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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 10, 1939)
i Friday, November 10, 1939 The DAILY NEBRASKAN 5 Articled Verse Contributions from the student body. f Behind the scenes! These 'profs' relish hard examinations By Marion "I Bure cave them a test," chuckled one of the professors, "They'll never be able to pass it. Some of those questions would make me think." This remark was heard in the hall of one of the buildings on the campus last Wednesday. The professor's col- league answered back with "The Vclass average for my six weeks' examination was 44. i certainly 44. gave it to them." True school spirit! These two well-known professors were crow ing over almost impassable tests. Instead of having the helping at titude usually expected in profes sors, these instructors were prov ing their own incapabilities as teachers. Bell-shaped curves. According to surveys and tests made by the department of edu cational psychology and measure ments, grades should be distrib uted in the form of a bell-shaped curve, with the greatest number, or the average, in the hump of the bell. Approximately one-tenth of the grades should be above this aver age and one-tenth below. Roughly, 80 pet-cent of the grades will be in the! average zone, fThis distribu tion is not infallible but it is 1 a good basis for grading and a test of tho efficiency of the teachiBg or th test. If an instructor is "putting over" his subject, his grades will show approximately 90 percent above pissing. If there are fewer students 'passing, and ftius not comprehending the course, there is something the matter with the instruction or with the test. Always students' fault. Few professors look at failures from the angle that something is the matter with them. It is al ways the students' fault. Approxi mately 50 percent of the time it probably is the fault of the stu dents, for students are . . . stu dents. It is the other 50 percent of cases for which the professor should examine and criticize him self. Is there something the mat ter with my presentation? Could I give this material from another point of view? In what are my students falling down? Maybe I should stress these points. These are only a few of the questions which professors should include in Press freedom By Anne When the Levine child was kid- napped in 1938 from his home in Rochelle, N. Y the police wanted no publicity concerning the case, ins lamer mignt men deal with the kidnappers, pay the ransom, and have his boy returned safely. , Two nights after the kidnap ing the telephone rang. Several questions were asked of Mr. Levine, letting him suppose he was in touch with the kidnappers. -.c afterwards learned that he had been tricked by a reporter who was after a slory. His boy was found dead some days later. The freedom of the press is a constitutional right which we Americans cherish. But an abuse such as this will soon lead to a restriction of the right by the American people. The solution lies within the newspaper profession itself. If newspaper editors would band together in a strong union, outlawing practices in journalism which defeat the ends of justice, they could then be assured of free dom of the press. The reform belongs within the group of civic-minded editors who recognize the abuses of press lib erty made by a small minority group of headline hunters who are searching for mass circulation. They disregard all the conse quences of printing certain stories often causing loss of human life to result. Such flagrant abuse of the rights of the individual are bound to resu't in too much re , triction, thus causing the news papers, who respect such rlchts to lose their freedom. . Therefore, the reform must nome from the American newspa- Wilke their six weeks' examination to themselves. A cooperative spirit between professor and student will prob- ably aid more in imparting knowl- edge than any other one thing, Professors out to "beat" their stu- dents are doing more harm than good and are a menace to a har- monious college atmosphere. Be consistent Congestion is dangerous at 14th and S intersection After dismissal from 11 o'clock teachers college and either goes pletely stops all pedestrians except classes, hurried departures from south or east, that going south w ""eth c ' .... lt , being taken care of by thctraffic and reach the other side of tne campus buildmgs result in con- u ftt Hth and R nd that g0 street. When the light changes, the gestion in halls and doorways. jng east being taken care of by lines of cars stars moving and Students scatter in all directions, chance at the intersection of 14th students continue to wait until an some going south to the business S. opening is presented. district and others east to the or- The S"1" Posltin of the Must be bravei district ana otners east to tne or- rofU,g ftt thig mtergection is one of ganized blouses. As they gather the causes of the traffic problem, Students finally reach the other at the intersections of 12th and for automobiles come around the side by a united stand in the di rt and 14th and R streets, traffic wide curve directly into the south- rect path of the approaching au lights direct