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Study to clarify professors' roles
It’s tough to ignore the complaints.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln students regularly whine
about professors being unavailable outside class. Some
' professors spend too little time teaching, students say.
But students seem to forget that teaching is just one of the
roles UNL faculty members must serve.
As Chancellor Graham Spanier is quick to note, both
research and teaching are essential for any quality university.
Both should have a place at UNL.
The Nebraska Legislature is embarking on a study to deter
mine how much time UNL faculty members spend teaching
and researching.
Some within the university have called the study a witch
hunt, a knee-jerk response from the Legislature to misunder
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But others properly view the study as a teaching tool. The
study should give the Legislature and the rest of the state a
better picture of what UNL faculty members are up to.
“I don’t see this as something that is threatening at all,” said
Stan Liberty, interim vice chancellor for academic affairs. “I
see it as an opportunity for the university to clarify its image.”
That image is particularly suspect now, as mandated budget
cuts have turned much of UNL on itself. At this point, the
budget process has become so skewed that it will take more
than a new magician to fix it.
When the study results are made public, it will be interesting
to see how evenly the university plays its teaching and research
cards. A deck full of researchers would show a lack of commit
ment to UNL students, while one full of teachers would show a
lack of dedication to furthering education in general.
But if the cards fall about evenly, the Legislature should
recognize that UNL faculty members are fulfilling their mis
sion to teach both students and themselves.
Just how much time faculty members devote to the separate
areas of teaching, research and service to Nebraskans depends
on the university’s individual mission. Since all branches of the
NU system will be examined by the legislative study, it also
will be interesting to see how each campus reflects its specific
mission through the work of its faculty members.
If the “workload” fits the mission, UNL students and
Nebraska legislators have little to complain about.
—J.P.
DN’s liberal viewpoints
have little regard for facts
It doesn t bother me that college
newspapers represent left-wing, lib
eral views. This is not new news to
me. However, it does bother me that
the Daily Nebraskan, with little re
gard for facts, consistently takes lib
eral standpoints just for the sake of
being liberal.
Case in point; the DN’s support for
Sen. Bob Kerrey after his joke about
two lesbians (“Pun-ishmcnt,” DN
Wednesday) and the denouncement
of President George Bush for sug
gesting a loweringofcreditcard inter
est rates (“Passing the buck,” DN,
Tuesday).
The intellectual incompetence
represented by the Daily Nebraskan
editorial staff never fails to give me a
good chuckle. However, it was only a
couple of days ago that I had to pinch
myself when I read that the DN placed
sole blame for the recent 100-plus
point slock market decline on Bush’s
off-thc-cufT remarks at a dinner speech.
According to the DN, Bush was
way out of line when he suggested
that the banks of the United Slates
were charging way too much interest
on their credit card accounts. If you
A A
can believe it, the DN took the point
of view that the poor banks arc hurt
ing so bad that they desperately need
this revenue to stay afloat. Nobody
doubts that the nation’s banks, such
as Citibank, require the billions of
dollars in profits that 19 to 21 percent
interest rates accumulate. I do doubt,
however, that if the idea for a lid on
interest rates had been suggested by
Kerrey or some other liberal the DN
would have been as equally lighten
ing fast to dismiss the idea as idiotic.
Speaking of Kerrey, I was ama/.cd
at how quickly the DN came to his
rescue over the lesbian joke thing. In
fact, in supporting Kerrey, the DN
even managed to find a way to again
personally attack Supreme Court
Justice Clarence Thomas.
By depicting every issue as liberal
versus conservative and by taking
every political standpoint just for the
sake of being liberal, the DN is not
being a good college newspaper.
Rather, it is losing the trust of its
readers.
Thomas K. Eads
sophomore
computer science
Anonymous signature snows
immaturity in 4unpersonal’
This letter is in response to an ad in
the “Unpersonal” section of the Nov.
19th Daily Nebraskan. In this ad, a
UNL professor was publicly attacked
by a group of disgruntled students,
who signed themselves as only
“SIGNIFICANT writers.”
My question is this: If these writ
ers feel they are truly “significant,”
why must they not only pay to have
their opinions published but also remain
anonymous in doing so?
In an environment of higher edu
cation, disagreements over the qual
ity of creative work are best kept on
an individual basis. To feel it neces
sary to go public with an attack only
proves that the attackers are insecure
and afraid of mature, articulate dis
cussion.
Clare Burke
freshman
English
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DAVID REITER
Old cars, old news never die
Old cars are hard lo get rid of.
They’re certainly hard to get
rid of in a physical sense. Gar
bage men won ’ t take them and they ’re
too big to stash in the basement. About
the only thing you can do is move
them somewhere else.
Sometimes they’re also hard to get
rid of in an emotional sense. Almost
10 years ago we bought a 1970 AMX.
The AMX was the American Motors
“muscle car.” We could not let it go.
