Tuesday, November 5, 1985
Daily Nebraskan
Page 3
'olicy. on
in class
4
fx
use of calcnlai
bj department
By Jody Beem .
Staff Reporter
Since the first calculators hit the
market in the early 1970s, attitudes of
students and professors about use of
them in class has changed, some UNL
professors say.
However, even today policy dictating
whether calculators can be used by
students in class varies from depart
ment to department.
"We have never allowed calculators
in any exam," said Walter Mientka, sta
tistics and mathematics professor. "We
are much more interested in the pro
cess than the results."
Mientka said he lets students use
calculators with homework assign
ments. However, he said that is his
personal decision not the entire math
department's.
Student use of calculators is accepted
in engineering classes, said Dennis
Alexander, associate professor of
mechanical engineering.
"We're engineers. It's an absolute
necessity" because of the complexity
of problems, Alexander said.
In the College of Business Adminis
tration, each professor decides whether
to allow calculators in class, said
Robert Raymond, accounting professor.
Raymond allows students to use calcu
lators because they're more efficient,
he said. However, he only allows stu
dents to use calculators with basic
functions because people. with pro
grammable calculators might not learn
basic accounting skills.
Students need to know basic
accounting even if they don't have a
calculator with them, Raymond said.
Calculators originally weren't allowed
in math classes, Mientka said, because
they were expensive and students who
couldn't afford one were at a disadvan
tage. Even today, he said, exams are
designed to be taken without the help
of calculators.
The business college also did not
allow calculators to be used on exams
when calculators first appeared on the
market, Raymond said.
In 1970, a large pocket-sized calcula
tor cost about $395, said Bob Gobber,
owner of Nebraska Business Electronics.
In 1975, a small pocket-sized calcu
lator could be bought for $85. Now a
good solar calculator costs about $7, he
said.
"Today you can get many more func
tions for a lot less money," Gobber said.
"Programmed calculators that dis
play words or bar graphs, interface to a
printer and have memory also are now
available, Gobber said. A calculator
loaded with engineering and calculus
programs costs between $125 and $175,
he said.
"You have a computer, almost,"
Gobber said. "The manual is thicker
than the calculator."
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Now some people are starting to culator, Gobber said,
throw their calculators away because it Calculators have become a necessity
costs more to buy new batteries for in our society, and always wili be a
their calculator than to buy a new cal- need for calculators, he said.
Healthguides expanded
By Deb Hooker
Staff Reporter
The University Health Center's
new student guides aren't plain
labeled anymore.
A new cover design and 44 pages
of additional information have been
added to the handbooks.
The old student handbooks were
10 pages long, and described the
health center's services. The new
handbook contains all of this infor
mation in the first seven pages. The
rest of the 44 pages are dedicated to
basic health care.
Fleischli said he thought that if
the health care section was included,
students would be less Hkety to
Tom LauderDaily Nebraskan'
throw out the books and more likely
to keep them for reference.
But the added quality and con
tent brought added production
expenses. Fleischli said the new
handbooks cost more than doubls
what the old ones did, To compen
sate for the increase, the heail.it
center will not send handbooks to
all students as they have in the past,
he said. Instead, only new under
graduates, dentistry and law gradu
ate students, health aides, student
assistants and various university
organizations will receive the new
handbooks.
People who want a handbook can
get one at the health center after
Nov. 15, Fleischli said,
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Good through Nov. 30, 1985
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Electrical Engineers. ..Computer Scientists...
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NSA's unique, three-fold mission offers you
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Sound good? Then find out more. Schedule an in
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NSA will be on campus November 22, 1985. For
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