Student leaders spend summer lobbying their interests
By Jennifer O’Cilka
Senior Reporter
While most UNL students were taking a
break from school this summer, student leaders
were protecting their interests on topics rang
ing from South African divestment to Kearney
State College’s transfer into the university system.
Phil Gosch, president of the Association Of
Students of the University of Nebraska, said he
and University of Nebraska at Omaha Student
Regent Kelli Sears lobbied the NU Board of
Regents this summer to include students in the
process of absorbing Kearney State College
into the NU system.
The student regents succeeded in getting
NU Interim President Martin Massengale to
appoint student members to transfer teams set
up by the regents. Gosch and Sears made rec
ommendations of which students to appoint to
the teams that will assist in the merger.
Gosch will serve on the team dealing with
student fees and residence hall rates, and Deb
Fiddelke, former Government Liaison Com
mittee lobbyist and chairwoman, will serve on
the Financial aid, tuition and scholarships team.
“Because there’s a lot of animosity and
curiosity in bringing Kearney State in and what
affect it will have on the students, it’s pretty
significant that two UNL students are repre
sented in that process,” Gosch said.
Gosch said the transfer teams’ organiza
tional meetings were Aug. 9 and meetings
probably would follow twice a month.
South African divestment was another hot
issue this summer.
ASUN Senate Bill No. 3 last semester called
for university and NU Foundation divestment
from South Africa and for establishment of a
scholarship program for South African stu
dents.
During the summer, Gosch and Arts and
Sciences Sen. Chris Potter checked into several
scholarship programs. Gosch said they found
the Institute of International Education-coordi
nated South African Education Program to be
the one UNL needed most.
Gosch said that more than 200 universities
and colleges nationwide, including six schools
in the Big Eight, take part in the program.
Oklahoma State University and NU are the two
not involved in the program.
“I think this (the scholarship program) is
one way UNL can address the situation in •
South Africa in a very positive way,” Gosch
said.
The program could be started through the
NU Foundation, through the general scholar
ship fund or by the NU Board of Regents in the
general budget, Gosch said.
AS UN may consider passing another bill on
the subject after examining the program.
Math placement test is revised
By Todd Neeley
Staff Reporter
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
freshmen must take a new Math Place
ment Exam beginning this year, a
UNL math professor said.
The department is requiring fresh
men to take the exam or to obtain a
waiver from the math department
before taking the math class, said Leo
Chouinard, an associate professor of
mathematics and statistics.
The exam is valid for a year from
the date taken, Chouinard said. Stu
dents who take the exam and do not
take a math class their first year at
UNL would be required to retake the
exam before taking their first math
class.
Unlike a previous test, the new
placement exam is given in three parts
and is designed to place students in
math classes that match their skills,
Chouinard said.
The previous test consisted of 25
basic questions and students were
placed on an advisory basis.
Beginning in the fall of 1991, all
undergraduates who seek to take a
math class will have to follow the
new requirements. This year, only
freshmen need to take the test to en
roll in a math class.
Chouinard said about 1,500 of the
estimated 5,000 incoming freshmen
had not taken the exam.
Donald Miller, a professor of
mathematics and statistics, said the
new exam was developed *r help
reduce the number of failing math
grades at the beginning of students’
college careers.
Miller said students who do well
only on the first part of the test, which
covers basic algebra, would be ad
vised to take Math 100.
Students who do well on part one
and part two, which covers calculus,
will be recommended for Math 104.
Those who also succeed on part three,
which covers trigonometry and engi
neering calculus, will be allowed to
take Math 106, Miller said.
Students who do not want to take
the exam must obtain a waiver from
the math department, 839 Oldfather
Hall. But Chouinand said waivers rarely
were given.
To receive a waiver, students must
meet with a math adviser to evaluate
their college entrance exam scores
and math backgrounds.
The Math Placement Test can be
taken at 11:00 a.m. Friday in 110
Hamilton Hall and at 3:30 p.m. Monday
in 104 Hamilton Hall.
Computerized card catalog in place
By Jon Kruse
Staff Reporter
The transition from card catalogs
to computer terminals will make stu
dent access to information easier at
Love Library, an official said.
For information about
FREE
FOOD
for pregnant women,
infants, and children under
the age of 5, call:
1-800-_il!71
Workers began installing the
computerized card catalog system in
January and students started using it
in April, said Anita Cook, automated
systems coordinator.
Students use a computer menu to
access material by author, title, sub
ject, or by key words in the title. The
system allows students to narrow their
search by combining selections, she
said.
The system simplifies finding books
in the library and allows students to
search library files from microcom
puters off campus if they are compat
ible with HUSKERnet, said Linda
Parker, central references services
chairwoman. HUSKERnet is the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
campus computer network.
Sixteen terminals were installed in
the link connecting the north and south
wings of the library and at the circu
lation desk.
Response to the new system has
been positive, Parker said.
