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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 3, 1986)
Monday, March 3, 1986 1 C f' ) Concern over By Uso Olsen Senior Reporter The recent suicide of a first-year law student has caused some law students to re evaluate their envir onment. The tragedy stimulated about a dozen friends to recall their own early feelings of isolation, failure and pressure. They decided there was a void that needed to be filled in the law school support system. "We missed reaching out to a fel low student. The loss was not that Cfe . 1 ' it IN,- ... I , ' Opinion Keating questions intent of legislators Last year the university was hit with budget cuts of damaging proportions, and now it is said to be targeted for yet another round of cuts. What has disappointed me most is the lack of commitment toward the university from Gov. Bob Kerrey and Guest Opinion most state senators. A commitment to education was evident in Kerrey's 1982 campaign and also five years ago when legislators chose to build and develop the university through a sizable budget increase, As a member of the NU Board of Regents, I have been especially disap pointed not to see any type of cohesive relationship between the Lancaster French would ROYKO from Page 4 I wind up doing something like a grown man shouldn't have to do: pointing at the menu, like a kid at a candy counter, and mumbling, "I'll have that." "Ah, a good choice," he says, "the closh du bwahshwah." "Yeah, the uh, mmm, yeah." Why, you ask, do I bother to eat in French restaurants if the language is such a mystery and pain in the neck? Because they know how to cook. They aren't much at fighting wars anymore. Despite their reputation for fashion, their women have spindly lit) suicide leads we had lost a student lawyer we had lost a member of our family," said second-year law student BJ. Aman. In early February, about 20 stu dents formed "SWAMP" Stu dents Working Against Mental Pres sure to combat what, for some, may be an unbearable level of stress. Part of the stress is inherent in a traditional law school environment that uses the Socratic curriculum to create a "healthy intellectual ten sion." But, Amen says, the "lawyer faculty doesn't have to be an unattainable 7 Yt ,A . 1 -LM V 1 . it i . ......ii"i'nif.PH, Kurt ioerharctDaiiy Nebraskan County senators and the regents, along with NU administrators. Last week's remark in the Daily Nebraskan by state Sen. David Landis exemplifies this relationship. Landis said testimony made by NU President Ronald Roskens and other administrators at the NU budget appropriation hearing alienated some senators. Landis also said some sena tors doubt the word of NU administra tors and view them as "self serving." If senators think they cannot trust the word and vision of men such as Roskens and UNL Chancellor Martin Massengale, I would challenge them to find people of this high quality and standards they can trust. Times must be bad when our state senators are not supporting our insti tution and its administrators. In all fairness to the legislators from Lancaster County, I have heard very few uul- y u i if. . ' f i rather cooEr than fight legs. Their music is sappy. But they do know how to whip up a plate of grub. My only complaint about it is that unless you read French, you don't know what you're getting, which ought to be illegal. Just about every food item you pick up in a grocery store has got the ingredients listed on the pack age or can, so you can eat the addi tives of your choice. There is even a movement to label the ingredients of hootch. But the French get away with ref using to print on a menu that a snail is a snail, a pancake is a pancake, and a bowl of cold potato soup is Daily Nebraskan t i to support group citadel of academia." SWAMP wants to first improve what has been a distant and an occasionally hostile student-faculty relationship. The group plans to hold supper clubs and informal receptions to do this. By promoting friendships and de emphasizing competition, Aman said, SWAMP hopes to "put the dig nity of law school back into the stu dents." SWAMP also wants to" reduce time-linked pressure, Aman said. "There's so much to read, so much to do, so much to learn in so little time that we forget our most precious commodity is life itself." SWAMP wants to promote'relaxa tion by sponsoring study breaks and encouraging exercise. SWAMP plans to focus on first year students, but will sponsor activities for all 400 of UNL's law students. The group's plans range from providing simple exercise equip ment such as footballs and Frisbees to planning noa-aicchcHc, all-school picnics. The group, many ctom have backgrounds in psycholcsy, also will vc:k to educate fellow students cn reccsnizir.g and reducing stress thresh irJfurmational pesters, spede- ; Next year, SWAMP plans to work with the orientation program. Pres ently 19 to 15 students each year drop out after their freshman year, said law Dean Harvey Pelman. Some students can't handle the Intense competition and unfriendly environment. Others transfer or leave for job opportunities, he said. lllBpflo Ansa, 37, already has a master's decree in educational counseling. "But I came to law school and it was a new kind of pressure." - The stress level in the school is bolstered by the school's physical isolation from the rest of the cam pus, Aman said. For example, gyms and TVs are at least a 20-minute .walkaway. The law school houses a break room, but the lounge, with its pop machines, only provides an area for Lincoln business and government lead ers express their concern for the dete riorating situation at the university. Maybe no one would care if 5,000 stu dents and 500 faculty found a different university to attend and serve. Coming from the economically de pressed community of Atkinson, I think it is important to remember how fortu nate Lincoln is to have UNL. I need not list the economic benefits this country receives they are. apparent in our day-to-day activities. As a 21-year-old citizen of this state, I am puzzled at what direction our Legislature is going in, let alone the state of Nebraska. In closing, I have two questions: Where are our priorities and where are our leaders? Gerard J. Keating ASUN presidentstudent regent UNL exactly that. I once suggested to, a Chicago alderman that he sponsor an ordi nance requiring French restaurants to print their menus in English. He thought it was a good idea until he checked with his precinct captains and found that he had 12 known Frenchmen registered to vote in his ward. "How about if we got after Eskimo restaurants," he said. "I don't have any of them on the poll sheets." 