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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (July 11, 1978)
HEP aets new, ‘positive’ direction By MARY FORAN Of the Emerald The University’s High School Equivalency Program (HEP) has changed in a “positive direction” due in a large part to the “high level of commitment and involve ment” of HEP’S enthusiastic new director, Jim Romero, according to Kelly Nakao, director of the ESCAPE pro gram which places tutors at HEP. The atmosphere for tutors at HEP has improved, said Nakao, because Romero “really cares” about the students and the program. “He is just totally amazing in dealing with people and in catering to their needs,” she added, describing Romero as “very personable, profes sional and accessible.” Romero, who was supervisor of student activities for the Denver Public Schools before he came to the University, feels that any improvements to the program have been a “team effort” resulting from many staff discussions on “how can we make it (HEP) better.” Some major changes have been made in HEP’S curriculum and procedures which Romero feels will have a positive effect on the program. Past program designs have been geared more toward the academic needs of students preparing for the GED (General Edu cation Diploma) in order to complete their high school education. But Romero recognizes the importance of meeting the social and psychological needs of students from migrant farm worker families who must learn to cope with the middle class, Anglo, and academically-oriented environment of the University. In the coming year, Romero and his staff will “try to seek a better balance’’ between the social and academic needs of the HEP students through a greater emphasis on personal counseling, peer group support, community activities, career education and the practical application of basic academic skills. This year 50 students will begin each 3-month ses sion as a group, which Romero said will facilitate "orien tation consistency” while still preserving the indi vidualized approach of the program, since students learn at different rates and some finish the program in less than 3 months. The sessions correspond to the University’s Fall, Winter and Spring terms. During the summer, recruiters look for program candidates who must be 17 to 24 years of age, out of school for at least 6 months, a legal resident of the United States, and a migrant or seasonal farmworker at or below Department of Labor poverty guidelines who has not completed a high school diploma. One aspect of the new group orientation is a week long Outward Bound experience planned for the begin ning of each session. Romero is certain the special orientation week “will make a difference” in building up the students’ self-confidence and in cementing the unity of the group. “I know it’s going to work," Romero beamed, add ing that a raft trip down the Deschutes River is being talked about. During the week the staff will work with the students on developing group support and communica tion, problem solving and other social survival skills. Romero is concerned about HEP students not feel ing comfortable in the dorms. He feels that with so many cultural and social variables between University and HEP students, “you’re going to have sparks" in group living situations. “We’re going to try to break down some of those barriers,” Romero added, describing the recreational and social activities planned to get the students more involved in the University and the community. Evening “rap groups’’ on everything from decision-making to drug abuse and human sexuality will enhance the counseling aspect of the HEP program. Romero said this shows that “not all learning takes place in the classroom." Students will be encouraged to make better use of the University and community facilities, take P.E. classes and participate more in Uni versity life. More emphasis will be placed on career education and alternatives exploration . Inter-disciplinary projects will show students the practical applications of basic academic skills and will be political, social or cultural in nature, requiring input from the students and involve ment and research in the community. The concept of an “advisor support group" which is based on the old “home room” idea will give new HEP students someone to refer to and will help solidify the group, Romero said. Each staff member will be as signed five students to “adopt" and involve in their community and home life activites, perhaps by taking them home for a week. A caring, committed staff in three months can “get things out of these students” who were not making it before, said Romero. HEP has had “good assistance from ESCAPE,” which Romero feels is well-organized with a caring staff and dedicated tutors. Romero wants HEP to make a “positive impact on the campus community.” He will be encouraging stu dents to participate in fund-raising activites and work at the child-care center in order "to enhance the HEP image.” “The spirit at HEP has really changed,” said Alan Podawiltz, outgoing Community Services Division Head at ESCAPE. Previous volunteers at HEP had not had good experiences under the old management, Podawiltz