About 80 percent of Love’s col
lection will be entered in the system
by January. Cook said the other 20
percent, which consists of older texts,
special collections and sheet music,
would take almost two or three years
to complete. Filing bibliographical
information is a more complicated
process than entering newer texts, she
said.
Parker said the terminals were
similar to the system used by the
Lincoln libraries. The automated
system helps bring the library up to
date with other university libraries,
she said.
Eventually the system will be linked
to libraries at the University of Ne
braska at Omaha and the University
of Nebraska Medical Center and other
universities, Cook said.
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UNL Microcomputer Labs and Features Available
Location Macs IBMs Printers Network New software
Andrews Hall, Rm 17 30 P 9 &
Architecture Hall, Rm 116 4 B I l 2 I ^
Banaolt Hal, Rm 328 12 P) 4 iQ?_^_
Burr-Fedde Complex, basement 6 bi i »iii ~n
East Campus Union, third floor 6 Q 2 ■a, l l ll
Henzlik Hall, Design Center, Rm 23 21 al I r ai | i> II
Nebraska Hal, Rm 328 14 ~ 1 rQ» / _
Nebraska Uriion, first floor 8 B 6 |B 5 iQf / |
Neihardt Hall, Rm 2114 9 BI I » £,! . I I
Sandoz Hall, first flow 18 ■B.I a I / I 1
Schramm Hall, fast floor 19 Q I | 6 iBr ! ~1
Seleck Hal, basement 29 SI I 11 i^r $ I
Woods Hal. Rm 208 9 Bl l 3 ! I
Source: UNL Computing Resource Center Brenda Cheng/Daily Nebraskan
Record donation lets UNL
add 29 computers, 5 labs
By Brenda Cheng
Staff Reporter
A record donation added 29 Macin
tosh computers, valued at $159,000,
to UNL’s stockpile and helped the
Computing Resource Center to cre
ate five microcomputer labs this
summer.
The resource center, which pro
vides computer services for students,
faculty and staff members, opened
the new labs this summer, said Gerald
Kutish, acting director.
The labs contain Macintosh com
puters and arc in Architectural Hall,
Bancroft Hall, Ncihardt Residence
Hall, the East Union and in Burr and
Fedde residence halls on East Cam
pus.
"4 4
This is all free, free, free,
day or night, free.
-Kutish
acting director,
Computing Resource Center
-A A -
w w
The center averages a new lab
every year, Kutish said, but this year
was better than average because of
the Apple Computer Company’s
donation in May.
The center routinely asks for do
nations from computer vendors, Kul
ish said, and often receives discounts
and grants. The vendors who respond
hope to encourage education as well
as to make students fam 11iar w i th their
product, he said.
The donation from Apple is the
largest gift the center has received in
its five-year history, he said.
“They hope to gain and the uni
versity hopes to gain,” he said. “The
recipients obviously are the students.’’
The center bought 16 more Macin
toshes and 14 IBM computers as pant
of its yearly acquisition budget from
the university, Kutish said.
The additions bring the number of
lab computers to 161 in 13 micro
computer labs, but Kutish said the
ratio of students to computers still is
about 136 to 1. The optimum ratio is
30 to 1, he said.
The center bought new software
such as PageMaker, FreeHand, Smart
Art, Digital Darkroom, VersaTerm
Pro, Persuasion, Thunder II and
EndNote for the labs. Most of those
programs arc used primarily for graph
ics and desktop publishing and pres
entations.
The center bought the software,
worth more than $3,000, with money
from its acquisitions budget, Kutish
said. The programs were purchased
to “add new dimension to the lab so
it’s more than just a spreadsheet and
database,” he said.
Andrew Teoh, a consultant in the
Andrews Hall microcomputer lab, said
most of the new software is not avail
able in all the labs.
A list of the labs, including hours,
equipment and avai lable software can
be picked up at the center’s office in
326 Administration Building. Students
can learn to use the Macintoshes by
using a tutorial program in one of the
labs. The center will teach micro
computer use in workshops in late
September, Kutish said.
Muaents can use the labs and spe
cial software by showing their stu
dent ID cards to on-duty consultants.
“This is all free, free, free, day or
night, free,” Kulish said.
Students, faculty and staff also can
use HUSKERnet, the UNL campus
computer network that includes IRIS,
the libraries’ computerized system.
HUSKERnet is part of a national
computer network that links univer
sities to research centers, libraries
and other information systems.
Students can use the network to
collect information for reports, term
papers and other assignments.
“The main purpose (of the net
work) is to communicate between
devices in the network and to share
information,” Kulish said.
Another network available is
USENET, a large collection of com
puters that share data with each other.
Electronic mail and information can
be sent and received.
Kulish described USENET as an
“electronic bulletin board.” To get
information on a particular topic, a
notice can be sent through the net
work.
To use the networks, students need
an account number. In some classes,
such as engineering, statistics, busi
ness and research, students are issued
numbers for the network to do assign
rnents.
Students not in those classes can
get a one-year account number by
filling out a form at the the center’s
office.
