Speaker: Reporters, scientists don’t mix
By Jackie Blair
Staff writer
A Newsweek editor talked Monday
about bridging the communication gap
between journalism and science - two
disciplines that often clash.
Sharon Begley, a senior editor at
Newsweek, gave a speech in the
Nebraska Union Auditorium titled
“Why Journalism is not Science.”
The lecture focused on how scien
tists and journalists frequently don’t see
eye-to-eye.
Begley said most scientists believe
the important news is the interval dis
coveries that are continually being
made, and journalists look for news in
major blockbuster breakthroughs.
“Scientists believe that journalists
are alarmists and that they (journalists)
care more about sales than informing
the public,” Begley said.
Journalists think that scientists use
jargon that makes portraying facts and
findings nearly impossible, she said
The major theme that Begley tried
to get across Monday was that journal
ists are not scientists.
According to a book about scientif
ic journalism, “Worlds Apart,” scientists
only have 11 percent confidence in the
press. That is even less than their confi
dence in politicians.
This fact is humorous considering
the book also said that 75 percent of sci
entists want people to know about their
work, Begley said.
“How are scientists going to get
their discoveries across if they don’t
even want to talk to the press?” she said.
Edgar Pearlstein, a retired professor
of physics at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln, said he thought sci
entists had a fear of being misquoted or
misinterpreted, and that’s why they
often don’t want to talk with journalists.
Begley said scientists should ask to
have all quotes read back to them if they
are so worried about being misquoted.
“Scientists tend to get a little upset if
we’re off by even a power of ten or
something,” Begley said, laughing.
Even though scientists and journal
ists do not see eye-to-eye on a lot of
things, Begley said she believes they do
have a lot in common.
She said they both are often accused
of interpreting data, they both have a
^ How are scientists going to get their
discoveries across if they don’t even want
to talk to the press? ”
Sharon Begley
Newsweek senior editor
competitive streak, and they both have
very strong egos.
Science writing is more difficult
than any other type of writing, she said.
“Science education in the United
States stinks, and it turns people off to
it,” Begley said.
She said she believes most science
papers will put people to sleep, and her
job is to make it interesting.
Some of the ways Newsweek has
made science writing more interesting
is by having larger pictures, fancier
graphics and less text.
Begley said the typical Newsweek
story used to be about 4,000 words long,
and now they are only around 2,000
words long.
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Two scholars join department
ENGLISH from page 1
accounting professor.
Along with being an expert on
Whitman, Price is co-director of an
extensive Walt Whitman Web site.
His skills in the electronic medium
will be of benefit to the English depart
ment, Hilliard said.
“It’s an added benefit that Kenneth
has a real interest in electronic scholar
ship,” he said. “We feel this is some
thing students at all levels need expo
sure to.”
Price said he was excited to collab
orate with other UNL English faculty
developing literature Web sites.
“There are several big projects
underway parallel to what I am doing,”
he said.
Hilliard said the recent hirings will
help the department maintain its size
after retirements and faculty departures
have shrunk the department.
Hiring Agee and Price also will
increase the educational quality of the
department for those majoring in
English, he said.
“They aren’t as important for
someone in a general education
course,” Hilliard said. “But they will be
of benefit to the majors and graduate
students.”
He said there may be one more fac
ulty search to complete in the near
future.
Boy recovers from heart puncture
HtLbNA, Mont. (Ar) - A 12
year-old boy whose heart was
pierced by a pencil as he lunged
toward his bed to catch a football is
recuperating after 2 1/2 harrowing
hours of the pencil throbbing at every
beat in his chest.
“I kind of felt it go in, but it didn’t
hurt,” Nathan King said from his
home in Helena. “So I looked down.
Then I started yelling for Mom. I was
yelling ‘Mom, Mom, Mom, I’m
gonna die.’”
Crying and struggling to breathe,
Nathan stumbled into the kitchen
with the eraser end protruding 2 to 3
inches Irom his chest. He collapsed
in front of his mother, Lorri Earley,
with the pencil throbbing like a
metronome. It was Nathan’s birthday,
Feb. 23.
Earley, a nurse, called 911 and
held her son to keep him from pulling
at the pencil.
He was rushed to St. Peter’s
Community Hospital in Helena, then
flown to Benefis Healthcare in Great
Falls for open-heart surgery.
The pencil had penetrated his
right heart chamber, ripped a valve
and was embedded in the septum,
near the back wall of the heart.
“It was a time bomb,” said Dr.
Brett Williams. “If blood had started
leaking into the sack around the
heart, this could have had a com
pletely different outcome.”
Had anyone removed the pencil
during the 2 1/2 hours before he
reached Benefis, he would have died
within minutes, Williams said.
Nathan arrived home last week,
but he will miss school for awhile.
To welcome him home, neigh
bors gave him a sweatshirt that shows
a heart pierced by a wooden pencil.
The words read “Tougher than
Dracula.”
r
UNL Sample Ballot
ASUN Student Government
Run-off Election
March 8, 2000
1. To vote, blacken the square (□) to the left of each name
you select.
2. DO NOT CROSS OUT--if you change your mind,
exchange your ballot for a new one.
President / Vice President
Select one (1) by marking the square (□)
to the left of the name.
i
□ Joel Schafer / Riley Peterson A-TEAM
□ Heath Mello / Cecily Rometo EMPOWER
2nd Vice President
□ Amy R. Ellis IMPACT
□Michael Butterfield EMPOWER
* - - .
L
1 Mother faces charges
j in child’s death in fire
MOTHER from page 1
clothes the two men were wearing at
the time of the robbery.
Archie and Good never entered
Brewsky’s Food and Spirits during
the robbery, Lincoln Police Ofc.
Katherine Finnell said.
On Feb. 12, two men entered the
bar at 10:30 a.m., 30 minutes after
the restaurant opened, carrying a
handgun and a rifle and demanding
money, Finnell said.
According to court documents,
the two got about $10,500 in cash
from the safe.
Finnell said police arrested
Robert Sanford, 19, 4300 Normal
Blvd., on Feb. 17 for allegedly com
mitting the robbery. He was charged
with robbery and use of a deadly
weapon to commit a felony.
The other man has not been
arrested, Finnell said.
Council works to unite
campus organizations
SERVICE from page 1
These projects include building a
bike trail linking City and East cam
puses and getting involved in
Ventures in Partnership.
Ventures in Partnership is a pro
gram established for organizations to
support Lincoln Public Schools.
Hampton also said the council
hopes to establish a campuswide ser
vice event to foster community pride.
Elaine Hammer, a member of the
fund-raising committee of the Great
Plains Trails Network, will speak
about building the bike trail at
today’s meeting. Three other com
mittee members also will attend the
council’s meeting.
Podolske said she is happy with
the success the Service Council has
had so far.
“It’s been this underground thing
that’s just exploded on us,” Podolske
said.
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