Fort Hays State University - Reveille Yearbook (Hays, KS)

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For Pat Hagen, being different does not mean you Have to be alone . Being different doesn ' t mean you have to be alone . . Somebody special, somebody special, knows for him his own way is best . — Pat Hagen Those are the dream-filled words of Hop-Click, a tiny lame frog with a magical cane, created by Pat Hagen, song writer and performer, He travels to a far-off world where everyone walks with canes, Pat said. A wizard gives Hop-Click a magical cane, which turns into a pogo stick. So, Hop-Click hops. Pats song reflects the way she views herself — she was born Nov. 15. 1952 with cere- bral palsy. I finished the song in late 1975 or early 1976; Pat said. I was finally coming to accept myself for what I was, and realized that it isn ' t such a bad thing to be handi capped. I was stomping around in the rain one night. One of my friends said, ' Don ' t ya just wish you were a frog? ' I had a metal cane that was adjustable. And, because it was old, and wet, and the adjustable piece was loose, it made a clicking sound, Out of Pat ' s stomping and clicking in rainy frog weather, Hop-Click was bom. Pat, a Great Bend graduate student, walks with a shuffle and tends to talk a bit slower than many people. However, the crippling effects of cere- bral palsy are largely unnotica- ble, excepting the way Pat plays a guitar. My left arm and hand have been affected by CP, Pat said. In learning to play the guitar, I soon found that play- ing in the normal fashion was next to impossible. So, I flipped the guitar and chord with my right hand, With this, at 13, Pat learned to play chords upside down and adapted this style to a mande- lin later. My first guitar was a sec- ond-hand cheap little piece of junk with a picture of Roy Rog- ers and his horse painted on it, Pat said. At one point, I spilled nail polish remover on it and rubbed off the tail of the horse. Pat lives with Bonzo, a stripped, short-haired dark grey tomcat, in a roomy 17th street apartment. She is pre- paring for a masters in Special Education, so most of her day is spent in Forsyth Library fighting my way through the stacks, she said. At 5 p.m., however, Pat works with three clients from the Homer B, Reed Center. I help them with learning to live out their lives on their own, Pat said. Indepen- dence is something new to them, for they have all spent considerable time in institu- tions. Late evenings are spent studying, or working on devel- oping four- hour music sets to use in Saturday night jigs. Pat began writing and performing music as a high school fresh- man and estimates she has written 60-70 songs. My big- gest childhood dream was that I was going to be a superstar musically 1 Pat said. ' ' Maybe some of my dream hasn ' t died yet. Most of Pat ' s songs are bal- lads and novelty tunes. What I write ranges from beautiful to bizzare. she said. One of the bizzare tunes portrays a quite different view of what it is like to be handicapped than seen in Hop-Click . ' Love Comes and Goes ' borders on being sick, Pat said. The song is about the ups and downs of a relationship between two handicapped people . ' To get a taste of the type of song ' ' Love Comes and Goes is, it begins with — Them goes my baby falling down the stairs, l unlocked his braces when he told me that he didn ' t care ' Pat walked for the first time, at age three. I think my folks tried to let me grow up as nor- mal as possible, Pat said. I remember some stern disci- pline once in awhile, ' ' Because my brother and sister were so much older, I remember them sitting at home playing records. That ' s where I picked up my interest in music ' Pat ' s brother is 10 years older, and her sister is six years older. Corrective surgery, to help Pal stand up straight, began when she was four. At 15, she had major surgery on her hips and ankles. I finally got my heels flat on the ground at 18, Pat said. Prior to this, Pat wore the top off of her shoes every two months. Junior high was tough for Pat, While her classmates had the ability to speed down school hallways, Pat had to set- tle for weaving slowly behind. But, she tucked most of her in- feriority feelings away when she attended Emporia State University, 1974-1976, as a transfer student of Barton County Community College. In the late 1950s, Emporia State was the first school to be- come accessible to the handi- capped, Pat said. Because of its accessibility, a huge num- ber of handicapped people of varying degrees attend Empo- ria. I realized then, that I really wasn ' t all that bad off. Most CP people are a lot more involved. Many have mental retardation and deaf- ness with it. Fortunately, men- tal retardation and deafness bypassed Pat. People assume that just because ya look weird, you ' re retarded, Pat said. h ' That ' s not always true, A person is only retarded in things he can ' t handle. For instance, Pat said some people are weather retarded. I can ' t cope with this weather, she said about the slushy remains of a week of winter storms, My balance isn ' t all that it should be, and the snow and ice don ' t help matters. Pat received a Bachelor of General Studies from Emporia State in 1976, Two years later, with no knowledge of what to expect, Pat began training mentally retarded adults. But, 1 fell in love with it, and soon realized that to make a living 1 had to get certified. So here I am ' In August, 1980, Pat began work on her masters here, and hopes to finish this May, If I survive this semester ' Pat said, I hope to take my little certificate out to Arizona where there ' s no more snow and ice. Once settled in Ari- zona, Pat hopes to teach, sing, and someday, open a bar ac- cessible to the handicapped. 18 Feature

