EDITOR
Josh Funk
OPINION
EDITOR
Mark Baldridge
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Lindsay Young
Jessica Fargen
Samuel McKewon
Cliff Hicks
Kimberly Sweet
Our
VIEW
Add
it up
New math program
deserves a chance
—The Web site of Mathland, a new, exper
imental learning program for kindergarten
through sixth-grade students opens as
such: “Mathland begins with the premise
that all students are capable learners.”
And so, this program, which has been
promoted by the U.S. Department of
Education, sounds a whole lot like another
educational movement called outcome
based education, which permeates many
fields of learning.
Mathland is vastly different from any
system currently in place in our elementary
schools. It uses learning kits instead of a
book. It teaches “practical” concepts like
addition and subtraction through adding
and subtracting actual items, not just num- ‘
bers on a page. To understand the concept
of a million, children might collect a mil
lion beans.
The program also provides numerous
“entry points” for every type of student out
there. Slower-learning math students
would start out with different tasks than the
faster learner, but every student would be
in the Mathland program. Certain pro
grams have names like “Arithmatwists.”
While the U.S. Department of
education can t iorce anything upon the
public school systems by law, it is certain
some school districts will try Mathland,
along with its more contemporary, less
abstract concepts. And that has some lead
ing math experts hopping mad.
More than 200 of them, including fac
ulty members of Cal Tech University and
Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
have signed a petition against Mathland,
saying it fails to teach the most important
elements of the mathematics field in ele
mentary school, like dividing fractions.
One, in an Associated Press story, called it
one of the worst educational ideas ever.
Obviously, the resistance makes sense.
Jop-notch, professional mathematicians
aren’t going to come out for a program that
might dumb down the field they excel in.
Because they’re experts, we should listen
to their concerns. But we should also real
ize they’re a little smarter in math than the
rest of us.
And math, the field, isn’t quite like any
other academic discipline. There are so
many facets to it - one could excel in cal
culus and plummet in trigonometry. Both
fall under the same heading of mathemat
, ics, but both focus on some fundamentally
different concepts.
Mathland deserves its opportunity to
change learning, for better or worse. We do
not want to see our children become poorer
students because they use learning kits
instead of textbooks. Still, the program
seems to be trying to answer years of math
problems.
It deserves a look.
Editorial Mby
Unsigned editorials are the opinions of
the rail 1999 Daily Nebraskan. They do
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University of Nebraska-Lincoin, its
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Obermeyer’s
View
THE VkLY AlEBRASMbTlS ACCEPTING- APPLICATIONS pti&piTiklfcolRTOONlSr
ANP COLUMNISTS Fofi THE SPRING- SEMESTER. Pick UP AN APPLICATION AT WE
m offices or onune at Mu. vAtmee.coM and turn it in with at least
two samples of Your mm to 2& Nebraska union fiy FRidAY,pbceMbep 3!!
DN
LETTERS
Loaded Gun
Attention Scott Ebke and photog
rapher Matt Miller; you better hope
no one at the Game and Parks
Commission on East Campus read
(or for that matter looked at) the DN
on Tuesday!
Granted, that was a very scenic
picture, but the last time I checked, it
is highly illegal to be in possession of
a loaded firearm on a public road or
road ditch while hunting in the state
ofNebraska.
The presence of oncoming
traffic fm the picture!!) is the main
reason this rule exists.
Please take this advice in order to
uphold the reputation for the rest of
us who enjoy pheasant hunting in this
state.
David Franzen
senior
agribusiness
East Meets West
“He’s from East Campus so there
may be some excuse for his lack of
social etiquette.” (DN, Nov. 23)
I found this remark of Silas
DeBoer’s extremely offensive. Have
you ever been to East Campus, or are
you just narrow minded?
First of all, who are you to stereo
type all of East Campus by observing
one man?
Secondly, many of UNL’s students
find East Campus much nicer than
City Campus.
I have classes on both campuses.
People on East Campus have enough
social skills to hold doors for people,
to smile and say “hi” to the average
passerby and to lend a helping handif
needed.
I believe that is a more accurate
description of proper social skills
than the rude, self-absorbed people
who make up the majority of City
Campus.
Jenny Mentink
junior
animal science
WTO SOL
Tuesday tens of thousands of peo
ple convened in Seattle to protest the
actions of the World Trade
Organization, or WTO.
The diversity of viewpoints is
stunning. Groups represented
include: the Teamsters and other
labor unions, Amnesty International
and other human rights organiza
tions, environmentalist groups, com
munists and other anti-capitalists and
agricultural organizations.
The fundamental fact that all are
reacting to is that the world’s econo
my cannot be sustained. Where there
seems disarray, there is in fact an
implicit, even unrecognized, unity.
These groups each urge the same
action, even if they describe it differ
ently.
The interests of big business
should not ride roughshod over the
interests of everyone else. The WTO
should be either reformed or dis
solved.
Patrick Monaghan
senior
philosophy
Double standard
This is in response to the
“Abortapatch” column by J.J. Harder
(DN, Nov. 10.)
I am tired of flippant columns
toward the issue of abortion.
Although this one is clearly sarcastic,
your belief rings through: Women
have abortions as easily as drinking.
I’m having a hard time swallow
ing. Women are not mindless bimbos
who bounce around every weekend,
getting pregnant and then having
abortions.
Women take pregnancy seriously;
don’t you take it seriously? Oh,
excuse me, you aren’t a woman. You
can’t get pregnant.
But, if men could get pregnant,
contraception and abortion clinics
would be advertised during “Monday
Night Football.”
During the Super Bowl, everyone
would sit on the edge of their seats
waiting to see which clinic had the
best commercial.
In our society, women are held
responsible for the actions of both
partners. If they get pregnant, it was
their fault for not using contracep
tion.
Men may have to pay child sup
port, but their lives don’t have to
change as the result of a pregnancy.
Women’s lives dramatically change.
Contraception and abortion are
ways for women to bring some power
into their lives.
Women may be the gatekeepers,
but men maintain structural power
over women in many relationships.
Mot have had the privilege of sex
for enjoyment, without any stigma. I
don’t understand why I should be
denied the same privilege.
I would like to have sexual rela
tionships and have choices in my life.
Theresa Reutzel
senior
sociology
A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Waste
v /
If you want to offer the campus a piece of your mind, there is not
a better way to do it than to have it printed weekly in the Daily
? Nebraskan. Apply for a columnist or editorial cartoonist position
i at the DN and you too can have one of those cool mug shots run
* with your silly ideas. Get an application at the DN offices or online
at www.DaflyNeb.com, and return it with two sample columns to 20
Nebraska Union by Friday, Dec. 3,1999. The Daily Nebraskan is an
equal opportunity employer and adheres to all applicable hiring
guidelines.
. n. - ■ -flfj -j^-i I