. i tend to purchase only deals for things i would have been spending money on anyway.”
Regardless of a business’s services or how many patrons redeem their vouchers, offering Groupon-like deals can bring in revenue.
“one in five customers purchase a Groupon, but then never redeem it,” sindhav says. “That’s profit.”
DailyMav.comProfit is essential to DailyMav.com, as 100 percent of proceeds go directly to students in the form of scholarships and other opportunities. The site is run by the UNO chapter of the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization (CEO) as an opportunity to practice enterprise creation and entrepreneurship.
“The funds raised from DailyMav continue to be reinvested into CEO to fund activities, scholarships and part-time work for students,” Keith Fix says. “We sent two students, all-expenses-paid, to the CEO conference in Dallas last year, where they had the opportunity to network with entrepreneurs from across the country.”
DailyMav was born two years ago as a fundraiser for UNO CEO to attend the annual CEO conference in Chicago. Fix in September 2010 pitched the idea to the chapter’s then-president Derek Stearns, who loved the idea and committed the initial capital to launch the project. DailyMav gained more than 400 subscribers within its first week, and its popularity continues to grow.
Fix says the site’s most successful deal to date was for neighboring Aksarben Cinema — DailyMav offered a deal on just concessions, but the voucher-toting customers also boosted the venue’s ticket sales. The patrons, the business and the deal provider all benefit simultaneously.
“As more and more daily deal operators pop up, it becomes even more challenging to stand out from the crowd,” he says. “Our commitment to the community and the business owners is really what sets us apart.”
Giving a good deal is good for business, too.
Pho
to b
y E
ric
Fra
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UNO student Keith Fix, co-founder of DailyMav.com
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SUSAN ROSENLOF’S SHOPPING LIST for deciding where to buy groceries has four items. The first three
are easy gets; Rosenlof wants a store that:
1. Has a neighborhood feel;2. Provides easy access in and out; and,3. Has fresh produce — preferably locally grown.
All that, Rosenlof says, she finds in midtown Omaha at Wohlner’s, which has been selling groceries for nearly 100 years.
Of late, though, her fourth item has been more difficult to acquire.
“Price, which is always a concern,” says the grant writer and UNO alum. “It seems like prices are always going up.”
Yes, grocery prices are rising, says Phani Tej Adidam, executive education professor of marketing and management for UNO’s College of Business Administration. In the past year the price of eggs has increased 35 percent, milk 17 percent and bread 6 percent — all due to the rising cost of wheat.
Mike Schwartz, owner of the two Wohlner’s stores in Omaha, says he hears the complaints about rising grocery prices — which are mostly beyond his control. “With all the major
stores, the cost of fresh meat is always a concern,” says Schwartz. He points to the increased cost of fee for the animals and heat that’s killed off cattle. “That’s going to keep getting worse.”
Forces of changeAdidam points to some of the reasons grocery prices are rising (and why they sometimes fall). Increased costs of fertilizer, animal feed and seeds, have particularly impacted grocery prices, Adidam says. And adverse climatic conditions — drought in the Midwest and the delay of monsoons in the Indian subcontinents — also have caused food prices to rise.
Helping keep prices down, meanwhile, has been free market competition — when the Tysons, ConAgras, Krafts and Nestles battle for shopper attention and loyalty — and improved food processing technology. Higher yields through
Food Fight
By Kevin Warneke
The rising cost of groceries is pinching
pocketbooks
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improved farming techniques also can lead to lower prices in the grocery stores, Adidam says.
“It’s basically a dance between these forces,” he adds.
Back in the day, the grocery industry was a simpler one. Most communities had a handful of mostly locally owned grocery stores. A grocery store, along with a movie theater, hardware store and newspaper office, were sources of community pride — and stability. Residents shopped local.
No more, says Kathy Siefken, executive director of the Nebraska Grocery Industry Association.
“People don’t look at it that way, unfortunately,” Siefken says. The promise of cheaper prices at the mega-store in the nearby larger community can be quite alluring.
But many of these shoppers, Siefken contends, fail to consider the value of their time, the cost of the gasoline and the wear on their vehicles, which might negate any savings realized.
Trends to Size, ServiceSiefken says a look at her association’s membership roll illustrates how the grocery industry has changed in Nebraska. Membership stands at about 425 — stable for the past five years, but down from 1,200 just two decades ago.
Gary Suhr decided to buck that trend in 2009 when he opened Gary’s Super Foods in North Platte. A building came open for sale, and Suhr saw his chance. He turned to UNO’s Nebraska Business Development Center for assistance in creating a business plan.
“People thought I was definitely crazy for wanting to open a store,” Suhr says. “But I felt there was a great opportunity.”
Three years later, Suhr says, his store is holding its own against the North Platte competition by focusing on customer service and building on its reputation as the place to go for quality meats. Suhr says he searches for the proper balance between price and competitiveness.
Regarding the competition, Suhr says he keeps track. “We price-check. So does his competition: “They’re in here all the time,” he says.
But competition among grocery stores — big and small — continues, Schwartz says. “That’s a very good thing for the consumer.”
Among the competition in North Platte are two Sun Marts and a Walmart. “Even the lumber stores (Menards) are getting into
the grocery business,” Suhr says. Adidam says Walmart is the
largest grocery store chain in the world, followed by Kroeger. Next to emerge will be the dollar stores: “Dollar
General will get into the grocery business sooner rather than later,” he says.
Members of the middle class shop at Walmart and HyVee, Adidam says, but the upper middle and upper classes have turned to places like Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s for their groceries. “They’re doing quite well.”
Adidam says that mega-stores don’t necessarily view groceries as moneymakers. Their goal is to get shoppers in the doors, where they are likely to browse and buy. “They’ll buy a T-shirt, a belt or a
basketball,” he says.
Groceries, especially perishables, are most challenging to grocery store owners and managers. Big stores can afford to order too much produce and consider the perishables as loss leaders. The independents
and smaller grocery chains don’t have that luxury, Adidam says. Order too much and they lose money due to waste. Order too little and their shelves are empty — which shoppers may use as a reason to go elsewhere, Siefken says.
Curt Roesler, store director of the Ashland, Neb., No Frills Supermarket, says: “If we under order, we aren’t taking care of the customers’ needs. We want to minimize being out of stock. If we over order, we take a loss and end up selling the item cheap.”
Adds Roesler: “The key to a store’s success is the perishables. You have to get it right. Anyone can sell cans of beans.”
In 2007-08,
Adidam says, the average American
family spent
15% of its income on groceries.
Today, they account for 22% of the average family’s take-home pay.
That’s a
32% rise.
The increase is causing havoc
for the poor and lower middle class.
Phani Tej Adidam
Phona-CouponsA decline in newspaper readership won’t mean the demise of grocery store coupons, says UNO’s Phani Tej Adidam. Coupons will continue to be popular because of micro-targeting.
Here’s how:A shopper with a smartphone enters a store. The phone accepts messages with the store’s sales of the day, and the shopper takes note. “You had no intention of buying a pie or baking a pie at home,” Adidam says. “The message says all-purpose flour is 40 cents off. Eggs are 10 cents off. Maybe I need a pie. That’s fine and dandy, but you had no intention of buying those products.”
But buy you did.
DownsizedTake a second look at that bag of chips you’re about to buy at the local grocery, says UNO’s Phani Tej Adidam. The number of chips inside likely has been reduced. “It looks the same, but it is not,” he says. One way to keep prices in check is to reduce quantity of the product, he says. Studies show that only 12 percent of shoppers look at the price per ounce of what they buy, Adidam says. “And 64 percent don’t look at the grocery bill when they get home. They put it in their trash can.”
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FoodiesAMOnG ITS GRADUATE bODY, UnO IS KnOWn FOR POPUL ATInG THE RAnKS OF MAnY PROFESSIOnS — POLICE OFFICERS, TEACHERS, ACCOUnTAnTS, bUSInESS ExECUTIVES, IT PROS AnD MORE.
bUT CHEFS? bAKERS? RESTAURATEURS?
UNO is no culinary institute, after all.
Yet finding graduate “foodies” proved easy … as pie.
No matter what they might have majored in, many UNO graduates can’t resist the call of food, turning, often in mid-life, to a culinary career. And they’re not just in the kitchen.
HERE ARE 14 STORIES OF FOODIES WITH UnO DEGREES.
Stories by Lori RicePhotos by Eric Francis
14
FoodiesIt’s not every chef who has to worry about his restaurant’s brakes failing or generator going kaput. Or when it’s time for his diner to get an oil change. But these are things to consider when you’re a foodie on wheels.
Recent UNO graduates David Burr (pictured,
standing) and Patrick Favara (in truck) have been offering such since March with Localmotive, a mobile food truck serving upscale fare, most to Omaha’s downtown nightlife denizens. The two left secure jobs in their rearview mirrors — Burr as a line cook for midtown Omaha’s Dario’s Brasserie, Favara as a marketer with Husker Media Corp. — and nothing but long hours ahead. The duo combines for 180 hours a week.
Until recently, Burr was logging up to 130 hours a week himself and he hasn’t had a day off since December. “It’s a lot of hard work,” Favara says. “It’s not for everyone.” Adds Burr: “I used to hear entrepreneurs say all the time, ‘You just have to do it, just go for it.’ I didn’t really get that until this.”
One thing Burr did get, though, was food. He’d held jobs in the food industry since he was 16. But not until he became a meat cutter for Wohlner’s grocery in 2005 did Burr discover food was more than just a paycheck. It was a passion. “I love the creative aspect, I love working with my hands, I love the actual rush of being a line cook,” Burr says. “You just kind of get in a zone and get focused.”
His market-savvy buddy, Favara, saw an opportunity to put Burr’s culinary skills to use as
a way to fill the late-night food void in Omaha. They’re joined by a third partner, David Scott. Treating their mobile kitchen as more of a restaurant than an events truck — Localmotive is best known for its signature item, the Rounder, a sourdough stuffed dumpling — the trio’s idea was to cater to the late night crowds and industry people of downtown Omaha.
Seven nights a week from 10 p.m. until 2:30 or 3 a.m. the truck can be found at 12th and Jackson Streets. A majority of their clientele consists of cooks, bartenders and servers whose shifts are just ending as Localmotive gets started.
In addition to its overnight operations, the truck spends several days a week at 14th and Jackson for lunch and works private events and some corporate outings. They’ll serve at least 1,000 people each week, 200 on a Friday or Saturday night. The trio also has purchased Lorri’s Lunchbox, which provides cold caterings, box lunches and vending machine foods.
They’ve brought growth to the company every month since, recently securing a 90-day trial run with a large account. “It’s an entirely different beast,” says Favara, noting it’s on the other end of the food industry spectrum. “Sometimes it’s a little tough to step back and see how far we’ve come,” Burr says. “But it’s very rewarding to see people so responsive to what we are doing.”
It’s a business … on the move.
DAviD bUrr2011 bSbAbUSiNeSS
PATriCk FAvArA2010 bAJOUrNAliSM
CO-OWNERS lOCAlMOTive AND lOrri’S lUNCHbOx1
THe TrUCk STOP
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lOU rOTellA Jr.1972 bS bUSiNeSS MANAGeMeNT
JiM rOTellA1975 bS eDUCATiON
DeAN JACObSeN1974 bS bUSiNeSS
MANAGEMENT rOTellA’S bAkery
THe FAMily THAT bAkeS TOGeTHer
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2A mother to three teens and one tween, Martha Nepper is no stranger to the sound of children opening and closing cupboard doors repeatedly as they scour for snacks. Nepper’s children, though, don’t always find the typical fare. Her fridge is more likely to yield an array of unusual items, such as Oca (a potato-like tuber) or lemon drop melons. What else would you expect from a registered dietitian? The UNO graduate has worked as such for two decades in the Omaha area. She joined the Hy-Vee team on 51st and Center Streets six years ago and today focuses her efforts on fighting diabetes, reducing the obesity rate and educating consumers on ways to make healthier food choices. “In the long run, eating healthier will … reduce our rate of diseases,” she says. Yes, it can be challenging to avoid the convenience of fast food. “We are all so busy so we tend to not eat at home as much as we used to,” Nepper says. Meal planning — and shopping — is critical to avoiding the unhealthy. Nepper provides helpful advice at her blog, www.fruityadvice.com, offering tips on nutrition and pointing out new products in the store. She also plans to research consumer shopping habits in grocery stores as a recently accepted doctoral student for Community Nutrition & Health Promotion at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “Stores will always have pop, candy, chips and donuts,” Nepper says. “But the challenge is how do we change people’s behavior when shopping in the store?”
