Pressure on athletes
tolerable, coach says
, , ■ f. -
Counselors seek
to ease burdens
By Jeremy Fitzpatrick
Senior Reporter
The bright spotlight of college
athletics puts stress and pres
sure on athletes that other stu
dents don’t feel, but that pressure is
manageable, Coach Tom Osborne and
Nebraska student-athletes said.
Concerns about the pressures ath
Jctes face were raised last week after
it was learned that one football player
may have suffered a psychotic epi
sode.
To help student-athletes deal with
everyday pressures, the athletic de
partment provides support services,
Osborne said.
He said he thought those services
were sufficient to help the athletes
deal with the stress and pressure they
feel.
During football season, he said,
coaches see the players every day.
Coaches see players at least four times
a week in the off-season when they
lift weights, he said.
In addition, Osborne said, the ath
letic department provides two psy
chologists for student-athletes, as well
as coaches and trainers in the athletic
office.
He said that while he thought the
support system was adequate, diffi
culties could occur if students had
problems when they were not able to
access that support system.
That may have been what hap
pened to Andrew Scott Baldwin, a
Comhusker I-back who was arrested
Jan. 18 for allegedly assaulting a
woman, Osborne said.
He said Baldwin seemed to have
developed his “symptoms” over
semester break and during the first
week of school, which Osborne de
scribed as a period of relatively little
contact between the athletic depart
ment and players.
William Washington, a junior tight
end for the Huskers, said he agreed
that it was tougher for student-ath
letes to deal with stress when they
were away from fellow players and
coaches.
“On the field, you have 11 guys
with you, and we are all together.
“When you’re alone, it’s differ
ent,” Washington said.
Part of the problem, he said, is that
athletes are trained to be hard and to
keep their emotions to themselves.
^Football players are trained to be
strong-willed people and not to ex
press their feelings,” he said.
Washington said pressure from fans
to win also could cause an athlete
stress. Most fans are supportive, he
said, but a minority can get out of
hand when the team doesn’t win.
Those fans need to remember that
student-athletes arc not paid profes
sionals, he said.
“If you’re that upset about us los
See STRESS on 3
Bill would rorce schools
to teach multiculturalism
By Angie Brunkow
Staff Reporter
Teachers, students and minority
representatives Tuesday voiced
their support for a bill thk would
require Nebraska schools to teach mul
ticultural studies.
LB922, introduced by Sen. Emie
r;-Chambers of
Omaha and co
Bk sponsored by sena
jflflj tors David Landis
L and DiAnna
& H Schimek of Lin
n H■ ICH to,n’ would require
-UUkJ secondary and ele
mentary schools to develop and im
plement multicultural programs by
the 1993-1994 school year.
The bill also would require school
districts to prove to the State Depart
ment of Education that they are
complying with the plan, and would
require the department to conduct
surveys of the multicultural educa
tion programs and publish the results.
At a legislative hearing Tuesday,
Chambers said LB922 would be a
step toward introducing multicultu
ralism in Nebraska schools.
“We are starting with ground zero
in this state when we talk of multicul
tural ism,” he said. “You have to make
people crawl before they walk.”
Jim Kubik, a teacher at Norfolk
Senior High School and author of the
bill, said many out-state schools needed
a “gentle nudge” to include multi
cultural programs in their curricu
lum.
The bill would not affect the Omaha
or Lincoln Public School systems that
already do more than the bill requires,
he said.
Steve Dietz, a junior art major at
the University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
said mulliculluralism at an early age
would teach children to keep their
minds open to people from different
backgrounds.
Coming from a small-town Ne
braskan background, Dietz said he
regretted not having had more expo
sure to other cultures in school.
See LEGISLATURE on 3
Practicing the Blues
Jeff Rushall, a mathematics graduate student, takes a break from practicing his trumpet
in a Westbrook Music Building practice room Monday afternoon. Rushall said he had
slept only two hours after studying late into the previous evening.
Plan seeks innovative faculty
Official says goal
to increase morale
Editor’s note: In his budget reduc
tion speech Jan. 16, Chancellor
Graham Spanier announced four
programs to improve UNL and
increase the university’s impact on
the state and the world. This series
will examine each of the four initia
tives.
By Sean Green
Senior Reporter
Chancellor Graham Spanier has
launched an initiative that will
improve teaching methods and
boost the morale of faculty at UNL,
an official said.
Delivee Wright, director of the
Teaching and Learning Center at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said
the initiative would stimulate crea
tive thinking and help professors find
innovative ways to teach.
Although no concrete plans have
been made, Wright said, the initiative
could provide for workshops or edu
cational sessions for faculty to im
prove instruction.
“Many classes at UNL arc so large
that individual work is difficult,”
Wright said.
But there are strategies that can
enhance instruction, she said, such as
using more audio-visual aides and
increasing student participation.
James Griesen, interim vice-chan
cellor for academic affairs, said the
new initiative would be managed
differently from past instructional
improvement programs.
In the past, Griesen said, funds
targeted for instructional improve
ment went directly to the Faculty
Teaching Council, an administrative
body comprised of students and fac
ulty that supports instructional im
provement and innovation.
Although the administration wanted
input from the Faculty-Teaching
Council on how the money should be
spent, he said, it planned to play a
more active role in the new initiative.
After July 1, the administration
will appoint a senior vice-chancellor
for academic affairs who will help
distribute the new funds.
“We want to make sure we’re
getting the maximum impact from
the money we spend,” he said. “The
chancellor wants to make sure there
are results and real implementation
of new ideas.”
Instead of being a research-ori
ented program, Greisen said, this ini
See INSTRUCTION on 3
State of the
E Union address fo
cuses on defense,
tax issues. Page 2
Youthful Soon
ers to play Ne
braska in battle of
Big Eight women’s
basketball leaders.
Page 7
INDEX
Wire 2
Opinion 4
Sports 7
A&E 9
Classifieds___1JJ
Children explore African culture
By Taryn Glister
Staff Reporter
Seven members of UNL’s African popu
lation have helped local children expe
rience Africa — in Nebraska.
Through textiles, clothing, wood carvings,
posters and artifacts, six students and one pro
fessor from the University of Nebraska-Lin
coln shared their culture with children in the
Growing Up African program every Sunday in
January at the Lincoln Unitarian Church, 6300
A St.
Beryl Maitland, director of religious growth
and learning at the Lincoln Unitarian Church,
formulated the idea with church member Linda
Brown and her house guest from Africa, Jean
■ _ f ^Vr 1 # .
ine Nyonzima.
The program allowed children to explore a
culture different from their own, Maitland said.
“We hopefully have exposed children of the
church to the varied richness of African culture
and peoples," she said.
“Linda and I talked about growing up in
Africa versus growing up in the United States,"
said Nyonzima, a senior international business
and marketing major at UNL. “This program
helps kids and parents learn something excit
ing from different countries.”
The six students and UNL English professor
Oyekan Owomoyela taught children about the
African culture in their individual countries.
The church youth — from 5 years old through
sixth grade — focused on different topics each
Sunday during the regular church service. Topics
included Africa; the Physical World — tribes,
language, geography, statistics and flags; Masks
and their Meanings; Our Lives in Africa; and
Celebrations.
“African church members speak to the chil
dren during organized Sunday activities,”
Maitland said, “and we’re especially pleased
with the enthusiastic involvement of African
non-church members from the community who
are taking the time to become involved with
our children.”
Nyonzima, a native of Burundi, located in
east central Africa, said that every Sunday, the
“talking drum” beckoned churchgoers together.
See AFRICA on 6
