Menial disorders
for
y
if 1 If H Ti
BY LARRY SPARKS
Chronic mental disorders among Nebras
ka's young adults are increasing, coinciding
with what appears to be a national trend to
ward increasing mental illnesses in the 18-lo
34-year-old age group, according to repre
sentatives of two local mental health serv
ices. Institutions across the country have re
ported a sharp rise in such illnesses as schiz
ophrenia, severe depression and behavioral
disorders, according to a recent survey by
the National Institute of Mental Health.
According to the survey, mental hospi
tals are admitting about 162,000 patients a
year. About 42 percent of these are esti
mated to fall in the 18 to 34 age group.
Statistics were not available from local
agencies, but Dr. Karen Kelly, director of
the Mental Health Clinic at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln, and Larry Reznicek, a
clinical social worker for the Community
Mental Health Center of Lancaster County,
both reported seeing more of the cases
listed in the national report.
Ms. Kelly said she has not seen a major
increase in the total number of patients
treated at the university center, but she said
she has seen more students with serious de
pression and suicidal feelings over the past
two years.
At least part of this, she said, can be at
tributed to the recent economic slump in the
United States.
In the past, having a college degree usu
ally meant a getting a good job, she said.
That no longer is the case, she said. Many
students are having a difficult time adjust
ing to the possibility of decreased economic
status.
"These people grew up thinking that they
had a secure future ahead of them if they
worked hard," she said. "Now, many of them
feel cheated."
In addition to new economic pressures,
Ms. Kelly said, students still face many of
the same school-related pressures that their
predecessors had.
Reznicek, who does emergency counsel
ing for the county, said American society is
changing gradually, and this probaably is
causing some of today's mental problems.
Much of the change, he said, has been in the
economic structure of the country.
The American economy once grew
steadily, but now it is in a "holding zone,"
Reznicek said. -
That, he said, means a diminished life
style for many and an impact that could re
main long after the recession.
"For the first time, we are seeing people,
even white-collar workers, who realize that
they won't be able to meet their parents'
economic level," he said.
Although statistics broken down by age
group were not available, Dr.Klaus Hart
man, superintendent of the Lincoln Regional
Center, said total admissions at the institu
tion have declined. But those admitted stay
longer than they used to, he said, because
they seem to have more serious disorders.
Reznicek attributed the nationwide in
crease in mental health problems to the
large number of people in the high-risk cate
gory. The 18 to 34 age group traditionally
suffers most from mental health disorders,
he said, and the G4 million babies born in the
1946 to 19G1 baby boom years are now reach
ing that age level.
Hartman said the national trend of more
admissions to state institutions does not nec
essarily mean mental health problems are
increasing. It may mean that more cases
are being diagnosed, he said.
Hartman said the nationwide increase,
which began in 1980, might be caused, in
part, by federal budget cuts that have
forced many communities to curtail local
mental health services. That, he said, means
more people have to turn to state-supported
services for help.
Poor economic conditions also have
forced more people to seek state help be
cause many cannot afford private practi
tioners, he said.
University of Nebraska
School of Journalism
Number 6
July 21, 1983
CN -y Vk-J J u u U U U -"-""j
r o n
UN-L economists: recovery
held back by two factors
BY MEILING LIU
The economy in the United States is get
ting better, but two problems lie ahead for
Americans, according to a Univerity of Nebraska-Lincoln
economist.
Craig R. MacPhee, chairman of the UN
L economics department, said one problem
is that the unemployment rate is not falling
as fast as the gross national product or the
total output of goods and services is rising. -
According to MacPhee, the reasons for
that are:
First, companies are slow to hire new
workers, or rehire the laid-off people, be
cause of costs. The companies would rather
ask the present employees to work longer
and pay them more.
Second, the discouraged who quit looking
for jobs during the recession were not
counted t as unemployed. Now they have
come back to hunt for jobs and fall into the
category of the unemployed. Consequently,
the unemployment rate won't go down as
fast as the production rate increases.
Third and most serious, "a lot of people
out there don't have skills needed for jobs,"
MacPhee said, since the number of illiterate
Americans is surprisingly high and a lot of
people lack technical skills.
Another problem is that government
spending is increasing faster than tax reve
nue, MacPhee said, and the nation cannot
afford to continue such spending without
causing higher inflation. As a result, infla
tion may cause another recession, he said.
It's difficult for leaders in this country to
decide which part of government spending
should be cut, he said. And yet, raising taxes
to help government revenues is politically
unpopular, he said.
At the same time, the size of the deficit
causes the Federal Reserve System to ex
pand the money supply,' he said, and too
much money flow will result in inflation.
