Omaha, Nebraska Blog Aggregator » The Voice of the Mavericks

The Voice of the Mavericks (7 unread)

Revelations

Posted: July 31st, 2006, 1:20pm CDT by UNOvanguard

It is very comforting to know that I am not the only person to feel this same way, but Tom Shatel wrote another pro-UNO article on sunday. Same old, same old: Belck comes out looking bad, the Regents come out against the city of Omaha, and the students come out cheated. He opens saying that UNO needs a "vision", in which he is correct, but in more ways than one. Our university needs a well-rounded, collective vision that capitalizes upon our superior location and student population.

Being frank, the city of Lincoln has Husker athletics going for it and that is about it! A wise business major at Lincoln knows that they would most certainly have to relocate to be successful with their degree that they worked 4 years on. With this in mind, why does the city of Omaha allow itself to be subjugated to second-place? Good question.

Within the article, Shatel reiterates the schism between those with varied interests of UNO. First, there seems to be those aforementioned that continue to believe that our university will remain second-fiddle to Lincoln. Many of the Nebraska Regents, Supreme Chancellor Belck, and others in the administration serve the purpose of keeping Lincoln's lap warm. The diorama to the right is as such: the deliciously cute Yorkie named "Jellybeans" is playing the part Belck & Co., while my Grandmother's favorite chair is playing the part of UNL. Get it? Doesn't it just look comfy?!?!?! Second, there seems to be the more intelligent persons in our presence that have a forward thinking view that could drive UNO to the top, fulfilling it's potential of being the top campus in Nebraska.

What can we learn from this? Shatel does something very wise in his article, not calling for the out-and-out resignation of Belck. He mainly calls for the streaming of interests for UNO. In asking for success, the forward thinking persons in our administration must be identified and given the tools to actually succeed. He's correct, but he should have gone further. Our administration should reach out to all UNO graduates that Shatel refers to as the, "generation of UNO grads have grown up into the corporate, business world of Omaha". Not only them, but is it too much to ask that all alumni should be involved in their university? A cynic would say "yes", as they are too busy driving to Lincoln on Saturday for Husker games...
Guess who is coming to dinner????

Posted: July 26th, 2006, 9:37pm CDT by UNOvanguard

John Bolton, United States ambassador to the United Nations is scheduled to meet the faces of Lincoln students this upcoming fall semester. Word on the street is that the Husker student body is more than happy to welcome the acting Chief of Staff for the current Presidential administration. I really hope that jab of sarcasm is well-received by the people who read this...
Well what have they put us in?

Posted: July 24th, 2006, 9:45pm CDT by UNOvanguard

This green thing is a cucumber that has been long marinated in vinegar, popularly called a "pickle". This title has also been used to denote a tricky situation, sometimes in a derogatory fashion. My friends, the situation that the administration has placed our institution in, mainly with actions regarding our athletic program could in fact be denoted as a pickle. Harold W. Anderson, an editor for the OWH, wrote a pro-Belck piece that some "Voice" writers believe is well within reason. The article does in fact make sense, labeling Belck as an "administrator", that in a sense of making harsh decisions that are in the best interests of our school. Agreed. There must be a sort of Machiavellian-aire to executives of any sort; decisions that are best for the school must be made outside of right and wrong. "Amoral", as he famously described that necessary characteristic of the proper ruler. We are not asking to go that far here, but it is necessary that there be intelligent reasons behind decisions made. We have since begun to see that lacking at UNO this summer.

History lesson warning: For some that don't remember it, UNO entered Division I hockey on a whim. Jumping in with no safety net, hockey landed with a bang in the Omaha area. Selling out, Mav hockey was once an extremely hard ticket to get when the Omaha Civic Auditorium was home. Then came the Qwest Center and our program has fallen on hard times. As the OWH printed an article concerning the moneymaker that it once was. Hockey is an extremely necessary moneymaker needed to fund 4 women's sports teams that were made to comply with Title IX (National Champion Women's soccer team, for example). Dwindling numbers associated to the fact that Omaha is a growing city entertainment-wise, we now see the pickle that we are in.

What does this have to do with Supreme Chancellor Belck? Who entered into a 10-year lease with the Qwest Center, raising our gameday operating costs by nearly double ($700,000+ per home game). Well now, no wonder we are in the red! All we have to do now is entrust our marketing of supposed moneymaker to the same geniuses who do the Omaha Royals, BUT we are not going to specifically market hockey as to cut down on inter-sport squabbling by having one sport favored over another. I am not making this up, folks! The reason hockey was not more aggressively marketed in Omaha was that the Administration feared the repercussions of some sports feeling more favored over another. WHAT??? Do you think UNL fans give two poops about basketball as opposed to football? What do you think would happen if Barry Collier sauntered into AD Steve Pederson's office, wanting more attenion paid to his sport over football? You do the math. And why on Earth would you entrust anything to the people that market the Omaha Royals? The same people whose idea was to name them the "Golden Spikes" for a season. The best job that they do all season could be when the Royals go on a two-week road trip that called the College World Series.

How in the world does UNO let the Omaha Knights into town anyways? For the 147 people that are actual hockey fans, enough that would go see a AAA professional hockey team in a football state, dividing them among professional and amateur lines seems stupid! There should have been a full court press AGAINST the Omaha Knights and Luc Robitaille's mullet, eh.

