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Fri, Mar 04, 2005

March 4-6, 2005

MARY RIEPMA ROSS MEDIA ARTS CENTER, SAT, MAR. 5, 7:30PM
Ross Hosts Premiere Gala Celebration of King Of The Corner

English professor Gerry Shapiro has a sharp eye for the condition of secular Jews in the United States. Now his observations, fleshed out in his short story collection "Bad Jews and Other Stories," are the basis of King of the Corner, a film starring several of today's most accomplished actors. The film, directed by Peter Riegert, will be celebrated with an opening night gala on Saturday, March 5, at 7:30 pm with both Riegert and Shapiro in attendance. The gala is open to the public for the regular movie admission price of $8 for general admission and $6 for students, seniors, children, and members of the Friends of Ross. There will be a reception and book signing afterwards in the Van Brunt Visitors Center next to the Ross. The University of Nebraska Press, which recently reprinted "Bad Jews," is co-hosting the reception.

King Of The Corner is a sly, deadpan social comedy about the dangers of navigating life without a compass. Facing a midlife crisis, Leo Spivak finds himself at a crossroads of Isaac Bashevis Singer and The Godfather. The tale starts to spin out of control as this harried man can't handle the pressures of his life: His father is dying, his daughter is growing up, his prot�g� is after his job, his wife is running out of patience, and his judgment is becoming blurred. Leo has met the enemy and it is he, but through a twist of fate and the wisdom of his rabbi, he redeems himself and gets a second chance.

THE SCARLET SHAPIRO'S STORIES | MRRMAC

UNL CAMPUS
$1000 Real Nebraska Movie Winner Announced

The Real Nebraska Movie Contest announced Michael Sukraw as the winner of the $1,000 Grand prize at an awards show event Thursday, March 3. In addition to the top prize, three $250 runner-up prizes were also handed out at the event. Those winners are Cinema 16, Bright Eye Productions and Juanita Page. The winners were determined by online votes and a panel of judges. The judges include Alan Cerveny, Dean of Admissions; Danny Lee Ladely, Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center Director; Trina Creighton, UNL broadcasting instructor; Katie Weichman, ASUN president; and Melissa Lee, Editor of the Daily Nebraskan. The Real Nebraska Movie Awards were held at the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center on University of Nebraska-Lincoln's city campus.

The contest is a variation of the popular "Real Nebraska" project developed in fall 2003 featuring UNL students on an interactive website. Cerveny said the contest was a way to keep the program fresh and exciting. "We have extremely creative students at UNL," Cerveny said. "We wanted to tap into that creative energy and provide our students with an opportunity to share their unique perspectives on UNL in interesting and entertaining ways."

REAL NEBRASKA

HUSKERS.COM, FRI, MAR. 4, 2:15PM
HuskersNSide Offers Free Webcast of Nebraska vs Rice Baseball Contest

The 18th-ranked Nebraska baseball team concludes its season-opening trek this weekend as the Huskers travel to Round Rock, Texas for the Round Rock College Classic. HuskersNSide will be offering a free webcast of the first game of the tournament, a 2:15 pm matchup with the seventh-ranked Rice Owls. Pitcher Joba Chamberlain will start for the Huskers, following up on a near record-setting performance last weekend in which he threw 15 strikeouts over seven innings of work in a 12-0 shutout win over New Mexico.

HUSKERS.COM

MARY RIEPMA ROSS MEDIA ARTS CENTER, SUN, MAR. 6, 7PM
Free Sneak Preview of Frontier University Dreams at The Ross

The public is invited to a free sneak preview of Frontier University Dreams, a new program from NET Television (the new name for the Nebraska ETV Networks), that travels back to the Nebraska Territory of the 1860s and follows the progress of the University of Nebraska from its humble beginnings to the turn of the 20th century. The 60-minute documentary will be shown in high-definition at 7 pm on Sunday, March 6, at the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center in Lincoln (313 North 13th Street). A reception will follow the screening at the adjoining Van Brunt Visitors Center with light refreshments and the opportunity to talk with the program producers and participants. The event is co-sponsored by NET Television, the Friends of the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center and the University of Nebraska Alumni Association.

"Offering sneak previews of NET's new high definition productions at the Ross is great because it gives us the opportunity to show off our digital and electronic cinema technology," says Danny L. Ladely, director of the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center. "Plus, it gives people who don't have HD at home the chance to see the program not only in high definition, but on the big screen and with great sound!"

Watch a Preview of Frontier University Dreams

Quicktime (7.8 MB)

Windows Media (19 MB)

Narrated by Dick Cavett, this tale of "botanists, bodysnatchers and Bugeaters" illustrates the University's history through more than 300 historical photos from the period as well as entertaining stories about the idealists, rapscallions and outsized-personalities who shaped NU's early years.

Central to the program is the exploration of the concept of a land-grant university, revolutionary for the time. Tuition was free and it was open to everyone -- men and women, rich and poor, Christians and Jews, African-Americans and Hispanics. It helped change the face of Nebraska and America. The struggling school survived its early growing pains to the 1890s when it entered a "Golden Era," nurturing students as diverse as Willa Cather, a future Pulitzer-Prize winning novelist; George Flippin, one of America's first African-American football stars; and John J. Pershing who would go on to command American forces during World War I.

