Alcohol program helps 'high-risk' child
BY MARLENI2 RUKRACH
lie began the program, angry and silent.
Now he is better able to express himself. He
is less angry and more willing to take part in
family activities, lie feels better about him
self. This discribes a boy who joined the Chil
dren from Alcoholic Parents Program.
The Lancaster County Child Guidance
Program was awarded $75,000 from the Ne
braska Division on Alcoholilsm and Drug
Abuse. With the money, the Children from Al
coholic Families Program was established in
January.
Until now no established Nebraska pro
grams helped the children of alcoholic par
ents, said program director Ann Lawson.
"Children with alcoholic parents are twice
as likely to develop alcohol problems as chil
dren of non-alcoholics, Mrs. Lawson said, "so
we devised some special help was needed for
these children."
The program's purpose is to prevent "high
risk" children from becoming alcoholics and
to treat their problems while they live with an
alcoholic parent, she said.
The "high-risk" status is determined by
physical, mental and social factors, Mrs. Law
son said. Physically, the children may have
inherited physical traits which increase the
risk of their becoming alcoholics. Mentally,
the children may have low self-esteem. So
cially, the children may be around people who
dirnk a lot, she said.
One goal is to improve the children's fami
lies, which includes drinking-related values,
child-rearing skills and communication pat
terns, Mrs. Lawson said.
Another goal is to improve the child's self
esteem and decision-making ability, she said.
The program also tries to improve the child's
social skills, she said.
The program is open to any family in
which one or both parents are alcoholics and
in which at least one child is between the ages
of six and 13.
The children's gamilies begin the program
UMM
N EBRAS
AN
Number 4 School of Journalism University of Nebraska June 1 7, 1 982
with a six-week session, Mrs. Lawson said.
The families are divided into a parent group
and three children's groups. The children's
groups are divided according to age.
The families also come in once a week for
a family-therapy session. The hour-and-a-half
meetings are very organized. Each goup is
headed by one of the nine staff members.
Follow-up program may include therapy
A follow-up program is designed for a
family after the six-week program is finished.
This program may include family therapy,
children's support groups, a single parents'
group, recreational services or a referral to
self-help groups, she said.
"I am very pleased with the results," Mrs.
Lawson said.
Changes are taking place in the families
and children in the program, she said. For the
first time some parents are taking child-rearing
seriously, she said.
"One important thing is the kids do not
have to be showing problems. They may be
high achievers and socially acceptable," she
said, "but they are high-risk and may develop
problems."
Fees are based on the families' ability to
pay, Mrs. Lawson said. Fees are partially re
funded to any family that completes the program.
Program stresses
experience, not pay
BY PAT MASTERS
Learning experience with academic credit
is stressed over salary for students who in
tern through the Experiential Education Pro
gram at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Assistant program coordinator Anne
Chase said education is emphasized to stu
dents and they are told not to expect any pay
for their internships.
Last year over 60 percent of the 485 stu
dents interviewed for internships were placed
somewhere, Chase said. The number placed,
285, was up from 213 of the year before.
Program coordinator Millie Katz said
about 70 percent of the interns are from the
College of Arts and Sciences, the rest are
mainly from the College of Business Adminis
tration. The program began in 1978.
A student interested in an internship can
fill out an application form at 1218 Oldfather
Hall. The student then looks through four
books of internship possibilities for intern
ships that coincide with his or her area of
study. The applicant's qualifications are dis
cussed with Ms. Katz and sent to placements
who choose the interns.
A good experience
A student who is chosen must meet with a
faculty adviser to talk about a paper or jour
nal which must be kept during the internship.
The amount of work the student does deter
mines the number of credit hours received.
Students usually earn three to six hours
credit.
Most students feel comfortable during
their internship and are treated like fellow
employees, not lower, Miss Chase said.
"For the majority of the interns it is a
good experience to get away from the aca
demic setting of the university and enjoy a
place one might work after graduation," she
said.
Jane Heinicke, 23, interned with the Ne
braska Department of Public Welfare Sep
tember 1980 through December 1981. She
worked 15 hours a week with the food stamp
program, earning $3.50 an hour.
"It was a fine experience. The people at
the food stamp program were encouraging
and helpful," Mrs. Heinicke said.
Interns work part-time
Internships offered through the experien
tial program are ongoing academic assign
ments. Students work from 12 to 15 hours
weekly during their internship and report to
their faculty sponsor afterwards, often at
group meetings, Ms. Katz said.
