n an 1
Wednesday, September 23, 1981
lincoln, nebraska vol. 107 no. 21
Copyright Daily Nebraskan 1981
; I
il
Juggler Peter
bowling ball
part of UPC's
Photo by Mark Billingsley
Nicolaus does his thing Tuesday morning behind the Nebraska Union. Nicolaus is shown juggling a
chain saw and rubber ball; a feat he recommends only to the experienced juggler. He performed as
Rainbow of Events kickoff program.
Writing skills of freshmen adequate
By Tom Mockler
Unlike some colleges there appear to be no major com
plaints about the writing skills of incoming freshmen at
UNL.
"At least by national measures, there are not a large
number of students that are seriously disadvantaged as
writers" said Gerry Brookes vice chairman of the English
department.
Brookes said that although there may be some prob
lems, most arc dealt with in ordinary composition classes.
"Certainly, you will hear plenty of people who think
there is a severe problem,'' he said. "There are also a lot
who will say that students write as well today as they ever
have written."
Brookes said that UNL is at an advantage in that it
doesn't have to deal with many of the problems that ur
ban universities face, such as large numbers of people with
urban dialects and members of families that don't speak
English.
Brookes heads a writer's workshop for those with writ
ing problems. He does it as "a small, personalized, nearly
tutorial program for disadvantaged students."
Listed as English 159, it provides academic credit, but
doesn't fill any college requirments. Brookes said, though,
that only 25 to 30 students are in the workshop at one
time. Currently, there are 3,400 students in freshman
composition classes,
Brookes considers college writing skills adequate, add
ing that for most people, writing skill improves after they
leave college.
"In a test that compared the writing skills of UNL Arts
and Sciences College seniors with alumni, the alumni
scored better. Some said this showed that writing skills de
clined among students presently in school.
"The fact is, one's writing will continue to improve as
long as one has contact with the language, Brookes said.
"The person who is entering the job market is naturally
going to have a disadvantage compared to the person who
has been out of college for 10 years.'
Leslie Whipp, English department professor, said fresh
men aren't to blame for writing deficiencies.
"If there's a problem, it's not in the freshmen," he said.
"They aren't incompetent or deficient. Conditioning is
the problem."
Whipp said the problem is that students tend to gener
ate overly formal and "stiff writing, which is a result of
the influence of public schools and publishing. Whipp em
phasized the need to do more personal writing, as opposed
to the overemphasis on doing book reports and term
papers.
"The methods used at Harvard in the 19th century and
Oxford in the 1 7th have been lost," Whipp said.
David Stewart, an English instructor who teaches a
freshman composition course, said he didn't see any major
problems with freshman writing skills.
"There are small problems," he said. "There may be
one person out of a couple classes' who has any real prob
lems." Stewart, who is in his third year of instruction at UNL,
said there might be problems with basic sentence structure
and the structure of essays. But the major problem is "get
ting students to open up."
Washington office
records questions,
gripes and praise
By Tricia Waters
The phone rings and a woman with a slightly southern
sounding voice answers. She identifies the caller's con
nection as the Presidential Enquiry Office at the White
House.
The woman listens to the caller's comments on the
Comprehensive Employment and Training Act and
records them. In a few minutes, the exchange is over.
The office has 10 people working from 9 a.m. to 5
p.m. and is located in the Executive Office Building next
door to the White House. The 10 people record the com
ments of about 2,000 persons a day who call in to give
President Ronald Reagan their 2 cents worth.
The office's number if 202456-7639.
The office has been operating through several presi
dential administrations to give the public a way to re
spond to presidential actions, said Toni, a presidential aide
who spoke to the Daily Nebraskan in a telephone inter
view. Security rules prevented her from giving her last
name.
Toni said most callers are friendly and many tell where
they are calling from. Tuesday, she received calls from
Massachusetts, Wyoming, Texas, California and many
other states.
People who ask questions get replies from the Presi
dential Coorespondence Department, Toni said.
Lately, many callers have commented on budget cuts,
elimination of the CETA program, sale of Airborne Warn
ing and Control System planes to Saudi Arabia and the air
traffic controllers strike.
"It just depends on what's in the news any particular
day," she said.
The president gets many support calls, telling him that
he's doing a good job, she said. Likewise, he gets calls
critical of his actions.
0
The office was bombarded with calls during the days
after the assassination attempt on Reagan, she said.
"Anytime the president goes public, we get a lot of re
sponse," she said. "Thursday will be a big day in this
office." She said the president's Wednesday night speech
would prompt many calls.
For many people, communication by phone requires
less time and effort than sitting down and writing a letter.
Apparently, Americans are willing to spend more
money than an 18 cent stamp to have their comments re
ferred to the president. A phone call to the White House
costs about $2.50 for five minutes, according to Lincoln
Telephone Co. rates.
Proposed vet school criticized
uednssdiay
A Foul Mess: Game and Parks Commission experts say
it's too soon to tell if pesticides in waterfowl will force
cancellation of the hunting season . Page 3
Zero, the Gay Blade: George Hamilton recreates the
Zorro character in an uninspired film ...... Page 10
New Home: Nebraska s women's Softball team will have
ne place to play in the spring if construction of a field
;hind Mable Lee Hall goes as scheduled ..... Page 12
By Jeff Goodwin
Twenty spaces for Nebraska residents went unfilled at
veterinarian schools at Iowa State and Ohio State, accord
ing to a veterinarian who is opposed to the building of a
veterinary college in Nebraska.
Dr. John J. McVaney of Omaha said that enough Ne
braska students get into veterinarian schools in neighbor
ing states.
"At this point it (the proposed veterinarian school) just
isn't needed,' McVaney said.
"The quality of instructors won't be as good as at other
schools," McVaney said. "Faculty just don't want to
come to a new school. The faculty already there is being
underpaid.'
McVaney also criticized the proposed use of "practic
ing professionals,' that is veterinarians who would teach
part-time at the college.
Dr. Earl O. Dickinson, in an interview with the Omaha
World-Herald earlier this month, said there was a shortage
of veterinarians.
'The shortage is real, but I don't believe it's justifica
tion for saying that another school should not be estab
lished, Dickinson said,
McVaney said there was no serious shortage of veteri
narians in the state.
'The only town weve heard of that wants a veterina
rian and hasnt been able to find one is Wakefield. And
they have one within 10 or 20 miles, McVaney said.
Opinions from officials at other veterinary colleges dif
fered on the matter.
Sue Hyland, Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs for
the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of
Wisconsin, supported the idea of a veterinary college at
Nebraska,
"If they can combine things like research into it, it
can be a broad state service,' Hyland said.
'The history of other schools shows that it is a boon to
the state economy.'
Hyland also said the Wisconsin officials were looking
into the possibility of offering a contract to Nebraska to
provide for the education of Nebraska residents at Wiscon
sin. She said it would be similar to arrangements Nebraska
already has with such schools as Iowa State and Ohio
State.
Hyland said the only thing keeping them from making
an offer was uncertainty about when the school would
open.
Dr. Kenneth H. Niemeyer, Assistant Dean for Student
and Alumni Affairs for the Veterinary Medicine College
at the University of Missouri, said that the number of ap
plicants to veterinary colleges was going down.
'The number of applicants at our school is going down
and I think this is true at most other schools," Niemeyer
said.
Niemeyer said it was his "personal opinion that a vet
erinary college was not needed at Nebraska.