TXYff Daily Tl
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Wednesday, March 17, 1982
Vol. 109 No. 47
Lincoln, Nebraska
Copyright 1982 Daily Nebraskan
Shinn's speech encourages nuclear disarmament
By Jim Wegman
A professor of social ethics cited a recent statement by
Soviet Prime Minister Leonid Breshnev as evidence of
"concrete" movement toward nuclear disarmament.
Roger L. Shinn, Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social
Ethics and Counselor to Graduate Students at Union
Theological Seminary in New York, was the final guest
speaker in the 18 1 -1 982 Atkinson Theological Lectures.
Shinn spoke about "Ecumenical Discussions on Disarma
ment" to approximately 60 people in the Nebraska Union
Tuesday.
Before his speech, Shinn heard reports that Breshnev
issued a unilateral moratorium on medium-range mis
siles. This is intended to reduce a certain number of those
missiles, Shinn said.
Shinn is the author of a dozen books and is working
on another called Forced Opinions: Social Decisions of
the 20th and 21st Centuries.
His speech focused on a report given at a World Coun
cil of Churches hearing in Amsterdam last November.
The hearing was attended by world leaders in theolo
gy, science and politics, including three Soviet scientists.
Shinn said it was the first time Soviet scientists attended
such a hearing.
The hearing began a day after an estimated 400,000
people attended a peace rally in Amsterdam, Shinn said.
The hearing had several purposes, Shinn said. First,
those attending assessed the current situation. Second,
they attempted to develop Christian thinking about the
subject, and thirdly, they worked to promote a climate
of thinking about nuclear disarmament, Shinn said.
"The hearing was not designed to be a cheer rally or
demonstration," Shinn said.
Platitudes
He said the main problem with such hearings is decid
ing how to get from platitudes to the concrete. "The plati
tudes are easy to agree on," he said.
"The church begins with a faith that generates an
ethic," Shinn said. A policy can then be made from
that ethic.
To determine some policies, the nuclear disarmament
situation was discussed from scientific-technological,
political and economic views.
The traditional principles of waging a war by destroy
ing combatants and weapons instead of cities has been
altered by new technology, Shinn said.
If nuclear weapons are targeted on the enemies' wea
pons, the basic assumption is that they might be used.
If either side gels weapons or thinks it has weapons to
wipe out the enemies' weapons, it would be very much
tempted to do so, Shinn said, especially if tension in
creases between them.
If weapons are targeted at cities, the basic assump
tion is that they will not be used, Shinn said.
Nuclear Spotlight
In the political realm of nuclear weapons, the United
Jim Ross
Photo by Dave Bentz
UNL's Boss of the Year enjoys job
By Gah Huey
Jim Ross, UNL's Boss of the Year, says he doesn't
know why lie was given the award.
"I'm not sure if I deserve it, but I'm not giving it
back," Ross said of the award.
Ross, assistant athletic director and manager of the
Bob Devaney Sports Center, was named Boss of the
Year last week by the UNL Office Personnel Associat
ion, an organization of UNL secretaries and clerical
workers.
Ross' secretary, Connie Wesslund, nominated him.
According to Wesslund, she sent a resume and back
ground information about Ross to the personnel
association. She also sent a letter telling why she
thought Ross should be nominated.
The association, whose president is Lorraine Child
ers, selected Ross on the basis of leadership, motivation
and interpersonal skills.
At last week's award luncheon, Ross was given the
award. UNL Chancellor Martin Massengale presented
Ross with a plaque and certificate.
Ross has worked at UNL for 20 years. He previously
coached high school football in Michigan. In 1962, he
came to UNL and has been assistant athletic director
for the past six years.
Ross said he enjoys his work and likes living in Ne
braska. "Nebraska has been good to me," he said. "I have a
good job and the people here are friendly."
Ross' job as assistant athletic director and sports
center nranager includes scheduling events, making sure
events go as planned and monitoring maintenance staff
and secretaries. Ross said he directly and indirectly
supervises the staff at the sports center.
Ross said he has no complaints about working at
UNL.
"Overall, there has been more good times than bad
times," he said.
Professor: Unrest confined to Poland
There is little chance that the unrest that has plagued
Poland for the past year will spread to other Eastern
European countries, said a professor of history who has
just returned from a trip to Eastern Europe.
