n
n n
tY52 of i
o
monday, September 8, 1980
lincoln, nebraskavol. 105, no. 8
r,
V J
J i II v jr i v w i i i
nglish class size limits raised
By Mary Louise Knapp
Although more students are being squeezed into
English classes this semester, the situation has been eased
because of funding by the vice chancellor for academic
affairs.
Ned Hedges said he agreed last summer to make money
from his budget to pay the salaries of English instructors.
4i talked to Max Larsen (College of Arts and Sciences
dean) about it," Hedges said. "We wanted to make sure
that there were enough instructors for each section of the
English department."
According to James Van Horn, assistant dean of the
College of Arts and Sciences, Hedges contribued approxi
mately $32,000 to fund 20 sections of English classes.
In addition, Van Horn said, the College of Arts and Sci
ences paid for 10 sections of classes with approximately
$16,000.
Hedges said the English Department had anticipated
putting extra students in evening classes through the Ex
tension Division, but the additional money made this step
unnecessary.
Instead, class size limits have been raised, and instruct
ors have been asked to accommodate as many students as
they can.
Tremendous cooperation
Van Horn said he is concerned about the increased size
of English classes.
"I feel that size has a direct impact on the quality of
instruction," he said.
However, he said, the department has received "tre
mendous cooperation" from instructors, and he said he
has not heard any complaints about class size from stu
dents or teachers.
"Right now we are in the process of reviewing our
guidelines for minimal class size for each department," he
said. "I can't say for sure what the impact will be."
James Bellman, an English instructor who teaches three
composition classes, said that he has had little difficulty
adjusting to having additional students in his class.
"I am doing the same number of papers and I'm not
teaching any differently," he said. Some rooms are be
coming a little cramped for space, and I don't have quite
as much personal contact with the students."
Bellman said his composition class limit has been raised
from 17 students to 20 this semester.
Largest group ever
"I am teaching the largest group of students I've ever
had," Associate Professor of English Charles StubbleOeld
said.
Stubblefield teaches a 25-student evening section of a
writing class which had an original limit of IS to 17, He
said he also teaches other classes of 30, originally meant
for 27 students.
"I am not complaining," he said. "I have accepted as
many students as there is room in the classroom ... I
don't fee) that I should turn away any student who needs
a class."
John Robinson, English Department chairman, said
that every effort has been made to get as many students as
possible into English classes.
"Some students who went through general registration
were not able to get into classes," he said, but added that
students who preregistered usually were placed in the
classes they requested.
State 's media fairness reviewed
By Diane Andersen
Mass media representatives and their critics discussed
media fairness and problems with Nebraska newspapers
and radio stations Saturday at a meeting of the Society of
Professional Journalists in Omaha.
On the "media side" were Harold Andersen, president
of the Omaha World-Herald; Dick Herman, editorial writer
for the Lincoln Journal; Chuck Roberts, anchorman and
reporter for KMTV Omaha; and Ann Pederson, news
editor for WOWT in Omaha.
Representing the "critics side" were State Sen. John
DeCamp of Neligh, NU Regent Robert Prokop, Omaha
Mayor Al Veys, and Jack Romans of the Nebraska Public
Service Commission.
DeCamp, while claiming that the media didn't ade
quately cover the recent controversy over his campaign
expenses, said he is in favor of a totally free press and that
the question of press fairness "may well be irrevelent, im
' material and even dangerous."
By allowing government leaders to set standards of
fairness, DeCamp argued, the First Amendment is neces
sarily compromised.
Check and balances
A free press, DeCamp said, is "the ultimate check and
balance over the whole (U.S.) system." He said that al
though Richard Nixon was a great president in foreign
policy and other areas, he was "totally wiped out and de
molished by the press "when he started infringing on Con
stitutional freedoms.
"There is no mandate on the press to be fair," DeCamp
said. "The press may be their own worst enemy. Internal
ly you (journalists) keep wanting to discipline your own
members so much."
Individual journalists could improve by doing more re
search and not taking things like press releases at face
value, he said.
"I am a media product," DeCamp said. "I might be
totally destroyed by the press, but that's ok if the overall
system continues to work."
Prokop said the biggest problem is not media fairness
but media credibility. He said radio and television news
doesn't go into enough depth on stories and that the
Omaha World-Herald has "honest individuals" working for
it.