MacPhee suggested two solutions for
these problems. He said the government
should divert spending away from defense
into education and training of workers. And
the Federal Reserve System should allow
the money supply to grow only moderately,
he said.
According to an article in the Wall Street
Journal the target range of annual growth
rates in the money supply set by the Federal
Reserve System is 4 to 8 percent, but this
year the rate has been 13.5 percent, Mac
Phee said.
In Nebraska, the unemployment rate is
lower than the national average. However,
that doesn't mean job opportunities in Ne
braska are 1 etter, he said.
As-people got laid off from jobs in Ne
braska, they went to work on their farms,
their houses, or went to school, he said. They
were not counted in the labor force, and
their return to look for jobs tightens the job
market, he said.
Nebraskans could benifit from a declin
ing dollar, he said. If this nation buys more
foreign goods, the value of the dollar may go
down, he said. When this happens, foreign
countries will find U.S. exports cheaper and
will buy more from this country, he said. As
a state exporting agricultural products, Ne
braska could gain from this trend.
Agriculture task forces
set hearings on Friday
The Agriculture 2001 Committee task
forces on crops and natural resources will
hold public hearings on the East Campus of
the University of Nebraska-Lincoln on July
22.
University of Nebraska Regents estab
lished the Agriculture 2001 commitee in
January to study the impact of present agri
cultural trends in Nebraska to the year 2001.
The committee will then make recom
mendations to the Institute of Agriculture
and Natural Resources at UN-L.
The NatuaraL Resources task force sees
water resource development as a top pri
ority in the state, as well as methods and
techniques to preserve water quality
The hearings will be held in the East
Campus Student Union at 9:30 a.m. Room
numbers will be posted in the Union lobby.
if X J j , -
ts v' .
;T' VS : ;
f
Photo by Davs Wessiy
Followers of the self-ordained Rev. Sun Myung
Moon sing at Centennial Mall Tuesday. Members
were instructed by police not to create a disturb
ance or solicit their views without personal consent.
The Unification Church has an office at 13 and O
streets.
New $'s for ag program
INSIDE
Tops in Pops: Def Leppard
tops Lincoln record sales
page 7
Procastinators should seek
help, now page 3
The Zoo Bar: Still Lincoln's
blues hangout page 6
AIDS: Nebraskans have lit
tle to fear page 6
BY DAVID TROUDA
A new $1.4 million agricultural conserva
tion program, designed to help educate
farmers and save energy, has been an
nounced by Gov. Bob Kerrey.
The five year program centers on three
concerns to Nebraska farmers and ranch
ers: irrigation and water management, con
servation tillage and ecofallow methods.
According to Elbert Dickey, extension
agriculture engineer for the University of
Nebraska, the program is "not a research,
but an educational project," offering im
provments farmers can make on their own
land.
Dickey was named co-leader of the proj
ect along with Gail Wicks, N.U. extension
weed specialist, and Paul Fischbach, an
N.U. extension irrigation expert
The program will concentrate on six
areas across the state with Wicks in-charge
of two areas in western Nebraska.
The other four will be in eastern and cen
tral Nebraska, two focusing on irrigation
and water conservation and two concerned
with tillage.
Dickey said selection of target areas will
depend on an area's need. -For example, if
an area has a particular problem with till
age, it will be looked at closely. A second
prerequisite will be finding an extension spe
cialist who is willing to make the change in
the direction of his or her current program.
That will mean giving 15 to 20 percent of
a person's time toward the program, Dickey
said.
Six extension technologists, one for each
area, will be chosen to help the extension
specialists in each area.
Dickey said one of his goals is to accu
rately document the program's progress in
the beginning and then return and compare
changes which have taken place.
The program's goals are to expand by 20
percent the amount of tillage and ecofallow
taking place now, and reducing the energy
used for irrigation by 20 percent and water
consumption by 10 percent.
Conservation is important according to
Gov. Kerrey. While energy costs have mod
erated, Nebraska is still heavily dependent
- on sources outside the state for supplies.
Total project funding is $1,487,815. Half a
million is coming from the governor's
Energy Overcharge Fund. The" N.U. Foun
dation is matching that amount with the
$337,000 balance coming from the N.U. Insti
tute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Roy Arnold, vice chancellor for the
IANR, said the first year budget will be
about one-fifth or $1C3,CC0.
"The foundation has some unrestricted
funds and we will also be seeking some addi
tional funds from other sources," Arnold
said.
If successful, program sponsors foresee
potential savings in labor, energy, water and
soil erosion