Leadership Sought
Where
vThe silent places" these
are the birthplaces of Ameri
ca's religious leaders.
These, the rural communi
ties, says Dr. Frank A. Court,
away from the "noisy, rau
cus, competitive life in the
big cities" are most conduc
ive for religious thought.
And other religious leaders
in Lincoln agree with Dr.
. Court, pastor of St. Paul
Methodist Church.
Two-thirds of the Methodist
religious leaders come from
farms and rural areas, ac
cording to Dr. Carl David
son, pastor of First Metho
dist Church.
The reasons? Elder Peter
Jarnes of Union College
lists: .
Rural youth are "faced
with the practical aspects of
life."
Rural youth are in con
tact. w"ith nature, "the reve
lation of God."
Rural areas have a much
Students Free
For August
Vacations
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA
Adventures in
Professors View Examinations
As Problems, Student Guides
The words "test, examina
tion, or final" connotate a
variety of meanings to
most students: Teview, burn
ing the midnight oil, sweat,
worry or anxiety. "
To the instructors they
bring thoughts of prepara
tion, reading papers and
grading; but that isn't all.
"As long as there are
grades, we will need some
form of testing," Dr. Richard
Videbeck, professor of Sociol
ogy, summed ft up.
What kinds of tests and
general attitudes toward test
ing do instructors have?
Uses of Tests
A cross-college survey
brought these facts to light:
Tests should serve more
than one purpose.
Test results should not be
used as absolutes In judging
students.
Grades play a far too im
portant role in college learn
ing. Tests vary with the sub
ject matter and aims of each
course.
Tests serve as motivators
for learning.
Grades seem to be the ul-s
timate goals of students.
Motivation is second only
to intelligence in doing well
in school.
Used for Evaluation
Most instructors agree that
tests help them evaluate stu
dents' work, , but more im
portant than that, "Tests
should be given only if they
facilitate learning," Dr. Dor
is J. O'Donnell, professor of
Women's Physical Education,
said.
Sharing her viewpoint were
Dr. Charles W. Colman,
chairman of the Romance
Language, Department; Har
ry P. Shelley, assistant pro
fessor of Psychology; Vide
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Court
more conducive atmosphere
for religious contemplation.
From The Home
But both Protestants and
Catholics agree there is an-
Academia
beck; Dr. H. F. Holtzclaw,
director of freshman Chemis
try, and Dr. H. E. Baum
garten, professor of Organic
Chemistry.
Holtzclaw and Baumgarten
stressed the importance tests
serve as incentives for stu
dents to study.
"Because everyone can't be
greatly interested in all sub
jects, they require additional
incentive to study. Therefore
if students are not held re
sponsible in some way, they
have a way of letting things
slide," Baumgarten ex
plained. He also added a third func
tion tests tell students
what they know. "If an ex
amination is good, the stu
dent will learn something
from it," he continued.
One of the problems of test
ing, according to Dr. Robert
Koehl, assistant professor of
Koehl
History, is that students . feel
that tests measure something
they don't.
Status Symbols
He feels that grades are
considered by many as "tatus
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Davidson
other source of religious
leaders the home,
Father Robert F. Sheehy,
associate chaplain for the
Newman Club, expressed the
measurements by both the
university and society.
The student's hostile reac
tion toward tests and grades,
he added, is partly the fault
of professors, but mostly it
is the environment par-
ents, sororities, fraternities,
and administrators that
place emphasis on grades.
"Often grades serve as
guides or standards on which
rewards and punishments are
based by the people students
come in contact with," he ex
plained. Test results should be orily
one of a number of things
from which to evaluate stu
dents, Koehl, Shelley, Vide
beck and Baumgarten agreed.
In most courses things like
terminology, solving prob
lems, lab work, participation
in discussion, special skills
and class attitude play an
important role in the way a.
teacher grades in addition to
test -results.
Skills, But Rules Too
The physical education de
partment is an example, Miss
O'Donnell pointed out. he
cause they place equal em
phasis on skill, a written fi
nal on rules, and class per
formance. "Developing skills is t h e
"primary" objective of the
courses," she added, "but the
students must know the
rules." ,
Some instructors are con
cerned about the fact that
many students study for
grades.
"It's not Important what
grade a student gets, but
what he has learned," Miss
O'Donnell commented.
Shelley indicated a great
iault is that students study
i Belshelm
general belief when he said,
"The homes where there Is a
true religious spirit" produce
the religions leaders.
Many students, he said,
find that after they enrol! at
a university, they would like
to enter religious work as a
life profession. ''But the spirit
of the home gave them, the
boost," he said.
But there are other ways
by which young people are in
fluenced about professional
church-related work.
Inspiring Youth
'Vocations confer
ences, summer church
camps, ministers and S un
day School teachers were all
listed as important influences
on young people.
And as the Rev. Fred
Register, superintendent of
the Congregational Cosier
ence, said, some persons
choose religious work '"by the
grace of God."
Why should young people
Testing
for examinations, not to
learn.
Adding to the complaint
about grades, Videbeck said,
"Emphasis on the test grades
robs the test situation of its
potential as a study guide."
The fact that students come
in and "argue for their
grades, not for the truth or
validity of their statements,"
also disturbs Videbeck.
Single Test
Contrasting the above state
ments, the Law College has
no lectures and no tests, ex
cept for a final.
The students are given a
comprehensive final examin
ation at the end of each law
course and the course grade
k based entirely on this ex
amination. Different Approach
Dr. Edmund O. Belsheim,
dean of the college, said that
by doing things this way they
accomplish two things:
1. More material is cov
ered in class because less
time is taken out for weekly
or monthly examinations.
