The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, April 01, 1992, Page 6, Image 6
Students say service personally rewarding Award-winning volunteer likes helping others help themselves By Cindy Kimbrough Senior Reporter_ _ While most UNL students trav eled across the nation for Spring Break or stayed home to catch up on their sleep, one student stayed in Lincoln, diligently writing papers and catch ing up on his homework. Thad Standley, a senior manage ment major and one of three recent University of Nebraska-Lincoln win ners of the General Motors Volunteer Spirit Award, said it was hard to find time to do all the things he wanted to do. Budgeting time and priorities is essential to balancing school with his volunteer work for the Nebraska Association of Student Councils, the campus Activities anu rrograms nasi Campus office and the Veterans Administration Medical Center, he said. But the lack of free time is worth it, Standley said. “I do have a reason why I get so involved,” he said. “The things I get involved in mean a lot to me. I enjoy them and find (volunteering) reward ing.” His work at the CAP office and the 930 hours of work he pul in at the Veterans Administration Medical Center over four years in high school was satisfying because he was given the opportunity to do something he loves — work with people. At the CAP office, Standley is the special-project intern who works with UPC executives and committee chair persons to help facilitate training programs. At the Veterans Center, he partici pated in recreational therapy with patients, which included anything from running bingo to making popcorn and escorting patients around the center, he said. , Standlcy also said the more than 2,200 hours he put in at NASC help ing high school students with leader ship development for the past five years turned into one of his top priori ties. “I like to help others help them selves,” he said. During those 2,200 hours, Stan dley said, he helped students with curriculum planning through summer workshops and minisessions. In addition, Standley helped to form a diversity committee within the NASC to increase minority involvement and was chairman of the newly created committee for two years. By working with high school stu iKronivK tho \I A QtQnHlPV said, he is preparing future leaders and volunteers, “Ilwas really rewarding and italso helped me out... to develop my own organizational devclc ..rnent skills and abilities,” he said. And that will help him in the fu ture, as he is planning to graduate in May 1993 and find work in organiza tional change and development or undertake graduate studies. When his college career is over, Standlcy said, his volunteer work will continue. He has no real long-range plans, he said, except that he wants to make an impact with whatever he docs. “I want to make a difference in what I do,” he said. Standley said he would encourage anyone to volunteer their time and skills to any organization they thought worthwhile. “Volunteering is incredibly impor ——^^““^1 Standley - a It’s important to keep giving back to the community. It’s self ish not to take your experiences and not give anything back. Standley GM Volunteer Spirit Award winner -tf - tant,” he said. “I would encourage everyone to try it.” Besides the positive feeling ob tained from volunteering, he said there were other benefits, particularly to the community. “It’s important to keep giving back to the community,” he said. “It’s self ish not to lake your experiences and not give anything back.” Volunteer says organizations need time more than money By Cindy Kimbrough Senior Reporter_____ Jason Dean admits that purely selfish reasons—and not the good of the community — are the motivation behind his hours of volunteer work. Dean, one of the three UNL win ners of the General Motors Volunteer Spirit Award, said he got more out of volunteering than the people he helped did. “You can’t go away without tak ing something with you,” he said. While volunteering as a counselor at Camp CoHoLo for children with cancer, he said, he matured as a per son watching the children he coun seled grow. The children had such an optimistic look on life, he said, it was hard not to let their attitude rub off on him. Dean, who graduated from UNL in December with an art history de gree, said he also “met some neat people” as a volunteer with the Ne braska Human Resources Institute. As an institute volunteer, he coun seled a fourth grader and taught inter personal and leadership skills to chil dren at Lakeview School, 300 Capi tol Beach Blvd. Dean said volunteering seemed to come naturally to him because he was from a small town. Life was pretty boring there, he said, unless he could find things to do. Being a member of Farmhouse Fraternity also prompted him to vol unteer, he said. "It’s easy to get involved when Dean you see all the people around you doing stuff,” he said. In addition to his work with chil dren, Dean said he also was involved in the University Program Council, serving as co-chairman of the Kim ball-Lied Performing Arts Commit tee. In the time he had left after those activities, Dean was a copy editor for the grcck yearbook for a year. Now that he is looking for a job at a museum, Dean said he was also looking to volunteer for other local organizations, such as Planned Par enthood or a Big Brother program. Dean said organizations could use volunteers more than donations. “I think volunteering your lime is so much more valuable then donating * - your money to a volunteer organiza tion,” he said. __ _ . , . , I Freshmen: Got the "Want More Knowledge But Can't Afford College" Blues?Forget'em. 