KATEE— GOLF CLUB at it* 'pOutC g College Students -*20.00 | 822-3220 |s vouv- voidc Ae*bbinA HEMP? vote in our weekly news polls www. dailyemerald. com u37 years of Quality Service” Mercedes • BMW • Volkswagen • Audi German Auto Service • MERCEDES • BMW • VOLKSWAGEN • s 342-2912 • 2025 Franklin Blvd. Eugene, Oregon, 97402 n1Pizza Pipeline THE REAL DEAL 010876 We accept UC Purchase Orders! Eugene Springfield 686-5808 746-7666 824 Charnelton 3831 Main Take a break to volunteer ■ Volunteer opportunities abound both on and off campus for interested students this spring break By Anna Seeley for the Emerald For many students, spring break is a week away from homework, teachers and lectures. Instead of spending it lounging in front of the television and eating junk food, why not spend some time out in the community volun teering? Whether it’s working at a soup kitchen, working with trou bled youths or just picking up trash at a neighborhood park, volunteer work is often appreciated. A good place to start a quest to volunteer is at the Community In ternship Program’s office, located in the breezeway of the EMU. There, staff members are available to help point students in the right direction to get information on a group or or ganization they would be interested in volunteering for. “We are the link between the community and students,” said Marcella Marchesano, the CIP exec utive director. “We offer programs based on experiential learning and hands-on learning.” The CIP helps place students in programs in many areas, including leadership, mentorship, public schools, outdoor schools and Build ing Blocks. Students can get in volved teaching middle schooLstu dents about higher education, or working with at-risk youths one-on one. Students can even receive aca demic credit, depending on how many hours they work. “Most organizations are looking for kids with a good work ethic, good academic standing, and who are dedicated and really interested in learning,” Marchesano said. Another place on campus that can always use an extra hand is the Women’s Center. “The Women’s Center offers a community of women dedicated to creating social change through edu cational endeavors and social events,” said Lori Brown, the office coordinator. “We offer drop-in refer ral services on issues pertaining to women, such as safety, LGBTA, is sues and child care.” Volunteers at the Women’s Center can also get involved in organizing and planning events such as Take Back the Night and creating the cen ter’s newsletter, “The Siren.” The center also offers internships for its sexual assault peer support program. “If people want to get involved on a one-time basis, they can always hang up fliers, do follow-up phone calls or work on our networking list, ” Brown said. “We provide a learning environ ment so students don’t need to come to us with certain skills.” The YWCA is another group on campus in need of volunteers. “Our program aims for gender equality and diversity,” Director Kathy Kozlowicz said. YWCA volunteers would be in volved in a number of activities, in cluding event planning, PR and helping to create the center’s maga zine, “Identity.” During spring break, the YWCA could use volunteers to help plan its spring events, such as Race Against Racism. “We are looking for volunteers who are organized and can follow through,” Kozlowicz said. “Volun teers would be working without a lot of supervision, so they need to be responsible and willing to learn.” Get involved during spring break: Women’s Center— 346-4095 YWCA—call Kathy Kozlowiczat 346-4439 Red Cross—344-5244 or e-mail info@usa.redcross.org, or visit www.redcross.org Salvation Army—343-3341, or visit www.salvationarmy.org Community Internship Program — 346-4351 For students who are not spend ing spring break in Eugene, there are many volunteering opportunities nationwide. For example, local public schools, day-care centers, or youth programs can use volunteers. Organizations such as the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army have offices and programs in many cities across the country and need a great number of volunteers. “We have over 900 volunteers in Lane County,” said Marianne Ansart, Red Cross health and safety and volunteer director. “We always need volunteers. We never have enough of them.” Red Cross volunteers are in volved in a variety of different pro grams including Meals on Wheels, youth programs, first aid, CPR and safety classes, and the disaster serv ice. Volunteers do things such as de liver and package meals or help with fundraising. Volunteer work doesn’t require a lot of knowledge or experience. All volunteers need are time, dedica tion, and a caring heart. “Volunteers really don’t need to have any certain skills,” Ansart said. “Just a willingness to want to volunteer.” Africa continued from page 6 pose of the symposium is to high light the importance of Africa and how central the country is to univer sity study. “We’re trying to get Africa on peo ple’s maps,” he said. “We have a large African-American population that has really put a stamp on Amer ican culture, so we really need to know about Africa and care about what’s going on there.” Gottlieb’s presentation, “The Wis dom of Children: An Anthropologi cal Perspective on Engaging African Modernity,” centered on the beliefs of the Beng people, an ethnic group of Africa’s Cote d’Ivoire, and how Americans need to recognize other groups’ modernity. “When thinking about the mod ern world, we need to expand our thinking,” she said. She said it is important to study African children because there are more Africans than any other race on the planet. She said it is also im portant to study them because thou sands of African children live on the streets, are fighting in the country’s wars and are physically ill. “Ignoring the children of Africa would be ignoring the continent,” she said. Gottlieb spent several years in Africa, researching the Beng people. She said they believe when ba bies are born they are still in the Wrugbe state, which is both the af terlife and the before-life. Gottlieb said the group believes children are reincarnated and have a great deal more mental and spiri tual power than adults realize. “To them, babies have desires but are unsure how to compiunicate them directly,” she said. Gottlieb said she learned of one Beng family whose newborn baby was unhappy and constantly cry Tom Patterson Emerald Acclaimed cultural anthropologist Alma Gottlieb speaks in Gerlinger Hall. ing. Spiritual individuals in the vil lage told the parents the baby was unhappy with his name because it did not reflect his name in his for mer Wrugbe life. She said the family changed his name and the baby seemed happier. “The children need to be viewed as respected people because that’s the way it was for them elsewhere,” she said. Gottlieb said the Beng people use another belief to explain the country’s high infant mortality rate. She said they believe that if parents mistreat their babies in some way, either physically or mentally, the Wrugbe people will reclaim them. In other words, the children die to return to their for mer lives, she said. Monica Price, a senior anthropolo gy major, attended Gottlieb’s presen tation and said Americans often have a common misconception that other countries aren’t as developed and modem as their own country. She What: Engaging Africa: A Symposium Exploring the Future of African Studies Where: Gerlinger Alumni Lounge Cost: Free When: Today, Mar. 2 9:30a.m.-12p.m.: Panel Presentations and Discussion 7:30 p.m.: Mongo Beti, Cameroonian novelist: “How can one be a writer in an underdeveloped country?” For more information, call the Oregon Humanities Center at 346-3934. said the independent beliefs of the Beng people show that they are more advanced than others might think. “Both West Europeans and Amer icans have consistently seen them selves as more modern but clearly we’re not better than anyone else,” she said.