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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 1969)
Gurricu by Jim Pedersen Ncbraskan Staff Writer ' "Students now have voting mem bership on a committee which will set new courses and change existing curriculum in the College of Arts and Sciences. This is the first time in the history of the college that students have been included in this capacity in cur riculum matters, according to Walter Bruning, assistant dean of the Arts and Sciences college. THE RECENTLY revamped Course of Study Committee has been renamed the Curriculum Committee and will include three voting student members and nine faculty members. The original committee was composed of 22 members, one representative from each department in Arts and Sciences. The three student members will serve one year terms and must be juniors or seniors. If the student is FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1969 , 1 : 1 &: I ;t 7 v. . 1 1 ProL James H. Looker (left explains the chemistry department's honors program to Prof. Donald W ht;it. : i iu. , . .. iuuici wuu Grapes, iscussed a by Bill Smitherman Nebraskan Staff Writer Hyde Park Thursday was dominated by the personalities of Phil Metcalf and Elbert Hill discussing the boycott of California grapes, institutional racism and religion. Metcalf said that institutional racism is a very real issue at the University and cited some examples, charging that the University is not facing up to these problems. THE REGENTS are aiding minority students, however, many qf them have low I.Q.'s and don't last long at the University, Metcalf said. By the same token, he continued, the University is continuing to buy California grapes. The opposition of Student Senate has been ineffectual, he said. He said there will be a meeting of SDS Tuesday evening to organize ? more effective grape boycott. The cOS gram hones to work with the Lincoln Committee of 1000 in further ing the action in all parts of Lincoln. HE CITED University expansion into the Malone area as another in stance of institutional racism. The tame man who purchases land and Souses in the district for the Uni versity is resnonsible for appraising this property, Metcalf said. Ray Vavak asked the audience if anyone could give him a good reason for staying in a religion course. He said that he had doubts about taking the course because it just didn't seem to be the thing to do. Elbert Hill answered that Vavak might be making a mistake taking Ihe course because he was taking it wjth the wrong attitude. Religion courses are basically for the religious, he continued. "IF YOU GO into a religion course thinking that it's not your thing, you'll come out certain that it's not your thing," Hill said. In response to a question, Vavak ' said that he is studying how religion relates ti modern life. , A comment from the audience said that it is valuable to get several opi nions and then draw conclusions. The audience member continued that he didn't think that the course was a waste at all. YOU CAN'T be a success witli mm a junior, he may succeed himself on the committee. INITIAL TERM members have been elected from the Arts and Sciences Advisory board. They are Nancy Eaton, Sherl Wentzel and Susie Jenkins. According to Bruning, the advisory board will be responsible for deter mining the method of selecting the student members in future years. BRUNING, WHO is responsible for much of the revision in the Cur riculum Committee, said Thursday that students are being asked to "come in and see how we do things with the curriculum and help us do those things." , The new committee was approved Jan. 9 by a full faculty meeting of the college, he added. The committee will continue to provide for the discussion of curriculum questions. "BEFORE REVISION, the com- t"9 9 is cvaiudung uie program ior me racism religion, Vavak said. Hill answered that success depends on your concept of success. "If success means acceptance to you, then all right," Hill said. "But, I think that success is being able to do my thing." One has to make the distinction The f j& in rrtfci i .... t iff) t a Hyde Park Calculating 1040 A form not as 'taxing' as people believe, says IRS employee bv Ron Talrott Nebraskan Staff Writer "With all the education they have, it's surprising how many students can't read through a simple tax form," Jack Schroeder, a local In ternal Revenue Service (IRS) employee, observed. Schroeder, who is a Taxpayer's Service Assistant, said that many students are confused about the Nebraska State Tax and the surtax. "MOST OF them don't realize that if a person makes less than $900 a year, he doesn't have to pay any tax. And if he doesn't have to pay the tax, he doesn't need to worry about the surtax," Schrtfeder added. SCHROEDER NOTED that the state income tax is covered by form 1040N ("N for Nebraska" he explained) available at the state capitol. If one is entitled to a Federal tax, refund, he is also entitled to a state refund, Schroeder said. If one has made more than $10,000 last year, or if he has received more than $200 in interest, he cannot use the 1040A form, according to Schroeder. In such a case, not common to students, the taxpayer completes the long 1040 form which commands him to "itemize your deductions" medical bills, insurance premiums, charitable contributions and other items. "IT ONLY becomes profitable to fill out the 1040 form when the total of one's itemized deductions