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REGISTERED DIET IT IANHy-vee
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If your last name is Rotella, chances are folks in Omaha will ask you about bread. And no wonder — Rotella’s Bakery has become one of the city’s best known brands since Alessandro Rotella founded the company in 1921. Today, a third generation of Rotellas — including a trio of UNO graduates — is keeping the company … “rolling.” President Lou Rotella Jr. (pictured far right), a 1972 grad, recalls helping his namesake father as early as age 7, climbing onto a wooden milk carton so he could reach over the counter and help shape the handmade rolls and twists. Lou’s cousin and 1975 UNO grad Jim Rotella (center), sales director, remembers first jobs when he would “clean floors, make bread crumbs … and lift flour sacks.” Funny thing, though — despite the family heritage, neither Jim nor Lou thought they would end up in the family biz. Lou expected to pursue a career in real estate or management after graduating with his degree; Jim planned to coach after earning his bachelor’s degree in education. But both were drawn back into the Rotella family tradition, where they continue the company’s longstanding commitment to quality and service. Other family members remain on staff, including Lou’s brother-in-law and 1974 UNO alum Dean Jacobsen (left), company controller. “We all work together,” Lou says. “What I really like about this place is seeing it grow from where it was to where it is today and the potential that is still there.”
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Alicia Andry would make Mr. Rogers proud. The man who was all about good neighbors certainly would have embraced Andry’s efforts these days — building community gardens in the middle of “food deserts.” The term refers to urban areas, typically amid pockets of poverty, where fresh and healthy food is lacking. Andry says that includes Omaha, where many families are without transportation and the nearest grocery store is 20 to 30 minutes away by bus. “They can walk to a convenient store a couple blocks away and get all the Twinkies and Ho Hos and chips they want,” Andry says, “but it’s more difficult to get to a grocery store and get healthy food.” Andry, a coordinator in the UNO Graduate Studies office, graduated in May with a master’s degree in urban studies. Her capstone project was “Identifying Sustainable Urban Food Production Strategies for the Omaha Metro Area,” an examination of the environmental and health concerns in the industrial food system. Her research explored potential solutions, such as farmers markets, community gardens and vertical farming. “A lot of what I found is that not only do you need to provide fresh foods,” Andry says, “but you also need to teach people how to prepare them and make them understand why it’s important to try and eat more healthy.” Once aiming to work for a city planning department, Andry now contemplates starting her own nonprofit. “A group or organization that would grow food and distribute it to the food deserts in Omaha.” Just like a good neighbor.
AliCiA ANDry2012 MSUrbAN STUDieS
COORDINATORUNO GrADUATe STUDieS
Tina Tweedy recalls summers as a youth not poolside but in front of the TV, watching cooking shows then pretending to teach her own imaginary audience how to cook what she just learned. Today, it’s all for real. A self-taught pastry chef, master chocolatier, culinary instructor and fine-dining connoisseur, Tweedy is a full-time pastry chef for popular Omaha restaurants M’s Pub and Vivace. She draws inspiration, she says, not just from the TV chefs she once emulated, but also from her mother, whom she’d cook with as a child. “When she made things for people they were very happy, and I enjoyed spending the time with her,” says Tweedy, who has four children. After working numerous years for several upscale restaurants throughout Omaha, Tweedy for 10 years designed custom wedding cakes from home. At the same time she put her UNO education degree to use while teaching in the culinary department at Metro Community College. “I loved it,” Tweedy says of teaching. Later, she and her husband, Bryan, opened Sweets of Eden Patisserie and Cafe in downtown Omaha. For two years she whipped up European pastries and desserts before turning her efforts toward selling artisan chocolates wholesale. Now she works full time at M’s Pub and Vivace, blending her creative and artistic skills into delectable desserts. Sometimes, Tweedy says, she can’t believe she is getting paid to do something she loves so much. “It’s really just a culmination of everything that I am.”
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PASTRY CHEFM’S PUb AND vivACe
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“I’m one of those people that thinks everything led to this moment,” Fred Spompinato says. “This moment” is Fervere Bakery, a Kansas City, Mo., bakery focused on more than just getting something good to eat. Open only Thursday through Saturday, the small, one-room bakery centers on a hand-built brick hearth oven and the loaves of artisan bread browning within. Growing up, Spompinato’s father instilled in him an early love for breads by insisting on Italian rolls from local bakeries every night at dinner. His commitment and dedication to his craft culminates from a lifetime of experiences thereafter. That includes his time as a UNO religion major — which led to a weeklong stay at a Zen monastery. There Spompinato witnessed the monks’ traditional style of breadmaking, forever changing the course of his life work. With no formal training up to that point, Spompinato began baking at home trying to recreate what he had experienced in the Zen kitchen. “I just feel like everything about Zen is incorporated in baking,” Spompinato says. “The activity itself is almost a Zen meditation.” After a six-month course at the American Baking Institute in Manhattan, Kan., and several years of baking professionally on a mass-production scale, Spompinato opened Fervere (pronounced fur-vair-ay) in an effort to return to the simplicity and spirituality breadmaking afforded him. He produces just around 500 loaves of bread each week — and they go fast. “We have a phenomenal kind of following,” Spompinato says. “From the very young to the very old.” And the very hungry.
6FreD SPOMPiNATO1977 bAreliGiON
OWNER/ BAKERFervere bAkery, K ANSAS CIT Y, MO
THe zeN bAker
7viC lArSON1969 MSSeCONDAry eDUCATiON
FOUNDER/ OWNERviC’S COrN POPPer
8In 2003, Tu Nguyen had big dreams of working at Microsoft. Reality, though, was all about work and study. While taking classes in UNO’s College of Information Science and Technology, Nguyen also worked at his family’s Vietnamese eatery, Saigon Restaurant, in western Omaha. Eventually, dreams and reality fused. The restaurant was a melting pot of English-speaking wait staff and Vietnamese-speaking chefs and owners. Communication wasn’t always the smoothest between the two — and sometimes costly. “For a restaurant, if you have even one error a day you have lost $7 to $10 on that error,” Nguyen says. Then a UNO junior, Nguyen broke the language barrier using technology. He developed an app — Intelligence Product Order Delivery — that converts an order from one language into another using a hand-held device. “The waiter or wait staff would take orders, go into the application and convert it to Vietnamese,” Nguyen says. “It allowed efficiency and cut down on errors.” Development of the app set Nguyen apart from his peers. He entered — and won — the first-ever Imagine Cup, an international competition sponsored by Microsoft that challenges creative and tech-savvy students to design technological innovations. That got him a 13-week internship with Microsoft in Seattle and $25,000. Nine years later, Nguyen is still putting technological innovation to use in the restaurant biz — now as an owner. From 2003 to this April Nguyen was chief technology officer at DOCenter, a document and digital asset manage company in Omaha. Today, though, he’s the owner of his family’s newest restaurant, Saigon Surface, in the Old Market. There each table is equipped with an Apple iPad. The devices offer an interactive menu, and patrons also can use it to select their favorite music to be played throughout the room. Saigon Surface uses the technology to monitor customer likes/dislikes, and their menu reflects accordingly.
— Sarah K. Casey, University Relations
FUSiNG lANGUAGe
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Growing up with six siblings, Charlie Thompson gained more experience than most cooking for his family. When he was a teenager that meant grilling out and cooking pizza. He’s still at it today — pizza is his profession. “I actually kind of figured I’d go work at an insurance company or Union Pacific or something,” Thompson says of his original career plans. “I really didn’t think I’d be in the restaurant business this long.” Thompson began working part time at the age of 15 for Tim Peffer, first at Pefferoni’s Pizza and later Sgt. Peffer’s Italian Cafe. He continued working there through his days attending UNO. His family lived walking distance from the university, and such proximity resulted in five of the Thompsons — Mike, Suzanne (Leonovicz), Paula (Lukowski), Steve and Charlie — earning UNO degrees. Eventually, Charlie Thompson went from Peffer’s employee to owner — in 2006 he expanded its franchise footprint by opening his own Sgt. Peffer’s, in Millard. This fall, Thompson and both restaurant locations were featured on the Destination Guide’s “Best of Omaha” TV show. The online travel site had declared Sgt. Peffer’s five-cheese white sauce pizza Omaha’s best. Thompson has a hand in that — literally. He often can be found opening the store at dawn and preparing the bread, sauces and soups needed to meet the daily rush. “We have a lot of regular customers that come in all the time and you get to know them, and you just really appreciate the fact that they enjoy the restaurant,” Thompson says. And the pizza.
CHArlie THOMPSON1989 bSMArkeTiNG MANAGeMeNT
OWNERSGT. PeFFer’S iTAliAN CAFe, MILL ARD
AN eDUCATiON iN POPCOrNS
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8Vic Larson’s daughter was on a privately chartered Caribbean cruise in the mid-1990s when she saw it on one of the island villages — a Vic’s Popcorn display. Not bad for what Larson says began as “a little hole-in-the-wall” business. Larson and his wife, Ruth, began Vic’s Popcorn in 1980 at Omaha’s 50th & Leavenworth Streets. There were no grandiose plans, no long-term business goals. “My wife just wanted a part-time job and I always wanted to start a business, and I like popcorn,” Larson says. “So that’s what we did.” Larson’s vocation actually is in the classroom — he spent more than 30 years as a teacher and administrator for Omaha Public Schools. His parents and grandmother, all teachers, also taught for OPS. Larson earned a master’s degree from UNO in 1969 and later a Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “Education … is a great profession where the people involved in it care about other people,” Larson says. Drawing upon his experiences from teaching, Larson says, he utilized many of the same philosophies in running his business. “Being straightforward and honest, that to me is the basis of being successful in anything you do,” he says. Successful he was. The Larson in 1984 sold the corporation, but today still own four Omaha stores, where Vic continues to put in about 20 hours a week. “It’s been a wonderful experience so far,” Larson says. “And I’m not ready to give it up.” Vic’s Popcorn, meanwhile, can be found in all 50 states — and on the occasional island.
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OWNER SAiGON SUrFACe
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Mark Steele has seen it everywhere he goes: suffering, illness and even death in rural villages throughout Asia due to lack of what the industrialized world often takes for granted — access to clean water. In Tibet he saw children with sores all over their body from drinking water that contained little red worms. In Laos he witnessed young girls make a two-hour round trip each day to bring water back to their community. They are experiences that have had a profound impact on Steele’s life work. His international career began while he was a student at UNO studying abroad on scholarship in Japan. He went on to spend 18 years in Asia building commercial enterprises as president of ITT Corp. China then Asia-Pacific CEO of TomTom. While with ITT he was named to lead the emergency relief efforts after a 2004 tsunami in Sri Lanka. Steele found himself deploying water purification systems to devastated communities. It was life-changing. “I knew I wanted to come back to that,” Steele says. He did. Steele since has left his corporate career, returned to Omaha and there founded and headquartered Planet Water, a nonprofit organization backed by some of the world’s biggest brands. It has installed nearly 150 water-purifying Aqua Towers in rural villages throughout nine Asian countries. The results, Steele says, are transformational. “It’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done in my life.”
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For Phil Cerra, owning and operating Pudgy’s Pizzeria is more than just a business, it’s a family. “Our customers know without a doubt — no ifs, ands, or buts — that this is their store,” Cerra says with an accent reflective of his Chicago roots. “We make sure that when they are here they feel special.” His frank, tell-it-like-it-is approach and sociable demeanor bring a unique style and personality to this neighborhood pizzeria. Cerra broke into the food service industry at 15, pushing a cart with his cousins onto Chicago street corners and selling “Hots” — Red Hot Chicago hot dogs. In 1977, a year after earning his degree from UNO, Cerra brought the unique variety of hot dog to downtown Omaha, where Pudgy’s Hot Dogs gained a steady following for 10 years. As downtown development occurred and slowed traffic to his business, Pudgy’s closed. Years later, Cerra, his daughter and other family members spent months perfecting what is now his version of the deep dish Chicago-style pizza. In 2003, Cerra opened Pudgy’s Pizzeria, keeping the namesake that had brought him success years earlier. The name resonated with many past customers who are now “older and bring in their grown children and grandchildren,” Cerra says. Pudgy’s has been a hit, even gaining national attention on websites such as the Travel Channel’s Man vs. Food Nation and Food Network’s Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. “Like I tell people all the time,” Cerra says, “a man should not be allowed to have this much fun working.”
