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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (July 21, 1970)
i "t- r J r t 1 ' f : r r 1 t TUESDAY, JULY 21, 1970 LINCOLN, NEBRASKA NO. 6 Black administrator leaves s 1 i, t "' if 'Yttm m iwimnnnnimniM winmiMiiiiMMaimi 1 )"j i- Uliw 'Indians' cast cavorts. Dry weeks increase need of financial aid The long dry spell in Nebraska has caused an increased number of student requests for financial aid, according to Dr. Ed Lundak, director of scholarships and financial aids. Since the summer orientation program began, Lundak said, the financial aids office has had at least a thousand parents asking for reconsideration of their requests for financial aid for their children's education. "About a third of these were farm people who were severely hurt finan cially by the dry spell," he said. "So far we have been able to help most of them, but we're stretching it thin," he continued. "We're, not able to help as much as we'd like to." He said that many of the families who would never before have considered taking out loans for education have ap plied for federally insured loans as the only way. July 24 deadline for application July 24 Is the deadline for applications for degrees at the August commence ment exercises, according to Shirley Thomson, assistant director of registra tion and records. Application for both bachelor and ad vanced degrees can be made at in formation window three In the ad ministration building for the August 25 graduation. Centennial College camely' pride, By Beth Bohlinfi "Centennial College started a lot of people thinking . . ." Kathy Cook, Centennial Scholar from Omaha, paused, searching for the words to complete her sentence. D KT3 n Centennial scholars rap in courtyard of the College. From left. Paul Jacobowski. Orestes Iguanzo, Kathy Lynn For review, see page 2. Minority student fund drive begun A committee set up by the Student Senate has begun a fund-raising drive to provide direct support for 100 new minority students at the university. The money collected from the drive will supplement the $100,000 grant funded by the U.S. Dept. of Health, Education and Welfare, according to Roy Baldwin, member of the committee. Bladwin said the HEW grant provides minority student counseling, advising and tutoring, but does not provide direct support, and that is the purpose of the fund-raising drive. The minority students have been recruited, Baldwin continued, and many of them plan to attend the university this fall if funds are available. A total of $70,000 is needed for 100 students. About $20,000 is now available from the University, Baldwin said. A non university donor will donate another $20,000-25,000 if the university can match that amount from other sources. Miles Tomeraasen, director of business and finance, said that $10,000 is available for matching these funds, but an addi tional $15,000-$20,000 must be raised. A booth and collection box has been set up in the north lobby of the Union to collect contributions for the fund, Baldwin said. Campus Tuesday, July 21 Paul Newman Film Series, "The Hustler" 7 p.m., Union. Wednesday, July 22 Secondary Education Luncheon, Speaker: Hilton Lewis, "Implementing Individualized Instruction at Nova High School," 11:45 a.m., Union. Repertory Theatre, "Oh What Lovely "Stop right there," broke in Scott Roman, Valentine. "That says it. It started us thinking." And Kim Hobson, Lincoln, agreed that the Centennial Education Program had provided a challenging atmosphere for I i. - r."'i . . mm Cossairt. Airs, dordon and John NU myst increase comirniitiiiYDen'&s to minority stwdents. Strong says The University of Nebraska has made some progress "but not much" In in creasing its commitment to minority group students, according to Walt Strong, one of the university's three black administrators. Strong, coordinator of special pro grams in the Office of Student Affairs, has resigned, effective September 1. He will become assistant dean of student affairs at the University of Illinois and will work part-time on his doctor's degree in political behavior. "I will not say the university is making much progress until it has at least 200 new minority students a year," Strong said. Now there are only about 250 black students and a total of 350 minority students on campus, he added. Strong said about 600 minority group students graduate from Nebraska high schools each year. Of these, only 85 came to the university last year, and that was because of extra recruitment programs. Before recruitment started, only about 25 minority high school graduates a year enrolled at the university. "This year we hope to have between 85 and 100 minority group students in the freshman class," he said. "That's still only a drop in the bucket. Most of the 600 students want a college education but can't attend for financial reasons." Strong described the university's present commitment to minority group problems as "small and token." "The University must, through its own institutional resources, its moral suasion, its leading role in the state as an educa tional institution and its status with the legislature, commit its resources not federal, but state and institutional resources in the form of direct financial assistance for minority group students," he said. "Then it will be fully com mitted." The $100,000 grant