2. Last minute cramming is
discouraged because it just
"can't be done. No one can
cram a whole year's work
into one night."
By using the "no lecture"
method of teaching, law stu
dents and 'instructors devote
the whole class time to dis
cussion. Belsheim feels this is all
right because most of the stu
dents in the college are dif
ferently motivated than oth
er students. They know they
want to be lawyers and they
know they will need to learn
the tools of the trade some
time, so they do it right
away, he explained.
Kinds of Examinations
The kinds of examinations
given are as varied as the
courses at the University,
In law they are essay and
deal mostly with solving legal
problems. The same holds
true for history, chemistry,
philosophy, and most other
courses at one time or an
other. Others prefer objective ex
aminations multiple choice,
true-false, matching. Still
others ;prefer the short an
swer or the oral type of ex
amination. Each one feels that certain
kinds will bring the best re
sultsr but which one is best?
Oral Tests
Miss O'Donnell feels that
Continued on fage 2.
Religious Leaders?
go into religious work?
''Qualified leaders are at
premium," according to Reg
ister. "The world 5s suffering
from a lack of spiritual di
rection and leadership," Dr.
Court said.
"'The world has a tremen
dous problem of using its
creative power to sustain
life. Both professional religi
ous leaders and lay leaders
are needed," he said.
Ten years from now, says
the Rev. John Waser, asso
ciate pastor at First Presby
terian Church, Presbyterians,
Methodists, possibly Luther
ans and the Evangelical Re
formed Church will need
1,000 new ministers, and they
are not being produced at
that rate.
It it only in some of the
smaller denominations that
this shortage of trained re
Continued on Page 3.
Industrial Demands
of College Graduates
University Professors
View ExaminMions
See Page 2
Tinn nhmp rrifhn and
Alpha and Beta rays given by Dean L. Linscott, research assistant. Don is attempting t
measure soil moisture with radioactive isotopes. (U. of N. Photo).
Science Program Offers
Nuclear, Botanical Study
A neutron-scattering de
vice to measure soil moisture
and the coriolis force are be
coming familiar friends to
the 19 -high school boys at
tending the Agronomic sum
mer science training pro
gram. This program of summer
study is sponsored by the
University of 'Nebraska Col
lege of Agriculture and the
National Science Foundation.
It is designed to offer high
ability secondary school boys
an opportunity to contribute
to the progress of research,
not by doing menial tasks
but by their own intellectual
abilities, Chairman D. G.
Hanway said.
Almost every boy, accord
ing to -Supervisor Dean Daul
kc, has a n jpdividual re
search problem assigned by
a professor in charge.
Botany to Engineering
These problems range from
making a botanical survey of
native pasture in Gage Coun
ty to doing research on the
engineering and biological as
pects of aerial applications
of herbicides.
Even though all the re
search is related to agricul
ture, every problem gives the
boys a chance to apply the
basic sciences of chemistry,
physics, and biology, he con
tinued. , When each boy was asked
to write down his four choices
Needed: 1,000 Ministers
ML
Religious Leadership
Needs and Demands
of Churches
Summer Reading List
See Page 3
Bob Cacak of Fairbury (center)
of problems, TJaulke said al
most everyone wanted t o
work with the neutron-scattering
device.
The device, operated by
professors licensed by the
Atomic Energy Commission,
uses radioactive isotopes to
give off neutrons so that soil
moisture can be determined,
he explained.
What Free Time?
However, -all the students
find 'their problems so inter
esting that they often spend
their meal time arguing sci
entific technicalities, he said.
"Boy, 1 just don't have any
time" is the joking moan oi
the scholars. Seminars on in
dividual problems are held
each Monday and Wednes
day -evening so that every boy
knows about ail various in
vestigations being carried on.
Tuesday evenings are Spe
cial Events Night, with vis
iting professors" lecturing on
such topics us Pleistocene
geology in Nebraska and the
soil survey of Alaska.
Fun begins on Thursday
night though when the Uni
versity swimming pool .is
opened for them. The boys
really enjoy this because it
is their only physical exer
cise, another 6tudent, Bob
Cacak, said.
One of the "greatest"
things they felt ihey learned
was how different from high
school and now competitive
. ... ,
If
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Only Three
DaysLeU
J. 11 Hli5
TUESDAY, JULY 26, J9SO
Were Paganism
In Literature
MuUins to Olympics
For Summer Viewing
See Page 4
listen to an explanation of
college is. ""I've learned a
greut respect for education,
Don said.
This nine-week science ses
sion, in its first year at Ne
braska, has become a nation
wide program.
The University received
grant from the National Sci
ence Foundation which paid
for one-half of the boys
room, board and equipment.
Each boy receives a sal
ary, Daulke said, of .30 an
hour Iryr- the professor un
der whom he is working,
which pays the rest of his
expenses.
One Per School
In order to get the most
outstanding hoys, applica
tions are sent to .each Ne
braska high school. One stu
dent may be recommentid
from each school. From theBe
applications, 30 are selected
for interviews.
Even though all the boys
are judged on the same stand
ards of intelligence, person
ality, and interest, Daulke
said that they have quite a
cross section of personalities
from extreme introverts to
prankish, out-going boys.
The program is limited to
high school boys who have
completed their junior year,
but not their senior year of
high school, since the depart
ment feels that at this time
most of 1 hem haven't ' yet
chosen a specific .career.
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