QQEIDQDDD MONDAY. JULY 24, 1972 LINCOLN, NEBRASKAN NO. 8 f x'i 7 PDP hopes A University program to encourage high school students to go on to higher education has become so successful, its participants believe, that other colleges should begin similar programs. When it was started in 1965, the Personality Development Project (PDP), sponsored by the Nebraska Human Resources Research Foundation, has encouraged high school students to pursue higher education by giving them one-to-one exposure to college students, according to Cindy Lambert, project chairman. PDP was started as a research project, but its success has been apparent to its participants. Joseph Wettstein of the Kansas City regional office of the Department of Health Education and Welfare visited PDP last week for an initial view of the program with an eye toward establishing it at other colleges and universities. PDP selects sophomores from Lincoln High and Northeast who would need financial aid to pursue post-high school The small town struaale trouble in paradise C.U. J M.I. T1 ! I A .L. n t . By Michael Nelson NU School of Journalism People are not afraid to walk the streets alone at night, men and women greet each other on the way to work and most have seen riots and smog only on television. It is the small town, and to the millions living in America's largest cities it might sound like heaven. But there is trouble in paradise. Inadequate public services, housing and job opportunities are strangling thousands of Midwest communities. Nebraska alone could lose more than 300 small towns within the next 20 years, according to Alan Booth director of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) Bureau of Sociological Research. Most of these communities have fewer than 500 residents, he said. The 1970 census figures show that such communities have lost more than 2,000 people since 1960, Booth said. "These towns have served as local service centers," he said. "Now with the automobile, people can go to the cities to get the same services they could once get in their own communities. The small towns can't compete." He said many businesses in these communities are dying because they can't offer the same range of services and competitive prices. When businesses close, he said, fewer jobs are available to the town's young people, so they leave for the cities to find work. "They get caught in this syndrome," he said. "Fewer people means fewer goods sold, fewer sales means less profit, less profit means fewer businesses. It goes on until these towns are just a snot on the road." "A spot on the road" could describe Morse Bluff Neb. Located in northern Saunders County, about 50 miles north of Lincoln, the village is showing signs of age. Many of its houses stand vacant. Windows of former businesses are boarded up, and weeds grow in the cracks in the sidewalks. An occasional car drives down the street, but for the most part it is quiet as a cemetery. According to long-time residents, the town was once a bustling farm market and a stop-over for traveling salesmen. "This was once a good sized town," said Adolph Hsvelk, 71. "We had dozens of businesses. We had two lumber yards, two banks and the best damn hotel in miles. All the salesmen used to stop here. L. J.i 1 T.f.' . 3 POP students and their college counselors take time a picnic on an excursion to Canada. success will education, who have the ability for more education based o,i recommendations of junior high guidance counselors and whose parents have not been to college. PDP counselors are specially-selected University work-study students, Miss Lambert said, so the financial aid need for PDP participants is based on work-study criteria. PDP staff members meet with the families of students recommended for the project to introduce it to them. "Most of the parents have been very receptive," Miss Lambert said. "Lots of times, more receptive than their kids." From those who are interested in participating, eight boys and eight girls are randomly selected for PDP and the rest make up a control group for further research. Lincpln High Principal William Bogar estimates that 80 per cent of the PDP students have gone on to post -high school education, while less than 20 oer cent of the control group has continued. 'The counselees all come from a Then came hard times - the Depression According to U.S. Census figures, the town of 117 persons was almost twice that large in 1920. The community lost nearly a fifth of its residents within the next 10 years. Farmer Raymond Racek, 61, attributed the final collapse of the business district to a loss of community spirit. He said the Depression "was exactly that." The people were "depressed both economically and spiritually." "When we had community spirit we could have done anything," he said. 'The young people knew how much fun it was to live here. But when the spirit was gone we didn't have anything to offer that they couldn't find in the city." Eugene Hynek, 36, a livestock feeder, said he believes most firms which have gone out of business might have been saved if the young people would have stayed. 'The young people could have kept the town going, he said. 