recently given to the University by the Dept. of Health, Education and Welfare came to NU primarily through the efforts of Strong and Haze Pope, a black counselor. Strong said. However, Strong said, "that is federal money and therefore It doesn't raise the university's commitment. The primary source of funds for minority students should not be federal. The responsibility still lies with the universi ty." Strong Is also concerned with the number of black persons in the ad ministration. Besides Strong there are two full-time black administrators and one black faculty member. Calendar War," 8:30 p.m., Howell Theatre. Thursday, July 23 Summer Film Series, "The Ipcress File," 7 p.m.. Union. Repertory Theatre, "Twelfth Night," 8:30 p.m., Howell Theatre. Friday, July 24 Repertory Theatre, "Oh, What a Lovely War," 8:30 p.m., Howell Theatre. the 176 students who took part in the University of Nebraska's innovation which last year offered what the university describes as "a fresh ap proach to the individual pursuit of higher learning." I mt . M -i mm mm Covert. l 'mil " . , i in ! t EH l "Unfortunately," he said, "that's a very low number. "The university should hire a black administrator that has some say-so in the higher echelons of the administra tion, where he is in a position not only to coordinate programs but to design, implement and make policy." Black programs have been most suc cessful at universities where the need for black administrators who can imple ment and make policy has been recognized, he added. Strong said the majority of his co workers "have come to gain apprecia tion of the problems of minority group students. Unfortunately these are not the people in the decision-making posi tions of the administration. These people "may have an intellec tual commitment, but no real commit ment," he said. "The university cannot work effectively to solve minority stu dent problems until there is a black administrator in a decision-making position. "The university has never made a policy statement on its commitment to minority group students," he con tinued. The state, he said, would not be receptive to such a policy statement and the university must look at the political situation. This has affected the willingness of the university to become committed. Comparing University efforts to those of universities in areas with sizable black communities, "the University of Nebraska is not forced to do anything," because Nebraska's black population is comparatively small, Strong said. He cited the black student demonstra tions on campus two years ago as the impetus for university involvement in black student problems. "The students were frustrated," he said. "The demonstrations were an attempt to get the university to recognize that they are here." The university has no black studies program other than a minor in Afro American studies, Strong said. "In order for a black studies program to be successful here, we must find innovative ways of funding black scholars," he said. However, he added, a black studies program "is not very viable unless the students participate. Do they both black and white students really want it?" As coordinator of special programs Strong worked with minority students in the areas of recruitment, counseling, tutoring and setting up cultural ac tivities. One problem at first, he said, was that, being one of the few persons in administration that the black students could Identify with, they "looked to me to all the answers to all their problems. But they have come to recognize that I am not a cure-all for all of their needs." Before working in student affairs, Strong was resident director of Abel Hall. He has also worked at the Whitehall Home for Children, as resident , advisor with the Lincoln Job Corps, and as a case worker with the New York City Dept. of Welfare. Although Centennial College is not in operation this summer, and its facilities In what was formerly Women's Residence Halls (Love and Heppner) are not air-conditioned, these three Centen nial Scholars had gathered in the July heat, one to pick up some materials so his German wouldn't get rusty over the summer, another to visit with "Sally" (Mrs. Robert Gordon, ad ministrative assistant), and a third just to see who was around. "It's been like Old Home Week every day since school was out," Beman remarked. Questioned about their reactions to Centennial College, whicr NU describes in a bulletin as providing "an alternative to standard, departmentalized educa tion," the three were specific about its advantages. "It taught me how to learn, that's the biggest accomplishment," Miss Cook said. Each Centennial Scholar (that's the official designation of students enrolled in Centennial College) devotes one-third of his work life to the Centennial Course, a seminar-type study of special problems combining aortal sciences, literature and the arts, philosophy, science and the humanities. Responsibility Each scholar is assumed to have prtimwy responsibility for his education. Next year, for Instance, a scholar or fellow (Unit's the professor) who has an Idea he'd like to pursue can post It on the bulletin board. Others In terested In the 9nne topic will form a group, set their own problems, discover their own information, and come to their own conclusions. The fallows meet with small groups of students and individual scholars If . ", 4 " Y - Walt Strong, who will leave the University Aug. 1, feels that University commitment to minority student problems should be increased. NU gets $100,000 grant for minority students The University of Nebraska has received a $100,000 special service pro ject grant from the Department of Health, Education and Welfare to finance on the Lincoln Campuses tutorial, advising and special instruction for racial minority group and low in come students. The grant is for the current year and is renewable annually. The grant will make special assistance available to 300 black students, primarily from the Omaha-Lincoln area; 100 low income white students, primarily from rural areas of Nebraska; 40 Mexican American students; 20 American Indian students, and S Oriental-American students. It will not, however, provide direct financial support to students. The purpose of this program is to provide supporting services to students in the form of direct counseling, tutoring, reading improvement instruction, cur riculum innovation, cultural program ming, academic advising, diagnostic testing, pre-college orientation and study methods instruction. freedom, formally and informally, as needed. Each student has a Fellow-Adviser. Beman, who came into the program at the beginning of second semester, said he thought the lines of communica tion were "fantastic." Not that everybody liked everybody else, he hastened' to add, but they managed to sit down and talk even with people they didn't like, recognizing that the other persons had contributions to make, too. Those who devised the Centennial Program, so-called because it was In itiated in the university's Centennial Year, planned that their community of Scholars should be representative of the entire student body, according to CEP literature. The announced goal is pro portionate numbers of students in various academic areas, as well as representation of minority groups and students from out-state. All publicity regarding the program defines it as "not an honors program." Dr. Robert E. Knoll, professor of English, is senior fellow, heading the CEP staff. He and fellow T. E. Beck Jr., also of the English Department, are credited by the students with originating the idea for the program. Other full-time fellows the past year included Dr. Jerry Petr, ho teaches economics in the College of Business Administration, and Dr. Philip Scribner, philosopher, whom Hobson described as valuable because of "his rapport with university students." Five part-time fellows represented the fields of electrical engineering, en tomology, history, physics and literature. A number of visiting authorities were also Invited to discuss their specialties. Mother Mrs. Gordon defined her Job as ad ministrative assistant and office 1 j V The service program is also committed to helping minority and low income students enhance their self-concept through increased awareness of their heritage and increased confidence in themselves and their abilities. "Four full-time and several part-time staff members will be added in the student development area," said Dr. Russell H. Brown, dean for student development. "We are seeking people whose experience is similar to the students'. They must understand the impact of entering a traditionally white, middle class university on students with different cultural and economic backgrounds". "Admission to the University has always been open to all. But in point-of-fact, some students, because of their backgrounds, are not fully equipped to take advantage of the opportunity the University offers. This is why we are delighted to get this grant and open this program. It is designed to help these students close this gap and help make the ideal of a university education a reality," Dean Brown said. learning manager, but Beman said, "subtitle her 'mother in residence'." "We couldn't get along without Sally," Miss Cook agreed. "She takes care of the red tape so the fellows can spend their time with the students. Whatever needs doing, Sally gets done including mothering those who need mothering." She shares her "Mom" title with Miss Nancy Ryan whom the students described as a cross between a graduate assistant and a residence director. Tlie trio of scholars stressed freedom as a major attribute of Centennial College. There was no central govern ment, they said, no real rules, just peer group pressure. Each student was responsible for himself, and Hobson noted that the prevailing atmosphere was one of respect for other people. The three agreed that there were about twice as many activities for Centennial College last year as were plunned by dorm governments in the other residences. They attributed this to the atmosphere of freedom Anybody who wanted to bring in a speaker could do so without checking with anyone else, merely by posting a notice on the bulletin board that the speaker would be there. Another benefit of life at Centennial, they said, was that a student could go to a concert and bring home the performers. They remarked that nearly every speaker brought to the campus by the university ended up In the Centennial Commons afterwards, visiting Informally with the residents. "It was like Centennial College belonged to us," Miss Cook said, "like home, like a family." The trio evidenced "family", pride In talking about the participation of Continued en Page 1 V 5'