Danielson
Continued from Page 1
floral business just two years ago,
and he returned to college last fall
to keep busy.
He was nervous about returning,
he said. When he first contacted
Robert Mathiasen, an adviser with
UNL’s Division of Continuing
Studies, his nervousness was
apparent.
Of their fist meeting, Danielson
recalled, “He said, ‘You look a little
uptight.’ 1 said, ‘lam.’
“But you know, the interesting
part is that’s a very common thing.
The people that I’ve talked to
around my age that haven’t fin
ished, the first thing they say is,
‘Well, I don’t think I can study.’
That’s their biggest catch right
there.”
But Mathiasen said that once the
details were straightened out,
Danielson was eager to learn.
“Once he saw it was a reachable
goal, he really went after it,” Malhi
asen said. “Those dreams kind of
hang on forever. But if you want
something long enough, the longer
you wait, the more you want that
goal.”
After only a short time on cam
pus, Danielson said he noticed that
UNL had changed a bit since he
began his college education in
1927.
“When I went to class (in 1927),
I had to dress with a tic and a coat,
except for hot weather,” he said.
“And you were always mister, you
were not front-name.”
To today’s young students, the
classroom of the 1920s sounds sti
fling. But for Mr. Danielson, it was
a matter of manners.
“1 always fell wearing a coal in
class and using last names, mister
and miss, gave some sort of a dig
nity to higher education,” he said.
In 1992, dressed impeccably in a
navy-blue jacket, red-and-bluc
striped lie, gold tic lack and gray
trousers, it is apparent that Mr.
Danielson still believes manners
make the man.
“He is quite a Fine gentleman,”
said Roy Dillon, Danielson’s aca
demic adviser.
That’s not to say that Mr.
Danielson could not adapt to the
new college life, Dillon said.
“He has been a pure joy to work
with and is a classic example of
non-tradilional education and
someone who wants to learn,” he
said.
Apparently, Danielson adjusted
very well to the new atmosphere.
He earned straight A’s — and two
A-pIuses — for his 1991-92 credit
hours.
The instructors who worked with
Danielson arc quick to praise him
for those marks.
Jay Fitzgerald, an associate pro
fessor of horticulture who has
known Danielson for about 12
years, said his work was exemplary.
Fitzgerald, who taught Daniel
son’s Horticulture 130 class, called
him a “perfect example of lifelong
learning.”
“Education is a two-way street; I
learned as much or more from him
as he did from me,” Fitzgerald said.
“And, those students (in the
horticulture class) who availed
themselves to get to know him
probably learned more from him
than from me.”
In conjunction with his course
work, Danielson produced a 162
page history of Nebraska’s florist
industry from 1885 to 1991.
He calls it, simply, “the book.”
Dillon and others said the book
was impressive.
“As he got involved in this
experience, he gave of himself
much more than what was expected
of him,” Dillon said.
In a letter to Danielson, Donald
Edwards, the agriculture institute
dean, called the history “a master
piece.”
Danielson was a bit surprised —
pleasantly — by all the attention.
“I didn’t know what they ex
pected of me,” he said. “... I just
-ii
Those dreams kind of
hang on forever. But if
you want something
long enough, the
longer you wait, the
more you want that
goal.
Mathiasen
Division of Continuing Studies
adviser
-99 ~
got that letter (from Edwards) this
morning. I felt real happy about
that. Isn’t that something?”
Danielson said the history was
exactly what he wanted to do with
his studies at the university.
“I’ll tell you what I had in mind .
.. to have something from my
experience that I could leave,” he
said. “I was happy with that be
cause I’d been carrying that on my
mind all these years: ‘Isn’t there
something 1 can leave?’”
Over several months, Danielson
spent lime doing research in the
library. Then, he re-established
contacts with other Nebraska flo
rists to finish the book. It earned
him an A-plus.
“It was hard work,” he said.
“You spend a lot of hours, and all
of a sudden, you get grades like
that, and all that time sort of just
evaporates. It was well worth it.”
Modesty in Danielson demands
that he credit others for helping him
succeed. His wife, Josephine,
helped with typing and editing.
Faculty members, he said, went out
of their way to be supportive.
Dillon said that much of Daniel
son’s schoolwork was designed to
emphasize his floral background.
UNL officials examined the 1927
student catalog from the UNL
Archives and compared it to
Danielson’s original transcript. The
comparison revealed that only 21
hours remained in Danielson’s
degree path, which was called
“liberal agriculture” in 1927.
