The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, January 29, 1999, Page 3, Image 3
Students, staff struggle with child-care shortage CARE from page 1 lists,” Elowsky said. The struggle to find primary child care is not a problem only Elowsky faces. With more than 400 faculty families at the university and an estimated 1,200 students raising children under the age of 6, the need for quality, affordable daycare near the campus is great, said Nebraska Unions Director Daryl Swanson, who oversees University Child Care. While Swanson said it is difficult to estimate how much more child care is demanded, a substantial short age exists. “The 95 spots for children at the University Child Care Project are not meeting the demand,” Swanson said. More than 17 percent of faculty members and staff who responded to the Bureau of Sociological Research survey said they currently need child care. The shortage of child care has severe consequences, Swanson said. Students who can’t afford or don’t have access to it may be forced to drop out for a semester - or for good. Elowsky had to skip out for a semester. bwanson said there are other sources for care besides the universi ty-sponsored day care located in the YWCA building. The Ruth Staples Child Development Laboratory accepts children. Employees of the laborato ry are looking for certification in child-related fields, said Tish Rowland, director of University Child Care. He also said a program called Child Care Connection, which receives corporate funding, works to train in- home providers and connect them to day-care seekers. Problems still arise for some, even with those options. Close prox imity to campus is even more impor tant when children are infants. Elowsky needed to be close to her son so she could breastfeed him. One professor allowed Elowsky to use her office to feed her child because she didn’t have access to a day-care center. "* Trying to find a home care provider is also a difficult process, Elowsky said. After interviewing numerous candidates, she finally came across one she thought would be good with her son. After she looked at the back ground information, she found out the provider’s husband had a record of pinching children. After switching day cares and providers numerous times, Elowsky said University Child Care has pro vided the best care. An excellent staff and a safe and educational atmosphere is what makes the center better than others, Elowsky said. Rowland said she hears first hand frustration from numerous par ents because of the child care short age. Despite University Child Care’s reputation among many as a premier facility, Rowland said some still get frustrated when they have a spot but are forced to make other arrange ments or miss work or class when their child gets sick. “We have a real strong sick poli cy,” Rowland said. Swanson said the center did not provide sick care because of the hefty price tag that accompanies hiring additional personnel and finding additional facilities. The same price tag accompanies infant and after school care, other services parents are looking for. The only solution Swanson sees to eliminating the day-care shortage is building a new child care center. If University Child Care could acquire or build a building at no cost to the program, Swanson said, high quality, low-cost care would be read ily accessible to parents. While a new center is unrealistic without a subsidy from a corporation or the university, Swanson said uni versity officials are dedicated to find ing a solution to the child care prob lem UNL faces. “I think there are administrators who are looking for an opportunity to improve child care,” he said. “I think it is only a matter of time before improvements will be made.” Swanson said addressing the shortage would also be addressing a larger problem - the permanent poverty of students and single parents who don’t get a college education. Sometimes this is solely because of a lack of access to affordable care. “People talk about breaking the poverty circle, and I think this would be one way to do it,” Swanson said. “Otherwise, they may well remain in substandard employment for the rest of their life.” Police surveillance benefits from donation ■ Union Bank presents a professional-quality $1,200 VCR to the LPD. By Josh Funk Senior staff writer Last week a Lincoln teen-ager turned himself in to police after a pic ture of his ATM robbery was broad cast on the news. The 17-year-old was shown pointing a handgun at an ATM cus tomer and demanding money. He took $2 from the man and fled. Police spent hours analyzing the security videotape to find the frame of film that later ended up on the news. One of the numerous Crime Stoppers calls made to police after the broadcast was from the robber himself. That criminal was caught because police were able to analyze security videotape and find his picture. Often, police use surveillance tapes to catch criminals, and now, thanks to Union Bank, it will be easi er for Lincoln Police to capture crooks on tape. The bank donated a professional quality VCR to police Thursday. The new VCR will allow