MArk STeele1990 bS iNTerNATiONAl STUDieS
FOUNDER/ CEOPlANeT WATer
PHil “PUDGY” CerrA1976 bA GeNerAl STUDieS
OWNER PUDGy’S PizzeriA
WATer WOrlD
SUSAN OGbOrN1977 MS COUNSeliNG
PRESIDENT/ CEO FOOD bANk FOr THe HeArTlAND
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Linda May entered college in the late 1960s as an art major with plans to pursue a career as an interior designer. Instead, she found herself called to the culinary world when she took a job cooking soups for M’s Pub in 1973. “I found that I could use my love of art because food is both an art and a science,” May says. “It seemed to fit very well.” She’s been a foodie ever since, including a 15-year stint with Omaha’s Swanson Corp. as vice president of the food service division. She also became a certified executive chef and eventually finished her degree, earning a BGS from UNO in 1997 with an emphasis on business and food and nutrition. In 2003, May and her husband, Roger, “decided we both needed a change and wanted to own our own business.” They purchased New Horizon Resort and Lodge in Waubun, Minn., a family fishing resort located along White Earth Lake (www.newhorizonresort.com). Some guests, she says, have been returning to the resort for 50 years. “I enjoy meeting all the people,” May says, and “just waking up every morning and looking out on this beautiful lake and hearing the loon’s call … it’s just gorgeous.” So is the log lodge, which once featured a bar-and-grill atmosphere but which May has transformed into an upscale, casual dining restaurant with continental flair. In 2011 she also published a cookbook, I Want That Recipe, compiling 345 recipes from her life’s collection. A life as a foodie.
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OWNERNeW HOrizON reSOrT & lODGe WAUBUN, MINN.
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The wait continues for Justin Leu — and so he waits. Leu graduated from UNO in December 2011 with a BS in speech communication. By now he figured he’d have a job related to his major and utilizing his customer service and problem-solving skills. But, like many recent college graduates, Leu has yet to land a job in his career field and so has turned to temporary employment in the food service industry. Initially that meant working weekday mornings at Orange Leaf. More recently he’s been doing a bit of everything at Five Guys Burger and Fries. “In the morning we prep all the meat and make sure everything is up to quality standard,” Leu says. “We keep everything running, making sure everything is done on time.” He enjoys the laid back environment and interacting with coworkers. But he’s hopeful he’ll soon find a 9-to-5 in his field with salary and benefits. “It’s pretty stressful at times,” Leu says. Looking back, Leu regrets not building up more career-related experience while in college and getting involved in extracurricular activities. It’s advice he offers to current students. “If you do all that it’s a lot easier to get noticed and get that first interview,” Leu says. “The biggest challenge right now for anyone coming out of college is finding an employer who is willing to take a chance on someone who doesn’t have experience. They don’t want to spend the time and money to train someone into a position; they want someone who is ready to go and take on the position.” And so he waits.
JUSTiN leU2011 bSSPeeCH COMMUNiCATiON
WAITERFive GUyS
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As a young child, Susan Ogborn watched her father donate free medical care to those in need and decided early on she, too, wanted to serve others. “All my folks ever cared about was, whatever you do, make sure it
makes the world a better place,” Ogborn says. For the last three years she’s tried to meet that ideal as president and CEO of Food Bank for the Heartland. As such she strives to bring attention to an issue many people don’t realize exists in what is the breadbasket of the nation. “What we know is that people who are hungry don’t wear t-shirts that say ‘I’m hungry’” Ogborn says. “It tends to be a hidden problem.” Ogborn directs a paid staff of 35 and some 5,500 volunteers in any given year. Food Bank for the Heartland is based in Omaha but extends its efforts in 93 counties throughout Nebraska and Western Iowa. Founded in 1981, it’s headquartered in a 76,320-square-foot warehouse from which it delivers 9 million pounds of food each year to more than 325 food pantries, emergency shelters, after-school programs, senior housing sites and rehabilitation centers. Ogborn enjoys watching her hard work come full circle. “The biggest reward has been seeing people I have worked with … go on to become community leaders, too.”
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When jennifer snow sits down for Thanksgiving dinner, she won’t need expert advice on what tastes best and why. Turkey with bacon-sage butter? homemade stuffing? it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to say this meal passes the taste test.
“The stuffing is amazing,” says snow, a 1996 uNo graduate who married a chef and runs her own catering company. “it’s one of the reasons i’m dieting.”
Yet what tastes good to a chef and a catering director might fall flat with a crowd of ranchers, a kindergarten class or group of
lunching plumbers.
Taste might be the most subjective and mysterious of our senses.
hey, some people even think airline food tastes good.
Taste Testercompared to the study of our other senses, taste barely gets a sniff. over the years, scientists who study sensory development have tended to focus on sight and hearing as opposed to taste. it’s an oversight that leaves the door open for researchers like uNo Professor suzanne sollars.
“if you think of which sense it would be most difficult to live without, you would likely not first think of taste,” says sollars, an associate professor of psychology. “in general, we know far less about taste. There are fewer researchers working on it than in other areas.”
sollars conducts basic research that, at first glance, seems far removed from your Thanksgiving meal. she works
A look at the most subjective and mysterious of our senses
By Greg Kozol
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with rats to determine how taste systems respond to injuries as the nerve system develops.
“We’ve looked at the interaction between the taste buds, surrounding support structures and nerve fibers really close,” she says.
her findings suggest that if a particular nerve is injured early in the developmental stages, there are permanent changes to the tongue that affect taste. she is in the process of researching the effect of capsaicin — an ingredient found in different types of peppers — applied to the tongue.
“The concept is that capsaicin can cause some of the nerve fibers to retract,” she says. “so we’re looking to see if there is an impact on taste buds.”
sollars’ research evolved out of her interest in sensory systems. she notes that taste is the brain’s interpretation of the chemical reaction that begins on the tongue. sollarsdemonstrates this principle by giving her students what she calls the “jelly bean test.”
“You take something like Mike and ikes,” she says. “i tell them to clamp their nose shut and roll the jelly beans around on their tongue for 20 seconds. They unclamp their nose and say, ‘Wow.’ That illustrates the difference between taste and flavor; the first sensation when the nose is clamped is taste, the second sensation is flavor.”
sollars is quick to point out that her own research into sensory system development is difficult to translate into broad statements on how humans perceive taste.
but she says some of the current research does offer intriguing hints on how taste can change in a particular person. sollars says some research suggests that feeding children large amounts of carbohydrates early in life can lead to a preference for salty foods.
Those findings could have implications in getting youth to pursue a healthy diet.
“There is some potential early influence on taste systems,” she says. “There is evidence to suggest that what infants consume early on might affect them for a lifetime.”
Catering to Tastesin the catering business, snow has seen firsthand how taste can be an evolving phenomenon. The co-owner and director of operations at catering creations in omaha has watched consumer tastes ex-pand far beyond basic chicken and beef staples.
“as far as taste, it really is constantly evolving,” says snow, who received her degree in biology in 1996. “i’ve been married 18 years to a chef. We used to invite people into our home and offer certain menu items that they’ve never seen.
“Now everyone has seen these things on Tv. There’s alligator on menus here in omaha.”
snow, whose business caters weddings, fundraisers and corporate events, finds that young people in particular want to experiment with new kinds of tastes.
“People love flavor,” she says. “There are too many frozen foods that don’t have that flavor. if we meet four people, half are going to say they want something different.”
The trick, she says, is to offer something with flavor that appeals to large crowds at catered events. Not everyone will want Thai food that rates a 10 on the spicy scale.
“My ranchers might want steak and potatoes, but a bride might love specialty salads.” she says. “We are going to get a couple of items for those who are more reserved.”
for example, even if someone wants spicy cajun food, snow often will suggest adding something more basic, like sliced beef with brandy peppercorn sauce. it has flavor but appeals to a person who is more cautious about food.
Deciding what flavors someone enjoys remains more of an art than a science, despite snow’s biology degree. she refers to herself as the senior taste-tester at catering creations, though she notes that the title is more for marketing purposes than an actual job description.
she does give flavor advice to her husband, jeff, who serves as the executive chef and co-owner of catering creations.
“jeff is very good at knowing what flavor profiles to put together,” she says. “sometimes i’m on board with that and say it’s an awesome idea. sometimes i’m a little more tentative and say i’m not sure if everyone at an event will enjoy that item.”
sometimes, she says, it’s possible to go too far in the pursuit of something unique. “in france, we had this amazing entree of pig’s feet. i’m not sure that we would try to sell that in omaha.”
Sippin’ and Soarin’jim shaw also sees the pursuit of flavor as a combination of art and science. shaw, who also got his degree in biology at uNo (1971), worked for years as a Delta air lines pilot before pursuing a second career as a wine- and beer-maker.
it’s a passion he developed at age 13, when he realized that by combining mulberries, yeast and sugar he could make mulberry wine. “i was a real inquisitive kid,” he says.
A broader term that involves the fusion of multiple senses — taste, smell and even sight — in the enjoyment of food.
Suzanne Sollars
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soaring Wings vineyard, located near springfield, Neb., now produces 40,000 bottles of wine a year. shaw could use his science background to offer a detailed account of how hot, dry weather affected the ph and acidity of the grapes at soaring Wings. he could tell you how he needs to stop the fermentation process to get the sugars in balance for a sweeter wine. in the end, though, a look inside a microscope won’t necessarily tell shaw what his customers will want. he simply tries to offer as much variety as possible to appeal to the different tastes that walk through his door.
“science tells me what the numbers are. The palate tells me what i have to do,” he says.
one thing he’s noticed is that customers who frequent his vineyard often talk about a preference for dry wines but they end up buying something on the sweeter end.
he also tries to get people to relax and enjoy the wine, not worrying so much about which bottle goes with which type of food.
“There’s a lot of snobbery out there,” he says. “The joke in the wine business is that people talk dry but they buy sweet.”
shaw, who still flies for Delta, finds that everyone is different when it comes to food and drink preferences. even a wrapped sandwich on an airplane will taste good to some people.
“Things have improved,” he says of airline food. “all these industries are cyclical. When i first started flying, we had all these marvelous meals on china. They would serve whole lobster.”
so when customers are savoring his wine or beer on a summer evening, shaw doesn’t worry too much about the mysteries of taste or the evolving research into sensory development. “i enjoy making people happy,” he says. “There are no hard-
and-fast rules. Don’t be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone.”
broccoli bustersstill, anyone who has ever tried to get a child to eat broccoli knows that there is much to be learned beyond the four basic tastes — sweet, salty, sour and bitter.
sometimes, the research points to genetic factors — such a variation in the number of taste buds — and
social influences in determining a person’s taste preferences. sollars notes that about 25 percent of the population is genetically unable to taste a bitter substance called PRoP. They tend to have fewer taste buds and perceive most tastes less intensely than those who can taste PRoP.
on the other end of the spectrum are so-called “supertasters” who tend to have a greater number of tastes buds and a heightened sense of taste. only a small percentage of the population would be so classified.
as far as super senses go, this isn’t as appealing as X-ray vision. a supertaster would find that some common foods taste too bitter, spicy or sweet. so go easy on that kid who doesn’t eat the broccoli.
“That child could be a supertaster,” sollars says. “That’s a very bitter thing to them.”
sollars says taste research won’t get your children to eat broccoli or other healthy foods. “if someone came up with that, it would be great,” she says.
but her research helps fill a void in the understanding of a sense that you certainly wouldn’t want to live without when your own dinner is on the table.
Bring your taste buds to the KANEKO-UNO Creativity Library in the Old Market, where there’s several taste/food-related titles, including:
Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking a visually stunning six-volume set that reveals science-inspired techniques for preparing food ranging from otherworldly to the sublime. The authors — and their 20-person team at the Cooking Lab — achieve new flavors and textures with tools such as water baths, homogenizers and centrifuges, and ingredients including hydrocol-loids, emulsifiers and enzymes.
The Kitchen as Laboratory A global collaboration of essays in which chefs and scientists advance culinary knowledge by testing hypotheses rooted in the physical and chemical properties of food while employing traditional and cutting-edge tools, ingredients and techniques.
The Flavor Thesaurus What foods taste good together and why? Flavor Thesaurus offers combinations sure to surprise, plus a back section that lists 99 popular ingredients with flavor matches for each.
Also: The Futurist Cookbook, The Art of Food Sculpture, The Great American Cereal Book, and Hungry Planet: What the World Eats.
The non-circulating library (sorry, the books stay there) is a partnership between KANEKO and UNO. It is housed in the KANEKO building but staff, resources and materials come from UNO. Membership fees from KANEKO plus a small portion of student/faculty fees fund the library.
