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March 10, 1987
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Vol.86 No. 119
International Women
discuss different roles
By Jen Deselms
Senior Reporter
Adjusting to a different pace of life
and different customs are some of the
changes made by women from foreign
countries who come to the United
States, speakers for the International
Women's Panel said Monday.
UNL student panelists from five
countries provided a glimpse of how
their culture affects women and what
adjustments have to be made after
moving to America.
Graciela Flores from Mexico said
that people from her country take more
time to enjoy life than fast-paced, effi
cient people of the United States.
Children are looked at differently in
Mexico. In Mexico, children are ac
cepted as a gift from God, where in
America they are many times viewed as
a great responsibility, she said.
Latin American women are taught to
be good housewives and are raised with
the Virgin Mary as a role model, Flores
said. She said it can't be argued that
Regents hearing draws
UNSTA arguments
By The Associated Press
A legislative hearing Monday on a
bill to give more powers to the Univer
sity of Nebraska Board , of Regents
turned into a forum for arguments
against closing the NU School of Tech
. nical Agriculture at Curtis. r f" ;
Under LB856, the regents would be
permitted to discontinue programs of
the Institute of Agriculture and Natu
ral Resources, including the Curtis
school. Current law requires legislative
authority to establish or drop programs
in the institute, although the regents
previously were given this authority for
NU's 19 separate colleges.
Opponents of closing the school
took the opportunity to speak before
the Legislature's Education Commit
tee. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Glenn
Goodrich of Omaha.
Following debate, the committee
failed to advance the bill on a 4-3 vote.
Five supporting votes were needed to
send LB656 to the full Legislature.
Sen. Owen Elmer of Indianola offered
an amendment that would separate the
school from the university and give it a
statewide governing body and separate
state funding. The committee later
rejected the amendment, 3-5.
Curtis is the only school in the state
with agricultural technology as its mis
sion, Elmer said, and agriculture is
becoming increasingly technical. Such
a program wouldn't succeed if trans
ferred to a vocational school because
horticulture and veterinary technology
"don't lend themselves well to an
urban setting," he said.
NU President Ronald Roskens has
targeted Curtis as one of five areas
vulnerable to potential budget cuts. It
doesn't meet the NU mission because it
is a two-year program and not a four
year program, he has said.
Roskens proposes removing $1,245,000
from the Curtis budget to help reduce
the NU operating budget by $3.1 mil
lion for 1987-88 as mandated by the
Legislature. In effect, the reduction
would close the school.
The regents are expected to take
final action on Roskens' proposals in
April or possibly May.
The school's future repeatedly has
been threatened by budget cuts in
recent years. Last year, former Sen.
Tom Vickers of Farnam won a tempor
women in the United States are treated
more equally, Flores said, but that doesn't
necessarily mean with more respect.
Adi Asenaca Caucau from the Fiji
Islands said the type of skills women
learn depend on the area of Fiji in
which they live.
In villages women learn traditional
skills such as mat and jewelry making
but in large communities emphasis is
placed on more modern wage-earning
skills, Caucau said.
While women are taught to be respect
ful and submissive, this is not always
the case, Caucau said. A saying shows
the subtle way women work within the
societal structure of Fyi.
"Men are the heads, but the women
do the turning," Caucau said.
Ruth Chatwin, a UNL softball player
from Austrailia, said unlike many of the
panelists, she finds life slower in the
United States. Chatwin said education
in the two countries is quite different.
In Australian universities, education is
See WOMEN on 3
ary reprieve for the Curtis sr-fc lead
ing a successful effort that , rsed ; n
initial decison to close the facility.
The state currently gives $167.7 mil
lion to the university. Gov. Kay Orr has
proposed $172 million in state-aid for
the 1987-88 fiscal year . -
Goodrich, UNL Chancellor Martin.
Massengale and NU General Counsel
Richard Wood were the bill's only sup
porters. No one. testified against the
measure.
However, several witnesses said they
would favor the bill if Elmer's amend
ment were adopted and Curtis became
an independent college.
Everett Stencel, a Curtis veterinar
ian and chairman of an ad hoc commit
tee to keep the school open, said the
school's graduates are vital to the state.
If the school doesn't meet NU goals, he
said, it should sever ties with the
university.
"We can't maintain quality and
enrollment in the present situation,"
he said.
Enrollment has dropped, he said,
and the budget is lean. But the school's
2,103 graduates and 158-current stu
dents are "the backbone of our whole
doggone agricultural industry," he said.
Humor can keep you
U (I
Mingle
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J
Cold as stone
The sun peeks through these two columns near Ed Weir track Monday. Partly sunny skies
are expected today through Wednesday. Highs are expected to be 30 to 35 today and near
40 on Wednesday.
Through the ages, jokes diffuse tension
By Joeth Zucco
Staff Reporter
Learning to accept humor as an atti
tude toward life will lead to a healthier
life, a health and humor specialist said
Friday.
Marvin Mingle said healthy humor is
a willingness to accept life and our
selves with a shrug or a smile. We need
a certain lightheadedness, to accept
the systems, not because they're wond
erful, fair, reasonable or even satisfac
tory, but simply because for now they're
all we've got, Mingle said.
Mingle, an associate professor in the
College of Medicine at the University of
Florida, spoke to about 90 people as
part of the Steinhardt Lecture Series.
He spoke on "Humor A Valuable
Wellness Tool."
He cited clowning as one of the
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lit
well, speaker says
accepted sources of humor in hospi
tals, Indian tribes and royal courts
through the centuries. On a more mod
ern timetable, he said that businesses
look for a sense of humor when inter
viewing for executives.
Mingle said that humor is just one of
the methods for improving the quality
of life and transferring it to others. He
said it goes hand-in-hand with nutri
tion, exercise, stress management, lack
of disruptive behavior, ability to relax,
and meditation.
A healthy sense of humor consists of
sensitivity in knowing who your audience
is and being secure about yourself.
What may be funny to an 80-year-old
may be cruel to a 29-year-old. He said
jokes can tell much about people in the
wayjokes are told and how people react
to them.
As a doctor, he said, he deals with a
Ik
3-
Doug CarrollDaily Nebraskan
and preserve hope
wide range of illnesses and patients
every day. With humor, he said, he can
get the message and its seriousness
across. He said that tension can be
abated by a sense of humor.
"It's a positive way to diffuse a tense
situation," he said.
He also said that with the increased
use of drugs for healing, much has been
lost in doctor-patient and nurse-patient
relationships.
Humor starts at home, Mingle said.
He said people should look at differen
tiations of themselves. The labels that
arise from these changes can be the
source for good and bad humor.
"If you can't laugh at it in yourself,
then you shouldn't laugh at others," he
said.
"If you look for humor you'll find it
and you'll find it in all situations."
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