WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1971 LINCOLN, NEBRASKA VOL 95, NO. 30
AAagrath explains accreditation;
UNL gets 'clean bill of health'
by Linda Larson
UNL has been reaccreditcd
for five fyears and has been
asked to submit new proposed
doctoral programs for
accreditation, Interim
Chancellor C. Peter Magrath
said Tuesday at a news
conference in his office.
This is the outcome of a
visit in April by the North
Central Association of Colleges
and Secondary Schools.
THE REPORT refers to
UNL only and means another
accreditation visit in 1976,
Magrath said. The accreditation
applies to the total university
and not to specific programs or
departments, he said.
"1 think it's generally a fair
report," Magrath said. "It gives
us a clean bill of health."
Although :he maximum
renewal the Association gives is
1 0 years, there is a trend
toward moving to a seven year
maximum, he said.
MAGRATH SAID he isn't
disturbed by the five-year
renewal in the context of the
new trend.
Inadequate funding is one
of the University's biggest
problems in all areas, especially
in doctoral programs,
according to the report.
"Of the 45 doctoral
programs offered, only six are
mentioned as adequate in the
recent American Council on
Education survey, all of them
ranking nationally after from
37 to 55 others," the report
said.
THE NUMBER of programs
will be gradually reduced,
according to Magrath.
Sammy ceremony
comes under fire
A complaint was filed
Tuesday with the City Health
Department against the Sigma
Alpha Mu Spirit Bonfire. Susan
Goldshorough, Sando? Hall
Residence Director, filed the
complaint to protest the
bonfire which is scheduled lo
burn until Saturday's football
game with Colorado.
She said the bonfire is
"indicative of the lack of
concern by the UNL student
body for the environment."
She said the bonfire comes at
in ironic time as it will burn
for the week designated
as National Clean Air Week.
The SAM spirit-week was
highlighted by a rally Monday
night featuring Nebraska Coach
Bob Dcvancy and members of
the Cornhusker squad.
A spokesman for the
Lincoln I ire Department said
only leaves and grass are
allowed to be burned in the
city and they must be
supervised at all times. The
SAM fire will be fed by logs
and cardboard.
However, the fraternity has
"We have already suspended
activity in three doctoral
programs," he said. "We have
been overly ambitious in trying
to get into some areas."
The report expresses
concern over relations in the
merger of UNL and UNO and
stresses the importance of
immediately solving the
problems.
Making the merger more
effective was acted on in the
Regents meeting in Scottsbluff,
according to Magrath.
THE REPORT also stresses
the need for a better recreation
and intramural program for
students. The post of Director
of Intramural Programs has
been filled, Magrath said.
' T he question of
employment and advancement
opportunities for women in the
University" is raised in the
report. "There is a great lack of
women professional staff, with
only one woman in a position
of major administrative
responsibility," it states.
The report said the
programs of student
involvement in both
curriculum and academic
planning are a major strength
of the University. It also cites
working relationships with
faculty and students and the
"Help Line" as major
strengths.
"AS STATE universities go,
the Lincoln campuses of the
University of Nebraska are
probably about par for the
course-better than many, not
as good as the best," the report
concludes. "The. challenge is
there to be better."
If UNL develops new
obtained a special "ceremonial
fire" permit, which allows
them to burn materials other
than grass and leaves.
Goldshorough said the
choice of fodder is of some
importance as the cardboard
could be recycled. But I he
bigger issue is "cleaning up the
atmosphere."
S..c said although Lincoln
doesn't suffer visibly from air
pollution the atmosphere
suffers as a result of any
pollution. In addition, she
noted that the fire will smolder
and pour out more smoke in
the event of rain. "They can"!
predict the weather for five
days," she said.
She said she had not talked
to SAM members about the
bonfire because "I found so
little understanding among
students that I went straight lo
the Health Board."
The complaint could be
filed against the fire as a
nuisance because of the
nearness to Sandoz Hall or on
environmental grounds, she
said.
doctoral programs it must go
to the Association for
accreditation, but it can
consolidate existing programs
without consultation, Magrath
said.
EXPLAINING the way the
North Central Association
works, Magrath said it notifies
the University a year in
advance that it will be
evaluating it. A visiting team
then wanders around the
campus for a few days and
writes an evaluation of its
problems, according to
Magrath.
A representative from the
team then meets with a
committee of the commission
and then the committee writes
the report, he said.
Magrath said the reason for
requiring submittal of new
doctoral programs is that the
Association doubts UNL has
adequate resources for the
number of doctoral programs it
currently has.
"IF WE WANT to commit
new resources we'd better
make sure the institution can
afford it," he said.
The most encouraging part
of the report is that it gives the
University a "clean bill of
health," Magrath said.
"I think it is useful," he
commented. "But sometimes I
question how valid an
assessment can be made in four
or five days."
THERE IS value in
compelling a University to
assess and reassess itself,
Magrath said.
Many of the suggestions for
improvement in the report
have already been acted upon,
he said.
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Chambers. . .doubtful about penal reform.
Speakers, audience
clash at Teach-in
by H. J. Cummins
Prisons, politics and
citizens role in penal reform
turned Tuesday morning's
Prison Reform Teach- In
speeches into a free-for-all as
speakers and members "tn the
audience clashed on the
approach and schedule for
reform in Lincoln's
penitentiary.
State Senator Ernest
Chambers of Omaha, scheduled
for the morning address with
Galen Kuchel of the Nebraska
State Crime Commission and
the UNO Law Enforcement
Department, said "there is no
rehabilitation in Lincoln," and
he added he doubts the
Legislature's Law Enforcement
and Judiciary Advisory
Committee will do anything
about it.
Debris in front of Sigma Alpha Mu awaits
THAT IS WHY he hasn't
attended any of the
committee's meetings, he said,
although he is a member of it.
Kuchel said he agreeds with
Chambers' analysis of the
Lincoln prison, calling the
institution a "place that does
not get the job done it's
supposed to do."
He disagreed with
Chambers' charges that the
Judiciary Committee is not
trying to accomplish reform,
though. He said the committee
is "attempting to move to
different types of institutions"
from traditional prisons.
Senator Roland Luedtke, in
the audience, was invited to
answer charges against the
committee leveled by
Chambers. Luedtke chairs the
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