Chancellor Jeffery Gold began his first day as the interim chancellor of the University of Nebraska at Omaha on May 8, 2017.
UNO staff and students received an email on April 27, 2017 stating Chancellor Gold was selected to replace UNO Chancellor John Christenson as the interim chancellor of UNO. Chancellor Gold has been the chancellor at The University of Nebraska Medical Center since 2014.
“UNO’s student-focused, metropolitan university mission will remain the bedrock of everything we build together,” Chancellor Gold said in a speech during his first day as the UNO chancellor. “Together, we will continue UNO’s rich history of prioritizing not just excellence in education, but also access and opportunity.”
Chancellor Gold listed some of the accomplishments of UNO and UNMC, including education programs that lead to research and health professions, dual degree programs, expanded outreach and advances in biomedical technology programs.
On May 11, 2017, University of Nebraska President Hank Bounds announced that the Nebraska Legislature might be conducting a study to determine if combining the UNMC and UNO campuses is possible and advantageous. The university did not know of or request the study, Bounds explained.
“We’ll be pleased to have conversations with interested senators about the reasoning behind our decision to name Dr. Gold to lead both UNMC and UNO,” Bounds said. “We will make the same points we have shared with all of you: That this appointment opens exciting opportunities for student and faculty collaborations, that we think can find additional fiscal efficiencies, and that while it makes sense for our Omaha-based campuses to work more closely together, UNO and UNMC also each have distinct and important missions to serve our state.”
If the study proceeds, Bounds says he will use the opportunity to show the legislators the role each campus plays in Nebraska communities and explain the decision behind the leadership transition.
After nearly four decades on the University of Nebraska at Omaha campus, the NET broadcast tower next to the College of Public Affairs and Community Service building and Allwine Hall was taken down.
Workers have finished the removal of the NET broadcast tower on the Dodge Campus.
Several surrounding buildings and offices were closed during the tower removal. Now that the tower is down, campus operations are back up and running as normal this week.
Clark & Company, a band whose four core members are all University of Nebraska at Omaha sophomores, released its third album, Josephine Had a Dream.
For those who don’t know, Clark & Company is made up of four members, three of which happen to be triplets: Sophie, Simon and Cooper Clark. The fourth member is Cameron Thelander, hence the “company” in Clark & Company.
Sophie plays the keyboard, sings and does the songwriting for the group, while Simon plays drums and other percussion instruments. Cooper plays the acoustic and electric base, and Thelander adds the tenor saxophone that helps give the band it’s unique sound.
The group’s sound is something that is alive and evolving. Since the Clarks began playing, they have witnessed their music go through a series of changes. So-phie said that today the music re-sembles that of the singer-songwriter genre with influences from the world of jazz and blues.
Josephine Had a Dream was officially released with a performance by Clark & Company at Reverb Lounge Friday. The concert gave audience members a live performance by the band and a chance to purchase the latest album.
The latest installment of the Clark & Company album collection features a series of different musicians. Listeners will hear collaborations with several local artists.
“We really wanted to promote this album because I feel like we finally found our sound,” Sophie said. “I think we’ve always had a sound while playing live, but I think this album has really hit home.”
Simon and Sophie partially credit their latest musical development to the opportunity to record at Warehouse Productions in downtown Omaha. With the expertise of Tom Ware, they were able to craft recordings with a more professional edge.
Clark & Company’s latest album is a new adventure for the band.
In addition to making new music, the band has created its first music videos. Currently three lyric videos and three classic style music videos are available online. Currently the songs with music videos are “I’ll Be Fine,” “Something” and “To Rule the World.”
Simon and few friends currently operate an audio and video production company. The production of the band’s first music videos gave him a chance to utilize his knowledge in the matter.
“It’s really cool to be working together and getting to have some creative control,” Simon said.
In addition to Josephine Had a Dream being available online and in CD, Clark & Company will also be selling their latest album on vinyl for the first time.
Those interested in listening to Clark & Company can find their music on SoundCloud, Spotify, iTunes and Pandora. The band also maintains active social media and can be found on their website, clarkcoband.com.
Scott Café on the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s south campus is introducing updated meal plans for the fall 2017 semester and retiring the old ones.
