LCC leisure class shows the way
For some, even relaxation takes effort
By MIKE LEE
01 the Emerald
It’s amazing what people can
fail at these days.
Besides the popular failures
— life, jobs, poker, that sort of
thing — a new one has ap
peared: people can fail at lei
sure.
To prevent that, Neal Itz
kowitz and Linda Hall are
teaching a class at Lane Com
munity College called “Leisure
Awareness.” The class is de
signed to help people discover
what their leisure needs are and
to assist in their fulfillment.
A skeptic might scoff at the
need for such a class, but the
pair say some people actually
waste their leisure time. Some
find their long-ingrained leisure
activities aren’t pleasurable,
while others discover that ac
tivities they thought they didn’t
enjoy are pleasurable.
“It’s all a matter of attitude,”
Hall says. “What we do is offer
people an opportunity to look at
what their own needs are.”
The class is “a self-aware
ness program,” Itzkowitz adds.
’’Learning about yourself —
what makes you tick.”
But just what is leisure? The
dictionary calls it “freedom from
Gay Pride Week
to begin Sunday
By PAUL TELLES
Of the Emerald
Eugene’s gay community will
be celebrating gay life and in
forming others about their
lifestyle next week.
Gay Pride Week will begin
Sunday at 2:30 p.m. with a
religious workshop at the Wes
ley Center,1236 Kincaid St. and
conclude April 18 with two
shows at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. by
lesbian comedienne Robin
Tyler, who has been frequently
compared to Lennie Bruce.
“Part of it (Gay Pride Week) is
for gay people to come and find
out their own history,’’ says
Wendy Michener, co-coordina
tor of the week. “And part of it is
for straight people to find out
about us."
A potpourri of panel
discussions, workshops and
entertainment, the week’s fes
tivities will feature discussions
of a different gay issue each
day.
On Monday, the topic will be
the Politics of Being Gay. The
day’s panel discussions, begin
ning at 11:30 a m. and conclud
ing at 7:30 p.m., will include The
Media and Covering Gay News,
The Law, and Lesbian Separa
tists.
The day’s activities will con
clude with a two-hour panel
discussion of Excluded Minori
ties in the Gay Community.
Tuesday’s topic will be
Towards a Feminist World, with
panel discussions of Lesbian
Community, Bi-Sexuality and
the Men’s Community.
Wednesday’s topic will be
Outreach to Non-Gays, with
panel discussions on non-gays
dealing with homophobia,
Parents of Gays and Gay
Straight Friendships.
All panel discussions will be
held in the EMU Forum.
Thursday activities will fea
ture panel discussions of Gay
Support in Eugene Collectives
and Gay Workers in Capitalist
Business and the Military, which
will include a U S. Navy recruiter
and a draft counselor.
A slide show and discussion
of Woman Loving Women will
round out Tuesday’s activities.
A 7 p.m. presentation of the
show in the EMU Forum will be
open to women only, but an
yone may attend the 8 p.m.
show in 107 Lawrence.
Along with Tyler’s two Satur
day night shows, the week’s
entertainment will include a
concert by musician Charlie
Murphy on Thursday at 7:30
p.m. and a dance with music by
First Light, the Eugene-based
women’s rock and roll band, at 9
p.m. Friday.
Tyler, First Light and Murphy
will appear in the WOW Hall, 291
W. 8th Ave.
Friday’s activities will feature
an arts fair including gay arti
sans and performers. The fair
will be in Room 167, EMU.
Friday also will be Blue Jean
Day. Gays and straights are en
couraged to wear blue jeans to
show their support for gay
rights, Michener says.
For further information on
these or other Gay Pride Week
events, contact the Gay Peo
ples’ Alliance, 318 EMU,
686-3360.
University organizations
schedule Health Faire
More than 40 health organ
izations are scheduled to par
ticipate in the sixth-annual
Health Faire on campus Wed
nesday and Thursday.
The event will run from 9 a m.
to 4 p.m. both days in the EMU
Ballroom. It is sponsored by the
Oregon Students' Association
for the Advancement of Health
Education and the Univeristy
health education department
BIBLE-LITERATURE
THEOLOGY- SPIRIT
Instructor: Doug Huneke
A class designed for pre-seminary students, but of interest and
open to all persons. The class will read, reflect, and discuss a
gospel, a novel, a section of Tillich’s Systematic Theology, and
an article on spirituality. Koinonia Center. Six sessions.
1414 Kincaid St.
Friday 3-4:30
Sponsored by Campus Interfaith Ministry
Call 484-1707 for info.
the demands of work or duty.”
The pair see it as more than just
watching the tube while quaff
ing a beer, but the idea of leisure
as a reparative need holds.
"Anything can be a leisure,
depending on one’s attitude
toward it," Itzkowitz says. "You
can say it’s work, but at the
same time it’s leisure because
you don’t have a negative atti
tude toward it.”
However, making leisure
more satisfying takes work.
People can fail at leisure by not
getting satisfaction out of it.
Thus, leisure awareness.
People who take the class
identify their personal needs,
analyze how their current lei
sure activities fulfill their needs,
then decide which activities
would best fulfill their needs.
This calls for another defini
tion — what are needs? One of
the dozen or so forms the class
uses suggests possible needs,
from something as vague as "to
do something meaningful” to a
specific "participate in alcohol
free activities.”
Another form, called the "Sa
tisfaction Success Payoff In
ventory,” lets people check off
aspects of a given satisfying
experience: "I received love
and affection,” or “I gained fin
ancially.”
Besides the forms, Itzkowitz
and Hill use a "fantasy exer
cise”: Relax and envision an
ideal day, given all the money
and skills needed. Find the un
derlying theme and look for
similar things to do around
Eugene.
"For example,” Itzkowitz
says, "if someone wanted to go
to a south sea island to sail, how
else would someone achieve
that satisfaction of sailing?”
Why, at Fern Ridge or Dexter
reservoirs, of course.
It all sounds so simple — in
fact, the pair say it is.
"I found more and more it’s
not the tangible objects that are
keeping us from enjoying our
selves — the money, transpor
tation — a lot of those things can
be overcome quite easily," Itz
kowitz says.
“It's more a fear of learning
something new — a fear of
failure.”
Itzkowitz hastens to add that
he won't tell people how to
overcome that fear, but he’ll
help them find the answers.
"You've got the answers in
you already," he says. "We may
have the tools to help you find
that answer, but that’s all we
have.”
The next five-week class ses
sion begins May 5, and costs $8.
For more information, call Neal
Itzkowitz at 344-6311, Linda Hill
at 485-4265, or LCC at
484-2126, ext. 532.
Then just relax.
:
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» ■
13 th & Kincaid
Mon-Fri 8:15-5:30
Sat 10:00-2:00
Textbooks 686-3520 • General Books 686-3510 • Supplies 686-4331
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