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| December 15, 1989 University of Nebraska-Lincoln Vol. 89 No. 75
Big Eight figures vary
I NU is third in dropout survey
By Eve Nations
■ Staff Reporter
A Ithough the University of
jt-A Nebraska-Lincoln freshman
x dropout rate isn’t the high
est in the Big Eight, according to
an Oklahoma State University
Official, UNL places in the top
three.
According to the survey, Okla
homa State University placed first
with a 28.8 percent dropout rate,
followed by Kansas State with 25
to 30 percent and UNL with 27
percent.
The University of Colorado
claimed the lowest non-retention
rate with 14.9 percent followed by
Iowa State University with 16 per
cent, Kansas University with 20.4
pcrcentand the University of Okla
homa with 25.9 percent. Percent
ages for University of Missouri were
unavailable.
Anthony Schkade, assistant di
rector for Registration and Rec
ords at UNL, said many things
cause freshmen to drop out.
‘‘We know students come to
UNL for other purposes than gradu
ation," Schkade said. “Some stu
dents, especially those from small
towns, come just to meet new people.
John Bruce/Daily Nebraskan
Others come because their parents
want them to go to UNL for a year
before they work on the farm.”
The variation between the drop
out rates in the Big Eight schools
are because of the “distinct differ
ences” between the schools, he
said.
Other reasons for the dropout
rate, according to Schkade, is that
many students transfer to another
university during or after their first
year.
“Some students aren’t dropouts,
they arc stopouts,” he said. ‘ ‘They
come to school for a semester and
then take a semester off or they go
somewhere else.”
The dropout rates decrease as
the student progresses toward gradu
ation, he said. The closer students
are to graduating, the more likely
they arc to graduate, he said.
Schkade said several avenues
arc available to freshmen to keep
them in school.
A class called University Foun
dations helps students adjust to life
at UNL and helps them feel more
comfortable, he said.
Another alternative is the Multi
cultural Affairs office. Schkade
said this office helps minority stu
dents adjust to the university.
A third way students receive
help is through their advisers, he
said.
“A majority of advisers try and
help students who are having prob
lems,” he said.
The advisers get to know the
students, he said, so the students
arc comfortable in seeking help.
Schkade said there hasn’t been
a great deal of research done at
UNL for retention rates so it is
difficult to predict retention pat
terns.
i 1 —
Ban or live Christmas trees
continues in residence halls
By Jana Pedersen
Senior Reporter
^ tudents who wish to deck their resi
dcnce halls may have a problem if they
want to use live boughs of holly.
Doug Zatechka, director of housing for the
University of Ncbraska-Lincoln, said live trees
and other live decorations, such as branches,
aren’t permitted in UNL residence halls.
“If somebody wants a tree, it means going
out and buying a small artificial one,’’ Zat
echka said. "Live trees arc a real fire hazard.’’
1WWWBHH8H1 1811 WMBMI
If somebody wants a
tree, it means going out
and buying a small artifi
cial one.'
-- Zatechka
I He said the residence hall office began to
ban live trees several years ago after the trees
were blamed for fires in residents’ rooms.
“When pine trees burn, they burn very fast
and very hot,” he said. “But what burns most
is paper, and students have ... tons and tons of
paper.”
Although past fires generally were confined
to a single room, Zatcchka said, the smell of
smoke penetrated to adjoining rooms as well,
inconveniencing more students than just those
who put up the tree.
There have been no fires attributed to holi
day decorations since the ban was adopted, he
said.
Although Deputy State Fire Marshall Steve
Schneider said there haven’t been any Christ
mas tree fires in the Lincoln area this season,
there already have been two in the Omaha area.
Schneider said that even though having live
trees in homes can be dangerous, having them
in living units is more dangerous because more
people can be injured if there’s a fire.
“Live trees are removed from the public
basically when they’re in the home,’’ Schnei
der said. “Whereas in a dormitory situation we
have a lot of people packed in a small area.”
He said fires usually start when live trees are
placed near healing units or when humidity
levels aren’t high enough.
Faulty lighting, candles or cigarettes com
monly provide sparks that can start I ires, Sch
neider said.
Alcohol is another, less familiar, common
link behind holiday fires, he said.
“Just like drinking and driving, drinking
See LIGHTS on 6
Truck accident causes power outage
in two UNL buildings, part of Lincoln
By Jerry Guenther
Senior Reporter
A power outage Thursday afternoon cut
off electricity in a large portion of Lin
coln north of O Street, including two
University of Nebraska-Lincoln buildings, but
had few effects on operations in those build
ings, officials said.
Harold Simmons, Lincoln Electrical Sys
tems manager of energy conservation services,
said electricity was knocked out at 1:08 p.m.
and was restored within 40 minutes in residen
tial areas and UNL, and within an hour and five
minutes in all remaining areas.
Richard McDermott, director of the UNL
Physical Plant, said the outage hardly affected
the university because the subsystem that feeds
electricity to most of UNL was not hampered
by the outage.
McDermott said he thinks the only build
ings affected by the outage were the UNL
Police building and the Watson building, where
university maintenance is located.
Simmons said electricity was knocked out
when a truck struck a guy wire on Burlington
Avenue between 66lh and 67th streets.
Guy wires, which are made of steel, are
inserted into the ground and connected to util
ity poles at about 45-degree angles to give the
poles support and stability.
Simmons said the guy wire snapped and
flipped onto an overline wire, tripping a breaker
that eliminated power at five substations.
The substations supply electricity to “a
food portion” of Lincoln north of O Street,
immons said.
No suspects in Keller Plan theft
Today last day to file
Psych 181 incomplete
By Jerry Guenther
Senior Reporter
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
students enrolled in Keller Plan
sections of Introductory Psy
chology 181 prior to the theft of test
files during Thanksgiving break have
until today to file incomplctcs.
John Berman, chairman of the
psychology department, said students
who had not dropped the course when
the tests were stolen can either re
quest an incomplete or take a final
exam.
Students choosing to take an in
complete in the course will have
another opportunity to take the class
without being charged tuition again,
Berman said.
As of Thursday morning, Berman
said, about 20 percent of the more
than 600 students in the course had
filed requests for incompletcs.
Students have until today to take
the comprehensive, multiple-choice
final exam and can use the best of five
test scores to determine their final
grade, he said.
Berman said those students who
still want to take incompletcs should
fill out forms m 105 Burnett Hall, the
same room that is used for testing.
Initially, students were upset when
they found out the tests had been
stolen, Berman said. But given the
situation, he said, most students have
adjusted well.
“As far as I can tell,” Berman
said, “it’s as good as can be ex
pected.”
Students enrolled in Keller Plan
psychology normally take unit exams
at their own pace and cannot advance
to the next unit until they earn a
passing grade on the previous unit.
Because the tests and files were
stolen, psychology officials had no
way to determine students’ progress
in the course.
Investigator Ron Lundy of the UNL
Police Department said police arc
checking on several leads related to
the theft, but still have no suspects.
Many UNL students, faculty and
staff members have contacted UNL
police with information concerning
the theft, Lundy said.
“People have been very coopera
tive,” Lundy said.
--
William L/iuer Daily Nebraskan
Mack Beatty, custodian at Sheldon Art Gallery, sweeps Thursday’s snow
off the steps. Forecasts for the weekend call for rising temperatures but
no snow.__