exceeds ten per cent of his total income," Schroeder said. committee mittee of 22 was so large that it was unwieldy," Bruning continued. "We were motivated to reduce the size of the body by a desire to create a discussion group to deal with new courses and new programs. "We felt strongly that students should be included in the committee," he said, "because students often pro vide us with exceptionally good ideas for programs in the college." With students involved there should be many and varied points of view, according to Bruning. "This type of standing committee can address itself to m a n y different problems in course study," he added. "They can discuss group require ments; are they realistic? They can investigate the possibilities of new departments or independent study programs." HOWEVER, BRUNING emphasized that the committee cannot order the faculty to adopt its proposals. The o LINCOLN, university. between religion and humanism, Bob Harris commented. "We seem to be finding all sorts of "two-bit substitutes for God," he added. A GIRL from the audience said she thought that some kind of humanism was enough. It's that time again as University . A.1 i. e a eager anucipauoa oi monetary O , religion - I u ; I j "7V k . ... -:,.' N - 'I, ' . . - , i An Ni " j '': f1-;- .. , flciS final decision on any recommendation is up to the college faculty. "For instance, the whole faculty must vote on any committee proposal requesting a new major in the col lege," Bruning said. "The committee alone cannot create a new major or discard an existing one." The nine faculty positions on the committee will be filled from the fallowing departmental groupings: social sciences, two representatives; humanities, two representatives; languages, one representative; com munications and drama, one representative; life sciences, one representative; and physical sciences. two representatives. BY LIMITING the length of term to one year for three groups and- two years for three more groups, a rota tion will be established so that three faculty members must be replaced each year, but once elected will serve three year terms. Bruning will serve as secretary of ID) NEBRASKA Fate of honors depend The future of the honors and career scholars programs may depend to a great extent on student opinion and faculty evaluation of current pro grams, according to Prof. Donald W. Miller. Miller, who is head of the honors program in the mathematics depart ment, is conducting a survey of all University honors programs to determine the value of the programs and to develop a recommendation concerning their continuation and im provement. He said he will rely heavily on the judgment of the students and faculty members involved in the programs in determining their value. He is ar ranging to interview faculty members, but asked that students interested in the programs contact him to talk about their advantages and disad vantages. "I WANT TO REACH as many in terested students as I can," he said, adding that students should contact him at his office, 12th floor Oldfather Hall, University extention 2891. The honors systems will be com pared with those of other states, Miller commented. He plans to visit several universities to learn more about what is currently being done and what more can be done in the future. The basic assumption he is working on is that an honors program "is of definite value and should be a part of the student scene; that capable students should have an opportunity to progress at their own pace." This assumption is subject to change, though, should the facts warrant it, he added. The assumption, Miller indicated, is students tax their brains in e t r gains irom unae aam. voting the committee and will vote only in the case of ties. The chairman of the committee will be selected from, and by, the nine faculty members. In order to provide equitable repre sentation in all the departments, several restrictions were incorporated into the proposal for the committee. THE CHAIRMEN of departments are not eligible for membership, and committee members may not succeed themselves. No department may be represented on the committee two consecutive terms, nor can any department have two members on the committee simultaneously. The duties of the committee will be virtually the same as before the revision in structure. They are: To approve proposals for new courses. To approve proposals for major content changes of existing courses.. To act in an advisory manner in recommending proposals for new major areas of study. evoluations upon based on the hypothesis that a number of good students working together in one class tend to stimulate one another and thus learn more than when scattered at random throughout several classes. THE BIGGEST QUESTION in his mind is how the programs should be run. Miller intends to investigate the availability and attractiveness of honors courses to students. He said he also wants to find out from students what specific needs are to be served by the programs. For ex ' ample, he will inquire into whether students want to study in fields of fered only to honors students or whether they simply want to ac celerate their learning in the already available fields. To answer these questions. Miller plans to interview students as well as faculty members. He will be ex amining individual features of various Teaching Council encourages change by JOHN DVORAK NEBRASKAN STAFF WRITER The new Teaching Council will help NU