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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 13, 1970)
VISTA challenges fortitude by DIANE WANEK Nebraska!) Staff Writer "This is no place for people trying to work out hang-ups of their own . . . They live 24 hours a day grappling with outrageous difficulties. The poor have no need for emissaries from the middle class, full of vague good will." Office of Economic Opportunity Pamphlet August, 1969 Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) is looking for 20-year-olds who wish to participate in a frustrating, but enlightening experience. Working with VISTA takes a very mature, dedicated, capable person, said" Jim Rayburn, who is working this week at the University to recruit volunteers. It can be frustrating and a person's fortitude is challenged, he ad ded. "It is difficult to see any perceptible progress when you are dealing with a poverty stricken area 24 hours a day," he continued, "and this can be very discouraging." "However," Rayburn said, "the VISTA program is definitely successful. Any program like this is a long-term thing and is somewhat slow to change things, but VISTA has been successful so far, and probably will continue to be in the long run." So far the interest here at the University is running fairly high, according to Rayburn. Last year the VISTA recruiters who were here received about 20 applications, and about nine of those were accepted. So far this year, ac cording to Rayburn, they have handed out about 22 applica tions. It will take about 90 days for those applying to find out whether they have been ac cepted. "VISTA has its amount of red tape and bureaucracy, because it is a federal agency, and all federal agencies have some," he said. "But because it is a volunteer organization and because many of the in dividuals who make up VISTA retain their idealism, it has not yet become an established bureaucratic organization." "VISTA has given me a much greater understanding of social problems," he continued. "The one thing VISTA teaches you is that you don't have to be in VISTA to help; people can give any free time they have to help make society a better place to live." "I got involved in VISTA when I finished college," said Rayburn. "I had taken sociology and felt I had learned nothing valid. I wanted to ex perience as much as I could." Rayburn worked for two years in Houston in a black community involved in com munity development. "We began working with the community to get a park in there,"he said. "We know it has been successful because it is being used. It is the only place in the area where kids can play, other than the streets." Developing a park area led to the institution of a civic club in the community, which then led to the developing of a tutoring program. The VISTA booth, which is located in the north lobby of the Union, is trying to reach as many students who will graduate this spring as possi ble, although the program is open to people who are 18 or older. "However," said Rayburn, "we really don't take any 18 or 19 year olds unless they have a unique skill. We want to recruit those who are 20 and over and who have two years of col lege." The reason they especially wish to recruit graduates, said Rayburn, is that specialists, such as lawyers, architects and business majors, are more able to concentrate on a specific aspect of a poverty-stricken area. "These volunteers act as catalysts," said Rayburn, "They help to bring the com munity together to identify its own problems and then solve them. Rll the UJorld Loves a Lover. Especially People uuith Something to Sell. Getting married can cost a lot of money. In fact, sometimes marriage seems like a conspiracy to bankrupt the bride and groom. But Vanity Fair Is on your side. For years, we've been selling the finest engagement and wedding rings to students for far less than they would pay in a retail jewelry store. Such savings are possible because we handle the whole process of making a ring ourselves, from buying the diamond in Antwerp to soiling it to you on your campus. And only Vanity Fair knows how fo keep costs down without compromising quality. A look at our new 36-page, full-color catalog will convince you of that. Tlifs coupon will bring it to you free. Or, if you prefer, visit our showrooms at 55 E. Washington Street, Chicago. .. I ... ' "Win bnlty Mr DfofnOnCfo Fltoit wnd me the free 1970 Vanity Fair catalog. NAMf. ADDRESS. CITY. .STATI. SCHOOL. Malltoi Vanity Fair Diamonds, 53 I . Woinington Street Chicago, Illinois 002. r 3:sry r " it,. tN" !" i'V ICE CUBES 10 lb. LOWEST PRICES IN TOWN AT DIVIDEND 16th & P St. Just South of Campus m t r - j-" k -1 'lis h Dividend Bonded Gas WE NEVER CLOSE Bag FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1970 THE DAILY NEBRASKAN PAGE 7