Tidball honorees named
Winners recognized for contributions to university
By Chad Ellsworth
Staff Reporter
Greeted by clowns, poetry and
lively local folk music, those who
attended the 1998 Sue Tidball
Award for Creative Humanity
Celebration at UNL Sunday found
it easy to slip into the festive atmos
phere.
The late Webster Robbins, a
past assistant professor of curricu
lum and instruction and of ethnic
studies, and Cheryl Card, a food
service manager, received the
award named in honor of Sue
Tidball. The award’s namesake was
a staff member of the United
Ministries in Higher Education at
the university who died in 1976.
The award was created in 1982
to honor and encourage those on
the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
campus who make significant con
tributions to the development of a
humane, open, caring, educational
ly creative and just community.
Nine staff and faculty members
were nominated for the award this
year.
“What makes life so precious
are the little things people care
about,” said James Griesen, vice
chancellor for Student Affairs, who
spoke at the Tidball awards cere
mony. “These people make the uni
versity a caring place by doing the
little things,” he said.
Robbins, who died of a heart
attack in September 1997, was hon
ored Sunday for more than 20 years
of teaching multicultural education
and ethnic studies.
“He taught about things he had
experienced in his own life,” said
his wife, Alice Robbins. “He devot
ed his life to teaching people to
understand.”
Robbins, who in 1976 became
the first American Indian to earn
his doctoral degree at UNL, served
as a role model for minority stu
dents and young American Indians,
the awards committee said.
In addition to his work at UNL,
Robbins also played a prominent
role in Lincoln’s American Indian
community. He served as president
of the Indian Center, served on its
board of directors, and played a key
role in the planning and building of
the million-dollar center. -
Card, who has managed the
Cather-Pound-Neihardt Dining
Service since 1988, was nominated
by the residence halls’ employees
for her reputation as a manger who
“never complains, who celebrates
the positive in everyone, and is car
ing, enthusiastic, and joyful,” the
awards committee said.
She has worked with students in
planning special meals, events and
celebrations. She also led the
restructuring of the management
staff in her halls’ dining service,
helping improve job equality
among the kitchen staff.
“It’s easy to treat people with
respect when they give you the
same respect,” Card said, praising
her co-workers, >
Also nominated for the Tidball
awards were:
■ Kirby Baird, City Campus
landscape manager
■ Keith Bartels, coordinator
and manager of communications
and information technology for the
Institute of Agriculture and Natural
Resources
■ Carol Danielson, a staff sec
retary in the School of
Accountancy
■ Sue A. Eckerson, a staff sec
retary in the Student Affairs office
■ Gina Matkin, Nebraska
Unions training coordinator
■ Kim Schellpeper, coordina
tor of learning and development
programs in the NU Athletic
Department
■ Karen S. Schurr, a lecturer in
the civil engineering department
Griesen said all were deserving.
“Everyone who was nominated
tonight is a winner.”
UNL leaders entertain
children at Circus Dav
By Kelly Romanski
Staff Reporter
UNL freshman Eryn McConnell
said she cringed when two children
asked her to paint a complicated
Dracula and a Siberian tiger on
their faces Sunday afternoon.
But lucky for her, most kids
requested a simple rainbow or bal
loon while she painted faces at
Lincoln Children’s Museum’s annu
al Circus Day.
McConnell, along with the
members of the Emerging Leaders
class at the University of Nebraska
Lincoln, helped design and sponsor
the annual day for preschool and
elementary school children.
UNL students in the Emerging
Leaders class work to develop orga
nizational, teamwork and leader
ship skills on campus and in the
community.
Students said they enjoyed the
day, especially the time they spent
playing with children.
“It reminds me of being a kid,”
said Reed Anderson, a freshman
business major known Sunday as
“Bobo the Clown.” .
Among attractions and exhibits
at Circus Day were a child-size gro
cery store with miniature grocery
carts, replicas of a Cornhusker
locker room with NU uniforms and
of Memorial Stadium with green
AstroTurf, and a display where chil
dren could stand inside a giant soap
bubble.
The Lincoln City Jugglers per
«/
formed, and children toured a repli
ca lunar space module. Cotton
candy and balloons awaited chil
dren on their way out of the muse
um.
Three-year-old Sierra Drake of
Lincoln said she was having a good
time playing with illuminated
building blocks on a light table.
“I liked the magic shows,” she
said. “I like the clowns.”
Her mother, Cyndee Drake, also
enjoyed the circus.
“This is really neat,” she said.
Linden Kaliff, a 2-year-old from
York, said he liked the model train
and the bubbles.
Linden summed up the after
noon with one word: “Good.”
Josh Stevenson, a 12-year-old
from Lincoln, said the magic and
the clowns made his visit more
interesting than a typical day at the
museum.
Anderson, a.k.a. “Bobo,” said it
was the presence of the children
that made the visit enjoyable for
class members.
“It’s fun seeing the kids’ faces
when they see me,” he said, “if they
don’t run.” j
Some children cried when they
saw him dressed as a clown, he said. '
Rae-Hope Putney, program and
volunteer coordinator for the
Lincoln Children’s Museum, said
Emerging Leaders students were
wonderful hosts and made Circus
Day “very much a success.”
“They relate to the children so
well.”
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