Latest news with #UNL
News18
10 hours ago
- Sport
- News18
Watch: Ronaldo Drops To Floor, Cries Like A Child After Nations League Triumph
Last Updated: Cristiano Ronaldo broke down in tears after Ruben Neves' penalty secured Portugal's win over Spain, sealing their second Nations League title. Cristiano Ronaldo couldn't hold back his emotions after Ruben Neves' clinical penalty secured Portugal a win over Spain to seal their second Nations League title in Munich on Sunday (June 8). The world-beating superstar dropped to his knees, breaking down in tears before joining his team's celebrations. Ronaldo, kept quiet by Spain's defense for most of the night, equalised in the 61st minute to make it 2-2, volleying the ball home after adjusting his position on the far post and muscling past Marc Cucurella after a Mendes cross was deflected into the air. He was subbed off before full-time with a cramp as the scoreline remained the same through both halves of the extra time before Portugal won the shoot-out 5-3. Before Neves' penalty, Ronaldo was seen burying his face in a teammate's back in anxiety. It seemed like he didn't even watch the ball go in, but once Neves converted, the veteran let all his emotions out. Watch a couple of clips of the surreal moment here: Cristiano Ronaldo in TEARS as Portugal win another international trophy 🇵🇹🏆 #UNL #NationsLeague — Optus Sport (@OptusSport) June 8, 2025 Cristiano Ronaldo kneeling and crying after Portugal defeated Spain in the UEFA Nations League final, but no other player approached him. #PortugalVsSpain #PORSPA — (@Klip11com) June 8, 2025 'I have many titles with my clubs, but nothing is better than winning for Portugal," Ronaldo said after the final whistle, as quoted by AP. 'These are tears. It's mission accomplished and so much joy." 'I had already felt it during the warmup, I had been feeling it for some time, but for the national team, if I had to break my leg, I would have broken it," Ronaldo said. 'It's for a trophy, I had to play, and I gave it my all. I have lived in many countries, I have played for many clubs, but when it's about Portugal, it is always a special feeling," he said Ronaldo's goal in normal time was his 138th in international football, further extending his lead as the highest goal-scorer, quite ahead of both Argentina's Lionel Messi and India's Sunil Chhetri. First Published:
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Vaccine developed in Nebraska could signal end to annual flu shot
Eric Weaver, director of the Nebraska Center for Virology, consults with Zahidul Islam, who recently joined the Weaver laboratory as a graduate student. Weaver led a study whose newly published findings reveal a breakthrough on flu vaccines for swine, birds and humans. (Courtesy of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln) LINCOLN — A new vaccine strategy developed and tested by a team from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln could signal an end to the annual flu shot routine. The possible breakthrough is laid out in newly published research in Nature Communications. The study, 'Epitope-Optimized Vaccine Elicits Cross-Species Immunity Against Influenza A Virus,' describes a vaccine that protects against H1N1 swine flu and can also protect against influenza in birds and humans. 'This research sets the stage for developing universal influenza vaccines so people won't have to go to the doctor and get a flu shot every year,' said Eric Weaver, director of the Nebraska Center for Virology who led the Nebraska research team. 'This vaccine will protect you against the different strains that are out there.' According to a UNL news release, swine vaccinated with immunogens designed in Weaver's lab showed no signs of illness after being exposed to a commonly circulating flu strain. They developed antibodies against multiple viruses from several decades and several species and maintained their immune response throughout the six-month study. Based on the study results, Weaver said that immunity in pigs could last at least a decade. 'We hope that would translate into humans,' he said. Called the Epigraph vaccine, after computer software used to design it, the vaccine significantly outperformed a commercial vaccine used by the pork industry and a 'wild type' vaccine based on naturally occurring strains with similar immunogens. Both the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture supported the study. The newly published findings confirm previous research that showed the vaccine design protected against the H3 influenza subtype. Weaver said the new results are particularly encouraging because H1 swine flu variants are detected twice as often as H3 variants and have nearly three times more genetic diversity. 'This H1 subtype is the largest and most genetically diverse subtype in pigs,' Weaver said. 'It's also among the viruses that jumped from swine to humans to cause the 2009 swine flu pandemic. It's a big target and one of the harder targets to hit.' The UNL team noted that influenza A infects as much as 15% of the human population and causes thousands of deaths annually. Today's vaccines often lack long-lasting protection because of the genetic diversity and rapid mutation of proteins that help form the virus. Another challenge in controlling influenza, according to UNL, is that it infects multiple species, including birds, swine, horses and dogs, along with humans. 'Swine often act as a mixing vessel because they are susceptible to human and bird flu variants, contributing to the evolution of novel forms of the disease that can be transmitted back to humans,' the statement said. UNL offered as an example the 2009 swine flu pandemic, transmitted from hogs to humans. About 25% of the human population was infected with the new variant, and more than a half million people died from it in the first year, according to some estimates. 