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Just for ■Although the student health program has come a long way since its formation in 1929, it still has further to go. The office, which is in its original quarters in Sheridan Coliseum, offers many ser- vices But its location still causes problems for handi- capped students. Despite the fact the coliseum is outfitted with ramps, wheel- chair students still cannot reach the office on their own. 11 You can t wheel yourself up that ramp, it is just too steep ' Kathy Douglas, univer- sity nurse, said. Sheridan does not have an elevator for handicapped stu- dents either and there are no immediate plans to remedy the situation Another problem the nurses find with office location is the lack of privacy students have to discuss their medical prob- lems. ' The facility is too crowded for students in the cold-season and there is a lack of privacy for students who have health problems which are embarrassing for them to discuss in front of other stu- dents ' Mickey Ellis, university nurse said. The nurses are hoping for a move from Sheridan Coliseum in the near future, but are un- sure of where they are going. It really depends on what they are going to do with Sheridan Coliseum, because it has been declared obsolete by the Board of Regents ' Doug- las said, We are hoping to move to a place that has an elevator and more room When President Lewis be- gan the health program 52 years ago, he hired a full-time doctor and nurse to care for students. In addition to keep- ing students healthy, they also taught courses on student hy- giene, health and sanitation. The health office personnel no longer teach classes to stu- dents about better health but they are still trying to teach stu- dents about better health. In 1981 , a new program was added to the health office. The Wellness Plus program taught students and faculty how to im- prove their health. Roger Pankau, from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, gave lec- tures and three-day screenings in October and November to asses the health of students The office also continued their annual health fair The fair, co-sponsored by the Me- morial Union Activities Board, One of the busiest and most utilized offices on campus is there, your health was set up by the health office to offer free blood pressure, hemoglobin, blood sugar and other testings Douglas said the fair helps to educate people about their bo- dies, ’We try to get people to have their blood pressure test- ed or their eyes and ears tested to make them more aware of their bodies ' she said ' Plus, the health fair is open to the community and is good for uni versify community rela- tions ' Since 1974, the service has added family planning and pap smears to make their stu- dent services more complete. ' There was Just too much burden on the family planning center for them to handle all the women ' s health care in Hays and on the campus Ruth Joy, university nurse, said. They had more people coming to them than they could handle, so we added to our program to help them out Doctor Dorothy Cody, M.D. is currently the part-time doc- tor for the health service with three nurses assisting her. Be- cause there are not enough students seeking medical to keep her occupied, there is no need lor a full-time doctor, El- lis said. Two-thirds of the stu- dents can be treated by a nurse. If they need to see a doctor, they do J In 1980, Dr. Cody sas 6,000 of the 14,000 patients, includ ing students, faculty, and civil, service personnel The health office including medicines are funded by stu- dent fees. Seventy -five cents per credit hour is given to the office When students are ex- amined by the nurses there is no charge. One dollar is charged stu- dents tor appointments with the doctor. Faculty members are charged two dollars to see the doctor but do not pay the additional fee students pay. We have tried for years to change the policy of not hav- ing faculty members pay, but so far we have not been suc- cessful Joy said. The hardest part of this job is students who will not help themselves Ellis said. It is really frustrating when the stu- dents will not tell you what is wrong with them. It was really nice when stu- dents are aware of their bodies and they can tell when there is something abnormal about them. Then at least you do not have to guess, Douglas said 20 Feature