ncreasing GPAs make student assessment difficult
By Randy Essex
An increase in the average grade point
average of UNL students "creates problems
for employers, for staff and faculty," ac
cording to an associate dean of the College
of Arts and Sciences.
Donald Burns said "grade inflation" ex
ists at UNL, and makes it difficult to iden
tify the best students or graduates.
The average CPA of UNL students last
semester was 2.92.
"It (high average GPA) would be a good
sign if the reason were that students were
working harder ... but it is unlikely that is
the reason," Burns said.
To help solve the problem, a grade infla
tion committee was formed last year at the
urging of faculty members, Burns said.
Burns was the committee chairman.
The committee recommended that GPA
data containing all-university GPA informa
tion, departmental averages and average
GPAs for courses with enrollments of over
75, be circulated to faculty members an
nually. Bums said the data gives faculty mem
bers a means to compare their grading
"scales to department and university aver
ages. "We don't really have equivalent GPA
distribution," he said. The committee re
commendations are a "subtle process" by
which GPAs hopefully will be "deflated,"
without getting in the way of academic
freedom, Bums stated.
"One can't really find reasons for grade
inflation," Burns said.
He said liberalizing attitudes of faculty
toward students in the late 1960's and ear
ly 70's may have been one cause of grade
inflation.
According to the committee report, arts
and sciences the music department average
of 3.59 is the highest. The classics, english,
actuarial science, theater, speech, patholo
gy, speech communication and modern lan
guages department have average GPAs
over 3.00. The mathematics department
has the lowest, 2.49.
Of courses in arts and sciences with en
rollments over 75 last fall, Classics 1 00 had
the highest average, 3.712. There were 17
courses with averages over 3.00, and 14
with averages under 2.5. Math 100C had
the lowest average among the largest
courses, 1,862.
Psychology 170, the course with the
second largest enrollment at UNL last sem
ester had the second lowest GPA of courses
in arts an sciences; 2.264. The largest
course, Life Science 101, had an average of
2.41.
The university GPA was deflated .08
grade points last semester, from 3.00 dur
ing the fall semester of 1976. The cumula
tive GPA of UNL students is 3.00 up from
2.95 last year.
In Arts and sciences, the average GPA
fell to 2.99, the first time in the past three
fall semesters that the college did not have
an average of over 3.00.
The average cumulative GPA for stu
dents in arts and sciences is 3 .09. '
Wednesday, april 26, 1978 lincoln, nebraska vol. 101 no. 105
Physics professor gets his point across on bed of nails
By Todd Hegert
The laws of physics sometimes are hard
to visualize, but UNL students in Physics
141 Monday saw one law brought into
sharp focus.
They learned that the law of pressure as
force per square unit area equals one hefty
professor on a bed of very sharp nails.
Ralph Hight, associate professor of phy
sics, said he promised his class a month ago
that he would lie on a bed of nails because
it was a dramatic way to demonstrate the
laws of pressure .
So after explaining the equation for
measuring pressure as force per unit area to
the class, Hight delicately lowered his own
force down onto an area composed of
1 ,080 six -penny nails.
"Since I'm considerably larger than you
all this is going to hurt me more than it
would hurt you," Hight, who weighs 240
pounds, explained as he lowered himself
onto the skin-pricking perch.
The demonstration drew cheers and ap
plause from most of the class. Some of the
more skeptical students demanded to see it
there was blood on his back. There was not.
Apparently lying on nails requires no re
ligious medication or mystical deliverance.
"There is no secret to this," Hight said
pointing to an equation on the blackboard.
"You've never seen a fat East Indian on a
bed of nails."
Hight said he got the idea for the bed of
nails demonstration from another professor
while teaching in Toledo, Ohio. It is not an
uncommon demonstration because it is a
very dramatic way to explain. the law of
pressure," he said. "But this is the first
time it's been done at UNL."
The bed was made of a one and one half
feet by six feet piece of plywood with nails
pounded through at one -inch intervals.
Hight said the demonstration was possible
because his weight was distributed over
such a large number of nails that the force
at each point was not enough to puncture
the skin.