The retiring meal plans included an unlimited meal plan for $1499 a semester, 10 meals per week for $999 a semester and three meal card packages that did not expire.
The four new plans are an unlimited plan for $1699 a semester, a 160-meal plan for $1079 a semester, a 120-meal plan for $849 a semester and an 80-meal plan for $599 a semester.
Retiring the meal cards was a necessity, said Darrin Dukart, food service director for Scott Residence Hall & Conference Center.
“We’ve grown so much over the last ten years that it’s just no longer feasible for us to offer a plan that doesn’t expire every semester, from a budgeting standpoint and an operations standpoint,” Dukart said. “If you look at other universities, almost everybody offers the type of plan we’ve moved to.”
Scott Café’s budget comes exclusively from those dining there, and budgeting for outstanding meal cards that won’t expire gets harder every semester, Dukart said.
“We’ve sold so many it’s becoming somewhat unmanageable for us,” he said.
Meal cards are still available at their old price until July 1st. Sophomore Shannon Spulik bought one even though she lives on Dodge Campus.
“Sometimes I just want a nice meal where I can get unlimited buffet and I don’t want to make any food, so then I’ll go over there,” Spulik said. “I thought the price that it was at was reasonable, but I also stocked up on it because the price was going up.”
Cutting the meal cards protects students from a “drastic price increase,” Dukart said. This marks the fourth price increase in ten years for Scott Café. Price increases haven’t kept up with rising food costs. The new meal plans are designed to fit better with students’ schedules and the university’s future plans.
“A large percentage of people on 100 meals, either it was not enough for a semester or too many,” Dukart said. “So we picked an 80 or a 120 to kind of match a lot of people.”
The 120-meal plan costs the same per meal as the old 100-meal plan, and the 80-meal plan costs the same per meal as the 50-meal card. The 160-meal plan costs $.50 more per meal, but meals no longer expire each week.
Scott Café serves 1000 to 1300 guests a day, and about a third of them do not live on south campus, Dukart said.
They anticipate an increase of 300 guests per day when Scott Crossing opens this fall. The new plans should accommodate for the increased traffic without a price increase for at least two academic years and may evolve into something broader.
“This style of meal plan could be combined with MavMoney where, if they have the 80 meal plan, they have five meals at Scott Café,” Dukart said, “and maybe they have $500 on their Mav Card to use on North Campus.”
Scott Café’s new meal plans are “still under the lowest average” for the Midwest, Dukart said. The University of Nebraska at Lincoln’s and Creighton University’s unlimited meal plans are both more than $2000 a semester, according to their websites.
“There are a lot of major changes going on here, so it seemed like the right time to make the transition,” Dukart said. “It’s our goal to keep the costs down, and this is one way we thought we could do it.”
Razvan Grigorescu. If you don’t know his name now, you will by the time his tennis career is finished at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
It’s been a rocky season for the UNO men’s tennis team, as they finished the regular season with an overall record of 8-13. But even with an average record, UNO tennis has caught the eye of many local sports fans. That’s because of a particular freshman that is impossible to ignore.
From Constanta, Romania, Razvan Grigorescu stands 6 foot 3 inches tall, and has already made an impact on campus. He’s also ranked 66th nationally. Did I mention he’s just a freshman?
Yes, a 19-year-old from half-way across the world has taken scouts, and the entire Summit League by surprise.
Grigorescu uses his length to get to any ball on the surface. Couple that with tremendous power and precision, and you may start to question if you’re watching Andy Murray playing. Moving effortlessly all over the court, Grigorescu displays footwork and court awareness of a player far beyond his years.
Though tennis in college is a team sport, it’s hard not to get caught up in the individual accomplishments one can achieve. Grigorescu has an opportunity to go deep in the Summit League Conference Tournament and beyond. Even if the team as a whole is not able to progress far into the tournament, Grigorescu can still bring the Mavs success.
That doesn’t constitute, however, that the ultimate determiner of success for UNO’s season doesn’t lie in the racket of Grigorescu. No matter what happens the rest of the season, the Mavs will settle for a different victory–keeping Razvan Grigorescu for three more years. Being the face of the program for the duration of his stay at UNO may seem like it’s asking a lot for someone that is still a teenager. Then again, not many teenagers strike this much attention in their first college season in a foreign country.
