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by Samuel I. Fuenning
Samuel Fuenning is Medical Director of the University
Health Center and the University Health Service.
"To lose one's health renders science null, art inglorious,
strength unavailing, wealth useless and eloquence powerless."
Herophylus, physician,
grandson of Aristotle, 300 B.C.
Great leaders of the past have appreciated the importance
of health as well as former great presidents of institutions of
higher education. It was as a result of this recognition that
college health programs and services came into being. A very
significant statement was made by Amherst College president
Sterns in 1856 which conveys his concern for the importance
of health:
"The breaking down of the health of the students,
especially in the spring of the year, which is exceedingly
common, involving the necessity of leaving college in many
instances, and crippling the energies and destroying the
prospects of not a few who remain, is in my opinion wholly
unnecessary, if proper measures could be taken to prevent it."
As a result of his concern for prevention, the first college
health program was organized at Amherst in 1861 by Dr.
Edward Hitchcock. It is of great interest to note that he
developed a comprehensive health program and included
health education and concerns for the environment.
In 1947 Alexander G. Ruthvert, president of the University
of Michigan, made the following statement: "Many of us who
have responsibility for the physical welfare of students agree
that health is one of the cardinal principles of education. We
note the great benefits that have come to men as the result of
the application of science to the prevention of disease and the
reduction of deaths: the prolongation of life, the increase of
stature in young people and the material saving to society."
At NU a college health program and services were initiated
in 1919. Rufas Lyman, M.D., dean and founder of the College
of Pharmacy, was given the responsibility of developing the
health program which was to include a strong emphasis in
health and sex ed ucation.
In 1946, NU Chancellor Reuben Gustavson authorized an
in-depth study of college health programs.
The specific objectives of the preventive medicine and
health maintenance program which grew out of the study are:
1) Early identification of physical and mental illness or injury.
2) Control of environmental factors that predispose or cause
illness or injury.
3) Education of members of the University in how to cope
with the stresses of life, maintain fitness and vitality
throughout life and effectively utlize medical facilities and
resourses.
As a result of concerns for the environment, it has been
possible to reduce the incidence of injuries and occupational
illnesses among students and staff in the face of an increasing
population. Fifteen surveillance programs have been
established to protect the student and employee from
environmental health hazards, such as surveillance of all food
service areas, surveillance of all laboratories and facilities
utilizing radio-active substances or machines, surveillance of all
facilities that have potentially harmful noice levels, etc.
In order to implement the specific objectives of health
education, two major programs were necessary; one a formal
academic health education program to train health educators,
the other a University community health education program
to educate and involve the consumer.
A program of prevention and health maintenance
necessitates the participation of aU consumers in the overall
effort of prevention and health maintenance. This has resulted
in the development of an effective health aide program, a
Crisis Health Aide program, a yearly evaluation of the Health
Services involving 2,000 students, and a Student Council on
Health. As a result of these efforts, the student input into the
overall University health program has been significant in not
only helping to maintain quality, but also to assist in the
implementation of the overall objectives.
The health aid, a resident in one of the living units, is a
strategic member of the University health team, assisting in the
care of health problems, especially first aid, and in promoting
educational programs on pertinent health issues, including
environmental concerns. This past semester, 10,000 student
visits were made to the health aides concerning health
problems with a referral rate to the Health Center of 10 per
cent. This is an outstanding achievement by the health aides.
Prevention of illness and inuries and health maintenance is
not only accepted by the medical leaders, but also is the
concern of Congress as reflected by the enactment of such
legislation as Comprehensive Health Planning Act, the
Williams-Steiger Environmental Safety and Health Act of
1970, legislation on anti-pollution measures, the development
of health maintenance organizations and so on.
The great presidents in the field of higher education today
are also stimulating, promoting and supporting high quality
health programs with emphasis on prevention and health
maintenance. This has been true in Nebraska and will continue
to be the determining factor in the further development of a
high quality, comprehensive health maintenance program.
Bob Russell, on leave from his status
as a USL student, is touring Europe this
semester and serving as the Daily
Nebraskan European correspondent.
I've been in France a week now and
the one thing I have figured out about the
French people is that they aren't
American enough. First of ail, they speak
French. Secondly, they are terribly
inefficient. And thirdly, they just don't
know about the good things in life.
The French language is utterly
incomprehensible. It is a language for
tongue acrobats. It is a language for
people with stuffed up noses or who
compulsively wear nose plugs. It is a
language for people who like to cough,
spit or clear their throats.
Why, yoa may ak, is the French
language all of these things? Well, in order
to pronounce the language like they do
(yoa notice I didn't say correctly, for
anyone who would go through aU that to
pronounce words has to be "dingoe" or
"fou", as they say, or in plain American,
out of their tree), one has to do aO those
obscene things. One has to stretch the
tongue as it has never been stretched in
any skin flick.
Now the pronunciation is only half the
problem with the French language. The
ultimate absurdity is that most of the
words they use aren't even the same
words we use. And for the words that are
the same, they gargle them, say them
through their nose, etc., so as to make
perfectly simple English words
incomprehensible French words.
About their inefficiency. How these
people get anything done is very puzzling.
The hours that stores are open in
Bordeaux are 9 a.m. to noon and 2 p.m.
to 7 p.m. Getting up fa the morning for
work is an ordeal anywhere, but
especially for the French, who like to eat
late and who also display a special
fondness for wine. On the premise that a
French worker does make it to the job,
this person still has to make it through a
two-hour lunch and nap, complete with
wine and sleep; and then, make it back to
work.
Once at work, the French don't seen
overly concerned with what they are
doing. Their attitude is "Ca m'est egla"
or "it's all the same to me." This, coupled
with their known zeal for hanging out in
cafes, will never turn France into a
European Japan.
More inefficiency. How would the
American housewife feel if she had to go
to separate stores for eggs, fruit, meat,
rread; and even to the "Hostess Cupcake
Store" to get those delights of "American
cuisine?" The French must do all these
things. I have even seen a bra and slip
store, a rain coat store and a stationery
store. And all of these stores are lined up
en crooked streets, these streets being
jammed four times daily instead of the
American two.
What the French need is to be
Americanized. If I could just get a large
loan from H. L. Hunt, I could show the
people of Bordeaux how to live with all
the crooked streets and such. Bordeaux
doesn't have anything that could be
considered a main drag. So I would like
to build a four-lane road, a mile or so
long on the outskirts of Bordeaux. I
would make to the road a large loop, so
people could drive around it endlessly.
On this main drag I would first put a
giant billboard that said in flaming
psychedelic orange, "Welcome to Main
Drag." Then a pizza place with be
flashing red neon sign. "Hot Pizza."
Across from the pizza place could be a
custom car and motorcyle shop. Next, of
course, the Main Drag Drive-In Movie
showing "Hell's Angels on Wheels" with a
Clint Eastwood spaghetti western as the
second feature.
Down the line a ways, a shiny "with
clean rest rooms," gas station, complete
with a 100-foot high revolving', sign.
And with the purchase of a hundred liters
of gas, you could get a free robo-wash
next door. To complete the Main Drag, I
would have an authentic Bronco Burger
stand serving authentic horse burgers and
displaying '"the largest French flag in the
world" on a large flag pole.
I think that once the French saw the
best in American life, they would surely
mend their ways.
Wednesday; February ie, 1972
THE DAILY NEBRASKAN
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