Oregon Daily WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9,1991 Recovery group offers new option By Gerrit Koeppmg Emorald Reporter For decades, Alcoholics Anonymous' has been the dominant self-help' group fur those Irving to stop drinking. But the number of alternative self-help or . gunizations that shv away or wholeheartedly reje.c t A.A metluxls is increasing. One such group that is rejecting, ti not outright'at tacking the A A system, is Rational Recovery Kevin Hornhuckle, local RationalRetnvery spokes Ilian, said the program is dilferent from A A in that "this is not a disease theory People are not the victim of some genu that hasn't even been discovered Rational Recovery instead tries to make pi ople take responsibility for their own actions, he said The A.A system consists of 12 steps that an alcohol ic goes through before he or she i an begin to ret ou r These steps include the individuals' acknowledge ment that they are victims of u disease, that they have no power against it, that they need help from a "litghei power” to fight their alcoholism and that they can ne\ er fully recover This "higher power" i an be any form of deity that the individual chooses, or could even In' the expert ence of members of the group at the A A meetings, saiii an A A spokesperson Part of the A A. program is that the alcoholic regu larly attend A.A group meetings and that after fin ishing the 12-step program they tell other alcoholics about the program But central to the Rational Recovery program is that the; alcoholics accept that they can stop drinking d they want to, Hornhuckle said. "Rational Recovery offers a more hopeful view of human ability you c an get over drinking problems and get on with lilt-," he said. Hornhuckle said a person bci tunes an alcoholic when lie or she needs alcohol to do what one t an't tin for oneself. "Rational Recovery teat hes people how to deal with the problems that caused the alcoholism," Hornhuckle said. He also said the Rational Recovery system iielievrs that a person can Ixs "cured" of alcoholism "You've seen people who say 'I'm an alcoholic and 1 haven't hud a drink in lfi years ' Alcoholism is what you do, not what you are," Hornbut kle said. Turn to ALCOHOL Pucj Yoga-na love it At long last, a class whcrt ■ , i can ■ ip sort of Dr Kahlsa teaches a Kunda'-- . in front of the Museum of Art to a J-r.ic* ■ : .or: Photo by Andre Ftanictri Sexual Assault Support Services offers aid Organizers seek volunteer help By Hope Nealson f merald Reporter Thu Soxual Assuult Support Servlcos opened their offii e just lust wick As proof ol tfit' rued for such an organization, several people huvu already sought help there Thu new center provides cri sis intervention, advocacy and counseling for people who have been sexually assaulted. SASS Voluoi' Coordinator Drill Collier said SASS is seek ing volunteers for its 24-hour crisis line. She said a core group of 11 volunteers is now pulling double and triple shifts to keep SASS operating smoothly. New volunteer training will be Oct. 17. The training will cover areas such as crisis inter i f - Erin Collier (loll) and Amy Pincus, volunteer coordinator and director ol the Sexual Assault Support Services A core group oI 11 volunteers is working double and triple shifts to keep SASS running volition skills, counseling skills, multi'Cultural training, and homophobia prevention skills The group will also go to Eugene's Sacred Heart General Hospital ami visit thr Spring field and Kugem* polite depart men Is Interested people can call In addition !u ihr hour crisis lmi-, SANS director Amy i'incus Sidd the program in tends to provide counseling, support groups, and referrals Community outreach will be another important part of SASS, she said That will in vo 1 ve speaking tn public schools and giving presenta tions to help educate the pub lie. I’incus said there was a huge outcry last December when the Sexual Assault Resource Cen ter, formerly the Rape Crisis Network, closed because ol funding and management prof) loins. Other ageni ies, such as the W h i tub ird Clinic. Oregon Counseling Center, and the University's Crisis Center took crisis i ails for rape and other sexual assaults th.it were lor Ulerly K( !Vs tasks, I’im us said llasani Kudurn. a member of the University's Unwanted Sex ual behavior Task Force, said Ion ' SASS P.rp- •! INDEX Daring art Thi> art work In 'Graduate S t u fray See story, Pago 6