Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 21, 1986)
sure that the good works go beyond graduation. Stanford School of Law recently an nounced a program of inexpen sive loans for graduates who choose a lower-paying public service practice; the school will even retire the debt if the young attorney sticks with public service for several years. Many states are also happy to stretch their re sources with student labor: later this month Minnesota’s legislature will consider a plan to grant tuition credits in exchange for extended hitches in a state community-service program. Fish heads: Beyond what these programs do for the schools or even for the people they serve, volunteerism opens the eyes of the volunteer. DePauw senior Robyn Ratcliffe recalls her month in Kenya: "I bathed in a river. 1 had fish heads for lunch. I had diarrhea for weeks.” After the Third World, sorority life was a massive culture shock, she says: "You come back to campus, and people are asking each other what color shoes to wear.” Says Tulane junior Mark Bourgeois, who works with the ■nmi' rv ->inn Dedicated feet: World Fixxi Day drew 'stamp out hunger’crusaders from across the nation school’s Hunger Action Team, "It trivial izes my problems to see what is going on in the world." Through these epiphanies, the helpers sometimes become the helped. When some one holds the hand of an ailing, lonely pen sioner or comforts a battered child, poverty and suffering assume an inescapable, hu man fact* These are memories that will likely linger—and they increase the odds that, along with status cars and jobs, stu dents may also strive for u social cause in later life. John ScHWAtTZu'ifA Todu Uakk«tt in Washington. DC. CumsToiMtH Blows in iVVii' Orleans. Jr.rrr.Hv Re m N in (Imiul Hapuls. and F e L i c i a K o K n b i. e H in (amhndgt Spreading th« Word Wayne Meiael—a.k.a. the Johnny Appleseed of vol unteerism—lives a life that’s an odd mix of high tech and low clan. As he travels the country in search of fertile environments for communi ty organizations, the 27-year old Meisel crashes on student couches and wears one of his two outfits: a sweat suit or a blue business suit. Then there's his Macintosh com puter, which he plugs in whenever he has a moment —even during airport lay overs—for some quick letters or work on the latest publica tions from the Campus Out reach Opportunity League (COOL), which Meiael found ed in 1965. A preacher’s son with a lopsided grin, Meisel is tak ing local action nationwide: COOL’s presence is now felt on about 150 campuses. When he was studying at Harvard, Meisel says, he accepted the conventional wisdom that his peers were job-obsessed automatons. But when he decided he wanted to coach a soccer team for Cambridge youngsters and tried to recruit others, he was astounded by the response: 160 students signed up first night. Meisel says he gan to believe that "given TnriH m • Wayne Meiael CHAftUB UCDfOKD proper leadership and struc ture and support, students will get involved.” Two years after graduating in 1982, Meisel trekked 1,500 miles on foot to 67 colleges between Maine and Wash ington, D.C., to spread the word. Eager as a Newfound land pup, Meisel has a knack for infecting others with his enthusiasm, sowing soup kitchens wherever he goes. COOL tries to get students to individualize their commu mty action, we try to get them to think about their strengths, think about what it is that makes their community tick,” he says. It was his notion, for instance, to link Harvard "houses,” as some of the dorms are called, to sever al neighborhoods. Al though he is aware that the apolitical nature of communi ty service draws fire from gome activist quarters, Meisel insists that the com monality that nonpartisan status affords is crucial to a group's strength. M| Um: These days, Meisel is back crisscrossing the coun try by air to conduct regional workshops. COOL now has Washington offices, a staff of five and a comprehensive guide to starting community service programs (page 29). Much of their funding comes from private foundations and federal volunteer programs like ACTION/VISTA. COOL also helps sponsor the Nation al Hunger Clean-Up and a summer internship program in Appalachia. Despite having hit the big time in terms of visibility, Meisel still eschews expense accounts and hotel beds. "It's gotta be low budget, it's gotta be living on couches," he insists. "You do better work when you're sleeping on couches.” John Schwartz
