Weather: Monday, mostly sunny and
warm, high in the mid 70s, winds from the
S at 10-15 mph. Monday night, consider
able cloudiness with a 20 percent chance
of showers, low near 40. Tuesday, partly
sunny, not quite as warm, high near 70.
i A&E: Ranch and Zoo
growing Wild Seeds —
rage 8.
Sports: Kansas and Okla
homa to meet for
championship —Page 6.
Teachers College modifies curriculum
By Anne Mohri
Senior Reporter _
Members of the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln Teachers College
support recommendations for cur
riculum changes that a chancellor’s
commission has made, said James
O’Hanlon, dean of the Teachers Col
lege.
He said the comm ission ’ s decision
to increase general education is “just
what we’ve been waiting for.”
The Chancellor’s Commission on
General and Liberal Education tar
geted five areas of concentration in its
report: culture and society; arts and
humanities; basic and applied sci
ence; mathematics; and interpersonal
communications.
The new policy to implement
these recommendations would re
quire that general and liberal educa
tion constitute about one-fourth of a
student’s class load, or at least 29
hours.
O’Hanlon said general education
is important to teachers because they
need to have an understanding of
many subjects and not just the one
they plan to teach.
The Teachers College does fol
low-up studies on graduates and has
found that former students say they
did not get the general education they
needed, he said.
O’Hanlon said the college’s fac
ulty members review and modify the
required curriculum every year. This
year the review was coordinated with
the results of the commission to see
what the emphasis would be, he said.
He said the results of the faculty
review will affect everyone within the
college.
This year the department of busi
ness education was restructured with
an emphasis on technology. The fac
ulty is discussing combining elemen
tary education with special education
because many students study both,
O’Hanlon said.
He said the college will require
special-education classes for all stu
dents next year.
A practicum requirement would
have students work with minority and
handicapped students, O’Hanlon
said.
The practicum would require more
students to sludent-teach outside of
the Lincoln schools, he said.
A problem with changing require
ments in the college is that the curricu
lum is crowded because students take
more than the 125 required hours to
graduate. Students take extra hours so
they will be proficient in more than
one subject and be qualified for more
varied teaching positions.
When required classes are added,
other classes need to be dropped from
the curriculum, which is difficult
because of classes required by law for
teaching certificates and accrediting
agencies, O’Hanlon said. *
Also, O’Hanlon said, there is not
much room for students to change
their minds after they have started
studying a particular subject because
they would need to take additional
semesters to graduate.
Course focuses on conflicts
By uebra Witt
Staff Reporter
A new group-discussion class al the Univer
sity of Nebraska-Lincoln that concentrates on
conflicts between social groups has received
rave reviews from both professors and students.
Faculty members and students involved in
the group discussion class, Introduction to
Conflict Resolution, said the class is stimulat
ing and relevant to problems in the world today.
Paul Olson, a coordinator of the class, said
students lake theclass seriously because ildcals
with life-and-dcath situations.
Leo Sartori, another coordinator, said the
course began this semester because some UNL
faculty members thought students should be
exposed to the issues of violent conflicts be
tween social groups.
Conflict-resolution classes have gained at
tention throughout the United States, said Sar
tori, UNL professor of physics and political
science. So, he said, it was logical to organize
a class at UNL.
The experts needed to teach such a class arc
here, Sartori said, and the class meets the needs
and interests of many UNL students.
The course covers evolution of warfare and
human biology, aggression and war, interna
tional society, history of warfare, arms control
and technology, political economy of defense,
and cultural responses to issues of conflict and
their resolution.
Olson said the class has been successful
because the teachers are experts in their fields.
Students bring their own political ideas to
class, Olson said, which stimulates discussion.
Mary Kunce, international affairs sopho
more, said not all discussions have been inter
esting, but she said she expects the course to be
more interesting once the class begins to dis
cuss nuclear-war talks.
Matthew Mulford, senior Latin American
studies major, said it was a “positive step” for
UNL to start the conflict-resolution class. He
said having group discussions on the different
topics was a good idea and worked well.
