n Daily
INKS
Tuesday, November 30, 1982
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Vol. 82. No. 70
Housing costs, food quality, cuts concern students
By Vicki Ruhga
Housing costs, university budget cuts and food quality
are the three main concerns of UNL residence hall stu
dents, according to an independent cross-sectional sur
vey of 505 UNL students questioned between Nov. 4
and 16.
Harper Hall resident Dave Edwards, who organized
the survey, said it is not a scientific reflection of all UNL
residence hall students. It is a random test sample of 10
percent of the total number of residents of each hall.
Although the survey was done independently of the
Residence Hall Association and the UNL Department
of Housing, four of the seven people helping with the
survey were RHA members, Edwards is also an RHA
representative. .
George Phillips, RHA treasurer and survey taker,
said the survey was done to establish a criteria of issues
RHA can address and also to show that students are
not apathetic to RHA.
"It was not done to embarrass the organization, but
rather to help RHA improve," Edwards said.
Edwards said the idea for the survey actually began
in Harper Hall when Linda Keifer, Phillips and he were
sitting around complaining about RHA. UNL students
Richard Gifford and RHA members Tish Mockler,
Marianne Reynolds and Bob Wolz shared concern about
RHA and offered to help with the survey. ,
The survey was taken on a floor-to-floor basis, and
surveyors tried to speak with 10 percent of the people
on each floor, Edwards said.
Although it is close to a floor-by-floor survey, he
said, the pollers did not reach several floors because
of the time element.
The survey also was taken with an open-door policy,
he said. It was based on a random number of people
whose doors were open and who would talk to surveyors,
he said,
The cost of housing was a major concern of 81 per
cent of UNL residence hall students, and 71 percent
listed food quality as a major concern.
Edwards said the Food For Thought forums were
started as a result of this survey. The forums are town
hall type meetings where Douglas Zatechka, director
of housing, and Anne Dumper, university food service
dietitian, will speak and answer questions.
Forums will be today at 4:30 p.m. in the Selleck
dining room, Wednesday at 4: 15 p. m. in the Abel-Sandoz
snack bar and Thursday at 4;30 p.m. in the Harper-Schramm-Smith
back dining room, Edwards said.
University budget cuts "were also a major concern
of 80, percent of the students, and 70 percent said park
ing was a major concern.
Other concerns mentioned were vandalism, 60 per
cent; privacy, 56 percent; insect control, 53 percent;
and alcohol policy, 48 percent.
Edwards said some students wanted the alcohol
policy enforced more strictly while others felt the policy
should be liberalized.
Excessive noise was not considered a problem for
most residence hall students, Edwards said.
Although 81 percent of the students surveyed knew
what RHA is, only 28 percent thought that RHA was
improving the quality of residence hall life, he said.
Edwards said he believes this is because of a communi
cation problem between RHA and the residents. He said
86 percent of the students surveyed thought that RHA
should increase communications with hall residents.
As a result of this, Edwards said, RHA will post
minutes in the glass case bulletin boards of each residence
hall complex. He said he hopes to eventually distribute
RHA newsletters on a room-by-room basis, much like
the ASUN Senate does.
Only 27 percent of the students favored salaries for
RHA officers. Edwards said he thinks this was because
they did not know what duties the officers performed
for their salaries.
Students also wanted RHA t;o continue to have FINK
Week, 80 percent; manage refrigerator sales, 83 percent;
and participate in the rate study committee, which
looks at increases in housing costs, 88 percent.
Edwards says students listed a variety of comments
on the survey, such as:
- Make more parking space available.
- Explain RHA's purpose publicly.
- Re-evaluate alcohol policy.
- Maintain quiet hours.
- Establish a vandalism control group.
- More social and sport activities.
- Advertise RHA.
Ml
v!i::-Y:Sat.,fcj
it. i
.s 1' . "... m
r
1
'To us it
was- tame'
We did not think
of the great open
plains, the beautiful
rolling hills, and
winding streams with
tangled growth, as
"wild." Only to the
white man was nature
a "wilderness" and
only to him was the
land "infested" with
"wild" animals and
"savage" people. To
us it was tame.
-From "My People
the Sioux"
by Luther Standing
Bear
Staff Photo by Jerry McBridt
Luther Standln Bear probably was not writing about the Nebraska Sandhills, above, when he wrote "My People, the Sioux," but the excerpt,
left, is fitting just the same.
Universi
By Bill Allen
UNL soon could be the only university in the country
to offer an undergraduate agribusiness degree through
the business college.
Ira Dolich, marketing professor and co-director of
the program, said although agribusiness degrees are
common, they usually are offered only through agricul
ture colleges or at the graduate level in business.
"Tli is will allow those students who are ag-oriented to
still pursue a business background," Dolich said.
The new program still in its planning stages, has the
complete support of the agriculture and business college
deans, he said. ::,.-:
The new degree will not differ much from business
courses offered through the agriculture college, Dolich
said, but the idea is to encourage business students in
terested in agriculture to choose the agribusiness major.
No new courses will be added to existing curricula
and no additional faculty members will be needed, he
said. : .. ' . ' ' " - " '
ew agribusiness progra,
The business college, which currently offers majors
in economics, management and accounting, simply will
add the agribusiness major, he said.
Dolich and Mike Turner, a UNL professor of agri
cultural economics, were the original co-directors of the
program.
They organized a committee of 10 business and agri
culture professors, which in the last year formulated an
academic plan for the program.
The plan will be reveiwed next semester by curriculum
committees in both colleges and then has to be passed
by the faculty of each college, Dolich said.
If both faculties pass it, the plan will go to a committee
headed by Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs John
Strong for further approval and to the NU Board of
Regents for final approval, Dolich said.
Dolich said he is optimistic that the program will go .
into effect, but said some compromises probably will have -'
to be reached about curriculum content.
Money for the program and support activities has come
from the Con-Agra foundation, Dolich said. He said the
corporation donated $25,000 last year and will give in
creased support this year.
in addition to being used for program development,
the money will support promotional activities, a seminar
series and the sponsoring of visiting agribusiness
executives.
Dolich, who visited three universities with agribusiness
programs as part of his research, said the program is
definitely needed in Nebraska.
It will encourage business students to study agribus
iness in Nebraska, where there, is a strong agribusiness
sector, he said.
The program will emphasize such areas as grain
merchandising and commodities, agriculture banking,
the sale and marketing of agricultural products and
management of non-production efforts like farm equip
ment and cooperative dealerships."