Kosovo\u27s Hope: Stories of Renewal and Despair in an Independent Nation

During spring break of 2008, five photojournalists, one reporter, one videographer and two faculty members spent eight days in the newly independent state of Kosovo. The purpose of the trip was to document issues of poverty. What greeted them was a town with litter everywhere; roads pocked with potholes; power outages because the power plant is archaic; and residents who are dying from the pollution because they live near the power plant. But what the journalists discovered was Kosovo\u27s people have big smiles, warm hearts and plates of great, great food. … And they love Americans

One Big Family, One Big House: An In-Depth Look at Lincoln\u27s Clinton Elementary School

Lincoln’s Clinton neighborhood is a nondescript one in many ways, not unlike hundreds of other neighborhoods around the nation. Mature trees line streets with decades-old houses in varying states of repair. And the neighborhood elementary school, a stately, 1920s-era brick building, is right out of Central Casting. But within this very ordinariness is a story about a neighborhood where many families struggle with poverty, as they have for decades in this corner of Lincoln, and where the schoolhouse doors open to a refuge for some 400 children who collectively speak a dozen languages and rely on the teachers and staff for reading, writing and math―and sometimes coats, shoes and food. Clinton Elementary School, as one child says in a poster on the first-floor hallway wall, is like one big family in one big house. Six student reporters and two student photographers from a University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Journalism and Mass Communications depth-reporting class explored Clinton’s world in a six-month project that took them to graffiti-sprinkled alleys a stone’s throw from Clinton School and into the controlled chaos of elementary classrooms where teachers routinely fall in love with the diverse parade of students―who love them in return. This publication is a product of their work and that of the eight editing and design students, under the guidance of UNL faculty member Nancy Anderson, who created the magazine during a summer school magazine editing class. But most important, it is the product of the patience and enthusiasm of the Clinton Elementary School staff, led by Principal Mona Manley, who welcomed us to the school, answered endless questions and showed by her example how dynamic leaders can make a difference. Student reporters spent the day at Clinton on March 1 and returned numerous times through the end of the school year. We agreed at the outset to identify by first name only most of the children in these stories. In addition to getting to know the school, the UNL student reporters also explored the Clinton neighborhood with Lincoln Action Program neighborhood organizer Shawn Ryba, who took students on a neighborhood walking tour, and Clinton Neighborhood Association President Maurice Baker, who welcomed class members to an association meeting. Readers will meet a wide variety of teachers, students, school administrators, parents, law enforcement officials and other community members, all of whom willingly shared their perspectives about the Clinton neighborhood and school. They opened our eyes to see beyond the ordinariness of a neighborhood and instead glimpse a world where families face financial strains and language barriers and many children don’t have enough to eat. But they also showed us a world where a unique group of grown-ups tries to fix what’s fixable and turn every day into a smile. It matters for the Clinton children. And for us all. (Note: a non-optimized version of the PDF -- 115MB -- is available below as an Additional file.

Renovating the Republic: Unified Germany confronts its history – both deep and recent – as it defines itself for the 21st century

Germany and America go way back. German soldiers fought in the American Revolutionary War, and German settlers already had begun finding their way to America before the colonies became a nation. By the 1850s, many Germans had settled in the Midwest, and they followed the frontier west to the Great Plains. Germans were the largest group of immigrants arriving in Nebraska between 1854 and 1894, and by 1900, almost 20 percent of the state was first- and second-generation Germans. For the past year, a group of University of Nebraska-Lincoln journalism students has closely examined this foreign country that, perhaps more than any other, helped shape the Cornhusker State. In January, 13 students spent 10 days in Berlin, interviewing Germans in government offices and nightclubs, at universities and mosques. To a large extent, what they found was a tale of two 9/11’s. Without question, Germany’s long and complicated relationship with the United States – as a source of substantial immigration, as an enemy in two world wars and as a key ally in a protracted East-West Cold War – was changed by the events of Sept. 11, 2001. Germany, less inclined to rely on military power to solve international crises, supported U.S. moves in Afghanistan but not in Iraq, straining relations with the U.S. Since then, Germany’s own security has been tested by global terrorism. But there was an earlier, even more profound 9/11 for Germany. On Nov. 9, 1989 – which, when written European-style, with the day before the month, becomes 9.11.1989 – Germans began tearing down the Berlin Wall. When the dust settled, the Soviet Union was gone, and Germany – split into East and West for 40 years – was reunited. These two dates – British writer Timothy Garton Ash argues that one marks the end of the 20th century and the other the beginning of the 21st – color nearly everything happening today in Germany. Our students’ work was aided immensely by Germany’s Goethe-Institut, especially our Berlin tour guides Gerrit Book and Anna Held, and by the German Foreign Office, which assisted with travel expenses. We would also like to thank Viola Drath for her help and inspiration, and Wolfgang Drautz, consul general, and Winfried Völkering, vice consul, in the German Consulate General in Chicago. Contents Opening Essay: The Road to Rebirth Culture: Endless Possibilities Economy: Struggle for Success Health Care: Splintered Coverage Social Market: Cornerstone of a Democracy Currency: All About Change Military: Beyond Their Borders Checkpoint Charlie: From Tanks to Tourism Terrorism: A New Sense of Urgency Religion: Living Side by Side Government and Religion: Assessing Religion Memorials: Monumental Debate Immigration: No Place to Call Home Citizenship: Seeking Acceptance Education: Failing Grade Kennedy School: Bridging the Divide Universities: Change in Focus Women: Redefining Their Roles European Union: Coming Together A non-optimized version of the PDF file (170 MB) is attached below as an “Additional file.