Kunce also said she looks forward to going
to the class because it involves so many differ
ent areas. She said at first it was difficult to sec
how all these topics lied together, but as the
class moves on she sees how all the discussions
tic into a theme.
Edward Homze, professor of history, said
the abrupt shifts from one topic and teacher to
another are the one difficulty students may
have in the course.
Otherwise, Homze said, the course was fine
and “immediately apparent” to the news of
today. He said even though the course moves
quickly from topic to topic, allowing about two
to three weeks for each, the subjects mesh and
integrate well and give a good background of
past resolved and unresolved conflicts.
Homzc said he was excited about the class
and the good response the students are giving.
He said the students have both liberal and
conservative political opinions and were eager
to discuss them.
Dan Leger, associate professor of psychol
ogy , also said the course was going well, but he
had some apprehensions about the team-talk
setup. Since the course is new, he said, organ -
izational problems with content issues and
presentation manners will have to be worked
out once this semester is done. He added that
coordinators and other faculty members will
have a better grasp of what went well and what
did not work.
The course is taught by eight to 10 teachers
who each organize and lead their own section,
Sartori said. The different backgrounds of the
teachers help students tie each section together,
he said. The course has continuity and has
“flowed well,” he said.
“Given the constraints we’re operating
under as a new class, the course is going well
and I’m optimistic about next year,” Sartori
said.
He said he has some ideas of what to improve
for next year such as spending less time on the
primitive world and rearranging the time allot
ted for each section.
Conflict resolution has been approved by the
College of Arts and Sciences as both a minor
and a major, but so far the administration has
only approved it as a minor, Sartori said. He
said he anticipates that many students will
minor in conflict resolution.
Kunce said the class is rewarding for every
one because it involves a variety of topics,
giving a new perspective on how subjects are
interrelated.
Introduction to Conflict Resolutions is
cross-listed for next semester under political
science, anthropology, psychology and phi
losophy, Sartori said.
Mark Davi* Daily Nebraskan
Up, up and away
Tammy Thurman stretches over the bar during the high-jump competi
tion at td Weir Track, The Com buskers competed against Kansas State
and South Dakota at a triple-dual meet Saturday. See story on page 7.
Food-selling vans called a risky business
I By Gretchen Boehr
Staff Reporter_
Restaurants that sell food from
vans on campus may reach more stu
dents, but it isn’t so easy, retailers say.
Some business managers say high
costs to start a van business and poor
weather hurt profits.
Lance Covault, manager of
Amigo’s, 1407QSt.,saidscllingfood
from the Amigo’s van on 16th Street
gives the business exposure, but it
also increases exposure to the
weather.
Covault said Amigo’s van busi
ness is better in spring than winter.
When the weather is nice, business
increases, he said.
Aside from weather, Covault said,
the Amigo’s van generates a lot of
business.
“We do about one-fifth to a tenth
of the business we do in the store,” he
said.
Cold weather and mechanical
problems hurt T J Cinnamons’ van
business.
For a week in January, T J Cinna
mons sold rolls in the morning from a
van parked on 16th and Vine streets,
said Barbara Thomson, the store’s
manager.
But cold weather and problems
with the van’s generator persuaded
them to quit, she said.
“It was so cold nobody would
come out and buy,” she said.
T J Cinnamons now sells cinna
mon rolls atQ 4 Quick, a convenience
store on campus, Thomson said.
market, and the rolls at the conven
ience store are selling well.
Thomson said the van will be used
again on campus this month because
of warmer weather.
Kyle Hansen, part owner of
Togo’s, a van that sells Mexican food
and pizza on 16th Street, said business
suffers when the weather is bad.
“When it’s mild outside we can do
three or four times the business,” he
said.
When weather is good, Togo’s
said. But in bad weather the van can
make less than $50, he said.
“It’s still worth our lime, but it
hasn’t made us rich yet,” Hansen said.
Curt Evasco, manager of
Valentino’s, 3457 Holdrege St., also
said weather adversely affected that
restaurant’s van business last year.
But Evasco said Valentino’s stopped
selling by van because of high costs.
Last spring semester, Valentino’s
sold pizza by the slice from a van