Netiraskan
Ag experts advocate
curriculum changes
By Christine Anderson
Senior Editor
Agricultural colleges throughout
the nation need to modernize their
curriculums to Fit the needs of a
changing society, said three agricul
tural experts at the Animal Science
Complex dedication at the University
of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Eugene Allen, dean of agriculture
at the University of Minnesota, said in
order to be globally competitive, stu
dents need to have technical skills,
receive a broad-based education and
possess good communication skills.
Many agriculture students are in
“too narrow of a niche,” Allen said
Friday to an audience of about 300.
He said undergraduates should be
required to take courses from all aca
demic departments in the university.
But all students should not take the
same courses, Allen said. The cur
riculum should reflect what the stu
ueni warns 10 uo in nis career.
Jack Maddux, livestock producer
in Wauneta, agreed.
Maddux, a guest speaker at the
dedication, said the new animal sci
ence building was only part of the
equation for a quality education.
He said students should learn
many areas of agriculture.
Maddux said “sister disciplines”
in agriculture are mandatory. He said
courses such as business administra
tion and economics are important for
survival in today’s society.
He said there is not enough time in
four years to “make all things of all
people.” As a result, students are
taking courses that specialize in a
certain area of agriculture, he said.
Allen said student advisers should
encourage students to broaden their
understanding of other areas of the
world. Agriculture students should
also take a foreign language, he said.
UNL officials have taken steps to
globalize the curriculum at the Col
lege of Agriculture.
An International Studies Commit
tee was created last fall to identify
ways to globalize the curriculum.
Earl Ellington, associate dean of
the College of Agriculture, said some
of the proposals include integrating
options or minors in international
agriculture. Also, courses may be
developed to globalize agriculture
and existing courses may be global
ized.
Allen said people must understand
other cultures at a time when society
depends on a global market.
“We can’t afford the ignorance of
the general population that we do
today,” he said.
Allen said it is also important for
agriculture students to understand
upcoming sciences and technology,
such as biotechnology.
But, he said, students should learn
the roles that technology plays inter
nationally because technology works
as a “system.”
Agriculturalists “need to look at
the whole system involving the global
dimension,” Allen said.
Max Lennon, president of
Clemson University in Clemson,
S.C., said students should become
more educated in areas of biology.
Forexample, he said,a“tidal wave
of opportunity” exists for students in
areas oJ biotechnology.
“Biotechnology will be a SI50
billion industry,” Lennon said, refer
ring to many of the emerging prod
ucts, such as animal growth stimu
lants.
Allen said society is also entering
the “information age.”
Employers want to employ people
who have good communication
skills, he said.
He said many students lack com
munication skills. But these commu
nication skills do not need to be devel
oped through additional courses, Al
len said. Rather, these skills should be
integrated into classroom and labora
tory work, he said.
Along with improving the aca
demic curriculum, Lennon said, agri
culture professionals must strive to
become “better students of our busi
ness.”
Professionals must also “global
ize” their thinking, he said, and
understand agriculture and marketing
in other nations.
“An economic event is unfold
ing,” Lennon said. Agriculturalists
need to understand the world market
and produce what the market de
mands at competitive prices, he said.
“We are being clobbered in the
global thinking place,” Lennon said.
“We’re entering the global market
place and we’re still thinking narrow,
domestic thoughts.”
Les Marquart in his office, located in the basement of Hamilton Hall.
Machinist puts time into craft
By Shawn Hubbell
Stuff Reporter
Les Marquart hung a sign on the
door oi his shop in (he basement of
Hamilton Hall
“There’s never enough time to
do it right,” the sign reads, “but
there’s always time to do it over.’’
The sign adorns the door of the
chemistry' department’s instrumen
tation shop, where Marquart is
supervisor and Mike Jensen is his
assistant, arid where chemistry pro
fessors go when they need some
th!] * ilk
*s my view on machining,”
Marquart said. “Because the min
ute you start taking shortcuts,
you’re going to end up starting
over.”
Marquart and Jensen don’t take
shortcuts. Their work is tedious and
precise and one slip-up can blow
hours of work on the expensive
scientific instruments the men cre
ate.
“We’ve made some expensive
paperweights,” Marquart said.
“But it wasn’t because it was our
mistake. They were just experi
ments that didn’t work.”
The two-man crew makes up the
chemistry department’s instrumen
tation shop. Jensen has been work
ing in the shop since 1984. Mar
quart got his start as a sophomore in
1970 when he got a part-time job
pi tting together wooden boxes for
the physics department’s shop.
“I just evolved into it,” Marquart
said.
The two form a support service
to chemistry researchers by build
ing instruments that aid in the re
searchers’ work.
The majority of their work in
volves designing and building sci
entific instruments.
Mar quart has designed and built
instruments as complex as an elec
tronic insertion probe that mini
mizes instrumentation deviation in
a mass spectrometer (used for de
termining the structure of genes).
'.. .the minute
you start taking
shortcuts, you~re
going to end up
starting over.'
He has also used his talent to con
vert an old washing machine into a
make-shift centrifuge that sepa
rates liquid protein from ground-up
plants.
See MARQUART on 3
I m
Army ROTC freshmen cadets play war games Friday under the watchful eyes
of Capt. Kevin Wimmer and Master Sgt. Donald Rothermund.
Battle simulation succeeds
Students learn war tactics with hands-on experience
By Victoria Ayotte
Senioi Reporter
University of Ncbraska-Lincoln freshman
Army ROTC cadets waged battle on the fields
of Hunficld, Germany, Friday and Saturday.
The 42 cadets, members of Military Science
112, played a simulated battle game called
Dunn Kcmpf in place of regular class.
The main purpose of the game is to teach the
students how the chain of command works, said
Capt. Kevin Wimmer, instructor for the course.
“The army has gone to a more hands-on
approach to learning,” Wimmer said. “The
retention is better. Now when I talk about
lieutenants, captains and vehicles in class,
they’ll know what I’m talking about.”
The game is played between U.S. and Soviet
troops, with red tanks representing the Soviets
and gray tai.*s representing the United States.
The Soviets are the aggressors and the
United States is supposed to defend itself,
Wimmer said.
The students said they had fun playing the
game.
“I think it’s a riot,” said Don Kros. “It’s 20
times as much fun as regular class.”
The battle wasn’t real, but students made up
for it by simulating battle sounds.
The students got pretty involved in the
game, Wimmcr said, but “that’s fine. The
learning process is enhanced.”
The students also admitted they got pretty
involved in the game.
“I might be starting to eat in Moscow pretty
quick,” said Scott McEwen after a bad battle
sequence. “The artillery was supposed to waste
them and we got one. Didn’t even piss anyone
off.”
“In a matter of seconds you get trashed,”
Kros said. “I think it’s time for a thermonuclear
war.”
Friday’s team of students ended up with
more losses on the Soviet side, while the losses
were about even for Saturday’s team.
But “the goal is not to win or lose the game,
it’s to understand the roles and responsibilities
of the junior officers,” Wimmer said.
See WARGAME on 6