The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, February 09, 1966, Page Page 2, Image 2

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CAMPUS
Jo Stohlman, editor
Page 2
On what appears to be a question of
legal liability, the Committee 'on Student
Affairs Tuesday removed its approval of
the faculty evaluation book sponsored by
ASUN.
The committee withdrew its approval
after hearing the opinion of Flavel Wright,
a representative of the University's legal
counsel. Wright said that the members of
the committee take on liability for the
book's contents through authorization of
it. And Dr. William Torrence, who moved
that the committee remove its approval
for the book, said Wright's opinion was
"the first answer we (the committee) have
received on the question of liability."
It is indeed sad that the Commit
tee on Student Affairs has not dealt
with or investigated the problem of
liability heretofore.
, . Apparently, some members of the
committee did not realize that they could
be held legally liable for the activities and
publications which they sponsor. '
Now the question of the committee's
liability is out in the open, and it raises
certain other questions regarding the
faculty evaluation book, and the whole of
the group's activities.
ASUN President Kent Neumeister has
outlined several alternatives of action to
ward the book which the ASUN senators
will choose from at this afternoon's meet
ing. The senators can vote to abandon
the project; they can present a modi
fied proposal for the book to the com
mittee; they can publish it without the
sanction of the committee; or they can
take the book to the Board of Regents
for approval.
As a "last resort," ASUN could have
the book published as a commercial en
terprise, according the Neumeister.
Neumeister hopes that the senators
will elect to take the book to the Board
of Regents for approval. If the Regents
gave their approval, the question of possi
ble libel suits would be removed as far
as the Board is concerned. (As an arm of
the state, Regents share the sovereignty
of the state, and a state cannot be sued
without its consent.)
We question the desirability of
seeking the Regents' approval for the
faculty evaluation book. With the Re
gents' sanction, the cloud of possible
libel suits does not hang so heavily on
the heads of the ASUN committee.
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I 'Sound Of Music9: No Plot
I 'But Pure Entertainment' I
By LARRY ECKHOLT
"The Sound of Music" is
like a chocolate sundae
there are better things
around to eat, but it is hard
to resist all of that gooey
syrup.
Handsomely pack
aged, with a picture-postcard
approach to the Aus
trian countryside, "T h e
Sound of Music" is pure
entertainment. Starring the
effervescent Julie Andrews,
the movie literally bubbles
from beginning to end.
- TSOM is Rodgers and
"Hammerstein's musical
version of the life of Maria
von Trapp. The plot, as lit-
. tie as there is, centers
around Maria's change in
life from that of a nun to a
governess of seven mother
less children. "The Sound
of Music" needs no plot to
; carry it, however. It has
R-H Positive that dominat
ing factor of a successful
musical.
Richard Rodgers and Os-
- car Hammerstein's songs
speak for themselves
"Climb Ev'ry Mountain,"
"Do, Re, Mi," "My Fav
orite Things" and of course,
"The Sound of Music".
Miss Andrews glows on
the screen. She is the can
dle that cannot be put out.
When the story falters she
saves the day with a song
that lights the screen with
her charm.
Help!
Let's face it, the Beatles
are here to stay, at least
for a good long time. You
may as well succumb to that
fact and sneak into the near
est theater showing "Help"
and see why.
Here is a flock that is
geared for In Adults. It has
all of the spark, spontaneity
and flash that today's youth
possess. Yet it has a gen
uinely classic wit that
makes it an adult movie.
Mike Kirkman,
Evaluation-Now
Remember the adult west
ern? This is adult rock 'n
roll!
Richard Lestor's direction
generates enough electricity
to light the screen for a full
two hours. He uses the cam
era in a most remarkable
way: it bobs, it rolls, it's in
focus, it's oui-of-focus.
Most importantly, it says
what Lestor is trying to say:
What's wrong with enjoying
life? In simple terms that's
what all the tommy rot
about Ringo's sacrificial
ring is for. Poor Ringo is
Wry Gasp
Ah, education, at last you have touched a soul some
where. Some poor, little unknown nobody has made his
voice heard. Now he is a man.
Last Sunday night was a most beneficial one for the
images of various "men" on campus. Echoing from these
hallowed halls were the delightful voices of our "mature"
boys in a chorus of most refined obscenities. Why even
the Marines In Viet Nam would have been proud of their
command of the language.
A continuous twenty minute recital was presented to
any unlucky soul who happened to have taken one too many
NoDoz. Clear tones ringing out into the night air gave old,
well-known expressions a unique freshness, similar to that
of swallowing vinegar when expecting tea.