said, but now tutors are volunteering to return to HEP, which “shows it’s a good placement.” The HEP program has been assured of refunding at last year’s level of $344,255, but Romero has submitted Photo by Bob Murphy “I know it’s going to work, "James Romero beams as he contemplates the upcoming orientation activities he plans for the 1978-79 High School Equivalency Prog ram (HEP) students. River rafting, Outward Bound ex periences, career exploration and more community and campus involvement are some of the new direc tions HEP will be taking in the coming year. a proposal asking for $356,396, plus an addendum for a summer enrichment program. He said that every HEP program will be asking for more, just to keep pace with an inflation rate of 12-15 percent. Romero said his request is only a 3.5 percent increase over last year — he hopes to know the final figure by the end of July. If the increase is approved, Romero hopes to have five more staff members for next year. These would include two additional teachers to help distribute the class load and provide more individualized instruction, a counselor, a clerk and a community liaison person who would search for friendship families to adopt students on weekends. “HEP has been very isolated from the campus and the community,” Romero said. He feels the community liaison person is an “interesting concept" which would be "icing on the cake” since the position is contingent on CETA funding. » “You can’t maintain the same services for the same amount of money.” The budget has been kept at the bare minimum, Romero insists, and the new emphasis will continue even without an increase. Referring to the 10-year history and reputation of the program, Romero said he wants to “spend less time dealing with things that have happened in the past and more time with what’s happening now and in the future.” HAIR TODAY_ Downstairs in the EMU 561 E. 13th Ave. close to the recreation center Across from Max's 687-1347 . 485-4422 NATURAL HAIR DESIGNS FOR WOMEN & MEN! $6.50 Dry cut designed for your hair and you, for those on a tight schedule $9.00 wet styip designed for you and your hair for easy care and the air-waved style. A completed style to go anywhere. $12.00 includes shampoo, moisterizing conditioner, blow dry and a hair cut designed for you A completed easy care style. Remember: we carry the finest of professional hair care products for you to use. KINKCS overnight copies no minimum Open: Mon.-Fri. 8am-6pm Sat. 9am-5pm Sun. Noon-5pm 1125 Alder 2nd Floor, the Atrium 344-7894 485-1063 Hindu paintings depict deities, creation Fifteen miniatures depicting deities of the Hindu religion are currently on display at the Univer sity Museum of Art. “The Hindu Pantheon” is being shown in the students’ research gallery on the lower level of the museum. The miniatures — fourteen tempera paintings and one draw ing — are on loan to the museum from the private collection of Wayne and Vimala Begley, Iowa City, Iowa. Begley is teaching at the University this summer. He is serving as the Maude I. Kerns visiting professor under an endowment which brings visiting professors of oriental art to lecture at the University. Begley arranged the exhibit in conjunction with his class in Indian painting. All of the paintings on display date from the 17th and 18th cen turies and were executed by anonymous artists who were at tached to courts of the Rajput rul ers of northern India. According to Begley, religious paintings of that era were gener ally commissioned by wealthy pa Germans here to study Forty-five German students study computer science at the Univer sity. Most of them are students from Bildungszentrum Fuer Infor mationsverarbeitende Berufe (BIB), a two-year vocational/business school in Paderborn. The study of computers and computer processing forms the core of the school’s curriculum and most enrollees seek to gain experience in the maintenance and running of computers. "This summer program allows Germans a chance to come to America and gain experience in computing processing — American style,’’ says program director Jorg Erdman. The Germans, who financed the trip themselves, will remain in Eugene until the middle of August. trons as illustrations for albums and manuscripts. They served as reminders of God’s “manifold in terests and activities in the world," rather than as ritualistic or devo tional icons. Each of the minute / detailed scenes portrays one or more of the many Hindu deities, who are characterized by human qualities and emotions as well as by super natural powers. Intense color and symbolism contribute to the sur realistic quality of the imagery in dealing with subjects such as cre ation, destruction and reincarna tion. Hindu mythology is marked by a large and complex pantheon —or collection of gods — many of whom affect various roles and in carnations. Begley said Hinduism is essentially a monotheistic reli gion — “the complexity of the Hindu pantheon is to be understood as an allegory of the complex nature of reality itself.” The exhibit will remain on dis play through August 13. The Uni versity Museum of Art is open to the public Tuesday through Sun day, from 12 noon until 5 p.m. Admission is free.
