pegs 6
daily nebraskan
Wednesday, february 6, 1980
Higher education cheaper
in some foreign countries
About 900 foreign students chose to
attend UNL this semester. About half of
them attended a university or other post
secondary institution in their home coun
try before choosing to come here. What did
they leave behind in favor of UNL?
According to three grad students and
three undergrads, foreign universities
resemble American ones in some aspects
but are fundamentally different in others.
The greatest difference is in the amount
of government funding. All six of the
countries represented-Brazil, India, Japan,
Nigeria, Pakistan, and West Germany-have
universities established and run by the na
tional government. Private universities,
colleges and institutes are also found in
each country, except Nigeria, where all
post-secondary education is government-run.
n
Direct government funding has cut tui
tion rates in all six countries. For example,
in West Germany "we don't pay any tui
tion. All kinds of university are free. There
are fees, about $15 each semester, for the
student government and activities," said
Maria Nussbaum.
Jose Da Costa said that federal universi
ties in Brazel also do not charge tuition.
Students in Pakistan, however, have to pay
-about $2 a month, according to Naeem
Adamjee. "But. that's really negligible, just
a nominal fee," he added.
Dorm rates at government-sponsored
universities are also a fraction of what they
are here. Kahoru Tanaka said that it costs
about $5 a month to live at the University
of Hokkaido, Japan dorm.
Da Costa's university, at Vicosa, Brazil,
"provides dorms for most of the undergrad
students, but the grads should find an
apartment. The dorm is very cheap-justV
symbolic payment, I'd say. The govern
ment pays the rest.
'The dorms are very much like they are
here-nice and modern-except that three
or four students share one room. Because
of this, most students go to the library to
study. Also, there are no restrictions such
as visiting hours," he said.
At the University of Ife, Nigeria, a
$1,000 fee covers tuition, room, and board
for the year, according to Tony Ofili.
"About 70 percent of the students live
in dorms, the rest mostly have apartments.
Dorm life at Ife was more exciting than
here. The town isn't very big, so everything
happens on the campus. Weekends were
especially nice, with parties, movies, and
dances.
"We also have bars on campus, and the
biggest one is run by the student govern
ment. There's no drinking age, but it's con
sidered disgraceful to get drunk. Every
body finds out," Ofili said.
Although alcohol is accepted on almost
every overseas campus, calling professors
by their first name is not.
"We should respect the professor. We
can't call him by his name only-we must
say 'professor.' Never would I use his first
name. If I did, he would think I'm crazy,"
said Tanaka. Japan's formality was echoed
by all the other students for their country,
except Brazil.
Japan proved more formal than the
other countries: "We can't eat or smoke in
class, because the professors think this
behavior interrupts the class. I have seen a
few students thrown out of class for smok
ing," said Tanaka.
"We're allowed to sleep in class, though,
because that doesn't interrupt. If the
professor and topic are really boring, may
be 90 percent of the students are napping,"
she added. "Most of the teachers only
grade the exams, not students' attitudes in
class. v
Note: This column will be continued
.next Wednesday.
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Benefits of unlimited
visitation questioned
By Kathy Sjulin
Twenty-four hour visitation in UNL
dormitories is not likely in the near
future, according to two officials.
Richard Armstrong, vice-chancellor
for student affairs, said he questions the
educational benefits of 24-hour
visitation.
Armstrong said he doesn't believe the
increased guest hours would provide any
educational benefits compared to the
current visitation hour system, which
allows floors to choose a 14-hour
maximum visitation.
"The benefits aren't worth the
problems it might cause" he said.
"Interest in this across the country has
disappeared."
The last major decision concerning
visitation hours was made in 1974 when
the NU Board of Regents set a 14-hour
limit, according to Douglas Zatechka,
UNL director of housing.
Last year the UNL Residents Hall
Association proposed that two floors in :
Selleck Quadrangle experiment with
open visitation for one year, Zatechka
said: This proposal was vetoed by
Armstrong and UNL Chancellor Roy
Young.
Open visitation is a new phenomen
on on most university campuses, he
said. The movement toward open visita
tion began about 20 years ago, he said.
Few effects studies
Because of its newness, few studies
have been done on the effects of
unrestricted visitation, he said. There
aren't many statistics on the amount of
noise and damage done in 24 hour
rooms as compared to those with
limited visitation, he added.
Zatechka said he hasn't found any re
search that says 24-hour visitation is
"inherently great or severely detri
mental." Although 24-hour visitation isn't a
likely possibility at the present time,
Zatechka said he worries about visita
tion rules because "almost everyone has
an opinion on them."
The number of students against
24-hour visitation is higher at UNL than
it was at Michigan University, where.
Zatechka was employed before coming
to Nebraska two years ago, he said.
The reasons for this lower rate of
approval are uncertain, he said, but
added it could be the result of the
state's conservative nature.
Greater religious emphasis through-
out the state as compared to the rest of
the nation could also be a significant
factor, he said. "In Lincoln alone, there
is one church for every 1,600 people,"
he said .
Since 95 percent of all UNL under
graduates are native Nebraskans,
Zatechka said they tend to be more
homogenous, which could be a
contributing factor.
Similar religious upbringing
"Nebraskans tend to have similar
religious upbringing, background and
more. homogeneity of values," he said.
Zatechka was quick to point out that
just because something works at Harvard
University doesn't mean it will work at
UNL. The success of 24-hour visitation
at Harvard may be explained by its
diverse population, he added.
Floors with no visitation hours
haven't been present on the UNL
campus for two years, he said. Most
dormitory floors now have hours
ranging from $ to 14. Few complaints
about violations of these hours are
received in the housing office, he said.
For some UNL students, however,
the visitation hour restriction is a
problem because of the inconveniences
it creates.
One. UNL sophomore, who lives on a
coeducational floor, related an incident
involving two girls and their male health
aide.
"Last week two girls on my floor got
sick and they couldn't even go down the
hall to the health aide's room to have
their temperature taken," Mark Duer
feldt, 20, said. "They had to meet the
health aide half-way in the TV lounge
because it was after visitation hours."
Unaware of problems
Duerfeldt. an education major, trans
ferred to UNL this fall from Iowa State
University where. 24-hour visitation is
allowed on every floor. He said he was
unaware of any problems caused by that
school's open visitation policy.
Restricted visitation hours sometimes
become ridiculous, he 'said. For
instance, last semester a coeducational
floor had to hold a meeting to vote on
whether or not someone with a broken
leg could violate the visitation hours to
use the elevator to go to class in the
morning.
Latest records show that five schools
in the Big Eight have 24-hour visitation,
according to Zatechka.1 They are: Iowa
State, Oklahoma University, University
of Kansas, Colorado and Kansas State.
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