Friday, February 26, 1982
Daily Nebraskan
Page 7
Counseling program to aid communication skills
By Gah Huey
Students from small towns come to a university expect
ing to make new friends and find new experiences. In
stead, they can encounter an environment of impersonal
professors and unsocial peers. Students can get depressed
and become unable to cope.
Counseling Center staff members at UNL said they
hope they can help alleviate this and similar problems.
According to Luis Diaz-Perdomo, a sociological counsel
or at the center, a new program starting March 1 1 is de
signed to help students communicate better. The program
should assist students in making friends, feeling relaxed in
social situations and meeting people of different national
ities, he said.
"Some students feel a little out of place or uneasy with
people from different ethnic groups," Diaz-Perdomo said.
"Not only students from small towns but also students
from different countries have a hard time communicat
ing with others."
Diaz-Perdomo said many international students may
find the program beneficial too.
"Students from another country will find that things
are much different from his native land; he won't know
how to communicate," he said.
The program is supposed to teach international stu
dents skills to meet and develop relationships with people.
"When some students come to a big university like
UNL, they have a hard time forming a new social support
network - a feeling of belonging," he said. "The program
will attempt to attack these concerns."
The program will involve a group of about 12 students
meeting every Thursday from 2:30 to 4 p.m. for six
weeks.
Diaz-Perdomo and Kathy Brzezinski-Stein, another
counselor, will teach students communication and asser
tion skills. They also will provide information about the
value systems of different cultures. '
"Although people are different, they react in the same
way in similar situations," Diaz-Perdomo said. "It is a
common concern that many people need to feel more sec
ure in various situations."
During the meetings, counselors will use videotapes to
provide constructive criticism about mannerisms and ac
tions. "A videotape will help some students who aren't aware
of how they are coming across," Diaz-Perdomo said.
In addition, the counselors will ask students what char
acteristics about themselves they would like to change.
Diaz-Perdomo said students aren't limited to the sugges
tions the counselors make. It's up to each individual's
style, he said.
At least six people are needed to begin the program,
Diaz-Perdomo said, and four people have expressed inter
est. No more than 12 would be ideal, according to Diaz
Perdomo, so he and Stein could coach six each. In a
smaller group, students will feel more at ease too, he said.
If enough people aren't interested, counselors can still
council students individually.
The counselors will try to coordinate convenient meet
ing times with students.
"We are open to changes," Diaz-Perdomo said.
'Many students drop out because they can't cope with
their needs not being fulfilled," he said.
The first meeting of the new program will be in Seaton
Hall, third floor. There is no charge.
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