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