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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (July 7, 1994)
Most common cancer also among most preventable by Martna Dunn Staff Reporter The days when bronzed goddesses crowded the Hollywood big screen and lined the pages of fashion maga zines are over — pale is in. Actresses’ livelihoods depend on their looks, said Joleen Huneke, a cancer control administrator for the Nebraska Department of Heal th. Con sequently, when they are told that the sun will damage their skin and make them age faster, they will do anything possible to prevent that, she said. However, the trend in Hollywood doesn’t seem to be spreading across the country very fast. According to the American Cancer Society, about 600,000 Americans are diagnosed with skin cancer each year, making it the most common form of cancer. Huneke said skin cancer rates are increasing dramatically. She blames this to a careless attitude toward the sun. “People are not taking near the precautions they need to be,” Huneke said. Since most young people don’t know anyone with skin cancer, she said, they think it won’t happen to them. “When we ’re young, we think we’ re invincible,” she said. Heather Anderson, a business ad ministration major at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said she sun bathes everyday the weather is nice, despite the danger. “1 do hear (the warnings) but 1 think it won’t happen to me,” she said. Anderson said she thinks she looks better when she’s tan. “Its just like when you wear make up and do your hair, you think you look better,” she said. “When I’m tan, I think I look better.” Through the past several decades, the tan has been promoted as a healthy look, Huneke said. This attitude isn’t as dangerous for people who tan easily, she said, but people who bum need to be more -M Its just like when you wear make-up and do your hair, you think you look better. “When I’m tan, I think I look better. — Heather Anderson, UNL student -ft careful. Huneke said people who have fair skin, red pr blond hair and blue eyes arc more likely to develop skin cancer. This group needs to take more precau tions when going out into the sun, she said. These precautions include wear ing sunscreen with a Sun Protection Factor of at least 15, or wearing a long-sleeved shirt and a wide-brimmed hat that covers the neck and cars, she said. It is also best, she said, to avoid the sun’s most intense rays, which occur from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Huneke said she thinks education is the key to eliminating skin cancer. “With more knowledge, things change,” she said. “Look at smoking. It used to be the thing to do, now it’s not.” But old habits die hard, she said. Older people who have been in the sun their whole lives and not had any bad side effects are going to be hard to reach, Huneke said. They think if it hasn’t happened yet, it won’t ever happen, she said. This belief couldn ’ t be more wrong, she said, because skin cancer is a disease thatdevelopsovera lifetimeof sun exposure. Education should begin early, she said, so children will develop healthy habits. Huneke said if children learn the dangers of sun exposure and how to protect themselves, they can avoid skin cancer. Huneke said she knows it is unre alistic to ask people to stay out of the sun. Whittier Continued from Page 1 The superintendent in 1977, John Prasch, effectively told the board that if federal agencies were to look at Whittier, they might say the board’s actions approached segregation. Whittier became a school with a 34 percent minority enrollment, in a sys tem that was 2 percent minority as a whole, the Journal reported. Herbert Slortx was principal at Whittier when it closed. The vole was not unexpected, he said. There had been talk of the school closing since 1970, Stortz said, but it had just been talk. In the end, it came down to what was best for the kids, he said. “I think they tried as long as they could to keep it (open),” Slortz said. “It finally reached a point of no re turn.” Whittier had 38 faculty on staff for only 300 students when it closed. Not only was it inefficient, Stortz said,but there were quest ions as to what qual i ty of education was being provided. “What kind of band can you have when you only have 15 or 18 members in the band?” Stortz said. “But we still had a band.” UNL now owns much of the old Malone neighborhood, including Bancroft and Whittier. Bradley said it was no surprise. “There were two plans at one time,” he said. “One was made public and one wasn’t.” The public plan showed a North east Radial connecting 48th Street to downtown and slicing through the Malone neighborhood. The other showed the university pushing it’s way in. “The university gets what they want,” he said. “It will happen more. ’ Other messages scrawled on a side walk that Sunday read: “You know we need it—I know we need it — If only they would realize it.” “Keep Whittier open and keep our tears away.” Before they left Whittier that year, .students and faculty put together a time capsule and buried it in one of the walls of the old school. Included in the mementos was a broken egg — to symbolize the stu dents. The time capsule remains. - - James Mehsling/DN Post'Nickels SEMI-ANNUAL Clearance *30% savings Additional Reductions . • • Don't Miss This One! Post Nickel 14th & P great clothes at great prices. mJ Layaways & Bankcards Welcome