dailu nebraskan
Wednesday, november 29, 1978 lincoln, nebraska vol. 102 no. 51
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Photo by Bob Pearson
John 'Doc' Davidson stands in front of the grill at the Greenwich Cafe, where he cooks his famous fish and chips.
'Doc' cooks up fish and chips storm
By Sue Brown
Fish and chips without malt vinegar is like a kiss with
out a moustache or an egg without salt, according to the
originator of "Doc's English Style" fish and chips.
John "Doc" Davidson, emeritus professor of botany,
was a UNL faculty member from 1948 to 1976. He also
introduced fish and chips to the Greenwich Cafe, 19 1 7
OSt.
After commenting to a group of teachers that he
missed not having fish and chips in Lincoln, many were
curious as to what they were. One teacher knew of a
restaurant near Seward that served fish and chips, so a
teachers' club decided to take a trip to find out what
Davidson was raving about. Unfortunately they were con
fronted with a fish fry instead of fish and chips, David
son said.
But Davidson was not ready to give up. Being a regular
at the Greenwich Cafe, where he said he often discussed
teaching methods " over a couple of beers," he asked the
owner's wife if he could use their deep fryers to cook fish
and chips.
Popular dish
After convincing her that he could cook, he was able
to rent the deep fryers for one evening in March of 1973.
The teachers chipped in to cover the cost and admitted
that the fish and chips were great and they had never
tasted anything like it, Davidson said.
Starting in November of 1973, Davidson began cooking
fish and chips on Friday nights at the cafe. The word
spread and soon people were standing in line outside to
taste Doc's English Style Fish and Chips. Fish and chips
are now served at the Greenwich Cafe Monday through
Friday because of their popularity, he said.
Currently Davidson, who said his fish and chips are
known from coast to coast and from Canada to Mexico,
is learning how to tend bar at the cafe.
Davidson received the nickname Doc when he first
came to UNL in 1948. He had attended the University of
British Columbia where everything was very formal, he
said, adding that professors who had doctorates were al
ways referred to as doctors.
First name basis
The University of California at Berkeley was a different
story. Attending the university to get his doctorate, David
son said professors encouraged students to call them by
their first names.
When he came to teach at UNL, Davidson tried getting
students to call him by his first name. One student found
it particularly hard to do, but asked Davidson if he could
call him "Doc." From that time on the name has stuck,
Davidson said.
According to Davidson, he suffered from "stage fright"
at first, not using eye contact with the students and hiding
behind the lecture stand.
He then decided to get away from the formality. He
wore comfortable clothes to class, came out from behind
the lecture stand and talked to the students rather than
lecturing to them.
Davidson quotes the words of a monk long ago. "a
lecture is the process whereby the notes of the lecturer
become the notes of the student without passing through
the minds of either."
Three schooling processes
He described three different processes in schooling
today. First, he said, is belief. A young child believes
everything he is taught. If one's whole life is based merely
on belief, he said, "you can be completely blissful, and
wrong."
Second is training, which Davidson says there is far too
much of in schools. According to Davidson, the trainer is
always the authority. He decides what is to be learned and
what the rewards and punishments will be.
During the third stage a student experiences situations,
discovering that many of the things he was told are not
true, Davidson said. The conflict then develops between
what he was told and what he believes.
"Education is a good word but we forgot what it
means," he said. What it means is "to draw out" students
rather than to cram in, he added.
"As far as I know, I was the first person in this conti
nent to conduct a iarge ciass completely inductively," he
said. If what a student says to the professor is more im
portant than what the professor has to say to the student,
then why is there so little time devoted to it in a semester,
he asked.
Similar evaluations
Davidson, who has had 40 years of experience in eval
uating students, said he asked his students to honestly
evaluate themselves in their overall class performance.
The grades are usually very close to his evaluation, he said.
Davidson said he never had to ask a student' if tie
understood something because he could tell by theii
reaction. He calls this the "Merry Christmas Syndrome,''
comparing it to the looks on his eight children's faces
years ago on Christmas morning. Davidson said he could
have told his kids what they were going to get but that
would have ruined it for them. That's just what 9C
percent of teachers do to students, Davidson said, calling
it criminal.