Among those sharing insights and anecdotes are: Robert Knoll, University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) professor emeritus of English and author of the book "Prairie University"; John Carter, Nebraska State Historical Society senior researcher; Kay Logan-Peters, UNL professor of University Libraries; Jim McKee, Lincoln and Nebraska historian; Keith Jacobshagen, artist and UNL professor of art and art history; Robert Ripley, State Capitol Administrator; Ann Chang Barnes, UNL School of Music; and nationally-known historian and writer David McCullough.

NET TELEVISION | MRRMAC

STUDIO THEATER, TEMPLE BUILDING, FRI, MAR. 4, 7:30, 10:30PM; SAT, MAR. 5, 7:30PM
Theatrix Staging The Baby Dance

Theatrix, the student theatrical producing organization at UNL, opens its spring season with Jane Anderson's The Baby Dance. Directed by undergraduate Brittany Leffler, performances are at 7:30 pm March 4 and 5 with an additional performance at 10:30 pm on March 4 in the Studio Theatre, third floor Temple Building. Admission is $5 at the door only. Doors open one-half hour prior to curtain.

The Baby Dance is a moving drama revolving around Rachel (played by Caitlin Brandes) who has everything in life but a child. She and her husband Richard (Gregory Peters) locate a poor couple, Wanda and Al (Courtney Pearson and Nathan Lange), who agree to let their next child be adopted. Will Wanda take good care of herself and have a healthy baby? Will Wanda and Al have a change of heart? Ron, Rachel and Richard's lawyer, (John Paul Wilson) arrives to seal the deal, or will he?

Director Leffler explains that, "This story of two families trying to plan the best life for an unborn baby is witty, disturbing, and emotional. It allows its audience a true glimpse into the complexities of the adoption process. Some people say the play is about the environment, or this baby, or just money. I like this play because it captures so much — racism, poverty, family dispute, abuse, as well as love, compromise, and family ties. I was compelled by the fact that this one baby could bring these strangers together and force them to face their differences. This play made me question my own sense of right and wrong, and I hope that audiences feel the same way when they walk out of the theatre."

The 2004-2005 Theatrix artistic director is Brianne Bassler, and the technical director is Matt Miller.

UNL THEATRE ARTS

119 BURNETT, FRI, MAR. 4, 11:30AM
Psychology Colloquium - 'Family and Friends: Social Influences on Adolescent Health Behavior'
Rick Gibbons, Iowa State University

NEBRASKA EAST UNION, FRI, MAR. 4, 12PM
Eating Disorders Awareness Week Event - 'Harmful Cocktails'
"Fearless Friday" Brown Bag Presentation

105 OTHMER HALL, FRI, MAR. 4, 2:30PM
Mechanical Engineering / Center for Materials Research and Analysis Seminar - 'Tracking Crystal Structures During Phase Transitions'
Matthew Kramer, Iowa State University

212 CBA, FRI, MAR. 4, 2:30PM
Haydon Art Center Lecture - 'LIVING CONSUMED: Commercial Integration of Life in the U.S.'
Sanford Grossbart, UNL

327 KEIM HALL, FRI, MAR. 4, 3PM
Agronomy/Horticulture Seminar - 'Urban Soils and Landscaping'
Jeffrey Bruce, presiden of Jeffrey Bruce and Company, Kansas City, MO

210 FILLEY HALL, FRI, MAR. 4, 3PM
Agricultural Economics Seminar - 'An Evaluation of Feedyard Management Training and Experience'
Rik Smith, UNL, recipient of the 2004 American Agricultural Economics Association Outstanding Student Paper Award

BESSEY AUDITORIUM, FRI, MAR. 4, 3:30PM
Geosciences - T. Mylan Stout Lecture Series - 'Effects of Climate Variability on Lake Hydrology in the Upper Great Lakes Region'
John Lenters, Lake Superior State University

112 HAMILTON HALL, FRI, MAR. 4, 3:30PM
Chemistry Colloquium - 'Supramolecular Approaches toward Asymmetric Catalysis'
Wenbin Lin, Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

DUDLEY BAILEY LIBRARY, FRI, MAR. 4, 3:30PM
English, Creative Writing, Film Studies Lecture - 'From Fiction To Film: How Bad Jews Became The King of the Corner'
Gerald Shapiro, Peter Riegert, Wheeler Winston Dixon. A conversation with the screen writers and director of the film "King of the Corner," premiering this week at the Ross Film Theater. Reception to follow.

115 AVERY HALL, FRI, MAR. 4, 4PM
Mathematics Colloquium - 'Controlled Matrix Factorizations and Birational Maps'
Hema Srinivasan, University of Missouri at Columbia

UNITARIAN CHURCH, SUN, MAR. 6, 7PM
2005 Winter Lecture Series - Palestine and Israel, Religions, Homelands and Cultures - 'Conflicts in Israel and the Middle East Since 1948'
Moshe Gershovich, UNO