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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 25, 1979)
n tuesday, September 25, 1979 llncoln, nebraska vol. 103 no. 21 UU (ate Electi ion processes s tudied By Mike Sweeney Black mayors favor social welfare spend ing more than do their white counterparts, according to a study conducted in part by the UNL political science department chairman. Susan Welch said black mayors tend to increase city spending for education, hous ing, welfare, and health, and spending less for services like parks, libraries, police and fire. "Black officials tend to see these as the greatest needs In the city. They're elected with the strong support of the black com munity," Welch said. "Parks and libraries are nice, but they're not as high a prior ity." Welch and Al Karnlg of the Center of Public Affairs at Arizona State University recently finished the two-year study of 264 American cities. Lincoln was not included in the study, she said. Welch said they wanted to see what kind of cities are likely to elect blacks to a city council or mayoral post. The research ers wanted to see how, once they were in office, the blacks compared with other elected officials. Financed by a $70,000 grant from the National Institute of Mental Health Center of Metropolitan Studies., the researchers collected census and questionnaire data from cities with more than 25,000 people and a black population exceeding 10 percent. Welch said the study showed those cities where blacks are highly educated, have access to the mass media, and have cam paign resources are more likely to elect black officials than other cities. Southern cities have fewer black officials than north ern cities, but their failure to get elected carl be traced to their lack of resources. Many blacks in the South do not have a high level of education or income. Different political structures may affect a black candidate's chances of getting elected, Welch said. In cities with district elections, black officials are proportionally represented in city government. However, cities with elec tions at-large have only half as many black officials as would be warranted by the black population. The study revealed that cities with the commission form of government also tend to under-represent blacks. Welch claims the study will help cities determine how to promote the election of black officials. Although she recognizes that cities are not likely to change their electoral struc ture because of the study, she said she be lieves the study may have an impact on cities like Omaha that are considering dis trict elections. "Studies like these do give ammunition to people lobbying for "district elections." The study will be published as a book by the University of Chicago Press next year. Welch and Karnig are still putting the final touches on the book. State ag teams sent abroad pw Mfhrnslcji snhre of influence in agri cultural matters reaches around the world, according to Robert Kleis, UNL director of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources International Programs. The program sends Nebraskan research ers abroad to demonstrate techniques de veloped here and to learn foreign tech niques that may be useful, Kleis said. There also is a continuous flow of visiting delega tions from all parts of the world, he added. The office of International programs was created three years ago, and since that time, there has been a considerably higher level of activity in the international arena, he said. Currently, there are two researchers from Nebraska in the U.S.S.R., one in China, one in Indonesia, one in Brazil, and two in Romania. These opportunities offer UNL research ers an excellent chance to broaden them selves, Kleis said. "It offers educational broadening bene fits to our staff," he explained. "Maybe research ideas, mechanical ideas, or new materials can be brought back to our state." Some of the programs, such as the one in Romania, are exchange programs. Staff members are sent both ways and expenses are split between the two. The Romanian program has entered its third year after receiving a continuation grant from the Federal government. No state money is used for these pro grams, Kleis noted. Most of the countries involved request that scientists be sent to them, Kleis said. The delegations which visit here do so on their own or with their governments' help for the most part, he said. "There is a limit to how much we can do and still have the interests of Nebraska in mind, he said. We try to seek countries with climate, soils, and crops similar to Nebraska's." : ' j '1 4; !' I : I i HmT ffwr I nr. i .i.i n ..ii . r Photo by Mark Billingsley Ding dong the bells are dead Although repairs on Mueller bell tower are almost finished, the bells won't ring. Repairs on the Mueller bell tower, located between Bessey and Morrill Halls, will be completed within two weeks, according to Harley Schrader, physical plant direc- Most of the repairs were limited to repairing cracks and water proofing, Schrader said. He said this type of repair is common for structures made of limestone and being about 30 years old. However, Schrader said the life of the bells, located in the tower, has expired and need to be replaced. . There is no money to replace the bells, he said. The old bells were purchased with donations from various organizations and donations will be needed to buy the new ones. So for now, he said, the bells won't ring. New class History of World War IF creates enthusiasm By Kent Warneke Simply entitled "History of World War II," next semester's offering of History 298B may be the first course to delve into "the topic that shaped our modem world, according to its instructors. "John Wayne and Clint Eastwood movies are not fantastically thorough sources of World War II information, so we're going to attempt to provide infor mation on. a topic that deservrs to be studied, said Michael Isenberg, one of three instructors for the course. Edward Homze and Peter Maslowski will be "team-teaching thev WWII: class along with Isenberg, a concept that is new to the UNL history department. . . ' According to Maslowski, the decision Id offer l team-taught course has been long In coming and now the enthusiasm is high. "The idea has been in our hetds for quite some time now, but Mike Isenberg took the project by its tail in 1976 and said let's do it now," Maslowski said. "WeVe had about 20 meetings where we have had to hash out what we want to talk about, who's going to talk, what books to Use and everything else imaginable," Isen berg said. "Nevertheless, we think we've come up with an interesting course." THE CLASS will be held Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 1:30 to 2:20 pjn. The course will focus on the war itself, the political leadership of war efforts and also work toward a geographic balance, where military, social and technological perspectives will be presented , from all sides, Maslowski said, r "There is no way that one individual in structor could learn everything about WWII from scratch, so instead we have three in structors who are semi-experts on different aspects, Isenberg said. According to Isenberg, the course will r go into more detail than any general survey course previously offered at UNL and cover more perspectives than military his tory of the United States. , . : The course will also feature films and outside speakers such as. veterans of WWII and an Air Force general C - One point emphasized by the instruc tors is that they are not expecting the stu-. dent's to enroll with extensive previous knowledge on WWII. "MOST STUDENTS have been affected by WWII in one way or another and have demonstrated some interest in the sub- ject, Isenberg said. "However, we will be teaching a broad-gauge view of WWII and well start at the beginning." "We are going under the assumption that students have never heard of WWII, but yet wM be able to grasp hold of what we're teaching," he added. Maslowski indicated that he presumed that , there would be some WWII "buffs' taking the course and he thought that it would be good for the class. "Anyone Who is termed a buff is usually only an expert on a small part of the sub ject, Maslowski said. "And if they are, we will be glad to hear their perspectives be cause they could be different than ours. i "I'm really excited to learn from my colleagues, Isenberg said, "and get to hear an inkling of a different set of values, based on different perspectives. The success of the course depends on the personalities of the teachers, Maslowski : said .and he hoped that students would re gard the team-teaching method with a fresh attitude. . ... "ALL TintEE of lis will be present every class meeting to hear each other's lectures and with the extra number of in structors, well hopefully be able to set up a little more student-to-instructor con tact," Maslowski said. "The key to the concept is that while the points might overlap in our lectures, our perspectives will not," he added. "World War II is the capstone of Ameri can history, the logical culmination and beginning of many things in our world and we think studetns will want to learn more about it, Maslowski said. tarocfT; Sharing is healthy: Nu Medical Center and Kearney State College consider working together to train healthcare profes sionals. ... Page 6 Baring (almost) t3: Male dancer sheds clothes for female audiences at Lincoln night spot . . . . . F 8 No yard gained: Coach Tom Osborne tells Extra Point Club members Penn State's , upset loss wont help Huskers , . Tzs 1 0
