Tuesday
Editor in chief: Laura Cadiz
Editorial Editors: Bret Jacobson, Laura Lucas
Newsroom: (541)346-5511
Room 300, Erb Memorial Union
P.O. Box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
E-mail: ode@oregon.uoregon.edu
February 8,2000
Volume 101, Issue 92
Emerald
The United States economy
is directly in the middle of
a huge boom. We’re makin’
money, spendin’ money,
workin’ hard and bein’ productive.
Great! That must mean that things are
getting better for everyone.
Unfortunately, that’s far from the truth.
One of the reasons we’re more productive
is that we’re spending more time working.
That means less time for everything else.
What worries me is that as the middle and
upper classes im
prove themselves,
they’re sacrificing the
time that could be
spent helping other
people. Support ser
vices for people in
need simply cannot
function without vol
unteers.
In general, a suc
cessful volunteer unit
has a few motivated,
skilled and experi
enced leaders —
probably paid em
ployees. But the good they can do is limit
ed by physics, time and geography.
What these organizations really need is
you.
There are many opportunities on cam
pus to get involved with volunteering.
Many student organizations are entirely or
partially dedicated to such service. Check
Jonathan
Gruber
out the list on page 25
of the 1999-2000 Uni
versity Student Directo
ry. There are, of course,
many more opportunities in
the larger community.
What service organizations need is
an army of grunt workers who can take
direction willingly. The reason that
these “soldiers” can take the direction
so well is that they care, and they know
they make a difference.
“What we’re looking for is a will
ingness to work in the movement to
end the violence; someone
who’s real committed to
that,” said Cris Lira, the
volunteer program coor- b»
dinator of Sexual Assault
Support Services.
What is most important, then, is not that
skilled individuals use their experience
and know-how in a volunteer setting, but
that enough people care enough to volun
teer at all. For example, Tonia Valadez, the
Womenspace youth outreach and educa
tion coordinator, said, “You don’t have to
come in with crisis-intervention experi
ence.” Womenspace has anywhere from
100 to 200 volunteers at any time.
In fact, if someone is looking to get some
thing out of volunteering besides its intrin
sic worth to society, training is one of the
perks. According to Lira, “Oftentimes we
Bryan Dixon Emerald
get people who are looking to improve
their skills.”
SASS volunteers come from every seg
ment of society. And there are all kinds of
places volunteers can perform, including
the 24-hour crisis line, peer advocacy, sup
port groups and administrative tasks.
. The volunteers at SASS generally work
anywhere from four hours on up. They’ve
even had volunteers log 200 hours in a
month, although I doubt they were college
students. But, if you think a four-hour shift
is a little too long or structured, there are
other ways to volunteer.
In terms of finding something with a little
i less weekly obligation, the United Way
| operates a Volunteer Connection Hotline
(741-6000). United Way has all kinds of
different volunteers, from corporate em
ployees to high school students, in all
kinds of different positions. Wintry Whitt,
who works in the United Way’s Support
Services, said that even an hour of avail
ability a week can be helpful.
And lastly, let me put in a shameless
plug for Alpha Phi Omega, the community
service fraternity of which I am a brother.
As I tell people (who are generally con
fused, for I don’t really look like a frat
boy), we don’t have a house, and men
^ and women are all invited to become
P “brothers.” We are really good at grunt
work, and the variety of projects is
large, so it’s hard to get bored.
I know that I finally decided to do more
volunteering when I realized that if I kept
putting it off, saying, “I’ll volunteer in the
next phase of my life, when I have more
time,” I’d never get anything accomplished.
I cannot be in Doctors Without Borders (the
organization that won the 1999 Nobel Peace
Prize) until I get out of medical school, but
everyone can volunteer in some way.
What is most important is not what you
do but that you do something.
Jonathan Gruber is a columnist for the Oregon Daily
Emerald. His views do not necessarily represent
those of the Emerald. He can be reached via e-mail
jgruber@gladstone.uoregon.edu.
World Wide What
Do you think the University should have a student-funded beer garden?
•—o—o_l h £—,w ft„.b—=»•-.
www.dailyemerald.com
a Yes, most
definately. It's
a good way to
get people to
socialize, /
don't think it
could be
harmful."
Sarah Weston
sopmore,
education
a Yes, beer
sales would
raise revenue
and provide
students with
a close; famil
iar setting. ”
Vince Butera
junior,
CIS
It I don't
think it would
be a good idea.
Money could
be spent in
more impor
tant ways."
SamiAlenazi
freshman,
busines
administration
j iives. It
* would pro
vide a more
student
I orientated
drinking at
mosphere. ”
James Etirtiart
junior,
math