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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 5, 1984)
Wednesday, December 5, 1934 Daily Nebraskan Pago 11 I 'V.. - . 1 V ir,, F IT-: " -.: ' ..A Ck S v.. - VSf,- Din DutanyDlly Ncbrsskan 1.21- Zlvcrt assists etudcr.t Glen M&ddux, a freshra&n firom Kearney. irited Russian teaches m of Beasants' By Beth Thompson Daily NebTasluui Staff Eeporter Valentina Ziverts, a Latvian-born Russian teacher at UNL, said she doesn't know why her stu dents like her so much. "Maybe my shoes?" she says, joking. But some students know exactly why their Russian teacher means so much to them. Sophomore Christine Evans says "she's just the greatest thing. The university should feel privileged" to have Ziverts as a teacher. Junior Diane Adcock uses words like "feisty," "spirited" and "never boring" to des cribe Ziverts. Does Ziverts know her stu dents like her so much? "They'd better, or I not like them," she says with a smile. In return, Ziverts, who has taught at UNL since 1978, fully enjoys her students, partly because of "their enthusiasm to learn," she said. For instance, instead of teaching Russian grammar and vocabulary one day, Ziverts described to her class how Christmas is celebrated in Europe and Russia. "And the students love it." While Ziverts is busy teaching American students the difficult Cyrillic alphabet (a cross between Slavic and Greek alphabets), she learns something from them. "American students don't know English grammar," she said. Even with this difficult bar rier, Ziverts students want to learn the Russian language. And Ziverts loves to teach the "language of peasants." "Maybe I am prejudiced," but "I love the Russian lan guage," even compared to French, the elegant language of royalty, and Italian, the language of music. And with the ability to speak Russian, Ziverts said, a student can understand any Slavic language. Ziverts, with a Slavic languages major from the University of Prague, fluently speaks Rus sian, German, Polish and Lat vian, not to mention her well polished English. Ziverts' strong Russian accent is something she rarely notices. With an office on the 1 1th floor of Oldfather Hall, a floor full of different nationalities, Ziverts says she "feels at home." Old age also is some thing Ziverts has yet to expe rience. If old age means sit ting in a rocking chair in the corner, "then I am very young," she said. "I feel young. I feel able to participate in any activity," she continued. When people ask Ziverts how old she is, she likes to play a little joke. She tells them she is 96, and they exclaim, "Oh my God, you look so young!" In her X amount of years, Ziverts said she has expe rienced a lot. During World War II, "I lived with the Ger mans. I lived with the Rus sians. I went through hell," Ziverts said. Her family wanted "to run as far as possible from the communist regime." So in 1951, they came to Lincoln, because "we had hopes." "I am a fighter, I am," Ziverts concluded. That's what Valentina means in Greek strong. Executive positions are available now to college seniors and graduates as Pilots or Navigators. Your college degree makes Air Force flight careers a reality. Goal oriented? Qualify for Officer Training School and become an officer in the world's finest flight program. Excellent pay, benefits and prestige. Only a limited number of these special opportunities remain. For more information, call; TSgt Bob Waters (402) 472-5501 Call Collect A grvolwoyelM. n o u ( o On Difu i-J n (2)UU ( vWJ t r i LJXJ Lid) The gift of eyesight is priceless. To seek care for your eyes on the basis of price is cheating yourself. Your decision should be centered on trust, not nickels and dimes. That's why people choose Pearle. They trust us. They know that although our prices are competitive, we won't ever lower our standards in order to lower our prices. Before you risk your eyes to the tempta tion of cheap eye care, think about what you're gambling with. ( PEARLE vision center Ksbecty eczes Csr ccs rsss Chssi Pccslo 1132 0 Streat 47S-75! C 1991 Parte Haaflh Seniosi he N- By Mary, Kahn, and David J 3 Ik 1 I HOURS: Mon.-Sst. 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Sun. 1-5 p.m. '-J i eadsTogether- The full service salon