I called up my cousin, Eldon, and
asked if we could store the AMX out
on his farm. He kindly said yes. It
wasn’t the first lime he had received
a reauest of this sort from our family.
Eldon even offered to help us move
the car. So we towed it out to his farm
north of Kearney. There, amidst sev
eral trees, sits a blue, two-toned 1953
Studebaker Commander that once
belonged to my dad.
The Studebaker isn’t in bad shape
after almost 30 years of doing noth ing
but sinking into the dirt. More than
two-thirds of it is still there. A long
time ago, Eldon took the rear axle off
lo use on a farm trailer.
We spent some lime studying this
artifact. My brother removed some
chrome pieces from the body. In the
trunk he found a Corvette ornament. I
found a Sunday World-Herald dated
Jan. 28, 1962.
America’s Cold War with atheis
tic communism dominates the news
paper.
The front page ran a story about a
physics professor from Northwestern
University who claimed that the uni
verse’s dwindling heat reserves prove
the existence of God.
The front page also covered the
race into space. A picture showed
John Glenn in his space suit, and there
was a story about trouble with a piece
of space equipment called “Ranger”
that was supposed lo be taking pic
tures of the moon.
There were disarmament talks with
the Soviets, but they weren’t going
well.
In 1962, the people of Los Alamos,
N.M., had developed an elaborate
civil defense system. Everyone car
ried a card specifying which of 42
different buildings they should go to
in the event of a nuclear emergency.
The townspeople collected more
than $40,000 to stock the shelters
with enough food to last its 17,000
-LETTER POLICE
The Daily Nebraskan welcomes
brief letters to the editor from all
readers and interested others.
Readers also are welcome to sub
mit material as guest opinions.
i.
I 1^— I
In 1262* the people
of I*os Alamos. N.M..
had developed an
elaborate. civil de
fense system, Every
one carried a card
specifying which of
42 different buildings
they should ga to in
the event of a nu
clear emergency.
citizens for eight days or more. The
emergency food menu included
powdered milk and “special survival
biscuits.”
The House passed a bill to raise
postal rates. Rep. Glenn Cunningham
from Nebraska was responsible for an
amendment to this bill that barred the
mails to “Red propaganda.”
In national politics, the Republi
cans were the outsiders.
On page 12 was a story detailing
Republican party strategy for the
upcoming 1964 election. The article
listed eight different Republican
campaign possibilities, including
Richard Nixon, who was the 1960
Republican presidential candidate.
The story’s third paragraph illus
trates the unpredictability of history.
It reads: “The Democrats have no
problem. Barring mishap, their 1964
team is at hand — the winning com
bination of 1960, Kennedy-Johnson.”
Politicians were still fighting in
the same trenches. President Ken
nedy and other Democrats wanted a
new government department to deal
specifically with the problems of cit
ies.
But Republicans wanted to reduce
the size of the federal government.
Republican Sen. John Tower rccom
Whether material should run as a let
ter or guest opinion, or not to run, is
left to the editor’s discretion.
Anonymous submissions will not
be considered for publication. Let
mended a 50 percent reduction in
non-defense spending for the follow
ing fiscal year. He claimed that cuts
in “spending and welfare schemes”
would help balance the budget.
The growth of crime was alarm
ing.
A story lamenting the post-World
War II explosion in national crime
gave special attention to the rise in
crime among juveniles. It cited vari
ous sociological explanations for this
rise: a general breakdown in old-fash
ioned family discipline and the rise of
divorce and desertion.
An accompanying graphic com
pared the crime figures for 1946 with
the figures for 1960. The numbers
rose sharply in all categories of crime
with the exception of murder, which
showed a significant decrease.
Despite the national trend, the police
chief said crime was not a problem in
Omaha. Murders were down by 27
percent over the previous year, and
armed robberies were down by 13
percent.
Prestigious universities were re
cruiting farm kids.
The University of Chicago had
what amounted to an affirmative ac
tion program designed to counteract
discrimination against students from
small towns.
An admissions official said some
entrance examinations discriminated
against small-town students: “They
may be too culture-laden, favoring
the sophisticated student from the
sophisticated high school.” The
school’s strict admissions requirements
were eased for students entering
through the program.
There wasn’t much sex or vio
lence on television, but there was a lot
of bowling.
At noon on Sunday three different
stations offered bowling shows. The
advertisement for channel 7’s show
reads: “A full hour of bowling excite
ment LIVE from the Sky Lanes in
Omaha!”
An official in Atlanta warned that
rollerskating on the newly completed
interstate highways was very danger
ous.
I promised Eldon we wouldn’t leave
the AMX on his farm forever. But
maybe I should have stuck a newspa
per in the trunk just in case.
Reiter Is a gnu) uatc student in philosophy
and a Daily Nebraskan columnist.
tcrs should include the autnor s
name, year in school, major and
group affiliation, if any.
Submit material to the Daily Ne
braskan, 34 Nebraska Union, 14(X) R
St., Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0448.
