| |1\TT "I ^ A weekly look at
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UNL’s ranking fluctuates too much
The most frequent mantra of the univer
sity administration lately has been that of
academic rigor. Bouncing back and forth
between being a second- or third-tier univer
sity should be disconcerting: the ranking of
the University of Nebraska-Lincoln affects
how much the degree is worth. And UNL is
NOT the Harvard of the Midwest.
We could argue that the rankings are
insignificant, that there are intangibles that
cannot be measured with pure numbers. If
this is true, then Nebraska’s ranking is
meaningless and should be ignored.
However, for those of us who desire to
have a degree worth more than something
out of a proverbial Cracker Jack box, the
minimum ACT score of 20 - providing you
were so inept that being in the top HALF of
your Nebraskan high school graduating
class was beyond you.
“Pathetic” is too weak a word to describe
UNL’s admissions policy. But the standard is
more of an effect than a cause. The best stu
dents just don’t come here because there are
better schools that they can get into.
UNL has only three options: continue to
focus on student retention, increase admis
sion standards or fail students who don’t
perform up to reasonable standards.
Continuing to focus on student retention
will only turn UNL into a four-year commu
nity college. Since there is apparently a
God-given right for Nebraskans to come to
UNL, regardless of ability, we can’t increase
admission standards, either. We have only
one method to enhance UNL’s reputation:
fail students who don’t perform.
What effect will failing students have on
UNL? First, we get to keep their money. Let
students stay here as long as they want, pro
vided they pay for it. UNL should not feel
obligated to give out undergraduate degrees
simply because a student serves his or her
running oy ua
News is of para
mount impor
tance.
Academic
reputation and
student retention
are the two
largest factors
used by US News
to rank schools.
Unfortunately,
high student
UNL should not feel
obligated to give out
undergraduate degrees
simply because a student
serves his or her time.
time, railing stu
dents, though, would
only result in the fir
ing of the adminis
tration who sought
to increase stan
dards. Parents, being
the voters they are,
would revolt; refus
ing to believe that
their sons or daugh
ters could possibly
fail college.
retention and a good academic reputation Additionally, UNL can’t fail students
are mutually exclusive events at UNL. Many because of minimum GPA requirements,
students either don’t perform well or FEEL Enacted by many businesses - it would
they don’t perform well in their classes (a only make UNL students unemployable,
major factor for leaving the University). Because of the extreme incompetence,
In order to retain these students, we must many human resources departments use a
come to the inevitable conclusion that class- student’s GPA as the primary factor in deter
room standards must be lowered. mining intellectual ability.
Balderdash! What answers exist? Listing the average
Let us assume that academic course ACT scores vs. grades received for every
work at UNL is of the proper level of diffi- course offered at UNL would be a good
culty. With only a 47% graduation rate and a Start.
76% freshman retention rate (both are the The public would be able to identify the
worst rates among second-tier schools), worst departments and affect changes
something is clearly wrong with the student through political pressure,
population’s ability to produce college-level Listing the percentages of each letter
course work. grade given along with the corresponding
All of the top twenty schools had their mean ACT score would give employers an
25th percentile SAT scores higher than 1230 idea of the difficulty of courses.
(give or take a 27.5 on the ACT) when UNL’s We simply cannot become a first-tier
75th percentile scores weren’t that high. school overnight. The public, faculty and,
Obviously, the student quality at UNL is most importantly, students, must recognize
below that of even mediocre schools. Part of that college is intended to be a time of leam
the problem is that UNL only requires a ing, not merely a four-year jail term/party.
Brian Coon is a doctoral student in engineering
and a Daily Nebraskan columnist
Putting the teach in teacher
“That’s a really good class, as long as you
have Professor X. If you take that class, make
sure you don’t take it with Professor Y. Oh, I had
to drop' it; I just couldn’t stand the teacher!”
These are statements heard daily here at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, particularly
around registration time. Everyone seems to
have an opinion regarding past teachers and
almost always are willing to share opinions with
anyone who will listen.
I know that I am always happy to sing the
praises of my “good” teachers and to warn oth
ers about the flaws of the “bad” teachers with
whom I have had contact. This is partially to
help my friends avoid facing the same problems
I have had. But I suspect I also am trying to enact
some small revenge on those professors who I
feel have done me wrong.
Many students do not feel that course evalu
ations actually accomplish anything. So these
students feel the only option is to spout off to the
entire campus about what these professors have
done to upset them.
A common perception among students is that
quality of teaching is simply not a high priority
among administrators and department chair
men. Because UNL is extremely focused on
research, students often feel left out and neglect
ed.
Many people start to believe that as long pro
fessors keep up with their research, how capable
they are of actually teaching students is not a
crucial issue. This often leads to resentment and
even hostility in students who feel as though
they are being ignored by not only the profes
sors, but by the university as a whole.
What seems to be missing from many profes
sors at UNL is a genuine caring and enthusiasm
for the students. Most of the time the professors
who are liked by their students are those who
display some level of interest in their students’
educational progress, if not also in their person
al lives. These professors have put forth that lit
tle extra bit of effort to try to connect with the
students and to show that they are valued.
Some very basic ways of doing this are learn
ing students’ names and asking questions about
students’ majors and career goals. This is fairly
easy to do in small classes, but a professor who
really wanted to could make a connection with
students in larger classes as well. Professors
could try sharing their own personal informa
tion, which would help students to feel more
Tony Cacioppo is a senior secondary et
a Daily Nebrai
comfortable coming to office hours and asking
questions in class.
