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Jo Stohlrnan, editor
Mike Kirkman, business manager
Poge 2 Friday, Feb. 4, 1966
On the Curve
Students are greeting the mailman
not for the weekly letter from home, but
for the postcard relaying the grade they
may or may not have earned in a class.
Many breathe a sign of relief after a
final exam, with the words,' "Well, at least
that course is all over."
But it's not really, not until the
grade for the course is received. And
then what?
Another sign of relief for a grade that
was better than expected or a few re
marks to a friend about the instructor's
"dirty" system of grading.
And the "dirty" system of grading
often referred to is grading on the curve.
This process involves a mathematical cal
culation that along a bell-shaped curve, so
many A's, B's, C's, D's and F's should
occur.
So what happens in a class of 15,
or 20, or even 100, of students who are
graded on the curve? Is it unfair, and
is it really a "dirty" system?
Dr. Curtis M. Elliott, of the Univer
sity's Economics Department, calls grad
ing on the curve a "scummy system,"
which many instructors follow blindly, re
gardless of the size of a class.
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A 'Nebraska' Girl Writes ... I
(Editor's Note: The fol
lowing article was written
by a senior girl who wishes
to remain anonymous. She
feels that it expresses the
"secret feelings" of many
University of Nebraska stu
dents who will be graduat
ing this spring.)
My subject is an old one,
but suddenly I realized that
I care about it. In a few
short months I will be stand
ing at the "gates of the
future" with a diploma in
my hands and bright shiny
stars in my eyes. I think
I'll also have a thumping in
my chest that spells fear;
fear of not knowing what
lies ahead.
But one thing I'll be sure
of what I am leaving be
hind, one of the finest states
in the Union. I can hear
your sarcasm now and your
laughter at the "country
girl" who likes the "cows,
and dogs and pigs and
things."
But, I'm not a "country
girl;" I'm a "Nebraska"
city girl who has been north,
south, east and west of these
United States. I like the
Would You
Believe...
Would you believe a staff
of 50 put this page out
would you believe 40 put
this page out would you be
lieve 10 five . . .
Would you believe ONE
person put this page out?
Daily Nebraskan
Member Associated Collegiate
Press, National Advertising
Service, Incorporated. Published
at Room SI, Nebraska Union,
Lincoln, Nebraska.
TELEPHONE: 477-8711, Ex
tension 2588, 2589 and 2590.
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ter or M far the academic rear.
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The ballr Wenrackaa k ntUbe4
Monday, aVednedar, Tburaaar and
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EDITORIAL STAFF
Editor, JO STOHLMAN; man
aging editor, STEVE HUNGER
FORD; news editor, WAYNE
KREL'SCIIER; sports editor,
JIM PEARSE; night news ed
itor, JON KERKHOFF; senior
start writers, JAN ITKIN,
BRUCE GILES, JULIE MOR
RIS; Junior start writers, RAN
DY IREY, TONI VICTOR, NAN
CY HENDRICKSON ; photogra
phers, TOM RUBIN, RICH EIS
ER; cop editors, POLLY
RHYNOLDS, WALLY LUN
DEEN. LOIS QUINNETT.
BUSINESS STAFF
Business manager, MIKE
KIRKMAN; business assistants,
CONNIE RASMUSSEN, LU
WALLACE, BRUCE WRICHT.
SHIRLEY WENTINK, ROGER
ELM, JOHN RASMUSSEN.
DICK THEIS, CHUCK SALEM.
LARRY RAU; night proof man,
DWIGHT CLARK; subscription
manager, JIM BUNTZ; Circu
lation manager, LYNN BATH
JEN. '
Wide Open Spaces
sights and sounds of the Big
City, but they can never re
place or substitute or give
to me what Nebraska has.
Someday when this coun
try is teeming with millions
of city-dwellers, our future
generations will never know
what it is like to see a sky,
pure, blue, or to smell new
mown hay or just plain
green grass shaded by tow
ering old trees.
They will never run across
a corn field that seems to
stretch for miles or walk
down a country lane with
only the sounds of birds to
disturb their thoughts. Their
cities will be too large for
them to be acquainted with
half its population, and, as
things are beginning to
look now, they will not even
know their neighbors.
Some of you are probably
saying, "Big Deal! Night
lights and city sights can
compensate!" I think that
someday you will change
your mind. Human beings
need space in which to
move, fresh air to breathe,
and places in which their
spirits can soar.
cHjcwsl tyo. TLoiiced,
That which is not worth
noticing.
Yesterday I saw this skirt
walking down the walk over
by Love Library. Intrigued
by the funny little way it
swayed back and forth I
followed it skipping my
class in MORALE hall. She
led me through all the lev
els of love ( Library), down
through the stacks, over to
Teachers College and down
to administration.
