Teaching nglish,
spreading faith
give her insight
By Adeana Leftin
Special to the Daily Nebraskan
11 was the empty eyes ot a ch 11 d l ha t
propelled UNL graduate Susan Bcrke
into the Killing Fields of Cambodia.
Bcrke, a 26-year-old native of
Eustis, returned to Lincoln this spring
from a year of teaching English as a
second language to medical students
in Phnom Penh and doing missionary
work.
The college student, who grew up
surrounded by a homogenous Ger
man and Lutheran culture, was
touched by photos of children at a
concert benefit forCompassion Inter
national.
“It wasn’t that the eyes were sad;
they were just so empty,” Bcrke said.
“I thought if I could do something in
the world so children never had to
look like that, I would.”
Bcrke, who majors in human de
velopment and the family, graduated
from the University ofNcbraska-Lin
coln in 1989 and forgot about the
child’s eyes until she began consider
ing graduate schools, _
Then, she was reminded.
After receiving her teaching cer
tificate in December 1991, Bcrke
sought employment oversees. Most
international schools required more
experience than she had, so Bcrke
began looking into volunteer pro
grams.
She didn’t have to go far.
Missions Abroad Placement Ser
vice is a service through Berkc’s
church denomination. Assemblies of
God, that places people with skills in
areas of need.
Cambodia allows missionary
groups into the nation only if the
organization also performs some sort
of social work. Besides Engl ish teach
ers, MAPS sent translators, nurses
and orphanage workers with Berke.
MAPS offered Berke placement in
Cambodia and Brussels, Belgium.
“If I only had one experience over
seas,” she said, “I wanted it to be
something very different.”
So she chose Cambodia.
Berke arrived in Cambodia during
the spring of 1993, just as the nation’s
first free elections were being con
ducted.
From 1975 to 1979 Cambodia was
ruled by the Khmer Rouge. While
many people were moved to rural
areas to bring about a green revolu
tion — one to boost agriculture —
anyone with any sort of education,
even as little as elementary level, was
killed. '
Official reports have said 2 to 3
million people were killed, but Berke
saidlhcCambodian people bcl ieved it
was closer to 4 to 5 million.
“I didn’t meet anybody who hadn’t
lost most of their family in the war,”
Berke said, “and they weren’t just
murdered, but tortured.”
Often. Berke said, Cambodians
would be tortured and then taken to a
certain field to dig their own grave.
Then, their throats would be slit.
Those fields became what gener
ally are known as the Killing Fields.
In 1989, the United Nat ions moved
into Cambodia and began to promote
free and fair elections. In May 1993.
soon after Berke arrived, those elec
tions took place.
“I saw the change that many West
ern soldiers can make in a country,”
Berke said.
Some changes were good; others
were not.
Close to 25,000 Western soldiers
brought a lot of money into the coun
try and stimulated the economy by
their demand for Western food and
restaurants. However, the soldiers also
brought a demand for prostitution and
caused an increase in the spread of
AIDS.
Berke said there were fewer than
100 cars in Cambodia before the
United Nations brought in 17,000,
disrupting the country’s transporta
tion system.
“It helped the economy and in
c reased c orru p t ion w i t h a lot of money
and the opportunity for that,” she
said.
Besides teaching beginning-level
English classes to medical students,
Berke spent much of her time in Cam
bodia working in area churches as a
worship leader and Sunday School
teacher.
“I still can’t believe what I’ve
done,” Berke said. k*I get invited to
places to speak as ‘the missionary to
Cambodia.’ One thing I’ve learned is
I’m just me, and I’m just very human.
“I disappointed myself a lot over
there with my pride and selfishness.”
It is Bcrke’s commitment to the
people and the children she worked
with that will take hcrback toCambo
If I only had one —
experience o verseas.
I wanted it to be
something very
different.
—Berke
UNI Graduate
dia in July.
“Before I went, it was the fact that
I made a decision and I wouldn’t go
back on it,” she said. “Now, the rela
tionships that I made with some of the
Cambodian people, the need in their
life and the need of the country—and
that I know that believing in Jesus
Christ can make a difference in their
lire.”
Berke will teach international chil
dren, children of missionaries and
diplomats,at the International School
of Phnom Penh for one year.
A fte r ne x 1 ye ar, she ’ s not su re w he re
she’ll end up.
“Partofme wished... I could move
out to the provinces and let the people
really see my life.”
Berke said the country was pre
dominately Buddh ist and often treated
the message she told of Jesus Christ as
just another story.