"I like kids to open their own present," he said.
According to Davidson, teachers need to step down off
the pedestal and students shouldn't be afraid to contra
dict them.
" 'You're full of bull' is a good response and a teacher
should be able to take it," he said.
'Acquire' knowledge
Davidson said professors lecture because they were
lectured to, adding that, "you can't give knowledge, it
must be acquired." There is a no more inefficient way of
getting information across than the lecture, he said.
Davidson has written a manuscript entitled "Inquiry
Into Learning" which came out of seminars he conducted
with his graduate students.
For two years after his retirement he continued the
sessions, inviting students to his home. They discussed
methods of teaching, grading, and how to design a botany
course for the colleges where they would be teaching,
among other things, he said. The manuscript is a pooling
of the seminar findings as he has interpreted them.
Davidson said if he could put an inscription in every
classroom, the back of the room would say, "Telling is
not Teaching" and the front of the room would say, "Lis
tening is not Learning."
Wholesale prices
force up food costs
in the Crib-Bennett
By Cindy Coglianese
Students have to dig in their pockets for a few more
pennies to cover the cost of food at the Crib in the Ne
braska Union.
If you want a reason why, Nebraska Union Director
Al Bennett says, take a look in the grocery stores.
"The prices are going up regularly," Bennett said. "We
raise our prices according to our wholesalers' prices."
Bennett said the increases are from two to eight cents.
"It's very frustrating for us as providers of food ser
vice to keep raising the prices," Bennett said, adding that
he has tried to adjust prices about every month with the
wholesalers.
Bennett said that a large portion of the staple foods for
the Nebraska Union are bought from the University
Central Stores that have contracts with major food whole
salers. He said bread products and canned goods are
bought through their own contracts with wholesalers and
only fresh produce is bought in the open market.
"I suppose it's possible that the price increase could af
fect our business and I would invite our community for
ideas on how we can better the situation," Bennett said.
"You've got to pay for what you get or you don't get
it. It's the same decision you are forced with when you go
into the grocery store," he added.
Some cold sandwiches, hot sandwiches, soups and
salads experienced about a three cent increase. Breads,
desserts, beverages, vegetables and the breakfast menu also
had some price increases and the cost of soft serve ice
cream increased five cents.
Ellsberg to discuss
Vietnam perspective,
his Pentagon study
Daniel Ellsberg is scheduled to speak on "Vietnam in
Perspective: Part II," Thursday, December 7 at 3 pjn.
in the Nebraska Union Centennial Room. There will be
no charge to attend the lecture, but donations will be
accepted.
In 1971, Ellsberg gave the New York Times a study,
later referred to as the Pentagon Papers, that he had com
pleted for the Rand Corporation investigating the decision
making process in the Vietnam war.
The government tried to stop the publication of the
study after several newspapers had published parts of it.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Pentagon Papers
could be published because the government did not prove
that restrining publication of the study was necessary to
protect national security.
In his lectures, Daniel Ellsberg says Richard Nixon
really did have a "secret plan" to end the Vietnam war.
Ellsberg also claims that there was a connection between
Watergate and the Vietnam War.
Ellsberg is being sponsored by a voluntarily funded
speakers account. The following organizations have con
tributed to the fund: the All University Fund-$600,
Faculty Convocations Committee-$400, Residents Hall
Association-$200, Nebraskans For Peace-$100, and the
United Ministries in Higher Education-$100. Smaller do
nations have been made by the Innocents Society, Rho
Delta, and the Student Y. J.B. Milliken, Talks and Topics
chairman, said that the Committee for Facts about Viet
nam also helped to bring Ellsberg to UNL.
Ellsberg graduated from Harvard University in 1952
with highest honors, majoring in economics. He then
volunteered for the Marine Corps. In 1962, Ellsberg re
ceived a PhD. in economics from Harvard. From 1959
64 he was a strategic analyst at the Rand Corporation.
inside
Wednesday
It started as more than a buzz: The 1978-79
Buzz Book had some questioning its
content page 7
Snowbound blues: Icy winds blow in winter
boredom page 9
Huskers spoil Gopher revenge attempt: Carl
McPipe leads Nebraska to a 5848 victory over
Minnesota page 10