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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 1992)
Expert studies war, children Healing process involves listening, researcher says By Steve Smith Staff Reporter On ly people, not time, can cure the effects of trauma on children in war ravaged countries, an international expert said Monday. “There’s a load of tension and anxi ety stored in these children’s memo ries that has left them bound and helpless,” Magnc Raundalcn said. “Only people can make the differ ence. Time docs not heal these wounds.” Raundalcn, a leading researcher on the response of children to life threatening situations, spoke to about 50 people at the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery. Rnnnrt:ilf*n u/hr» >»< ihn . J University of Bergen in Norway, re flected on his experiences with chil dren in Uganda, Sudan, Mozambique, Israel’s West Bank and Gaz.a Strip, Iraq and the former Yugoslavia. His lecture was part of an all-day conference with international and lo cal experts on “Children and War: U.S. Responsibilities at Home and Abroad.” The conference, sponsored by UNL’s Center on Children, Families and the Law, featured films, lectures and discussions on the psychological effects of war on children, interna tional law and the plight of refugee families in Lincoln. Raundalcn said the first step to helping children in war-lorn coun tries regain a sense of normalcy was to simply listen. “Being able to listen about the most severe atrocities that they may have experienced is the first step,” he said. “And someone must understand it,” Dannrlalon cm/l iKn boi/ ti/oc • n form cohesion in life through expres sion. “A traumatized life can be knitted together through expression of these events,” he said. “It can form a bridge that will lead to eventual recovery.” As a UNICEF consultant, Raundalcn has designed mental health and education programs for children in war zones in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. He told of a boy in Bosnia who had seen his family killed during a gre nade attack. Raundalcn said he spent several days with the boy as he re counted the horror. “He told me at first he wished that he had died along with his parents,” Raundalcn said. “But now, he praises the doctors and nurses that saved his life. But he still has the terrible pic tures in his head—hedbesn’t think he will live to adulthood.' “But he lives today, and he hopes In livn Inmnrrnu/ ” Burr installs agriculture news system By Trish Spencer Staff Reporter_ Members of the Residence Hall Association voted Monday night to pay S399 for a year’s subscription to the Farm Dayta system that was in stalled in the lobby of Burr Residence Hall last month. Douglas Olsen, vice president of the Burr/Feddc Residence Associa tion, said the system transmitted agri cultural news, weather forecasts and the futures markets to a monitor in the Burr lobby through a satellite on the roof. The futures markets include in formation from the Chicago Board of Trade and the Chicago Mercantile, Exchange. Students Vho lake certain agricul tural classcs\ such as Agricultural Economics 21 l,or who sell livestock or grains, use the system the most, Olsen said. Agriculture students must keep up on the weather and foreign trade mar kets because they affect the demand for grain and live stock, Olsen said. About 25 Burr residents used the system the first week, he said, and now 50 or 60 residents use it regu larly. Some of the programs the system offers, such as the weather, benefit students in non-agriculture majors, he said. Olsen said the weather segment broke the United States and Nebraska into sections and provided in forma- * lion three to five days or six to 10 days c in advance. 1 “It’s as good as a TV newscast,” he i said. Students who do not live in Burr . also arc welcome to use the system, which is on 24 hours, Olsen said. In other business, Chuck Rensink, | RHA adviser, reminded students that live greenery, including Christmas trees, was not allowed in the resi- ( dencc halls. Heath Kramer, Harper-Schramm- L Smith Complex president, also an- ■■ nounccd that the complex was spon- I soring a “Pre-Finals Blowout Bmcc” I Thursday from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. I UNL may introduce visitors’ center By Matt Woody Staff Reporter_ New students may have an easier lime acquainting themselves with the University of Ncbraska-Lincoln in the future if a visitors’ center becomes a reality. A visitors’ center would make it easier for new students and parents to get information about the university before classes start, said John Benson, director of institutional research and planning. / Prospective students now attend New Student Enrollment or visit the Office of High School and College Relations, located in the Administra tion Building. Benson said a visitors’ center would offer advantages over the current of fice, which is hard to find and not close enough to parking lots. A visitors’ center was proposed as part of a study about uses for the land at the southern edge of City Campus. University planners arc looking at ways to enhance the campus along R Street, from 10th to 17th streets. They arc creating a long-range plan for development that will fit in with the university’s goals for the future, Benson said. The staff also is looking at ways to create a transition zone between down town Lincoln and UNL, and to pro vide more space for administrative offices, the theatre arts and dance department and international pro grams, Benson said. Benson emphasized that there were no concrete plans for the land yet. But, he said, UNL wants to be ready so that “when there is an opportunity to build, then what we have is a loca tion for our comprehensive plans.” Buddy Continued from Page 1 Sandra Miller, a drug and alcohol counselor ai the Lincoln/ Lancaster County Drug Project and a student at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, said one of the things she gained from her experi ence as an AIDS buddy was a sense of her own mortality. Miller also realized the complex ity of the disease. In Nebraska, AIDS still is seen as linked to gay men, she said, but it is not limited to them. AIDS often affects people on lower socioeconomic levels with many problems besides the disease, Miller said. “People think when they gel involved it will be ‘clean,’.’