These internships differ from others off
ered in separate colleges on the university.
During most other internships students work
full time and receive some payment, Ms. Katz
said.
Any internship can be a learning experi
ence, but at the School of Journalsim all in
terns receive pay and an education, said
Larry Walklin, chairman of the broadcasting
department.
Representatives of several broadcasting
stations come to the school and judge intern
applicants like they are applying for full-time
positions, Walklin said.
The interns have good qualifications and
aren't going into a situation unprepared, he
said. It gives them an oppurtunity to work in
a formal position so they can prove their
value to the station and employer. They get a
professional feel instead of spending time as
an observer, he said.
Interns work a 40 hour week and pay is ne
gotiated on an individual basis, depending on
whether the company has a union scale. An
intern's salary might be a scholarship or com
pensation based on incentive, Walklin said.
Wheat farmers find
bugs a chinch this year
Wheat farmers of Nebraska can look for
ward to only a mild chinch bug infestation
this year.
Dr. David Keith, a University of Nebraska
extension entomologist, says that moisture
and high humidity helped promote a fungus
disease which killed many of the pests.
m?KiA, imp- o - I
Photo by Ann Stedman
Grant and Beth Neitzel, children of Mr. and Mrs.
Doug Neitzel of Lincoln, were among the youngest
participants in a peace rally sponsored by the Lin
coln Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign at Ante
lope Park Saturday.
Police have 'understanding'
BY JIM ANDERSON
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Police
Department has a "gentleman's agreement"
with area law enforcement agencies, said
Gail Gade, director of the UN-L police depart
ment. Police Lt. Lyle Roberts, public information
officer for the Lincoln Police Department
said that this unwritten agreement, which has
developed over a period of many years,
makes operations between departments
much smoother.
He said UN-L police, who are much more
familiar with the campus, are in the best
position to assist officers who must come to
campus.
When a Lincoln police officer has to come
to campus-for example, to make an arrest-he
will usually ask the UN-L police for help. He
said that if an case should lead a UN-L police
officer off campus, he usually will ask for city
police help.
Both Roberts and Gade said that during
emergencies there may not always be time to
inform the each other of their actions, but the
departments tell each other as soon as possi
ble. Gade said that UN-L police officers must
undergo the same training as city police or
state troopers. They are state deputy sheriffs,
who have statewide jurisdiction, he said. But
normally they work on the Lincoln campus,
he said.
The UN-L police force has two officers
who are criminal investigators, Gade said, so
the department can handle most of its own
cases.
In murder cases, Lincoln police and Ne
braska State Highway Patrol officers will be
asked to help because they have the equip
ment and expertise which the UN-L police
lack, he said. But Gade said there hasn't been
a campus murder case in a long time.
Nebraska's Memorial Stadium, Gade said,
provides an example of the overlapping au
thority of area law enforcement agencies. He
said officers of the UN-L and Lincoln police
departments, the Lancaster County Sheriff's
Department and the state patrol provide se
curity at each game.
Cablevision expands by four channels
Lincoln Cablevision is expanding by add
ing four more channels to its programming.
It will take some time to rebuild the sys
tem, Bob Olson, program director, said.
Cablevision has to replace old cable and am
plifiers because the components cannot han
dle the extra channels, Olson said.
Cablevison would like to have the rebuild
ing done by early spring next year, he said.
The weather has not helped, he said.
Some areas in Lincoln have the new chan
nels, Olson said. The new channels consist of
two independent news stations, a CBS cable
station and an entertainment station.
Cablevision is not planning to add such
services as pay-per-view, home banking and
shopping or security, Olson said.
The Indax system home banking and
shopping sounds good, but it is years away
from the banks and stores being hooked into
the system, Olson said.
He was told that Cox Cable of Omaha is
having problems with its Indax system, he
said, but he does not know what problems.
He has not had inquiry for these services
from Lincoln customers, he said.
Cablevision is not considering the pay-per-view
feature, Olson said. Pay-per-view fea
tures a special event which can be seen on
cable television by using a disposable decod
er. The decoder is good for only one event.
After the event is over, the decoder could not
pick up any other ev ent.
Two exhibits at Sheldon
Two art exhibits will open Sunday at the
Art Shop of the Sheldon Art Gallery at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
The artist of these works are Robert Cur
rier, a practicing clinical psychologist at the
Lincoln Regional Center, and Douglas Han
son, Mt. Vernon, Iowa.