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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 25, 1974)
coy ftil!Msfe(n) .thursday, apri! 25, 1974 lincoln, nebraska vol. 97, no. 51 v. : 'HEP prepares for jobs, college By Pat Moynihan - The High School Equivalency Program (HEP) has been operating in the basement of the 501 Bldg. for six years, yet many UNL Students are not aware of its existence, according to director Victor Resendez. HEP's purpose is to help migratory and seasonal workers receive their high school diplomas to place them in college or a good job, Resendez said. The program is funded by the U.S. Department of Labor through the Human Resources Foundation at UNL. The program's capacity is 50 students, Resendez said, but the average participation is about 45 students. These students, ranging in age from 17 to 24, are referred to the program by other migratory and governmental agencies such as the US. Employment Service, he said. A great number of students also are referred to the HEP by former students, he said. . "Almost 13 of our students were informed about the program by relatives," he added. The majority of HEP students are Mexican-Americans, Resendez said, but blacks, whites, Puerto Ricans, and Indians also are involved. "Their families are from Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona," he said, "but they migrate northwards to work the fields, especially the beet fields of western Nebraska." The students live in the Abel-Sandoz Residence Halls with University students, he said, and many take part in hall activities, especially sports prograrps. . However, he added, HEP also sponsors recreational activities such as , roller skating parties, record . hops, and swimming parties. . : "These kids are a long way from home," he said, "and we do our best to keep them from getting homesick." HEP's goal is to prepare students for the General Educational Development tests (GED) that determine if the, student will receive his high school diploma. The students usually finish t.he course in five months, Resendez said, but the teachers decide when a student is prepared. A letter of recommendation is required from HEP before a student is allowed to take the test. . ' The Lincoln testing center is in Whittier Junior High School, where the state gives the teits Monday through Friday. Classes are held in the basement of the 501 Bldg. weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 3;3U p.m. rive teacners ami uneu teachers' aides- instruct the five mandatory GED courses: history, science, literature, mathematics and grammar. Students are also allowed one elective, Resendez said, such as- art, typing, shorthand, or law. The law course was started this semester by several UNL Law College volunteers, Resendez . said, and it has proved very successful. "They are teaching these students the . fundamental rights and obligations of being a U.S. citizen," he said. Education, however, is not the only function of HEP, he noted. Placement also is a very important part of the job. Perhaps only three students from one class will go on to attend UNL, Resendez said. Most return to junior colleges or jobs in their home towns. Resendez, who has been HEP director for one year, said he was satisfied with the present program. He said he would like to ;see more students take advantage of the program. "I would also like to see more UNL students become involved in the program as tutors or individual counselors," ha said. . . J ehraskan' editor 'smarter, practical' By Mark Hoffman Seven years ago Wayne Kreuscher was editor of the Daily Nebraskan, a newspaper accused of being controlled by radicals. , Within two months he will be a lawyer with an Indianapolis corporate law f irm. Has he changed? "It has been seven years since I was editor," Kreuscher, 28, said last week," and in those seven years I hope I have matured some-a little smarter, a little more practical . . . have a little more interest in (my) future." H began his 2-semester term as, editor with an editorial (Sept. 14, 196G) in which he noted that University administrators had attacked the previous eme$ter't editor for being "tactless, impulsive and irresponsible." "The truth of the matter is," he wrote, "she put out a good newspaper that represented the students against the hodgepodge of secrecy, confusion and politics in many of the administrators' offices." The Free University, a program offering tuition-free classes usually not available in the UNL curriculum, and the Student Bill of Rights began during the next two semesters then and with them came a question Kreuscher often voiced in his editorials: (Feb. 3, 1967) "While centering around different aspects, both thy Bill of Rights and the Free University are asking the same question: what type of education are students at Nebraska getting?" While Kreuscher was editor, UNL sophomore jo F laugher flaunted UNL authority by moving from her sorority house to an off campus apartment "because," she said, "I cannot afford to pay the $35 a month house or dorm bill in addition to tuition," according to a Daily Nebraskan article. This violated UNL policy which required all unmarried undergraduate students, not living with their parents during the school year, to live in residences approved by th daan of Student Affairs. Kreuscher devoted an editorial (Feb. 20, 1967) to Helen Snyder, associate dean of Student Affairs, who was in charge of enforcing the ruling. He wrote: "Dean Snyder apparently thinks that a majority of students and their parents will believe her when she says that noisy, overpriced and often inadequate University housing 'is a part of a person's total experience at the University' ... "The Daily Nebraskan feels sorry for Dean Snyder." i ' . r , - . The regents rejected a proposal that semester which would have allowed coed visitation in dormitory rooms. Their action prompted Kreuscher's editorial reply (April 24, 1967): "University students are urged to be responsible, to seek change through proper channels . . . yet when students are responsible and use the right channels, the truth is that they still want to be successful. They want to see results." UNL students also were aware of national concerns during the mid '60s. The Vietnam war was one of those issues. A number of UNL students, in protest of the war and particularly napalm bombings, proposed , to organize "Operation Marshmallow." "Operation Marshmallow" was to be a relief food fund of marsh ma Hows sent by the United States to Vietnamn, "But think of the pragmatism suggested by a heartwarming scene of a smiling Vietnamese child toasting the marshmallow over a flaming right arm!", and "the thought of a fresh marshmallow sizzling over the embers of a ruined peasant cottaoo." student! wrote to the Daily Nebraskan'i "Campus Opinion." Kreuscher replied with this editorial (Oct. 3, 19G6): "The Daily Nebraskan, joining the majority of university publications throughout the United States, agrees that Johnson's Vietnam policy is wrong in many ways find "possibly detrimental to the aimi it i trying to accomplish." But he went on to say: "The Daily Nebraskan objects to any type of demonstration or campaign, no matter how funny, which does not put Nebraska students firmly behind the men who are fighting-regardless of the policy." Today he says, "I wish I could destroy all the copies of that editorial." His attitude changod and by his senior year, Kreuscher and msny of his friends were working for Eu'jcne McCarthy's Democratic presidential bid against President Lyndon Johnson and sgainst Johnson's war policy. The Vietnam War became a flaming issue on the .UNL campus in 1970 with the student takeover, of the Military ! and Naval Science Building -and Kreuscher took notice. "People felt that organized action could do more good" such as campaigning for McCarthy, Kreuscher said. "My. feeling is that I was sorry we (Kreuscher and his friends) hadn't done it, sorry we didn't have more active protest," he said. Kreuscher's class was a class in transition, he said. He described it as "the most liberal" up until that time, yet more conservative in lifestyle than students of today. "It appears ... on the surface at least," he said, "students' life styles are more liberal, more individualistic today." "Philosophically we were completely prepared ... for the (life styles) that students have today," r? r Kreuscher said. That philosophy put the Daily Nebraskan and him under fire during the ASUN elections campaign in 1987. The top two presidential candidates were Dick Schulze, supported by a conservative group, and RiwiS Pfeifer, eventually endorsed by the Daily Nebraskan. Kreuscher said the conservative group was concerned that people in his class running for ASUN executive positions were a threat to the University. The conservatives thought them a threat because of their involvement with Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), because their hair was longer, and because they believed in allowing women to live off campus, he added. Before the election, the Daily Nebraskan was charged with being "controlled by radicals." The charge came in the Tombstone Epitaph, a publication supported by the conservative group, Kreuscher said. See Kreuscher, Page 9 L Wayhsj Kreuscher ,....4 rJ , - '