Friday, February 25, 1983
Daily Nebraskan
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Vof.82. No. 112
Fbiuary 25, 1903
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
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Staff photo by Dave Bentz
Tom Myers, left, Jerry Kreifels, Lori Glaess, and
Susan TeSelle.
By Jann Nyffeler
In an attempt to resolve current Residence Hall
Association problems, the BEER (Better Educational
Environment for Residents) Party announced its
candidacy for RHA executive positions Thursday.
At a gathering of BEER candidates in the lobby of
Smith Hall, Tom Myers, RHA presidential candidate and
Harper Hall resident, outlined various points he believes
need RHA attention.
Myers suggested a number of solutions to the problem
of student traffic blocked for long periods of time by
trains on tracks south of Harper Hall. BEER recommends
removing the tracks entirely, using instead an apparently
unused set of tracks just north of Harper Hall. These
tracks connect with the same points to the east, he said.
Another option, he said, would be to construct
overpasses for students at 16th Street, 14th Street and
the "so-called Harper-Schramm-Smith cut-off," as well
as another one tor tratlic. lie said the latter
structure might be less feasible than the lirst three
because of cost limitations.
Elevating the tracks is yet another alternative the
BEER Party offered.
Myers also said that hall governments and residents
don't seem to care what RHA does. To create more
interest in RHA meetings,and generate increased
attendance by members, BEER members plan to offer
milk and cookies to live nude entertainment at the
meetings, or to pay members who attend.
Myers also suggested freezing floor funds if members
don't go to the meetings. This policy currently is followed
in most UNL residence halls.
Myers said he believes that in the university
community, "ASUN is large and visible, while RHA is
tucked off in a corner and seen as ineffective." To resolve
this, he suggests that the president of RHA, not ASUN.
serve as student regent.
To increase RHA's impact on UNL, the BEER Party,
if elected, would call for "the rewriting of the
constitutions of all hall governments and Greek councils,
the Intei fraternity Council and the Panhellenic
Association," Myers said. New constitutions would be
subject to RHA approval.
He also addressed the issue of non-Selleck residents
using Selleck Quadrangle facilities for meals and studying,
which often results in overcrowding.
Continued on Page 7
By Christopher Galen
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WMfte-coliair cirame odd college camnoyses
Nobody really knows how widespread
the problem is, but academic dishonesty
continues to plague campuses across the
country, including UNL, according to
Dolores Simpson-Kirkland, assistant to
the dean of students.
Because students are reluctant to talk
about academic dishonesty, facts and
figures about the true extent of cheating,
stealing and plagiarizing in college courses
are hard to find. For the 1981-82 academic
year, the University Judicial Board, which
Simpson-Kirkland oversees, heard 15 cases
involving 23 students.
She cited the Oct .20,1980, issue of
U.S. News and World Report, which
mentioned a survey conducted among men
at the university. Sixy percent of those
polled said they would be willing to cheat
if they were under pressure to do well.
Academic dishonesty takes several
forms, including plagiarism; stealing or
copying exams, cheating on exams by
using crib notes, or even by having a
surrogate take the exam in one's place,
according to Simpson-Kirkland.
"Dishonesty has created a lot of
problems," she said, "particularly for
those students who work hard and are
honest."
Competition for high grades has
changed attitudes in recent years, she
said. With today's bleak job outlook; a
student's grade point average is often a
deciding factor in getting a job. In
addition, graduate schools for legal and
medical studies are more selective than
ever in admission policies, driving some
students to cheat.
"It's no longer education for
education's sake," she explained. "It's
education for the grade. They feel they
have to make it - they have to have
those grades in pre-med , pre-law."
43
No "typical" student cheater exists,
but desperation is often the motivation.
If a student doesn't understand certain
basic concepts, he may feel the need to
cheat on an exam. This creates a vicious
circle in which the student eventually
fails to learn anything, Simpson-Kirkland
said.
David Brooks, a chemistry professor
who coordinates entry-level chemistry
classes at UNL, said he sees an increase
in the number of students caught cheating.
"There are a lot of reasons why they
do it," Brooks said', adding that the most
unusual case with which he has dealt
involved a student who was getting a
B in class, when he was used to getting
A's. The student cheated to improve his
marks, even though he was not failing.
In recent years, young people have
seen that cheating and dishonesty often
are used in the business and political
worlds to get ahead, and they tend to
emulate those examples, Simpson-Kirkland
said.
"The university is a microcosm of
society," she said. "White-collar crime
has reverberations in the college world.
People are more tolerant of wrongdoing
than they were."
"People see that others don't get
confronted when they do something
wrong," she said. "They adopt an 'I
don't want to get involved' attitude.
This jeopardizes everybody."
Once an instructor is aware that a
student is cheating, he has three options,
Simpson-Kirkland said. The instructor
can fail the student on the specific exam
of paper; he can give the student a failing
grade for the entire course; or he can
give a failing grade for the course and bring
the student to the attention of the Student
Life office and the University Judicial
Board.
Continued on Page 2
By Christopher Galen
Editor's note: This story contains the
opinions of the writer.
The King is dead. Long live the King.
Well, not quite yet, but Monday night,
Feb. 28, will mark the passing of a cultural
era"- the death of a small piece ot
Americana which, through the years, has in
one form or another touched the heart
of almost every person in the United
States.
It would be next to impossible to find
someone in this country who has not seen
at least one episode of CBS-TV's
"MASH" series. In its 1 1-year run, it
has attracted the praise and the kudos of
critics and viewers alike; but, like all other
good things, it must come to an end.
Monday's showing of the final episode
of "MASH" is expected to draw a
bigger crowd than this year's Super Bowl.
There will be MASH parties,
MASH wakes,.MASH dances,
MASH bashes - all to pay tribute
to what may be the most popular show ot
its time.
"MASH" was more than a comedy,
more than a drama: it was an intelligent
and sensitive look at an abhorred sense
less event - war.
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A spot-check Tuesday night in the
Nebraska Union TV lounge found a
number of students watching a
"MASH" rerun, perhaps for tjie second
or third time.
Tcri Wingate, an advertising major,
said she has followed the show since it
started and continued to watch it
whenever she's not working.
"The thing 1 like the most about it is
the way they take such a bad situation,
and get humor out of it," she said. "I
like it for the way they incorporate the
message into the show."
Wingate said she is getting off work
Monday evening so she can watch the last
episode and attend a MASH party.
"I'm waiting to be surprised Monday '
night. I think they might kill somebody
off. I'd be disappointed if everybody just
went home."
Lincoln resident John Payea happened
to be waiting in the union Tuesday night,
so he decided to watch "MASH"
as he does several times a week. He said
he enjoys the shows, but thinks it is time
for it to end.
"I'm a firm believer in things going out
on top," he said. "Even though it's only a
TV show, it really seems so much like it .
really happened."
Continued on Page 7
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