I'm sorry if this has taken a pro-sports tone in the "Voice" blog, but this is the current vehicle that shows that a change at top might be necessary. Don't what we just said? Well what if I told you that some Athletic Department funds are used to supply the Vice-Chancellor with a car and his country club dues? As reported July 21st in the OWH, $13,836 dollars is accounted for in the AD budget to place Vice-Chancellor Jim Buck a Cadillac DeVille and a membership to the prestigious Omaha Country Club. I know what you're thinking, this must be a common thing right? Well, sort of. For some of you who don't know, Buck followed Belck from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville where Belck affirmed that this was apart of his compensation package there. When Buck received his position, from Belck of course, here he then was given a similar package that was paid for out of the NU Foundation, "the fundraising arm" of our institution. Well, it was subsequently decided that the Foundation was no longer going to fund Mr. Buck's car and his golfing membership. So golf is a sport, right? Why not take money out of our athletic fund to pay for a sport. Makes sense... I wonder, is there a major you can pick to be a top school administrator like this?

In the conclusion of the article, Supreme Chancellor Belck is quoted as saying, "it may again be time to change the funding source for Buck's dues and lease". HOW ABOUT JIM BUCK PAYING FOR IT??? Next time you see Uncle Buck, ask him to take you golfing with the membership you had a hand in paying for. Oh, tell him to pick you up in the car that you are also working 2 jobs to help pay for. Do you think he would give up his car and his golf membership if it meant we could positively benefit as a university? I honestly don't think so. Do you think that these are the people can take us over the top?
How about a "Hall of Shame"?

Posted: July 22nd, 2006, 9:20pm CDT by UNOvanguard

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.
Another entry about MAVgate- Who is Chuck Hassebrook?

Posted: July 17th, 2006, 12:55pm CDT by UNOvanguard

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
"We love lil' UNO just the way it is..."

Posted: July 13th, 2006, 7:38pm CDT by UNOvanguard

In keeping with the Division I talk with UNO this summer, a poll taken at Omaha World-Herald online shows just how in love Omahans are with the other university's big red. The poll should not really count for too much, but it could help illustrate the resistance of change on part of some World-Herald readers not named Tom Shatel or David Sokol in the metro area.
____________________________
Should the University of Nebraska at Omaha athletic program make the jump from Division II to Division I?
· Yes.
1779
· No.
1802
· I'm not sure.
176
· I have no opinion.
161
- taken 7/13/06, online poll from omaha.com as of 7:30 p.m.
Permanently Relegated to Second-String?

Posted: July 11th, 2006, 7:17pm CDT by UNOvanguard

You might not see what is going on around you, but simple events that have transpired during the recent summer session might show you that UNO is still thought of as second-fiddle to that other university in the state capitol. The specific event, as reported in the Omaha World-Herald, was the current administration to fire 5 persons working in the athletic department, at a savings of $440,000 this current year. Seeming innocuous enough, this action posed a problem to many in the metro area, specifically when broken down by Tom Shatel, head sports writer for the World-Herald. This action, fiscally responsible by the university or not, seems to have completely alienated important boosters for your Mavericks. David Sokol, of Sokol Auditorium and Mid-America energy fame, makes it seem as if he or other alumni could have alleviated any sort of problem if they would have only been consulted first before the firings. Sokol has harsh words for not only Chancellor Belck, but Jim Buck who is Vice-Chancellor as well: "(They) are intentionally diminishing an athletic department with the ultimate goal of dismantling it".

This type of rhetoric immediately triggers some sort of emotion in me, and I hope it does everyone else. It seems as though this is the same treatment that the university has always gotten. How many times has a conversation arose concerning a student's enrollment in UNO, and not some other place of higher learning, only to hear that person say in a derogatory fashion, "Nah, I'm just going to go to UNO". This defeatist sense of non-accomplishment should negatively effect everyone who hears it. Why? This is exactly the same attitude the persons of this establishment carry with them that ultimately tarnishes the degree at which they have worked so hard to attain.

What exactly does the negative attitude of students have to do with the state of our athletic program? For one, any diminishing move concerning our athletic program as to subjugate it to Creighton or UNL should be greatly resisted. Do you realize the caliber of athlete currently on any UNO roster? Do you realize how many of the same athletes could be recruited to come to our campus intrastate? Absolutely "name" recruits would rather play in Lincoln, but that might not always be the case. Our sports program should be placed in an environment at which to best incubate and grow, and our current administration does neither. Finally, this attitude artificially places us behind that curve. If you don't believe me, go to UNL or Creighton and look at your comparable department's professors and compare where they went to college. For example, the University of NE-Omaha Political Science Department has 2 persons who have attended Ivy League Universities, while Creighton has zero!

Simply put: "Nobody puts UNO in a corner". Take pride in your school. Start small; buy a t-shirt from the bookstore and wear it around. Go to a football game. Participate in organizations on campus. Hang-out in the student union. Talk to your professors. But whatever you do, do not let anyone take away what alumni of this university have worked to do thus far, to give current students the chance to take make the premier institution in Omaha, then Nebraska.