Mon, May 18, 2009
May 18-22, 2009
Great Plains Book Prize goes to Hamalainen's 'The Comanche Empire'
"The Comanche Empire," by Pekka Hamalainen, is this year's winner of the Great Plains Distinguished Book Prize from the Center for Great Plains Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
"I was in my office getting ready for a trip to New York, when Jim Stubbendieck called me to announce I had won the prize. I was absolutely thrilled by the news," said Hamalainen, an associate professor of history at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he teaches classes on North American borderlands and Native American history. more...
City Campus Taps First Geothermal Project for Whittier Remodel
A handful of mud-caked Texas construction workers are helping UNL tap into energy savings. Working on the facility upgrade of Whittier Junior High (22nd and Vine streets), employees of Looptech International are drilling UNL’s first geothermal well field. When complete, the well field will use stable temperatures within the Earth to help heat and cool new research facilities in Whittier and the UNL Childcare Center.
“This is truly a sustainable, efficient geothermal system,” said Marty Kasl, mechanical engineer with the Lincoln-based Engineering Technologies Inc., the group that designed the Whittier geothermal system. “When complete, this green design will be about 30 to 35 percent more efficient than state energy codes.” The system is similar to heat pumps currently used in homes; the main difference is scale. more...
MARY RIEPMA ROSS MEDIA ARTS CENTER
The Great Buck Howard, and Tokyo! Play at the Ross
UNL's Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center presents The Great Buck Howard and Tokyo! Both films will screen through May 21.
Once upon a time, The Great Buck Howard spent his days in the limelight. His mind-boggling feats as a mentalist extraordinaire--not to be confused with those of a mere magician--earned him a marquee act in Vegas and 61 appearances on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show. In his own humble opinion, his talents go far beyond simple sleight of hand - he can read minds and hypnotize not just a single soul but an entire room of people! But nowadays, it's clear to everyone but Buck that his act has lost its luster; he performs in faded community centers and hasn't sold out a theater in years. Yet, with a hearty handshake and a trademark "I love this town!" Buck Howard perseveres, confident in his own celebrity, convinced his comeback is imminent. He just needs a new road manager and personal assistant. As it turns out, recent law school drop-out and unemployed, would-be writer Troy Gable needs a job and a purpose. Working for the pompous, has-been mentalist fills the former requirement, but how it satisfies the latter is questionable, especially to his father, who still assumes Troy is in law school. Nonetheless, with the aid of a fiery publicist and a bold stroke of fate, Buck surprisingly lands back into the American consciousness, taking Troy along for the ride of his life.
In Tokyo!, three of the world's greatest filmmakers come together for an omnibus triptych examining the nature of one unforgettable city as it's shaped by the disparate people who live, work (and even run amok!) inside one enormous, constantly evolving, densely populated Japanese megalopolis - the ravishing and inimitable Tokyo. In the tradition of such films as New York Stories, and Night On Earth, Tokyo! addresses the timeless question of whether we shape cities, or if cities shape us - in the process revealing the rich humanity at the heart of modern urban life.
More information is available at the Ross website.