I waited for two hours
while she talked to what I
suspect was an adviser. I
bad thoughts of going in af
ter she left and asking for
her name. I had it all figured
out. If asked for what rea
son I would tell them I was
with the Texas Rangers. I
was just deciding on a rea
son for arrest when she
came back out. Abandoning
that idea I turned my face
to the comer and lit a ciga
rette as she passed and
then once again took chase.
With the cunning of a
campus cop I followed her
through Anderson, Burnett,
Avery, Sheldon Art Gal
lery, Temple, and finally to
the Union. I began to g e t
the idea that she was trying
to lose me. Doggedly, I
stayed on her tail unob
trusively. As we entered the Union
I thought for a moment I
had caught a glimpse of her
face in the glass doors, and
it struck me that she w a s
beautiful, but I realized
then that I was looking at
myself. The hesitation was
enough time for her to lose
herself in the crowd.
I searched in vain for an
hour looking for that famil
iar skirt, until suddenly
there it was; looking so at
ease that I thought at t h e
time that she belonged here
here in the poo room.
Dr. Elliott explains that the curve
means "absolutely nothing" statistically,
unless the class has several hundred stu
dents enrolled in it. Thus students in a
class of 15, 20 or even 100 may receive a
grade that is statistically unfair in com
parision with other students if he is
graded on the curve.
You may be wondering about our
preoccupation with grades in the first
place. "What really counts," the ideal
ist will say, "is what you learned,
not the grade you got."
That view is correct, up to a certain
point. But no one can truthfully say that
grades don't matter. Scholarships, jobs,
(even the draft now) are influenced by
them.
We hope that instructors at the Uni
versity will replace the curve with a sys
tem of grading on an individual basis.
This is largely possible for an instructor
who is interested in his class of students
numbering 15, or 20, or even 100.
For Instructors teaching classes
which number several hundred, we
say, keep your grading curve. It's
about the fairest means of grading for
you.
Like children who run and
scream to release their ten
sions, adults need that same
kind of release. You can run
in the streets of New York
and yell at the top of your
lungs, but I imagine that
you would not be walking
any streets very long if they
caught you.
But here, in these wide
open spaces that we often
complain of when it snows,
you can drive a car down
a country road, and, if the
urge strikes you, you can
shut off that motor and start
running across a field,
shouting to your heart's con
tent. There is nothing there
to stop you.
Only the trees and sky
will ever know how you
longed to be for one tiny
moment, the free being
that you dream of being and
that this mechanized, ad
vanced society cannot let
you be if it is to progress.
I may leave Nebraska af
ter I graduate, in search of
adventure. Those city-lights
beckon me also, but I'll re
turn. I need these wide open
spaces. Don't you?
She was casually setting
up a shot. I still couldn't see
her face because her hair;
long, yellow, and uncombed
was hanging in front of her
down almost to the table. I
decided to use the direct ap
proach. I advanced cautiously,
steadily, determined to
make contact. She hesitat
ed. I broke stride from a
gallop to a jog. She looked
up! Almost as if she some
how sensed I was coming.
The achievement of it a 1 1
overcame me. I stopped
short, and started making
half circles with my right
toe in front of my left foot.
Then disillusionment filled
my excited heart. She was
smoking. Smoking and
walking at the same time!
A cardinal sin against Emi
ly Post. Filled wtih disap
pointment all I could think
of was that ber eyes clashed
with the skirt.
BILL OLTMAN
Quibs
There must be something
significant in the fact that
five top teachers at the
University announced their
resignations the same week
the Regents approved in
creases in the football
coaches' salaries.
The purpose of the stu
dents' Faculty Evaluation
Book is only to advise stu
dents, not help professors,
or is?
By what mysterious pro
cess does the Student Sen
ate manage to recess in 45
minutes when they are con
sidering "hot" issues like
the faculty evaluation book?
Sorry
Being a compendium of farce, absurd
ity and comment, selected arbitrarily by
the Editor ...
Historical note of the day: In 1552 in
London, England, Sir Francis Bacon read
Shakespeare at breakfast, had Hamlet
and omelet.
Nutshells
If a social drinking course were of
fered here, worried parents would still
hear from their kids after the final:
"Dear Parents, I passed . . . out."
Students receiving tickets for park
ing in yellow-curbed areas, now covered
with snow, are asked by the Traffic Ap
peals Board to check for parking signs.
Those fined can also tell the Physical
Plant Department to go blow their snow.
The Greek Star has voted to re
main inactive the rest of the semester.
It's the first university publication to
recognize audience interest and print
accordingly.
Worried draft dodgers now have one
more test to cram for. If they fail, there's
a consolation prize: a trip halfway around
the world.
Student hang-outs are now filled
with Batman's TV followers. They're hop
ing Robin is the first sign of spring. (Iowa
State Daily.)
