United Way, YMCA provide ways to help out
■College students can get
involved in the community,
which has a plethora of
volunteer opportunities
By Lindsay Bucheie
Oregon Daily Emerald
Lane County offers many commu
nity service options to those looking
to do more than just work and play
this summer — from enhancing the
habitat of a Western Pond Untie to be
coming a Big Brother or Big Sister.
Loma Baldwin, a coordinator of the
City of Eugene Stream Team, said the
team needs volunteers to do every
thing from collecting seeds in the
West Eugene Wetlands to salvaging
native plants from development sites.
There are opportunities available
for students not only to interact with
their environment, but also with the
people and organizations of the com
munity.
“Volunteering can help a college
student to become involved in their
community,” said Katie Paletta, Unit
ed Way of Lane County volunteer spe
cialist. “It’s easy to become wrapped
up in your individual life, and volun
teering helps students go beyond
that.”
The nonprofit organization United
Way attempts to get community
members to care for each other by
matching volunteers with other non
profit organizations in need of help,
Palettasaid.
“All of the volunteer opportunities
are available to college students,” she
said. “We currently have 500 posi
tions available.”
She said the positions are never
completely filled because the 84 agen
cies United Way connects with vol
unteers are always in need of people.
One of these agencies is the Eugene
Family YMCA, which runs the Big
Brother/Big Sister programs in Eu
gene and Springfield.
Jude McKay, program coordinator
for the Big Brother/Big Sister pro
gram, said there is always a need for
volunteers who are willing to help
keep kids safe and off the streets.
Volunteers are matched with little
boys or girls who may be missing an
important figure in their lives or are
being raised by a single parent, McK
ay said.
“We try to match the volunteers up
with the kids as best as we can,” McK
ay said. “It’s not done on a first-come,
first-serve basis. We’re looking for an
adult who shares an interest and con
cern for the child. ”
For the Big Brother/Big Sister pro
gram, the University is one of the
largest sources of volunteers.
“They’re recognizing that maybe
they got a break along the way and
want to give others the same chance
they got, ” McKay said.
He also said that the formal rela
For more information
Career Center—Hendricks Hall,
second floor
Un ited Way of Lane Cou nty—741 -
6000
Eugene Family YMCA—686-9622
City of Eugene Stream Team — lor
na.j.baldwin@ci.eugene.or.us
tionship between the big sibling and
little sibling ends when the child
reaches age 16, but often the pair con
tinues the relationship.
Information about volunteer op
portunities are available through the
University at the Career Center.
Seat belt advocates’ report gives states poor grades
By Nedra Pickier
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Advocates of
tougher seat belt laws give more than
a third of the states a below-average
grade for their efforts to protect against
highway deaths.
The report by the National Safety
Council kicks off a nationwide police
crackdown on drivers who do not
wear seat belts and do not buckle up
kids. More than 10,000 U.S. law en
forcement agencies will have check
points and increased patrols begin
ning Monday and lasting through
Memorial Day.
The study found that people use
belts more often and die in traffic acci
dents less frequently in the District of
Columbia and 17 states that allow of
ficers to stop and ticket unbuckled
motorists.
Nineteen states got D’s and F’s in
the report. Chuck Hurley, executive
director of the Air Bag & Seat Belt
Safety Campaign, said politicians in
those states refuse to pass laws that
are proven to save lives.
The report graded the states based
on a government-approved seat belt
use survey, the strength of restraint
laws, fatality rates and participation
of law enforcement in the crackdown.
“The U.S. ranks behind virtually
every other developed country when it
comes to seatbelt use, with deadly con
sequences,” said Alan McMillan, pres
ident of the National Safety Council.
Traffic crashes killed 32,061 Amer
icans in 1999 — or 15 per 100,000
people, the report said. Canada has 92
percent seat belt use and a traffic fa
tality rate of about 9 per 100,000.
California, which at 89 percent has
the highest seat belt use in the coun
try, is the only state to earn an A.
Twelve other states and the District of
Columbia receive a grade of B or
above. All of those states except one
— Washington — have primary en
forcement laws.
Several other states are considering
primary seat belt laws. Florida state
Rep. Irv Slosberg sponsored a bill this
year to strengthen the state’s law after
his teenage daughter died in a crash
when she was not wearing a seat belt.
“No father should ever have to face
the kind of pain I did when Dori was
killed,” he said.
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