12 U. THE NATIONAL COLLEGE NEWSPAPER
Dollars and Sense MARCH 198A
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Support is not just students' respon-
Sibility ... The Faculty, Staff Support Group
for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Conceros was founded in
the spring of 1986, primarily to show concern about
homophobia and "that educating, building coaltion,
and raising consciousness is not the responsibility
of students alone," said Pat Griffi, chairperson of
the group and a professorof physical education at U
of Massachusetts, Amherst. "It's important ... be-
cause there are lesbian, gay and bisexual faculty and
staff members," said FeliceYeskel, co-director of the
Program for Lesbian, Gay ad Bexual
Cncerns. Kelly Singer, Massachuets
Daily Collegian, U. of Massachusetts,
Amherst
""
Berkeleyites rank tops in service
d . aU. of Calfornia, Berkeley (UCB) has contri
buted nearly twice as macp uoluteers to the Peace
Corps than any other school in the nation The
campus has held its "No. 1" distinction since 1961,
the first year of the Corps, when 20 UCB students led
the nation in volunteering "or what was then consi-
dered an experiment in international service," uni-
versity spokesperson Tom Debley said. Since then,
the Peace Corps has recruited more than 2,500
volunteers from UCB. U. of California, Los Angeles,
the California campus with the next highest totals,
only had about 1,200 volunteers. Danielle
Storer, The Daily Californian, U. of
California, Berkeley
Sense-itiveteaching ... Futureteachers
for the visually impaired spend half of their Orienta-
tion and Mobility class wearing blindfolds or wel-
der's glasses "I have students who have spent
hours, even days, under blindfolds," said Jane Erin,
an assistant professor of special education who has
taught the class. In the last part of the course,
students must learn to navigate by using senses
other than vision to find their way through the
College of Education Building, she said. And at a
formal dinnerr, the diners must learn what the food is
by itextureorsmell, how much is ontheir spoon or
plate by its weight, and how to pass dishes around
the table. Cheryl Laird, The Daily Tex-
an, U. of Texas, Austin
Come together ... Students at Kansas
State U. can now see that it takes people from every
field to complete a community project. The new
Community Service Program will involve a group of
students assisting a rural town for eight weeks this
summer on a variety of projects in return for experi-
ence, scholarship moneypand possibly college credit
hours. Two of the projects will be to develop a
tourism plan for 10 counties in northcntra Kansas
and to create a long-range health care plan for a
hospital. One advantage to the internship is "getting
to work with students from other majors," said
Program Director Carol Peak. She encourages ste
dents from every field to apply because "so many of
these projects need skillsethat not everyone has," she
said. *Cindie Baldwin, Kansas State
Collegian, Kansas State U
Being 'permitted' to work ... When an
international student comes to the U.S. for school
and applies for a Social Security number, it is
granted with a note saying it is not valid for employ
ment, said Douglas Dorta, Sao Paulo, Brazil senior
To gel an off-campus work permit, international
students must apply through the U.S. Immigration
and Naturalization Service Office. "A student must
have completed two years of study and be in very
good standing with the university," Dorta said "A
student is supposed to work only for school pur-
poses, not to send any money home to his or her
family. If approved, a permit is issued allowing 20
hours of work per week. Yusob Puteh, a Malaysian
senior, said a problem in getting a permit is that "the
immigration office doesn't really like to give work
permits because it takes a job away from an
Americans" Lori Bradley, The North
Texas Daily, North Texas State U.
Remember wanting to be a firefigh-
ter? ... U. of Maine created a student fire-
fighting program in 1980 afteright girls were killd
n a fire at Providence College. "Gee program
addresses the need for fire prevention in dormitor
ies," said David Fielder, Director of Environmental
Safety at the university. "We take students with the
interest and desire to lears," he said, and most
students respond to the calls even when they're not
on duty. Their response time is roughly three mi-
nutes. "We are one of the finest trained departments
in the field of fire service," said student lieutenant
Joe Cowherd. Most student firefighters say the har-
dest part is dealing with fellow students who must
leave residence halls when the alarm goes off at
night, "and having everyone blame you for the
alarm," said fire marshal Pat Howe. "They don't
understand that it's not us who pulls the
alarm." Tammy Hartford, The Daily
Maine Campus, U. of Maine
To an illiterate adult, trying to understand a book is like decoding a foreign language.
