LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor this week will help performer Lady Gaga launch a group to promote tolerance and empowerment among youth.
Susan Swearer is a psychology professor and anti-bullying expert at UNL. She will be among the scholars speaking Wednesday at Harvard University as part of Lady Gaga’s Born this Way Foundation.
Swearer says she is honored to be part of the new group and looks forward to bringing her Bullying Research Network to another national stage.
Swearer says Lady Gaga is doing more than giving lip-service to a cause. She says the pop singer is thoughtfully and intellectually trying to solve the problem of bullying.
More details on the foundation are at www.BornThisWayFoundation.org. For more information on the Bullying Research Network, visit https://go.unl.edu/vgf.

FAIRBURY, Neb. (AP) – A Jefferson County jury has found a Fairbury woman guilty of beating her husband to death.
55-year-old Susan DeJong was found guilty Monday of first-degree murder and use of a weapon to commit a felony in the death of 52-year-old Thomas DeJong at their home west of Fairbury in March 2011.
The prosecutor had told jurors last week that Susan DeJong became obsessed with suspicions that her husband was having an affair. Defense attorney James Mowbray had argued the evidence didn’t mean proof of the charges against her.
Both attorneys declined to comment after the verdict was read Monday afternoon. The judge in the case set sentencing for May 3.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) – Authorities say a 10-year-old girl died when a van driven her 14-year-old sister went off the highway and crashed into a ravine in Howard County in central Nebraska.
The sheriff’s office says Shelby Koperski, of Elba, died in the accident Monday morning near Elba. Officials say she was in the back of the van and was ejected. The van ended up on top of her.
The sheriff’s office says the driver, Amy Koperski, lost control of the van. Authorities say Amy Koperski and the girls’ mother, 49-year-old Anne Koperski, who was a passenger in the front seat, were injured.