A few people have asked
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Another View point
Sports and the Student
(Editor's Note: The com
mercialization of sports
and its effect is a topic
that should be considered
by the University and ail
Big Red fans. This article
is reprinted from the Min
nesota Dally.)
Are c o 1 1 e g e sports too
commercialized? That is
the question that an excel
lent, thought-provoking ar
ticle by the president of
Hamline University ex
plores in the December is
sue of The Atlantic.
Paul II. Giddens, the head
of the college in St. P a u 1,
writes in "The Scramble
for College Athletes," that
"intercollegiate athletics
have become increasingly
commercialized and sub
jected to pressures wholly
alien to an amateur athletic
program."
Insisting that college
sports exist primarily for
the enjoyment and benefit
of students, Giddens states
they "should be conducted
as an integral part of t h e
educational program."
The concept that college
athletics exist for the bene
fit of the general public
and to make money has
US. ARMY PHYSICAL
Do You Feel A Draft ?
About
me how it
long been in the making, ac
cording to Giddens. He cites
television, postseason
tournaments, larger athletic
plants and stadiums, and
increased attendance at col
lege football games as evi
dence of this trend.
Athletes get preferential
treatment when it comes to
jobs and scholarships, Gid
dens writes. He says that
schools provide athletes
jobs that require little or no
work and that it is possible
for a Big Ten athlete to
qualify and get financial aid
for four years without hav
ing even a C average.
The pressures are so
great to get the best ath
letes that, according to Gid
dens, some institutions have
double standards for admis
sionsone for athletes and
one for all other students.
In this article, Giddens
raises the question of cheat
ing among athletes and says
"it is not surprising that
there have been recurring
scandals involving cheating,
briberty and dishonesty."
"The moral fiber of Im
pressionable young men Is
eroded and broken down
when they are bought," Gld
deu writes. He quotes a re
That!
feels to be editor. I haven't thought of a
good answer to that one yet. But I do have
an answer to those who ask me, "What
are you going to write an editorial about
tomorrow?"
"Oh, something along the line of, 'Take
an Atheist to Lunch Today,' " I shrug.
Most everyone seems to think that
a college degree denotes a passport to
the coffers of financial success. In fact,
there are even statistics to show how
much more the average college grad
uate will earn in a lifetime than the
high school graduate.
After talking to several graduates
of the college of Arts and Science, we
find it questionable whether a liberal
arts degree makes it possible to eat,
while discussing philosophy and the
Viet Nam war.
We hurried to the mailbox outside of
the Daily Nebraskan office yesterday
morning, expecting a batch of letters to
the editor.
Although there weren't any letters, the
mailbox wasn't entirely empty. The staff
excitedly looked over the loot three gum
wrappers and a Batman comic book.
While hurrying to meet a deadline at
the printer's the other day, we barely
missed a group of students crossing
against the light at 14th and S. Until some
thing is done about the intersection's
problem, we can only say, Sorry About
That!
cent Columbia University"
study as saying: "Despite
angry denials by coaches
and football-minded alum
ni, the dishonesty among
athletes Is staggeringly
high."
Gidden says that within
the last five years, a
"Frankenstein monster"
has been created that is
threatening to make college
sports a mere training
ground for the pros. He
blames the increasing pres
sures and the growing com
mercialization of college
athletics on the competition
among pro football teams
for game television re
ceipts. Unless the present trend
in intercollegiate competi
tion is changed, Giddens
predicts athletics will grad
ually be abandoned.
According to GkJdcns, one
Big Ten school is reportedly
spending $225,000 a year
for athletic scholarships.
Giddens says that great fi
nancial burdens have made
it necessary for large col
leges like Fordham, Mar
quctte, and the Universities
of Chicago, Denver and De
troit to drop football or all
intercollegiate sports.
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I CAMPUS I
I OPINION I
Patriot Mockery
Dear Editor,
A mockery has been made
of American patriots. Even
though a former Nazi is bur
ied in Arlington, even though
the cemetery is saturated
with Confederate Rebels,
Robert Thompson cited with
the Distinguished Service
cross (2nd highest military
honor in America) has been
denied burial in Arlington
Cemetery because he be
longed to the Communist
party.
Our government too often
shows moral cowardice in
capitulating to the naive
emotional prejudices of the
'folks back home." Suppos
edly the Government of the
United States was set up so
men of diverse opinion could
work for their ideals in free
dom. What has hapened? Today
we behold a dominant tend
ency that says citizens are
only free to conform to the
establishment, and the Es
tablishment per se is called
righteousness. How can this
"Establishment" void of
moral principal, this "Es
tablishment" ringing both
the words "patriot" and
American as tinkling, brass
and hollow symbols how
can this "Establishment"
expect youth to rally behind
its cause?