'If we can prevent influenza in swine, we can also prevent zoonotic jumps from avians through swine to humans, or from swine directly to humans,' Weaver said. 'We could basically cut off this evolutionary arsenal or advantage that the virus has.' A goal, he said, is to produce a pediatric vaccine that will protect people throughout most of their life — and, ultimately, eradicate influenza. Weaver's vaccine strategy, which has been patented, used the Epigraph software to study genetic codes of more than 6,000 strains of influenza virus from 1930 to 2021 and create a vaccine that represents their most common epitopes. Epitopes were described as regions on a virus that trigger the immune system to produce antibodies to neutralize the virus and to send T-cells to destroy infected cells. Also according to the news release, some epitopes disappear as the virus evolves. The computer-derived Epigraph strategy increases the likelihood that the vaccine contains the epitopes needed to trigger an immune response and prevent illness. 'Our ability to understand how viruses evolve has increased exponentially in the past 20 years,' Weaver said. 'What I see on the horizon is a third wave, where we go from good vaccines to universal, lifelong vaccines.' The UNL team now plans to test a vaccine to protect against both H1 and H3 strains of influenza. Weaver said that he doesn't have a projection yet for when the longer-lasting vaccine for humans might be available, but said his team is in discussions with a biotechnology company for that purpose. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Associated Press
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Minerva University Names Patrice McMahon as New Provost
SAN FRANCISCO, March 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Minerva University President Mike Magee announced today the appointment of Patrice McMahon, Ph.D., as the university's new provost. She will begin her term on July 1, at the conclusion of her residency at The Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Center. Currently an International Affairs Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations based at the Community of Democracies in Warsaw, Poland, McMahon has had a distinguished career in scholarship, teaching and academic leadership at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. A two-time Fulbright award winner, her career has included numerous teaching awards, including 'best class at UNL.' Her scholarly contributions include, most recently, Activism in Hard Times in Central and Eastern Europe: people power, a collaboration between activists and academics from seven countries, The NGO Game: Post-Conflict Peacebuilding in the Balkans and Beyond (2017) and, with co-author David Forsythe, American Exceptionalism Reconsidered: U.S. Foreign Policy, Human Rights and World Order (2017). From 2018-2024 she was the Director of UNL's Honors Program. McMahon is currently working on a book project, Ordinary People: Grassroots Humanitarianism and the Future of Aid, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), that explores Polish humanitarianism toward Ukrainian refugees. 'Patrice McMahon understands why Minerva University's innovations are so important, to the students we serve and to global higher education,' said Magee. 'She is an exceptional leader who shares our commitment to building a global institution where aspiring leaders from every nation come to live and learn together and to collaborate on a safe and sustainable future.' University Trustee Bertil Andersson, chair of the board's academic committee, was also a member of the search committee that led to McMahon's hiring. Andersson, former President of Nanyang Technological University and former chairman of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, said, 'Patrice McMahon's distinguished career as a scholar of International Relations, her leadership of the Honors Program at Nebraska and her commitment to innovative higher education make her an excellent fit for Minerva.' 'As the proud mother of a Minervan (MU 2020), I have followed the university's trajectory from its beginning. After 26 years in higher education, I know that Minerva has rightfully earned the title as the most innovative university in the world and that its 'secret sauce' is the faculty. With impressive degrees and a wealth of experience, Minerva faculty devote 100% of their time to students and student learning! I have never witnessed this before – as a student or a professor. As a scholar of International Relations, I am convinced that Minerva's interdisciplinary, systems-thinking approach where faculty collaborate to co-create classes and project-based learning at campuses around the world is exactly what young people need to be successful in an uncertain, globalized world. I am grateful for the opportunity to help advance Minerva's mission – for our students and the world,' McMahon said. About Minerva University: Minerva University, headquartered in San Francisco, California, is committed to providing a transformative educational experience, allowing the brightest and most motivated students from around the world to become leaders, critical thinkers, and global citizens. Ranked #1 for three consecutive years in the World University Rankings for Innovation, Minerva offers a reinvented interdisciplinary curriculum, a cutting-edge seminar model paired with project-based, experiential learning, and an immersive global experience in several cities around the world.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Would-Be Rural Teachers See Their College Dreams Dashed by Trump Funding Cuts
