Saturday, September 20, 2008

Natalie Nelsen Schneider

She's a 2005 Doane grad in the paralympics. The Lincoln Journal Star has a big article this week, and there's one on the Doane website , too:
Schneider was a standout athlete at Crete High who, as a sophomore, was an All Conference, All State Honorable Mention varsity athlete on a basketball team that qualified for the state tournament. At age 16, she was diagnosed with malignant osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. Doctors placed a titanium rod inside her femur to replace the bone that was removed with the cancer. Her knee joint also is titanium.
Because a break or a fall could result in amputation of the leg, doctors told her she had to find alternative ways to compete. Her senior year at Doane, she joined a sitting volleyball team and was selected for the women's USA sitting volleyball team in Denver. She had to leave the team because of the danger the sport posed to her leg.
A short time later, she joined the Madonna Magic wheelchair basketball team and then attended a wheelchair basketball camp at the University of Arizona, where she was invited to join the university's women's wheelchair basketball team as a "fly-in."
The team continues to do well:
U.S. stays unbeaten in pool play :: Sports :: Post-Tribune: "Great Britain simply didn't have the height or strength to match up with Americans Loraine Gonzales and Natalie Schneider, both playing in their first Paralympic Games. Team USA pounded the ball into the paint, helping Gonzales and Schneider combine for 23 points. Gonzales went for 14 and Schneider chipped in with nine."

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Forbes Doane Ranking Causes Controversy

This Lincoln Journal story, Doane does well in new Forbes.com ranking has generated some very controversial comments recently.

I'm not sure how many alumni agree that Doane graduates require extra scrutiny of U of NE grads. Somebody named Adding to the mix commented:
I have hired grads for over 20 years. When it comes to the local universities, I must admit I have a tendency to scrutinize Doane students, whether in Crete or Lincoln, a little closer based on my own experiences of their academic abilities and how they can transfer to the workplace. They historically have been "meets expectations" type employees when it comes to abilities. This doesn't mean their not "nice" people, and so forth. I do expect more obviously, which I generally get from the NWU, UNL, UNO, Union, etc. students. I'm also aware that some of the schools mentioned have higher admission standards and expected scores than does Doane.
This and quite a bit of commentary on the Lincoln grad program surely deserve some rebuttal.

Doane Professor Ratings

They're all here. Interesting reading.

Deficient Doane Wikipedia Entry

The Doane Wikipedia entry is pretty sparse and unenthusiastic by my taste.

Seems like some alumni with some marketing background should fix it up a bit.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Announcing a Doane College Alumni Social Network

Try: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=86021

Announcing a New Doane Alumni Social Website

This week Thomas Doane himself has established a new Doane Alumni website at the following url:

http://www.doanealumni.com/

Feel free to check it out.