Tuesday, September 17, 1985
Page 4
Daily Nebraskan
atonal
tuctents don't set
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their money
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from some
TA's
ome teaching assistants pass the test of faculty and
students when it comes to credibility.
But when students put their education in the hands
of assistants rather than certified instructors, they are
not getting their money's worth.
When students sign tuition checks, they expect fully accre
dited professors to teach courses.
Last fall, UNL had about 262 graduate and undergraduate
teaching assistants, compared to 1,202 full-time faculty mem
bers. And psychology department chairwoman Toni Santmire
says teaching assistants often get better teacher evaluations
than professors.
Granted, some TA's are exceptional students can relate
to them because they are younger and as students, they can
empathize with the people they teach. Some also are more
available to students and give more feedback on tests.
But others are less than adequate. Many students are skep
tical of inexperienced TA's when they have problems in the
classroom and seem unprepared for class discussion.
Language barriers also are a problem for many teaching
assistants. Students have enough problems learning new
material in English, but when instructors have difficulty
expressing themselves, education is nearly impossible.
To help crush language barriers, the university imple
mented a Test of Spoken English in 1983-84. The exam tests
foreign teaching students' oral skills.
Since the test was implemented, complaints about poor
communication between assistants and students have de
clined, said James Ford, English professor and test administer.
Ford said about 50 to 60 percent of the foreign students who
take the test don't pass. To help students prepare for the test,
training programs ranging from short orientation sessions to
semester-long classes are being developed, according to the
Chronicle of Higher Education.
Teaching assistants who overcome the barriers are an asset
to the university. They ease teaching loads and help UNL cope
with budget cuts. For example, the speech communication
department handled about 1,000 students who would have
been turned away if TA's weren't available.
Students who prefer teaching assistants should be allowed
to take courses from them. But the costs of the course should
be reduced because the instructor is not fully accredited.
For example, at the College of Hair Design, customers pay
according to the experience of the barber. A haircut from an
advanced junior will be less than one from a senior student.
UNL students pay for quality instruction, and the university
must make sure students get the quality instructors.
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Gene Gentrup
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The Daily Nebraskan (USPS 144-080) is published by the UNL Publica
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ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1885 DAILY NEBRASKAN
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Morally right rhetoric wins
Causes of political and social im
port have historically been most
effectively promoted through im
passioned rhetoric. It is a fact of
human communication that the well
turned phrase carries more persuasive
punch than the well-ordered argument.
Rhetorical propaganda has often been
maligned by the intellectual commun
ity as illegitimate skirting of the mind
in order to motiviate emotionally.
Such criticism fails, however, to
explain why the strategy works if it is
so radically opposed to the process
that makes us unique in creation
self-transcendence and the ability of
critical analysis. I would like to offer a
further explanation for this phenomenon
and present an example from a press
ing current issue.
There often seems to be a correla
tion between the political and social
justification for a given cause and the
level of rhetoric constructed to support
it. Thus, those causes that history has
shown to be progressive are remem
bered for their great watchwords and
stirring slogans, while those that prom
ised only entrenchment in oppressive
behavior were hard-pressed to formu
late a viable rhetoric.
So the simple, yet forceful "Hell no,
we won't go" rang through the halls of
human dignity and brought the largest
military-industrial complex in the
western world to its knees. Yet, in the
same generation, the desperate cry,
"Two, four, six, eight, we don't want to
integrate" communicated only the hol
lowest of attempts to rescue a dying
ideology. The phrases were similarly
constructed, but the persuasive power
of the rhetoric was tied to the potential
for good inherent in the dogma.
If the strength of the rhetoric is a
yardstick for the validity of the cause,
the current debate over abortion takes
ton an interesting new perspective.
While both sides can spout facts and
figures, the ultimate issues are most
accurately reflected in the war of elo
cution. And the pro-lifers are beating
the stuffing out of the pro-choicers.