I am not an anarchist. I
witness for the alternative
of Christian moral princi
M J Wm King . . .
By WAYNE KREUSCHER
News Editor
Give a newspaperman a
typewriter and some paper
and he will soon find him
self in a kingdom of his
own.
But in this kingdom, the
newspaperman is not king
he's only a recorder of
events or of things other
people say.
In this column the news
paperman will be king and
the News will try to talk.
Instead of reporting what
other people think or what
other peoole are doing
the News here will speak its
own mind.
Here the News will rep
resent both sides, but it
will be clear which side the
News likes and which side
it doesn't.
The faculty evaluation
book has been approved,
but it was not approved by
the Faculty. It was ap
proved by Dean Ross's com
mittee and the students. If
the truth were known, the
Faculty Senate very likely
would have never approved
the book.
The Faculty, who will
have the main role in this
book, are a strange group.
Many of them, thinking like
"real" educators are not
afraid of the book they
respect the students and
they respect themselves.
These members of the Fac
ulty would fit In well at a
school where people are
taught to think.
The others look at teach
ing like a kindergarten
teacher sees his pupils
and that is exactly where
ftiese faculty members be
long not in a Univer
sity. Dean Ross himself, per
haps as a good and smart
administrator (which he is)
or for personal reasons, is
silent when asked if he ap
proves or disapproves of
the book. But the book
would have never been ap
proved by Ross's commit
tee if he hadn't seen the
book's merit.
Trask, who definitely rep
resents the "real" Faculty,
once spoke about the Uni
versity having another
Berkeley unless the Admin
istration (which Is many
cases, as far as the stu
dents are concerned, is
Ross) responded better to
the Intellectual pleas of the
students.
The facts seem to prove
that Ross anr! th
above him are smarter than
what Trask gave the admin
istrators' credit for. Or per
haps they just needed a
little help from a responsi
ble student government.
With administrators who
act like Ross, that show con
trolled hesistance but trust
in the students and their
governmnnt, the University
ples against the Establish
ment's pragmatic and rela
tivist morality. We cannot
dismiss every Communist
as intrinsically evil. The
minute we judge anyone re
ducing him to that, the min
ute we thus dismiss any.
one we cease to love them
and they cease to be able to
become better.
If we cannot dare to love
in a world that does not
know how to love, we are
more wicked than the Com
munists we harang against.
Crush the infamy of hypo
critical American ethrocen
trism! Voltaire, Jr.
Lullaby Time
Dear Editor,
To "Tired American" (An
other Viewpoint, Daily Ne
braskan, February 2):
I have found the enclosed
lullaby to be most helpful
to those who choose to sleep
through revolutions.
Lullaby and good night
may you always be right.
You pretend to defend
what you know you should
fight.
Lay thee down now and rest.
May thy slumber be
blest.
Lay thee down in your nest.
May you dream you're
the best.
Your buddy.
Rip Van Winkle
is not going to be another
Berkeley.
(This is not the first
time Ross and whoever else
above him "thinks" have
shown smart administration
this year. The many exam
ples include SDS and the
non-controversial way in
which SDS has been han
dled). Thus, the book has been
approved and that strong
national student reaction
against what students think
are out-dated or conserva
tive educators or education
has once again been held
off at Nebraska.
But just because Nebras
ka doesn't have marches on
the administration or picket
leaders in the Union, don't
think things aren't happen
ing here which are giving
student government more
say and students more
freedom according to mod
ern and liberal concepts of
education which are sup
posed to stimulate intellec
t u a 1 thought because
these things are happening.
It's just that someone in
the University's adminis
tration is smart enough to
encourage and trust student
leaders like Neumeister to
take leadership and respon
sibility. Someone is smart enough
to realize that the faculty
evaluation book will be an
extremely responsible proj
ect where each faculty
member is treated justly
and in good taste.
The faculty evaluation
book has to be responsible
because it has not had to
be fought for (as the sym
bol of some youth crusade)
but rather has been ap
proved by a smart admin
istrator as a symbol of Ne
braska's responsible and
mature student leadership.
Gary Larsen, the new
president of IFC, was the
only candidate who sought
the office Wednesday nigtit.
But Larsen was not elect
ed because he was the only
person seeking the office,
rather he was the only per
son seeking the office be
cause no one else had a
chance to beat him.
Larsen is a worker. It's
just that plain and simple.
On Student Senate he sup
ported an FM radio which
in many ways is impracti
cal and not really needed,
but Larsen unlike many
past senators did not stop
with his motion.
The Greek system has too
long been run by "cool
jocks" or "distracted Indi
viduals." Larsen is what the
Greeks need to come near
some of the hard work, In
dividual leadership which
the Independents have
shown and will continue to
show in the future with peo
ple like Roger Doerr and
Gen I'okorny.
i". -.fir- r
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