The concert was not limited to a duet between frater
nities. No, some of the sweet-voiced children from another
section joined in to present their own variations on the
main theme.
How delightful it is to realize that not all males (this
is merely an assumption the voices were deep and came
from male housing units) not all of them, that is, are
here seeking shelter from tne bitter wind that blows khaki,
but that some of them (this is the ddightful part) are
actually learning to express themselves with resounding
effect.
They are learning to be men men of die world. They
can shout those unmentionable words now, rather than
saying them quietly to themselves or to a giggling group
of cohorts. Yes, true college men.
Perhaps they'll scare the Viet Cong.
God save the rest of us from a return performance
next weekend.
business manager
Wednesday, Feb. 9, 1966
What?
And we wonder if this is good. If the
possibility of being sued for libel was a
factor with which the ASUN committee
would have to come to terms, it would
undoubtedly result in more thought, more
caution on the part of the committee in
making up the book.
The ultimate result would be a more
objective book, which is the evaluating
committee's aim in the first place.
Neumeister plans to present a resolu
tion to the senators today, to the effect
that the Committee on Student Affairs in
vestigate further to determine their liabili
ty on giving approval to various activities
and publications.
We heartily endorse this proposed
resolution. It is about time that the
commitee members learn of the IK
ability they take on in their actions.
We question whether the committee
members should rule on publications such
as the faculty evaluation book in the first
place. One can understand why the com
mittee removed their approval of the
book; they should not be expected to be
held liable for a publication for which
students are willing to take responsibility.
There may not be (and probably is
not) an ideal solution to the problem which
ASUN faces with the faculty evaluation
book.
However, we strongly urge that the
book not be taken to the Regents for ap
proval. The faculty evaluation commit
tee should be kept closely under the
threat of libel, because the possibility of
libel suits arising from the book will tend
to make it a responsible, objective and
effective publication.
In lieu of Regents' approval, we
would suggest that the Committee on
Student Affairs support the book,
though not through an explicit official
sanction. If the committee did not
sanction the book officially, they prob
ably could not be found liable for the
contents of the book.
And their support would lend a cer
tain stature to the work of the evaluation
committee.
Finally, we question if libel suits would
arise from instructors whose course eval
uations were not complimentary. We be
lieve that professional university instruc
tors can take student criticism of their
courses, if it is responsible and objective.
And we believe that if the ques
tion of liability remains close to the
evaluation committee, a responsible
and objective book will be the result.
caught in the middle of an
international conspriacy to
ruin his good times and no
one can do a thing about
it.
Satire in its finest form is
the strongest adult feature.
In two short hours Scot
land Yard, scientific pro
gress, religion, Buckingham
Palace, James Bond, police
protection, the armed
forces, Fredrico Felini, the
Nassau police force, fairy
tales, espionage, World War
I, World War II and the
motion picture industry it
self are tossed off with sur
prising ease.
Sorry
Being a compendium of farce, absurdity
and comment selected arbitrarily by the
Editor. . .
High-placed government officials as
sure us that the recent instability in the
Rhodesian national government will in no
way affect the progress of IFC.
The menu at Iowa State University's
main cafeteria has gone heavily to
ham, since the Activities Center, with
its more than 50 student groups, relo
cated there. We were tempted to say
bull, but that does not conform to the
Ugh standards of this column (sheepish.)
Viet Nam Songbook
or
The Battle Hymn of the Republican
(Reprinted without permission of the
Daily Iowan.)
"Oh! My name is McNamara and I'm the
leader of the war. . .
To keep the Great Society, we godda keep
spendin' more.
We're willing to spend a billion a day,
To keep the whole world free
And all it has to do is accept U.S. policy.
Chorus:
We got bombs and guns and carriers, and
all the ships at sea
We fight against the Red Chinese who
aren't like you and me.
They live in holes and fight with stones and
it's a mystery
How they can stop the American boys
of the U.S. Infantry.
Oh, LBJ was heard to say,
'Mac, this is your war. . .
'It hurtz to put you in the drivers
seat. . .
But this much we can af-Ford.
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Another Vieivpoint
An Experience in
(Editor's Note: Here is
one university's experience
in the area of faculty evalu
tation.) Rochester, N.Y. (I.P.)
The "typical" professor in
the University of Rochest
er's College of Arts gets
an "A" for competence, in
terest in teaching well, and
friendliness, according to a
survey of undergraduates
recently released here.
