CORRECTION ' '
In a story about the Wednesday night ASUN meeting (ON, Sept. 22), the dates of Alcohol
Awareness Week were listed incorrectly. Alcohol Awareness Week is Oct. 24 to 28.
Also, 13 Nightmares will play at Duffy’s Friday, Sept. 23 at 10 pm,, not Sept. 24
(Diversions, Sept. 22)
Friday, partly sunny and pleasant high around £^£,*i9S3t. \
75 with NE winds at 5-15 mph. Friday night lair Arts* Entertainment! ’..'.'...7
and cod, tow around 50. Saturday, partly doudy. Sports. 9
high around 75. Classified.it
September 23,1988 University of Nebraska-Lincoln___Voi. 88 No. 19
UNL humanities enrollment on the up-and-up
By Jerry Guenther
Staff Reporter
Though a recent government report in
dicates that national enrollment in hu
manities courses has fallen drastically
in the past 20 years, enrollment in humanities
courses at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
has been on the upswing.
Stephen Hilliard, associate dean of the
College of Arts and Sciences and English pro
fessor, said a decline in the enrollment of
humanities courses at UNL began in about
1972, but recently has turned around.
“In the last two years there’s been a marked
increase in the humanities enrollment,” Hil
liard said.
Hilliard said part of the reason for the in
creasing enrollment in humanities at UNL is
because of a great deal of national and local
publicity about the value of a traditional liberal
education.
“Locally, the problem as I’ve experienced
it. has been that students in Nebraska were
having a very strong feeling that they had to
major in things that were ‘practical,’” Hilliard
said. My guess is that there were always lots of
students who would’ve kind of liked to major in
English or history or philosophy.
"But they thought they had better major in a
professional area ui terms of a future career."
People are now realizing that a liberal educa
tion is also an effective way of pursing career
goals, he said.
"Students aren’t quite as focused on being
practical as they once were because they see
that a liberal education is also practical,” Hil
liard said.
According to a government report by Lynne
V. Cheney, chairman of the National Endow
ment for the Humanities, the number of English
majors has fallen 33 percent over the last two
decades, while the number of philosophy ma
jors fell 35 percent and the number of history
majors fell 43 percent over the same period.
Ben Rader, chairman of the history depart
ment, said history enrollments at UNL have
gone up since the mid-1980s.
’Total student credit hours in history have
increased from 8,513 in 1984 to 11,072 in
1988,’’ Rader said. ’These are the highest
(enrollments) we’ve ever had historically.’’
Although the history requirements for stu
dents are still quite limited, Rader said one
change has increased enrollment in history
courses. About three years ago, a specific his
tory requirement was made for students in the
College of Arts and Sciences.
Rader also said more UNL students are
taking history classes because of“good instruc
tion” and greater student interest in the subject.
“I think there’s a desire on the part of people to
know more about their past and their heritage,”
Rader said. “And the kind of desire that the
school systems promote, teach certain values.
It at least makes students familiar with the
values that people have liad in the past
Phil Hugly, chairman of the philosophy
department, said the department keeps about
the same number of students enrolled in
classes. However, he said, his department has
turned away increasing numbers of students
every semester. Hugly said he doesn’t know
exactly how many students have been turned
away.
“Our structure doesn’t allow for increases in
the number of students unless there is an in
crease in the number of teaching assistants or
the number of faculty,” Hugly said. “I’ve kind
, of bitten the bullet on this, but we’ve decided
the quality of education is more important than
the quantify of education."
As a result of the increased number of stu
dents being turned away from philosophy
courses, Hugly said, the administration allo
cated two more temporary teaching assistant
positions. That allowed about 200 more stu
dents to take philosophy courses this semester.
Hugly said that over the past four or five
years, he’s noticed more serious and commit
ted students.
“From my point of view it’s getting easier
and easier to be a teacher because students are
caring more,” Hilliard said. “I think there are a
lot of students with moral and political con
cerns.”
Frederick Link, chairman of the English
department, said the enrollment pattern in
English courses tends to be cyclical.