police to search security tapes frame-by-frame to find the culprit. “At the bank, we realized the need for better video,” Union Bank repre sentative Alan Fosler said. “Then we realized that we couldn’t do anything without the police.” Lincoln Police Chief Tom Casady said the bank offered the VCR before he realized it was needed. “No matter how good the camera is, we need a good piece of equip ment to edit it,” Casady said. The $1,200 machine lets police advance the video slowly and accu rately, losing only two to three frames of video between each screen. The old machine would lose four to five frames of video between each screen, and it was difficult to return to an image after passing it. “A lot of times on the old system you’d see a picture you want and then not be able to stop on that frame,” said Investigator Paul Wandell, who uses the technology often as part of the technical investigations unit. Casady said they use pictures taken from surveillance video all the time to catch people because it is more reliable than descriptions from victims. Forum reveals need for more day care By Bernard Vogelsang Staff writer Care for sick children, quality of child-care staff and affordability of day-care centers are issues UNL faculty members, staff and students with young children want to see improved. That is the conclusion of a forum about child care, held Thursday morning in the Nebraska East Union. The Chancellor’s Commission on the Status of Women sponsored the discussion. Forum member Mary Rickmeyer, child-care director for the Gallup Organization, said the quality of day care is important for a worker’s productivity.' “Poor child care can be a reason for parents to stay at home from work if their child has a sniffle,” Rickmeyer said. Because of factors related to day care, UNL faculty members and staff missed 1,989 days from spring of 1997 until spring of 1998, according to a survey published by UNL’s Bureau of Sociological Research. About 50 UNL faculty mem bers, staff and students attended the forum. Many of them said afford ability of child care was a problem. Daryl Swanson, Nebraska Unions director, said UNL pays $17,500 annually for University Child Care. The care is a $450,000 enterprise, he said. Therefore, he has petitioned the UNL administra tion this year for an additional $5,000. “The only quality child care is a subsidized one,” Swanson said. Swanson said University Child Care served only a small part of the demand. The center looks after 94 chil dren every day. It has 24 kids on the waiting list. “With more subsidy, the center can easily take care of 200 chil dren,” Swanson said. Forum member Julie Torquati, UNL Child Development Lab direc tor, said UNL should consider child care an investment instead of an expenditure. “Child care is an investment in personnel and students,” Torquati said. Chancellor’s commission mem ber Jan Deeds said the forum affirmed the commission’s con cerns. The commission will forward the problems to Chancellor Moeser. “We will advocate to put the suggestions of forum members and audience into planning,” Deeds said. Deeds said the forum was valu able because it encouraged groups other than the chancellor’s commis sion to acknowledge child care as an important issue. “Sharing the same problems gives people a voice,” she said. f AUDITIONS! ] For Singers & Dancers Worlds of Fun is searching for the Midwest’s most talented entertainers to fill openings for our spectacular 1999 season of shows. From our 60's & 70’s rock review, "Stax of Wax”, to our big band show, "Sin gin, S win gin, & Rockin the House", you could be in the spotlight entertaining thousands of Worlds of Fun guests. Performing at Worlds of Fun is FUN, and it can be that important First Step toward a professional career. If you work die entire season (six days per week in the summer & weekends in the spring and fall), you could earn over $8000! * AUDITION INSTRUCTIONS Singers, please sing one verse and the chorus of two contrasting styles of song; one up-tempo and one ballad. Sing any type of music you enjoy, such as rock, gospel, show tunes, etc. (No Rap.) Please limit your audition to no more than two minutes. Dancers, please prepare a iaTrz routine (no longer than two minutes) and one song to sing. YOU MUST PROVIDE YOUR OWN ACCOMPANIMENT whether it be a pianist or a cassette tape. We will provide a cassette deck and a piano. A cappella auditions will not be accepted. We are not auditioning bands, solo instrumentalists or dramatic actors. AUDITION LOCATIONS KANSAS CITY. MO Saturday, January 30 Park Place Hotel (Off Front St. at 1-435) Registration: 9-1 AMES, IA Tuesday, February 9 Iowa State University Memorial Union - Pioneer Room - Registration: 3-5 MANHATTAN, KS Tuesday, February 2 Kansas State University K-State Union - K.,S. & U. Rooms - Registration: 3-5 KANSAS CITY, MO Sunday, February 7 Park Place Hotel (Off Front St. at 1-435) Registration: 10-2 LINCOLN, NE Tuesday, February 16 University of Nebraska Nebraska Union - Ballroom Registration: 3-5 LAWRENCE, KS Thursday, February 18 Kansas University Kansas Union - KS Room Registration: 3-5