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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 18, 1957)
1 ; n Page 2 The Daily Nebroskon Monday, March 18, 1957 Daily Nebraskan Editorials: Exam Period r . H - ' ( ) ' ' - t 1 . The ' examination period is before the trial bench again. This time the Student Council has called for the council examination and calendar com mittees to investigate the recent proposal of a Faculty Senate committee which called for an eight-day final exam period. The Daily Nebraskan thought this issue had been settled after much squabbling. In May of 1955 the Senate voted to limit final exams to one week. But a student poll taken the following October indicated that students favored a two week exam schedule four and a half to one. Then on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 1955, the Senate voted 125-87 to send the tentative short period back to committee. The matter was supposedly settled. The students had let their instructors, through the poll, know just how they stood on the pro posed change. And a sigh of relief was given by the great majority of students who favored the old way of taking examinations. Students felt then as they do now that the shortened exam period would deprive them of needed review time. The new proposal by the Faculty Senate would have exams run from a Monday through the following Tuesday thus giving the , students and the teachers a brief holiday (or grading time) between semesters. The plan is more equitable than the one week exam period pre viously proposed by the Senate. And yet we must remember that the students preferred the two week exam period in spite of the fact that their free' time was limited fol lowing the final test. We believe that the Faculty Senate will re examine the proposal in light of the student sentiment. Perhaps a new poll would be a good way of discovering whether the students would be in favor of the new plan. Yet before any action is taken students who have to do the studying and the worrying should have an opportunity to voice their views before the Senate calendar committee. The Daily Nebraskan stands behind the Stu dent Council investigating committees and trusts that a quick and final settlement can be made of this troublesome issue. valuations In Practice The best arguments for or against a program are the successes or failures it has met when put Into actual practice. The Daily Nebraskan be lieves this statement sums up our belief on the system of teacher-evaluations which we have bantered about for the last few weeks.' Therefore, in an effort to give the student body and the faculty an opporunity to see how the program has worked we have presented some conclusions arrived at from a study in the Physical Education Department. The latest in our discoveries is a study made by the Department of Speech and dramatic Art which was developed over a period of about seven years in the teacher evaluation field. Dr. LeRoy Laase, chairman of the depart ment, said that the program had some definite limitations (such as its findings being "rela tive" rather than "absolute" values; the data gathered was not studied statistically to de termine reliability, significance of differences and correlations; and it is not clear how much of the improvement reported in the study is due to increased experience in teaching or might , have accrued from a concerted effort to im prove instruction even without using the scale.) But he added that the rating scale used in the study to measure student opinion on teach ing effectiveness in speech can be useful in the improvement of instruction. The scope of the study in the Department of Speech covered eight staff members for the entire period of the evaluations. Some of the basic" assumptions underlying the study were: 1) It is possible to use student opinion as a measure of teaching effectiveness; 2) It is possible to construct a scale for measuring teaching effectiveness in speech; 3) The mean of scores which class members assign to a teacher is a reasonable reliable index of teach ing proficiency; 4) The differences in ratings in successive years reflect differences in teach ing, rather than changes in the liberal-Conservative tendency of the students who rate the teachers. 1) There was improvement in the average score of the eight staff members in the study in 1950 over 1949 in every one of the 20 items From The Editor's Desk: in the scale. 