The University of Nebraska at Omaha Women’s Soccer team is adding two transfer students to their team next fall.
Tim Walters, the UNO’s women’s soccer coach, said he hopes the two students will add speed and athleticism to the team.
Jaden Thiem was recruited to be a defender. She is originally from Elkhorn, Nebraska and will be a sophomore next year. She played volleyball for Northern Kentucky her freshman year, but wanted to return to Omaha to play soccer.
“She was an all-state honoree in both soccer and volleyball during her prep career. Thiem helped Elkhorn South to the 2015 Nebraska Class B State Championship, and won four state titles with Omaha FC under head coach Alex Mason,” according to Omaha Athletics.
Haley Johnson, from Bountiful, Utah, was recruited to be a goalkeeper. She played soccer at Iowa Western Community College, where she was a national runner-up. She then played for the University of South Florida. During her career in South Florida, she was a two-time NCAA All-American. Johnson will be a senior next fall for the Mavs.
Walters said Johnson wanted to play for UNO because she wants to have a bigger impact on a program. Currently, the UNO women’s team only has one goalkeeper, Erin Bunker.
“Bunker has done a fantastic job,” Walters said. “But we need two good goalkeepers. I love competition amongst our goalkeepers, and I think Johnson will provide that.”Walters said he hopes to have between 24 and 26 players on the roster next fall.
“Our goal was to get more athletic, and I think those two will be among our top athletes,”
Walters said. Walters said he has seen improvements in his players during the spring 2017 season, and he is excited to see the improvements carry out into the fall.
“I want the players to buy into our mentality and dig into life as student athletes,” Walters said. “It’s hard, but we want our athletes to be committed. We prepared the team for that this year, and I think we will see the benefits of that next season.”
Approximately 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. deal with mental illness in a given year, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. In order to meet student’s healthcare needs, University of Nebraska at Omaha Counseling and Psychological Services offers free confidential counseling to help students, faculty and maintain their mental health.
“Being able to manage our own stress is really one of the key responsibilities of being an adult,”
said Katherine Keiser, a campus medical health professional.
Keiser said students, faculty and staff can visit CAPS to address concerns in about eight to 10 sessions. The center offers free, short-term counseling, consultations and group counseling, among other services. Keiser said it is common for people to try to live their lives the best they can only to encounter obstacles, such as anxiety and high amounts of stress.
“It can be really helpful to be aware of your own level of stress and what to do about it,” Keiser
said. “It can be awfully easy to bury our heads in the sand and try to push things aside, but they have a funny way of creeping up on us if we don’t deal with them.”
Keiser said a stigma exists with mental health that causes people to feel embarrassed or unwilling to seek help.
However, that stigma is decreasing due to media attention, outreach programs and the advent of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which has made college more accessible to students.
The military is a large part of why Americans are more willing to discuss their mental health. An estimated 18 to 22 veterans commit suicide every day, according to NAMI.
Keiser said the military is working to get veterans the help they need, and the goal of seeking help has infiltrated into the media. Mental health awareness is also important to college campuses.
CAPS participates in many outreach programs in order to educate students on mental and emotional health. Keiser and her colleagues attend events, talk to classes and lead suicide prevention trainings.
Keiser has also taught stress management classes.
“Half the battle is just making sure people know we’re here and that we’re free and confidential,” Keiser said. “We get our faces out there, and I think we make it less scary.”
Keiser said many people feel relief from having someone to listen to them. Social support in the form of support groups is one of the greatest ways for people to de-stress.
CAPS offers various campus support groups open to the community. Beyond Blue is a support group for students with depression and anxiety. Lez-Bi-Real-Queer meets weekly and is open to students who identify as LGBTQIA+, according to the CAPS webpage. In addition, UNO has a NAMI chapter and has just started a veteran support group. Three weekly Alcoholics Anonymous meetings run at UNO, as well.
Along with social support, Keiser said CAPS works to prevent suicide, sexual assault and substance abuse. Two licensed alcohol and drug counselors are on staff and work with the UNO and Omaha communities.
