Real Man March for Washington

March, 2017

Lincoln -- What Washington needs is a Real Man March. Thousands of Real Men could gather in view of the White House so as to provide role models for the current occupant who, try as he might, comes up short.

If you have any of the ten following attributes--even one--you qualify as a badly needed Real Man role model:

1. Veteran
2. Good Samaritan to the unfortunate
3. Not a braggart
4. Selfless in charity
5. Never stiffed contractors
6. Truth teller
7. Never filed for bankruptcy
8. Friend and protector of nature
9. Never divorced
10. Respectful and decent to all

Of course many women would also qualify as Real Men. So much the better. When do we march?

Nebraska Notables

March, 2017

Lincoln -- For the occasion of Nebraska's 150th statehood anniversary, the Lincoln Journal-Star put together a list of 150 "notable" Nebraskans. It was offered as a conversation starter.

Without challenging anyone who made the list, I'd observe with regret that not more scientists at the University of Nebraska are considered notable. To be sure, several of the list's notables studied at the University and made their marks in science elsewhere, but other than Charles Bessey, who was NU chancellor, scientists from the NU faculty are conspicuously absent.

Rachel Lloyd, Frederic and Edith Clements, E.F. Barbour, Ruth Leverton, and John Weaver all left their marks on the world but Nebraskans seem not to know who they were or what they did. It's too bad they and others like them have largely been forgotten. It's especially unfortunate because three on my short list are women; all six would be good role models for students who wish to become scientists.