University of Wisconsin Eau Claire - Periscope Yearbook (Eau Claire, WI)

Page 29 text:

by Cherie Phillips It's the greatest natural high there is, said Jeff Wingad. balloon pilot. As part of Counseling Service's Chemical Awareness Week, the one-minute balloon rides were sponsored to promote the week's slogan, Get high on campus. The purpose was to show that there is more than one way to get high. Some ways, like free hot air balloon rides, are safer, more healthy and probably more exciting. Actually, the rides brought to mind Dorothy and Toto, chants of there's no place like home and dreamy visions of flying away with a magician. Would you like to ride in my beautiful balloon? ... Students crowded around the balloon's landing strip to take pictures of their friends going up, then handed the cameras over when it was their turn. I wouldn't have missed it for the world,” said one enthusiastic student.

Page 28 text:

Eller winning fifth Super Bowl' by Beth Wagner After playing in four Super Bowl games, Carl Eller, former defensive end for the Minnesota Vikings and Seattle Seahawks, is competing in his fifth one — and winning. The 39-year-old is recovering from 20 years of alcohol and drug abuse. Speaking about the Fifth Super Bowl before a sparse crowd at the UWEC Arena on Sept. 24, Eller recalled his experiences with alcohol and a $1,000 a week cocaine habit, as part of Chemical Awareness Week. Treatment brought people back into my life, he said. I feel good about myself. Typically, he began to drink in high school, he said, but he wasn't introduced to marijuana until he went to the University of Minnesota. Alcohol was a means of building himself up — just as he built himself up before Super Bowl games, the former All-Pro noted. He had a good time, he was the center of attention and there were no problems, he explained but then he began to rationalize his drinking. I came into my pro career when drugs weren't a very big part of sports, he said. Alcohol was OK but I had to keep my pot use a secret. At this time, he said, he did not associate with team members much and he began to have problems with his marriage. I continued my rationalization, he said. I'm different but there's nothing wrong with me. I wasn't about to admit I couldn't handle my booze. The thing about chemical dependency is denial. I developed the technique as a self-defense mechanism. The point is that rationalization doesn't change the reality of a situation, he said. He had problems with self-esteem, relationships and business, he said. It wasn't that I didn't have the ability to handle all that, he said. It was that drug use had become my main priority. I had to straighten out the real problem — me. Midway through his professional career, Eller began using cocaine, he said. He needed his job as a means of personal security and financial support because much of his income was going towards drugs, he said. Things continued to deteriorate after his retirement in 1979, Eller said. There was nothing left for him to do but pity himself, he said. Referring to the four world championship games he played in with the Vikings, Eller noted that the team went back four times and didn't quit. In terms of failure, losing was hard for him to accept, he said. But, he continued, without failing I wouldn't have tried again. It's OK to fail, but it's not OK to stay there. There's another way to go. I can feel good about myself because I tried. Celebrating six months of sobriety, Eller continues aftercare at St. Mary's Rehabilitation Center in Minneapolis where he went through treatment. i

Page 30 text:

Minicourses provide creative outlet by Julie Hellerud The game was called Dungeons and Dragons and was the newest fantasy game on the market. Why was there so much fuss over one game? This is what Cindy Greening, teacher of the minicoursc Dungeons and Dragons attempted to tell, or rather show. Greening helped beginners learn the game, teaching them to use their magic powers efficiently to avoid being killed by an angry, ugly troll. Dungeons and Dragons was only one of several minicourses offered at UWEC during the year, encouraging creative escape for students, faculty, and alumni. The minicourse program is a nonprofit self-supporting program of the student center activities and program office. The courses are offered each semester and during the summer and their prices are based on course costs and a per-person administrative fee. Minicourses are offered in almost every field imaginable. Fun and exercise were combined in several courses on dance. Types of dance offered ranged from Social Dancing, which involved techniques for the waltz, fox trot, lindy, swing and cha cha, taught by David Vasquez and Diane Bindl; to Ballet and Modern Dance, taught by Laura McClanahan; to Belly Dancing with Sue Zimpel; to Jazzercise, led by Kathy Lange. For those who preferred to cat, drink and be merry, several minicourses on food and drink were offered. Paul Waters demonstrated how to mix drinks by using all the proper equipment in his Home Bar-tending course, while Jerry Ehr-meycr taught the terminology and how-to's of buying, judging quality, storing and serving wine in his Introduction to Wine course. Cooking Without Meat was a food minicourse taught by David Schulz. The students in all of these courses mixed, made, and ate samples of their work. Arts and crafts minicourses included Crocheting, Basketry Coiling and Wrapping, and Lap Frame Loom Weaving. A course on making clothing patterns was demonstrated by Katherine Chua, while a course on black and white photography was taught by Brian Johnson. Interest in the Orient was high this fall, as courses teaching Japanese and Chinese language and culture were offered. Group Guitar, taught by Tom Brill and Understanding Hi Fi, taught by Tom Wieseler were courses aimed at the music lover. Brill instructed his students on how to finger basic chords and basic rhythm strums. Weiseler discussed sound equipment and general maintenance procedures for stereos. Other minicourses offered included: the Return of the American Comic Book, taught by K.C. Carlson, a confessed comic book connoisseur; Effective Resume Writing, taught by Ed Brown, who has an MBA and 20 years as an employer behind him; and Astrology for Beginners, Cindy Greening. n