When a 19-year-old college freshman at the University of Nebraska Lincoln got an email last month asking her to meet in a classroom on campus with her fellow teachers-in-training for an announcement, she had a sinking feeling the news wouldn't be good. She and 15 other students had started at the college that fall in the hopes of studying to become highly effective educators. Many of them planned to return to their rural communities after graduation to help fill a gaping teacher shortage. They were all recipients of full-tuition scholarships through the RAÌCES program, a three-year, federally funded project meant to diversify and increase the number of teachers in Nebraska and Kansas. What they learned that February afternoon has left many of them reeling and questioning what comes next: Abrupt federal cuts from the Trump administration — meant to root out 'DEI' practices — resulted in every one of them losing their scholarships, effective immediately. They'd be able to finish out the spring term, but as of May, the money would be gone. Of the 16 students, 14 are first-time freshmen, just beginning their higher education journeys. Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter 'I knew we were going to get told something terrible, but I couldn't put a stop to it,' said Vianey, who asked to be identified by her first name only because of concerns that speaking out in the media could have negative ramifications. 'To me, this scholarship was my way out. It was my way to be something. To contradict all the odds that were placed on me,' she added as her voice broke and she began to cry. 'I've wanted to be a teacher my whole life. Now, with all of this happening, I don't know if I can recover.' Amanda Morales, associate professor at UNL and principal investigator on the RAÌCES project, said telling her group of undergraduate students about the funding cuts was 'by far, one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.' 'When you see young people's dreams just shattered in an instant because of something you said or this message you had to give, how do you bounce back from that?' she asked. 'What is happening to these projects and these programs is unprecedented, and it is really inhumane. There's no other word for it.' RAÌCES, whose name is derived from a Spanish word meaning 'roots,' was one of many teacher preparation programs that suddenly lost their funding when the Education Department canceled more than $600 million in grants. The programs, meant to increase the number of teachers in high-need and hard-to-staff schools, were accused by the department of discriminating against certain populations and embracing 'divisive ideologies' which aligned with diversity, equity and inclusion and 'social justice activism.' Related Eight attorneys general have since filed a lawsuit, alleging the cancellation of the congressionally approved grants was unlawful. On Monday, a federal judge ordered the administration to temporarily restore them in those eight states, which don't include Kansas or Nebraska. Three teacher prep programs have also filed a similar suit. The scholarship, whose name stands for Re-envisioning Action and Innovation through Community Collaborations for Equity across Systems, had been promised $3.9 million through a Supporting Effective Educator Development grant, which sought to train more highly effective educators. It was housed at UNL and Kansas State University, which were required to match at least 25% of the federal funding. RAÌCES was designed to be a comprehensive program that addressed the intractable teacher shortage in rural areas from recruiting novices to retaining veterans. It began with a high school-based program called Youth Participatory Action Research, providing students with the opportunity to explore careers in the classroom and investigate problems affecting their own education and communities. A number of students who ultimately received the full undergraduate scholarships, including Vianey, were recruited from this program. It also included funding for graduate-level scholarships, mentoring for teachers and ongoing professional development — meant to help educators stay in the profession long term. On Feb. 10, at 8:55 p.m., Socorro Herrera, professor and executive director of Kansas State's Center for Intercultural and Multilingual Advocacy and the project's lead principal investigator, received an email with an attached letter from the Education Department, telling her the grant would be terminated because it 'is inconsistent with, and no longer effectuates, Department priorities.' She was shocked. 'My thought is,' she said, 'it's not 'department priorities,' but it is community priorities. It is state priorities. It is the priority of human beings who want to go back into those public schools in which they grew up to give back [and] to be the most highly qualified teacher they can be for all students — but also for students who are like them.' Morales said the letter and 'blanket termination' of all SEED grants 'left all of us just reeling with no clarity, no support, no one to call. Even our program officers are inaccessible. We were just left in the lurch — left to just flounder and try to pick up the pieces of this shattered project.' Vianey was born in Mexico and came to the U.S. as a toddler with her parents and three siblings. The family spent their first decade or so in Washington state, where Vianey attended school as an English language learner. Even as a kid, Vianey was aware of the shortfalls of her school's program and the negative impact it had on her and her English learner classmates. 