2) The greatest gains in 1950 for those staff members occurred in the five items rated low est in 1949. Dr, Laase said that following the evaluations the department tabulated the data concerning the eight faculty members who were partici pants in the study and arrived at the following findings: in 1949 made the greatest gains in 1950; the lowest improved in every item in 1950 and again in most items in 1951. These, of course, are just some of the con clusions reached through the study. The Daily Nebraskan believes that on the basis of the study made by the Department of Speech and Dramatic Art some careful con sideration of this method of improving teach ing conditions should be made. The study made by the speech department discussed another study made by Frances J. Mueller which was published in the American Association of University Professors Bulletin which noted that the satisfied users of the stu dent rating of teachers outnumbered the dis satisfied users four to one. Perhaps it is too early in the investigation of the advantages of the rating system to draw anv conclusions. However, we believe that few items must be taken into consideration when discussing the value of the evaluations 1) They must be objective; 2) They must be voluntary; 3) The improvement subsequent to the evaluations must not be credited to tne evaluations alone. Drives Educational psychologists have an idea: Talent can be developed, as well as "discovered." Talent may be guided, nudged or even pushed into existence within certain biological limits. Few people even approach the limits of their potential because their natural curiosity gets "fenced off" somehow, a group of behavioral scientists at the University of Texas says. A word or two before you go . . . Apparently it will be some time before the Faculty Senate considers the Student Coun cil's resolution requesting that student members of faculty subcommittees be allowed to vote. The resolution is with the Committee on Committees, which has asked the Council to draw up a "more repre sentative" method of plac ing students on the commit tees, hinting that a new meth od might influence the deci sion favorably. Meanwhile, students on committees must sit to the side, able to offer opinion but unable to express this opinion through a vote. A substantial number of faculty members who have worked with students on com mittees have gone on record saying that student members do fine work, and that their presence is appreciated. Still, the Committee on Com mittees is sitting on the mat ter until procedural technical ities can be worked out. The Daily Nebraskan is hopeful action will be taken on the matter before the issue grows cold. It should be set tled one way or another be fore Pub Board elections, at least. This Faculty subcommittee performs one of the most im portant committee on the campus selecting Cornhusker and Daily Nebraskan staffs. The student vote has always been welcome there. These are student publications, fi nanced in a large part by funds from students' enroll ment fees. Both a number of faculty members and students are in favor of a student vote. All that remains is for the Senate to approve it. We would like to see something done before too much time is lost. The NUCWA Mock Legis lature is rolling into shape, with a number of candidates for Governor already signed ( up. However, s few houses have neglected to send over representatives. Don't be afraid. Terry won't be here to raise the tuition , any more. ' At this writing action at the State Basketball Tournament was reaching a fevered pitch. Strangers in colored jackets have taken over the campus and the downtown area. And down at the Coliseum there is some pretty fine bas ketball being played. Last night I saw Grand Island bomb Hastings (my birth place). With all the noise and excitement and leaping about that was going on I felt a little old and a little shaky. People with that much en ergy ought to be shot. It makes the rest of us look slothful and racked with pro crastination. Which is probably true. Ah, St. Patrick's Day is Sun day! All us sons of the Uld Sod will put on our green hats and copper-toes brogans and go around saying "begorra!" (whatever that means)' in our Midwestern accents. And, seeing that it is Sun day, the road to R a will most likely be packed. The best thing to do will be to sit home and read up on Jeremy Ben tham. Hurrah for the I.R.A.! The tension never lets up! Will Slumphill win the state basketball crown with their six kids out of the mines and their girl coach? Will the mine blow up? Will Steve and Summer ever Find Happiness? Will someone shoot Copper Calhoun. I just can't sleep nights anymore, wondering. The Daily FIFTY-FIVE VEAliS OLD Member: Associated Oollegiate Press Intercollegiate Press Representative: National Advertising: Service, Incorporated ' rublifahed at: Room 20, Student Union Lincoln, Nebraska j 14th St R Tt Dltf tSetrsl I ' ptihllrrd Monday, Ttindar, W iSihmhSm 4 ri: Hurliif tit icliool year, except 4 " H.t'int .'