UNL professor defends autobiographical writing course
By Kara Morrison
Senior Editor
Autobiographical writing,
though sometimes intensely
personal, is too valuable of a
writing technique to be condemned,
one UNL professor said.
David Hibler, assistant professor
of English, defended this practice
when he recently wrote a letter to the
editor of the Chronicle of Higher Edu
cation.
The letter was in response to the
Feb. 17 article, “Requiring Students
Class teaches students tol^now, study themselves, Hibler says
to Write About Their Personal Lives,
which questioned the ethics and merit
of a writing technique Hibler said he
has employed w ith positive results for
almost 20 years.
“They ’re assuming that personal
writing is dangerous or might be
abused,” Hibler said. “They say that it
may lead to intimidation, exploita
tion and sexual harassment in the
classroom environment”
In his recent letter to the editor,
Hibler said .. we who specialize in
autobiographical writing empower
students by helping them find their
voices. We do not diminish them.?’
Hibler said these and other as
sumptions made in the article were
unfounded and that common sense
was used in his classroom to safe
guard against negative aspects of per
sonal writing.
Student’s papers, Hibler said, are
kept confidential and are not read by
graduate assistants. Also, Hibler said,
professors know not to act as guid
ance counselors but are able to point
out available counseling resources to
students if the student is interested in
counseling.
Hibler said autobiographical writ
ing was an important basis for all
knowledge and that the ancient phi
losophy “Know thyself’ was “the best
practical advice anyone can give.’’
“Students should have a knowl
edge of themselves so that they have
an understanding of their perceptions, “
Hibler said.
In contrast, the article questions
whethercritical thinking or real learn
ing is taking place when personal
writing techniques are used in com
position classes.
One mistake that is made in teach
ing personal writing, Hibler said, is
when only self-expression is taught or
when students are told “to say what
See HIBLER on 6
Wearing bag
wrong way
dangerous,
official says
By Joel Strauch
Staff Reportar_
There’s a proper way to wear a
backpack—over both shoul
ders — but most students opt
for a more fashionable one-shoulder
look.
However, following fashion can
be dangerous, health officials say.
Wearingbackpacks, shoulder packs
*ior shoulder bags improperly can lead
to problems in the back, lower back
and trapezius muscle, said Mark
Peight, an athletic trainer at Injury
Prevention and Care in the Campus
Recreation Center.
Hip problems, ranging from minor
irritation to pain when standing, can
also result from disproportional back
pack weight, Feight said.
“The body is designed for bal
ance," he said, “so you throw your hip
out to balance the bag."
Students expressed the problems
that they have had as a result of im
proper wear of packs.
“I feel fatigue or cramps in my
shoulder," said Chris Worthley, a se
nior psychology major.
Herb Hess, a senior education
major, said when his shoulder muscles
became tired, he switched shoulders.
TMs is the treatment recommended
by Feight.
“Students should carry less or al
ternate shoulders, but they get in a
habit of using only one," Feight said.
The problems can be amplified if
students have had a previous shoulder
or back problem.
Rebecca Hinks, a senior biology
major said, “I have a pre-existing
injury in my shoulder, and I get a lot
of pain because I carry too much.”
Stretching can be used as a treat
ment, but the best cure is prevention,
Feight said.
Signer shortage ties UNL’s hands
Damon Loo/DN
Frankie Dougherty, a UNL graduate student studying hearing-impaired
education, watches her interpreter during a curriculum and instruction lecture
Monday. UNL has a shortage of interpreters available for hearing-impaired
students.
Hearing-impaired students
face uninterpreted classes,
underqualified substitutes
By Brad Simmons
Staff Reporter
f.
Frankie Dougherty is a hearing-im
paired student who needs a sign
language interpreter in her classes.
When Dougherty went to her class Friday,
no interpreter was there.
So she left.
“It was a waste of time to stay," she said.
Although the University of Nebraska
Lincoln is required by federal law to provide
a sign-language interpreter for Dougherty, it
cannot find enough signers who arc quali
fied, said Christyriom, d ircctor oTS^rvices
for Students with Disabilities.
This shortage happened when the num
ber of deaf students increased from one in
1992 to eight in 1993, she said.
“As aresult, we must provide interpreters
for a minimum of 54 credit hours a week,"
said Kim White, a secretary at Services for
Students with Disabilities.
But there are only a few sign-language
interpreters in the state of Nebraska, Horn
said.
Although the interpreters are required to
take a proficiency test, sometimes UNL
hires interpreters who are not competent
enough to keep up in a classroom lecture,
Dougherty said.
“It is frustrating. When the interpreter
isn’tqualified, I lose information,” she said.
Few sign-language interpreters exist be
cause “it is a tough job,” said Brenda Schick,
an assistant professor of special education
and communication disorders.
In order to sign proficiently, Dougherty
said the interpreter must know three sign
languages. Some are purely visual and oth
ers spell out English words.
Being an interpreter for college classes is
especially difficult because the signer must
be familiar with the technical terms in each
discipline, Schick said.
“If the interpreter is in a biology class and
the tocher says, ‘First we must distillate this
product,’ it will be a problem to understand
and translate the lecture if the interpreter
does not have a biology degree," she said.
When a qualified interpreter cannot be
found, UNL may hire a stenographer to
See INTERPRETERS on 6
Law professors call for civil rights for gays, lesbians
U.S. judicial system should
guard against discrimination
based on sexual orientation
By Kathryn Borman
arnnmpomr
Two University of Iowa law professors
, asked about 60 people Monday night to
think about the basis of sexual orienta
tion, and to consider whether or not it was a fair
basis for discrimination.
Jean Love and Patricia Cain, recently ap
pointed to the University of Iowa faculty from
the University of California at Davis and the
University of Texas at Austin respectively,
talked and answered questions in the Union
Ballroom on the topic or “Securing Civil Rights
for Gays and Lesbians."
“Perhaps sexual orientation is part genes and
part environment,” Love said. She asked if it
was possible for one to change his or her sexual
preference. / ,
“Can we ask the same questions of a hetero
sexual?”
Whether sexual orientation was determined
by nature or nurture was probably not relevant
to the issue of civil rights, Love said.
Love compared the protections against dis
crimination of racial minority groups and
women, granted under the 14th Amendment, to
protection of the rights of homosexuals.
Discrimination based solely upon one’s sta
tus as a member of a group, such as blacks or
homosexuals, and not on one’s actions, was an
area traditionally protected by the judicial sys
tem, Love said.
Cain said lesbians, gays and bisexuals needed
the same right that heterosexuals had to indi
vidual privacy and protection against unfair
removal from a job.
Laws passed in individual states that ban
discrimination against gays, lesbians and bi
sexuals are an effective means of securing those
rights, Cain said.
She urged that gays and lesbians be granted
some of the same family rights which hetero
sexual couples receive, such as the right to
power of attorney if one partner becomes ill,
and the right to share health insurance plans and
retirement accounts.
“I think that’s where a lot of grass-roots
organization needs to be done,” Cain said. "I
think family rights issues are central.’’
The discussion was co-sponsored by the
UNL law student chapter of the American Civil
Liberties Union and UPC Talks and Topics, on
behalf of COLAGE, along with several other
UNL and community organizations.