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Friday, October 5, 1984
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Vol. 84 No. 31
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Fewer UNLag majors toiling on farm
Retired
By Gene Gentnsp
Daily Nebraskan Senior Eeporter
A photograph ofNlfs East Cam
pus as it looked in the mid 1950's
hangs on retired dairy specialist
Phil Cole's office wall. The cam-
dairvman
remimsc
pus then was only a farm. Cole
was the herdsman for that farm.
Since then the farm has moved
and been replaced with newer,
more modern buildings. Cole said
he had no regrets when the farm
moved to Mead, but misses the
era when more students received
"hands-on experience."
"When I managed the herd
many students worked with me,"
he said. "It was good for the uni
versity, but it was good for them
too."
The farm was moved north to
Mead in 1969 enabling fewer stu
dents to get the "hands-on expe
rience," he said.
Cole retired in August after a
34-year career as a Nebraska dairy
specialist.
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Cole visits with a couple registered Jerseys at a farm south of Lincoln.
Joel SartoreDaily Nebraskan
As an extension dairyman since
1956, Cole is credited with con
tributing significantly to the
growth and strengthening of dairy
herd associations in the state. He
was instrumental in establishing
Nebraska's first central herd-testing
lab in Beatrice.
Cole, who is known as "Mr.
Dairyman" by his peers, calls him
self a "general practitioner" in the
dairy industry.
But Cole admits he doesn't have
the answer to every question.
"If I can't answer it, then I'll
direct the farmer to someone
who can. That's what extension
agents are here for," he said.
Cole said farmers are asking
extensionists more questions than
ever before, requiring agricultu
ral fields to become more special
ized. Personal contact between
farmers and extension agents also
are becoming more important, he
said.
The extension program is a
"people-oriented service," Cole
said. "Personal contact is becom
ing increasingly important be
cause farmers want to know right
away the answers to their ques
tion. They don't write a letter.
They call us directly," he said.
Cole said the personal contact
is the biggest reward of being an
extensionist.
"The big reward is helping peo
ple and seeing it materialize as a
way of life," he said. "I especially
love getting acquainted with the
4-H kids and their families. I love
the collection of cows, cow peo
ple and countryside."
UNL prof essors bridge language gap
By Gah Y. Huey
Daily Nebraskin Senior Eeporter
Great Aunt Josephine has just died
and her French lawyers are calling. It
seems that your multimillion-dollar aunt
left you part of her 20,000 acres of prop
erty. When the deeds arrive, you discover
they're all in French what do you do?
Call the UNL department of modern
languages and literatures, of course. Some
modern language instructors say they
are used to that sort of thing. Each year
the department gets about 75 translation
requests which require some work, and
others that can be answered in a short
time. The department receives requests
ranging from translating government docu
ments to a greeting on Christmas cards.
In fact, the department has gotten so
many requests that it is considering form
ing an intra-departmental agency, said
Ralph Albanese, professor and chairman
of the department.
Til department does translating on
such a regular basis that some guidelines
should be set up to let people know about
the services available, he said.
Also, the guidelines would allow for
eign students to be paid for translating,
he said. Presently, foreign students can
not work outside of UNL organizations
because of their student visas.
Foreign student translators would help
a client who wants something translated
into the student's language, said Manfred
Jacobson, a German language professor
and coordinator for the requests.
While some instructors do some trans
lations, most requests are done by stu
dents, particularly graduate students, he
said.
A formal organization would help more
foreign students get involved in translat
ing requests, he said.
Additionally, an organized structure
would help determine fees, Jacobson said.
Presently, the modern languages depart
ment has no standardized fees.
Department members generally do not
follow the fee recommendations of the
Nebraska Committee on the Humanities,
he said. The organization recommends
charging about $60 a day for translating,
but because UNL is partly state-financed,
state agencies probably can charge for
the services at half the price.
The $30-a-day charge would be a "rid
iculously" low fee to compensate transla
tors for their time and work, Jacobson said.
Relatively few people can do a good job
.translating, he said, and it would be
unfair to ask them to work for those few
dollars.
Fees usually are decided by pages, he
said. A simple, personal letter may cost $5
a page. On the other hand, an extremely
complicated, technical request could cost
as much as $30 a page. Instructors usu
ally do not charge for the numerous
phone calls and walk-ins that take a
quick answer, he said.
Most people don't realize how difficult
it actually is to translate, Jacobson said.
"Most people seem to think that one
language automatically falls into another
language," he said. Complications can
occur. For example, if an advertising
agency wants a slogan translated, it has
to consider the effect of the jingle after
the translation, he said.
"A fair number of people somehow
think that it is a special pleasure for us to
translate," he said. "They just expect us to
sit down and read them it's painful
work."
' There are two instructors who can
vouch for that UNL Russian instructor
Valentina Ziverts and UNL Chinese and
Japanese instructor Nelly Cheng.
The feeling that "translating is an art
form" can probably apply to Cheng. While
translating is difficult, Cheng said, the
task is made even more difficult when
Cheng must handwrite each Chinese or
Japanese character. It takes more time to
translate from English to the other two
languages because a typewriter with Ja
panese or Chinese characters is not avai
lable,,she said.
"When you do translating for others,
you like to write an easy way for them to
read," she said.
Cheng recalls how she did all the char
acter writing for the game Shogun, created
locally by Allen Shipps. In that case, it
required not only translating into an
other language, but also fitting each char
acter carefully into a designated space.
"It requires not only translating but
also the ability to write well," she said.
Continued cn Page 9
Vice chancellor
resigns, accepts
Georgia position
Richard Armstrong, vice chancellor
of Student Affairs, has resigned after
serving at the post since 1977. He will
assume a position as vice president for
business and finance at Georgia
Southern College in Statesboro, Ga.,
Jan 1, 1985.
Armstrong, 52, will coordinate the
college's plant operations, financial
management, campus security and
auxiliary and staff services.
"Vice Chancellor Armstrong has
provided excellent leadership and has
done much to strengthen UNL's pro
grams and activities in student affairs,"
UNL Chancellor Martin Massengale said.
"We regret Dr. Armstrong's decision to
leave UNL, but we understand how the
new opportunity at GSC will enable
him to broaden his experience by mov
ing into a new area of leadership."
Armstrong is a native of Birmingham,
Ala. He received his bachelor's in 1954,
and his master's in 1959, both at
Auburn University. He received his
educational degree in 1963 from Col
umbia University.
Armstrong came to UNL in 1972 as
director of housing, and has been vice
chancellor since 1977.
"I grew up in the South. Although I
have thoroughly enjoyed the Midwest,
I have always wanted to return to the
South," Armstrong said Thursday.
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