"It hurts the most on the back of the
head because it is a small area supported by
few nails," Hight said.
Hight said Monday's class was the big
gest and most attentive class he has ever
had.
"The demonstration keeps the students'
attention very well," Hight said. "Now
they want me to walk on a bed of hot
coals."
Special section
The NU Board of Regents has
been the center of controversy and
conversation this semester on issues
ranging from tuition increases to the
mandatory student fee funding of
speakers.
The Daily Nebraskan, in a special
five-page section beginning on page
7, compiles the views of and by the
regents, student leaders, UNL
administration and the Nebraska
Legislature.
In addition, candidates for the 1st
and 2nd District regent positions give
their views.
ft
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7 mns
Photo by Ted Kirk
Physics professor Ralph Hight demonstrates the law of pressure as force per unit by lying on a bed of nails.
East Union adds surcharge to transfer meals
By Amy Lenzen
A 50 cent surcharge is assessed against
city campus residence hall students who
eat evening meals at the East Union.
The surcharge, which began Tuesday
night, is to see if it will generate sufficient
money, and have a limiting effect on the
number of transfers, said UNL Housing
Director Doug Zatechka.
Zatechka said the extra money will off
set the labor costs of East Union due to the
large number of transfers.
As many as 700 students have eaten at
East Union for the evening meal, and the
number often reaches 600, Zatechka
explained. About 225 east campus resi
dents eat at the Union nightly.
Zatecka said the surcharge will not be
assessed at the noon meal because there has
not been an overcrowding problem.
Zatechka said Monday that every resi
dence hall student would be notified of the
surcharge by letter, and posters would be
placed in residence halls.
Zatechka said he decided to implement
a surcharge after he consulted East Union
employees and Residence Hall Association
members.
RHA recommended that a surcharge
andor a limit on the number of transfers
be set. It was decided not to limit transfers
because some sort of pre-registration
procedure would be necessary and there is
no time to set up a system, Zatechka
explained.
Transfers to the East Union will be
limited next fall, Zatechka said. The effect
iveness of the surcharge will be considered
this summer before a decision on how to
limit transfers is made, he said.
Transfers must be limited, Zatechka
said, because "the amount of money being
transferred to East Campus for food service
is excessive."
The Housing Office estimates that trans
fers cost the office about $70,000 annually
for food and labor.
East Campus students also have asked
that transfers be limited because they cause
long lines and other inconveniences.
"You see a lot of animosity developing
between east and west campus," said Lyle
George, president of the Burr-Fedde
complex coordinating committee. "It
would be nice if there was one meal that
you could have essentially to yourself."
That is not possible when two or three
people eating are from city campus, George
said.
Library sleuths recover files
inside
'Twas a case which would have perplex
ed and taxed even the most famous sleuths
and greatest of masterminds, Sherlock
Holmes and Charlie Chan.
The facts in the case of "the-missing-cards"
and the circumstances surrounding
the discovery of the cards have proved to
be baffling for investigating Love Library
employees.
A library attendent last week discovered
that the index cards for all books written ,
edited or compiled by John, Robert or Ted
Kennedy were missing from the card files
in Love Library.
Another attendant found the missing
cards this week tucked between the pages
of a book in the library when he investigat
ed what he called an "unusual bulge" in
the book.
Dean Waddel, UNL assistant dean of li
braries, speculated that the cards were
taken by someone researching a project on
the Kennedys.
"It would appear that rather than copy
ing down the information, someone simply
removed the cards," he said.
Waddel said he still is looking for clues
to "who-dun-it" or leads to anyone work
ing on projects involving Kennedy mater
ials to solve the mystery of the missing
cards.
vednesoaij
An "under-this-world" taste treat:
Daily Nebraskan reporter squirms
a bit at worm-tasting contest
page 3
4Drek" experts assault boob-tubers:
June television shows clutter net
works in ratings race page 1 3
From small town to big city: Colum
nists interview new women's bas
ketball coach from Feather River
College page 14