Its collection features academic journals and books in fields that thrive on creative input — science, engineering, advertising, business, design, architecture, the humanities and, of course, the arts. It features odd, nifty, weird and creative works not available in your average library. Free Wi-Fi connects visitors to UNO’s vast online collection of scholarly journals and databases.
The library is available to all KANEKO members and UNO students, faculty and staff.
— Lindsey Bailie, Creativity Library Manager
Unami — a fifth taste some researchers associate it with savory foods.
Still hungry to learn more?
Taste Kaneko
1111 Jones St. Mon–Thur 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Fri 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. library.unomaha.edu/kaneko
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By Kara Schweiss
When it comes to the phenomenon commonly known as the “Freshman 15,” Americans, it seems, aren’t alone.
We’re just kinder about what we call it. Students in Australia and New Zealand, for instance, refer to weight gained during the freshmen year as the “First-Year Fatties.”
Though the average weight gain actually is nowhere near 15 pounds, several recent studies still have demonstrated some truth to the belief that incoming freshman can expect to finish college heavier than they began it.
A 2011 Ohio State University study in particular found that women gained about two and a half pounds and men about three and a half pounds, on average. A 2008 study reported in the journal Eating Behaviors considered only students who gained weight rather than all students. Among the gainers, the average bump on the scale was seven pounds. If that trend continues throughout college, a graduating senior indeed could likely find themselves 15 pounds heavier than their freshman year.
Julie Denker, a registered dietician and licensed medical nutrition therapist who also teaches a stress management course at UNO, says the weight can come quickly.
“The first semester,” she says. “That’s usually when they gain the bulk of it, at the beginning.”
But with weight struggles in children more prevalent now, freshman weight gain is more serious for some than just not being able to zip up a favorite pair of jeans.
“These kids are actually coming to school heavier than they did 15 years ago,” Denker says. “We have so many kids also coming to school now with high blood pressure.”
For many UNO freshmen, college is all about expanding horizons.
For others, waistlines expand, too.
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The“freshman15”doesn’thavetobepartofanormalcollegeexperience.RegistereddieticianandunoinstructorJulieDenkersaysthatalthoughunodoesnothaveadietitianonstaff,studentslookingforhelpcontrollingtheirweightcanconsultwithStudentHealthServices.
Denkeralsowillbeteachingseveral“Lunch&Learn”sessionsoncampusthisfalltoofferstudentstipsonhealthyeating.
Fornow,here’sadvicefromDenkerandothersforFightingthe15.
SizemattersunojuniorJosephnabity,whohasmanagedtomaintainahealthyweightsincethebeginningofcollege,sayssimplybeingconscientiousaboutfoodcanmakeadifference.“Youdefinitelyhavetothinkaboutit.nutritionisimportant,andportioncontrol.”saysnabity,whousuallycookshismealsinhisresidencehall.“Youcaneatwhatyouwantbutdon’tfeellikeyouhavetocookenoughfortwopeo-ple.orcookfortwomealsandputhalfofitaway.”
ChooseWiselyDenkersuggestsmakingchoices“thatarebetterthanmostofthesnackspeoplechoose.”
Those,shesays,“areemptycalories.”
HaveaplanPlanninghelpstoavoidthetemptationofunhealthycon-veniencefoodspurchasedwhenstudentsareravenousandstarvedfortimeaswell.“Ifyoudon’tplanaheadyouaregoingtobemorelikelytobinge,”Denkersays.“Pickupsomesnackitemsyoucanthrowinyourbackpack.Therearebetterchoices.”
HittheHPER…orHoofItEvenifafewpoundsdopileon,theweightgainusuallycanbereversed.
nabityadvisesfellowstudentstotakeadvantageofrecreationalactivitiesavailablerightoncampus.“HPERisafunenviron-menttoworkoutin,”hesays.
Andgettingsomeexercisedoesn’thavetoinvolvetryingtocarveafewhoursoutofanalready-packedschedule,butcanbeintegratedintoeverydaylife.“unohasabeautifulcampus,”saysMarciaAdler,directorofstu-denthealthservices.“Getsomecomfortableshoesandwalk.”
Fight 15
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Marcia Adler, director of student health services at UNO, agrees. “I’ve been working at the university for 13 years and it’s been my experience that a fair amount of students male and female do gain weight when they come off to college,” she says.
Why the Weight?So, how does this happen? For most students, there is no single factor responsible for the weight creep.
“It’s a combination of a lot of things,” Denker says. “Their lifestyle changed, they’re eating different foods, and the biggest thing is their level of activity.”
Adler says students lose track of calories.
“People come in and say ‘I don’t know why I gained weight; I don’t eat much,’” Adler says. “They don’t eat much at a meal, but it’s all these other little incidentals. It all adds up.”
The weight gain isn’t exclusive to the college-bound, studies show. In fact, one of the biggest contributors is the simple fact that the end of the teen years is when the fast-growth adolescent period is over.
Joseph Nabity, a junior and resident adviser at University Village, says he realized before high
school even ended that he would have to start keeping an eye on the scale.
“I felt like my metabolism had slowed a little bit more; it was not so rapid,” Nabity says. “My goal coming in was to avoid gaining weight.” He’s done just that through vigilance and vigor.
Lifestyle changes also make it easy for freshman pounds to accumulate. Young adulthood means even those who live with parents have lost parental oversight at mealtime, and with the demands of jobs and college, it’s easy to make hasty choices and run through a drive-thru or grab a vending machine snack or convenience food like a bag of chips or chocolate bar. Then comes the late-night “fourth meals.”
“They might eat supper at five o’clock or six o’clock and then at 10 or 11 after they’re done at the library or the bar, they eat again,” Adler says. “They may have a pizza with this new group of friends.”
Drinking also is a major culprit, and not just high-calorie alcohol. Energy drinks, coffee drinks and sugary soda might provide a jolt of caffeine, but they also can deliver a wallop of calories, Denker says, and young people typically don’t consider beverages when assessing their overall calorie intake.
Students still learning to manage college life also might turn to “stress eating” and unhealthy comfort foods, Adler says.
It’s not only eating and drinking habits that pose a problem. Young adulthood also typically brings about a change in physical activity. Some lose the regular exercise they had in a high school sport (according to the NCAA, only 5 percent of high school athletes go on to play in college). For those who were eating to bulk up for a sport, the problem is compounded.
Others have to forego their usual activities in order to study or work. Those who no longer live at home might no longer walk the dog or mow the lawn — all things that used to keep the pounds at bay.
Sleep — or lack thereof — also has an impact.
“They start not sleeping as well because they run all night and then they eat to get through the day because they’re physiologically exhausted,” Adler says. “They either work longer hours or play later hours because they lose that structure. We often see a tight relationship between weight gain and poor sleep.”
Good news, though — Fear of the Freshman 15 shouldn’t cause one to lose sleep. Continue reading for advice on how to “Fight 15.”
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“food is at the heart of, or implicated in, everything
from an individual’s spiritual disciplines to the social
organizations — both the unity and the sense of
boundaries — to the sense of one’s relationship with
God or some kind of larger spiritual order,” says Paul
Williams, associate professor and chair of uNo’s
religious studies department.
our bodily experiences, as humans, have always
been the subject of religious and spiritual
examination. and Williams ranks food practices
and traditions on par with sexual practices and
questions surrounding death.
nourishing our body, soul and religious heritage, food plays a central role in most religions.
“ it’s so fundamental.”
By Rick Davis
FaithFood
and
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“consumption of food, sexual intercourse and the end of our bodily life are just riddled with symbolic meaning and ritualized practices,” Williams says. “and they have profound implications sociologically.”
Fast and Feastfor many of the world’s major religions, food practices revolve around times of fasting and feasting.
bridget blomfield, assistant professor of islamic studies at uNo, says fasting is es-pecially important in the islamic religion. Ramadan, which varies each year by the lunar calendar, involves 30 days of fasting.
During this holy time, practicing Muslims will eat an early breakfast and then fast — no food, no drink — from sunup to sundown.
at sundown each night, they break the fast with a meal, called iftar, either at home with family or in community at the mosque. after prayers, the first course is usually dates, water and honey, as prescribed by the islamic prophet Muhammad. The foods that follow next are largely determined by culture. During the 30 days of Ramadan, Muslims are encouraged to read the entire Koran, islam’s holy text.
“The point of the fast is that it builds compassion and inner-strength,” blomfield explains. “You take the food that you would ordinarily eat all day and you donate it to the poor. so it’s the notion of observing and developing a spiritual practice that requires self-discipline, and then other people benefit from your practice.”
at the end of Ramadan’s 30 days, practicing Muslims celebrate with a holiday known as eid ul-fitr (“fitr” means “breaking of the fast”). “it’s quite a party,” blomfield says. some countries celebrate eid with huge carnivals, presents are exchanged — and,
of course, there’s food. The exact types are dependent on the culture, but the celebration includes sharing food with those less fortunate. “at the end of Ramadan, it’s very common to sacrifice animals and feed the poor,” blomfield says.
Yom Kippur, also known as the Day of atonement, is a high holy day for those of the jewish faith. usually falling in september or october, Yom Kippur involves a 25-hour fast and intensive prayers.
“With Yom Kippur, it’s the absence of food that actually connects us and grounds us,” says beth Katz, who is jewish and serves as director of Project interfaith, a nonprofit organization housed at uNo and dedicated to building respect and understanding among people of all faiths. “and when Yom Kippur ends at sunset, we have a huge break-the-fast that we do with our friends and family.”
for many christians, the 40-day period of lent each spring, leading up to easter, is a time of fasting. lent, which, like Yom Kippur, is a time of penance and prayer, commemorates the biblical story of the 40 days jesus spent in the desert (or wilderness) fasting and denying satan’s temptations.
“Generally, christians who observe a lenten fast give up some aspect of their diet,” Williams explains. “one of the general rules in the early centuries, and then encouraged by the Roman catholic church, is that people would eat no more than one meal a day and not eat animal products, particularly meat.
“of course, our most famous modern practice is that friday is a day when Roman catholics will eat fish, rather than meat. and that’s an echo of this somewhat more complicated and various set of traditions around reducing your diet.”
Connections and CommunityThese times of religious fasting and feasting can be seen as connected to the larger agrarian cycle, too.
“in the cycle of the year, people would tend to organize feasts around harvest time,” Williams says. “and they would tend to enter into lean periods that have seemed to work their way into different traditions as periods of fasting.”
“ whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of god.”—St. Paul, letter to the Corinthians
25 Years
unearthing history
Cooking vessels are among the artifacts most commonly found at Bethsaida, an important city in biblical history. That includes those shown, taken from the site in 2006 and photographed by Hanan Shafir.
Shafir’s photographs were on display earlier this fall in the UNO Art Gallery exhibition, “Artifacts and Images: UNO’s 25 Years of Bethsaida Excavations.” UNO Professor of religion and philosophy Rami Arav re-discovered the site and identified it as Bethsaida in 1987. Since 1990, UNO has led a consortium of institutions
in uncovering and studying artifacts there — many related to food and drink.
Work at Bethsaida has shed new light on the archaeology of the Bible land and the way scholars interpret the Bible. Each summer, faculty and students from UNO, consortium members and the general public travel there to continue excavations and archaeological study.
Shafir has captured many of the archaeological discoveries over the years. See more of his work at hananshafir.com.
Photo by Hanan Shafir
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Take, for instance, the three great jewish festivals — Pesach (feast of the Passover), shavuot (feast of Weeks) and sukkoth (feast of booths) — which tell the story of the jewish exodus from egypt. Pesach is the barley harvest, shavuot the wheat harvest and sukkoth the fall harvest.
“so these three festivals are linked to a harvest cycle, and they are linked to this narrative,” that of the exodus, Williams explains.
This connection between food and sacred narratives can serve as bond for those practicing a particular religion. Kashrut, for example, is a set of jewish laws that includes certain dietary restrictions.
observing Kashrut, Katz says, is “a way of carrying out, as some jews interpret it, God’s commandment. … it also helps create intentionality about what the person is eating and expressing gratitude for that.
“but it also is a way of unifying the community, because there are certain things that a group will eat and won’t eat. as a result, there are certain ways that food needs to be prepared, and so that creates cohesion in a community. and i think you’ll see that not just in the jewish community.”
Retired omaha Public schools teacher Tom jodlowski, who earned a bachelor’s
degree (1977) and master’s degree (1982) in education from uNo, experiences that sense of community each christmas when the omaha Polish club celebrates Wigilia.