!!'!: i rf,uI. and lIM la . fit!i)l iirl.!f August, by atudmta of tn I nlvr.rlty j nf N'ohraaic nude tit ttuthiirl.-ltlKiB of th (ommlllM J ' en KtudMit Affair a an eirlm of student oplnloa. I fiW-iirn nntfrr ( urti1.' tmo of tht Siilwotrimlttoa I a atitdrtit fuMlrsllon eiwll be free from editorial i v enioraoip tA llin part uf the feiibrmnmtttee) or im tha I pnrt of any mi-mtwr of tbe faculty of tlie ( Diversity, or ' n Vw ;;t of tony pprftnn 4iitll the (:n)vrrHv, Tba ', .' ttwmhm at the) SMimlun ataff are personally re- i ajKxtnihto for what ihe my, or do or eatiM la M I '. prf'ir. f'rhruRr H. Ir,. l.utfteA rlKM matt? at Iho pout nffle ( I Litmrftt, lrak, nmlrr Ilia art at ! , 1MIJ. Nebraskan EDITORIAL STAFF t fdltor. rrro Daly Managing Editor Jaek I'ollork RitltorlHl l'K Editor Dirk Hhucrna MriH Killlinra Sara Jotim, Hot Inland ix.ru Krtitor Huh Mattel Copy Editor. Art Rlarkman. I imlt Frank Oeorr Moyar. Rao rVttrhalotkl At fMlt.tr M altar faltrrwin tff fhotofrapltor. ...................... . !" Ill Mr tit N KillUtr ...................... Dlrk Shitcnw ((! Mrriwtary Kowrll oHrtf r.tlltof n rarrrll Staff Hrltrra Judy M-ir Marilyn Nlm. Minnrttrr Taylor, Diana Maiwrtl, hanrtra Whalm, Dorothy Hall, IXaona i. Hill (loopor. Bill tVUaon, nary IXoramt. Mary Pat trroon. Dranna Barrett, f.nimlr Mmpa, lUtportars - ynthla 7-irhaa, Hob W Ire, flary Rodim, SoAau Oabhorua. H M Milium. BUSINESS STAFF RiKlneoi Manner , f.rort Madwa Aanlntant HimIkfmi Sluuten. , 1-arry I iirln Tflffi Nrff, Ji-rrv Hetletio Curulatiiia Manager. Jack fturrla SfudenfsVoiceView On Rock 'n Roll Fad (ACP) "What effect do you think 'Rock & Roll' music is having on the youth of cour country?" This is the question Associated Col legiate Press asked of a represent ative national cross-section of col lege students. What's your opin ion? ACP found that bout one third of the college students fled Rock & Roll had a bad effect, while another one-third fled it had no ef fect at all. About ten per cent thought the music had a good ef fect and the rest of the students By far, the great majority of students remarking that Rock & Roll music had a good effect just tify their opinion by stating that the music acts as a safety valve for youthful energy, or as a junior at the University of Maryland CCol lege Park) puts it: "Repressed emotions are released through dancing," and along this same line of thought, a Yakima Valley Jun ior College (Yakima, Wash.) fresh man feels the music keeps the teenagers busy and "out of trou blr." "It has good rhythm and pro vides good music for dancing," is the comment of a Tyler Junior Col lege (Tyler, Texas freshman co ed. And an Ohio University (Ath ens) freshman states: "It's good, it's the up-and-coming thing for teen-agers." Two general points of view char acterize those students believing Rock & Roll music has a bad ef fect: It is not good music in the first place, and it helps destroy the moral fibre of the youth. Or as a freshman attending the Uni versity of Denver (Denver, Colo.) puts it: "Rock'n Roll is making a bunch of crude hoodlums out of them." "It's poor music if you can call it music," is me way a Wake Forest College (Winston-Salem, N. C.) junior feels, while a junior at the Rochester Institute of Technol ogy (Rochester, N.Y.) believes the bad effect is only temporary, it won't last." But the pessimistic viewpoint is really portrayed by a freshman coed at Syracuse Uni versity who says: "We're all de caying." A considerable portion of college students think Rock & Roll has no effect on teen-agers. Most of their opinions can be summarized into one statement, such as that given by a junior coed attending the Bernard Baruch School of Busi ness, City College of New York: "It's just a passing fad." And a very typical comment is made by a South Georgia College (Douglas) sophomore who states: "Each gen eration has its own version of 'Rock & Roll' the older people always think the younger genera tion is getting worse." A Syracuse University (Syracuse, N.Y.) sopho more winds up his argument with this apt observation: "Just as 'Jazz hit the 'Flappers' in the 1920's, 'Rock & Roll is hitting now; the old generation survived, why shouldn't we?" Students finding themselves un decided on this question either be lieve the answer depends upon the individual or that Rock & Roll has both its good and bad points. Here