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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 11, 1979)
n n, tuesday, September 11, 1979 llncoln, nebraska vol. 103 ntf. 11 !j(LMji Term mm er companies under attack by postal service Dy Maty Kempkes "Earn better grades with minimal effort. Learn the secrets of the A," promised an ad offering a bargain on good grades. The ad is from a company that, like many others, is after the student buck, ac cording to the Better Business Bureau. These companies advertise their wares which range from term papers for sale to "study tips." All promise an easy way out. The Arm promises sure-fire tips to easy, better grades for $4. What it delivers is a two-page pamphlet telling students to study hard and take good notes. 'it falls in the same class as homework schemes that ask money and give nothing in return," said Lois Teft, manager of the Cornhusker Better Business Bureau in Lin coln. "I wish I could get this message across to students," she said. The offer is only one of many ads which hits college campuses across the country this time of year. Improve-your-grades offers have been running recently in many student publications, including the Daily Nebraskan. THE BIG bucks, though, are in writing term -papers for profit. Term paper vendors range from individuals who have a flare for turning out papers quickly with relatively little effort to corporations that have thou sands of papers on file. There are at least six major term paper mills in the country, said Thomas Ziebarth, an attorney with the UJS. Postal Service's Consumer Protection Office in Washington, D.C. Ziebarth said he has been trying for seven years to nail the bigger mills. Ziebarth said a crackdown by the Post Office is not easy. First, he said, they can only get involved in cases where the papers are delivered through the mail. Secondly, the major paper mills require students to sign a contract stating that the Continued on Page 9 Graduate student's short story spurs a published novel By Nancy Ellis What began as an assignment for a short story class, evolved into a successful paperback novel for a UNL graduate student. Catherine Kid well, author of "The Woman I Am," said she worked on the nostalgic romance three years. In the beginning, Kidwell said her story idea was a short piece of fiction. It later became a novel in one of Charles Stubble field's writing classes. Stubble field, associ ate professor of English, was Kidwell's adviser. "I later used it as a master's thesis," she said . Kidwell received her master's degree in English in December of 1977. 'The Woman I Am" is a character study of a woman who came of age during World War II in Lincoln. "The novel is fiction and no real names are used," she said. The town in the novel is named Lancaster and Kidwell explained that anyone familiar with the Lincoln area will recognize the local setting. "I reached back into something I remembered when I wrote this novel." 1 According to Kidwell, "The Woman I Am" is a story lily n.' IV-mm 4 . i ' f t ! l (( ; i&3 about a woman of her generation. This woman was "The nice girl of the 40s and the happy housewife of the 50s." The story shows the effects the 70s have had on this kind of woman, she said. Kidwell's book came out in August and is available in bookstores and supermarkets throughout Lincoln. "The Woman I Am" doesn't fit into the "romantic-paperback-supermarket special category," the author said. "This book works on more than one level. It appeals to a mass audience." Although a lot of women identify with the novel's plot, many men have liked it, she said. According to Leslie Roper, a Nebraska Bookstore buyer, the book has sold fairly well and both men and women ask for it. Kidwell said she currently is writing a sequel to "The Woman I Am." However, the book's publisher, Dell pub lishing Co., isn't interested in the sequel. Kidwell explain, ed that the sequel is making a stronger feminist statement than. Dell cares for. Dell specializes in romance, mystery and suspense, she said adding that her sequel doesn't fit in those categories. Kidwell's novel, which was distributed across the United States and Canada, has recently been sold to the Sphere Publishing Co. in England. The biggest reward Kidwell "said she has received from the novel's publication is knowing the size of her readership. "I'm glad it costs $1.95 instead of $10.95 for that reason." The book has not been printed in hard back, she added. Catherine Kidwell, Am." Photo by Mary Ann Golon a UNL graduate student, has earned fame as the author of a successful novel, "The Woman I An excerpt from the novel won first place in the Prairie Schooner Fiction Contest in the spring of 1977, the author said. The Prairie Schooner is a top U.S. literary magazine published at UNL The judges for the competi tion were UNL English professors. "I've been told I have a very clean economical writing style," Kidwell said explaining that every writing style is personal, like handwriting. Kidwell js continuing to take classes at UNL. She said she loves going to school and knows the book wouldn't have been written without her college background. Hie UNL author said she has taken some film making courses with intentions of someday writing a screen play for the book. Sink money into mass transit, not parking Youngberg By Mike Sweeney Lincoln City Councilman Eric Young berg said Sunday the city needs to elimin ate its "bias in favor of the automobile" before- it can develop an effective mass transit system. Youngberg said city government gives automobiles preferred treatment when drawing up transportation plans. He cited using local tax dollars for road building and automobile parking instead of sinking the money into mass transit "By putting the money into Toads, it lessens the community! ability to put it in other things, Youngberg said. "The entire system revolves around the automobile." Youngberg said he is afraid that at the energy crisis worsens, Omaha and other cit ies will have invested so heavily in auto mobile transportation they will not be able to develop mass transit Lincoln hasn't yet reached that point, he said. However, "Nobody has set out a com prehensive strategy of those things they need to do to lessen the dependence on the automobile," he said . Youngberg answered questions about Lincoln's energy and transportation needs at a meeting of the Lancaster County Young Democrats, a group that joined the state organization Aug. 16. , , Once the city has eliminated the pro auto bias, it can develop alternatives to automobile transportation, he added. Youngberg also said he would like to see more city bicycle paths built, including one between the two UNL campuses, as well as rail transit along X St. from Gateway Shopping Center to the airport. ' He also advocated improving and ex panding Lincoln! bus service. "I think to make an impact we need to make the system the best we can before we expand service,' he said. But making improvements in the buses will not be enough to attract riders, he said. Noting that "there will always be those that will drive their Cadillacs until the last drop of gasoline is gone," Youngberg said many people need an incentive to quit driv ing People might be more inclined to ride the bus if the city raised parking fines from $1 to $2.50 and raised metered parking fees, he said. Traffic congestion problems .could be eased if more people took the bus and , people living near downtown began walk ing or cycling to work, he claimed. . "I dont want Lincoln' to be a city where everyone lives in the outskirts and his ; to commute,, he said. Youngberg opposed the Northeast radial and the West Bypass because they would promote that trend. The Yqung Democrats voted to investi gate what other cities have done to pro mote mass transit and to lobby for mass transit in Lincoln. Topping it off: State Sen. Dave Newell of Omaha now is proposing spending lids to accompany a "super board of regents. Page 6. Faired all riit: Charlie Daniels closed the Nebraska State Fair with a handclapping, foot-stomping concert Pe-eS. Kkkoff time: Freshman Kevin SeibelwSl put hi best foot forward la first Hus&r ' Same of season v V-,.ft8 10.
