Study abroad opportunity
provides education at sea
■ Semester at Sea takes
students worldwide to
experience and learn.
By Sara Gardner
Staffwriter
Semester at Sea is one study
abroad program that rolls on a differ
ent wave than the rest.
Unlike most study abroad pro
grams - such as UNL at Oxford - this
one exposes students to eight to 10
countries during one semester.
Each fall and spring semester,
about 600 students from universities
around the world live on an old cruise
ship, said Paul Watson, director of
Enrollment Management at the
Institute of Shipboard Education in
Pennsylvania.
Two UNL students - so far - are
signed up to head out to sea this
spring.
The students will have the oppor
tunity to attend an Afro-Venezuelan
Drum workshop, a Candomble
Ceremony in Brazil or a Sufi Derish,
which is a brotherhood meeting in
Turkey.
When students aren’t visiting a
country, they are learning on their
floating campus in the middle of the
ocean.
For one portion of the program,
students spend a few days in the differ
ent countries and compare issues that
tie the United States to these countries.
That’s what attracted Nick
Johnson, a junior at the University of
Kansas, to the program.
“It’s not necessarily the classes
that I will learn a lot from, but being
exposed to the world as a whole,” he
said. Johnson sets out to sea in the
spring.
Jami Dickinson, a UNL alumna
who lives in Arizona, embarked on the
sea journey during her junior year in
the spring of 1998.
“The program did so much for
me,” she said. “I came back with more
motivation. I met a lot of people that I
still keep in contact with. Also, the
experience definitely says a lot on a
resume.”
One concern students who have
participated in the program have is the
reputation it has garnered for being a
“party trip.”
After watching episodes of
MTV’s “Road Rules,” which recently
used the Semester at Sea on its pro
gram, some may get the idea that par
tying goes on a lot during the trip and
interferes with the schoolwork, but
Dickinson said that was not the case.
“Semester at Sea is not about the
partying. What you will get out of this
program is what you are willing to put
into it,” she said.
Watson feels the program is a ben
efit to any major.
“Studying abroad is one of the
best things a student can do,” Watson
said. “It adds so much to their college
years by giving them knowledge and
experience from many global per
spectives.”
The ship has classrooms, dormito
ries, a bookstore and a fitness center.
Students usually take 12 or 15 credits,
which transfer to UNL.
This year, the program is expand
ing to include a summer session run
ning from June 14 to Aug. 18.
The program is administered by
the Institute for Shipboard Education
and is sponsored by the University of
Pittsburgh.
Any full-time undergraduate stu
dent with a GPA of 2.75 or better may
apply.
The cost of the program is
$13,280 including tuition, room and
board. Financial assistance is available
to those who need it.
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Minority enrollment
percentage inches up
ENROLLMENT from page 1
dents are choosing other universities.
“We lose a lot to Creighton and
KU,” she said. “They have superior
scholarship programs.”
Jimmi Smith, director of
Multicultural Affairs and TRIO pro
grams, said it is up to the faculty, staff
and upperclassmen to change the trend
and create a positive atmosphere for
diversity.
“The itty-bitty growth is something
that has gone on for years and years and
years,” he said. “In order to expect large
things, new things, retention numbers
have to be strong.
“If students of color have a good
freshman and sophomore experience,
then a greater number will return and
encourage other first-time students to
come to UNL. Students need to be
shown that there are opportunities for
them here to connect with faculty and
take on leadership roles.”
Smith said UNL is providing its
minority students with a quality educa
tion, but some students come away
from college with the wrong mindset.
“Lots of colored students graduate,
but they don’t say, ‘This is my universi
ty, and I had a great time.’ We must pick
up on that and make them feel like they
are wanted and welcome,” he said.
Vernon Miller, a senior business
administration and business education
major, is an American Indian student
UNL enrollment
by ethnicity
1999 1998
Black . . :••• 479 |£ 484 j
Am. Indian 90 83
Aslan 1,226
Hispanic 446 417
• White 19,950 . 20,198
Total 22,142 22,408
He has had a positive college expe
rience, he said, but hasn’t felt he can
relate to many of his classmates.
“I went out of my comfort zone to
get involved, but I haven’t met a lot of
students that I can totally relate to,” he
said. “I would like to see more Native
Americans, African Americans and
Latinos here.”
Miller said he hoped the university
is able to attract a more diverse assort
ment of students in the future.
“The university is trying to focus
more and more on diversity,” he said.
“But unless various scholarship pro
grams are made available to minorities,
it won’t get done.”
Distance education is key
for newly appointed leader
(VHANLON from page 1
emphasize them.
James Sherwood, director of dis
tance education, said O’Hanlon was a
good fit with the extended education
programs.
“I think he’ll bring a good faculty
perspective,” Sherwood said. “He can
bridge the faculty and administrator
viewpoints.”
The area of extended and outreach
education was boosted in 1997 when
Irv Omtvedt, vice chancellor for agri
culture and natural resources, became
the first formal leader of the distance
education efforts.
O’Hanlon is taking over the posi
tion for Omtvedt, who will pursue his
position in the Institute of Agriculture
and National Resources full time until
he retires in June.
Since its inception, distance learn
ing in Nebraska has taken off,
O’Hanlon said. Representatives from
colleges across the nation and the globe
have come to the University of
Nebraska looking for ways to collabo
rate with the distance education pro
gram.
While looking at how programs can
work in other states and nations,
O’Hanlon said, his first priority is see
ing to it that Nebraskans have access to
programs.
“Our first interest is always the state
of Nebraska,” O’Hanlon said. “There
may be things that are of value and
interest to other states as well, howev
er.”
Reaching goals O’Hanlon is setting
for the next two years will be one chal
lenge. Keeping up with the rapidly
changing technology to support it will
be the next, he said.
With the constant influx of new
ways of transmitting information,
O’Hanlon said, it is important that the
University of Nebraska realizes how to
best use the technology.
By not being on the lookout, the
university could miss out on another
learning tool that could benefit
Nebraskans, he said.
“When I first came here, the way
we offered classes to people outside of
Lincoln was we got in our car and
drove,” O’Hanlon said. “We wouldn’t
be doing the things we do today if we
didn’t take advantage of the technolo
gy
O’Hanlon, who will officially fill
the position Friday, said he is excited
about learning more about the position
and the area of extended and outreach
education.
“I think I’m going to get a real
extended education.”
Meth lab discovered, one arrested
METH from page 1
but brought in from the southwestern
United States or Mexico, Bullock said.
The arrests were the second group
of meth lab-related arrests made in
Lincoln, Bullock said, adding that he
expected more in the future.
“Meth is becoming fast - real fast -
the drug of choice,” Bullock said.
Bullock said the first arrests were
made last year.
Lincoln Police and the Nebraska
State Patrol combined with the
Sheriff’s offices of Lancaster and
Filmore counties, the County
Attorneys’ offices of Lancaster and
Seward counties and the U.S. Attorney
General’s office in Omaha to conduct
the investigation.
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