2002 Annual Holiday Celebration
December 3, 2002

The Third Annual College of Arts & Sciences Holiday Celebration was well attended by the faculty and staff of the college. There was a special guest, door prizes, and the six annual Applause awardees were announced. Assistant Dean David Howe presided over the celebration and the text of his comments are here....

Welcome to the third annual Arts & Sciences holiday celebration. I will be making some announcements, then announcing our six annual Applause awardees, and then after a short break, I will draw the tickets for the winners of these great door prizes.

Dean Hoffmann regrets that a Life Sciences meeting will make him unable to hand out the big checks this year, so we asked around to see who might be available. Lil Red volunteered.

First, I want to thank the individuals in the Dean's Office who actually lead our Applause. Linda Luedtke manages logistics – scheduling the reception, organizing me, making sure that everyone is where they have to be to make it a surprise. Lori Anderson, Melissa Dunne and Karen Kersten manage the photos, print and web graphics and they are responsible for the new campaigns we unveil to raise interest in Applause. And in the background of Applause and any event like this is Kim Weide.

As much as anyone, you five begin our Applause. Now it is time that you receive our applause for all that you do. Please join me in a round of applause for Linda, Lori, Melissa, Karen, and Kim.

Tonight it is my pleasure to notify 6 staff members that they will receive our Applause for the entire calendar year of 2002. There were 11 monthly awardees during the year and we placed their likenesses around the room. I hope you all have read them. Awardees, when you leave tonight, please take your framed photograph as our gift.

Actually, there were eleven awards to ten individuals this past year. For the first time, after FIFTY monthly awards, a previous monthly awardee received a second round of Applause. I am encouraged by that. If you want to thank someone, nominate them. In many ways, Applause is the perfect thank you.

I have some prizes for the Annual awardees…

Each awardee will receive $200 in their paycheck as soon as we can get it posted. Each awardee will receive a bookstore certificate for $100. I have a certificate for a 30 minute massage at campus recreation - one of the most popular prizes we've had. And finally there is a gift certificate for a meal donated by Crane River.

Crane River has been one of the most loyal supporters for our Applause. With us tonight is Linda Vescio. Linda, will you please come forward?

For all that you have done for this program, Linda, we present you with this token of our appreciation. It reads, “presented to Crane River Brew Pub and Café December 3, 2002 for sponsorship of Arts & Sciences Applause Program”.

Every monthly and annual awardee from inception of the program has received a gift certificate to Crane River. Thank you Linda.

Finally, it is my opinion that the most important prize for each annual awardee is that they will be submitted by the College for the Regents KUDOS award. I will be working with the awardees and their unit heads over the next few days to get those nominations completed. An individual receiving a KUDOS award receives a monetary stipend, recognition at a Board of Regents meeting and an article in the SCARLET.

The annual Applause awardees that I am about to announce were selected from 117 nominations for 47 individuals from all over the college. No distinction was made for those who received our Applause during the year and as you may note, they are not necessarily the same people as the monthly awardees. This year's committee considered every nomination received since the inception of Applause, except nominations that resulted in previous annual awards.

There is a selection panel for the awards presented during the year, and another panel for the awards presented tonight. I have not, and will not, publicly disclose the names of the individuals on the panels, but they do a lot of work for no applause of their own. There are several individuals in your midst that have served on these panels over the past three years, and even though I won't announce who they are, please join me in one round of applause for them. They work very hard!

Nominations make this program work! Have YOU nominated someone for Applause? If you had, maybe they would be one of the following annual awardees…

If I call your name, please come up and receive your check from Lil Red. Please remain up here as I complete the announcements. We will give you the rest of your stuff and take your picture after the announcements are completed. So here goes…

After serving very successfully as the graduate secretary for the department, our first awardee just began a new job administering grants for the department, moving from Ferguson Hall to the Miller-Paine Building. From the Department of Computer Science, please join our Applause for Marilyn Augustyn .

Our next awardee manages the room schedule for the heaviest department courseload on campus and handles book orders for about 125 teachers, but is able to be kind, caring, and calm as she does it all. She also does a great job editing the newsletter for the Department of English. Please begin our Applause for Janet Carlson .

Exuberant is the word most used describing our next awardee. She's always professional as she takes things in stride even while managing those changes that are inevitable on our campus and adapting them to the Department of Sociology … please join our Applause for Joleen Deats .

Our next awardee (#4) manages to balance not only the inevitable conflicting priorities and budgets within the department, but she must also manage the sometimes overwhelming conflicting priorities between two Colleges. From the Department of Computer Science. Please begin our Applause for Deb Heckens .

Solving problems before anyone knows they exist, our fifth awardee has enhanced graduate recruiting and played a major role in the success of the Nebraska Conf for Undergraduate Women in Mathematics. From the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, please join our Applause for Marilyn Johnson .

Beginning as a work study student in the department, our sixth awardee has worked up the ranks for the past ten years juggling many duties until now she juggles cost objects. Described as conscientious, hard working, and quietly competent in the School of Biological Sciences, please join our Applause for Linda Hotovy .

We will draw for the door prizes shortly, but first we need to take some pictures. You have time to refresh your glasses and to get dessert.

You must be present to win, so don't go away! And if you are a regular, non-student A&S employee, please make sure your name is in the box.

Okay, here we go…
First let me recite the rules for the door prizes.

1. Any regular, non-student employee – staff, faculty, administration - of Arts & Sciences (except me) can win but you must be present.
2. Your ticket will be forfeited if you win so you can't win two of these prizes.
3. I will draw first for the TV, next for the stereo, and third for the DVD.

And the Door Prize Winners are. . .
Lori Anderson from the Dean's Office won the TV/VCR .	Professor John Meakin from Mathematics and Statistics won the stereo.	Charles Daniel from Computer Science and Engineering won the DVD player.