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"Th Rights of the Terminally El," a conference on the
legal, moral and .me&icsl Issues of terminal illness, will
take place Feb, 4 end 5 at the Nebraska Center for '
Continuing Education, 33rd and Holdrego Sts':
The conference is sponsored by the UML Extension
Division, the UNL Philosophy Dept., the University of
Nebraska at Omaha Gerontology Program end the Uni
versity of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) Center for
Humanities End Msdicine.-
Frogram coordinator Chuck Havlicck said the program
is open to anyone interested in the Tights or care of the
terminally ill. It is expected to attract legal and medical
professionals, representatives from health institutions and
clergy members.
"The purpose of the program is to help Nebraskans
focus in on issues isised by terminal illness and to look at
these issues from the focus of the terminally HI said
llavHcek. Another goal of the program is to help people
who attend become more knowledgeable (about terminal
illness) who in. 'turn -can better inform - public policy
makers," he said.
Spefkhg ' at the conference wiH be Dr. Walter Fried
lander, director of the Center for Humanities and Medi
cine at UNMC, presenting the medical issues of terminal
illness. Moral lsies will be discussed by Robert Audi of
the UNL Philosophy Dept. Chairman and Stephen E,
Kalish associate professor of the UNL College of Law
will cover legal, issues.
Other speakers, including doctors, social workers and
humanists, wlH speak on dying and death, care of the
terminally ill, and public policy affecting the terminally
m.
. The academic humanists are an teportast part of the
program, IlivHcek said, because they can "aid humanis
tic insights to the -conference , and ive humtrists a
chance to affect pubic policy."
, Hie conference is the first cf its kir.d presented at the
Nebraska Center for Continuing Education, dihough
there nave been others on death and dying in Ncbraa,
Havlicck said.
Planned since last spring, the program is partly funded
by a grant from the Nebraska Committee for the Human
ities, a state based program cf the National Endowment
for the Humanities. . - ' '.. " . , ,-
Participants in the program wEl be charged a registra
tion fee of $15 to cover the coat cf dinner, lunch, refresh
ments and conference materials.
Grade infl
Ey M axine Kii&icek
Altnousn stuaents seem to nave a
myth" that professors may be placed on
probation for failing too many students in
a class, more complaints are received about
grade inflation than deflation, according
to two UNL administrators.
Ned Hedges, assistant vice chancellor for
academic affairs, said there is no university
policy concerning complaints of a
professor failing too many students. Each
department" or college has its own
procedure for handling such complaints, he
said,,.. . . , .
Gary Schwendiman, associate dean of
the College of Business Administration,
said the few complaints of excessive
failures he received were referred to depart
ment chairmen to determine whether" the
students met course requirements. The
government of the university ultimately
is in the hands of faculty members, he said,
and a student's final recourse would be to
appeal to the Faculty Senate.
ation complaints overshadow deflation grip
Schwendiman said many more students many students. The attitude toward concern failing grades, but a law
to have a have complained to him that professors grading seems to run in cycles, he said, than the student believed was
3
have complained to him that professors
fail to differentiate between excellent ana
average students. Generally the students
who complain of grade inflation are the
ones who work hard but are graded on a
par with those who do not work as hard,
he said.
High potential
The worst thing we can do as a univer
sity is to practice grade inflation'
Schwendiman said. "It indicates to the
students that they're performing at a
higher level than they actually are, and it
cheats the good students. I think UNL has
very good students with very high
potential.
"The saddest thing I've seen is when a
student graduates without any professor
ever having demanded that he push
himself," he said.
John Robinson, chairman of the English
Dept., agreed that grade inflation is much
more common than the failure of too
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(402)475-3325
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Six of seven vears ago, the general
feelh fi5 the campus was that grades
were "too low, which was why the 'plus'
system of grading was started," he said.
ln another six years people will be
complaining of low grades, but light now
I've come across very few such
complaints."
Robinson said any complaints he
receives about grading are dealt with
individually. The professor involved arid
the department dean would probably be
contacted but faculty members are "pretty
well autonomous" in their grading, he said.
'." Low grades appealed
Y Cecil Steward, dean of the College
of Architecture, said all grade appeals in
the college are filed with a grade appeals
committee comprising three faculty
members and two students. Steward said
the committee has received an average of
two appeals per year during the three years
of its existence. Most appeals do not
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enncern failins crades. but a lower graue
than the student believed was deserved,
he said.
The final grading responsibility rests
with faculty members, he said, but in
about 99 per cent of the cases the pro
fessor involved complies with the
recommendation of the committee.
Russel Meints, director of the School
of Life Sciences, said he has not received
a complaint of a questionable failure in
the 1 2 years he has been at UNL.
. There seems to be a feeling among the
student body that professors are put on
probation all the time for failing too many
students in a class, but the word "proba
tion' doesn't apply in the usual sense in
my department," he said.
; Meints said complaints are heard by a
standing committee of three faculty
members, a graduate student and an under
graduate student, but such complaints may
be handled in "any number of ways."
The failure rate is not generally high, he
said.
mw vrms f t. jA
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The Daily Nebratkan is a;ain
soonscring a contest for the
romantics of our time. Place
a message to your Valen
tine in the Monday Feb.
14th issue of the Daily
Nabraskan.
The most romantic
messtse,. as judgl by the
Daily Nebraskan Cupid wiit
allow its author to send a
doiep red roses to anyone in
Lincoln. Plus, the second
and third prize winners will be
awarded gifts for their loved
ones also.
Fill out the form and bring or
mail it to the Daily Nsbrsskarr Of f ice
Room 34, Nebraska Union, before
Thursday, February 12th at 1 :C0 p.m. If
you can't afford to run an ad, bring us
your mess&ge anyway, you still can win.
Daily Nebraska n staff members are not eiigi
fe!e. No purchase necessary.
if I am winter, tend rrry prat to:
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