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   from the issue of September 9, 2004

     
 
The University from a National View - UNL

Continued development and installation of the SAFER wall barrier at racetracks across the nation, combined with numerous awards and honors for the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility, dominated UNL national news in 2003-04.

 
Dean Sicking, leads the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility, which has earned awards and critical acclaim for its SAFER wall barrier.
 Dean Sicking, leads the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility, which has earned awards and critical acclaim for its SAFER wall barrier.

The Steel and Foam Energy Reduction (SAFER) barrier, developed by MWRSF, will be in place at 18 major racetracks by the end of the racing season, and with every track installation, Dean Sicking’s group earns more headlines for UNL.

The facility headed by Sicking was the 2004 recipient of Pocono Raceway’s Bill France Award of Excellence. Research and Development Magazine selected SAFER as a winner in its 2003 R&D 100 Awards and called it one of the 100 most technologically significant products introduced into the marketplace during the year.

In addition to all the newspaper articles during the year in places like USA Today, The New York Times and the Washington Post, the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility was featured in Newsweek and Sports Illustrated, and on History Channel’s Modern Marvels.

Other top national news stories in 2003-04:

2. The Lewis and Clark Corps of Discovery expedition bicentennial provided dozens of opportunities to feature the expertise of historian and editor Gary Moulton in the national media. He was on CSPAN for a bicentennial kickoff event and has been quoted in dozens of national publications. A continuing column outlining a day-by-day account of Lewis and Clark's journey is featured in many newspapers, including The Kansas City Star. Moulton was also selected as the Omaha World-Herald's "Midlander of the Year."

Gary Moulton is a national expert on the Lewis and Clark expedition, which is celebrating its bicentennial.
 
Gary Moulton is a national expert on the Lewis and Clark expedition, which is celebrating its bicentennial.

 

3. Physics of Football professor Tim Gay continued to make headlines, following on the success of his HuskerVision physics lessons. He was featured in a September 2003 issue of ESPN Magazine, on CNN in October 2003 and was a feature lecturer for the media at the annual meeting of the American Association of Scientists in Seattle in February, in addition to a few other newspaper stories.

4. Expertise on bullying by educational psychologist Susan Swearer was featured in numerous national interviews, including the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, HealthDay, in American Baby magazine and the Fort Worth Telegram. She was also featured on a National Public Radio program, "The Connection."

5. Analysis by political scientists John Hibbing and Elizabeth Theiss-Morse was featured in an Associated Press report on the myths and realities of voter turnout. The syndicated story was featured in dozens of national newspapers.

6. In October 2003, a major breakthrough was announced on a new vaccine and feed additive that reduces E. coli bacteria in feedlot cattle. IANR researchers working on and testing the additives were mentioned in a national AP story that appeared worldwide.

7. A feature in the Dec. 1 New York Times exploring rural areas, declining population and economic development was front-page exposure for UNL's John Allen, the Center for Applied Rural Innovation and the IANR rural poll.

8. Kenneth Cassman's breakthrough research on rice yields and global warming published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in June was featured worldwide, including the New Scientist, the Toronto Star and dozens of other newspapers. The team including Cassman reported that rice yields decline 15 percent for each degree of global warming, a finding with ramifications for food production. Cassman, professor and head of the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, collaborated with scientists from the International Rice Research Institute.

9. The "Real Nebraska" video project featuring UNL students was highlighted in USA Today and on CNN Headline News. "Real Nebraska" was UNL's own reality-television program in which three students each semester documented their day-to-day lives on video and shared the clips with prospective students and the public at http://realnebraska.unl.edu.

10. Shane Farritor's development of robotic barrels captured the attention of writers in England; that led to follow-up in national television news programs, including MSNBC and in newspapers throughout Europe and the United States.



GO TO: ISSUE OF SEPTEMBER 9

NEWS HEADLINES FOR SEPTEMBER 9

Year in Review 2003-2004
Looking to the Future: New People, New Facilities - Construction brightens landscape and buildings
Research and Discovery - Biological center studies vaccines for botulinum, Valley Fever
Service to Our State - UNL unites to help storm victims
Student Successes - 12 earn the nation's biggest academic honors
Teaching Faculty & Program Successes - Grant funds Fosse study, leads to D.C.
Teaching, Faculty & Program Successes - New college focuses on families, education
The University from a National View - UNL
100 years of Extension
2 honored for research, creativity
Academy praises film
Architecture chapter is best in the country
Broadcasting senior claims 2nd forensics title
Center assists food companies for 20 years
Company helps track mad cow disease
Conference tackles water, law conflicts
Duo looks into social impacts of infertility
Feedlot has room to grow
Future lawyers win national contest
Graduate earns 1st degree in culinology
Hanson gains USDA teaching award
Helping parents prepare for school
J.D. Edwards students create cattle-tracking software
Nebraska Lectures return
Now on NET: HDTV
NU gains a new president, other leaders for new year
Program creates tests to fight food allergens
Ritchie's work earns NU honors
Savory joins Academy
Scientists' beef research earns international prize
Statistics expands
Tularemia examined as a bioterror threat
UNL continues to climb various U.S. rankings
UNL is a home for all things Lewis and Clark
Work studies our unique Sandhills
Zeng's discoveries lead to fellowship

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