Decline in graduates reported
Computer science shortages exist
By Doug Isakson
Staff Reporter
The number of students gradu
ating with computer science de
grees has declined at the Univer
sity of Nebraska-Lincoln and
across die nation.
Statistics from the computer
science department at UNL show
that the number of graduates
dropped from 87 in 1987 to 65 in
1988. Those figures include stu
dents who graduated in May,
August and December in both the
computer science and engineering
departments.
Cecilia Daly, assistant profes
sor and chief executive adviser of
the UNL computer science depart
ment, said students are not as inter
ested in the high-technology fields
as they have been in the past
' ‘From my point of view, that’s
very alarming,” Daly said.
Daly said the department also is
not attracting enough women. Part
of the reason, she said, is that boys
are more likely than girls to be
attracted to computers at younger
ages by playing computer games,
which are mostly male-oriented.
Susan Wiedenbeck, assistant
professor in the computer science
department, said women often do
not get the math background re
quired to enter computer science
fields.
Wiedenbeck said the depart
ment hopes to develop a plan to
coordinate with high school stu
dents so they don’t ", . . make
choices that cut them off from the
scientific fields of study.”
The lack of interest in computer
science also has become a concern
on the national level. This concern
has led to the formation of
ADAPSO, the computer software
and services trade organization.
The group of 800 computer and
software companies has pooled
resources in an effort to reverse the
trend.
About a year ago the group,
based in Arlington, Va., started a
program called Success 2000.
“We hope to spark die interest
of students at die high-school
level,” said Shelly Eckenroth, di
rector of the new program.
Eckenroth said labor statistics
show that openings for 335,000
graduates in the computer science
field will occur by the year 2000,
Eckenroth said.
“The lack of interest in com
puter science among students,”
Eckenroth said, ”... has definitely
affected the industry.”
The program shows video
tapes, featuring computer industry
leaders, to teen agers. Eckenroth
said the videos answer typical
questions students have at that
age, such as what positions are
available and how much they pay.
Eckenroth said the program has
been well-accepted by both the
students and the industry.
VOTE from Page 1
on it.
None of the senators interviewed
said they thought the regents’ firing
of former NU president Ronald
Roskens would help students get an
official student regent vole.
Bryan Hill, president of the Asso
ciation of Students of the University
of Nebraska, said he thinks students
should have an official vote because
they have a special role in the state’s
higher education system.
Besides paying taxes, Hill said,
students pay for a third of their in
structional education costs.
Many other universities, includ
ing the University of Wisconsin
Madison, are allowed a student re
gent vote, he said. The University of
Wisconsin-Madison is in UNL’s peer
group, he said.
The argument that students should |
not be given a regent vote because
they have a small voting percentage
in student government elections isn’t
valid, Hill said.
Only about half of the registered
voters cast ballots in the governor’s
election, he said, while about 12 to 15
percent of the students vote in student
government elections.
But, Hill said, the elections for
regents, school boards and represen
tatives for the public power districts,
have gradually decreasing voter turn
out rates.
Hill said the overall voting turnout
in those elections also is inflated
because it does not account for the
eligible voters who aren’t registered.
“Maybe if they gave student re
gents some authority,’’ Hill said,
“more students would vote in student
elections.’’
Currently each of the three student
regents from the campuses in the NU
system are allowed to cast “student
opinions’* on regents issues, Hill
said.
The student opinions are for ac
countability and do not count toward
the regents’ decisions, he said.
Human sexuality
professor to speak
From Staff Reports
A nationally known speaker on
acquaintance rape, Andrea Parrot,
will speak in the East Un
ion Great Plains Room from 7 to 8:30
tonight.
Parrot, a professor of human sexu
ality at Cornell University in Ithaca,
N.Y., has written a book tilled
“Coping with Date Rape.”
The speech is free for University
of Nebraska-Lincoln students and
costs $2 for non-students. Parents
wanting free child care during the
speech should contact the UNL
Women’s Resource Center.
The speech is sponsored by the
University Program Council, Af
firmative Action, the Home Econom
ics Alumni Association, the
Panhellenic Association, Residential
Education, Student Affairs, the Uni
versity Health Center, University
Housing, UPC Talks and Topics,
UPC Women’s Words and Music and
the Women’s Resource Center.
IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR ALL
CIVIL ENGINEERING STUDENTS
QN£ early registration meeting for ALL Civil Engineering
students has been scheduled for Thursday, October 19,
1989 at 5:30 pm. Upperclassmen will meet in Room W357
N.H. Freshmen will meet in Room W347 N.H.
IF you have any questions please contact Mary Lou at
2-2371. Thank you.
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