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monday, february 3, 1975 lincoln, nebraska vol. 98 no. 75
Ny I
'" ,;.'S I
SUN, others may adopt
British 'open university'
V
M- 1
Melvin George, academic
University of Mid-America
Photo by Kevin Higley
affairs vice president of the
By Paula Damke
Plans for the proposed American adaptations
of British open university courses have been
submitted to the Exxon Education Foundation '
for possible funding.
Melvin George, the academic .affairs vice
president of the University of Mid-American
(UMA), said, assuming that UMA obtains
necessary funds, course adaptations may be
available in 1976.
George and UMA Executive Vice President
Jack McBride recently returned from a second
visit with open university officials in London.
George said the British officials were eager to
work with UMA and have agreed on preliminary
adaptation courses for UMA, of which the State
University of Nebraska (SUN) is a part.
Experimental project
SUN is an experimental open-learning project
using various media, including television, to offer
college study to people in their homes.
UMA is a combination of Nebraska, Iowa
State, Kansas, Kansas State and Missouri
universities, expanding SUN to three other states.
George said he estimates the adaptation would
cost about $75,000 or $80,000 to work up a
prototype for testing some of the British material
and' travel for consultants.
He said once UMA obtains financing, they can
start working jointly with open university
officials and make necessary course adjustments '
suitable for UMA.
British over more
"The British course covers a bigger chunk of
material than UMA wants," he said.
UMA George said, is especially interested in
an open university humanities course which
UMA would have to break down into more than
one course.
The humanities course, would be freshman
level and cover the areas of art, music, and
philosophy, he said.
George said the British humanities course lasts
32 weeks for 15 to 18 credit hours. The SUN
humanities course, he said, would last half as
long for three hours credit.
About 50,000 Britons are enrolled in the
Open University at Milton Keyes, England, 50
miles from London. ,
During their first London visit last year,
George said, he and McBride gathered
information for course development, counseling,
advising and testing used in the two SUN pilot
courses that began last fall.
Using available material
The UMA seeks to take advantage of materials
already available elsewhere, George said, as well
as to produce original courses, such as SUN's
Accounting I.
He said SUN has already developed a
forerunner to the British cooperative proposal,
adapting part of its second pilot course,
Introductory Psychology.
British open university courses, George said,
have been usedat Rutgers, Maryland and the
University of Houston in both on and off campus
programs.
"One of the essential ingredients in working
cooperative arrangements will be the involvement
of those three universities in these courses and
their adaption with UMA," he said.
Bank overdraft fees vary
Ir you plan to write a lot of bad checks this
year, a look into bank overdraft charges might
save you some money.
A recent survey of six Lincoln banks showed
bank attitudes toward overdrafts differ only
slightly, but the financial consequences of the
variations could be costly.
First National Lincoln is the least expensive
bank of those surveyed for overdrafts charges,
but in many cases the bank will not pay the
check if it amounts to an overdraft of more than
$2. The firm to which the bad check was written
might charge additionally for the check's return.
First National's service charge for overdrafts is
$3, but a representative of the bank's
bookkeeping department said several things enter
into that charge. If the checkwriter has bank
"connections," for example, he will be less likely
to get a returned check, the representative said.
The banks' spokesmen agreed a "satisfactory"
account will be more likely to be projected from
returned checks. Whether or not an account is
satisfactory depends on its tenure and record of
balance, the spokesmen said.
They also agreed the charge for overdrafts was
to cover the extra time and labor in handling the
checks (they must be processed more than once)
as well as to discourage future overdrafts.
An official at the Cornhusker Bank said
although the bank might make a profit on
overdrafts, the inconvenience outweighs it.
Bookkeeping representatives of other banks
said they could not determine the exact cost to
the banks for processing the checks.
The two highest charges for overdrafts of
those banks surveyed were Gateway Bank, which
has a branch office in the Nebraska Union, and
the National Bank of Commerce (NBC). Both
charge $5 for overdrafts, but Gateway's present
policy allows for a $25 overdraft before the
checks are returned.
The $5 charge includes a $1 maintenance fee
for the account until compensation for the
overdraft occurs, and the bank adds a 10 cent
service charge for succeeding checks. The fee
terminates at the end of the month, providing
the account is in the black at that time.
Other banks surveyed were Cornhusker Bank,
which charges $4 for overdrafts and pays checks
that incur overdrafts of $5 or less. Citibank has a
$4.50 overdraft charge, plus 35 cents per day for
each $100 overdrawn, the minimum charge being
35 cents. The fee is dropped when the account is
in the black.
Havelock Bank also charges $4.50
overdrafts of more than $5.
for
Handicapped
now receive
dental school
treatment
By Mary Kay Roth
Starting today, students at the NU
College of Dentistry are accepting
handicapped patients, Brian Lange, clinic
coordinator, said.
The new program is the result of a
$470,000 grant, from the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation, for the training of
dentists in out-of-hospital care of
handicapped Americans.
Under the grant, two clinics were
established-one in the University of
Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha for
children twelve and under, and a
two-chair clinic at the UNL School of
Dentistry for persons over thirteen.
Money from the grant pays for
additional personnel, including three
dentists, three dental assistants and
supplies and transportation for the
handicapped. Lange said the UNL School
of Dentistry could get more mileage out
of the grant in this manner, rather than
buying a lot of "special gadgets."
'We're working under the
Normalization Principle," he ?xplained,
"which teaches that handicapped people
are no different from anyone else."
Therefore, he added, they shouldn't be
isolated or separated.
Student dentists need to become
aware of this treatment by exposure to
the handicapped, he said, which helps
them learn proper chairside manner.
Lange said the program is taking a
liberal view of what a handicapping
" condition involves. The term could
include physically or mentally
handicapped, the visually impaired,
nonambulatory persons or the elderly.
Anyone who might fit under these
qualifications can come to the clinic for a
free screening to determine if an oral
examination is needed.
If necessary, Lange said, on the next
visit an oral exam is done for $18, in
.which future dental treatment is
determined.
Before further work is done, a staff
member discusses the projected cost of
the treatment with the patient.
Opportunities of dental work for the
handicapped .have been limited in the
past, Lange said, and the School of
Dentistry hopes that many handicapped
persons use the service.