* she said. “They don’t realize (the patients) are in crisis.” Miller said her training as a social worker and experience as a drug counselor had been helpful in the buddy program. For example, she said, she is able to sec that a client with a substance abuse problem has little motivation to slop using drugs once diagnosed with AIDS, while other buddies may feel that is the first step a client should lake. The complexity of AIDS includes economic issues and grid, Miller said, as well as personal and social issues. Despite their differences, the buddies share a certain idealism, - it That’s where being a buddy... fills that gap where other people are not able to help. Schroeder legislative aide -ff " and a sense that their efforts arc worthwhile. Hcjduk described his new client as someone who was fairly well-set financially with a good social support system, whose only association with Hcjduk right now was his illness. Consequently, the new client has preferred distance in the buddy partnership. “Part of being a buddy is knowing when to lay off,” Hcjduk said. “When he’s ready ... and needs me to wash dishes or drive him to the doctor, that’ll be fine.” Being a buddy to someone with AIDS demands patience, hard work and, Hcjduk said,'“doing some fairly unglamorous things.” Schi\nkc explained her motiva tion for involvement in the buddy program: “These arc people who need help. They’re no different than the victims of Hurricane Andrew or in Bangladesh.” Miller mentioned the importance of a human clement among the statistics surrounding deaths from AIDS. The AIDS vigil in October, in which one person stood apart from ihc larger group to represent each person who had died from the disease, was meaningful to her, she said. Hejduk’s client died almost two years ago, but Hcjduk has a strong reminder of him through the Names Project Quilt. Hejduk’s client was instrumental in bringing parts of the quill to the Midwest for viewing. About 250 volunteers statewide work with the Nebraska AIDS project and provide services including the AIDS Buddy Pro gram. “Volunteers arc the backbone of the project,” Schocn said. “There’s no way the staff could provide all the services needed by a person living w ith AIDS.” Sehroeder said many people with HIV or even AIDS did not show any outward symptoms. Regardless of the condition of an individual with AIDS, however, one needs not be an AIDS buddy to help, he said. “The most important thing you can do is be a friend to anyone you know with HIV/AIDS,” Sehroeder said. “Just be the best friend you can be.” All kinds of emotions are involved in the experience of a family dealing with AIDS, Sehroeder said. Many families cannot deal with AIDS or, in some eases, the sexuality of the ill family member, he said, so they try to hide or deny it. “Thai’s where being a buddy . .. fills that gap where other people are not able to help,” Sehroeder said. POLICE REPORT Beginning midnight Saturday 9:11 a.m.— Missing person,Cathcr Residence Hall. Beginning midnight Sunday 7:49 p.m. — Follow-up, missing person located, Cather Residence Hall. . 10:38 p.m. — Purse stolen, Ne braska Union, S70. We’re Making a Difference. Americarf Heart Association f WIC Provides FREE FOOD for pregnant women, infants, and children under the age of five. FOR MORE INFORMATION, V^CALL: 1-800-WIC-1171 r — — — — — — — — — — -% i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i ! i I Every7 Tuesday I 9 p m. 1 I 1823 "0" Street * NO COVER ———J SEE THE STAFF AT THE UNIVERSITY MEDICAL ASSOCIATES EYE CLINIC! . A full-time optometrist is now on hand to provide contact ens fittings and low vision exams. To celebrate this special iddition, the Eye Clinic is pleased to offer all UNMC, UNO, and JNL faculty, students, and their immediate families, the follow ng services during November and December, 1992, and [anuary, 1993: >* Routine Eye Exam.$35.00 Discount on all NEW glasses prescriptions ordered at Benson Optical.$35.00 Routine Eye Exam, Contact Lens Fit, 1 pair UNIVERSITY of disposable lenses, 1 follow-up visit.$115.00 /fsSOQATES lall 559-4063 and make your appointment today Uravtmty itrect Address: 3925 EDcwcy; Omaha, NE 68105 Breakfast ^F7322JE3yi£i]^B| 8 A.M. Moday-Friday Breakfast Fajitas Danish §^E]|2""?^Z\!"22jgMjl Bagels 435BB^^^Wi Be a Cultural Ambassador through the JAPAN EXCHANGE AND TEACHING PROGRAM Teach English/ Work in International Relations APPLICATION QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Have excellent knowledge ^ and usage of English 2. Have a desire to live in Japan 3. Hold U.S. citizenship ^ 4. Hold or obtain at least ■ a Bachelor's degree L. by July 20,1993 IT. V FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT IMMEDIATEL Y: Consulate General of Japan JET Program HV 911 Main Street, Suite 2519 Kansas City, MO 64105 . (816)471-0111 | DEADLINE FOR RECEIPT OF APPLICATION IS DECEMBER 15,1992