The traditional Polish christmas eve meal is full of symbolism and tradition — from placing straw under the tablecloth to represent the manager … to a meatless meal of 12 courses, representing the 12 apostles … to leaving an extra place-setting for a stranger … to sharing the oplatek wafer, while asking for forgiveness from family and friends and wishing them peace, happiness and joy.
“it’s a really beautiful experience,” jodlowski says. “it really enlivens your faith. it kind of defines being Polish.”
and all christians share the narrative of the last supper, when jesus broke bread and drank wine with his disciples, proclaiming: “This is my body” and “This is my blood.” however, interpretations (was this act more symbolic or literal?) vary by denomination. for Roman catholics, the eucharist, the bread and wine served at Mass, once consecrated by the priest, is believed to be changed into the body and blood of jesus — a concept known as transubstantiation and confirmed by the
church during the council of Trent (1545-1563). st. Thomas aquinas explained it thusly, Williams says: “in the consecration of the elements of the eucharist, what happens is God transforms the essence of bread and wine into the essence of the body and blood of christ. but the appearance, or the superficial form, remains the same.”
Muslims, like those of the jewish faith, also share religious-dictated dietary restrictions — including not eating pork and no consumption of alcohol — as well as rules and ritualistic practices for the slaughtering of animals for food. foods that meet these religious requirements are called kosher for jews and halal for Muslims.
Othersother faiths also focus on food.
The church of jesus christ of latter-day saints (Mormons), for example, has what it calls a health code. The story goes that church founder joseph smith, who chewed tobacco, questioned God about the merits of this habit, and God revealed to him certain dietary guidelines. They include
Did YouKnow
The Book of Exodus forbids “boiling a kid (goat) in its mother’s milk.” While observed by Jews to differing degrees, or not at all, this law of Kashrut calls for milk and meat products to be separated — leading some Jews to have two separate sets of dishes in their house.
“Depending on their level of observance, some people will have two totally separate areas where they prepare meat food, meat meals, and milk meals,” Beth Katz says. “There’s a real range in the way that people observe it and to what degree they observe it in the Jewish community.”
The Christian tradition of eating ham on Easter Sunday has two interesting overtones. First, ham was a symbol of luck in pre-Christian Europe. Second, eating ham at Easter may have been a way to identify nonconforming Muslim and Jewish Christian-converts following the Reconquista of the Middle Ages, during which Christian forces reconquered the Iberian Peninsula from Islamic kingdoms.
“There were large numbers of Jews and Muslims who were given a really rough choice: leave, convert or die,” explains Paul Williams. “Some converted and tried to live as Christians, and the origins of the Inquisition lie in trying to make sure that the doctrine of these new converts was sound. And one of the ways that Christians could tell if you were a real convert, or not, was whether you were willing to eat ham. Because most Jews and Muslims, by their own religious laws, are forbidden from eating pork.”
According to several Buddhist websites, some adherers of the faith, most notably from China and Vietnam, try to avoid the “five pungent spices”— onions, garlic, scallions, chives and leeks — as they are considered to increase one’s sexual desire (when cooked) and anger (when raw).
?
For more information on Project Interfaith, visit projectinterfaith.org.
“ let all who are hungry come and eat.”—Passover prayer
“ o people, eat from whatever is upon the earth that is lawful and wholesome.”
—Koran
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For two decades, 1993 UNO graduate Michael Homan has been brewing his own suds.
His interest in cold ones, though, is ancient.
An associate professor of theology at Xavier University in New Orleans, Homan has published several articles about beer and its influence on the Bible and ancient Israel. Now he’s expanding his research and working on a book about the role of alcohol in the Abrahamic Faiths — Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Homan is no dummy when it comes to faith — he co-wrote The Bible for Dummies in 2002 with Jeffrey Geoghegan. He, Geoghegan and Robert Mullins also wrote the forthcoming Over, Under, and Through the Bible: An Archaeological, Historical, and Satellite Atlas.
Homan has master’s and doctorate degrees in ancient history and the Hebrew Bible from the University of California at San Diego, and he has lectured at Notre Dame Seminary, Loyola University and Jerusalem University College.
But how did he begin to connect faith and food in his research?
“My interest in the connections between religion and diet began at UNO with my first
trip to excavate Bethsaida with Professor Rami Arav in 1990,” he wrote in an email only days before Hurricane Isaac hit the Big Easy. “Most of the artifacts, such as ceramics, stone vessels and animal bones were all connected to food production and consumption.
“Excavating these people’s houses made me curious about their daily lives. While working on my doctorate on the history of ancient Israel it was clear that wine and beer played major roles in all ancient Near Eastern civilizations.”
And so he dug. And he shares. Homan imparts some of what he knows plus regular life observances — both often in humorous takes — at his blog, michaelhoman.blogspot.com
Here in print he offers UNO Magazine readers 11 Frothy Faith Facts.
provisions against consuming alcohol, chewing tobacco, smoking or drinking “hot drinks” (interpreted as tea or coffee); “wholesome herbs,” fruits and grains are recommended; and meat is to be used “sparingly.”
eastern religious traditions, like buddhism and hinduism, also have various food practices, but they tend to vary by denomination and culture.
“in general, there is often an ideal of vegetarianism in hinduism, buddhism and jainism,” says Michele Desmarais, Ph.D., associate professor in religious studies. “This is based on the practice of ahimsa (nonviolence). There is recognition that so long as we are alive, we harm things in order to maintain our own life.
“The importance placed on vegetarianism will vary again depending on country, culture, social class and the individual hindu, buddhist and jain.”
adds Williams: “What’s interesting about buddhism — as opposed to christianity, judaism or islam — is that the (buddhist) precept not to kill living things is not a divine command. The language in buddhism is an individual chooses to undertake a vow.”
breaking breadWhile food practices can help unify the faithful in their particular religious tradi-tion, sharing a meal also can help indi-viduals and groups learn about other faiths different from their own.
Katz tells the story of attending a traditional sikh meal called langar — a free communal meal, usually meatless, open to people of all faiths and based on the concept of equality of all people.
“it was incredible,” Katz says. “it just really reinforces that value they have about the equality of humanity.”
enjoying a meal, especially one with religious connections, with people of different faiths can — pardon the pun — give one food for thought.
“just the act of having a meal together with someone, i think, helps break down barriers,” Katz says. “it’s just a great vehicle to help understand cultures and religious frameworks.
“it’s very powerful.”
1. Yahweh was believed to have consumed 4 hins (about 16 liters) of beer per week through the ritual of libation.
2. Beer was so common in ancient Egypt that a picture of a beer jar was the written symbol for all food.
3. Drinking beer is what separates humans from animals according to the Epic of Gilgamesh.
4. Prophets from ancient Mari drank beer to induce prophetic states. 5. Muhammad, Jesus and Moses all consumed alcohol. 6. Many ancient religious temples had their own private wineries and
breweries. 7. The wine that Jesus drank likely had a higher alcohol content than most
modern vintages. 8. The price and strength of beer is legislated in Hammurabi’s law code. 9. While most Sumerians deities for crafts were male, Ninkassi was the
goddess of beer production. 10. Males produced wine on an industrial scale, whereas women produced
beer domestically. 11. Some of the earliest distillers of alcohol, such as Geber, were Muslim.
Getting Biblical about beer
Faith froth facts
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SIGHTS & SOUnDS
Free Food, Free ShadesNothing attracts a crowd like fRee fooD — especially when it’s “walking tacos” served by uNo alumni association staff during Welcome Week (corn chips topped with seasoned beef, lettuce, cheese and salsa). The uNo alumni association served 1,500 students, faculty and staff, getting a helping hand from uNo’s head honcho — chancellor john christensen. The association also gave 3,000 students free uNo alumni shades.
Flying HighThe uNo campus gathered aug. 23 to celebrate the uNo aviation institute’s reception of the 2012 loening Trophy, presented annually to the outstanding all-around collegiate aviation program in the nation. The pure-silver, Tiffany-designed loening Trophy was commissioned and first awarded in 1929 by aviation pioneer and inventor Grover loening. it emphasizes academics, community involvement, aviation skills and advancement, a comprehensive safety program, and professionalism. uNo aviation institute’s student team, the flying Mavs, received the aviation Progress award as the year’s most improved team.
back in SchoolThe uNo campus bustled back to life aug. 20 with the start of the 2012 fall semester. highlights included live music, free food, a “Dust off Your bike” event with free bike tune-ups, a uNo athletics pep rally, a carnival in the scott housing complex on the Pacific street campus, and hPeR after Dark in the hPeR building featuring rock climbing, zumba, lazer tag and more.
Getting Their kicksThe uNo men’s and women’s soccer teams were back in action in august at uNo soccer field at the chili Greens complex. The women began the season with a 2-1 exhibition win over south Dakota. The men on aug. 26 beat bellevue 4-0 for their first-ever home field victory. both teams have their final home games of the regular season oct. 28 – the women vs. North Dakota state, the men against oakland.
Scenes on and off campus
sights
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SIGHTS & SOUnDS
Farewell to Fitza full house greeted uNo Photographer Tim fitzgerald at a reception aug. 30, one day before he retired after 42 years on the job. Newspapers and Tv stations reported on his departure, most nothing that he’d continue to be seen occasionally on campus still snapping away. fitzgerald took hundreds of thousands of photos of campus during his career and was a regular contributor to UNO Magazine.
Major victoryJust go out there and do what I know how to do, and pitch and move the ball around.
Obviously, the results came, and I couldn’t feel better.
Former Maverick pitcher Tyler Cloyd, 25, who earned his first Major League Baseball victory in a 4-1 Philadelphia win against Cincinnati on Labor Day. He had made his debut Aug. 29. That same day he received the 2012 Paul Owens Award as the best pitcher in the Phillies minor league system after going 15-1 with a 2.26 ERA in 26 combined starts at AAA Lehigh Valley and AA Reading. quote reported Sept. 3 by MLB.com
brush with a KillerWhen I met him, he was already pretty indoctrinated into neo-Nazi ideas. He was very anti-Semitic by that time. He was talking
about a Zionist or small Jewish conspiracy to essentially dominate world affairs. He spoke a lot in terms of anti-black terms and felt that blacks were preying on whites on a regular basis. He felt that whites were generally discriminated against within society, and that whites routinely got the short end of the stick and were essentially on the verge of extinction. So, he had by that time really adopted some of the core elements of a kind of white supremacist world view.
UNO Criminal Justice Professor Pete Simi speaking Aug. 8 on PBS NewsHour about Wade Michael Page, the man who killed six worshippers in a Milwaukee Sikh Temple Aug. 5. Simi spent time with Page from 2001 to 2003 while studying the neo-Nazi movement. That research led to his book, American Swastika: Inside the White Power Movement’s Hidden Spaces of Hate. Simi spoke about Page during interviews with numerous major media. See more about his work at unoalumni.org/petesimi
Eyes on 2020UNO’s growth is not just about getting to a certain number, but about serving students and our metropolitan community.
UNO Chancellor John Christensen speaking to WOWT regarding UNO’s Fall 2012 enrollment of 14,788 students, a 0.5 percent increase from 2011 and the university’s seventh consecutive year of growth. UNO has an enrollment goal of 20,000 students by 2020.
sounds
Heard on and off campus
Erin Owen, Director, Office of Marketing
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CLASS nOTES
CLASS NOTES
Send your classnotes to www.unoalumni.org/classnotes. Or, post your note on the UNO Alumni Association Facebook site: www.facebook.com/UnOAlumni
38dalE wolF (ba) types from Omaha: “Readers of my last note got a chuckle at your mention that it was
type-written. We just had a big joke along that line when my typewriter went on the blink, and I asked my daughter to call around to get it fixed. “But Dad,” she said, “they will probably ask, ‘Fix What?’ Luckily we found a place, and I’m back in business.”
49MariE r. Franco shaFEr (ba) is owner of Don Shafer Display, a silk screen, wide-format digital
printing and graphics arts company established in 1964. [email protected]
50bill arnold (bs) writes from home in Omaha that “One of my best days each year is having an
opportunity to meet and talk with the cadets in the (UNO) AFROTC.”
