Wednesday, February 6, 1S35
Daily Nebraskan
Paga5
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Why are you here? No, I don't mean why are
yo'J standing in the Union lounge with half a
doughnut barging cut of your mouth. I mean why
are you here a: UNL? Why are you taking classes?
question for a guy who i3 In his ninth year cf
001.
week, Chancellor Masscn,
I1
3
seamen
Why ere you giving up perfectly good quality tints
Tilth study, reflection r.d the quest for knowl
edge? (You are dcirg these things cn a regular
I" 22:3, cf coarse!) I've ashed severs! people th&t peo;
got a lot cf press by announcing the appointment
cf a commission to investigate 'th3 status cf
general liberal education at UNL." From what I
can gather, he did this beceuse he also bcUcvc3
that there is mcr3 to the edueiiienal process
than training In a chosen field. In the words of
Dr. Gerry Mcisels, dsa cftlia College cf Arts and
Sciences and chiir cf the chancellor's commis
sion, a well-rosrnded eduction involves, among
ether things, pieparatlcn for -jcdgr.ier.t, per
spective, motivation ardthe ability to work with .
cstlsn lately, cr.d the ixocnss ususllv takes
ts& form, "I'm here to learn what I need to know
to get a gecd Jcb." Air.irJ.h. Even &
Jiiat what is the purpess ofedacttlca? Quite a
m cm u 8323 exactly wacre mus cc,
SWjiftT in?"
the administration concerning the purpose cf
education and the purpose cf a school such as
UNL For this they are" to be applauded. With
such efforts they are to be supported and
encouraged. We have spent too long with the
tunnel vision view of education.
Of course, you don't have to wait for the
commission's report to aim for true education.
You don't even have to hive a well-rounded
curriculum in your decree program. Educability
is an attitude that say3, "Knowledge 13 useful
and desirable for its own soke. It, like art, needs
no justification."
Such an attitude will take you Into realms cf
exploration and discovery which will fulfill you,
excite you, and often execrate you. It will
never bcre you.
It is said (by whom I have no idea it's just
one cf these things that is aald) that John L'Utcn
was the last man who knew everything. We
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IslllllilUhlXJii ill
A
imaeaarv screws won t
T cmember the dressirg-down King
: Arthur govs Guinevere In the
i0 nunnery? It stem, but not
mere so than Steven Kclmaa's analysis
cf the Grsse Ccmmissien report on
gsYcrxrnent "cost ccr.trcl"
The commission give Eonnld Eesgaa
the id 33 ih
there m 2,473 rays cf
in just three yscrs, $124 billion. Hence
Ivvag'in s belief tht the budget dciiivit
csa be toed by "growth end Grace"
ty economic growth and by eiimi
nstisj only things that no one wants.
is headed cr hew iis exclusions and' reccn
mendetier.3 will elect UHL curriculum require
ments. One thing is certain, though. Its very
appointment represents a heslthy attitude by
billion could be caved in three yeais His Pcntfia orders many buildings but the company really
"without in any wsy harming necessary kinds of parts iteultanecusly. As an manages only 1,CD0. Also, the ccramis
social welfare prcgraras.") Fourteen approved acoounthg convenience, many sion vM the corapany cmploysjiist 2CC
percent cf the 5 124 billion (laabuhon) contractors allocate rerheexi cn an
was to come (in years 2001-3) from "item" rather than "value" basis,
cutting federal, civilian and military Kelman illustrates this with an example
cf a $2D million crder for 10,000 parts,
some cf which have a direct cost cf
$25,000 each and ethers, cf 4 cent3
each.
haven't gotten dumber; knowledge has juet
gotten bigger. Anyway, besides "Paradise Lost,"
Paradise i:egained".and "Paradiee: The Untold
Story," this last cmr.becr.t human aeo wrote an
essay entitled "On Education." In that essay, he
said that a well-rounded education i3 that which
prepares us "to perform justly, skillfully and
mapanimcusly all the dices both private and
public cf peace and war."
Education will prepare you for anything. This
i3 slightly mere impossible now than it was in
the seventeenth century, and it was down right
idealistic then. But the nice thing shout ideal
statements is that they remind us that r.o matter
how far we've come, we still have a leeg way to
go. Maybe you will never be able to do everything.
