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friday, april 5, 1974
lincoln, nebraska vol. 97, no. 41
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Career chofces turn from,absiraci
By Ellyn He$J
College students today study major fields that are
directly job-oriented instead of theoretical, abstract
and purely academic, and the number is growing.
That's according to the Chronicle of Higher
Education (Feb. 4), ?. weekly newspaper, which said
the "focus on practicality" is causing falling
enrollment in humanities and stable social science
enrollments. '
Newsweek columnist Kermit Lansner said that'
compared with students in the 1960s, students of the
1970s "seem to be a study in opposites, combining an
intense sense of their private and interior worlds with
a most practical view of the prospects before them.
"They have not lost thdr deals, but they insist on
having a way to turn them to reality," ho said.'
Newsweek, March 11, 1974)
Students interviewed at UNL still are taking
courses with happiness in mind.
Kim Janney, a sophomore from Lincoln who
declared a pre-medicins major this year, said he did so
because of his interest in the field.
"I wanted to do something that I would be happy
and interested in doing for the rest of my life," he
said.
Allan Halfar, a senior from Lincoln, said when he
declared a second major in journalism after earning a
degree in sociology, it was because he was interested
in the field.
"Jobs were not foremost in my mind," he said.
One of the main reasons Steve Seiko, a sophornora
from Lincoln declared a pre dentistry major this year
was that he Is familiar with dentistry, He said another
reason for his decision was that it required a broad
academic base.
UNL undergraduates seem to mirror the national
trend toward job-oriented major courses and,
according to some UNL educators, the reason for the
shift is that students want jobs In their major fields
when they are graduated.
According to statistics from individual colleges,
the number of declared majors in chemistry, biology,
computer sciencs, French, Latin American and
international studies, journalism, microbiology, pre
forestry and pre veteranarian science has Increased
about 20 or more since the first semester of the
1 57 M 972 academic year. . . . .
By contrast, the number of declared majors in art,
philosophy, sociology, Spanish, engineering, English
and economics has dropped approximately 20 or
more during the same period.
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Dy Wei ASbers
The pace of PACE has slowed considerably since
its beginning two years ego, causing some of Its
originators to call the program a disappointment.
Preliminary totals place contributions to the
Program of Active Commitment to Education
(PACE)-? scholarship fund for low income
students-at 15,300 for second semester 1973 74,
according to UNL Comptroller Robert Levitt.
This compares with $23,179 raised first semester
1971-72, the first regular session semester PACE was
in effect. ,
Jack Ritchie, director of the Of fits of Scholarships
and Financial Aids, said Wednesday that
contributions to the program had stabilized around
.$7,500 for the past two semesters. '
Tha PACE sdtobwsMp w&i conceived by an ASU.'J
ad hoe committee in 1370 cftef cutbacks were mad
In stat md federal scholarship fundi for Jow Income
students.
Under the present system, optional contributions
of $3.50 can be made by PACE each semester by
students checking the appropriate box on their
tuition statements.
UNL student Ann Pedersen, 'cochalrman "of
AS UN's PACE committee in 1971, cafed the present
program a disappointment.
"We had hoped it would generate much mors
money than it is r.cui!!y doing," she said this week.
"But I guess if it helps evert five or 10 people gs to
school it's stilt not a failure."
Ritchie said about tQ students hav received foefa
f ran PACE this yea. .
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' UNL studentst enrollment has dropped about 1
tinea 1971, from 21,541 to 21,160 students.
Included in the 1 figure are 200 pharmacy students
now registered at the University of Nebraska Medical
Center (UNMQ in Omaha.
Applications to NU colleges of medicine and law
have Increased 35 and 23 respectively since 1970.
,ln 1973, the Law School admitted 160 or 18 of 850
applicants, 34 of which were women.
That's up 2 from 1972, when applicants
numbered 1,000 and 160 students were admitted.
According to Henry Grether, dean of College of Law,
only 700 applications have been received in 1974.
Lack of interest?
Not so, according to Grether. A national pre law
handbook published in 1973 tells students what
minimum Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) scores
and grade point averages (GPA) individual law
colleges require for admission.
Grether said it could be a reason for the drop in
the number of applications.
"It looks as though the quality of applications is
up this year over last year," Grether said. The median
LSAT score this year was 580 points out of 800 and
the median GPA hovered around 3.3, Grether said.
Assistant Law College Dean Donald Shaneyfelt
said there is no difficulty placing law school graduates
in job situations, adding that nationally 52 of law
school graduates do not practice law.
Grether said often law school graduates use their
legal background in business or engineering, for
example.
Students in pre medical courses have increased
131 since the 1971-1972 academic year, according
to UNL College of Arts and Sciences records. During
that time the number cf declared pre medical majors
Increased approximately 8.
ins nyr-.bcr ot declared chemistry majors
.J C?o, b;o!ogy,jrrisiofji83 fend microbiology
The nt;mb?r of declared zoology majors
decreased 34.
UNMC statistics show that since 1968, the average
annual increase in applications was 200. The average
annual increase in admissions for the same period is
12.
Nine out of every 10 applications to the NU
College of Medicine are rejected. That figure hasn't
changed much since 1963, when statistics showed
that 8 out of every 10 applicants were rejected.
In July 1973, 145 (9) of the 1,373 applicants
were accepted by the medical school.
"I don't think students realize the competition to
get into medical school is as rough as it is, said Paul
Landolt, UNL chief pre medical adviser.
Landolt said there are two reasons for the increase
in the number of students trying to enter medical
school. '
First, a national application service lets students
apply to five schools for $30. Previously, students
paid at least $10 for every application.
Second, he said more and more students want to .
be assured of a job when they finish college.
Landolt said he always asks students changing
their majors to pre-medical courses: "What made you
suddenly decide that you wanted to go into
medicine?"
"I tell them that if they are getting into medicine
just to get a job that I don't think they have much of
a chance against someone who made up his mind a
long time ago that that was what he wanted to be,"
Landolt said.
He said he thinks that more students study
medicine who "really want to get into something
where they can help people." Some applicants are
more sincere than others, he added.
See Careers, Page 2.
SUN president
may change jobs
Newly elected ASUN president Ron Ciingenpeel
said Thursday he "has made no decision" about
applying for a position at Drake University at Des
Moines.
Ciingenpeel i3id he received a letter Tuesday that
stated a 9 month job coordinating volunteer efforts
was open. The position would begin in September, he
"It sounds like a good job, but I ran for ASUN and
that's a big consideration, probably the major
.consideration at this time," Ciingenpeel scid.
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