“There’s no impact until they see
yourlife,” Berke said. “When they sec
your life, they decide there must be
something to what you say.
“Before I went, it was the knowl
edge that believing in Christ could
change their life,but now it’s that I’ve
seen it can happen.”
* »
Residency
Continued from Page 1
out-of-state tuition scholarships de
signed to ofTset tuition costs for excep
tional and minority students.
A 20 percent limit on the the num
ber of out-of-state students that could
receive scholarships was proposed by
Blank, but later withdrawn.
NU President Dennis Smith said
he was skeptical of the administration
setting limits on admissions — the
cap was not needed.
Smith said if the NU system lost
students, it lost money.
Regent Nancy Hoch of Nebraska
City said competition in the graduate
colleges was fierce. Even with the
new residency requirements, she said,
no admissions would be lost.
Regents considered, and later re
jected, moving the admissions dale up
to the fall of the 1994 school year.
Regent Rosemary SkrupaofOmaha
said the University ofNcbraska Medi
cal Center already had sent its accep
tance letters. I mplement ing the change
now could pose some problems with
the out-of-state students and their par
ents. she said.
NU General Counsel Richard
Wood said NU would have bigger
worries than angry parents if it moved
the implementation date up.
The NU system could face a breach
ofcontraclsuit ifregents implemented
the change this fall, he said.
The NU system could put up some
legal arguments for implementing the
change. Wood said, but he couldn’t
guarantee they would work.
Jones said the regents had a basic
i merest in increasi ng the requ ircments
and providing scholarships to recruit
out-of-state students.
“Part of out interest is to continue
our abil ily to recruit from out ofstatc.”
he said.
Jones said if the change backfired
on the regents and fewer out-of-state
students came to Nebraska, it could
take several years to correct the defi
ciency.
Proposal
Continued from Page 1
or individual administrations for the
The fees may be smaller than
Nebraska’s peer universities across
America, Loudon said, but that d idn’t
diminish the issue’s importance.
“1 think it’s very appropriate for
you (the regents) to approve oral least
be aware of what it really costs” he
said.
Smith said the original proposal
got into micromanagement — some
thing central administration and the
regents did not want to do.
“At some point, if the university is
going to function effectively ... there
has to be some authority delegated to
the chancellors,” he said.
Regents Don Blank of McCook
and Nancy Hoch of Nebraska City
said the president should report the
increases, but the regents should not
micromanage.
University of Nebraska at Omaha
student regent Matt Schulz amended
the bill to remove a March 1 deadline
for notification of the increases.
Schulz also amended the proposal
to remove the requirement for re
gents’ approval.
Loudon said the watered-down
version was not what he wanted. How
mtmammm ■■■■■■ m mmmmmam
ever, if il meant getting part of the
proposal passed, he said he would
support the amendment.
Regent Robert Allen of Hastings
said problems with fees arose because
there was usually little warning.
“When you tell people it has to
come out of their poeketbooks, it’s
tough,” he said.
The proposal passed with only
Regent John Payne of Kearney voting
against it.
(— Police Report — (
Beginning midnight Wednesday .
8:58 a.m. — Television and video '
cassette recorder stolen, Ruth |
Leverton Hall, $700 loss |
10:32 a.m. — Bike stolen, Schramm i
Residence Hall courtyard, $235 loss .
2:39 p.m. — Bookbag stolen, Ne I
braska Union, $86 loss. |
5:15 p.m. — Violation of protection |
order. 8th and P streets .
6:05 p.m. — Larceny, Cornerstone, •
purse and contents taken, $120 loss I
9:39 p.m. — Vandalism/criminal mis- |
chief, broken windshield, NETV park i
ing lot, $250 damage .
10:29 p.m. — Stolen checkbook, I
Seileck Residence Hall I
I
Beginning midnight Thursday |
V « • a
12:47 a.m. — Outside police assis- I
tance.partyarrestedonwarrants.26th ■
Street from Y to W streets
9:05 a.m.—Larceny, computer taken, I
Henzlik Hail, $2,260 loss |
11:16 a.m.—Miscellaneous call, Ne i
braska Union .
2:16 p.m. — Vandalism/cnminalmis '
chief, window broken, 19th Street from |
U to T streets, $75 damage |
5:21p.m.—Accident, School of Den- i
tistry parking lot, no injuries, $600
damage I
8:57 p.m. — Larceny, radar detector |
taken, Hewit Athletic Academic Cen- I
ter, $148 loss i
I 11:28 p.m. — Phone calls, Sandoz J
I Residence Hall I
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