Maybe you will never even be able to do
everything you want to do. Cut give it s try. It will
definitely ketp you bu?y, mi it m&y give you a
taste cf w..t 1.1 are on ths pMi-wt fr.
II' 6 8 Ik
4iM B.
It
ft
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t"vy -t4Prl Aiff-1 a 4 r
n-
tract. Kelman found that the company
actually has 2C0 management firms
Kow, in the winter issue
.Public Interest
in,cfll:
r.r rr.r-;
rd'sEei
cf The
d Jrumal
CGianicsioa charged:
"The Veterans Administration spends
"Instead of apportioning the $1 $Slf2S0 per bed to construct nursing
million total overhead such that the homes almost four times the $16,000
gross exaggerations. The commission $25,000 part gets a lot and the 4-cent per-bed cost cf a major prhrste-sector
American-mad products and miserlty
and small businesses. Tha vdsdem cf
such policies Is debatable; but the
policies are net "w::to."
Kelman demolishes several ether
Grace horror stories, but mere fists are
no match for the desire to believe
politically convenient things. The Grace
report, and especially the President's
sent, argues that the horror
stories about waste
-i j. . i
Pe:
:cialiaes in such storiss as: "The part a little, tb- computer printout will nursing home operator." E
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La;
eorge-
The initial press rcleise trumpeted:
"Ccmmissien Discloses $424 Billion in
Waste." But much cf what it chose to
call waste is just policy the reasonably
eScient operation of progress the coin
mission considers unnecessary. (Hence
the commission's assertion that $424 company h
love cf it, demonstrates the extraordi
nary things people will believe in order
to avoid facing unpleasant facts, such
as the fact that the deficit can not be
substantially slirenk painlessly.
Do you really believe the government
is paying $110 for a 4-cent diode, and
that if it would just quit doing such
things it could save $424 billion in
three years? Remember in "Through
the Looking Glass," when Alice says it
is impossible to believe impossible
things and the Queen (who should be
the chairman of the Council cf Economic
Advisors) says: Fiddlesticks, I've
believed as many as six impossible
Furthermore, VA costs are raised by things before breakfast. The Queen was
government policies of providing certain no slouch, but not in the league with
quality features (such as balconies for the Grace Commission and its believers.
insurance company managing 10,000 the rooms) and giving preference to ltss, WuMi-gtoaPestWiitera Grots?
allocate $ 100 to each part This produces that the commission averaged the cost '
able in any hardware store for 3 cents, a charge to the government cf $25,100 of six VA homes, and the average was
for $31 each." for the expensive part end $100.04 for radically inflated by including a West
Make your blood be il?Simni'er dam the cheep one." . . . . Virginia home the cost of which included
Pentagon acquisition miss stipulate Tfee Grace Commission charged that, a related facility that was part cf a
that "overhead" expenses be allocated '"In comparison to a private sector whole medical facility built acacent to
to each shipment at some Used proper- company, managing comparable build- it. The costs of three of the other five
tion of the value cf the product. Jf the ing space, the General Services Admin- homes were significantly raised because
value is Id million,. the corporation istration employs 17 times as many of site difficulties. The sites were
might be entitled to add, say, 20 people and spends about 14 times as dictated by the VA policy of locating
percent ($1 million) for overhead, mush on total management costs." homes near VA hospitals.
Overhead includes costs above mater- Outraged? Do not be.
ials, machines and hbsr costs of The commission committed two
eery&irui from legal departments to howlers. It compared GSA to an actual
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Hvtf TODAY FOR TO61ffcb
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Founder of the Career Development Team, Inc.
ind the Employment Training Corporation in New York
sin ynn nUii
t - ' -
Wednesday, February 6th 7:00 Nebraska Union
.fVc3 ti;i& Student LD.
' Non-Students $2. OO
Co-Spcnsored by UrC Talks & Topics
jhsi in. iiiii
; . 5496.0
The Flo
e For Valentine's
rentini Collection
A . . x (1
.r Xis''
This Valentine's Day, treat
yourself or someone you love to
1 4 karat gold jewelry.
Save 54 one day only
Thursday, Feb. 7, on beautiful
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Choose from finely crafted
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Don't miss it tomorrow!
0- j -
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Shop 10-9 AH S tores
No phone or mail orders
All Sales Final-No Layaways
Special:
Ten styles of pierced earrings
Mfg. Suggested
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18" 1.5 mm solid rope chain
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