Single parent professor adjusts to ‘near-impossible task
By Jeff Singer
Editor
Being a single parent is never easy.
But being a single parent while
teaching and advising is a near-im
possible task, said John Gruhl, a po
■nvmrrn litical science
■jUSUUUU professor at the
PROFILE
university or
Nebraska-Lin
coln.
Gruhl, who has
been teaching at
UNL since 1976,
nas had tne jod or raising ms I u-year
old son, Joshua, for the majority of his
tenure at UNL.
And after he and his former wife
divorced eight years ago, Gruhl has
done the parenting solo.
“It’s almost overwhelming for one
parent — having a full-time job, hav
ing a child, taking care of the house
. . Gruhl said. “I’ve felt over
whelmed, but I’ve never regretted it
for a second.”
Gruhl said while his schedule can
be hectic, as he is also a pre-law
advisor, it could be worse.
“I consider myself lucky, because
my job time is so flexible,” he said. “I
just shake my head in amazement at
those single parents who have rigid
schedules.”
While UNL likes its professors to
focus some of their time on research,
Gruhl said his time with Joshua has
prevented him from doing a lot of
research work.
And, he said, while some of his
research rime has been lost, it gives
him more opportunities to spend his
time on more valuable things —
mainly being with his son. '
Continued from Page 1
specifically at a few journals, so the
study really underrepresented what
we’ve done,” Conoley said.
Among the top contributors con
sidered in the current study, only two,
Terry Gutkin and Wayne Picrsal, were
also part of the department in the
1984 study.
Although concerned about the lim
its of the study in comparing institu
tions, Picrsal said he was pleased with
the university’s ranking.
“The correct way to interpret the
“The university wants us to dc
research, but (spending time with
Joshua) is certainly a plus for my sor
and it's a plus for me, because I think
I’m doing the most important thing
that I think 1 should be doing,” Gruhl
said. “I think being a father is the mosl
important thing I do.”
In recent years, the ability of fa
thers as single parents has been ques
tioned, as highlighted by a recent
cover story in Time Magazine.
But, Gruhl said, fathers can do just
as adequate of a job raising children
on their own as mothers can.
“I just can’t see what mothers car
do that fathers can't do,” he said.
“There’s almost nothing mothers car
do that fathers can’t do — with the
exception being breast-feeding.
r “It’s beneficial to have two par
ents around because of the two per
sonalities; (being a single parent) is
not ideal, but in tne modem world, it’s
hard to talk about an ‘ideal’ family
situation.”
As an undergraduate at DePauw
University majoring in political sci
ence, Gruhl had a type of ‘ideal’
classmate he attended college with.
While at the small liberal arts col
lege in Greencastle, Ind., he came
across and eventually graduated with
DePauw’s most famous alumnus,
former vice president Dan Quayle.
Gruhl said he would have never
expected Quayle to excel as far as he
has in politics.
“He didn’t stand out too much; I
was with him in student senate —
you'd never had guessed he was des
tined to become vice president,” he
said.
After the pair took a political sci
ence class together, Graft's image of
data is journals publishing in the field
of school psychology, but clearly
we’re a very strong program,” Piersal
said.
Piersal specializes in mental retar
* dation and behavioral modification,
an area which clearly affects educa
tion but wouldn’t be published in
most major school psychology jour
nals.
Among the Big Eight Conference,
only UNL was in the top 10. Other
Big Eight schools in the top 50 were
the University of Kansas, University
of Missouri at Columbia and Iowa
State University.
McElroy stands mute
By Jeff Zeleny
Senior Editor
Arthur McElroy stood mute in
Lancaster County District court
Wednesday on four charges stem
ming fiom an incident last Octo
ber on the University of Nebraska
Lincoln campus.
A charge of not guilty was en
tered by Judpe Earl Witthoff.
McElroy, 44, is charged with at
tempted second-degree murder,
making teroristic threats and two
counts of using a weapon to com
mit a felony.
McElroy, a UNL graduate stu
dent, was arrested last Oct. 12 for
allegedly holding a semiautomatic
weapon on about 20 students. He
reportedly attempted to fire the
gun, but the gun jammed.
McElroy has been confined to
the Lincoln Regional Center since
December, and was diagnosed with
suffering from a paranoid delu
sional disorder.
In April, McElroy was declared -
competent to stand trial by Judge
Donald Endacott.
Witthoff set a Nov. 29 jury trial
date. »
Deputy Lancaster County At
torney Richard Rothrock said he
was not suprised by McElroy’s
plea.
The Lancaster County Public
Defender’s office, who represents
McElroy, earlier challenged the
constitutionality of the terroristic
threat charges filed. The court later »
found the charges to be constitu
tional and to stand as filed.
UNL political scianoa professor John Gruhl at his home in east Lincoln.
Damon Lee/DN
Quayle did not improve.
“My overwhelming impression of
him was that he didn't pay attention
much,** Gruhl said. “He was just al
ways leaning over cracking jokes with
his buddies.**
Gruhl said die one way Quayle did
gain notoriety on campus was in what
became known as the “Quayle Run.”
“He was quite a golfer, but he had
trouble getting out of bed in the morn
ing,*’ he said. “So die person on the
team who had the worst score in the
last week’s match had to go getQuayle
out of bed at his frat house m time for
dial week’s match.”
After DePauw, Gruhl went on to
earn his master’s decree in political
science from the University of Cali
fornia at Santa Barbara.
He said although he was a pre-law
becoming a lawyer.
“I was an undergrad in die ’60s
during all the turmoil, and at the time,
it seemed like what lawyers did was
really boring—and 1 still think that/
Gmhl said.
Gruhl said from bypassing lav
school and becoming a political sci
ence professor to ending up as a single
parent, he is happy with what ha
transpired in his lire so far.
mgUfe * a se*M ot cho.omtfiyo
just have to play the hand you're deal
with in life, he said.
August graduates must meet requirements
Students who arc to receive de
grees from UNL in August, who
have Federal student loans, must
fulfill exit requirements with the
Office of Scholarships and Finan
cial Aid.
If a student fails to attend, a hold
will be placed on their academic tran
scripts, diplomas and any future reg
istration at UNL.
Any student who has received any
of die following assistance must at
tend: Federal Stafford Loan,
unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loan,
Federal Perkins Loan or Federal
Supplemental Loan for Students.
Sessions will be held at the City
Campus Union today and Friday at
12:30 and 4 p.m. Room locations
will be posted.
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