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Help Line workers handle crises, questions
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By Ellyn Hess
"When the phone rings, we have no idea what it
will be. It might be a person wanting a phone number
or it miqht be someone falling apart emotionally,"
according to Don Holm, chief coordinator of the
UNL Help Line.
Holm called the service a clearinghouse for
information. Students manning the special telephone
line try to answer callers' questions and help them
with problems.
Holm said Help Line workers either answer general
questions themselves or direct the caller to someone
who can. Help Line workers are also prepared to deal
with crises, Holm said.
"Our workers must be able to react well under
stress," he said, explaining that Help Line workers are
hired because they are skilled at dealing with people's
personal problems. Most workers are graduate
students studying for master's degrees in counseling,
he said.
Qualities we look for in our workers are maturity
and an ability to deal with problems without being
embarrassed," Holm said.
Six Help Line staff members each work about 20
hours a week. According to Holm, they either answer
or make referals or. 96 per cent of the approximately
3,000 calls they get each month.
"I joined Help Line because I thought I would
keep in touch with what kids at the University are
concerned about, and what kinds of problems they
"I enjoy the contact with kids on campus.
Working for the Help Line points up the hassles they
have, and the frustration they must feel," she said.
Another telephone service, the Gay Rap Line,
helps persons trying to reach a decision about their
sexuality and how to deal with it, student
coordinator Joe Creason said.
Creason, who has worked with the phone service
since its beginning in 1970, said workers try to help
people who just want to talk about being gay. Gay
Rap Line workers also refer medical, psychological
and legal problems to experts.
"We usually don't offer personal advice about
problems. We just try to help people clarify their
problems so they can deal with them," Creason said.
Callers' problems range from how to tell their
families they are gay to how to handle a charge for
loitering, he said.
Volunteers staff the Gay Rap Line from 8 p.m. to
2 a.m. daily. They generally receive the most calls
near holidays and on weekends.
Creason said he thinks calls increase during
holidays because gay persons often have problems
being with their families. Calls increase on weekends
because drinking tends to lower people's inhibitions
about discussing their sexuality, and sometimes
increase feelings of depression related to being gay, he
added.
Volunteers don't have to be gay to work for the
rap line, Creason said.
He said being gay helps because callers usually
want to talk to another gay person.
Doug Weiss, a Gay Rap Line staff member, said he
likes working for the service because "I simply enjoy
sitting down and talking with people' Weiss said
most of his calls are "of a serious nature."
To train for the Gay Rap Line, volunteers make up
potential situations, then determine how they
probably would answer the call. Creason said 20
volunteers staff the service.
Sue Aitcheson, one of the three coordinators of
the Women's Resource Center information line, said
the service mainly helps women with women's
problems.
vShe said having only eight volunteers limits the
amout of time the line can be used. The line usually is
open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and sometimes
on weekends.
Most women students who volunteer to work are
interested in learning about women's issues. She said
many calls received are for medical and legal
information, and for information about Lincoln
women's organizations.
Aitcheson mentioned a call the center received
from a mother who was upset about her daughter
living with her boyfriend. The mother wanted
information about placing her daughter in a
dormitory.
"There wasn't much we could say about housing
in that situation," Aitcheson said.
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Tf?e OpfceJ Sfop
333 North 12th
Phone 477-9347
ASUN INTERVIEWS
SENATE VACANCIES:
1 Position College of Arts and Sciences . ,, . , ,
2 Positions Graduate and Professional Colleges
Junior or Senior applicants for Student Court
also positions on: Calendar and Exams, Intercollegiate
Athletics, Human Rights committees.
334 Union, or phone 472-2581 for information
i '
NOTICE
NEBRASKA UNION
MEAL TICKETS
HAVE BEEN
DISCONTINUED.
ALL OUTSTANDING
TICKETS WILL BE
HONORED THRU
FEBRUARY 28, 1974
NO REFUNDS WILL
BE GIVEN
You need a certain touch. A
special drive. If you are of this
special breed of men, the world of t
flight could be yours. Learn to If
handle the sophisticated Navy air- If
craft and earn over $10,200 starting If
salary. Within four years you earn if
over $17,000 anually. Join this
elite group, call the Navy Officer I
Information Team in Omaha collect I
at 402 221-7317 or make it a point I
to talk with Gary Wriflht, Tom I
Wurzbach or Brent Worms in the nJ"""'
Student Center Jan. 30- Feb. V "V
Aviation and Officer Programs
exams will be administered with no jr
obligation incurred. I '
In all the world, only a few A .J
thousand men have mastered the f L
skies from a ship at sea-why not be d
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Financial aid sessions
The Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid will be
holding sessions this week to provide student1; information
about financial aid.
The office staff will explain what scholarships, grants,
loans and work study programs are available and how
students can apply for them.
Two will be held Wednesday at 7 p.m.-one in the Sellock
multi-purpose room and the second at Burr Hall on Eat
Campus. Thursday at 6:30 p.m. a session will be held in the
Abel Hall north lounge.
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page 8
daily nebraskan
Wednesday, january 23, 1974