'Self-interest
"The Lincoln people don't get the story," Prokop said.
He said Lincoln journalists tend to have conflicts of inter
est with their work and that the things they write are for
"self interest."
"Journalistically, you (Lincoln media) have driven out
state Nebraska away from Lincoln and toward Omaha,"
he said, claiming that such a situation did not exist five
years ago.
The Daily Nebraskan has for the most part treated him
fairly, Prokop said. He said reporting at the Daily Nebra
skan "has been on a much higher plane than before" in
the last two or three years and that it has been "fairly
balanced."
"In 1972 and 1973 it (the reporting) got to be pretty
vicious," Prokop said.
He called the incidents of plagiarism by last semester's
Daily Nebraskan Editor in chief, Harry Allen Strunk, a
"classic case of bad judgment."
However, Prokop added "I'm sure any editorial writer
has at some tune pulled something out and not quoted
it."
Because the NU Board of Regents are the publishers of
the Daily Nebraskan, he said, they have a responsibility
to worry about what the paper publishes.
Andersen said that even though the question of press
fairness is not easy to define or quantify, "we should have
some responsible notions on how to treat news sources."
Continued on Page 2
NU land swap aids Malone Center
The Lincoln City Council last week unanimously
approved a land exchange between the city and NU that
will give the Malone Community Center part of the land
needed to construct a new center.
NU gave land located between 20th and 22nd streets
and T and Vine streets to the city in exchange for land at
the southwest corner of 17th and Holdrege streets.
The land traded to the city Was valued at $126,660,
while the land given to the university is valued at
$134,750. The $8,000 difference in the value of the
properties will be applied to a debt the city owes NU from
previous land trades.
The NU Board of Regents approved the transaction at
its June 14 meeting.
The council also approved the sale of the peoperty
attained from the university to the Malone Community
Center for $113,099.
Ronald Wright, UNL vice chancellor for business and
finance, said the university hi not determined how the
land at 17th and Holdrege streets will be used.
The land does have some warehouse space, Wright said,
and may be used for storage space for the Campus Police
equipment.
Wright said the university and city have been exchang
ing land since 1960s.
"The university believes in being a good neighbor with
the city and helping it when possible," Wright said. "In
this case, the Malone Center couldn't be built without the
land so we thought the exchange was good."
I &
F I
C i
, T I 1
Photo by Tom Gessner
David Frost wasn't the only celebrity making an
appearance at Union College Saturday. One young
girl attempts a tricky interview of her own.
Frost recalls
famous talks
Getting politicians to say anything is the most
difficult task of interviewing, British interviewer
David Frost said Saturday night in a speech at
Union College.
"If you have half a mind to enter politics - that's
all it takes," he said.
Frost gave thumbnail sketches of some of his
more memorable interviews in his hour-long talk.
Frost commented on perhaps his most famous
interview subject - Richard Nixon.
Nixon, who resigned the presidency in August
1974, was the subject of four Frost interviews
which were the first detailed interviews Nixon
allowed.
Frost said Nixon opened up during the inter
views in his explanations of Watergate more than
Frost thought he would. He said Nixon didn't open
up as much in his own book.
He called Nixon the most complex character in
world history.
He called Pam Smith, former prime minister of
Rhodesia, a person with "expandable sincerity."
In contrast, many of those he has interviewed
have lived up to their legends, he said. He listed
Prince Charles, Noel Coward and Robert Kennedy
as examples.
He said Kennedy's death in 1968 marked the
passing of simplicity from the American political
Regarding contemporary American politics,
Frost said John Anderson's candidacy or that of any
independent was healthy for the two-party system,
which he called stifling.
On the possibility of debates this fall, Frost said
Ronald Reagan was "perhaps a better performer"
but that Jimmy Carter was more intelligent.
Downplaying the idea that the debates might be
decisive, Frost said he feared that one line or phrase
might provide artificial focus for the campaign.
On the press in general, he said he does not think
the press creates world issues. He said it acts to dis
perse vital information hopefully without interject
ing opinion.
No Need For Alarm: False fire alarms in UNL residence
halls have decreased Page 3
Attack on the Midway: Gone, but not forgotten, the Ne
braska State Fair again offered the best and worst in
entertainment Page 8
No mercy: The Husker top units decidedly won Nebra
ska's -last fall scrimmage before facing Utah Saturday
Page 10