With that information, Dillon
said, he and Danielson designed a
series of experiences, mostly
through independent study, to
capitalize on his floral experience.
Last fall, Danielson took seven
hours in horticulture and five in
agriculture science. This semester,
he completed nine hours in agricul
ture education so quickly that all of
his schoolwork was finished in
March.
“It seems like this year in school
was a dream,” Danielson said. “It’s
already gone.” i
But it was far from easy, he said.
In the fall, while doing research for
his history book, he almost gave up.
“I thought, ‘Why am I in this
anyway? What am I trying to do? I
don’t need this.’ Which I figured is
typical, so I just kept right on
going.”
His lifelong work experience
helped, he said. The book wasn’t
his only project about the floral
industry.
Another paper called “Some
Points on How to be Successful as a
Retail Florist” also earned an A
plus.
In effect, Danielson’s research
for this paper consisted of lifelong
practical experience.
His father bought the flower
shop in 1929, and twin sons Robert
and J. Arthur joined the staff‘soon
after. Five years later, the brothers
look over the shop and managed it
until 1989. In 1990, J. Arthur died.
But the shop was not the only
thing the twin Danielsons shared in
their lifetime together. Their par
ents dressed them alike until they
left home, Danielson said.
“We stayed that way until we
started going with the girls at the
university, and then we quit dress
ing alike,” he said. “You look back
on that now and it’s kind of corny,
but we didn’t know anything else.”
The Danielson twins also pio
neered some organizational tech
niques at the flower shop that al
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lowed for extra free time. Danielson
Floral Co. was the first flower shop
in Lincoln to close on Sundays,
Danielson said.
Other changes came, too.
Over the years, student employ
ees at the shop grew uncomfortable
using last names to refer to their
bosses. So the brothers decided to
allow them to use Mr. Bob and Mr.
Art.
“That lasted about two weeks,
and we said, ‘Let’s forget it,”’
Danielson said. “Then we went with
first names. They didn’t respect us
any less. It was just one of those
changes.”
The southeast Lincoln house that
Danielson has retired to is, appro
priately, green — with furnishings
to match: green carpet, green sofa,
green chairs.
In these surroundings, Danielson
admitted rather shyly that he
planned to go through UNL’s
graduation ceremony.
“I went down and signed up for a
robe and cap, so I guess I’ll be
there,” he said.
But he couldn’t predict how he
would feel the moment the diploma
was placed in his hand.
“I’m trying to avoid that,” he
said. “I just don’t have any senti
mentality.”
After the ceremony, Josephine
will serve dinner to a few guests at
their home.
But Danielson is unsure what
he’ll do after all the hoopla dies
down. -
Maybe he’ll golf a little more, he
said, or take a cooking class.
“I might go back to the univer
sity again. I don’t know. I’d have to
sec some place where I could do
some good.”
And he docs have some ideas.
“What they really need is a good
PR man for the horticulture depart
ment,” he said, rubbing his chin.
“They do so many things, you can’t
believe it_1 might even offer to
do that, if they’ll lake me.
“I’m not a workaholic. But I
don’t like to be still if there’s
something pushing me.”
Reunion festivities
this week at UNL
From Staff Reports
Reunion festivities for University
of Ncbraska-Lincoln alumni who have
been out of school for 50 years or
longer will be Thursday through Sat
urday in Lincoln.
Activities sponsored by the UNL
Alumni Association will begin on
Thursday with an informal “Kickoff
Cookout” in the Hollings Gardens at
the Wick Alumni Center, 1520R St.,
from 5 to 7 p.m.
Friday’s activities include a 9 a.m.
breakfast for the class of 1932; a
chancellor’s luncheon for all attend
ing the reunion at noon in the Sheldon
Art Gallery, followed b? a choice of
1:30 p.m. lours; and a 6 p.m. dinner at
the Wick Center with entertainment
provided by the Scarlet & Cream
Singers.
.Saturday’s activities include a 10
a.m. tour of the Lied Center for Per
forming Arts and a 1 p.m. lour of
Morrill Hall.
For ticket information, contact the
UNL Alumni Association.
Simanek
Continued from Page 1
to graduate, Osborne said. If the courts
allow, he probably could finish school
by taking classes this summer and
next semester.
Baldwin will have a hearing some
time in the near future, Osborne said,
and then all that happened will come
out and Baldwin’s fate lies in the
hands of the court.
Baldwin will not receive help from
any public fundraisers, such as the
scrimmage donations given to Sima
nek, he said.
But Osborne said he and the foot
ball department would stand behind
Baldwin, whatever happens.
American Heart
Association