their crossing, mak- bound traffic, making it necessary tomobiles. The drivers usually ing it possible for both automobile for the students to watch two slow, down, giving a crowd of stu drivers and pedestrians to get to ianes 0f traffic from the same di- dents time to sneak across the their destinations. rrHnn Another cause of the street. However, the steady cross- At the corner of 14th and S problem is the traffic light on R ing of young men and women stu streets east of teachers college street which holds back all traffic dents is broken by drivers in a students daily wage a battle with the automobiles for the right to cross the street. One day last week, a young man stepped from a crowd of pushing students di rectly into the path of an auto mobile which swung around the corner. A companion pulled him out of the direct path as other students beside him narrowly missed having their noses skinned and their toes mashed. It was im possible for thpm to move back ward because of the large crowd which was constantly pushing for ward. Another traffic accident had narrowly been averted. Principal outlets. This corner is one of the two principal outlets for university traffic. Part of the main traffic travels down 12th street and is dispersed by the traffic light. A motorcycle policeman is usually stationed there, also, The other traffic follows S street past vs ethics Kinney permen. They can gain the right to discipline abuses In journalism, and be assured of freedom of the press in America. Federal union-- (Continued on Page 3.) attack it, once its defense forces were united. 5. Individual voters would elect the Union Congress and Kxecutive. They would not lie mere delegates of national gov ernments as in a league. Every citizen Mould pniti a new, di rect control over world affairs. World questions would lc dis cussed ly candidates for world office, not by diplomats. World issues would be decided ly the people's own representatives. Representation in the lower house of , the Union Congress would be on the basis of one to every million population. 6. All colonies or dependen cies which do not govern them selves at present would become territories of the Union. 7. No new powers would be given to the Union government. There are five powers which could be transferred to a Un ion government: Union citizen ship, defense force, money, free EDITOR'S NOTE Published on this page from time to time are student ar ticles which are distinctive in idea, which have a direct bear ing upon some campus topic, or which are of literary merit. Many of the contributions are of an editorial nature. They are the ideas of those whose names appear upon them and do not reflect the policy of this paper. In many cases the stand of the author may be open to de bate. This paper welcomes com ment or discussion upon any of these articles, and will publish contradictory opinions among the letters to the editor. with traffic signals f0r several blocks north and com- Job schooling great advance By Jon Pruden The education plus work pro gram sponsored by the ag college and the NYA offers employment to 15 Nebraska' young men, who will work at their jobs while they are learning bout it. In a small way this program parallels th; set-up in various other schools over the country. For instance, several of the great corporations take intelligent students, let them work for six months, send them to school for six months r.nd so on. Henry Ford has been a leader in this type of education. It has been shown by tests given in these schools that the best way to learn is to work at a job while mastering the theory of its opera tion. In the proposed ag college program, those 15 boys will gain both a knowledge of how a farm is run by working on one, and an understanding of the basic prin ciples which undcrly farm man agement by attending classes con ducted by experts. Removes objections. This combination of the prac tical and the theoetical is un doubtedly the best form of educa tion. And In sponsoring the move ment the ag college may be open ing the way for more effective teaching all through the univer sity. In the special case of a man who goes to school half of the year and works at the job he was study ing about, many of the objections to present day formal education are removed. The man knows what he is going to do, and he aims di rectly at that goal with no less energy. There is no fear of not being able to get a job when school is out, because the corp nation will gladly retain the one who ts diligent both in work and study. The agricultural college is to be commended for helping those boya and for setting up a program of real education. trade area and postal and com munications systems. 