'They could have bought out the owners when they retired. Instead, when a man got too old to work he just closed up shop." Another resident said the only way to solve the small town's economic problems is by solving farm problems. He said the merchants could have stayed in business if the farmer's trade had continued. "Used to be the farmer could make a living on 80 acres," he said, "but now it takes a thousand. Everytime one of us couldn't make it, the businessmen lost another customer. The farmer has really been put through the mill." But Racek said the farmer's job is tougher than that. "You could farm the whole United States and still not make any money," he said. The government, he claimed, wants small towns to die. "My grand-daddy and my great-uncle both told me never to vote for a conservative because they don't care about the farmer," he said. "I should have listened. All they're worried about is big business and big business is worried about the cities. They don't care about towns like Morse Blufl." He said the government is keeping money tight and making it hard for the small town businessman to get a loan. "You go in for a loan and they ask you how you're doing. They ask how many people buy from you. What the hell you p.oing to tell them? Nobody wants to sf ? r mil it r'i.'iiii ...1';.; ti . . . out for spread background where going to college ' has never been promoted in their home," Miss Lambert said, "but now, they have college friends. We hope that by exposing them to the stimulation of college, they will realize the value of higher education." Miss Lambert said the philosophy of the program is to encourage the high school students to develop then potential, "whatever it may be." The high school counselees and their college student counselors participate in monthly group activities - a camping trip to Mind en this month - and group activities by class, which have includ'd roller skating parties, bike hikes, concei ts, and even a discussion with Lincoln Mayor Sam Schwartzkopf. Last year, the group traveled to Winnipeg, Man., with money raised during the year by counselees. Each high school and college student pair also meets regularly for individual activities. loan money to a businessman in a town of 117 people." "All the small hell," one resident changing too fast." towns are going to said. 'The' times are Randolph, Iowa, is a carbon copy of Morse Bluff. The town of 216 persons lies in the valley of the West Nishnabotna River in Fremont County. The village, 70 miles southeast of Omaha, is part of a federally defined "poverty pocket." According to Mayor Jack Estes, 77, the town is almost beyond hope and on the verge of economic collapse. "When I moved here in 1918," the retired railroad agent said, "this was the best little town in the county. We had 42 businesses. Now we have less than half a dozen. The young people can't find work. They have to leave and go to the cities." According to the 1920 census, Randolph had more than 400 residents. It has lost 50 per cent of them in the last 50 years. The census figures show the town lost 16 per cent of its residents between 1960 and 1970. Adolph Haveik blamed the Depression for many of Morse Bluffs problems, and Estes said the same is true in Randolph's case. Estes also claimed that the consolidation and mechanization of farms added to the town's decline. "It was an accumulation of things," he said. 'The Depression hurt us and so did the bank's failure in 1930. But when the farms grew larger we were out of luck. Fewer farms meant inci lamilies to buy from the businessmen. They bought machinery to help them do their work." He said the farmers laid off their hired hand, who used to live with families in town, and the loss of the additional income from rent hurt the town even more. "The farmers also stopped having such large families," he said. "Instead they bought tractors. That didn't help either. Tractors don't have kids, you know." Despite its problems, Estes believes there is still some hope for Randolph. Interstate 29 is being built not far awsy, and he said he hopes the town might become a "bedroom community" from which people could commute to work in Omaha. To prepare for this possibility, the town is going to build a new sewer system, he said. "If we get new folks," he is id, "they'll want services. We don't think we'll have a big development, but we expect at least a few new homes. But nobody is going to International delegates to study river systems An international group of engineers, geologists, ecologists and government agency planner will study environmental and planning aspects of river systems at a workshop sponsored by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln civil engineering department. About 20 persons from the United States, Canada, Democratic Republic of Congo and Venezuela are participating in the two-week course. Two field trips on the Missouri River will provide background for three workshop projects, according to workshop director Ralph Marlette, associate professor of civil engineering. On one field trip the group will study river navigation channels from the Louis UNL professor named to history society Dr. William L. Sherman, associate professor of history at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), has been named to an international society of geographers and historians, an honor given to few Americans. The organization, Sociedad de Geografia E