faculty to develop and try new teaching methods, according to Dr. Thomas B. Thorson, chairman of the Faculty Senate Committee on Com mittees. Innovation and experimentation will be encouraged, Thorson said. The Council will dispense both money and information to the faculty. "NOW, TEACHERS who want to try a new project or method have some hope of getting the necessary money," he continued. Experimen tation was hampered previously because the faculty lacked sufficient money or time. The Teaching Council was proposed by an ad hoc faculty committee last year, Thorson explained. Tht Faculty Senate has "wholeheartedly" approv ed it and the Board of Regents also ratified it last fall. Acting Chancellor Merk Hobson will appoint Council members soon. The Teaching Council is "much needed," according to Dr. Henry L. Ablin, associate professor of electrical engineering. "I WAS concerned by the lack of quality m education. This will en courage improved teaching," said Ablin, a member of the original ad hoc committee. The chairman of that ad hoc com mittee. Dr. Vernon Williams of the psychology department, thinks that the Council will "enhance the im portance of teaching and improve what we are doing in the classroom." The Council will probably hammer out its own duties as it goes along, Williams said. He envisions three main duties for the group. IT COULD support individual ideas with grants of money. Teaching loads could be lightened for an in dividual teacher, and the Teaching Council would underwrite it. It could serve as a means of ex changing information. The Council could coordinate news from all parts of the campus about how various de partments are handling teaching. It could help certain areas of the University that are less well- developed than the others. NO SPECIFIC projects for the new MM students To submit two nominations to the college faculty each spring for each vacancy on the Executive com mittee. To submit, when appropriate, to the college faculty two nominees for membership on the Faculty Senate Committee on Committees. Bruning explained that the Ex ecutive Committee is an advisory group which the dean of the college, C. Peter Magrath, uses intensively in discussing the budget and faculty of the college. "STUDENTS THUS may be in directly helping to select top ad ministrative advisers in the college and even members of the important Faculty Senate Committee on Com mittees," he said. "The committee serves at the will of the faculty, however," Bruning ad ded. "Faculty have the final decision in establishing the curriculum." VOL. 92, NO. 60 programs programs in order to find which hav worked the best and which have been failures. THE REPORT ON the career scholars program should be ready in April, the report on the honors pro grams following in August. Work began late last semester, when Miller was granted a leave of absence which continues through next fall. The honors program gives students with superior ability a chance to work together in accelerated or in-depth studies which are not available to the average student. Participants in these classes are usually invited on the basis of their previous class performance, Miller explained. The career scholars program is very similar to the hqnors program. But it was designed specifically for students phmning"a career in educa tion. It was originated bv the Ford Foundation five years ago in order to encourage- superior students teach, Miller said. to Council have been formulated yet. Thorson said that a wide variety of projects could be undertaken. He mentioned the use of television in the classroom as an illustration. Urban problems might be a good project topic, according to another ad hoc committee member, Dr. Gerald E. Thompson. Departments often get in the way of each other, he added. A seminar arrangement could draw faculty and students from a number of departments together. The Teaching Council could also assist the faculty in planning new courses or developing educational materials, Thompson suggested. MONEY FOR various equipment needs could also come from the Teaching Council, according to com mittee member Ablin. No one seems to know how much money the Council would need or where that money would come from. Thompson said that no minimum sum exists. "Any amount would help," he said. "Of course almost nothing could be accomplished with less than $1,000." WILLIAMS, THE ad hoc committee chairman, commented that $20 to $50 thousand would "be gone in a hur ry." A minimum of about $20 thousand would be necessary, according to Ablin..This figure would increase year by year, he said. The money, said-Thompson, would presumably come from general ap propriations of the Unicameral. THORSON SAID that hopefully, some money for the Teaching Council would be earmarked specifically for the next biennium. He suggested that some outside funding might be available. The Council will probably get underway this semester, but will not go full speed until next fall, Thorson said. The Faculty Senate Committee on Committees has already nominated 12 potential Council members. The Chancellor will select six in the near future. In addition, ASUN has sub mitted the names of four students. Two will be chosen. ALONG WITH the six faculty members and two students, the Dean of Faculties and Dean of Student Af fairs will also be members. I m ' ., !. m ll M m m 1 ll m m if ll! t ill 11 i 8 1 it , f k f f t 1 t 1 y s J t 4 ' -4b, -..b-w. 4k. 4. 4 ji.. m. fc-i