However, about one out
of five received somewhat
lower ratings on the ability
to put across material "in
an interesting way" and w
stimulate independent
thinking and arouse the stu
dents' intellectual curiosi
ty. The survey, the first of
its kind at the University,
covered over 4,000 student
replies to a questionnaire
distributed last spring by a
faculty Committee on im
proving Instruction. The
student Committee on Edu
cational Policy helped to
distribute the forms.
Invitations to participate
went to 168 teachers, who
comprised a randomly se
lected 75 per cent sample
of the faculty of the College
of Arts and Science. Only
60 of those invited did not
take part; many of these
were not teaching an under
graduate course at the
time. A total of 4,180 ques
tionnaires was o b t a i n e d
from 117 classes, taught by
5
- in
About
Oh, war it is big business now,
and needs a big business man. . .
And that's the reason we bought
McNamara and his band."
Chorus:
Oh! the bombs fall on the Viet Cong,
Who keep getting in the way.
Johnson pumps the treasury to the tune of
a billion a day.
When Westmoreland leads the troops, the
fightin' is something grand
A credit to the U.S.A. is McNamara's
band.
approximately 50 per cent
of the faculty of the Col
lege. Students did not sign their
replies; results for each
class went only to the in
structor involved. The stu
dents were polled on such
points as: "How, clearly
does he (the instructor)
p r e s e n t his subject mat
ter?" "Is class time well
spent?"
The majority of the Col
lege faculty scored above
average on all points, and,
in most cases, were given
close to the top rating. Even
the 20 per cent rated lower
on teaching skills ran above
average.
In addition to rating the
professors, students were
asked for better acquaint
ance with the Instructors,
more and better examina
tions, better statements of
course objectives, and bet
ter grading procedures.
Ratings tended to be the
same for men and women,
for students with high and
low grades, and for fresh
men and upperclassmen,
according to Vincent Now
lis, professor of psychology
and chairman of the Com
mittee on Improving In
struction. Professor Nowlis pointed
out that the goals of the
survey were to provide the
committee with general in
formation, not identifiable
by course or instructor,
about strengths and weak
Mm
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ibis is m
lASTTRIfL
Thatl
Is it true that ROTC students will
get live ammunition when students on
the new GI bill of rights begin com
ing to the University?
How are the war veterans going to
attack the problem of registering?
From the Profound Comments Depart
ment: Said the student cinema critic: "The
movie wasn't as good as the advertise
ment said it would be."
The Daily Nebraskan has been blessed
by four outstanding cartoonists Gary
Hill, Jim Sandall, Ron Psota and Wayne
Moles. Unfortunately, we cannot afford to
pay them.
Any readers' contributions to the Fund
to Buy the Campus Cartoonists Pens, Ink,
Paper, Erasers and Other Materials
needed for the Job will be greatly ap
preciated. (Even Charlie Schulz doesn't write for
peanuts.)
On February 9, 1091, nothing hap
pened. Thus we had to omit our usual his
torical note of the day. Sorry about that!
Rating I
nesses in the quality
of undergraduate education,
as seen by students, and to
encourage more faculty
members to obtain student
opinion about their instruc
tion. Commenting on the re
sults of the survey and of
other types of student sur
veys, Professor Nowlis said,
"Recent publicity concern
ing the grading of professors
by students does not mean
that this is a new develop
ment in higher education.
The decision to use a stu
dent course opinion ques
tionnaire is usuRlly wholly
up to the individual teacher
and it Is usually only he
who reads the completed
forms.
At some colleges students
conduct their own surveys
and publish the results as a
kind of guide to courses.
While such guides may
help the student as a kind
of unofficial supplement to
the course catalog, they of
fer little help to the teach
er. "When inadequately done,
as must necessarily often
occur, the student guide
may foster false percept
ions on the part of both
teacher and student. In any
case, any survey of stu
dent opinion about Instruc
tion must be viewed as only
one of the many means by
which teacher and student
continually evaluate their
course."
Red War Hero
Dear Editor:
The viewpoint of Vol
taire Jr., in his recent let
ter, is based upon a serious
misunderstanding. He is en
raged that we not bury the
war hero in Arlington (cem
etery) because he was once
a Communist.
In fact, that is not the
only reason that he was de
nied burial A regulation
prhibits burial of any men
who served more than five
years in prison. The man
is question was thus dis
qualified. The only person
convinced his Communism
was directly involved is his
widow, who is hardly an
unbiased judge of the mat
ter. Naturally, Voltaire Jr.
will reply that the man's
prison record is not the
REAL reason. Anyone as
charged with wrath as this
fellow can be counted on to
always know the "real" rea
sons for public happenings,
even though no one else
does.
Unfortunately, such side
lines oracles tend to weary
most of us.