are several typical remarks. "It depends upon the individual; 'bad' can be made out of anything if one tries hard enough," is the way a sophomore at Mississippi College (Clinton) puts it, GREEN H HOME THOUGHTS FROM ABROAD There is mist in the hollows, And rain on the mountains, And clammy dank fog over the Thames, Settling down on the housetops Like a warm, wet blanket of obscurity. But here it is clear and .dry, Oh so dry, dusty and dry Like the inside of an undiscovered tomb. There is thick, green grass in the field, Lush grass, tall wavy grass, Flecked with golden king-cups and purple ashphodel, In the marshy riverside meadows; Short,springy turf on the chalkhills , Overlooking the Channel, And tiger-triped bees, purring with contentment, Drunk with nectar from the sweet smelling clumps Of sage and thyme. Here the grass is dead and yellow, Gasping for moisture from the cloudless cavern of the skv. Limp and lifeless, lifeless and limp, Imprisoned in the iron grip Of the dead dry dust. Larks like distant inkspots on the sky, Hover in endless song over the hills in Sussex. And the air in the woodlands is alive With voices of blackbird, and finch and long-tailed tit; And a robin perches on the gutter of our garage. Clare C. Cooper DO YOU REMEMBER? Do you remember the day we walked Across the marshes from Horsey Mere? Over the sand dunes, And out onto the deserted beach; There was no one there but you and I, And the seagulls. The heart of the ocean was beating fast, Its blue-grey jaws came biting angrily into the land, To toss their load of bulbous glistening seaweed, And cork from the fishing nets, And pieces of driftwood onto the hot sand. And we stood on the slime-slippery breakwater With the sea splashing saltily beneath us, And ran rabbit-footed through the milky foam. Here the sea is a thousand miles away How I yearn for a view of pounding surf. And the white sails of our boat Beating to windward, the mainsail proud and full, The bows cutting the wave-wrinkled water like a knife, And the ringing creaking in the chill, north wind. Do the red-beaked coot and crested grebe still nest in the rushes along the meadow dyke? Docs the black-backed gull still mew. Its plaintive cat-like calls over the marshes? One day we will go back and find out, One day Clare C. Cooper The Horse-Sense Of An Engineer "Horizontal is horizontal is horizontal; And vertical is vertical, is vertical." Saith an irate M.E. instructor to his' class. "Besides," continueth he, "they make better sense Than the statement by some poetic ass That 'a rose is a rose, is a rose.' Such nonsense Serves not a single practical purpose. Thence, fellas, when dealing with mathematics vectorial, Forget not the actual operation goes Further than scalar manipulation; it Involves additional Diasramatic trigonometry in all its glory. And also rely not on your seventh sense Which befits only the fairer sex. I'm sorry That some of you guys still hold to the defence Thnt intuition is infallible. So if you become ill Of indigestion in mechanics, please take an anti-intuition pill." Nclfton CbuHug pandotia It's been some months since I read, "The primary function of newspapers is to communicate to the human race what its members do, feel and think. Journalism, therefore, demands of its prac tioners the widest range of intel ligence, or knowledge, and ofex pericence, as well as natural and trained powers of observation and reasoning." Wow! What a load on the shoul ders of any copy boy! But as I sit behind the Remington day after day trying to interpret the thoughts of our little segment of the world for our readers the notion that task for responsible people grows on me. That could be an indictment on any cub reporter who fancies him self a Clark Kent who can take off any minute he feels like it. It could be a mar on the happy-go-lucky playboys of television and cinema fame who make newsing look like a big game. It's not. (Who am I telling any thing new to?) But the reason it isn't is because of the responsibility outlined in the article just quoted. If the University declared tomor row that the student newspaper would fall into the hands of the Journalism School most of the stu dents wouldn't notice a change in the makeup or the typography of the Rag. But they would notice a change in the views taken on this page of their paper. I'm not saying that the change would be one which would keep the administration in the good light all the time. I'm too appre ciative of the good newspaper sense of the J-School to think that any such policy would govern their paper. I am saying that the responsibil