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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 25, 1981)
SSSaLTo7 no. 3 (o W JlCL JL T II ,rv.; v Daily Nebraskan photo Pat Sward reaches for information at the UNL information booth, located just north of the Nebraska Union. New Student Orientation hosts like Lane Handke, seated behind the booth, are available to answer questions and give directions. Booth helps new students The booth has information for all the support services that are offered on the UNL campus. Information includes shuttlebus schedules, football and basketball calendars, UNL child care" hours, and answers to other questions students often ask, Rhoten said. The most frequent question in the first two days has been where buildings are, Rhoten said. If you can't figure out the abbrevia tions for campus buildings or need to know when the first home football game is, go to the UNL information booth located north of the Nebraska Union. The coordinator for new student orientation, Sandi Rhoten, said the booth opened Sunday and will be open the first week of classes. She said they answered questions from over 1 ,000 stu dents in the first two days. Crowded halls prompt plans for health center expansion By Patty Pryor After 10 years of discussion but "no real momentum, the University Health Center is bringing in a consulting firm this fall to explore renovation and expansion possibilities, said Steve Blom, health center administrator. The center, built in 1959 to serve 10,000 students, is now using hallways and laboratories for waiting rooms, Bloom said, and some services have been forced to share office space. "There were only 6,000 to 7,000 stu dents then (in 1959), he said, "and the estimates for future enrollment proved not to be accurate. Along with increased enrollment, the center's expanded services have added to the overcrowding problem, he said. Both the allergy and dermatology departments are open 40 hours each week, and the addition of more specialists has meant a need for more clinic rooms, Blom said. Over the years, he added, there has been a remarkable increase in health education services, resulting in a greatly expanded counseling department. The center is doing everything possible to use the existing space, Blom said, but the efforts often result in inadequate or inefficient service. For example, he said, the acute illness service, which treats more immediate cases, is in the basement and has only the corridor for a waiting area. The restrooms equipped for the handi capped are also in the basement, he said, and the women's restroom on the first floor is just barely usable. "There are 10 clinic rooms, Blom said, "only one or two of which are adequate for doctor-patient care. "We ought to be looking at about 14 to 16 clinic rooms, he said. However, the most important casualty of the space shortage, Blom said, is the patient's right to privacy. Too many health center patients are denied this right, he said, when they must make an appointment at the open front desk or wait on the floor in the hallway for treatment. "Our patients need to be treated with more dignity. Physical improvements in the building would also result in much better use of the doctors time, Blom said. The center has had to turn down or delay appointments on some days simply because there was no place to treat the patient, he said. The shortage of space also requires more time for rearrangement of schedules and office space. "We spend a fairly inordinate amount of time meeting and planning around the limitations of the building, he said. The health center staff has no specific consulting firm in mind yet, Blom said. He will be working with the Student Health Center Board and Dr. Richard Armstrong, vice chancellor for student affairs, on recommendations for the job. Blom said he foresees no substantial in crease in student fees for any possible re novation or expansion. If a plan is proposed by the firm, it would first have to be approved by the Central Plarining Committee. Next, it would go before ASUN's Committee for Fees Allocation," and finally, to the NU Board of Regents for passage. "It seems to me that if we're going to be a viable service, we need to create an adequate building, Blom said. "I'm con vinced that physical changes have to occur to optimize services and still minimize costs." UNL official says much cheating left unreported By Jim Garrett An October 1980 article in U.S. News and World Reports said "a study among men at the University of Nebraska found as many as 60 percent said they were will ing to cheat if under severe pressure to do , well." Delores Simpson-Kirkland, assistant to the dean of students, said UNL officials could not find the source of the article, but she said that doesnt make it untrue. There were 11 reported cases of dis honesty during the 1980-81 school year, 10 in the second semester. Simpson-Kirkland said that number may represent only the tip of the problem. "For a school of this size, it may not be epidemic in proportions, but it is a serious situation," she said. Simpson-Kirkland said few dishonesty cases are reported, possibly because faculty members view the judicial procedures taken against cheaters as lengthy and time consuming. Simpson-Kirkland said the office of the dean of students doesn't see the problem in the same way. She said one aspect of the problem is an increased level of tolerance for cheating in the entire student body. Simpson-Kirkland said the low rate of re ported cheating may also stem from a tolerance of cheating by the faculty. Disciplinary measures can range from an instructor failing the student on the assign ment, test or course to expulsion from the university. Simpson-Kirkland said most cheating problems are handled between the indivi dual professor and student. But, she said, if a student is dissatisfied with the outcome, he or she can appeal the professor's decision to the department grade appeals committee and to the grade appeals com mittee of the college. She said most appeals do not progress to this level. Instructors also may report a student directly to the University Judicial Board, a group of five students appointed by ASUN and four faculty members appointed by the Faculty Senate. The board evaluates a case under three categories-plagiarism, cheating and test stealing. Cheating usually involves the use of crib notes during an exam, eaves dropping or a substitute taking the exam, she said. If a student steals a test but doesn't use it, the case is handled as theft of UNL property and not cheating. But if the stolen test is used, charges of theft and cheating are brought against the student. If the student is found innocent, charges are dropped, but if guilt is proven, dis ciplinary action is assessed, according to severity of offense. A student may receive a university warning, which denotes the student's guilt, or a student may receive probation, which . restricts him or her from holding elective office for one year and possible restitution if there were property damages. Action noted and taken against a stu dent does not become part of his or her permanent record but goes into a counsel ing and misconduct file, which is destroyed at graduation or five years after each offense, Simpson-Kirkland said. But if a student quits school, the file may be available to employers if the stu dent agrees to release the file as a condition of employment. Simpson-Kirkland said the most severe forms of discipline are suspension and ex pulsion. Suspension ranges from a semester to one year. Expulsion results in perman ent severence between the university and the student. There is no notation of the expulsion on the record, she said. UNL can be legally sued for including such information on a transcript, she added. Simpson-Kirkland said competition for high grades can force some students to panic and to resort to cheating, rather than to seek legal methods of help such as tutors, instructor assistance or dropping the class. Drivers test skills after drinking By Hollie Wieland Imagine drinking the alcohol beverages of your choice until the point of total intoxication and then jumping in someone else's car to drive around a bunch of silly orange pylons. Sound like a fun way to spend a Monday afternoon? Now imagine getting paid to do it. Monday afternoon, six volunteers did just that at Lincoln East High School driving range as a demonstration of the effects of alcohol on a person's coordination and judgment behind the wheel. The demonstration, sponsored by the Nebraska Office of Highway Safety, involved a series of tests participants took throughout the afternoon at various levels of in toxication. , Driving ability was measured with two tests. One in volved a reaction meter that measured the time lapse be tween the flash of a red light and participant's braking action. Tug second test required participants to drive through a course marked by orange pylons. The course involved weaving in and out of pylons, both forward and backward; a series- of land changes; a parallel park, and a reverse into an imaginary garage marked by pylons. The tests were run by participants before consuming any alcohol, and periodically after drinking several drinks of their choice until they reached 0.10 of 1 percent blood alcohol content, the limit marking legal presumption of" being under the influence of alcohol. Although there were no accidents, the test results suggested alcohol did impair driving abilities. Continued on Page 3 National Recognition: UNL human development pro fessor is recognized for work with handicapped peo ple . . . ....... ........... Page 6 Heavy Metal: Chuck Lieurance reviews the film created by the makers of Heavy Metal magazine. ....... Page 9 Flying High: Iowa Football Coach Hayden Fry hopes he has his Hawkeyes on the right track as they prepare for the Sept. 12 season opener against Nebraska . . Page 1 1