University of Nebraska Kearney - Blue and Gold Yearbook (Kearney, NE)

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Issues Advice for porkers — “Let them 5ue's class was going to start in 10 minutes and she'd been around the block three times. Her frustration built by the second - there was not one parking place close to campus. The alterna- tive could mean walking eight blocks or more. A momentary hope rose, then was dashed, as a closer inspection showed a motorcycle taking up what had promised to be ci rare parking space. The residential area bordering campus became a backup solution. Some residents might resent the loss of their parking spot, but looking at her watch negated any consideration for their inconvenience - there was only three minutes to get to class! Desper- ation set in and a semi-legal parking attempt was made, followed by a dash to class. Fears of towing andl tickets lurked in Sue's mind throughout her classes. The same fears that caused her to complain to other fellow students. She found she wasn't alone. Parking at KSC was a favorite gripe of many students she talked to. Many students, visitors, com- muters and faculty to the campus have all, at one time or another, had a problem finding parking space. I pay to live here, but if I leave during the day, I usually can't find a parking spot when I return. People who don't buy parking stickers park behind our house on 24th Street, said Paula Ackerman, KSC student. Ackerman is one of the people who live in apartments in the residental area bordering campus. Parking is a real problem at KSC, said Mike Diffendeirfer, publishing representative from Walsworth Pub- lishing Co., whose work frequently brings him to campus. It's a hassle. You have to get a parking place to get permission to get a parking place, said Diffenderfer, in speaking about his personal experiences in trying to park near the source of his business at A.O. Thomas. Ever since the parking lot for car-poolers was shut down it has been difficult to find a parking spot. Car-poolers were competing with commuters, said Joel Lau from Hastings. Parking is a real pain around here, he said. Faculty member, Charles Pickens said that after 8:30 a.m, there was usually no parking for faculty members around Bruner Hall. He would then be forced to drive around and look for a spot, or try to park in the faculty lot near the Otto Olsen Building. Pickens said this lack of parking may have occurred because some faculty members were already here for the day. Remaining places were filled up by students with only an early class to attend, who believed they could sneak in and out, ahead of the crowd. In response to questions about parking complaints, Lynne Brandt, parking service officer, said, Every- body wants everything close, but people are going to have to learn to walk. Earl Rademacher, vice president for administration and finance, re- sponded with, Students need to leave 10 minutes earlier. They wait until the last minute, then become frustrated trying to find a close parking spot. Most parking tickets were written for having no permit during 1984-85, Brandt said. Some 11,900 tickets were written from the last of August, 1984, up to Christmas break. However, she also said 3,414 permits were sold for the year, but that there were only 2,440 parking stalls available. Accord- ing to Brandt, the reason this was done was because every vehicle parked on campus must have a valid permit. Solutions relating to the parking problem cited included working to acquire more properties between west and center campuses. A high- rise parking complex has also been a consideration but would have cost to much to maintain in addition to high interest rates, Rademacher said. According to Rademacher, this would have also resulted in high parking fees for students and faculty. As another possible solution, a shuttle bus was discussed, with students paying so much a year for its use. Pickens said he would like to see the Student Activities Council inves- tigate this possible solution for moving people back and forth, from east to west, as well as surrounding parking lots. A four-year-plan to improve and add additional parking lots was under way. Through this plan more land was being purchased and gravel lots were being hard-surfaced as well as added lighting improvements. Meanwhile, another frustrated driver had found a ticket on his window and Sue's car had been towed from her semi-legal parking spot. In 1984-85 the controversy surrounding parking at KSC kept many drivers muttering under their breaths. — Katherine Brown

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New law wins no popularity contest Sitting at home on a Friday night with nothing to do. the 20-year-old thought, If only those damn lawmakers hadn't raised the drinking age, I could be at the bars right now, dancing and meeting new people. I guess I'll just have to find a party and play 'quarters' instead. His complaint stemmed from a new law that raised the legal drinking age in Nebraska from 20 to 21, effective Jan. 1, 1985. The law created a debate, mostly between law enforcement officials and minors ineligible to purchase liquor or enter a drinking establishment. Many KSC minors felt they were still going to drink at parties, in their dorm rooms, apartments, or in their cars, so why bother raising the legal drinking age, they questioned. The new law won't stop people from drinking, it will just get more people in trouble, said Minden sophomore Valerie Vitera. She said arrests for minor-tn-possession and procuring for minors might increase because of the change. On the other side of the con- troversy, Kearney police chief Robert Jatczak saw the new law as a necessary one. The new drinking age is an effort to diminish alcohol-related accidents. It's been proven that a direct relationship exists between alcohol and drinking as far as ac- cidents are concerned, he said, Jatczak expected the patrol for Driving While Intoxicated arrests to remain at the level it was when the legal drinking age was 20. However, he said areas with histories of traffic problems might experience an in- crease in patrolling. Dissenters to this theory of de- creased accidents argue that the change-in-age requirement would not decrease accidents caused by drunk drivers. They said that alcohol-related accidents could actually Increase; citing reasons such as an increase in “road tripping, that is, drinking and driving, usually on gravel roads and highways, as a form of entertainment. Bill Clinch, a certified alcohol and drug counselor, didn't see the change as having much impact on the alcohol consumption of minors. “If you want to drink, you're going to get alcohol no matter what the legal age is, and people will still drive when they're drunk, whether they're a minor or not, he said. The minor's search for entertain- ment and a social life could increase the number of private parties given, according to KSC senior Marsha Kaiser. The issue was also a concern for bar and nightclub owners. Gary Allen, owner of Faces Nightclub, noted that going to the local bars was a big part of a KSC student's social life, and that the Interaction of students would suffer when many of them couldn't legally enter a drinking establishment. Many KSC students also felt that the main deterrent of the raised legal drinking age was not being permitted to enter the bars. “Not being able to purchase alcohol wasn't a big deal because you could always find someone to buy for you. But not being able to enter a bar, dance, meet new people, and have a good time unless you were 21 was a farce to me, said one KSC minor who requested anony- mity. Although many KSC students expresed verbal opposition to the new law, the response didn't go as far as it did at some colleges and universities around the country. Students at Illinois State University staged sit-ins, disrupted highway traffic, pelted police with rocks, and broke store and office windows in opposition to strict new drinking policies. KSC students, however, refrained from violence. Many said that purchasing alcohol was not the real issue, but being told they were not old enough to enter a drinking establishment put a definite clamp on their social life. As a new legal face appeared on the state lawbooks, many legislators and law enforcement official saw it as a good change. However, many KSC students saw the law as a wrinkle on the face of a KSC student's social life, as they were forced to wait yet another year to engage in that traditional extra-curricular activity of going to the bars. — Jane Carroll 23