Historia, includes some 75 scholars in the western hemisphere and Europe. About 15 Americans have been elected to the society since it was established 50 years ago. Membership is based on the person's research and publications about Central America. Anthropologists and linguists also are members of the society. The group meets occasionally, but the primary means of communication is an annual technical journal. kJr move here if we don't have a sewer." He said a recent survey showed 80 per cent of the residents favor the new sewer system. The town has enough money to pay for the system without a bond issue or a tax increase, he said. "We have one of the lowest mill levies in this part of the state," Estes said. "With taxes going up all over, we think we have something to offer." Another community that thinks it has something to offer is Valparaiso, Neb. Valparaiso is more fortunate than Randolph - it is only 20 miles from Lincoln and is showing signs of becoming a bedroom community. In 1920 the town had 599 residents, according to the Census Bureau. In 1950 it only had 392 - a 33 per cent decrease. and Clark Reservoir downstream to Sioux City. A second project will be developing a metropolitan river front plan for Omaha. "This is really a natioal problem," Marlette said. "Every river town has a junky section along the river front, and of course the older the town is, the worse the problems are. No one has yet found a cheap solution to the urban renewal needs in these deteriorated areas." A third project will be the development of wildlife refuges along rivers. The group will visit the U.S. Wildlife Refuge at DeSoto Bend. Marlette said he is particularly interested in meeting with the representative from the Congo to find out more about a wildlife refuge program started there recently. An 18-million-acre At his formal acceptance into the organization last month in Guatemala, Sherman presented a paper on he abuse of Indians in Central America during the early 17th century. More than 50 scholars and mambcrs of the diplomatic corps attended the ceremonies. Sherman is the rccipeint of a Woods Faculty Fellowship for his studies of slavery in Spanish Middle America during the 1 6th century. He holds a master ot arts degree from the University of the Americas in Mexico City and a Ph. D. from the University of New Mexico. He joined the UNL history faculty in 1968 and has been active in the University's Institute of International Studies. i Morse Bluff . . . one of hundreds of small Nebraska struggling to stay alive. However, in I960 things began to change. For the first time in 40 years, Valparaiso's population had not declined. The 1970 figures show a five per cent population increase. Joe Kubik, 48, said the town "seems to be growing." He said the growth is noticeable but "not enough to make any real difference." He said the new residents are welcome, but their arrival hasn't solved some of the town's problems. "Not enough of the trade is Maying here," the restaurant owner laid. "It's difficult to make ends meet." According to Kuhik, it is not surprising, people move to smaller towns from the cities. "People want to pel away from it all," he said. "(Jut here they can he freer. tract has been set aside as a wildlife preserve, he said. River systems studies are ot particular concern to developing nations which must rely on them for industrial power and transportation, Marlette said. The river systems workshop is being supported by the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Bureau of Outdoor Recreation, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Fontenelle Forest Association. This Week MONDAY, JULY 24 Final data for submitting doctoral dinartationt and filing applications for oral exams. Stradivari String Quartet Dialogue Concert, 9 a.m., Westbrook Music Building. Administrators National Conference, 9 a.m. to noon, Sal leek Quadrangle. Repertory Theater, "Guys and Dolls," 8:30 p.m., Howell Theater. TUESDAY, JULY 25 Final date for submitting drops for courses without labs. Summer Film Series, "Gold Diggers of 1935," 7 p.m., Nebraska Union. Administrators National Conference, 9 a.m. to noon, Selleck Quadrangle. Repertory Theater, "The House of Blue Leaves," 8:30 p.m., Howell Theater. WEDNESDAY, JULY 26 Administretors National Conference 9am to noon, Selleck Quadrangle. Repertory Theater, "The House of Blue Leaves," 8:30 p.m. Howell Theater. THURSDAY, JULY 27 Repertory Theater, "Guys and Dolls" 8.30 p.m., Howell Theater. FRIDAY, JULY 28 Repertory Theater, "The House of Blue Leaves," 8:30 p.m., Howell Theater. SATURDAY, JULY 29 Repertory Theater, "Guys and Dolls," p.m., Howell Theater. 8:30 towns People are more friendly. Besides, it's not such a rat race." Escaping the "rat race" is what brought John Gerdes and his family to Valparaiso. "I came here to find peace and quiet," the 39-year-old hardware store owner said. "If a little gossip doesn't bother you, there is nothing wrong with this town. Sure we could use some new homes and a few more jobs, but most of us are pretty happy." He said he had been a fireman in Lincoln but wanted out of the city. "I've always thought a flower in the country is prettier than a flower in the city," he said. "This is the kind of plate where you want to bring up your (Continued on page 4.)