8. Good times would come back. Taxes would be reduced. Arm am cuts could be cut tre would still be stronger than any would stil be stronger than any possible combination of ene mies, floods would move as freely and profitably among New type schools would be four year perpetual picnics By Bill Schock "A new type of school which Using campus acquaintances as employs no text books, no reclta- examples of typical university stu tlon, no lesson assignments, roll dents, and knowing their attitude call, grades not even examina- concerning the university as I do, tions was described by Dr. B. it seems to me that the school Clifford Hendricks of the depart- prescribed by Dr. Hendricks would ment of chemistry at a recent be a four-year picnic, meeting of the college of arts and Of course there are those who sciences faculty." This paragraph would use such a school to the ut appeared in Wednesday's DAILY, most advantage, just as there now are students who never miss a. By Jean Saunders hurry, wno drive into tne crowu and force them to stop This situation of battling and fighting a way across the street east of teachers college is one which must be changed immedi ately before another auto fatality places its black mark upon the university. The need for a traffic light at another intersection was discovered by such a sacrifice two years ago. It should not be neces sary again. Colleges are middle-browed By Stephen Jelinck Several years ago, Irwin Ed- Edman suggested, that the 'mid man, professor of philosophy at dlc-brow' culture pattern is still Columbia university, published a book entitled "undergraduates Never Change." In this book, he summed up the basis for his rea soning in one paragraph, which is as follows: Undergraduates remain the same essentially for the simple reason that they are still the same are group and that Amer ican colleges, whatever changes are imminent in our society, still reflect the middle-class and middle-brow culture pattern which they have had for the last few generations. A hundred years ago the col leges were still largely designed to train teachers and ministers. But with the expanding indus trial wealth of the country, col leges began to be places where the sons of everyone who could afford to went, if not for pro fessional training, then for something vaguely railed a lib eral education. Make him work It is undoubtedly true, as Mr. Orfield will represent section at legal meeting Professor Orfield of the law col lege was invited to represent the American Bar Association's sec tion of international law at a meeting held in Des Moines No. 4. Each section of the association was represented. The purpose of the meeting was to enable state bar officials to learn how to perform more effec tively their duties. the member nations of the Union as they now do across the. borders of our states. class and never fail to do an as signment. But these students make up a decided minority. The ma jority of college students are of the type which rejoices with every dismissed class, with every no-assignment class, and which cannot wait to register for known "pipe" courses. Wouldn't fit In. How could such students into Dr. Hendricks' system? Most f them are going to school on E i money, and do not realize v xt they are. attending the university to prepare themselves for the fu ture. Temptation is too great. Many classes are too boring. If they were given a free rein, good ness knows where they would end up. This plan might work effec tively for adult students; students who have had a fling at the cruel world and know that to get along one must learn various fundamen tals; that one must know what one is going to do and that one must do his best to learn all about his vocation before entering that par ticular vocation. Wisdom increases with age. The typical college student, however, does not realize the necessity for making the most of his college career. He is at the university to do the least possible work and still to get a degree. For him, Dr. Hendricks' proposed educational system would be a three-ring circus with all the side shows thrown in. and universities. Many, and per- hnps thc maj0rity of professors and instructors have led them- selves to believe that their pri mary duty to the student lies in making him work for a grade. This, generally speaking, is an in accurate representation of the student's ability. Instructors ap parently have forgotten, inten tionally or otherwise, that the pri mary objective of every worth while college student is to secure an education and not, as can be surmised, to strengthen his arm muscles and weaken his eyes by writing so many papers and read ing so many pages of text each day. This educational technique, if that is what it may be called, is one of the reasons why under graduates fail to appreciate the opportunity which has been be stowed upon them; that is, the opportunity to receive- a higher education. It is also one of the reasons that students acquire that "punished" complex, becoming silent and morose, instead of in quiring and independent. They are human College professors must, of necessity, learn to regard students as human beings with inquiring minds. The classroom must be more than a general's camp where soldiers march in each day, get their orders, and march out again. If it remains as such, deserters will become more and more numerous. If the professor's sole interest is in the student's wel fare, he must be courageous enough to lower himself to the student's intellectual level, even if pride dictates against it. The students will appreciate it. They would, generally speaking, just as soon call a professor a "good scout" as well as an "intellectual jughead."