Robert Fiala, chairman of the social sciences depart
ment at Concordia College in Seward, Nebraska, returned
to the United States last month.
Fiala led a tour group of students that visited the
Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia. The group was schedul
ed to visit Poland, but that was cancelled after martial law
was imposed Dec. 13 last year.
Fiala said a movement like Solidarity would not evolve
in Czechoslovakia.
"The government is firmly in control there," Fiala said.
"The Czech people have seen what's happened in Poland
and they had their own experience with the Russians in
1968." '
Fiala said conditions in Poland would "continue along
the same lines for awhile."
"They (the Russians) don't want to go in there at all,"
Fiala said. "It would be a definite loss of prestige in the
West if they went into Poland. They're very happy to let
the Polish government handle the situation."
Fiala will speak tonight at 7:30 in the South Cellar of
the Nebraska Union. His talk is sponsored by the
Komenski Club, a campus organization that tries to per
petuate the language and customs of the Czechs.
States and the Soviet Union are in the spotlight, Shinn
said. There is "plenty of embarrassment on both sides,"
he said.
The United States' policy not to strike first in nuclear
war coupled with NATO's renunciation of such a policy
make for an embarrassing political situation. As does
a Soviet submarine running aground in Sweden's waters,
Shinn said.
Third World countries protested expenditures for nu
clear armaments and the diversion of resources to build
them, Shinn said. They said the resources could better
be used to promote a better life for all, Shinn said.
Three policies were proposed at the hearing, Shinn
said.
The first was balanced disarmament through nego
tiation, the same approach used in the SALT I and SALT
II talks.
The second proposal was brought forth by George
Rathjens, a physicist at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology. He proposed unilateral initiatives. This
would involve disarming one's own nuclear weapons by
approximately 10 percent and waiting for the opponent
to reciprocate. Little risk would be involved because
the United States and the Soviet Union already have the
capability of overkill, Shinn said.
He also heard radio reports that the Russian Ortho
dox Church is planning a disarmament seminar in Mos
cow. Billy Graham has been invited to give the opening
speech, but the White House is trying to discourage him
from going, Shinn said.
These reports indicate a movement toward disarma
ment, even if they are not carried through, Shinn said.
"We have the opportunity to work, to struggle, to
hope. Any mature faith will motivate people to struggle,"
Shinn said.
Professors discuss
procedures to reduce
anonymity of students
By Leslie Kendrick
Reducing student anonymity in the classroom can be
beneficial, not only to the student but also to the instruc
tor, said John Demuth, professor and chief adviser of
chemistry Tuesday at the UNL Century Club meeting in
the Nebraska Union.
Ted Pardy, associate professor of life sciences, said he
brought up the subject of student anonymity because stu
dents often complain on teacher evaluations that they do
not get to know the professor in a large classroom.
Although faculty members must be careful not to take
student anonymity too seriously, anonymity is a hin
drance when a student is doing badly in a class and does
not seek help, said Donald Jensen, professor of psychology-Instructors
trying to reduce student anonymity in their
classes may be perceived as hypocritical by trying to get
students to like them, agronomy professor Robert Soren
sen said .
Some students simply do not want to be known by
instructors, associate professor of history Peter Maslowski
said. Some see the breakdown of anonymity as infringing
on their rights, he said.
Several professors attending the meeting said reducing
anonymity was important because it benefits both instruc
tors and students. Demuth said teaching beginning chemi
stry year after year can become dull, but learning stu
dents' faces and names can make instructing the same
class more interesting.
Instructors at the club's meeting gave examples of how
they reduced anonymity in their large classrooms.
Maslowski said his method was to leave the podium fre
quently and to walk up and down the aisles of his class
room. "But it can be disconcerting to the student who is
safely ensconced in the middle of the classroom to have
me clomping down the aisle," he said.
Maslowski said he also breaks his classroom down into
small discussion groups which require the instructor to get
to know students better.
Demuth and chemistry professor David Brooks said
they both take pictures of the students and study them.
In addition, they both make an effort to see every student
in each of their laboratory sections.
Brooks said he has a computer program that can print
out how each student is doing. In that way, Brooks said
he can give personal attention to each student's perform
ance during his visits to the lab.