Nebraska
Andrews, Clark recognized with Fulfilling the Dream awards
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln will wrap its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Week with the MLK Commemorative Celebration, where the 2024 Fulfilling the Dream awards will be presented to Arthur “Trey” Andrews and Genese Clark.
Andrews, associate professor in psychology and ethnic studies, and Clark, doctoral student in child, youth and family studies, will be formally recognized during the celebration, which will be 6-8 p.m. Jan. 30 in the Nebraska Union’s Centennial Room. Registration is required by Jan. 28.
Established in 1997, the Chancellor’s Fulfilling the Dream awards honor individuals who have contributed to the university community or the greater Lincoln community through their exemplary action in promoting the goals and vision of King.
Andrews was nominated by psychology faculty members Tierney Lorenz and Ken Wakabayashi for his ongoing research and initiatives into recognizing, understanding and overcoming health disparities among underrepresented populations.
“We have the pleasure of witnessing firsthand Dr. Andrew’s dedication to being a scientist-activist, who through his research program, teaching, and community engagement seeks to fundamentally leverage the results of his scientific discovery towards confronting and ultimately changing racist and unjust practices and behaviors at a local and national level,” Lorenz and Wakabayashi wrote in their nomination letter.
Since joining the faculty at Nebraska in 2016, Andrews has published numerous research articles and overseen new community initiatives, all focused on the intersection of health disparities stemming from unjust racism or other systemic discrimination.
Andrews serves as co-director of the university’s Minority Health Disparities Initiative, an interdisciplinary research initiative funded by the Office of Research and Economic Development and the Tobacco Settlement Funds in Nebraska. He also directs the Iniciativa Healthcare Access & Bienestar Latine (HABLa) lab, which conducts research into improving mental health equity, especially for Latine and Spanish-speaking populations. Andrews’ work in HABLa and other initiatives has also helped expand mental health care access in rural Nebraska.
As an instructor, Andrews co-founded the course Seeking Equity — a core class in the Clinical Psychology Training program — and trains the next generation of clinical psychologists in multicultural competence and advocacy skills.
“Indeed, his record of being an activist-scientist is an inspiring model for us, as he leverages his research in order to change racist and unjust practices surrounding health disparities through both scholarly understanding and community action,” his nominators wrote.
Read more about Andrews.
Clark is pursuing a doctorate in the Global Family Health and Wellbeing program. She is a member of the Trauma and Resilience Explored Lab. Her research focuses on the resilience and strengths of African American families, as well as the social-emotional learning of young children in non-formal education settings.
Nominator Yan Ruth Xia remarked that Clark’s research has and will positively impact families. Clark developed the Family Strengths Wheel, an assessment tool based on the family strengths model. The wheel is an interactive tool that engages family members in identifying their own strengths. With that knowledge, families are more positive and willing to build up their positive traits to address their challenges.
“Genese is devoted to promoting the well-being of all families, and particularly low-income, Black, Indigenous, and other racially and ethnically marginalized families through her research, teaching, and outreach. She has contributed to Dr. Martin Luther King’s vision and conviction through her exemplar actions that inspire me and others at UNL and the local communities,” wrote Xia, professor of child, youth and family studies.
Clark’s research also served the Malone Center, where she studied the social-emotional learning of young children in after-school settings. The center used that research to improve its services and developed a new training curriculum.
Clark has also been instrumental in creating more equitable environments for her peers and colleagues, Xia wrote.
“She was awarded ODI funding to design a professional development series for early care and education faculty, exploring beliefs and assumptions about race, how their assumptions impacted teacher preparation, and ways to teach race and racism through the use of autoethnographies,” Xia said. “As a member of the Family Housing Workgroup, she highlighted the nuances of international students’ needs and experiences. She provided valuable feedback and recommendations in a written report to the Chancellor’s Office for short- and long-term solutions to family housing issues, as well as her feedback for the 2023 housing transitional plan and correspondence to residents.”
Read more about Clark.
Nebraska
Jocelyn Brasher enters Nebraska AG race, squares off with former boss
She left that role with the AG’s Office, which had her also heading multistate investigations, to prosecute crime as a deputy Dodge County attorney. Most recently, Brasher, 35, was a litigator for an Omaha private firm. Earlier, she led the child support enforcement division in the Dawson County Attorney’s Office in Lexington.
A Democrat, Brasher said her decade-long legal career in prosecutorial positions prepared her for the elected office that she says should be “independent and principled” and argues has been dragged down in recent years by partisan politics.
She contrasts herself with Hilgers, saying, “He has made this office very political and very partisan by having a partisan agenda. That is not me, and that is not what I will do.”
Her top priorities include consumer protection, public safety and health care.
