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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (March 4, 1985)
Center offers healthy advice to students By Lori Steinhauer Of I hr Emerald Steve Johnson says he had always been able to overcome his frustrations in the past. However, when he transferred to the University last term! Johnson says he found coping with change more dif ficult than ever. In Eugene, Johnson, a junior marketing major, took his first dive into “dorm life" after living alone in a house during his first two years of college at the University of Idaho in his hometown. “Moving into a dorm was very hard for me to adjust to," he says. Johnson says his stress escalated when he came home to the dorms from work. He would see and hear people running around the dorms, and he would feel burdened by the heap of homework he had to do. He longed for his family and friends back in Idaho — or at least for some new ones to confide in. here. “I was at the breaking point. I desperately need ed an out," he says. Then Johnson came upon the University's student-run Health Education Center, on the first floor of the Student Health Center, and met with a Lifestyle Planning Program peer health adviser. "It gave me an opportunity to talk to somebody when 1 had no one.” Johnson says. The Lifestyle Planning Program, which has won national recognition, was developed last spring by Martha Carey, former Health Educator at the Health Education Center. Last year, Carey received $1,000 for the program proposal, which she entered in a na tionwide contest for public college health plans. Lifestyle Planning has expanded, and now has 15 advisers who lend support to students in need of advice on stress management, fitness prescription, sexuality and birth control, nutrition/weight con trol/eating disorders, sports nutrition and substance abuse, which was added to the program Feb. 18. The Health Education Center also acquired its own telephone line on the same day, and now students can make appointments directly through Lifestyle Planning (686-4456), rather than going through the Student Health Center reflfeptldnists. Students who are troubled by problems of their own, their friends' or their families' can set up a 45-minute appointment with a peer health adviser, to talk out their troubles and develop a plan to feel better. "We feel we can go above and beyond just be ing OK.” says Steve Smith, co-coordinator of the ti ntmerits made here Photo by Rom Martin April Minnich and Gaston Carlier, substance-abuse advisers at the University’s Health Education Center, are two of the center's 15 student volunteers who provide advice and information to other students. Lifestyle Planning Program. “We do a lot of goal setting with people. We encourage people to make changes very slowly,” he adds. But, Smith emphasizes, “We’re not profes sionals. We are students helping students.” Smith also points out that although the service is free, it can only be offered short-term because there are not enough advisers to offer long-term aid. Freshman Kate Conroy has just finished five ses sions with physical fitness adviser Ellen Feeney Pellitere. Conroy wanted to knock off about 10 pounds, which she had been having problems get ting rid of. "She (the adviser) helped me define what type of activity was going to help and to evaluate my diet. I think I’ve gotten what I needed,” Conroy says. Conroy has added daily aerobic workouts to her regular weight-lifting program, and has cut her fat intake; she says she has lost about half of the weight. Conroy says that in addition to helping her set goals, her adviser provided encouragement when her own motivation was down. “Ellen seemed really knowledgable on it, and there was no drawback as far as being a peer," she adds. Smith says peer health advising brings in about 20 to 25 students each week, especially students seeking ways to reduce stress. However, he says the program is still unknown to many. “We hear that every day: ‘We didn’t know you existed.’ ” To become peer health advisers, students must be majoring in areas related to health, such as psychology, health education or recreation, and they must take Smith's three credit, one-term-long Peer Health Advising course — Health 407G — before they can advise students. “We also try to get people who have had personal experiences so it adds a real personal touch,” Smith says. For example, April Minnich, a substance-abuse and nutrition adviser, is a 28-year-old sophomore, studying nutrition at the University, and a former cocaine addict. “Part of the reason I’m a drug counselor is because I have had a drug problem before,” she says. “I’m not here to tell people to stop taking drugs or stop drinking alcohol,” Minnich says. However, she says, “if you’re waking up every morning feeling rotten, then you need help.” Individuals can only define that point for themselves, she says. “We want to help students help themselves,” Minnich says. “Adding on this drug and alcohol thing makes us a pretty rounded program.” Gaston Carlier, a senior at the University, is the other substance-abuse adviser. “We can be em pathetic because we have been through the strug gle,” he says. Johnson says peer health advising helped him view his situation objectively and devise some plans to reduce his stress. He quit worrying what the peo ple around him were thinking, and focused on his own well-being, he says. Johnson quit his job, which he decided was too burdensome with his heavy class load, and he began to exercise more. He also started attending some campus lectures and going out with his friends from work more frequently to keep his social-life full and diversified. “I think the peer health advising is absolutely vital,” Johnson says. Coffee Bean of the Month Irish Blend $ KINKO’S 860 E. 13th • 344 7894 Overnight Service Store Hours Mon Fn *) 6 Sat 10 S Sun Closed Color Print Film in by 4:00; Ready by 11:00 Next Day; Monday through Thursday IS apm 0*vftJop*d & [MEjummu** *3" •EMU CULTURAL FORUM PRESENTS a GORDON LDOV WEDNESDAY , MARCH 6TH. 7:30 PM EMU BALLROOM TICKETS $2.00 (J ofO Student. $4.00 General Public ■available at: EMU Main Desk, Face the Music & Everybody*' Records.