'I just want to be that teacher that I wish I had when I was growing up to others,' she said. She noted it was particularly challenging to not have any teachers who looked like her or shared her life experiences. At the time, this made her feel like her dream of becoming an educator might not be attainable, a narrative she hopes to combat. 'It gives you a sense of belonging when you see somebody that looks like you in the classroom,' she added. When Vianey was in high school she moved to Nebraska with her mom, where she attended Lincoln High School and participated in the youth action program, which allowed her to do research on English language programs in her state. Eventually this led her to the RAÌCES scholarship at UNL, where she's studying secondary education for Spanish, in the hopes of eventually returning to her own high school. As of December 2024, Nebraska schools had about 670 unfilled teaching positions, meaning they were staffed by someone other than a fully qualified teacher or were left totally vacant. About half of districts that responded to the state's request for data reported complete vacancies. At roughly the same time, Kansas had almost 2,000 open teaching positions — an 8% increase from the previous spring, according to the teacher licensure director for the Kansas State Department of Education. Nationally there were almost 42,000 teaching vacancies, according to the Learning Policy Institute's most recent analysis, likely a significant undercount because only 30 states and Washington, D.C. publish such data. Research has shown that rural schools face distinct difficulties filling their teaching positions, and that teacher turnover is especially common in high-poverty rural schools. And hiring foreign language and bilingual education teachers is especially hard. 'The money, explicitly and intentionally, was about increasing the number of teachers in rural schools,' said Herrera. Related Vianey had acute ELL teacher shortages in her own district in mind when she decided to apply to RAÌCES. Getting accepted into the full scholarship program 'meant everything' to her and to her parents, whose formal education ended after third grade. '[My mom] felt like she succeeded and she was finally being able to achieve what she came here to do, and that is to give us a better life,' said Vianey. Vianey is among the at least 70 high school students, 26 undergraduates and 40 master's students across the two universities who have been impacted by the cuts, along with the almost 1,000 teachers in partnering districts who were receiving ongoing education and professional development. The ripple effects are far-reaching, potentially impacting thousands of students whose chances of getting a highly qualified, fully certified teacher have now been diminished. When the funding runs out this spring, Tiffaney Locke — a 42-year-old career changer who has spent the past 12 years working in community mental health — will be just two courses shy of her master's degree. She said as a Black student in Kansas City schools, she was able to find success because of educators who believed in her. Her plan was to return to a similar school to be that teacher for kids who look like her. She quit her full-time job to complete what she thought would be a fully funded program and is now scared about what comes next but hopeful that her teaching career is still within reach. While the population of the scholarship recipients is diverse, the only requirement for application was that students come from one of the six partner districts in Nebraska and Kansas, all identified as difficult to staff and, in most cases, rural. One of the districts they partnered with had almost 120 vacancies. Of the 16 undergraduates at UNL who were supposed to receive full scholarships — including housing, meal plans and a laptop — one quarter identified as white and half identified as Hispanic or Latino, according to Morales. Three-quarters were first-generation college students and over half came from rural communities. They were all high-achieving high school students and 15 of the 16 had GPAs just over 3.5 in their first semester, well above the program's 2.0 requirement. 'The fact that the government doesn't think you're worthy to be here is tragic,' Morales said. Related Morales and Herrera are now scrambling to find external funding, making any attempt they can to keep the program alive, but 'this may be the end of the road for many of [the students] because just loans and Pell grants wouldn't be enough to see them through,' Herrera said. These across-the-board cuts have also had a chilling effect, she said, making those at the university level scared to speak out for fear of retribution from the federal government. Their fear is not baseless, the Trump administration recently pulled $400 million in funding from Columbia University and halted payment on some $56 million in grants to the University of Maine system. 'Everybody's in this silent mode, like 'Don't call attention to yourself, go under the radar, keep doing the work,'' she added. But the leaders of RAÌCES aren't done. 'We're not rolling over here,' said Morales. 'We're not tucking our tail and just saying, 'OK, I guess this is just the way it is.' We're fighting on every front we possibly can and [are] continuing to fight up until the very last moment. I'm not giving up.' And Vianey isn't quitting either. She wants to send a clear message to the people who took away her scholarship: 'It's not going to stop us from achieving our dreams. We will find a way out … my purpose is to become a teacher — and I'm not going to stop until I'm able to.'
