Shaun Sartin/Daily Nebraskan
Tree trimming
Al Keen and Dave Rice of the Lincoln Parks and Recreation
Department trim trees in front of the old Lewis Syford House,
700 N. 16th St. __
Test has different emphasis
Medical entrance exam changed!
By Sara Bauder Schott
Senior Reporter
Students taking the MCAT this
spring will face a new and improved
version of the Medical College
Admissions Test, a University of
Nebraska-Lincoln professor said.
Richard Boohar, an associate pro
fessor of biology and chief adviser for
the School of Biological Sciences,
said the previous version of the test
put too much emphasis on memoriza
tion. The new test stresses thought
processes and learning, he said.
The number of sections in the test
will be reduced from six to four, and
the test time will be shortened by at
least 80 minutes. The previous test
required an average of 9 1/2 hours.
The new version also will be the
first among professional school ad
missions tests to use essays and evalu
ate writing skills.
Richard O’Brien, dean of Creighton
University School of Medicine and
chairman of the panel responsible for
modifying the test, said the test is just
one of many criteria medical schools
use to admit students. The schools
also look at grades, recommendation
letters from faculty members, essays,
extracurricular activities and personal
interviews with applicants, he said.
The MCAT is reviewed every seven
to 10 years to update the science
portions and to make other necessary
changes, O’Brien said. The latest
changes were more extensive than
the typical review, he said.
When looking at the old MCAT,
O’Brien said, the panel decided that
the test did a good job of predicting a
student’s performance in the first two
years of medical school, but only a
fair job of predicting performance in
the last two years. The test also put
too much emphasis on science and
not enough on humanities, he said.
To improve the test, the panel re
tained some parts of the old test, but
added sections on problem-solving
and communications skills, O’Brien
said.
Boohar said medical schools want
students to have a background in the
liberal arts, not just in the technical
aspects of science. The schools started
a trend toward emphasis on liberal
arts backgrounds about five to eight
years ago, he said.
UNL will not make any curricu
lum changes because of the changes
in the test, Boohar said. Changing a
curriculum to accommodate a profes
sional school admissions test is “one
of the stupidest things you can do,” he
said.
The biolog ical science department
is considering curriculum changes in
the future, but they are unrelated to
the test, he said.
Because of the ever-growing mass
of information in the sciences, the
department has to look periodically
at how instructors are used, Boohar
said.
“We can’t just keep multiplying
courses with ut giving somewhere,”
he said.
UNL can prepare students to be
good writers and thus do well on the
writing portion of the test, but that
doesn’t always happen, Boohar said.
The basic writing skills that freshman
have upon entering UNL are “pretty
bad,’’ he said. The students have lim
ited vocabularies and often are fuzzy
on word meanings, he said.
Students can learn to write, but
faculty members need to put pressure
on them to do so, Boohar said.
•ASUN
Continued from Page 1
jpointmems are subject to ASUN sen
ate approval.
“Before we do this (pass the amend
ments), we need to fix the Appoint
ments Board,” Sigerson said.
College of Arts and Sciences Sen.
Chris Potter said he shares concerns
about the Appointments Board and
the constitutionality of the commit
tee but ASUN should act soon.
Newly-appointed College of Jour
nalism Sen. Frank Forman said he
was for passage of the racial affairs
committee.
“This issue has been kicked around
way loo much,” he said “Senators
should try 10 break the stereotypes
people have of ASUN and make a
gutsy move.”
r-"" .—
Clark Sackchewsky, a law and
College of Business Administration
student, said he feels that because
senate positions are apportioned by
college, the committee would be giving
double representation to certain stu
dents. This is because these students
would not only represent individuals
but also their respective colleges.
But, he said, the bylaws changes
are constitutional in that aspect be
cause the ASUN bylaws do provide
for student-at-large members on
committees.
Also, he said that the NU Board of
Regents, the University of Nebraska
and ASUN have rules saying they
cannot discriminate on the basis of
race, national origin, sex, sexual ori
entation or religion.
“By setting a quota system, they
are judging those people by their
individual characteristics,” Sack
chewsky said.
And, even though the bylaws
changes include an exemption from
ASUN discrimination policies, they
do not cover university or regents’
rules on the subject, he said.
ASUN Second Vice President
Yolanda Scott said that as a student
and from talking to lawyers, she thinks
that the committee is not discrimina
tory because all races arc represented
on it.
And, she said, people on the com
mittees will be representing individu
als and not their colleges’ interests.
In other action, ASUN passed a
bylaws change creating a committee
to deal with “issues relating to op
pression based on sexual orientation.”