James
Sehnett
By far, the two most eloquent words I
have heard in the debate have come
from the advocates of fetal rights. The
first was by none other than the Great
Communicator himself, who quipped,
"I have noticed that all the people who
are for abortion have already been
born." The second comes from record
ing artist Randy Stonehill, who began a
song with the satirical line, "Well, it's
okay to murder babies, but we really
ought to save the whales." Say what you
will, there is power in those words. It is
power that cuts through the cloud of
'9
h i
issues and asks the questions at the
heart of the matter are we being fair
and if so, to whom?
Perhaps the revolution has not died,
but has merely been perverted. Richard
John Neuhaus, a '60s liberal par excel
lance, was quoted in a recent interview
defending the pro-life position on fas
cinating grounds. Still maintaining his
liberal bent, he observed, "It is the
classic 'liberal' position to expand the
definition of the human community for
which one provides protection and
care. It is the classic 'conservative'
position to suggest that the way to deal
with poverty is to get rid of poor people,
and yet it is the Planned Parenthood
organization who put out a booklet
supporting abortion by showing how
much money has been saved ... by
virtue of aborting the children of the
poor."
The case for justice has always been
fought on the battlefield of the defini
tion of humanity. The position that has
represented progress has been that
which gave the widest possible inter
pretation to the category. It is no
wonder that, in the abortion issue, the
thunder of flaming verbage has come
from those who cry for others, who can
only scream silently. It is that position,
regardless of its political label, which
has always produced the most convinc
ing oratory.
Sennet is a UNL graduate student in phi
losophy and campus minister of the
College-Career Christian Fellowship.
Letters
Brief letters are preferred, and longer letters may be edited. Writer's
address and phone number are needed for verification.
Nursing editorial not accurate analysis
I am writing to you in response to the at the Medical Center if we were moved Finally, I would like to address your
editorial (Daily Nebraskan, Sept. 9) to Omaha. It would take a lot more than comment about using Whittier Junior
concerning the College of Nursing. As a tuition hikes to push us out We would High for clinical space. The purpose of
student of College of Nursing-Lincoln much rather pay a little extra as our clinical experience is to practice
Division, I feel that your article was not opposed to having our college closed, the theory we learn in the classroom. A
an accurate presentation of its current I would like to inform you of the rate requirement for this is having people to
sta,5us; .. of our tuition as compared to other care for, something we can only obtain
We (students and instructors) worked schools. The tuition we pay is compar- from local health care agencies (Lin
very hard this summer to prevent the able to that of universities in surround- coin General Hospital, St. Elizabeth's
phasing out proposed by Chancellor ing states. The rates we would have to Community Health Center, the Regional
Lnaries Andrews to tne Board of Resents. nv nt nrivato clonic in fv
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de corps within our college is at a very higher than what we presently pay
high level. We enjoy and are very proud Examples (tuition per year)
to be involved in the program. We also Union College $5 990
enjoy and are proud to be a part of the Creighton $5,234
Lincoln campus. It offers us a "campus Midland College $5,000
life" that we would not be able to have Lincoln Division $l',890
cal Center and Madonna Professional
Care Center.
Lori Fritz
junior
nursing
Students should work at harmony, understanding
While I was walking across campus
with some friends from my home coun
try of Pakistan, some occupants from a
passing car snouted rude comments
about our foreign status.
Incidents like this are not rare on
this campus. This letter is not intended
to complain about the discriminatory
remarks, but instead, it is aimed to
express my personal views of a nation,
the United States, whose constitution
bars any discrimination on the basis of
race and skin color, at least on paper.
I cease to understand
discrimination is instilled in minds
that seek higher education today.
Friends from Europe also studying at
UNL have never encountered such prob
lems. Thus, skin color seems to be the
basis of discrimination. Having a dif
ferent skin color other than white is no
one's mistake.
There is a lot more to learn at UNL
than just earning a degree. As students
and good citizens of our countries, we
should try to understand each other
and strive to live in harmony. The key
thing to do is to respect each other as
beings created by God. If this is not
possible, then the least that can be
done individually is to rethink your
attitudes and think about how the
media and other people may influence
you. Arsha T. Syed
senior
computer science
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