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Students and others ask Nebraska lawmakers to save state-funded internship program
UNL student Peyton Schoone speaks at an event for the 2025 cohort of the Intern Foundry program that was boosted financially from internship funding steered by Aksarben, a contracted, state-funded program that supporters would like to see continued. (Courtesy of Intern Foundry) LINCOLN — College student Livia Ziskey figured she would be on the same path as many friends who graduate from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, packing up to start a career outside of her native state. But she told a legislative panel Monday that a recent internship opportunity had changed her perspective, and now she's thinking she'll be part of the state's brain gain, not brain drain. 'What begins as just an internship evolves into meaningful connections, mentorships and a sense of belonging that holds us here after graduation,' the Omahan studying journalism, advertising and psychology told the Legislature's Business and Labor Committee. Ziskey and classmate Peyton Schoone, who also is with UNL's Intern Foundry Program, were among those who testified Monday in opposition to Legislative Bill 423 — which would eliminate the state-funded internNE program. The two students' internships at the Foundry were funded by the $20 million the state invested in internNE two years ago. 'The question isn't whether you can afford this program,' Ziskey told the committee. 'The question is whether you can afford to lose more young talent.' As it turns out, State Sen. Christy Armendariz of Omaha, who introduced LB 423 on behalf of Gov. Jim Pillen, told the committee Monday that the bill is no longer needed, because the Legislature's Appropriations Committee has recommended a budget that would accomplish the same goal: ending the internship program and shifting any remaining dollars toward addressing the state's budget shortfall. When Pillen announced the $20 million internNE project two years ago, he described it as a workforce strategy to keep next-generation Nebraskans in high-paying jobs on their own turf. He said the program to match students with in-the-field job experiences was to be administered by the Nebraska Department of Economic Development and managed by the non-profit Aksarben Foundation. However, Armendariz told the committee, the program has been 'cumbersome' to administer and 'didn't reach its full potential' — as evidenced, she said, by the amount of funds still left in the contract period with Aksarben that expires in March. About $11 million remains in the fund, officials said. To date, DED has awarded about $8.6 million in grants to businesses, funding nearly 1,500 paid internships across the state. Nebraska Chamber's priorities include saving internship program Gov. Jim Pillen would end Some obligations are still outstanding and have yet to be paid. The Pillen and Appropriations Committee plans would direct what remains in the internship fund toward the state budget shortfall. 'There are so many other ways that the Legislature can help internship opportunities in the state, and I look forward to partnering with all of you on those projects,' Armendariz, a member of the Appropriations Committee, said Monday. DED's K.C. Belitz previously told the Nebraska Examiner that the Pillen administration still views student internships as a 'good tool,' but said any future state-funded program similar to internNE would be folded into the Nebraska Department of Labor. Currently there is no specific replacement or alternative for internNE in the works, he said. Armendariz's request to indefinitely postpone action on LB 423 did not stop people from airing opinions. No one spoke in favor of the bill during the public hearing. Bryan Seck, executive director of Lincoln Literacy, was among the half-dozen people who testified against eliminating the fund. He believes such programs help retain talent and grow the state. He said clients at his agency have benefited from internNE. Asked by a committee member if participation was cumbersome, Seck said that for his nonprofit: 'It's really not burdensome.' Bryan Slone, CEO and president of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said he represented his statewide chamber and numerous local chambers across the state. He said a state-funded program the size and scope of internNE was needed to 'move the needle' on Nebraska's competitive ability to reverse brain drain, and he would like it to remain alive. On any given day, Slone said, the state is short at least 50,000 workers. 'This is a priority. This should be the least thing we cut from the budget this year,' he said. State Sen. Jane Raybould of Lincoln cited the Blueprint Nebraska report and its proclamation that once internships are launched and the student is planted, they start to grow roots and stay in Nebraska. 'What's going to happen with that money being gone?' Slone said data shows that Nebraska's chances of retaining students improve when they have local experiential learning opportunities, including internships. Schoone, a UNL student aiming to be a lawyer, said 25% of participants in her Intern Foundry program, which received a financial boost from internNE, have continued with the business or organization with which they were paired. She said, for example, one later started working with the Nebraska Investment Finance Authority, and another got a job with the Nebraska Department of Labor. 'To address brain drain is vital,' said the Minden native. Ziskey said her participation as an intern instilled a love for working with nonprofit community agencies, and she said she likely would broaden her job search beyond traditional journalism and remain in Nebraska after graduation next year. Raybould encouraged her and other proponents to take their case to the Appropriations Committee, which on Wednesday afternoon is to hear the proposed biennial budget for DED, which has administered the internNE program. 'They hold the purse strings,' Raybould said. Of those who submitted written comments, four were in favor of the bill to eliminate the fund and 12 were opposed. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