51williaM glicKFiEld (bs) lives in Weeki Wachee, Fla., where he still practices
law. He writes: “I matriculated at OU in 1947, fresh from high school. That year
I wore my “beanie” and called myself an “Omaha Indian.” I remain the same to this day. I’m certain those who changed the name felt it was necessary. I didn’t and don’t. Those who removed football from the sports program probably thought it, too, was necessary. I don’t. We did well enough as a municipal university. Presently it’s hard to identify as a Maverick. Not too
many of us Indians are left, but I wonder. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to express my views.” [email protected]
toM townsEnd (ba) writes that he and his wife, Ruth, “celebrated 53 years of marriage partnership in June. That same month I observed my 52nd anniversary of ordination to the Christian ministry in what is now the United Church of Christ.” Townsend was UNO Alumni Association executive secretary from 1952 to 1955. He lives in West Bend, Wis.
53robErt o’nEill (bfa) lives in Victoria, Texas. “I am now 81, widower for four years. Live
in an independent living community. My daughter and her husband and her three sons live about 15 minutes from here. My son just recently started working for Texas department of transportation. I retired from Lamar University as chairman of the art department in 1996.” [email protected]
54charlEs godwin (bs) lives in Lincoln, Neb. He has been elected to a three-year term to the
executive board of the Association For Childhood Education International.
55orvillE MEnard (ba) lives in Omaha and is retired after teaching for 34 years in the UNO political
science department. [email protected]
lYdEll KiPlin (ba) lives in San Antonio and writes: “Enjoying retirement since 1999. Now a widower; enjoy snow skiing and annual hunting trips to Argentina.” [email protected]
56garY whitEMan (bsba) lives in Mesa, Ariz. He has sold his Scottsdale, Ariz., insurance agency and
is retired. He has been married 57 years to Ila Jorgenson Whiteman. [email protected]
58JEannE barton gilEs (bs) lives in Lincoln, Neb., and writes that she has “Spent the last
two months singing with a small cast from a UNL/OLLI class. We raised money for current USO programs. It was a lot of fun. Our shows were at the Lincoln Playhouse plus a benefit at the Lincoln Country Club.” [email protected]
59stanFord Mcdonald (Ma) lives in Park Forest, Ill., and writes: “I received an
enjoyable and very worthwhile educational experience during my master’s experience — Dr. Bill Thompson (pictured) was department head at that time. I would enjoy hearing from any of my cohorts in the department of psychology at that time.” [email protected]
PiErrE arEnd (bGe) lives in Clinton Township, Mich., and is a professor of French at Macomb Community College in Michigan. He previously retired from the U.S. Navy in 1994 and from Peugeot-Citroen in 1999. [email protected]
61david bEldEn (bGe) was appointed as the interim executive director of the newly established Alpha
Foundation for the Improvement of Mine Safety and Health. The foundation was funded with $48 million following the death of 29 miners at the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia. The foundation will award research grants. Belden since 2002 has been serving as the executive director of the United Engineering Foundation, founded in 1904 by Andrew Carnegie. He will continue in this position.
62avElinE MarKs (bs) will receive the Heartland Region’s Gold Thread Award for 2012 for contributing in
the field of embroidery and volunteering her efforts toward supplying materials to organizations with the Embroiderers Guild of America. The National Seminar will be in Santa Fe, N.M., Oct. 28. [email protected]
63richMond boYKin Jr. (bGe) is retired and lives in Bedford, Texas. [email protected]
64dEan ullErich (bsba) lives in Omaha and has been retired since
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September 2003. ”Stay busy with my hobbies of stained glass, horse training, woodworking and raising hostas and roses.” [email protected]
hal bingaMan (bs) lives in Ashland, Ore., and is retired after having served in the U.S. Air [email protected]
65ron MlEJnEK (ba) lives in Hastings, Neb. and now is retired after a career as a
staff chemist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Research Center. Mlejnek also has attended Creighton University and the
University of Iowa. [email protected]
JaMEs grEY (bs) lives in Carmichael, Calf. “After graduation I went to Sacramento, Calif., and worked for banks for 30 years, retiring in 1995. We were able to travel the world during those years. I wrote a book, ‘Vanishing Contrails,’ published in December 2011. The book is a memoir and covers my life with specific information about my service in WWII and the Korean War. UNO gave me a good start for a new career after retiring from the Air Force.” [email protected]
66ElsiE KEPhart (bs) since 1994 has worked for the BOD Community Services Connection (United Way of
the Black Hills; BOD Literacy Council of the Black Hills.) She had retired in 1994 as an elementary school educator. [email protected]
ron burKE (bGe) writes that he and his wife, Kate, both retired and moved to Visalia, Calif., where they “are enjoying the sunshine and their backyard pool.” Burke also recently became a great-grandfather for the first time. [email protected]
68gErald FlowErs (bGs) lives in Del Rey Oaks, Calif., and says the year he spent in Omaha at
UNO, “was one the best in my life. The people of Omaha are the greatest. After retiring from the Army in 1972, I was vice principal of a Catholic boys high school for 32 years and retired from there in 2005.” [email protected]
MaYnard allington (bs)
lives in Melbourne, Fla., and recently sold his latest short story, The Raffles Intrigue, to Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. The lead character
also appears in Allington’s novel, “The Summer of Cinder Red,” a thriller set in Turkey in the summer of 1941. [email protected]
70ron and dEbbY (rhoadEs) sMith, write from Southport, N.C., where they live: “After great
preparation and fond memories of good times at UNO, we enjoyed long, happy careers: Ron in teaching and the business world of FTD and Engineering Society of Detroit; Deb teaching in District 66 and Farmington, Mich. We have two sons and three grandchildren. Now, we’re happily retired at St. James Plantation in Southport, N.C., right on the coast. A great place to visit and live. Our best to all of you. [email protected]
ronald “riP” PowEll (bGs) lives in Bluffton, S.C., and writes: “After flunking retirement three times I have finally fully retired here in a Dell Webb Sun City. Now just sitting back and enjoying life and being a great-grandpa for the past year. Managed to get have a four-generation picture taken in January 2012. Anyone down this way drop in, it only takes a couple of minutes to get the coffee brewed; however you do need to call ahead so I can have a pass available at the gate. Would like to hear from some of the members of the old Pen and Sword Frat. For those that may tend to forget I go by ‘Rip’ not ‘Ron.’” [email protected]
robErt PEtErsEn (bs) lives in Maricopa, Ariz. “Retired and having fun in AZ during the winter months, and CO during the summer months.” [email protected]
To join Nesheim and thousands of other alumni in the giving tradition with YOUR monthly gift to theUNO Annual Fund, see the envelope at the center of this magazine or visit unoalumni.org/give.
As a Bootstrapper, Donald Nesheim, ’71, spent only eight months in the Army Degree Completion Program on UNO’s campus, but the impact has lasted a lifetime.
After graduation, Nesheim continued in the Army for a total of 21 years and after his retirement, he attended the seminary and became an Episcopal priest. But he never forgot his time at UNO, and today, he gives back to the UNO Annual Fund with a monthly gift.
“I wanted to support the college that had allowed me to move up in my fi eld,” he said. “Monthly giving is the easiest way to do it. I don’t have to remember to write a check each month or look for a letter that came in.”
“People before us made gifts to allow us to attend,” he says to all UNO alumni. “There wouldn’t be half of the programs that there are now without those gifts. We should give back so that others can continue to benefi t.”
Bootstrapper graduate’s monthly gifts add up to make a big impact on students.
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CLASS nOTES
71williaM PattErson (bGs) lives in Laurens, S.C., and is “still totally retired” after a
career he ended as a major in the U.S. Army. “Riding my Harley/Low Rider. I recently purchased a new toy: 2012, Grand Sport, Corvette!” [email protected]
ralPh connollY (bGs) lives in Davidsonville, Md., and is a trustee of two Masonic organizations. He also was accorded emeritus status as a member of the Board of Governors, Shrines Hospital for Children, Philadelphia. [email protected]
tiM EarlY (bsba) lives in Omaha. He recently wrote a novel, Our Coast Guard Adventure, available on Amazon Kindle eBooks. [email protected]
PhiliP adElMan (bGe) lives in Phoenix, Ariz., and recently edited the textbook, Managerial Finance, sixth edition, written by he and Alan Marks. It’s to be published by Prentice-Hall in 2013. [email protected]
John l. adlEr (bsce) lives in Omaha and has been retired since June 2011 after 55 years with Kirkham Michael, Consulting Engineers.
williaM vicKErY Jr. (bGs)
lives in Crestview, Fla., and writes: “Margo, my wife, and I spend our summers at our cabin in western North Carolina. We recently went on a mission trip to Ecuador with our church.” Vickery retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1984 as a chief master sergeant. He retired again in 2003 as a civilian with the U.S. Air Force department of Air Force Civilian as director of acquisition security. [email protected]
ron cisar (Ms) lives in Omaha and teaches full time at Iowa Western Community College in biological science. “I continue to write music
related to the environment and perform across the country at nature centers, conferences and educational institutions.” [email protected]
72garY turnEr (Ma) lives in Lowell, Ariz., and has been in consulting for 21 years. See more at
www.TurnerConsulting.biz. [email protected]
raYMond suMnErs (bGs)
lives in Arvada, Colo., and is retired — again. He first retired from the U.S. Air Force after 31 years (leaving as a major). He then retired after teaching 15 years in college “to take care of my high school sweetheart with Alzheimer’s.”
rogEr l. MansFiEld (Ma) lives in Larkspur, Colo., and has been working full time in Colorado Springs for more than a year on the ITT Exelis SENSOR project. “My assigned tasks involve electro-optics, astronomy, and astrodynamics. The mathematics that I learned at UNO is the common thread that binds together these three engineering and science disciplines.” [email protected]
cathErinE PoPE was featured by the UNO Alumni Association in Feburary during Black History Month as Omaha’s first Miss Black Omaha (see www.unoalumni.org/unoblackhistory7). She writes, “I am a devoted wife, mother, stepmother and grandmother of five. I am a suburban liver in one state and an urban professor in another. I am still highly committed to the social issues of the day. I am a writer and a public speaker.”
Jon bridgEwatEr writes that he has “taken an item from his bucket list and parlayed it into a new career.” After a career in sales and marketing he has published his first work of fiction, Charity Kills. The book takes place in his home now of Houston and follows the adventures of a down-but-
not-yet-out detective while he tries to solve the case of the murder of a beautiful young woman and redeem his own soul. The book is the first of a trilogy with following books due in September 2012 and March 2013.
75williaM warning (bs) lives in Minneapolis and writes: “Hi, everybody in Nebraskaland. I am
originally from the East Coast but came to UNO via Offutt AFB. Married an Iowa/Nebraska gal a long time ago. After a very long (34-year) marriage, got divorced several years ago. So, I am available up here in the Twin Cities enjoying great Minnesota fishing and humungous Division I college ice hockey. The University of Minnesota offers virtually tuition-free college courses for ‘senior citizens’ and I will be taking a couple this fall. Call me so I can make you the best stove-top pizza on the planet! See, my UNO education did, indeed, pay off!” [email protected]
76rEbEcca FahrlandEr (Ma) is a professor in the UNO psychology department. She
recently traveled to South America and Antarctica. In Antarctica, she visited the scientific research stations of Chile, Russia and China, and also visited the only town on the continent. She writes a travel column for the Bellevue Leader.
77MarY EllEn swEEnEY (bs) has released a book on
ethnographic research, written with Brooke Walker: Exploring People and Cultures: Authentic
Ethnographic Research in the Classroom. It is published by Prufrock Press. She writes: “I rediscovered
learning at UNO. After completing my MS at UNO I moved to Portland, Ore., where I completed my
Ph.D. in urban studies at Portland State University. I am currently a Gifted and Talented Specialist in the Denver Public Schools.”
tErrY sticKEls (ba) with Brad Honeycutt has published The Art of the Illusion: Deceptions to Challenge the Eye and the Mind. The book
features a collection of more than 200 optical illusions — famous paintings, photographs and computer-enhanced images. An author, speaker and puzzle maker, Stickels’ “Frame Games” is published by USA Weekend magazine and in 600 newspapers. For more information on him, or to order The Art of the Illusion, or other of his books, visit www.terrystickels.com.
lEE ariEtta (ba) lives in Wrentham, Mass., and is lead social worker at UMASS Medical Center. Her daughter, Kimberly, in September left for a U.S. Peace Corps stint in Africa. [email protected]
78david rEEd (bs) lives in Nevada, Iowa, and is corporate controller for NFO. He also is on the board of
directors for Colorado Natural Meats in Denver and treasurer for the Institute for Rural America. [email protected]
79tEd dElaEt (Ms) is a psychologist in private practice in Omaha. “I have been on the UNO counseling
department part-time faculty since
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1986. I am a past-president of the Nebraska Psychological Association and am their current director of professional affairs in addition to chairing their Continuing Education Committee. I earned my Ph.D. from UNL in 1986 in Counseling Psychology.” [email protected]
Marian o’briEn Paul (Ma)
lives in Chicago, where this summer she purchased a condo. “Working on a collection of poetry, The Emperor of the World - His Mother’s Musings. Have also written an unpublished novel, Mad Sweeney’s Valley. Any agents or publishers out there interested in either? [email protected]
81Jonah (toM) wharFF (Ms) lives in Peosta, Iowa, at New Melleray Abbey. “I entered
the monastery in 2000, professed vows in January 2003, and was ordained to the priesthood in December 2008. I am now prior of the community, director of junior monks, and guestmaster. Trappist life is demanding and I love it!”
