NEOPA welcomes all office professionals for a jam-packed day including powerful solutions, software executions and listening enjoyment. Minimual registration fee includes continental breakfast and lunch.

Open attachments for further details.

http://unopa.unl.edu/publications/2011-12/NEOPAfall-workshop/staying_connectedAGENDA.pdf

http://unopa.unl.edu/publications/2011-12/NEOPAfall-workshop/TopTenReasonsNEOPA.pdf

Counseling and Psychological Services at the University Health Center provides a number of support groups throughout the semester on campus. Sister Circle is a support group for women of color and is led by Charlesette Foster.

Lina Traslavina Stover, UNL sociology graduate student, will present "Parental Involvement in High School Education: Variations by Student's Race and Gender"

The Convocations Committee is now accepting applications for funding guest speakers during the spring semester. Money is limited and the process is competitive. Grants typically range from $150-$750. The application and guidelines can be found on the Faculty Senate website http://www.unl.edu/asenate/welcome.htm. Applications must be submitted electronically by Nov. 1 to Karen Griffin, Coordinator Faculty Senate (send to kgriffin2@unl.edu).

The Department of Art and Art History and Visual Artists in Practice will present Open Studios on Friday, Oct. 21 from 5-8 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Art studios in Richards Hall and Woods Art Building on the UNL city campus will be open to celebrate the work being created at Nebraska's only Master of Fine Arts in art program. MFA students in the painting and drawing, sculpture, printmaking and ceramics areas will all be showing their work. Additionally, selected undergraduate work will also be on display in Richards Hall with the artists present.

Nineteen graduate students, from Toronto, Ontario, to New Orleans, La., will welcome visitors into their studios to share their work and their creative and artistic processes. The work includes a wide range of contemporary art.

"A highlight of Open Studios is the chance to take home a piece of graduate artwork in the raffle drawing," said VAP President Emma Nishimura.

Raffle tickets will be sold that night for only $1 (or six for $5), and all proceeds will go to the student-run VAP.

VAP is a graduate student organization for MFA candidates in the Department of Art and Art History to foster exchange and community amongst graduate students, the university and Lincoln community at large through student-led initatives, as well as programs and events organized by graduate student leaders.

This year's UNL graduates and undergraduates have received national and international recognition in their brief careers, so far.

"Open Studios is an opportunity to meet these talented artists in a fun and informal way," Nishimura said. "Everyone, no matter what age or artistic background, is welcome."

For more information, call Art and Art History at (402) 472-5522.

Wright will discuss the history of the search for planets orbiting other stars, the story of their eventual discovery, and the recent breakthroughs that have allowed us to image and study the atmospheres of these planets around nearby stars.

He also will also discuss the efforts by astronomers and NASA to detect an Earth-like planet that could host liquid water on its surface.