27 m in U.S. adults
cannot reada menu
Disabled and aides
share more than
just a dorm room
By Cindy Pandolfo
" The University Daily
Texas Tech U.
Texas Tech U. (Tech) has one of the
most handicapped-accessible campuses
in the United States, yet some hand-
icapped students at Tech experience
difficulty dealing with the simplest ev-
eryday tasks without attendant care.
Jaime Herring is confined to a wheel-
chair. She cannot perform routine tasks
like combing her hair, brushing heg
teeth or getting dressed. She depends
on two attendants and friends-Christi
Cobb and Mary Pittman-to help her
each day.
Cobb, a sophomore interior design
major, needed ajob when school started
last fall. She saw a sign in a residence
hall advertising for an attendant for a
handicapped student. Although she had
no experience working with the dis-
abled, Cobb became one of Herring'*
attendants, a job she said she would
recommend to other students looking
for satisfying work.
"Mary and I take Jaime places, but,
most of the time we tag along with her,"
Cobb said. "We go shopping or we go to
parties. It really isn't like work."
Pittman, a junior engineering major,
shares a dorm room with Herring and
assists her with most daily needs.
Pittman said being an attendant is no
different from being a roommate except
for the obvious advantage-the pay.
Pittman said all that is required to be
an attendant is patience. "It is hard for
me sometimes, but it is also hard for
Jaime," Pittman said. "You don't have
to be extremely patient. Maybe a better
word would be understanding."
Wes Long, a counselor for the West
Texas Rehabilitation Commission, said,
"Finding attendant care is primarily
the responsibility of the student with
the help of the university ... Hand-
icapped students must learn coping
skills like hiring, firing and finding
attendants."
By Mike O'Connell
The Daily Texan
U. of Texas, Austin
Walter Knapp, 34, dropped out of
school in seventh grade to help support
his family. He is now a shipping clerk
and is appily married with a four-year-
old son-one of his main incentives for
learning to read.
"My main goal is to read the Bible," he
said. "But I also want to read to my son,"
Walter plans to pass the General
Education Development test, and hopes
a high school equivalency certificate
will help him find a better job.
Nationwide, 27 million adults are
functionally illiterate. They cannot
read well enough to understand a menu
or fill out a job application, according to
the Coalition for Literacy, a national
organization that supports local prog-
rams. If the number of adults who read
at a minimal level are included, the tot-
al reaches 60 million.
"With our economy becoming more
and more dependent on high-tech fields,
it is essential that we keep up in these
areas both as a nation and as a state,"
said Rik Mackay, former executive
director of the State Job Training Coor-
dination Council and former member of
the Governor's Task Force on Literacy.
Citing the connection between litera-
cy and international competitiveness,
the Texas task force reported that
"American jobs are being lost not just
because of lower hourly wages paid in
other nations. Those jobs are being lost,
perhaps forever, to nations with higher
rates of functional competency and
overall superior education attain-
ments."
Research shows that the majority of
American illiterates are white.
The reasons for illiteracy vary great-
ly, said Susan White, Adult Perform-
ance Level Project director of field re-
search at U. of Texas (UT).
Illiteracy is more common in rural or
ghetto areas, where people rely more on
the spoken word. Parents who cannot
read often are not able to help or encour-
age their children to read, White said.
Others need glasses or hearing aids
or are victims of learning disabilities
such as dyslexia, the Coalition for Li-
teracy reported.
Even people who complete high
school do not necessarily learn. The
Adult Performance Level Project re-
ported last August that 30 percent of
Texas high school graduates "are un-
able to read, write, and compute well
enough to perform entry-level college
work."
Margaret Eisenbeck, executive direc-
tor of the Literacy Council, a non-profit
organization providing one-on-one in-
struction for illiterate adults, said, "The
training programs are designed to allow
any volunteer with adequate reading
and writing skills to teach."
Duane Ridenhour-Piety, a UT educa-
tion graduate and literacy tutor, said, "I
think illiteracy has a big effect. Some
people ... plan everything around not
being able to read, and it impacts their
quality of life and citizenry."
He said it is worthwhile "knowing
that you've taught him a new word, that
he can read something that he couldn't
before."
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