82drEw whitlEr writes: “Last January I captained a 41-foot sailboat
from the Chesapeake Bay to Galveston Bay. Almost all of it was in the Atlantic and the Gulf of
Mexico. It was a lifelong dream and a great adventure!” [email protected]
MErritt sMith iii (bGs)
lives in Omaha and is a professional musician and “empty nester.” He writes: “Enjoying life. Enjoying the grandkids.” [email protected]
83dEna MangiaMElE (bs) lives in San Diego and writes: “Reinvent yourself over 50 (class of
1983) — it’s an exciting challenge! From UNO life as a biology major, women’s track athlete, and homecoming queen to veterinarian, public health and forensic specialist, and now vegan food entrepreneur distributing to Whole Foods on the West coast. Science, fitness, and nutrition all come together with my company, Dena’s Fuel For Fitness. Check out my vegan, raw, gluten and preservative free products at www.denasfuelforfitness.com where we are “pleasin’ every vegan.” [email protected]
norah hanlon (bsba)
writes that “The circle is complete. My youngest child, Tommy, was born in February 1994. In August of that year, I resigned from UNO as the assistant manager of student accounts to take care of my three young children (my oldest child was starting kindergarten). In May of this year, my oldest child, Bridget, graduated from UNO with a degree from the College of Communication, Fine Arts and Media. In August, 18 years later, Tommy started his college career at UNO! UNO has been a huge part of my life … and now my children’s lives. I cannot be more proud! Thank you UNO.”
84thYris taYlor (MsW) writes from home in Omaha where he is a psychotherapist in his own
private mental health services practice. “I’ve been up and running since March of 2011. I’m located at 105 N. 31 Ave., Suite 215. My specialty is working with children with psychological and/ or emotional problems, or who have a major mental health disorder. I also provide mental health counseling to individuals who may be suffering a chronic mental health problem. My approach to providing services is to make sure that the client is comfortable with the approach taken to address
their presenting problem. Having said that, generally speaking I use a client-centered approach in working with adult individuals.” [email protected]
85lisa runco (bsba) is serving a one-year term as president of the
Administrators of Internal Medicine (AIM). She is vice chair of finance and administration in
the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s department of internal medicine. AIM is a national organization of 435 business administrators in departments of internal medicine at medical schools and affiliated teaching hospitals in the United States and Canada. Accounting for approximately 200,000 of the nation’s 700,000 physicians, internal medicine is the largest, most diverse specialty in the United States. Runco also earned a master’s degree in public administration from UNO in 1991. She has worked in various capacities at UNMC since 1991.
86JiM bargEr (Mba)
lives in Omaha and writes: “After owning several of my own businesses in New
Zealand and the USA, I am now an ActionCOACH business coach in Omaha, helping business owners make their businesses work for them. Married for 30 years, two great daughters and enjoying being back in the Omaha area.” [email protected]
gEorgE EModi writes that after UNO he graduated from UNMC and completed a residency in orthopedic surgery at the University of Iowa. “I was in private practice at Immanuel Medical Center for 15 years. I have been at Methodist Orthopedics/Physician’s Clinic for the last three years. My wife, Maureen, and I have four children, ages 22, 19, 16 and 13.”
susan clarK (Ms) lives in Omaha and is a volunteer for Nebraska Game and Parks Commission in its “Becoming an Outdoor Woman” Program. She also is an active adult facilitator for adult bible study groups. She worked for City of Omaha Police Department and retired in 2007. [email protected]
87laura PEtEr (bs)
recently moved back to Eau Claire, Wisk. “Both my husband, Don, and I are now
working for Mayo Clinic Health System,” she writes. “I am at the Luther campus. I am working in a PM&R (physical medicine and rehabilitation) department with two other PM&R physicians.” They have three daughters: Emily (sixth grade), Megan (fifth grade) and Isabel (first grade). [email protected]
88chErY lorrainE (bs)
lives in Grand Island, Neb., and in June married Gregg Bieber. She previously lived
in Lincoln, Neb., and there was an elementary school librarian.
JEna JanovY (bs) was promoted to deputy editor, enterprise/investigations at ESPN.com. She oversees strategic planning for long-form journalism, coordination of content across multiple ESPN platforms and vision and direction for multimedia projects. She is involved in the development of enterprise storytelling across platforms and products — particularly apps, audio and social media – as well as integration with ESPN The Magazine. Jena, a 1988 graduate from UNO, has won two Sports Emmys and been nominated for four additional Sports Emmys for her work as coordinating producer of online content for ESPN.com in Bristol, Conn. [email protected]
sallY hoPP lives in Waldorf, Md., retired and “doing stained glass.” [email protected]
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taMi christiann Kouth (bsba) in May retired from the U.S. Navy as a commander and deputy chief of staff at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. Her major responsibility there has been coordinating the Base Realignment Program, which involves tearing down a number of old buildings and the construction of new ones in preparation for the relocation of the Army’s Walter Reed National Medical Center onto the Bethesda campus. Kouth previously had earned a master’s degree in the Armed Services’ International School in Monterey, Calif.
89tina scott-Mordhorst (bs) lives in Omaha and in July was promoted to clinical
professor at the UNMC department of pediatrics. [email protected]
cYnthia hadsEll (eMba)
lives in Omaha and retired after a 42-year career with what now is CenturyLink. “Enjoying work on boards for Youth Emergency Services and Douglas County Historical Society.” [email protected]
MarK draPEr (eD.s.) lives in Omaha and recently was selected as chairperson of the Iowa Area Education Agency Directors of Special Education for 2012-2013. “I’m honored to serve in this role and to continue to advocate for special education services for children and families with special needs children in Iowa.”
90
brian ardingEr (bsba)
lives in Lincoln, Neb., and is co-founder of the Big Plate (www.thebigplate.com), a collaborative community for entrepreneurs
and startups. He is former chief marketing officer at Nanonation (www.nanonation.net) and the new Entrepreneur in Residence at NUtech Ventures. [email protected]
carl carlson (MsW) lives in Chico, Calif., and writes: “Time has flown since graduation. For the past five years I have worked as a psychotherapist at Feather River Tribal Health Clinic in Oroville, Calif. The clinic is well-managed and with a heart-centered perspective. Interesting, challenging and rewarding work. At age 65 in October, I look toward the setting sun more and more often. Life is still filled with awe and with an abiding sadness. Peace and harmony to you.” [email protected]
coco McatEE (MsW) lives in Overland Park, Kan. In addition to leading a pregnancy and infant loss group for parents who have lost a child to miscarriage, stillbirth or SIDS, McAtee (LSCSW) now leads a group for adolescent girls to support their emotional development. She continues to teach “Love and Logic” classes for parents of kids preschool to teens as well as family communication workshops around healthy sexual development. [email protected]
donald gatEs (bsba) lives in Northville, Mich. In May he returned from a one-year combat tour in Afghanistan. A Lt. Colonel, Gates was deputy for the Afghanistan Reintegration Program (ARP) in Regional command-East. ARP is the U.S.-led part of the Afghanistan Peace and Reconciliation Program (APRP). He writes that he was prepared for his role since his first degree with UNO is a degree in general studies with a major in International Studies (1990), and he took several classes from Dr. Tom Gouttierre, director for the Center for Afghanistan Studies. Gates is a
member of the Army Reserves and has been on two previous deployments to Iraq and the Horn of Africa. He also works for IBM and has been with them for 13 years. He is married to Rola Bazzi-Gates and they have three children.
tEd o’toolE (bs) lives in St. Paul, Minn., and is a principal attorney editor for Thomson Reuters and a priest at the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center. “I have very fond memories of UNO,” he writes.
brandiE tarvin (ba) was hired as publication coordinator for Musa Publishing’s Urania books imprint (science fiction and fantasy) and Penumbra eMag, Musa’s speculative fiction magazine. [email protected]
JanEt MccoY (Ma) lives in Omaha and, with her husband, James, won her age group at the Glow Run 5k.
92bill conlEY (Mba)
joined the board of directors of Nebraska Shakespeare Festival, Inc. and has been
elected treasurer. He is vice chancellor for business and finance at UNO.
nancY s. KYME (bs) won a 2012 Next Generation Indie Book award in the Inspirational category for her debut novel-memoir, Memory Lake, the Forever Friendships of Summer. The book was featured in the Fall 2011 UNO Magazine. [email protected]
anastasia tsatsaKis (ba)
writes: “Since graduating I have worked in the sales field for many years, moved from Omaha to Illinois to marry my husband, and am now a successful real estate broker and health insurance associate agent.”
93JEnniFEr MurnanE was promoted to vice president of business development at Capital
In MEMORIAM1952 Rod conser
1954 lt. col. (Ret.) Philip springer
1969 charles f. zulfer
1970 lt. col. (Ret.) Robert King
1976 Ronald William Gordon
Analytics, a firm that measures human capital investments including training, leadership development, social networking and employee engagement.
94KEvin warnEKE (Ma)
earned his doctoral degree in leadership, communication and education from the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln in May. “I work as a campaign manager for the Steier Group, which assists nonprofit organizations with fundraising and development efforts.” [email protected]
96aMali wEEratuga (bs) is a student administration manager at Monash College in
Melbourne, Australia. [email protected]
aPril davis caMPbEll (MPa)
in May received her doctor of ministry in Christian spirituality from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Ga. In July she was installed as pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Hastings, Minn. [email protected]
MiKE schEEF lives in Papillion, Neb., and writes that after 20 years of art shows together he and fellow UNO graduate Derek Courtney have opened their own studio/gallery, Caesium, at 4656 S. 60th Ave. in Omaha. They plan on exhibiting their new works along with work from local and national artists. Their first major group show is planned for Dec. 12. [email protected]
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MichaEl svEhla (bsba)
lives in Omaha and “is attempting to establish a full-time astrology practice.” He attends conferences and actively participates in the astrological community via the Internet. His web site is www.triplewaterastrology.com. [email protected]
97sharon a. andErson (MsW)
recently opened her own solo counseling practice,
Anderson Counseling, specializing in healing anxiety, depression, trauma and grief. [email protected]
shEllEY williaMs (MPa)
recently became market human resources manager at Sam’s Club for 14 clubs in Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota. She also has obtained her global remuneration professional certification for international compensation and benefits. ‘Hello to Class of 1994 criminal justice,” she writes.
98MarY schaFFart FinK (bs) lives in Omaha and is a lecturer and academic program
consultant for Purdue University’s Aviation Technology Department. She and her husband, Ed (BGS-1998), a captain for Republic Airways, have been married for 12 years and have four children: Claire, Andrew, Gianna & Peter.