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For Jane, this issue necessitates anonymity which we gave Eating, a silent issue that can kill mane, a 2'1-year-old KSC junior, m spent much of the summer B and early fall of 1984 in front of a television set gorging on foods like ice cream, doughnuts, candy bars and potato chips, then forcing herself to vomit, Jane followed this routine, known as binge-eating and purging, at least 10 times a day. She was also getting up at 4:30 a.m. daily for a minimum of three hours of exercise. That was before she slashed her wrists. Her suicide attempt led to treat- ment at an eating disorders clinic in Omaha, followed by Jane's return to KSC in January, when she and Dawn Ulrich, a school counselor, organized a self-help group for other college women with similar problems. Eating disorders, more specifically bulimia and anorexia nervosa, had become a serious health problem nationwide — and KSC was no exception, according to Ulrich. Coun- seling young people with eating disorders had become a large part of her day. Ulrich gave the American Anorex- ia Nervosa Association's definition of anorexia as ... a serious illness of deliberate self-starvation. She added that bulimia is characterized by compulsive binge-eating and purging — by way of self-induced vomiting, laxative abuse and or diuretics. In either disease food becomes an addiction or obsession, she said. Secrecy and feelings of shame or guilt about eating are also character- istics. Because of the confidentiality of her patients, Ulrich declined to give numbers on how many KSC people were receiving counseling for eating disorders, but she stressed it had become a campus problem — most common at KSC among freshmen women, It's not only weight. There are usually other problems that go along with it, only we choose to ignore the other problems and concentrate on the weight instead, Jane said. Jane's problems snowballed in the summer of 1984. By strict dieting, fasting and exercising she lost 45 pounds from September to April. That summer she was home alone with lots of free time. She began the binging and purging cycle, then she said she was also taking between 100 to 200 laxatives a week. Yet the weight started to gradually come back on. By fall, she had regained all of the 45 pounds. Jane said weight gain is common among bulimics because binges are usually on high caloric foods which the body absorbs despite purgings. Frus- tration and depression result. Jane attempted classwork at KSC in the fall, often physically weak and exhausted from dehydration and the 4:30 a.m. exercise regimen. If it were a choice between a date or exercise, I would exercise. I even got up that early on weekends because I hated myself if I didn't exercise. In October Jane thought she preferred death to the life she was living. But at the Omaha clinic, Jane said women undergo extensive group and individual counseling as well as learn about food, diet and nutrition. A major attitude, once you've recovered, is you need to know food is a real scary subject — it will be hard to eat and hard not to eat too much ... We were taught to look at food as a medicine you must take three times a day. And, like medicine, you don't want to take too much and not too little. And you must take it at the right times, she noted Gloria Tye, a nurse at KSC's Student Health, said most women suffering from either disorder will usually not seek help. Instead they will require medical treatment for other problems — problems usually related to the eating disorder. Jane is aware of some of those medical problems. Vomiting can become physically addicting and patients can experience withdrawal symptoms once self-induced vomiting is stopped. Sometimes eating disorders don't arise until the freshmen year in college. Ulrich said women entering college are often leaving home for the first time. Many fall victim to a traditional problem nicknamed the freshmen 15. This phenomenon is the result of such lifestyle changes as the overeat- ing of junk foods from fast-food restaurants or the dormitory vending machines. Peer pressure to party on weekends can also lead to weight gain. For some of these women the added 15 pounds to their frames brings on panic, which could lead to unhealthy ways of coping, according to the counselor. For a few it might result in the extremes of anorexia or bulimia, she said. Jane said she doesn't believe there is anything wrong with being concerned about weight. But be aware you might have a problem if your weight and dieting become the most important things in your life, or you panic everytime you gain a pound. Today Jane considers herself recovered, But she knows she has to be careful. I still get up every morning and think I am fat. But being out and doing things is a lot better than looking at the toilet. — Blue and Gold Editorial Staff