For the Facts
On Interviews
Dear Editor,
A very interesting exper
ience occurred lately, so in
teresting that I wanted to
share it with my fellow stu
dents. I am a member of an ex
ecutive board of an or
ganization on campus; it
could well be any of the or
ganizations. It has been my
recent experience to be part
of the interviewing board
that would choose the chair
men and assistant chair
men. I use the word experience,
because it has been just
that. Of course, a few could
not help but be prejudiced
as a friend, brother or sis
ter, walked into the inter
view. Some very good people
were chosen; they had good
interviews and had had ex
perience with the organiza
tion. The rest well, we
could have just put a broth
erhood, or sisterhood on the
board, or at least a room
mate. If only I had known! I
would have invited all my
faithful friends to go
through interviews.
Several hours later, the
committees were decided
and the members of the
exec board went back to
their respective living units.
Well, the committees had
almost been decided.
There was a phone call;
one of the members of the
exec board had remember
ed something of importance
to tell the president. What
was it? Chairmen by
phone?
Oh, well, is it really so
important that the chair
men have had experience in
the organization; is it real
ly so important that he or
she turns in an application
blank; is it really so Im
portant that they even both
er to go through inter
views? Why not just make instant
chairmen! But isn't it sad
that the leaders of an or
ganization can be deter
mined by so little?
At any rate, hurry, hur
ry! Call now, smile wide
and get your orders in ear
ly. (Avoid the rush.)
One Who Knows
Evaluation Again
Dear Editor:
The Faculty Evaluation
Book can and should be of
tremendous benefit to t h e
University, but unless
handled very carefully this
could become a vehicle for
unfounded student gripes
which could make some in
structors look "bad" just
because they are tough.
Many times I have seen
a student bitter toward an
instructor "narrow minded
ly" only because he re
ceived a poor grade. For
this reason, in the future
editions of this Faculty
Evaluation Book perhaps it
could be set up so that on
ly Juniors and seniors with
a 3.00 average may make
the evaluations, or some
thing else on this order
At Yale, the University
adopted apian whereby
honor students, following
graduation, would submit
OPINION
written appraisals of the
"Strengths and Weakness
es" of their education
These records would then
become part of the record
of any faculty member uF
for tenure. Of course at Ne.
braska it is "only for the
students benefit."
Another point to be wary
of is the fact that the "nor
mal" student will only eval"
uate the teachers he thought
were poor or those he prais.
es. Who knows the conse
quence of this!
A third point of caution
centers around those poor
teachers in general under-'
graduate courses who have
been around a long time
and who have a lot of in.
fluence and-or prestige at
the University. They may
be well-known within their
field in research, graduate
teaching, or some other as
pect of University life.
For this reason they at
tract other good teachers
and researchers in their
field. I would hate to see
a poor evaluation of these
people be the impetus to
send them elsewhere.
Fourthly, some instruct
ors have a valid reason for.
teaching in a certain way
which would not be clear to
the ' particular student at
the time but which would
make good sense to them
several years later, after
they hae been able to use
this previously misunder
stood teaching in their voca-'
tion.
In the Colleges of Dentis
try, Law, and Pharmacy, a
written evaluation of the in
structors is not necessary
because (1) the students in
most cases have no choice
of instructor or courses and
(2) the Colleges are small
enough that everyone knows
who the good and bad teach
ers are.
For these reasons l hope
the students in these three :
Colleges refrain from eval
uating their instructors as
I believe that evaluation of
the instructors in these Col
leges could only do more
harm than good.
If Ladd Lonnquist decides "
to evaluate the instructors
in these Colleges, I hope
he will first contact the re
spective Deans for advice.
I would like to wish Ladd
Lonnquist the best of luck
in compiling his data. I, as
many others, would like to
see the greatest accomplish
ment of Nebraska's first
Student Senate remain a
great accomplishment for
many years.
Bruce Beck
Quibs
The Union plan an orienta
tion for the surfing trip to
Florida. Who needs orienta
tion for Florida?
Terry Schaaf, newly elected
president of the Nebraska L'n.
ion program council, said he
Union will grow with -ie
campus m 1966-67. See you in
Selleck lot, Terry.
The word is out! Those men
having low grades this semes
ter will only be classified I S
. . . that means you won't
have to go until June or . .
Is the Harpooa really going
to be out the second week in
March?
Daily Nebraskan
Member Associated Collegiate
Prtu, National Advertising
Service, Incorporated. Published
at Room 51, Nebraska Union,
Lincoln, Nebraska.
TELEPHONE: 477-8711. Ex
tensions 2588, Z589 and 2590.
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