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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 6, 1972)
cfai n u friday, October 6, 1972 lincoln, nebraska vol. 96, no. 20 - , Task force probes dorm life s if I" I' - . f ; , rt.. nni . . i , ( f . i -, . -.1 3 j; O t-fZ . conducive tu living? I Dormitory design Regents to meet at UN0S The Board of Regents will be holding its regular monthly meeting at the University of Nebraska at Omaha Milo Bale Student Center Saturday. The meeting starts at 10 a.m. The board's preliminary agenda indicates little other than routine business is planned. The board reportedly will name an architect for the new East Campus Union, although that item is not listed on the agenda. The board also is scheduled to approve the appointment of Richard C. Armstrong as UNL Director of Housing. Armstrong's salary will be $21,300 a year. Also according to the agenda, the board will be asked to annnint Marl C i-iarlnac ac accictant tn I IMI Vir-o Phanrollnr nf Academic Affairs Virginia Trotter. High-rise structures, immovable furniture, many persons living on a dormitory floor these are just some aspects of dormitory life being studied by a subcommittee of the Environmental Task Force. The subcommittee is investigating the sociological and psychological effects of dormitory living on residents. According to subcommittee chairman Joseph McCarty, his group will conduct a behavioral study of one campus dormitory to find out if dormitory design is conducive to living. The subcommittee will rely primarily on observation. Interviews and questionnaires and possibly psychological testing also will be used. "We want to go slowly enough to keep the study credible," McCarty said. "The approach we take should be a scientific one." He said the group is serious, but we don't have a lot of expertise. We're trying to get the advice of people within the University who have more experience." Robert Brown of the Counseling service and Gary Martin of the University Health Center are assisting the subcommittee. The group plans to use some techniques used by Brown in an earlier study of Schramm Hall. Martin Peterson of the anthropology department and Ombudsman Jim Suter, an environmental psychologist, also are helping the subcommittee. "We're trying to involve many disciplines to get different viewpoints," McCarty said. He stressed that the men are acting only as interested individuals and not in an official capacity. McCarty, an architecture major, said he has studied dormitory environments for about a year, but not much information has been written on the subject. Dormitory studies have been done at the University of California at Berkeley and at Justin Morrill College at Michigan State University. "Their studies weren't carefully constructed scientific experiments," McCarty said. "They were a little arbitrary and superficial." "It's possible the study will last all year," McCarty said. "Our study will require a lot of manpower and a lot of work, but I'm optimistic that it will be a learning experience for everyone." The group hopes to have its study approved by the University Housing Policy Committee and the Residence Hall Association. "We hope to arrive at some reasonable suggestions for the future design of dormitories and also to suggest possible uses for present dorms," McCarty said. Pub Board vacancies persist Completion of the Publication Board, which governs UNL Student publications, is still waiting on the submission of a list of student names to the Council on Student Life (CSL) by ASUN. Faculty appointments to the board have been completed, CSL Chairman Donald Shaneyfelt indicated Thursday night. ASUN President Bruce Beecher was to 'submit five student names for consideration at this week's CSL meeting, but he said his efforts were plagued by apparent lack of students interested in serving on the board. This week CSL came closer to moving the student conduct code and disciplinary procedure drafts out of CSL and on to the other channels the drafts will have to pass before becoming official University policy. After discussion final changes were made on the two documents CSL has been revising and reorganizing for more than a year. New member Dave Perry volunteered to be the CSL member requested by Vice Chancellor Ken Bader for a committee on student fees. Asst. Prof. Jack Goebel, a faculty CSL member, said CSL may have trouble finding faculty members for its subcommittees unless committee reports are more strongly pushed for action after they leave CSL. Advisers work for minorities' success by Shelly Kalkowski At the end of Seaton Hall's second floor are three tiny offices. Inside each office is a counselor one for Chicanos, one for blacks, one for American Indians. The offices belong to the Special Services division of the University's Office of Minority Affairs. Special Services was formed in the fall of 1969 to help minority students succeed in college life. Chicano counselor Joe Renteria said the services' main concerns are academic, occupational, cultural and psychological counseling. Renteria said he advises about 50 Mexican Americans. Renteria said he tries to encourage students to come in through the Mexican American Student Association. He is a financial advisor for the organization. Both Estell Collins and John Arbuckle, counselors for Blacks and American Indians respectively, came to UNL last July. Arbuckle said there are 21 American i 1 f Indian students on the campus, and 12 are freshmen. He spends Wednesdays talking with the 24 American Indian students at UNO. "One of my goals is not recruitment," Arbuckle said. "It's just keeping them (American Indian students) in school and having them graduate." The 30-year old Chippewa said he spends time working with the Indians in the Lincoln community. He is seeking money to be used to start classes in American Indian history and culture and to provide legal aid for Indians in the city environment, Arbuckle said. All three counselors agreed most of their time was spent in people contact rather than with paper work. Besides working a 40 hour week, Collins spends at least three nights a week attending various organizational meetings. Among organizations she works with are two she helped form: the Women's Awareness Group and the Minority Graduate Student Organization. 0 . The Women s Awareness uroup is a discussion group for various cultural and ethnic interests centered on the role of women. The Minority Graduate Student Organization is for all graduate students who are not American caucasions. Collins said most of their programs still are in the planning stage. Special "1 vices is not just for minorities. Collins has developed a vocational library with listings of occupational opportunities from all the states. It is open to everyone. Discussing her work with the approximately 120 black UNL students, Collins said: "They really need someone to back them up, to work with them in terms of change." Another Special Services program helps minority high school students prepare for college. The program is called Educational Planning. Counselors go to various communities and talk with students and their parents, advise them about what the University has to offer and help with admission and registration forms. V j I " H. v " V S "''Itl' -- - - T- ifrn-g wUMtB W M I IB WIHWM BBUBIiMllltllB 1 1IMMI1II1 Mil. Ill .11 11 1 Joe Renteria Estell Collins John Arbuckle