1986 By The Chicago Tribune Distributed By Tribune Media Services, Inc. Royko is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist (or the Chicago Tribune. students to rehash, not relieve, their frustrations. After a few minutes of caffeine and conversations filled vith classes, instructors, grades and homework, students return to the ibrary feeling guilty, Aman said. "They go back to studying more uptight than they were when they breaked," Aman said. Although SWAMP is still in its formative stages, the group has long-term plans to change the phys ical condition of the building. Members want to convert a base ment storage area into a gym, re paint drab walls, add plants and turn a fallout shelter into a TV room. SWAMP is hoping to find a used " TV this year for the shelter, which will reduce travel time for those who now go home for "fixes" of "The Cosby Show" and soap operas. Hav ing a gym or TV lounge "means you can take an hour to be a human being the way you were before you came to law school," Aman said. Traditionally, Assistant Law Dean Janet Krause has offered stress management seminars and counsel ing and referrel services for law stu dents. Yet, Krause admits, some students are unaware cf counseling programs and not all who suffer from stress seek help. Law students are not the only victims students in ail fields can be affected, Krause said. SWAMP will work to involve and educate more students about stress, Aman fid. The group wants encour0e law students to trauc traditional Friday afternoon drunks for healthier stress-reducing activi ties. SWAMP, which meets at the law college, is open to any law student. The group isn't a line on a resume, Aman said. Nor are there any dues, fixed obligations or officers, he said. "It would be nice if we had 23 leaders out of 23 members," Aman said. Although SWAMP has existed for only a month, the group has wides pread support, Aman said. 1 Wre filling a need that's been out there a long time." - Letters SCUM unfairly left As the second vice presidential can didate for the SCUM Party, I attended the debate Thursday afternoon in the Nebraska Union between vice presi dential candidates. I attended, how ever, only as an observer because my party and I weren't invited. Why was this? Are we merely a joke party? Are any of them serious? Does anyone really care? Apparently not, because there were very few in attendance that weren't current ASUN senators or close affil iates of the Impact, Excel and Party parties. Was the SCUM party excluded for lack of essential Greeks? Perhaps there is another reason. Granted, with a name like SCUM, and with a platform calling ASUN a useless, moronic student council, we don't expect to be welcomed with open arms. Maybe we are irrelevant. The point is, no one will ever know for sure because people in charge of events don't want us there. Are they afraid of us? Do they dismiss us as unimportant? We have criticized the ASUN system. 4-H should be kept Thousands of Americans are living fuller and more successful lives because of their participation in the 4-H youth program of the Cooperative Extension Division. The thought that this outstanding educational program for young people and volunteer adults may be endan gered or eliminated because of budget cutting legislation is frightening. Organizations like 4-H and other extension educational programs ena ble people to grow and develop to their Page 5 Budget committee eeks student input Although ASUN sponsored its budget forum last night in the Nebraska Union, students still can give input about the reductions proposed for the upcoming year. Some members of theBudget Reduc tion Review Committee will be in the ASUN office today through March 21 to discuss the budget with students, in cluding Anita Nichols, Mark Otten, Jacque Matthews, Reshelle Moore and Eric Lane. Digest Tuition refunds Refund checks from tuition state ment credit balances will Be available today through Friday at the student accounts, Administration 204 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. Checks will not be available until March 19th for credit balances result ing from: O Late scholarships, grants and awards that were not printed on tuition statements. O Courses dropped after Jan. 20 but before the end of the refund period. O Overpayments. A valid student identification card is required to pick up the checks. Call the office of student accounts, 472 2887, for any questions. Senatorial reception An open house, allowing students to get acquainted with state senators, will be Wednesday, 5 to 7 p.m., in the Nebraska Union. Sponsored by ASUN, the Govern ment Liaison Committee and the UNL chapter of the Nebraska State Student Association, the reception is in con junction with the "Adopt a Senator" program. Setting it Straight Jonathan Taylor's column (Daily Nebraskan, Feb. 28) should have said the ad hoc committee formed to infil trate UNL's student organizations is not affiliated with ASUN. ASUN only approved a proposal to allow such a committee. out of debate If our criticisms are valid, they should be exposed. If they're not, then those involved with ASUN should have a chance to disprove them, and ASUN itself would benefit. But as legitimate candidates, we expect to be given the same treatment and opportunity as the other parties are given. If our legitimacy is in ques tion, let us be exposed in public. If the legitimacy of ASUN is in question, let it be exposed in public. An overwhelming majority of UNL students think ASUN is irrelevant and unimportant. This does not speak well of the morale of the student body. If ASUN is not irrelevant, then what bet ter way is there to prove it than by letting its critics be answered? In summation, the members of the SCUM Party feel we have been unfairly dismissed from contention by those in charge because we weren't allowed to participate in the recent debate. Geoff McMurtry second vice president SCUM Party 'alive and weir greatest potential as citizens. Those of us who have been touched by this outstanding educational pro gram must write our senators and representatives as well as President Reagan to tell them how important this program is. It is the obligation of those of us who have been positively influenced by these programs to keep them alive and well. Olivia P. CoUins Manhattan, Kan.