RAINBOW COALITION
Older students share stress
By Robert Christensen
All students probably have had
the experience of attending a
class with non-traditional stu
dents. You probably looked at them
with a different name in mind — my
kids call us old fogies.
The questions all students must
answer are: “Whatare non-traditional
students, and how do they differ from
traditional students?” “How can non
traditional students add to the educa
tional experience?” And, “How do
non-traditional students adapt to
UNL?”
Non-traditional students (generally
those more than 25 years old) are one
of the fastest growing “minority”
groups in higher education. Of course,
their most obvious feature is that they
are about the same chronological age
as the traditional college parent.
Some of us have a rather high
forehead, from our eyebrows to the
nape of our neck, or have that “distin
guished looking” gray hair. Some of
us may have bulges or wrinkles. But
if we get beyond the cosmetic outer
appearances, what might we find?
What are some of the concerns of
non-traditional students?
i i_ r . .
many ui ui aic cunccmeu aooui
receiving a quality product for our
investment. We want our tuition dol
lars to yield a valuable educational
experience, or we arc going to let
someone know we arc dissatisfied —
or go elsewhere.
We expect to be treated with re
spect and want to sec others treated
with respect. We expect our text
books to be accurate and affordable.
We have a low tolerance for second
rate, low-quality or poorly prepared
lectures. And we may be a little more
vocal about these concerns than some
traditional students.
We are concerned about the lack
of adequate parking at an affordable
rate. Many non-tradilional students
must leave campus during the day or
go to work or tend to family commit
ments. Unless we have a reserved
parking spot, we may be late or miss
class altogether. And few of us have
the resources to purchase a reserved
parking spot.
We arc concerned with balancing
our class time, our family time, our
study time and our work into a sched
ule that seems several hours short
each day. We find that we face a great
deal of stress. We often wonder if
there is light at the end of the tunnel or
if we are just meeting, or being run
over by, another train.
We arc concerned with the lack of
funding to keep in place some of the
programs that are especially helpful
to us. Many of the non-traditional
students have been away from school
long enough that we need the various
tutorial programs that are available.
We are in an age group that finds
structured fitness programs necessary
to ensure a higher quality of life. We
fear that some of the programs we
find so helpful will fall prey to the
next budget cut, if they haven’t al
ready.
You may notice that these con
cerns are not unique to non-tradi
tional students. Non-traditional stu
dents are a lot like any other students.
Our outward appearance may differ,
but we are all here to get an educa
tion. Our age (or race, religion, sex,
etc.) doesn ’ t determine our concerns.
Our desire to improve our education
does.
how can non-irauiuonai siuucnis
add to the educational experience at
UNL?
One way is to make the admini
stration aware of changes that must
be made. One of these changes is the
extended hours of some of the aca
demic services offices.
The Adult Student Network has
supported extended hours for at least
two years. This semester evening hours
until 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday have been
instituted in student affairs offices.
This is a benefit to all students but
especially to non-tradilional students,
who find it difficult to deal with the
administrative tasks that we all must
face.
Imagine a mother trying to fit a
class schedule around a family and
child care, to say nothing of finding
parking while ordering transcripts.
Consider the primary income pro
vider who is allowed to leave work
only long enough to attend his/her
classes, or perhaps to attend night
classes.
The evening hours will provide a
chance for these students to attend to
needed adm inistrati ve tasks. They are
now able to meet with the office of
financial aid concerning grants, loans
and scholarships, or general studies
advising concerning academic prog-,
ress or career planning concerning
employment prospects.
One area that UNL has not ad
dressed is the area of credit for life
experiences. This is a system in use at
a number of college and universities,
including Rutgers, the University of
Rhode Island and Midland College.
The administrators at these insti
tutions realize that many life experi
ences provide the same education that
students gain in the classrooms. They
realize it is unproductive to ask a
student who is well-versed in a par
ticular area to take entry-level classes
in that area. So they allow credit for
“life experiences” to help students
proceed toward their degree in a more
timely manner. ’
This would benefit non-traditional
students by allowing them to enter
their degree programs at the levels of
their competency. At the same lime,
it would free class space for students
who aren’t proficient in that subject.
It would be a more economical use
of educational resources. It would be
a recruiting tool for new adult stu
dents. And, as UNL is able to recruit
more adult students, a broadening of
the educational spectrum will occur.
The University Health Center is
primarily geared toward the tradi
tional student. The center is not as
aware of the ailments that older stu
dents are more prone to suffer.
Because the Health Center deals
primarily with 20-year-olds, the di
agnosis for someone with joint or
muscle pain might be physical stress.
For patients in their 40s, the diagnosis
might be something entirely differ
ent.
As more students with children are
enrolled, the center may need to offer
pediatric care — something that is
becoming more available at other
academic institutions’ student health
centers.
How do non-traditional students
adapt to UNL?
The Adult Student Network is a
support group of non-traditional stu
dents that meets weekly during the
academic year to share successes,
problems, solutions and other experi
ences.
