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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 30, 1992)
Multicultural education needed, official says Survey results show minorities dissatisfied withdheir advisers By Dionne Searcey Senior Editor Editor’s note: This is the third of a four part series on the findings of the UNL Racial Climate Survey. University of Nebraska-Lincoln students should be required to take a course in multicultural studies before graduat ing, an offi6ial said. Cynthia Willis, a UNL associate professor of psychology and ethnic studies, was a mem ber of a small group that met Friday to discuss the findings of the UNL Racial Climate Survey, which was conducted last spring. Judging from the overall results of the sur vey, Willis said, many UNL students are not being educated about minorities. “I don’t understand how you can turn out a person with a degree and call them an educated person when they know nothing about Ameri can minorities,” she said. The survey asked questionsof433 randomly selected full-time undergraduate students: 100 African-American students, 50 Asian-Ameri can students, 67 Hispanics, 15 Native Ameri cans and 201 non-minority students. The questions concerned interracial rela tions among UNL students. Students were asked questions ranging from relationships between minority and non-minority students to those about non-minorities’racial consciousness and resentment. Suzanne Ortega, coordinator of Faculty and Staff for Cultural Diversity, said UNL should reward faculty members who integrated infor mation about minorities into their lectures. Students were asked whether they agreed with this statement: “When appropriate, most of my instructors will refer to contributions made by minorities in the field of study.” Nearly 55 pcrcentof African-American stu dents and 35.7 percent of Native American students polled disagreed with the statement. About 14 percent of non-minority students disagreed. Shawn Bordeaux, president of the Univer sity of Nebraska Inter-Tribal Exchange, said he disagreed with rewarding instructors for in cluding minorities in their lectures. “I don’t feel it should just be on a reward basis,” he said. If instructors don’t talk about minority contributions to society, he said, “they should be pushed out.” The group recommended that UNL offer sensitivity training for faculty and academic advisers. About 35 percent of African-American stu dents surveyed said they thought instructors at UNL showed racial prejudice. Thirty-three percent of Native American students polled said they thought instructors showed racial prejudice. But a much lower number — 4.5 percent — of non-minority students said they believed the same. The report indicated that more than one third of all students thought counselors and advisers were not sensitive to their needs. See SURVEY on 6 Staa McKee/DN Hasan Muhammad, who teaches a criminal justice class at UNL, says it is important to challenge students to think about racism. “The first day of class, I write ‘think’ on the (chalk)board,” he said. “That’s what I expect my students to do.” Racial sensitivity Football team learns ‘McDonald’s theory’ of human relations By Sarah Scalet Staff Reporter Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne always looks for ways to help the Huskers do a little better both on and off the field. Thai’s why he accepted an offer from Hasan Muhammad. Muhammad, deputy public^ounsel for corrections for Nebraska, approached Osborne about speaking to the team on racial sensitivity. He has talked with the team twice, and more speeches are planned for October. He uses his “McDonald’s theory of job performance and human relations.’’ In any McDonald’s restaurant in the country, Muhammad explains, people arc served depending on who is in line first, not on whether they have $5 or $500, nor on whether they are black or white. I All aspects of society ought to be based on the McDonald’s theory, he said, and racial reconciliation was necessary. “Too often among the races, there is a lot of bitterness,” he said. Muhammad teaches a class about minori ties and the criminal justice system at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He has studied racism for 45 years and said not enough leaching and leadership existed on the subject. Although students are hungry for knowl edge, he said, leaders often didn’t have the courage to implement programs to deal with racism. Muhammad said he thought his speeches to the team generally were well accepted, but that each player reacted individually. Muhammad and Osborne both said the team’s unity already was strong. However, Osborne said, even if the team was 90 percent harmonious, it could reach 95 percent or better. Osborne pointed out the great mixture of people on the team. Players come from the East and West coasts, the South and from different races and economic and geographic areas. Because of this unique aspect of the team, he said, better understanding was necessary. Muhammad said he warned players not to become comfortable with racism and use it as a kind of security blanket. As soon as people put racism under the microscope of reason, truth, reality, fact and common sense, he said, they saw “how useless it is, how negative it is and how unproductive it is.” People must resolve in their hearts to “fully and willingly reject this foolishness called racism,” Muhammad said. “Racism really is a problem of the heart,” he said. Racial climate survey Figures are responses in disagreement to the question: “when appropriate, most of my Instructors will refer to contributions made by minorities In the field of study.” Brian ShellKo/DN Cases of three missing women not related, officials say By Chuck Green Senior Reporter Representatives from state and federal law enforcement agencies determined Tuesday that the d isappearanccs of three young Nebraska women probably were unre lated. In a meeting at Omaha Police headquarters, delegates from six agencies met to discuss the disappearances of University of Ne braska-Lincoln fresh man Candice Harms, Omaha North High School senior Kenyatta Bush and a Ralston woman, Mary Cronin. Sheriff Tom Casady said the law enforce ment officers met to . “compare notes” on the disappearances and to discuss future investiga tion of the cases. “We feel that there is no evidence right now to establish any link of the three cases,” Casady said. See SEARCH on 6 Conference delves into culture of Native Americans By Todd Burger Staff Reporter Healing the Hoop’s keynote address boasts a Pulitzer Prize winner, and tickets are going fast. Healing the Hoop is a Native American conference that will be in Lincoln today through Friday. The gathering will explore the history, religion, spirituality, ceremony and celebration of Native Americans. Inaugurating the conference will be an 8 p.m. speech tonight by N. Scott Momaday, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his novel “House Made of Dawn.” Momaday, a member of the Kiowa tribe, is an English professor at the University of Arizona at Tucson. Tickets for the speech at Kimball Hall are scarce, said Linda Ratcliffe, public relations coordinator at UNL’s Center for Great Plains Studies. Most of the 850 tickets had been sold or given out by Tuesday, she said, leaving about See HOOP on 6