it At W
Peter Utsey Emerald
Seminars offer quick credits
■ Seminars and weekend-long
classes allow students to gain
needed credits for small prices
By Lisa Toth
Oregon Daily Emerald
Saturdays and Sundays during
spring term is a time for students
to slack off and enjoy the sun. But
those who enroll in weekend sem
inars and one and two-credit short
courses will be bound indoors to
the classroom.
Each term, select departments
offer a variety of courses that can
count toward general University
or degree requirements. Students
are attracted to these courses be
cause many of them offer quick,
easy credit in a short amount of
time on a variety of topics, includ
ing the King of rock ’n’ roll, sex
education, watercolor illustra
tions and lifeguard certification.
But the academic choice to learn
during the weekends is worth tak
ing advantage of, according to
University faculty and communi
ty officials who will present many
of the seminars.
The Substance Abuse Preven
tion Program is featuring more
than 20 weekend seminars this
term, and students can still enroll
for many of them.
Miki Mace, the administrator of
SAPP, said many of the workshops
are conducted by people who
work in the field — thus adding a
different dimension to learning.
“It’s an opportunity for people to
learn about another part of the
world of work that they wouldn’t
normally learn about,” she said.
But not all weekend seminars
and one-and two-credit classes
feature working professionals.
Some of these courses are taught
by University professors.
English professor Richard
Stevenson said the program is the
perfect alternative for students
short on credits but who don’t
have the money or time for sum
mer classes. He warned, however,
that students need to keep their
schedules free to complete read
ings and course expectations.
“It requires a very intense use of
time,” Stevenson said.
Local therapist Judy Vergamini
will be leading a seminar Saturday
that will explore the social, emo
tional and societal impact of di
vorce on children. Participants
will be able to learn techniques for
teaching and affecting positive
change in children who have been
influenced by divorce.
Vergamini, a private certified
counselor since 1974, said her
workshop is especially pertinent
with the continually increasing
number of divorced and separated
families. The seminar is an oppor
tunity for students to learn about
how children are effected when
their parents become divorced,
Vergamini said, in terms of “learn
ing development, peer interac
tions, trust, future relationships
and their own self-esteem.”
In addition to showing a film on
divorce, a panel of students will
share their own experiences. She
said this course is relevant to more
than just students and those who
have been personally affected by
divorce. She recommended the
course to educators, service profes
sionals and friends of those who
are experiencing the effects of di
vorce. Vergamini has been teach
ing seminars on related topics for
more than five years.
Mace said other presenters are
from a range of specialties such
as anger management, youth
street gangs, conflict resolution
and domestic terrorism.
“The folks who are doing the
training are the best of the best,”
said Mace, who will be leading a
two-credit seminar — Alcohol and
the College Student — April 13 to
14 with SAPP program assistant
Connie Sohm.
Mace highly recommended Jay
Friedman’s April 21 seminar
called Sex Matters. In a society
which at times has trouble talking
about sex, Freidman, a nationally
award winning health educator,
will help participants to discover a
wide range of sexual issues con
fronting college campuses today
— from the first kiss to preventing
sexually transmitted diseases.
SAPP seminars give partici
pants 10 days to complete a take
home test and related readings to
the topic of the course. The read
ings are posted on SAPP’s Web
site, so Mace said students may
find it in their advantage not to
have to purchase textbooks by
taking weekend seminars.
During the upcoming summer
term, English Professor Benjamin
Saunders will be leading ENG
399, Elvis Presley: The significa
tions of an American pop-culture
icon. The class will meet Friday
and Saturday for four weekends
during the summer, offering stu
dents an introduction to cultural
studies and a focused study on
this familiar public figure in
American music.
English Professor George Wickes
will be leading ENG 410 Ameri
cans in Paris, in which Stevenson
said students can chose to earn be
tween one and four credits while
focusing on Americans who were
drawn to Paris in the 1920s. Stu
dents in this course will read se
lect books from authors Ernest
Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald
and Gertrude Stein. This class will
meet Saturday and Sunday during
the weekend of June 22 to 23.
“Both are attractive courses ex
perimenting with different time
frames,” Stevenson said.
E-mail features reporter Lisa Toth
at lisatoth@dailyemerald.com.
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