We have informal “brown bag”
meetings from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30
p.m. on Wednesdays in the Nebraska
Union, usually in room 216. We in
vite faculty, staff and other students
to discuss our mutual concerns. Our
goal is to help adult students assimi
late into UNL and have successful
educational experiences.
We would welcome anyone who
wished to “check us out.” We don’t
check IDs.
Christensen is a junior in the Teachers
College.
Sex discrimination questions need answers
The front-page article from Feb.
25 on how the Human Rights Com
mittee wants faculty members to know
sex discrimination is a violation of
UNL policy (“Committee reiterates
university prohibition of sexual har
assment”) needs some address. The
article flatly stated sexual discrimi
nation will not be tolerated at the
university. What is the university going
to do to stop sexual discrimination?
What arc the policies going to be? If
I am harassed by a professor, what
support is going to be given? What
will happen to the perpetrator? What
will happen if the perpetrator says
obscene things? Will the policy be
different if the perpetrator touches
the victim? When a victim makes a
complaint, what will happen next?
Suppose the perpetrator has tenure
and is widely respected by peers, what
will be done?
The article appears to be frighten
ing to anyone doing any kind of sex
discrimination. In reality, the article
is like a tape of a vicious dog barking.
This is all it is. There is a difference
between having a vicious dog and a
tape playing a dog barking. If anyone
believes the university will take on
the responsibility to discharge some
one or have any other penally that is
severe enough to halt sex discrimina
tion, that will be surprising. I am
belting nothing will change.
Cathy Whitncy-Vuchctich
senior
special education and elementary
education
Osborne should punish all players involved
The status of Nebraska football
has been one of the controversies the
last couple of days. The group of
seven instigating the juvenile show
down at the “house-party corral” was,
needless to say, an embarrassment to
the football program. We saw a glim
mer of hope when Coach Osborne
stated that punishment for those in
volved would follow. We do believe
that Coach Osborne was trying to
make a statement by kicking two
players off the team. We can only
assume that the two were the initial
ones at the party who returned for
backup protection since no names
have been “officially” released. What
separates the actions of the two from
the other five? They all went back
with ihc intentions of defending their
manhood and pride, backing it up
with their physical prowess. Let’s see,
if it takes seven football players to
beat the hell out of a few baseball
players, how many would it require to
take on the tennis team or the women’s
gymnastics team? We wonder who
would win. What’s the point? You’re
bigger. Who cares?
^ye do not think any statement was
made by removing only two players.
Osborne should have, if he wanted to
set Nebraska apart from the Oklaho
mas, Colorados and Miamis, thrown
all seven off the team. That would
have made an impact on us. That
would tell us that Nebraska football
will not tolerate that kind of behavior.
Il is unfortunate, but these seven play
ers gave the entire program a bad
name, not just two players. Where are
your real guts, Tom? Get rid of this
cancerous growth on your team, or il
WILL spread. Now that would be a
statement.
Andrew F. Knudten
graduate student
biological sciences
Michael H. Luethy
graduate student
•• biological sciences
Jeffrey R. Stout
graduate student
exercise physiology
Dorm life costly for students
In 1985,1 took on the burden of
a student loan to cover my rent and
some bills. I worked 15-20 hours a
week to pay the rest of my living
costs while taking classes full time.
I was under the delusion that this
situation was not as comfortable as
my classmates who lived in the
dorms — until they got their hous
ing bill. My poor classmates were
socked with two large bills every
year, while I shared a moderate
monthly rent payment. In 1986, a
group of friends gathered money
and food to help a fellow student
make his housing payment and
remain in college. He graduated in
1989.
In 1987, I noticed that one by
one, as they reached their sopho
more year, classmates moved off
campus. I thought they wanted a
sense of independence. They just
wanted relief. One of their semes
ter housing bills was several hundred
dollars higher than the same basic
living costs I incurred living off
campus.
In 1988, I felt lucky to have
lived off campus and prepared to
graduate with a loan debt $1,000
smaller than my on-campus counter
parts. I saved money because I was
willing to spend the time todrivc to
and from campus, to get groceries,
gas and do laundry — something
my on-campus friends were “privi
leged” not to do. Dormies — don’t
be fooled. The only thing you’re
saving is time (and paying dearly
for that).
Now freshmen are required to
live on campus and the same re
striction has been or will be ex
tended to sophomores. Neat. Re
quire them to live here and then
raise the rent. There’s something
verging on unethical in that. There
is a rumor that the guiding purpose
behind the live-in requirement is to
help students do better in classes. I
find that such altruistic goals often
bow to the winds of economics. In
this case, experience has already
shown that students only can live
where it is affordable no matter
how badly they want to learn. Hey!
History speaks for itself — living
off campus is affordable. Make
dorm living equally affordable as
off-campus living and you’ll sec,
it’s not so hard to keep students
around. Start thinking economics!
Students do.
Karen K. Wiese
graduate
health education
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