KEElY bostocK (bscj) lives in Denver, Colo., and writes, “After graduating from UNO I received my JD and LLM and am now a ‘recovering lawyer’ working in the media industry as the vice president of content acquisition at Time Warner. In addition, I serve as the global head of content for various television startups. When not commuting to NY or LA for work, I live in Denver with my amazing husband, Vance, and my 2-year-old son, Griffey. In our spare time, we love to see the world and play in the great outdoors. [email protected]
99daniEl bYbEE (bs)
lives in Murfreesboro, Tenn. In August he celebrated his five-year anniversary of
working for Bridgestone/Firestone: “A great company to work for,” he writes. “Five years have also brought two moves, from Omaha to Minneapolis, and then to Nashville, where myself, my wife, Jessica, and our three boys currently reside. Currently working in corporate audit with Bridgestone, which includes domestic and international travel, and many new and exciting experiences. Enjoying life, and work, and using the lessons learned in the UNO College of Business.” [email protected]
PEtE FEstErsEn (MPa) is an Omaha City Council member. This year he received a Distinguished Alumni Award for Excellence in Public Service from the College of Public Administration and Community Service. [email protected]
01dEbra allwardt (bsW) lives in Macomb, Ill., and writes that she was granted tenure and
promotion to associate professor at Western Illinois University. She teaches in the department of social work. [email protected]
02ross ridEnourE (eMba) in August received the 2012 North American
Young Generation (NA-YGN) in Nuclear George Hairston Visionary Leadership Award. He received the
award at the 2012 International Youth Nuclear Congress in Charlotte, N.C., where he delivered the closing remarks. The award recognizes the contributions of executives in the nuclear industry that go above and beyond in their support of NA-YGN. Ridenoure is vice president
GettingSaucydEbra daniElsEn (eMba) in March launched a
company fitting for UNO Magazine’s fall 2012 theme — S’Imaginer Foods, which breaks into the specialty food market with its brand mom&me. The brand’s first entry in a planned series of all-
natural, gluten-free products is Premium Italian Hot Pepper Sauce. The upscale Mediterranean sauce is a family recipe originating in Carlentini, Sicily, and is promoted as the only sauce made with a hot banana pepper. “The banana pepper gives this sauce its unique orange color, along with a zesty, spicy, distinctive flavor,” Danielsen says. “It’s an all-purpose sauce excellent served hot over Italian sausages, great for bread dipping, or in a nacho pepper cheese dip.” It’s available in Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and Kansas Hy-Vee stores. Several Hy-Vee chefs have posted pizza, pasta and other recipes using the sauce at www.momandmefoods.com. S’Imaginer Foods staff includes Danielsen’s daughter, Farrah Abraham (social manager; pictured with her daughter, Sophia) and mother-in-law Carmella Danielsen (chief ingredient officer). From July 26 through September the company hosted 20 product launch “Tasting Events” in Nebraska and five other states. S’Imaginer Foods donates a portion of proceeds from the sale of mom&me
11
Premium Italian Hot Pepper Sauce to fund scholarships for young women pursuing careers in agriculture through EARTH University (www.earth-usa.org). “These young women are from economically disadvantaged countries and return to their communities to provide leadership in social and environmental responsibility,” Danielsen says. She became acquainted with EARTH University at UNO while working on her EMBA marketing thesis project related to EARTH-produced bananas sold at U.S. Whole Foods Markets. The project was completed with fellow students Dan Buman and Johnson Rajakumar. UNO Professor Rebecca Morris was the team’s academic advisor.
Wolfe Creative Media Services
Visit the UNO Alumni Association Facebook page, facebook.com/UnOAlumni, to watch for random drawing giveaways of mom&me Premium Italian Hot Pepper Sauce,and other food-related items.
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CLASS nOTES4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54 56 58
sights
of Nuclear Energy Initiatives and chief nuclear officer at Parsons, an engineering, construction, technical and professional services company. He was responsible for supporting Parsons’ business expansion into domestic and international nuclear energy markets. He was the first-ever chair of the NA-YGN executive advisory committee and his personal outreach efforts in the past several years have accounted for numerous new chapter kick-offs, funding sponsorships and executive support for NA-YGN activities. He is a member of several industry organizations.
stEPhaniE gallowaY-MaslaniK (MsW) lives in Alexandria, Va., and writes that she has completed all necessary classes, trainings and supervision to achieve an additional credential as a registered play therapist-supervisor (RPT-S). [email protected]
JabE bEal (Ma) is an outdoor recreation planner for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The Grand Staircase was the first national monument established for BLM in 1996 and is a unit in the National Landscape Conservation System. The monument encompasses 1.9 million acres and was established as an outdoor laboratory where current and future generations can study biological and earth sciences, prehistoric life and environments, and pioneer history. [email protected]
JEFF M. bridgEs (bs) writes from Omaha that he was named state manager, Nebraska/Iowa, with Woodmen of the World Life Insurance Society. [email protected]
03Karlus coZart sr. (eMba) lives in Papillion, Neb., and writes, “Just wanted to let folks know it’s
official and hard work pays off. A project design I recently worked and
will be overseeing construction of was awarded today. This project is of strategic importance to our nation’s defense and will provide more than $1 billion in economic stimulus to the Nebraska economy. God is Good!” Cozart is deputy chief with U.S. Stratcom, Program Management Office. The project is construction of the new U.S. Strategic Command headquarters. [email protected]
04brian MauEr earned a professional ranking in natural bodybuilding at the NGA
(National Gym Association) Titan Classic in Urbandale, Iowa, in June. Mauer has been competing in bodybuilding since 2004.
angiE KritEnbrinK
(Ma) married Colin Maguire and move to a new home in Seattle in August. She still works for the University of Washington. [email protected]
05Joshua noon (bs)
writes that since graduating in 2005 he has worked in the former Soviet Union for
more than four years as: a Peace Corps Community Economic Development Adviser in Azerbaijan; teaching for an Exxon-Mobile-sponsored English program in Almaty, Kazakhstan; as a Fulbright Research Fellow in Azerbaijan; and for Georgia Researching Political Attitudinal Differences, recruiting for American Councils for International Education’s FLEX and YLP programs in Ukraine and Azerbaijan. In August he began to study for a master’s degree at the Washington, D.C., campus of Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Russian and Eurasian Studies and International Economics in August 2012. [email protected]
rYan stowE (Mba) in May received the President’s “E” Award for
Export Service on behalf of International Logistics during a ceremony at the White House. The “E” Awards, instituted in 1962, are the highest recognition any U.S. entity may receive for making a significant contribution to the expansion of U.S. exports. International Logistics, headquartered in Omaha and a subsidiary of TSL Companies, is a global supply chain solution provider. It has a coast-to-coast, border-to-border presence, and more than 100 international offices in 85 countries. Additionally, it offers warehousing, transloading, and consolidation services and has contracts with all major railroads and steamship lines. Stowe, account manager with International Logistics, is pictured far left with U.S. Commerce Secretary John Bryson, center, and fellow IL employee/UNL graduate Patrick Hastings. Shawna (Baune) Roche, a 2008 UNO graduate, also works for International Logistics.
06williaM scott (ba)
lives in Omaha and in September celebrated his fourth year in business as a
freelance graphic designer and owner of Scott Creative. [email protected]
robErt wiEbusch was appointed director of digital innovation at NP Dodge Company. He has been with the company since 2006, starting as an intern and most recently serving as interim vice president of operations for title services. He also is an instructor at the Randall School of Real Estate and a member of the UNO College of Business Administration’s real estate program advisory board.
07MarK MEllEn (bsba)
lives in Denver and was promoted to manager at
Deloitte there working in its sustainability reporting assurance and readiness group. [email protected]
08aaron croFt (bs)
lives in San Francisco and writes: “After a very successful entry into the
Human Capital and Dot-Com industries at CareerBuilder.com, I accepted a position with an industry leader in the SaaS and RPO industries at Accolo.com, the cloud recruitment industry leader, where I use my business management degree and the knowledge learned at UNO every day, working with C-level executives to outsource their talent acquisition processes, build and strengthen their employment brands and implement Accolo’s cloud-based HRIS and ATS platform, while leveraging our network of recruiters covering the United States and UK, and our eMarketing campaigns. They realize a gain in efficiency and reduce costs by 50 percent on average.”
09MatthEw PErrY (bs) graduated in May from Des Moines University Osteopathic Medical
Center with a doctor of physical therapy degree. Moved back to Omaha and is working at Community Rehab Physical Therapy.
lindsEY lEach (Mba) has been a sales representative for Eakes Office Plus since 2009. She also has been an adjunct Instructor at Southeast Community College since 2011 and an assistant track and field coach for Lincoln Lutheran since 2011. [email protected]
11stEvEn shErwood (Ma) lives in Manhattan, Kans., where he is a Ph.D. student and graduate
research assistant at Kansas State University. He also is an aerial survey pilot for Air America Flight Center.
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CLASS nOTES59 57 55 53 51 49 47 45 43 41 39 37 35 33 31 29 27 25 23 21 19 17 15 13 11 9 7 5
saMuEl anthonY laMMErs, son of Robyn (Aerni, ’99) and Ross (’03) Lammers of Fort Calhoun, Neb.
bEnJMain rYan MEtcalF, son of Kristy (LaMee, ’01) and Ryan (’01) Metcalf of Omaha
Ethan tYlEr cox, son of Laura and Andy (’11) Cox of Holdrege, Neb.
abigail rYan wiitanEn, daughter of Jeff and Gina (Dowis, ’08) Wiitanen of Omaha.
EsMEralda alicia cErvantEs, daughter of Alejandro and Sasha (Chavez, ’09) Cervantes of Omaha.
JosEPhinE MariE wEland, daughter of Jaime (Erkes, ’98) and John (’98) Weland of Omaha.
EvElYn ann PEtErson, daughter of Kyle and Megan (Herzberg, ’07) of Omaha.
alina linh tran, daughter of Leticia (Ledesma, ’06) and Michael (’10) Tran of Omaha.
bodE JEroME scott, son of Christopher and Amy (Golden, ’98) Scott of Omaha.
andrEw thoMas bYrnE, son of Sarah and Thomas (’09) byrne of Pembroke, Ga.
dYlan rodriguEZ, son of Marisol (Uribe, ’07) and Marcos (’04) Rodriguez of Omaha.
brilYn nicolE hochstEin, daughter of Mathew and nicole (Kuchta, ’05) Hochstein of Bellevue, Neb.
ava EliZabEth MariE KocK, daughter of Whitney Patterson-Kock and Michael (’04) Kock of Omaha.
JaE olin KahlEY, son of Kevin and Lisa Kahley of Flossmoor, Ill., and grandson of Thomas Kahley (’69) of O’Fallon, Ill.
soPhiE ElliEanna PoliFKa, daughter of Tiffany (Talmon, ’04) and Scott (’03) Polifka of Omaha.
lEonEl louis arthur grossE, son of Loli and nathan Louis Grosse (’05) of Omaha and grandson of Randy Arthur (’73, ’89) and Pamela Grosse of Omaha.
caidEn Max Mashhoun, son of Marc and Jessica (Schroeder, ’04) Mashhoun of San Diego.
griFFEn saMuEl stErns-bulKElEY, son of brooke bulkeley (’96) of Centerville, Utah.
EvElYn ann scott, daughter of Sarah (Young, ’07) and William (’06) Scott of Omaha.
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STiCkelerSTest your brainpower with these puzzles created by uNo graduate Terry stickels (’76). an author, speaker and puzzle maker, stickels’ FRAME GAMES is published by USA Weekend magazine and in 600 newspapers. for more information on stickels, or to order any of his books, visit www.terrystickels.com
Logic - 66bob McGuire met an old friend and teammate from high school. after catching up on their lives, the friend said to bob, “i married someone you never knew and this is our daughter,” showing her picture. The friend continued, “she has the same name as her mother.” bob quick-ly responded, “Molly is a good, strong name.” how did bob know his friend’s daughter’s name?
Mathematics - 102in a nine-inning game, what is the minimum number of pitches that a pitcher, who pitches the whole game, can throw?
Wordplay - 123following is a jumbled quote from shakespeare (“julius caesar”). see if you can unscramble the words to come up with the correct quote:
“Death times many before cowards but taste once never the die of their valiant deaths.”
VisualPictured is a magic square where the sum of the three numbers in each row, column and diagonal, is the same. What number replaces the question mark?
Puzzles taken from “The Big Brain Puzzle Book,” created by Terry Stickels for the Alzheimer’s Association
aNsWeRs
LOGIC: bob’s friend’s name is Molly.
MATHEMATICS: 25. The visiting pitcher threw 24 pitches through 8 innings and retired all 24 batters. he then gave up the game-winning home run to the first hitter in the bottom of the ninth. Therefore, he threw 25 total pitches.
WORDPLAY: “cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once.”
VISUAL: 8. There are several ways to think about this. one way is to notice that 10 plus the number in the middle square have to equal 4 + 18. Why? They both share the number in the open left-hand top corner square. so, 10 + x = 22; x = 12. That means 12 is the middle number. Now, we have three numbers across: 4 + 12 + 20 = 36, which is the value of each row, column and diagonal. That means the bottom row needs 8 where the question mark is. 18 + 8 + 10 = 36.
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Food28 30 38FOOD FIGHTTHE RISING COST OF GROCERIES IS PINCHING POCKETBOOKS
FOODIESUNO IS NO CULINARY INSTITUTE, BUT IT PRODUCES PLENTY OF “FOODIES”
TOnGUE TWISTInGA LOOK INTO THE SCIENCE OF TASTE