In addition to senators appointed to
serve on that committee, one gay, one
lesbian, one heterosexual and one
bisexual will serve as student-at large
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College of Journalism Sen. Alisa
Miller said that the committee is needed
to combat ignorance and violence
against gays, lesbians and bisexuals
on campus.
Sigerson said he voted no on the
second committee because he feels
voting for it would not be representa
tive of his constituents.
Also, he said, ASUN addressed
the issue last year by financing the
Committee Offering Lesbian and Gay
Events.
Newly-appointed Teachers College
Sen. Nanci Rivenburg said discrimi
nation based on sexual orientation is
not confined to gay bashing. State
and federal laws offer no protection
for discrimination against gays, les
bians and bisexuals, she said.
“Here at this university, wc have
the opportunity to be forward-think
ing and make this situation change,"
she said.
AS UN President Phil Gosch said
the committees’ creation is effective
immediately. Under Appointments
Board rules, the positions must be
open for applications for two weeks
not counting dead and finals weeks.
Gosch said he assumes that appli
cations will be accepted during the
first two or three weeks of next se
mester.
Massengale
Continued from Page 1
Griescn said. “He sets out to do
something and stays the course.”
As an example, Griescn said,
Massengale “stayed sturdy at the
helm” during the hard economic
times of the ’80s.
“It’s toughest to be a top manager
when resources are light,” he said
“He tried to reverse the situation.
You need that kind of commitment
and dedication. Another person
might have abandoned the institution
(for another position), but not Marlin.
He was committed to the university
for the long haul.”
John Yost, the former UNL. vice
chancellor for research who left the
university for a position at the
University of Alabama at Huntsville,!
said Massengale was “absolutely
determined to achieve what was in
Ihc best interest of the institution. He
had a mastery of all aspects of the
university.”
His strength was his commitment
to improving the status of the campus
as a research university with high
quality undergraduate education,
Yost said.
Under Masscngalc’s leadership,
he said, UNL received the best
accreditation from the North Central
Accreditation*Association that it had
received in two decades. And
following that report, Massengale
began a long-range strategic plan for
UNL, Yost said.
He had the leadership, courage
and stature to persevere during a
period of midyear budget cuts,” Yost
said. Massengale was able to
strengthen the university in the eyes
of the people of Nebraska and the
state Legislature, he said.
Howe said the difficult times
Massengale faced during his chancel
lorship were “dramatically different”
than today. But they were times of
gnral pPPpnuniiy, and under Massen
gale, UNL. became much stronger he
said. ® ’
As a result of Masscngale’s
leadership, UNL’s research produc
tivity has increased and liberal
education is stronger, Howe said
In addition, the Lied Center for
Performing Arts and the Campus
Recreation Center projects began,
under his leadership, Howe said. And
Masscngale saw to it that the Lied
hired a permanent, professional
director to ensure it would keep
going, he said.
Gricscn said one of the greatest
challenges Masscngale faced as
chancellor was to ensure that LNL
didn’t stop progressing during the
tough times and took advantage of
existing opportunities for growth,
such as the Lied Center, the founda
tions courses and the Honors Pro
grams, he said.
Gricscn and Yost said that another
of Masscngale’s strengths as chancel
lor was his “tremendous number of
personal contacts across the state,” as
Gricscn said.
“It’s an asset. His credibility with
other influence-makers means a lot”
to the university, Gricscn said.
Yost said, “He has built up a
tremendous amount of good will
toward the university through his
contacts.”
These contacts will be an a->sel in
his new position as president, Yost
said.
“In times of restructuring (of
higher education), the university
needs to become more externally
oriented. Masscngalc’s contacts and
leadership in national and state
organizations is going to bend it the
whole university,” he said.
“He’ll provide stable, strong,
forward-looking leadership lor the
university in times that ca'I tor
considerable change,” Yost Naid.
“He’s an individual who grows with
new responsibility and challenges.
“That is now important in provid
ing leadership to strengthen the
system as a whole and to bring long
term fiscal responsibility to higher
education in Nebraska. We’re lacing
a period of constrained resources,
and his fiscal management skill will
be an asset to the university,’ Yost
said. “He knows full well the*
importance of the president’s role in
academic education.”
Copplc said that during his term
as chancellor, and still today,
Masscngale was politically sensitive
to the people of the state, the rcgei s.
legislators and students.
“He’s well-versed in the univer
sity and the state,” Copplc said, ^
understood how the university In
“He’s just smaller than hell,
Copplc said.