Stimulating Science

"After years of flat federal funding that dimmed morale and stalled basic research, the federal stimulus package has created a frenzy for "lab-ready" science, with a $21.5 billion investment in research and development.

'I think you're noticing a spring in people's steps, in the recognition that a real contribution can be made by researchers across the country,' said Kevin Casey, associate vice president in the office of government, community, and public affairs at Harvard University.

'Research funding has been down a lot in the last eight to 10 years,' said Peg AtKisson, director of proposal development at Tufts University. 'It's just been very rough, and it's like the winter we just had, and the stimulus package is spring.'"

Scientists excited by prospect of stimulus spending - The Boston Globe

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Turning Education into Professional Success

I'm not a fan of commercials at the movies, but I'm inspired by stories like this. UNL graduate and Nebraska native Michael Montgomery (right) is just 26 but has a solid portfolio of professional work on his resume. Now the film ad he co-wrote and produced has won the 2009 Coca Cola Refreshing Filmmaker Award. He worked with Jerome Sable (left), whom he met in graduate school at USC. The film is called "Meanwhile" and features some world-class dancers. Watch it!

Office Pets

Our office is fish friendly! Shown are my pet, Pepe; home of the executive assistant's recently deceased pet Neil Patrick Harris (RIP); Alpha, the director's pet; the project assistant's unnamed plastic pair; and Wanda, pet of the business manager. Our office pets add a welcome bit of color and movement to the workplace!

Leadership That Makes a Difference

I'm proud of the RA who planned this training for the women in her dorm. The instructor showed them how to fight off an attacker. What a difference from the so-called "self defense" class I had in junior high school, where the girls were taught to submit to an attacker and give him anything he wanted, so he hopefully wouldn't kill us.

"About 30 girls from Cather Residence Hall spent their evening on Feb. 22 participating in a self-defense training course....instructor Ben Coleman led the class, and said the students were open-minded, interested, honest and ready to learn. The students said Coleman was easy to listen to, and a lot of laughs. Jackie Adams, a senior biology/pre-med major and a resident assistant in Cather, was in charge of the event, and took a seminar with Coleman during RA training in August."

This quote gave me goosebumps: “What I picked up on was like, Don’t be afraid to be forceful.” You go, girl!

--Cather Resident Learn Self Defense Tactics, Daily Nebraskan

Soft Skills and Chemistry

In this 5-minute interview, Joan Burge talks about the importance of "soft skills" and "chemistry" in the success of administrative professionals. If the headline link goes out of date, look for the Office Dynamics 2.24.09 video on http://www.wxmi.com/pages/video/
Good stuff!

Popularity

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is the third most popular university in the country, according to US News & World Report's method of ranking popularity by the rate of accepted students who enroll known in the admissions world as "yield." Whether this is the right way to measure popularity may be debatable. But the fact that UNL's yield is higher than Stanford's says something about the combination of quality and value offered by Nebraska's flagship research institution. Go Big Red!

Crime and Quality of Life

I'm proud of these statistics showing that Lincoln, Nebraska has steadily lowered its crime rate for the past 17 years. The rate dropped from 71.4 per 1000 in 1991 to 40.1 per 1000, down to 1970's levels. That's not to say we don't have serious problems. We certainly have victims, whose pain should never be minimized. Of course there are criminals who revel in malice and violence, or suffer from inadequate mental health care and unresolved social problems. But the residents of Lincoln can expect a high overall quality of life (known in Nebraska as "The Good Life"). Enforcement officers can't do it alone and I think everyone, including the thousands of students who come from other places for college, deserve a pat on the back for rejecting crime and making Lincoln a great place to live. For a visitor's view of Nebraska, visit Carey Smith's inspirational blog, Going the Distance!: Nebraska...The Good Life (Posted November 4, 2007).