_
Wrathful Acts
“The Grapes of Wrath,” a classic
adapted for stage, opens in Lincoln
today. A&E, PAGE 9
Leader by Design
The former architecture dean built
a regionally renowned program from
the ground up. NEWS, PAGE 7
Arts and Sciences dean announces move
” (Brian Foster) i
a dynamic leader
with a clear sense
of what to do.”
Dane Kennet
history department chairm
By Kimberly Sweet
* Staff writer
The dean of UNUs College of Arts
and Sciences will leave Nebraska this
- spring to take a higher-level job at the
University of New Mexico.
Brian Foster, who has served as
dean since 1994, announced he will
ty leave the University of Nebraska
ln Lincoln to take the job of provost anc
vice president for academic affairs ai
the University of New Mexico ir
Albuquerque.
He is unsure about when he will
leave but expects it to be before April 1.
“Leaving isn’t easy,” Foster said.
“But this is a really interesting and
exciting opportunity.”
In his new role, Foster will lead all
non-medical academic programs at the
UNM campus, which has more than
24,000 students.
Foster said his job roughly com
pares to the one held by Richard
Edwards, senior vice chancellor for
academic affairs at UNL.
Currently, Foster is the dean for the
UNL college with the highest under
graduate enrollment and 17 depart
ments.
Chancellor James Moeser said in a
press release he was sad to see Foster go
but wished him luck in his new endeav
or.
“He will be sorely missed, not only
in the College of Arts and Sciences but
also in the many campuswide leader
ship positions he assumed during his
years on campus,” Moeser said. “The
University of New Mexico is very for
tunate to have him.”
Foster said he was happy with the
advancements the college made while
he was at die helm.
He said he is particularly proud
about the interdisciplinary programs
the college developed during the past
five and a half years.
Please see FOSTER on 3
Lincoln man
holds King’s
goals close '
By Margaret Behm
---
Staff writer
Even on a day when most people will take
extra time to relax, Jessie Myles is not going to
slow down in his numerous community roles.
“It’s almost like I have a personal commit'
ment to celebrate Dr. King’s birthday,” said,.
Myles, Lincoln NAACP president. “That’s my
own way of working towards the dream.”
• Myles said King has been an inspiration to
him throughout his life; some people, such as
fellow NAACP member Keith Parker, think
Myles is a role model.
“People young and old look to Jessie for
guidance,” said Parker, a sociology professor.
“He has brought awareness to the concern of
bias in Lincoln by bringing people together and
providing insight.”
Along with his role in the NAACP, Myles is
the multicultural education director at the
Nebraska State Department of Education and a
pastor at the No Greater Love Fellowship
Please see MYLES on 6
Lydia S. Gonzales/DN
JESSIE MYLES, president of the Lincoln NAACP, also leads the Ho Greater Love Fellowship Church Hi Lincoln. Myles, who has
traveled to schools across the state to speak about race relations, said he works to help people absorb the message behind
Martin Luther King Jr.’h “I Have a Dream” speech.
Forum addresses intellectual rights
■ Faculty members
debate balance between
university and self
ownership of Web sites,
software and lectures.
By CaraPesek
Staff writer
Eleven faculty members attended
a forum Thursday to discuss owner
ship guidelines for intellectual prop
erty, including software, Web sites
and recorded lectiifeti.
4a H* fotiifaig'fefitat the Nebfttffc*
Union, was sponsored by the
Academic Senate.
The question of who owns intel
lectual property has become impor
tant to the university during recent
years as technology in the classroom
has become more prevalent, said Gail
Latta, Academic Senate president.
Faculty and staff members are
uncertain how ownership of intellec
tual property, which is often devel
oped with university resources such as
laboratories or software, should be
divided between the inventor and the
university.
UNL doesn’t have a policy on
ownership of intellectual property,
although one was drafted by
University of Nebraska central
administration and faculty members
in the summer of 1999.
A final draft would have to be
approved by the NU Board of
Regents.
Faculty members who attended
the forum discussed different ways
intellectual property could be shared.
Dwayne Ball, associate professor
of marketing, was in favor of a plan
fhat'would allow faculty members to
' have full ownership of their work.
The faculty members, in turn,
would work with the university to
market their ideas, and the university
would receive a share of the profits.
Ball said full ownership of a prod
uct would be enough incentive for fac
ulty members to produce the very
best.
Other faculty members thought
full ownership was less important.
“It’s the size of the pie that we
need to keep our eyes on,” said
Richard Edwards, senior vice chan
cellor for academic affairs.
Edwards said faculty would be
less interested in full intellectual
property ownership if they were satis
fied with the amount of money the
university offered them for their ideas.
Some faculty members were con
cerned they would be obligated to
share all of their ideas with the univer
sity.
“There has to be some time when I
can be productive with my expertise
and not have it belong to the universi
ty,” Latta said.
It was difficult for faculty mem
bers who attended the forum to decide
when that time would be.
Edwards said facility members
identify themselves so much by their
jobs, it is often difficult to distinguish
work life from personal life..
For example, many faculty mem
bers develop ideas for class at home
and conduct research during the sum
mer.
Faculty members in attendance
did not reach a conclusion about a pol
icy.
Another forum oh the topic will be
held Jan. 21 at 10a.m. in the Nebraska
East Union.
Retired professor dies
of cancer at age 74
By Veronica Daehn
Staff writer
Les Sheffield knew a lot about
water.
The retired UNL professor died
Tuesday from cancer, and colleagues
said they will remember him for what
he did with water.
Sheffield, 74, had been an exten
sion farm management specialist in
the agricultural economics depart
ment at the University of Nebraska
Lincoln since 1951.
He rsi«ddfif994 but continued
to give his famous water tours, in
which he explored water development
levels in different areas of the world.
Bob Kuzelka, assistant to the
director of the Water Center, said
Sheffield gave tours to up to four
buses filled with 160 people at a time.
The two- to three-day tours
spanned not only Nebraska, but
places such as Wyoming, Arizona,
Texas, Australia ami Brazil.
Kuzelka, who had known
” He was very
well known in
the field of
irrigation in
Nebraska.”
Karen Stork
project coordinator,
•Nebraska Water Conference Council
Sheffield for 21 years, said the tours
were important to Sheffield because
he wanted to teach people about water
and its uses.
“He was very significant in that
he wanted people to Team from other
people,” Kuzelka said.
Karen Stork, the project coordina
tor for the Nebraska Water
Conference Council, worked with
Please see SHEFFIELD on 3