Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 11, 1982)
Emerald Photo Elaine and Eugene Smith, local running experts, take a jog on a misty path On Saturday, the Smiths will conduct a seminar at the Eugene Hilton on their patented "perscription" approach to running. Eugene pair attempts to 'get world in shape’ Running is therapy for the mind, say Smiths By Sean Meyers Of the Emerald Joggers in Eugene are often pigeonholed into two catagories — those who run for athletic recognition and those who run for physical well-being. But for 15 years Eugene and Elaine Smith have been putting into practice a theory long suspected but never confirmed — that running can also be good therapy for the mind The Eugene couple has made a living from what they concede could be called a "running couch,” — swapping "undesirable" addictions to drugs, food and gambling for the "desirable” addiction to running Hills instead of pills, so to speak "The whole world needs to get in shape,” says Eugene Smith "Plato said a healthy mind is a healthy body. It's therapy on the run. We’re too used to having things done for us, we re becoming a spectator society — some people are becoming spectators of their own lives They need to participate.” The couple has patented their approach, calling it "Prescription Running” or the 3-M's method. That stands for Mind, Matter and Motion, which is the name of their new book they presented to the public Wednesday evening to drum up dollars for the University’s track team The concept underlying the program is simple — a twist on the cliche “mind over matter." It involves an integration of psyche and body, where the psyche is the mind, the body is the matter, and through motion — running — the two are integrated "We take mind and matter and we integrate it through the activity of motion," says Mrs. Smith "This program is the person We major in that person ” Not a trot around the track every few days — usually five miles a day, each and every day. Potential clients can go to either extreme with the program, by merely purchasing a copy of the book for about $12, or by jumping into the 30-day intensive program at a cost of up to $10,000. The higher price includes two-on-one discussion sessions, crisis intervention house calls and, of course, daily running sessions with an author at each elbow offering encouragement Jim Edens, a three-year veteran of the Bos ton Marathon and a graduate student here at the University, was on hand at the reception because of his interest in running as a life-time hobby. “The way it's been is either you're in school and you're involved in athletics, or you’re out of school with a beer in your hand, watching," said Eden. “I think that philosophy is changing.” Tony, an ex-marine and Vietnam veteran who spent "six or seven years in and out of mental hospitals,” was a patient of the Smiths before they had fully formulated the 3-M's approach. A Harvard drop-out diagnosed as being an "undifferentiated schizophrenic,” Tony heard a radio program discussing the Smith’s program and decided to investigate. "What the program did was heighten my perspective of dealing with people and life outside my own sphere," Tony says. "It built me up physically and mentally " The Smiths are conducting a seminar at the Eugene Hilton Saturday that might be their last similar appearance in the area for a year because of an upcoming national tour The $45 fee for the seminar, which is being spon sored by the University Continuation Center, includes a pot roast lunch. "I want to extend a special invitation to the kids at school," says Smith "You're looking at one of the most stressful occupations — being a student. You're under the gun all the time Vietnam vet remembers painful time By Barbara Hicks Of the Emerald Veterans Day traditionally honors the unknown soldier who is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. But for Cliff Kaylor and other veterans today also will be a day to pause and reflect about a difficult and painful time When Kaylor entered the University in 1971 after serving in Vietnam, he "felt alone on campus "I didn't feel safe there," he says. "I wasn't willing to risk talking to people about Vietnam and have my feelings trampled on again.” And Kaylor had a difficult time just getting back into school In 1971, a “young, blue-eyed, nazi looking dude” in the admissions office told Kaylor his grades were not good enough to be re-admitted to the Univer sity But Kaylor, now a counselor at the University Veteran s Center, insisted he was "a different person" from when he'd first been in college "I go and fight and watch others die, and I can’t even get into the University,” Kaylor says Kaylor says as a returning veteran, someone owed him enough respect to allow him into school on probation So he appealed and entered summer school Kaylor says he felt "really alienated" during summe* ~hool because of the anti-war sentimeu. at that time He finished summer school with a 3 78 grade point average but never returned He says he is "still bitter about the University." Kaylor, who has worked at the Vet Center since it opened in May 1981, describes himself before his experience in Vietnam as "smart but non-directed." He had been to college and had flunked out purposely to be drafted, figuring “any old fool can make it in the army," he says Kaylor says he assumed when he joined the army that he wouldn't be sent to Vietnam because he was intelligent But Kaylor went He recalls he was “scared the entire time I always had an ominous feeling death was watching over me " Kaylor says Vietnam was “the first teenage war this country has ever fought “ The average age of a soldier was 19'/2 compared to 26'/? during WWII, Kaylor says At that age you're trying to find out what life's about," he says "When you're 19 and on the battlefield, and you know there's guys your age doing their best to kill you, it's a shock " And people back home were more supportive of the WWII war effort because the soldiers were "fighting an awful oppressor," he says “In Vietnam we were fighting against an 80-year-old man who wrote poetry." he says, referring to Ho Chi Minh But the worst wasn't over when the Vietnam soldiers returned home, Kaylor says Soldiers in WWII came home with their units and had time to debrief and put things in perspective, he says Vietnam veterans were sent home individually, and. within 24 hours, were out on the street Many veterans who came home in this manner were left with "survivor guilt." Kaylor says "They felt they had run out on their friends," he says Kaylor recalls arriving at his home in Ohio where "nobody understood what was going on' with him People kept telling Kaylor to "put it behind me," which made him suppress his feelings, he says Kaylor explains that suppression is the Photo by Bob Baker University Veteran's Center counselor Clift Kaylor tries to help other vete confront their war experiences "We deal with the stuff vets do to keep from going crazy, "says Kaylor method of self-preservation while in Vietnam "It seemed obvious that if I went crazy I'd get killed." he says "I have yet to talk to a vet who cried even one tear while there " In Vietnam there was a "genuine love among the troops." so great "you would give your life for them." he says "To have them ripped up over and over again was quite traumatic " Now when someone tries to get close to many veterans, they back oft "because it would hurt too much to lose them." he says Sometimes those veterans don't realize that this numbing is related to their experiences in Vietnam, he adds But while numbing worked to protect veterans' sanity while in Vietnam, it prevents effective communications with loved ones at home, he says He describes the suppression of emo tion as "a denial, as strong as the denial of an alcoholic " That aloofness — as well as the other symptoms — resentment of authority, flashbacks, nightmares, and sometimes violent behavior — have resulted in the "crazy vets" image, he says "Here (at the Vet Center) we are not dealing with craziness," he says. "We are dealing with stuff vets do to keep from going crazy The emotional armor " "There is not one vet here who was not terrified to come," he says. "The changes vets go through are not pleasant" It’s "painful stuff," but it’s not new pain It’s old pain "It hurts a lot less to let it out than to carry it around all the time "