“Right now, our English majors are increas
ing in numbers,” Link said, “but before that
they were down, and some years ago they were
up.
Link estimated that English majors have
increased from about 250 in 1985 to 400 in
1988.
Link said taking humanities courses is
important because all jobs entail a philosophy
and a history as well as requiring communica
tion skills.
“People in the humanities can bring to the
work place an ability to analyze and manipulate
complex language,” Link said. “I also think
they bring to any job the ability to understand
people.”
Full but not overflowing
UNL resident halls still have room
By Rose Riccetti
Staff Reporter
Residence (tall rooms at the
University of Nebraska
Lincoln are filled to the brim
this fall, but their not overflowing as
in past years, said Doug Zatechka.
director of the UNL Housing Of fice.
“We are full, but there are places to
live,” Zatechka said. “Students aren’t
crammed like sardines in the resi
dence halls like some people believe.
But the halls aren t empty either.”
“We are 50 or 60 contracts ahead
of budget, butF don T think that we are
having a housing crunch,” he said.
The Lincoln Journal quoted Zat
echka in a Sept. 12 article saying that
housing was so scarce, three students
were being crowded into residence
hall rooms designed for two.
Tliat is not true, he said.
‘‘We would never do that,” he said.
“There are three people living in the
triple rooms, but they’re (one-third)
larger than the regular rooms and they
also have a full complement of furni
ture for the third person.”
If students no longer want to live in
a triple room, they will probably have
the option to move into a double room
by the end of September, he said.
About 250 single-room contracts
are being used now, Zatechka said.
“So to say drastic measures are
being taken is simply not true, he
said.
Zatechka said that about seven or
eight years ago, there was a housing
crunch.
“If two students would have
walked onto campus looking for
housing, we would nave had no place
to pul them,” he said. ‘‘At that time,
students were living in the lounges.
But we have gotten away from that
kind of situation.”
Off-campus housing also has been
reported as being in short supply.
A survey of 3,000 apartments in
Lincoln in early July indicated only a
3-percent vacancy rate, said Greg
Gustafson, first vice-president of
Valuation Consultants in Lincoln.
According to Gustafson, the sur
vey was taken all over the Lincoln
area. There was a 3.7-percent va
cancy rate for two-bedroom apart
ments and a 2.4-percent vacancy rate
for one-bedroom apartments.
‘‘I don’t know if there’s a shortage
of apartments for college students,”
Gustafson said. ‘‘But there is a lower
vacancy rate, so maybe they have to
be less picky about choosing an apart
ment."
Zatechka said the change in the
number of off-campus vacancies
must have been a quick one.
"See HOUSING on 3
7 this month
False alarms increase
By Brandon Loomis
Staff Reporter
he number of false fire
alarms on University of
Nebraska-Lincoln property
this month is nearly twice what it was
for September of a year ago.
Terry Biggerstan, administrative
officer with the Lincoln Fire Depart
ment, said fire squads have reported
to seven false alarms on city and east
campuses, compared to only four last
September.
Of the seven alarms. Biggerstaff
said, three were system malfunctions,
two were tripped unintentionally and
one was pulled with malicious intent.
Noneof last September's alarms were
pulled maliciously, he said.
Doug Zatechka, UNL housing
director, said an alarm pulled at
Neihardt Residence Ball Sept 15 was
followed by a phone apology, but
UNL Police never identified the
caller.
Bigperstaff said each time an
alarm is tripped, 14 firemen on two
engines and two trucks proceed to the
location. The fue department spends
between $500 and $700 on fuel and
wages for each alarm, he said. Lin
coln has 75 firefighters, he said.
“When you pull an ?!arm, you take
away from coverage in other parts of
town," he said.
If the perpetrator is a repeat of
fender or does not realize the serious
ness of the crime, he said, the city may
ask for restitution to the fire depart
ment for the expenses. But he said the
department usually leave?, punish
ment up to the university.
Lt. Ken Cauble of the UNL Police
--SwALAfUftnlS