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Saturday, July 22, 2006

How about a "Hall of Shame"?

It's been awhile since last post, so I will give the double-dose tonight. 2 things, 1.) Observant readers will see it is 9:30 on a Saturday night and I am working on "Voice" 2.) That could very well be one William O'Reilly sitting to the left. Why would I place his picture on a website about our school? Well, it took some illogical reasoning and the long-way around things, but he has a good idea. Let me explain...

Mr. O'Reilly, famous for rants and loud outbursts for the right, has a plan. This includes what on his website a "Hall of Shame". Nothing too big, but it includes "media outlets" who have contributed to the, "distribution of defamatory, false, and non-newsworthy information". Whatever. So what does that have to do with us? Why not make our own Hall of Shame, populated with entities that do not share a positive view of UNO by way of business actions, political stances, or sheer stupidity. That said, it may come as a certain surprise of our honorary first inductee to the Hall of Shame here at "Voice". Without further ado, I am pleased to present... (drumroll please)...


Reason: You might be thinking to yourself, why is the first recipient of the UNO Hall of Shame award given to a large, over-the-top sporting good store? Well that reason may surprise you. From a first hand account, in visiting Village Point mall today, there is not a single substantial piece of UNO merchandise in the store! Still not a big deal? Well when given the list of different schools with clothing present, it may surprise you.

With their own individual aisles of clothing: Creighton, UNL, Iowa, Texas-these would include not just shirts, but other important goods such as coozies, posters, banners, etc. (Stuff you would give ancillary family members if needing to purchase them something)

High Schools with clothing present: Papillion-LaVista, Papillion-LaVista South, Millard North, Millard South, Millard West, Creighton Prep, Elkhorn, Skutt Catholic- including hats, shirts, and backpacks personalized by high school.

Colleges with clothing present: Oregon, Harvard, Yale, Long Beach State, Oklahoma, and every other major university you could think of. All of which is present on a large wall in back for your pleasure; maybe so West Omaha people can purchase the prestige of an Ivy League degree with a $20 navy blue t-shirt.

But fear not! I did happen to find at least one piece of UNO merchandise. You see, Scheel's was kind enough to be having a bang-up, bust-out, one-of-a-kind sale with up to 50% savings. That said, when perusing the large t-shirt section, I found A Nebraska-Omaha polo marked down from $50 to $14.99. Pretty sad isn't it? It is deplorable that a business in the city of your school thinks highly enough to put a t-shirt for the University of Oregon out for sale above UNO. You can take whatever action you think necessary from reading this, but it reasonate with readers a little. This is your degree we are talking about. If a store doesn't have enough pride to place UNO merchandise out for public consumption over an entire aisle for the University of Texas, doesn't that hurt you a little? WE ARE IN OMAHA, NEBRASKA!!!! UT is 13 hours away and over 904 miles from here. This is in fact the very reason Scheel's is the first inductee into your "Voice of the Mavericks" Hall of Shame.



Monday, July 17, 2006

Another entry about MAVgate- Who is Chuck Hassebrook?

Hello students of UNO! You might not recognize this man to the left, but he knows you (how well is yet to be established). His name is Chuck Hassebrook and he is the elected Nebraska Regent serving in the 3rd District. A little background on the guy:

* Served on the U.S. Department of Agriculture Commission of Small Farms, 1997-1999

* Served on the External Advisory Committee on Bioethics at Iowa State University, 1987-1990

* Served on the board of directors for "Bread for the World", 1998-1994

We could go on and on with the agricultural groups that this man served on. We could play a game using any combination of the following words: "Nebraska", "Agricultural", "Group", "Center for", "Corn" and pick a commission he has participated in. I have always questioned these types of groups after all, as it is usually a bunch of people, looking to fill out a resume later on in life. Personal bias aside, you might be asking, "Why are we talking about extremely interesting (sarcasm implied) individual"? Ta-da: He is another person on the UNO hating bandwagon! He is old-school hating UNO though, he has been at it for the past decade.

First of all, Regent "Go Big Red" Hassebrook has called for UNO to end it's football program. No "Big Deal", he and Supreme Chancellor Belck are on the same line of thought. One of the features the most readily identifiable about any university is A.) academics and then B.) sports program, and it is much easier to kill a two-headed college monster by chopping off one of the heads, isn't it???? What a great semi-personification...

But at least he hasn't done this before, like in the past calling for a then-blossoming UNO to end the football program. Oh no Chuckie, say it ain't so! "Chuck Hassebrook of Lyons made the same suggestion 10 years ago, before the regents approved upgrades in athletic facilities and programs at the Omaha campus" (Sportingnews.com). So, if you are looking for a guy who wants to stunt the growth of our metropolitan campus, here is exhibit A. He has actually been trying to put the kibbosh on this debate even before many reading this were in high school!You might also be saying, "Well he is only talking about the football program, not the entire campus". True, but look at the positives that could come from upgrading this sports program. Hypothetically, moving the football program to D-IAA could land the Mavericks as an opening day season opponent for Hassebrook's boys, his alma mater Huskers. That would generally land UNO a travelling fee of about $500,000+. This money could be used at the University's discretion, benefitting academic programs and the like. Why in the world do you think a booming school like McNeese State comes to play the Huskers in Lincoln? Because they actually have a shot at winning? No, as they place the exact same hypothetical I just posed into practice.

This is definitely an uphill battle we find ourselves in. The very same regents that look at UNO as the "whipping boy" university are those that will have to approve our growth in the future. This is why it should be necessary to vote in those who understand Nebraska issues statewide, not necessarily someone guy who would get my vote as "Mr. Rural Nebraska 2006" living in Lyons, only coming to Omaha to take his kid to Oakview and Henry Doorly. At least Hassebrook has the respect of other regents as they debate this issue. When in discussion of UNO losing money, as Hassebrook's numbers were positively described by NU regent Howard Hawks as, "I don't know where (those came) from ... that's out of left field". You're a good man with fertilizer and corn, Chuckie Hassebrook!

Sources:
Sporting News
OWH- "out of left field"
Hassebrook Bio