“Prevention is a huge thing,” Keiser said. “Alcohol and drug abuse are very highly correlated with suicide and sexual assault, and I think we have some key staff who are experts on that.”
Keiser said she talks to students about a variety of mental health concerns from depression to test anxiety. She believes students have stressors in their lives past generations didn’t have to face, such as social media.
Keiser said UNO students are unique because most of them have jobs, which can lead students to make a choice between self-care and productiveness.
Keiser believes a student’s first priority should be to take care of his or her health and wellbeing.She said students should have “fuel” in the form of sleep, nutrition and relationships.
“I tell my clients there’s a difference between self-care and self-indulgence,” Keiser said. “If we’re not taking time for self-care, then we become like a car engine that’s running on empty.
Bethany Harwick is a UNO sophomore who has worked to maintain her health since she started college. “I think it’s important to take time to put yourself first,” Harwick said. “When you let stress build up, it really can take a toll on a person and they can just shut down.”
Harwick, who is majoring in education, said she relieves stress by watching TV and going to the gym. Talking to family and friends also helps her gain peace of mind.
“I think getting your feelings and thoughts out once in a while can help,” Harwick said. “You feel like you aren’t holding so much inside yourself.”
Harwick said she dealt with anxiety throughout high school and worried about doing well in college. Since she started attending UNO, she has worked to put her emotional and physical health first by exercising in HPER regularly as well as making time to relax between studying.
Harwick said she has felt much better about herself since adding these activities into her daily schedule. She also has improved her mental state by dedicating more time to her hobbies such as playing viola. Like Harwick, Keiser said it is vital for students to take time to do what they enjoy.
“It’s tough to be a college student if you’re feeling completely overwhelmed,” Keiser said. “It’s
really more important now than ever that we invest in ourselves.”
A perfect season, some leverage in their conference and a momentum shifter. Well, two out of three ain’t bad. Speaking of two out of three, that’s exactly what the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s softball squad did last weekend.
In a season engulfed with road trips and sightseeing, the Mavericks took yet another visit on the road. This time, they drove up north to take on South Dakota State in a three-game series.
Now that Summit League play has started for UNO, it’s an opportunity for the team to wipe the slate clean after their disappointing non-conference play, and start to pick up momentum towards the tail end of the season. And that’s exactly what the Mavs did as they took two out of the three games from the Jackrabbits.
The Mavs surrendered the first game to SDSU on Friday, losing 8-4.
UNO trailed the entire game and senior right-hander Abbie Clanton took the loss after giving up four runs in the bottom of the first inning.
South Dakota State added on two more before UNO picked up its first run in the fourth inning. The Jackrabbits answered, however, with two more in the bottom of the fourth to take an 8-1 lead. With comebacks hopes still alive, UNO added a run in the sixth inning and two in the seventh, but their dreams of winning the first game came to a halt.
UNO dusted off its bats for the second game and woke up its offense.
The Mavericks took down the Jackrabbits in the first game of their double-header on Saturday in an 11-1 five-inning clinic. Sophomore Laura Roecker threw a complete game, three-hitter to earn the win.
On the offensive side, UNO was led by freshman Vicky Kinney, who went 3-for-3 and two RBI’s.
Seniors Lia Mancuso and Nicole Warren went a combined 6-for-8 at the dish, with the former steal-ing two bases in the process.
In the second game of the day and third overall in the series, Omaha picked up right where it left off, as the Mavs took down the Jackrabbits 10-4.
Vicky Kinney, Emily Klosterman and Lizzie Noble all homered to help the Mavericks beat their conference foe. Roecker contrib-uted on the mound, allowing just four runs in a complete- game effort.
After leading 1-0 courtesy of Noble’s leadoff home run, SDSU bounced back and took the lead off of a two-run home run. The Mavericks answered with four runs in the third inning to lead 6-2. Omaha led for the remainder of the game and shut down the Jackrabbits seventh inning comeback effort.
These two wins put the Mavericks at 4-5 in the Summit League and 13-26 overall. After getting swept in its first series in conference play, UNO is gaining momentum in just the perfect time of the season. Their lackluster record can be forgotten if the Mavericks can continue to ride the momentum rollercoaster. And if they withstand the lows, UNO can cruise into the Summit League Tournament.
