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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 30, 1993)
Tuesday, November 30,1993 Daily Nebraskan Variety-show group is best left in history, alumnus says Editors’ Note: College heritage is an impor tant part of student life. UNL students today, however, don’t have the chance to take part in many long-standing campus traditions. This is the second in a week-lonfg series of stories about UNL’s forgotten traditions. By Ann Stack Staff Reporter Some former UNL traditions are better suit ed to their place in history than on today’s campus, an alumnus said. Once upon a time at UNL, male students got together with the sole purpose of entertaining the university community. Until 15 years ago, the Kosmet Klub, an all-male club at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, put on a campus variety show twice a year. The Kosmet Klub began in 1911 and disbanded in the late 1970s, Larry Romjue, UNL golf coach and graduate, said. When the club went under, the variety show went with it. While participating in the once-traditional university variety show was fun, Romjue said the event, and the club, probably would not have a place at the university today. Kosmet Klub membership was restricted to junior and senior male students, Romjue said. The students were allowed into the club after helping with the shows during their sophomore terms, Romjue said. “You couldn’t join until your sophomore year, and then you had to do all the dirty work, like selling ads and working so many hours backstage,” he said. “You became a member your junior year.” Membership was limited to 40 to 50 men, whojoined through “connections” in the group, Romjue said. Women were not allowed in the club, but could participate in the productions, he said. Co-ed Follies were created in 1938 to com pliment the Kosmet Klub, Romjue said. This all-female variety show was organized in a similar way as the Kosmet Klub. Men were not - it / think there could be a place for (the Kosmet Klub), but not in the form it was in then. — Romjue UNL alumnus -tf - allowed in the audience. “I think there could be a place for it, but not in the form it was in then,” he said. “It should be in a way that the whole student body could participate in it, although with 25,000 people that would be difficult.” Frank Hallgren, who was dean of men dur ing the 1950s and 1960s, said the Kosmet Klub discontinued because of lack of student interest and finances. Many Kosmet Klub members also belonged to fraternities. Romjue, a Beta Theta Pi Frater nity alumnus, said belonging to a fraternity was not a requirement to be in the Kosmet Klub. Many non-greck students participated in the variety shows, but were not club members, he said. The Klub produced both a Fall Revue and a Spring Show. The Kosmet Klub presented its first show on May 3, 1912, with the musical comedy “The Diplomat.” The musical was created by former UNL English professor R.D. Scott. The Klub performed various musicals and comedies during its 75 years at UNL. “It was a fun experience. I got the chance to meet people other than my fraternity brothers,” Romjue said. The Klub also sponsored the annual Frater nity Sing competition on Ivy Day each spring. This tradition lives on, although in an altered form. Members of greek houses take part in a Greek Sing competition during UNL’s annual Greek Week celebrations. In 1929, club members elected a Nebraska Sweetheart and a King Kosmet to preside over the spring and fall shows. Sororities and frater nities were allowed to nominate one candidate each, and the Innocents and Mortar Board senior honoraries voted on six finalists. Accident Continued from Page 1 “They were comfortable with hav ing the uni versity deal with it,“Griesen said. A decision will be made this week about what university action will be taken in the matter, Griesen said. The Fiji chapter has been tempo rarily suspended by its national direc tors while Knoll’s fall is being inves tigated. Knoll is undergoing rehabilitation at Immanuel Medical Center in Oma ha. Knoll’s family plans to move him to a center in Colorado that specializ es in memory loss and mental rehabil itation, police said. Bowl trip Continued from Page 1 100 of the 12,000 Nebraska Orange Bowl tickets available. “It’s not like a migration game where fans and carloads of students travel down,” Bell said. Bell said she thought 5,000 or 6,000 of the $35 tickets would be sold in Nebraska. By Monday morning, about 2,000 tickets had been sold, she said. University of Nebraska-Lincoln offi cials must make their ticket request to the Orange Bowl by Dec. 1, Bell said. “We haven’t had a problem with tickets for years,” she said. “Anyone who orders one gets one.” Bell said students wanting tickets should inquire at the ticket office. The separate ticket sale held for students in the past will not take place this year because of the low demand, she said. Bell said she wasn’t surprised hordes of students didn’t trek to Mi ami when they could spend their hol iday break at home. “It’s a big trip,” Bell said, “and expensive, too, for students.” Teachers Continued from Page 1 give us an edge,” she said. Stricter entrance requirements to UN L ’ s elementary education program arc affecting students for the first time this fall as they prepare to enter the college in the spring. A pilot program has existed for two years. Neither of the Schroders, Amy a sophomore and Bret a junior, knew requirements would become more selective when they began their stud ies in the UNL Teachers College. Amy Schroder heard last semester that she would be required to submit a portfolio showing: academic achievement other than grade point average results, special talents, expe rience with other cultures and a com mitment to teaching. James Walter, chairman of UNL Center for Curriculum and Instruc tion, said other new requirements for the program included five semesters of hands-on experience in the class room. That means many students will spend an extra semester or two in school. And, he said, students must add to their studies an area of concentration such as history or science. Guidelines, he said, call for 55 to 90 students to be admitted to the program each semester. Previously, about 260 students graduated from the program each year. About 20 stu dents applied for next semester’s pro gram. Critics of the program say it caters to affluent, middle-class students who have time and money to spend prepar ing for acceptance to the program. Mike Walker, associate professor in the UNL Center for Curriculum and Instruction, called the new re quirements elitist. UNL’s mission should be to offer opportunities to everyone, he said. “The cream of the crop can already go to Harvard, Yale or Princeton,” Walker said. “We need to serve the needs of the state.” JamesO’Hanlon.deanof the UNL Teachers College said the words elite and selective had different meanings. “I don’t think elite is an appropri ate term at all,” he said. “Elite sug gests the criteria arc false and don’t give everyone a fair chance.” Selectivity indicates commitment, he said. THE FIRSTIER SURVIVAL KIT... YOU CANT MAKE IT THROUGH SCHOOL WITHOUT IT! REGULAR CHECKING... 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