ity that is on the shoulders to in- W W W w Dick Shugrue terpret the news in a fair and ac curate manner would be gone. The responsibility would fall to the shoulders of the adult word and the young people (the Freds and me's) would be mere tools. Right now we are somewhat of artists. I don't mean we turn out William Allen White ideas every week. But I do mean we are free to think and write as we see the "necessity for same. x Oh, the burdens of growing up! Sometimes I don't think I'll ever make it. But when you get into a job that has some semblance of re sponsibility you get . that old urge to act your age. . And so what am I driving at? So we have a one of few remaining free college presses in the coun try. Many universities have given back their papers to the journalism departments who have been able to polish the makeup and the art and the typography of the papers. Our administration has apparent ly known the value of the free press as a check on themselves and as a true sounding board for studnent opinion. All I can think of is the group of American collegians who were touring Moscow University (if there is such a place) and one reported seeing the editor of the paper a middle-aged balding man. It hasn't come to that here, de spite what people say about Fred. We are free as the birds and we're proud of our University for that fact. What results from such a license? Responsibility, what else. And so we keep on plunking away at our keyboards trying to think out the right answers or suggestions for the campus. Pity us the next time you're tempted to toss away the Rag. the outside won Last spring, the students of this institution were asked to express their opinion of the organization of a student tribunal and the instal lation of the honor system for ex aminations on the campus. The vote of the student body was in favor of adding these two inno vations to the campus and the stu dent council duly undertook to pro vide them for the students. Much excitement and enthusiasm was generated over the dual project and it appeared that Nebraska would soon join the ranks of more progressive universities which have long had at least one of the two proposed organizations. However, it appears that the project has fallen victim to apathy. The student body which had fa vored it last spring has abandoned it. The student council made some preliminary studies and held a meeting to ask for suggestions from the students. The meeting was attended by only nine people and since then nothing has been heard of the project. However, there is a real need for efferip To the Editor: It's about time that Ellen Smith got to the writer of the Prickly Pear, Bruce Brugmann, and stopped him from turning out his anti-administration bilge. I can only assume, of course, that. this is what happened, but nevertheless it is rather plain that such a loudmouth would stop writing of his own volition. An Independent george moyer at least the honor system and it is too bad that the students of this University have so little interest in a project that concerns them so vitally. A recent survey of major col leges and universities shows that college students generally have very conservative views on sex and religion. The same survey shows that cheating in the nation's col leges is rampant. Here the survey seems to be somewhat paradoxical. First it shows that students have high moral values and then it shows that students ignore these values to cheat. I am no psychologist (I am not even a columnist according to my critics), but some explanation of this paradox might be found in the challenge which the proctored exam presents to a student. First of all, the proctored exam is a challenge because it is an in sult. It assumes that students are going to cheat and places proctors in the room to catch them. It fails to recognize the basic honesty of the average student and the same as points a finger at him saying "You are a cheater." Secondly, the proctored exam appeals to the prankish nature of students who reason, "They expect me to cheat so I will and see if I can sneak it by the proctors." The proctored exam assumes the responsibility of honesty which nor mally belongs to the student. Re lieved of this responsibility, the student feels that he can do any thing he can get away with. However, jf the honor system is installed, the challenges would be removed. The student would have the responsibility of honesty re turned to him, and his moral values would force him to accept it. LITTLE MAN ON CAMPUS by Dick Bibler Iffllll STUPE NTT "lit III .1 Iwl "Poyou ira,mmima4SDumtio t&vzs girls?? -1