I have had many professors whose names 1
never knew because they did not even bother to
introduce themselves. This certainly did not lead
me to believe that these professors had any inter
est in me as a student, or even as a person.
Taking the steps to show caring to students is
something that comes naturally to most teach
ers, which may explain where the problem is.
Almost none of the people standing up and lec
turing in front of classrooms here at UNL is a
teacher. These people are scholars and acade
mics who usually have little or no training in
how to teach.
In order to teach at any other level, from
kindergarten through high school, one must go
through an intense process of learning how to
teach. He or she must take class after class, cov
ering topics as diverse as educational theory and
how to deal with difficult students. Then the
potential teacher must go through a semester of
student teaching to prove that he or she is capa
ble of effectively leading a classroom.
But no such regulation exists for teaching at
the collegiate level. There is no clear-cut training
or schooling a person must go through to
become a professor at UNL or at any other uni
versity in this country. It seems that all a person
needs to do is be extremely knowledgeable in his
or her particular field and to regularly conduct
research and publish the findings. The result of
this lack of training is apparent: Many of our
classrooms are led by people who are simply not
truly capable of, nor fully interested in, doing so.
The best professor I have had the pleasure of
working with in college possessed several quali
ties that led to her success. She is an English pro
fessor here at UNL, but she worked for a few —
years as a high school teacher in the Lincoln
Public Schools.
Working in that atmosphere was essential to
her becoming the motivating, encouraging,
inspiring teacher my classmates and I found at
the head of our classroom, helping us to
progress further than we had ever thought we
could. It was her training and experience in the
education field, along with her passion for work
ing with students, that made her a truly great
teacher.
I would guess that almost all students at UNL
could name similarly truly excellent professors
who teach. To these teachers, those who are
willing to put forth that small amount of extra
effort to become true teachers rather than mere
academic figures, my fellow students and I
thank you. You show interest in us, encourage us
to work hard and are truly happy to see us suc
ceed.
It is this caring that makes the difference and
helps us to achieve our goals. I hope you can
help encourage your colleagues and show them
this type of investment in students will pay off in
the fiiture.
iglish and Spanish education major and
>kan columnist
Literary greats
not given enough
exposure
There are things that comfort us; cer
tain actions and images that are “right”
in our minds. These things range from
watching a sleeping cat in the sunshine
to hearing a Frank Sinatra record while
reading the paper.
Flannel shirts, the itchy kind, are
definitely a “right thing.” I have recently
been able to read much of the “suggest
ed material” for my old high school
classes, and the “feeling of rightness”
was prevalent in much of what I read.
The first time through, I hated it. The
words of Salinger, Golding and
Fitzgerald made me resentful in the
years long past when my English teach
ers made up quizzes about the readings.
I hated being made to read something I
had little interest in. I would rather read
some Asimov or King.
I read for pleasure, losing myself in
the worlds and dreamscapes of other
men and women. I enjoy reading and to
be forced to read “good literature”
made me almost froth at the mouth with
rage.
I had a 20th Century Fiction class last
semester - one I enjoyed heartily. I had a
few private conversations with the stu
dents in the class, drawing analogies to
“Pride and Prejudice,” “Jane Eyre,”
“Wuthering Heights,” “1984” and “A
Brave New World,” but was met with
some blank stares.
I was appdlled that these good people,
all very intelligent students, had not
read Austen, Bronte, Orwell or Huxley.
I was shocked at the idea that my high
school did a pretty good job in the
English department.
I am left with a predicament. The peo
ple I resented in high school who fol
lowed a certain curriculum and made
sure we read certain books had good
intentions.
I know I would eventually get around
to Huxley, Bronte and Austen, but on
my own, later in life. I would probably
read them when I was, say, 50, balding
with a pot belly and nervously chain
smoking in my basement.
How do I reconcile this philosophy,
something I believe in theory but not in
practice now that I have the harvest in
hand? More power to high schools is my
answer.
I want every kid in high school, in
junior high, even in primary, to be read
ing as soon as possible the classics and
the greats in the Romance period. I
would extend the curriculum to include
“The Stand,” “1984,” the first three
books in the “Wheel of Time” and sev
eral more. Even though I hated being
forced to do it, I enjoy these things more
so now.
Even though it may feel wrong to
force someone to do something, such as
reading Dickens, Twain, Tolkien or
Tolstoy, these will incorporate culture
into their characters and they become
better people for it. I know kids from my
high school who now work in factories,
in diners and even Carnival cruise ships
who would be able to discuss the merits
of “Lord of the Flies” and “Jane Eyre.”
Remember what I was saying about
“feelings of right?” Well, there is some
thing wrong to me in trying to talk about
a subject without Twain coloring the
conversation or light shadings of the
felicitous Austen.
I still love watching my cat in the sun
shine, and I love reading, but I think
about all the agonizing faces from my
past as they trudged through
Shakespeare.
I think about the terror the boot-wear
ing, tobacco-chewing cowboys had
etched on their faces, the banal looks of
the cheerleaders, the “I don’t care”
looks from the stoners. I think about the
people from my past, and I think about
these “right books” in a world full of
wrong. That makes me smile because
these people were given the right touch.
Silas DeBoer is an English major and a Daily Nebraskan columnist.
