Book Review of Laud Humphreys: Prophet of Homosexuality and Sociology by John F. Galliher, Wayne H. Brekhus, and David P. Keys

As an undergraduate sociology major, the only thing I learned about Oklahoman Laud Humphreys's classic, Tearoom Trade (1970) was how it violated standards of informed consent in social science research. As Galliher, Brekhus, and Keys recount in their biography, Laud Humphreys: Prophet of Homosexuality and Sociology, sociology graduate student Laud Humphreys needed to supplement his (quite likely, participant) observational research of men who had sex in public bathrooms (i.e., tearooms) in St. Louis in the mid-1960s with a formal questionnaire. Knowing that these men would never agree if they knew they were selected because of their participation in highly stigmatized and criminal behavior, Humphreys recorded their license plates, got their home addresses, and interviewed them as part of a "community health survey." Herein lies the deception and the major source of the controversy. What I didn't fully appreciate when I was a student, however, and what the authors so deftly illuminate is the importance of this work not only for debates around ethical issues of social science research, but more importantly, perhaps, for the study of sexuality, deviance, and urban life.

Lincoln Downtown Rotary Club

Good afternoon, and thank you for inviting me to be here with you today. One of the things I'm enjoying most in my new position as University of Nebraska Vice President of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Harlan Vice Chancellor of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources is meeting the people who live in this state, in urban and rural areas, from Scottsbluff to Omaha, from Lincoln to Curtis, and at any number of towns - north, south, east, west - in between.

Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture Budget Hearing

Good afternoon Senator Wehrbein and members of the Appropriations Committee. I am John Owens, and I am University of Nebraska Vice President for Agriculture and Natural Resources, and Harlan Vice Chancellor of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska- Lincoln. I am here to speak with you about the impact of further budget cuts to the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture - NCTA - at Curtis, Nebraska.