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GOLDEN VALLEY, MN 55427 an equal opportunity employer High School Continued from Page 1 students who may be forced to take classes students didn’t have to lake in the past,” she said. “Some students look forward to not taking math their senior year, and they may have to now.” But Schmidt said she thought higher standards would help students more than hinder them. “It is important that we let students know this proposal will be to their benefit,” she said. “These require ments would increase their options both in the majors they might con sider and in colleges that would con sidcr them.” While no action can be taken until the new standards are approved, Schmidt said she planned to commu nicate with schools about what would be required of their students. “We hope to start communicating with students as early as possible, maybe in the eighth or ninth grade,” she said. “We will also tell the people who teach and advise what the expec tations are so they can help the stu dents become better prepared.” Schmidt said the policy was not meant to keep students out of UNL, and it is flexible enough to allow for students who, for whatever reason, cannot gel all the required courses. However, she said, students who choose not to meet the proposed re quiremcnts would be hurting their chances of attending UNL and would be ruling out the opportunity to attend other colleges. “We’re helping students be more realistic about what they need to do to prepare for college, whether they go to UNL or not,’’ she said. “I think there are plenty of good, solid stu dents who will lake what they need to take.” The policy also will help students once they get to college, Schmidt said, by getting them into the classes they need to graduate in four years. “This is not just about taking classes,” she said. “We want it to be about what students learn in the classes and look at what the students gel out of these classes.” College Continued from Page 1 sen the university might look to state colleges,” he said. Mash said that Wayne State — like other state colleges in Nebraska — had a flexible admissions policy. He said the school was prepared to deal with students who needed extra help in completing their education. “We expect a certain number of students who are at risk to enroll at open-enrollment institutions,” he said. “We have support systems to deal with those students who have defi ciencies.” Mash said he considered Wayne State a good option for “at-risk” stu dents. “Our stance is: ‘Let us do what we can to get students to come to us better prepared, but regard less of how prepared they arc when they come, we have to have programs in place to give them a reasonable chance of success.’ “Our success is not based upon the entrance scores of our freshmen — it’s based upon what we do with them when we get them.” Robert Burns, president of Peru State College, said he did not think higher standards at UNL would rep resent a serious problem for Peru Stale. “I suspect there won’t be a major shift in students from one place to another,” he said. Bums said if Peru Stale did expe rience a significant increase in stu dents, it would be difficult to support them, but he said he did not think tougher adm issions standards at U NL would cause that to happen. He said that, while he supported UNL’s move to examine its admis sion standards, Peru State would continue its policy of open enroll ment. “We’re watching what’s going on,’’ he said. “I suspect we will be ready to take up the challenge, whatever hap pens at the university.” Sam Rankin, presidentofChadron State College, said he thought that as long as UNL provided adequate time for high school students to adapt to new standards, that they would not be a problem. “What is important is to provide enough time to prepare for this,” he said. Savidge Continued from Page 1 versity of Illinois in Champaign, Savidge was employed by the government of Guam. She tempo rarily relocated to Guam where she completed her dissertation on the brown tree snake. The decline of Guam’s bird population had baffled conserva tionists and scientists until Savidge discovered the culprit responsible for the near-extinction of birds. ‘‘At first when I started the research, there was some skepticism from some other scientists about the reason why the birds were going extinct,” she said. Scientists were skeptical of her theory that the brown tree snake was preying on the birds. Her research implicated the brown tree snake. Because of the results of Savidge’s study, measures have been taken to control the snake. Since leaving Guam in 1987 and coming to work at UNL, Savidgc has taught classes in the natural resources field. “I hope I can raise an interest in the conservation of wildlife and correct management,” she said.