Northwest Missouri State University - Tower Yearbook (Maryville, MO)

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«. FAR I i I I Dave Sundberg counsels Mari lo Waters at the l Iniversit ( entei A numbei ol i Iniversit students were ooun seled by Sundberg in tin • an family planning I III T Dr i ' • n i i ' i iii ' v shows mar ried student Beth Ceperley diagrams of the female anatomy was In charge of medical examinations and issued forms of birth control BOTTOM: Diane Alford advises a studen t about birth control Each student that came to the clinic was dealt with on an individual basis. Voggesser FAMILY PLANNING 25

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Family planning Battling the baby boom 24 FAMILY PLANNING Many students took advantage of family planning and birth control facilities available on campus. Couples who sought counsel for both premarital decision making and postmarital concerns, such as communication, a need for privacy and children, received help from Dave Sundberg and Rick Long, guidance counselors. Most married couples who wanted counseling came in the summer, according to Sundberg. Most of them tried to finish undergraduate studies and work as well, said Sundberg. Classes often took away from the time the couple spent together. This caused tension, because they needed their nights out and time together. According to Sundberg, children created more responsibility and, therefore, more tension. Think about how difficult it must be to be going to classes and working, and at the same time caring for children, he said. For this reason, many couples wished to delay starting a family and considered birth control measures. Students who wanted contracep- tives went through the special gynecology clinic. According to Dr. Desmion Dizney, physician at the University Health Center, several changes were made. First, the clinic was expanded to three days a week rather than one. We no longer needed to wait for a social worker to come in, said Dizney. Our staff handled the counseling. Another major change was the handling of each patient indivi- dually from start to finish. This took a lot of time, said Dizney, but I thought it was important. Each girl received as much or as little counseling as she needed. Most of the clinic procedures were handled by the nurses. According to Dizney, the lengthy procedure began with an extensive interview between an R.N. and each individual patient. Questions asked concerned back- ground, family, medical history and any previous gynecological prob- lems. The R.N. explained various birth control methods and discussed a possible choice with the patient. She also explained pelvic examina- tion procedure if the patient had never had one before. When I first came in, I didn ' t know much about birth control. I found out that a lot of the things that I believed were wrong, said one student. The nurse administered blood and urine tests and checked weight and blood pressure. Dizney then studied the charts and did the examination. Only then was the decision made about whether the type of birth control method chosen by the patient was a suitable one for her, said Dizney. Costs for the contraceptives and the pap smear were kept within accessability of the students, ac- cording to Dizney. t

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RIGHT: Bruce Spidel casts his vote in the spring Student Senate election. Ballot boxes were placed in dorms and the Union Building during election time FAR RIGHT Student Senate members look over the minutes from the November meeting The December meeting, held in Franken Hall, was one of several Senate meetings held in the residence halls. BELOW RIGHT: Suzanne Cruzen, Mis- sourian editor, talks to Student Senate officers Greg Hatten, vice president, Darrell Zellers, presi- dent, and Kerri Andersen, secre- tary. The student newspaper covered Senate meetings each month Through reorganization and resignations. . . Senate survives 26 STUDENT SENATE People support what they cre- ate was the philosophy that Student Senate followed as it made major changes in the governing and academic systems of NWMSU. One of the first things we did was reorganize our committee struc- ture, said Student Senate President Darrell Zellers. This not only made things smoother internally but also provided more student input. Thus the Student Affairs Com- mittee, Student Information Com- mittee and Academic Affairs Com- mittee were formed to carry out the business of Senate and tackle the problems and proposals which were on the minds of the student body. I think our biggest accomplish- ment this year was the revision of the Senate Constitution, said Zellers. This was something that was long overdue, and I was pleased that we were able to complete it. Also high on the Senate ' s agenda was the proposal to revamp the teacher evaluation system. We set up a task force to look into the method of how teachers were evaluated, said Zellers. Although it was not carried through last year, we felt it would be a major step in improving the academic standards of NWMSU ' . In the new constitution, IRC, Union Board and Harambee House were given voting privileges. Ac- cording to Secretary Kerri Andersen, this emphasized Senate ' s effort to strengthen communication between itself and the student body. As far as I ' m concerned, this was something which needed improv- ing, said Andersen. By adding these groups, the students had more of a voice in what went on. Although these improvements gave the Senate more exposure to the student body there still remained a concern for its image-the chief factor being vacancies created by numerous resignations throughout the year. Granted, there were more resignations this year than in the past, but they were inevitable and couldn ' t be avoided, said Zellers, so I personally didn ' t feel we maintained a low image. According to Zellers, Senate wanted to work with the different areas of campus rather than work against them. I think that Senate did a good job in maintaining relations between students, faculty and the administration, he said.