Among the cases she is proud of, she said, is a monetary settlement for students of Bellevue University who were impacted by misleading information regarding the school’s nursing program.
She said she also helped resolve a $35 million settlement with Tempoe LLC that ended a 41-state investigation into what she described as “predatory leasing” practices.
If elected, Brasher said, she would assemble a task force to combat crimes against children. She also would “work to ensure immigration enforcement in Nebraska complies with constitutional requirements and due process.”
In distancing herself from Hilgers, she cited his resistance to medical marijuana. Nebraskans in 2024 approved the legalization of medical cannabis with more than 71% of the vote, yet Brasher said Hilgers is “fighting the voice of the people” by threatening a lawsuit that goes against that.
On Day One, she said she’d “work swiftly” to provide guidance for patient access to medical cannabis so “providers can have the guidance they need to prescribe it and that they won’t be at risk.”
Brasher also took aim at how the Attorney General’s Office handled a four-year-long case against the former director of History Nebraska. The state’s highest court last month confirmed that prosecutors waited too long before bringing Trevor Jones to trial, and the felony theft charge was dismissed.
Nebraska
No. 13 Purdue escapes with an 80-77 OT win against No. 7 Nebraska after blowing a 22-point lead
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Oscar Cluff’s layup put Purdue ahead with 3.9 seconds left in overtime after Nebraska had taken its first lead and Gicarri Harris’ two free throws sealed the No. 13 Boilermakers’ 80-77 victory over the No. 7 Cornhuskers on Tuesday night.
Purdue (20-4, 10-3 Big Ten) escaped after blowing a 22-point lead early in the second half. The Boilermakers recorded their second top-10 win of the season to start a difficult closing stretch that has them playing three top-10 teams over 16 days.
Nebraska (21-3, 10-3) lost for the third time in four games following a 20-0 start. All three losses were to ranked opponents.
Fletcher Loyer led Purdue with 18 points, Trey Kaufman-Renn had a career-high 19 rebounds and Braden Smith had 13 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds.
Rienk Mast led the Huskers with 18 points, Jamarques Lawrence added 16 and Pryce Sandfort had all 15 of his points in the second half.
Sandfort’s layup with 1:31 left in overtime gave Nebraska its first lead, 77-75. Cluff had a chance to tie it when he got fouled pulling down an offensive rebound, but he made only one of two free throws. Cluff’s putback on the next possession put the Boilermakers up by a point in the final seconds. Lawrence fumbled Sam Hoiberg’s inbound pass, and Harris picked up the ball and got fouled. After Harris made his free throws, Cluff intercepted the Huskers’ length-of-the-court pass just ahead of the buzzer.
The Huskers, who overcame 16-point deficits in two of their wins, forced overtime on Mast’s putback with 12.8 seconds left. Mast missed what would have been a go-ahead free throw, and Smith’s fallaway jumper in the lane bounced off the rim as time ran out in regulation.
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Nebraska
Trump signs $800 million beef import deal as Nebraska cattle herds shrink to 64-year low
LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – According to the USDA’s latest cattle inventory report, beef cow inventory is at its lowest in Nebraska since 1960, with cattle herd size decreasing by 20% since 2019 due in large part to drought.
It’s a trend that has been seen across the country, with that same report showing a 13% decline in cattle inventory across the United States over the past seven years.
That reality was the inspiration behind a deal signed by President Trump last week to import an additional $800 million in beef from Argentina to the United States in 2026.
“We do import beef from a number of different countries, so the fact we’re going to import more is not new,” Mark McHargue, the president of the Nebraska Farm Bureau, said. “We just need to ensure there’s not anything relative to the trade conversation that would lessen our producers’ ability to make money.”
The per-pound price of beef has increased by nearly $3 since 2019, according the Federal Reserve.
The per pound price of beef has increased by nearly three dollars since 2019, according the Federal Reserve.
But McHargue says this plan will lower prices “artificially” and could work against the interests of some.
“We start bringing more product in from outside our borders and that’s going to be competitive to those that have been here in Nebraska growing beef, growing cattle for a long time,” he said. “They’ve been struggling to finally make a profit and then we bring in too much from some place else, lower their competitive advantage — that takes money out of their pockets.”
Sharing those concerns is Nebraska Sen. Deb Fischer, who released a statement in response to the decision.
The Nebraska Cattlemen released a statement of their own in response.
10/11 also spoke with one cattle farmer in Malcolm, who did not want to be named but said he supports President Trump’s move to quadruple beef imports. He said cattle supply is currently so low that producing enough ground beef for consumers isn’t doable. In his opinion, imported meat will keep products available and reasonably priced until farmers like him are able to build their inventory back up.
ALSO WATCH: Night Beat with Jessica Blum
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