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friday, October 2, 1981
lincoln, nebraska vol. 107 no. 28
Copyright Daily Nebraskan 1981
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Downtown Lincoln sculpture remains shapeless
By Patty Pryor
Proposals have come and gone, but Lin
coln still has no sculpture at the corner of
13th and 0 streets.
"The city has been in the process for
over five years now of acquiring a sculp
ture for that corner," Elaine Carpenter,
administrative assistant to the mayor,
said.
"We've looked at a number of artists
proposals, but none of them have been sat
isfactory,' she said. They've either been
inappropriate or too expensive.
The National Endowment for the Arts
has provided a $40,000 grant for construc
tion of the sculpture, Carpenter said. Local
funds are to match that amount.
Guidelines set by the endowment, how
ever, have compounded problems in find
ing a suitable proposal, she said. For in
stance, one of the guidelines requires that
the sculpture involve the entire intersection,
she said.
"This is basically so that the piece isn't
viewed as a private piece, so that it's known
as a public sculpture," she said.
A sculpture spanning across all four cor
ners is too costly, Carpenter said, and a
sculpture in the middle of the intersection
would be too obstructive.
The mayor's sculpture committee, com
posed of seven private citizens, would like
to see something built on the corner of the
NBC building, where there is plenty of
open public space, she said.
The committee is trying to get some of
the endowment's guidelines changed, so
such a proposal would be acceptable, Car
penter said.
In any case, the $40,000 grant is still se
cure, she said.
The proposal for artwork on the corner
originated as a Bicentennial project, Carpen
ter said, but when no suitable design was
found in time, the project became part of
the city's downtown beautification plan.
Foreign teaching assistants
communicate with students
By Ward W. Triplett II
The inability of some foreign graduate
teaching assistants to communicate with
their students is not as prevalent as stu
dent's complain, said the director of a UNL
program that teaches English to speakers of
foreign languages.
"I'm not trying to deny that there are
some problems," Hassan Sharifi, an asso
ciate professor of English said. "But most
of the complaints that I hear are imaginary."
Although foreign students make up a
small percentage of the teaching assistants,
it is no uncommon for students to register
complaints to department heads claiming
they cannot understand the assistant. Sha
rifi said few of those are legitimate.
"Many times, it is a matter of psychol
ogy," Sharifi said. "They see someone in
front of them who is speaking different
than what they are used to, and then de
cide there is no way they can understand
this person."
Sharifi said instructors from Texas or
the deep South would have the same prob
lem, because many university students are
from small Nebraska towns where few peo
ple speak different dialects.
"When you add that to the skin color of
most TAs being different, it is no surprise
that some students will complain ," Sharifi
said.
Russell Nelson, associate dean of gradu
ate studies, said his office receives com
plaints about foreign-speaking teacher as
sistants. "I don't know if we've had any specific
complaints reach this office this semester,"
Nelson said.
Nelson said the office is aware of the
communication problem and will continue
to monitor it carefully. Selecting the TAs
themselves is a part of the monitoring.
"Usually a foreign student cannot hold
a teacher assistant position his first year at
the university," Nelson said, "but that can
vary depending on how much English is
taught in the country they're coming from.
For example, students from Europe are
very well versed in English, and can step
in right away."
Nelson said figures for this semester
aren't available yet from the various de
partments, but last fall, there were 60 for
eign TAs, and 64 foreign research assistants
at UNL.
All foreign students must pass an Eng
lish test to be admitted to an American
university, Sharifi said. Once on the UNL
campus, they are supposed to take an addi
tional test through the student's depart
ment. Sharifi said a special effort is made for
prospective teaching assistants on the test,
but it is up to the individual departments,
or the assistants themselves to ensure that
they do well on the tests.
' "If the departments that hire these peo
ple don't tell me they have people who do
have trouble with the language, I cannot
scrutinize them," Sharifi said. Some TAs
come in on their own to improve their pro
nunciation or other specific grammar skills,
he said.
"I also have some who want to improve
their English, but after I talk to them a lit
tle while, it's obvious that they know and
speak English extremely well," Sharifi said.
"It's just that someone has been telling
them they can't do it."
Sharifi said he sponsored a proposal to
teach special class sections for non-native
speaking teaching assistants, but the UNL
Teacher Council rejected the grant needed
for the project.
"I though that Would be an effective
way to help solve this situation, but I didn't
succeed in getting the grant," Sharifi said.
Continued on Page 9
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Photo by Kent Morgan Olsen
Christine Kess takes a quiet run down one of Wilderness Park's secluded jogging trails.
Rape abuse line offers 24-hour support system
By Patty Pryor
Volunteers are needed for the RapeSpouse Abuse Line,
a 24-hour hotline run by the Family Services Association,
said Margie Ryan, FSA community educator.
Volunteers also serve in other ways, she said, including
advocacy programs and public speaking.
"It really depends on what they want to do, she said.
We don't ask for any kind of commitment right away.'
The hotline is staffed by about 40 volunteers, Ryan
said. Each one usually takes one shift a week. Only one
volunteer is on the line at a time, she said.
Callers are often seeking information or referrals, she
said.
The volunteers are able to refer callers to one of two
domestic violence shelters in Lincoln, she said, and to var
ious low-cost legal agencies, although no actual legal rep
resentation is offered by FSA itself,
The frequency of calls varies widely, Ryan said, but av
erages 15 to 20 a day.
Most volunteers on the line are college students, she
said, but there have been a few 17- and 18-year-old volun
teers in the past.
said.
Pretty basic
The phone counseling technique is pretty basic,
she
In addition to the hotline, FSA offers an advocacy ser
vice, which involves accompanying a rape victim to the
hospital or to court proceedings, Ryan said.
"It's mainly just a 24-hour support system," she said.
FSA also maintains a speakers bureau as part of its com
munity education program. The program usually involves
about six volunteers, Ryan said.
The volunteers use a general lecture format, she said,
which they take to schools, women's groups and other
interested organizations.
The association recently added a program dealing with
sexual assaults on children, Ryan said.
The program was presented to a Parent-Teacher Asso
ciation meeting last spring, "and the response was just in
credible" she said.
There have been quite a few sexual assaults on children
lately, and she said this has helped raise parents concern.
"I think they're more comfortable with not having to
initiate a conversation on sex with their kids, Ryan said.
"They're glad to have someone else talk to them."
Non-threatening
"And we do that in a real non-threatening way, she
said. "We handle the subject through basic safety tips.'
The Family Services also offer in-service training for
people in the community, such as police officers, attor
neys, emergency room personnel and short-term counsel
ing for victims.
"When a victim calls, we really try to encourage them
to come in (for counseling and possible referrals)," Ryan
said.
Before beginning any work, all volunteers participate
in a training session, which will be held Oct. 7 through 24
at the FSA office, 1133 H St.
The training prepares volunteers for all the various areas
of service, Ryan said, and consists of role-playing and dis
cussions on sexual assault, domestic violence and crisis
intervention.
The training sessions, held twice a year, usually draw
15 to 20 volunteers, she said.
This fall, the association is more actively seeking male
volunteers, Ryan said.
Continued on Page 2
wmsk friday
A Good Job is Hard to Find: Speech', English and classics
majors may be able to find a job more easily because of
new programs initiated by those departments . , Page 8
Break the 'Bone: The Nebraska football team must tackle
the wishbone offense in order to beat Auburn Saturday
... Page 10
Forked Tongue: An interview with Phillip Latham, leader
of the band Snakefinger Page 12
