The Scarlet and Black. February 20. leis—p. 3

—miscel]aneous—
Health services cut

V

Red Ryder cast members Maggie Laird, Adeena Swig, Tony rlinn,
Mark Anderson. Fred Ertl. and John Rensenllouse are caught in the
middle of a recent rehearsal or the entirely student-produced play.
Presentations at the show will run February 25-29. with an a pm curtain

time. in Flanagan Arena Theatre.

aStudent play opens

by Mary Brown

I Expectations are running high
among some enterprising theatre
students this semester as the first
department sponsored. entirely
student- p-roduced show premieres
‘on Februaly 25 in the Arena
Theatre The play, when You
Comin Back Red Rydcl'?, by
Mark Medoff, is set in a “greasy,
New Mexico diner“ in the late
sixties and is described by
Director Brian Mann as portraying
the death of the American hero.
The title of the play is derived from
a mythical Western hero of the

forties, namely Red Ryder.
Mann, who has wanted to direct
.3 this particular play for two years,
said the initial planning for the
(production started as early as
November; rehearsals began
immediately following break. and
‘ now consume at least two hours a
5 night, five nights a week. That,
' however, is a conservative
measurement of the amount of
time the group has actually spent

in preparation.

in evaluating their experience,
the individuals involved are
definitely agreed on one thing: that
it is more difficult to muster the
necessary cooperation for a
student production than {or the
more common faculty- -directed
ones. Technical Director Alice
Jeernstein admits that there have
been some problems but adds that
everything has contributed to
'aaking the undertaking a true
“learning experience ll She feels
‘that the only way students can
realize the actual mechanics of a
theatre production is to take on the

responsibility themselves.
‘ When You Comin' Home, Red
Ryder? promises to be one of the
more significant theat ical events

JD‘S RESTAURANT
COCKTAIL LOUNGE

IClr’Vilttt-d at 922‘; Main

liNI'H' Mon tiiru Fri
.lllNNl-Ilt Mini lhrii'l‘hurs.
in in In ii p m . Fri .Snt
n in to l2 5) hi

of the season partly. 01 course. for
the stunning performances
everyone anticipates, but also for
the precedent its creators hope to
seti Despite the difficulties which.
probably ineVltably, have cropped
up, Bernstein emphasized the
tremendous interest the group has
in staging a quality production;
one of their primary aims is to see
similar student-run projects
become a regular part at the
Theatre Department's yearly
production schedule,

Except for Bernstein and Mann,
whose involvement combines
interest with partial fulfillment of
individual independent project
requirements, and player Adeena
Swig, who was assigned the job of
coordinating costume design, cast
and crew members receive no
academic credit for the hours they
spend in production. Clearly, the
driving force for all involved has
been what Mann perceives as “an
amazing commitment to the
show,”

Members of the cast are Mark
Anderson, Fred Ertl, Tony Flinn,
Maggie Laird, Dan Meltzer, John
Rensenhouse, Nancy Scheinfeld,
and Adeena Swig in her stage
debut. Behind the scenes personnel
include Ric Day, Mark Fischer,
Cathy Silver, Twila Thompson, and
Dave Wagner.

POYNTER'S

by Janet Pope
assisted byDnve Wick

Due to a $10,000 Cut in the Health
Center budget, a program revision
is now being considered, Ralph
Pomerenk, director of college
services, has proposed that a nurse
no longer be continually present at
the Health Center. in the proposed
plan a nurse would be on duty from
r a.m. until a p in, Monday through
Friday and o a.m. to 1 pm on
Saturday, At all other times a
student would be on duty.

According to Pomerenk, such a
plan would enable a reduction in
wages which he sees as the only
place where a substantial cut can
bemade, He commented that some
people have expressed
dissatisfaction with the proposed
plan, but that no one has come up
with another one that would save
money.

There is some question as to
whether the proposed plan would
raise student health insurance
fees. Pomerenk is waiting for
representatives of Ramsey Weeks,
the college insurance agency, to
tell him how the proposal would
effect insurance rates

The plan is still in the
preliminary stages of discussion.
The Health Center staff, as well as
the Health Services Subcommittee,
have been informed of the plan.
Discussion about the plan’s
workability and about the nature of
the Health Center has resulted.
Erma Hall, administrative
supervisor of the Health Center
thinks the budget cut is a
necessary step in saving money

Dr, James Paulson. adviser to
the Health Center, said that he
didn't think closing the Health
Center at night would make much
difference to students. “I know the
Health Center is not very busy at
night. It is kind of a waste to have
full-lime RNs working,” he
commented.

Under the proposed plan the
number ofnurse positions would be
Cut from three and ahalt to one and
a half “There has been an under
utilization of nurses," explained
Pomerenk, “We've been trying to
justify the expense with relatively

low volume at night}:
However, Marie Durr and

Shirley Mathes, Health Center
nurses, said they received 425
visits and phone calls in the three
semesters between August '74 and
January '76, between 9 pm. and E
a.m,

Presently, the role of student
monitors has not been defined.

FOURTH

AVE.
FASHIONS

\/
/\

w

\

mules/

However, it appears that their
capabilities would be extremely
limited. Paulson said that he didn’t
think student employees will be
doing much more than
“secretarial Work,” Students
would no longer be employed to
work during the day, Pomerenk
explained that students would
probably be handling calls and
arranging transportation to the
hospital when necessary. He said
that Paulson would decide what to
students could and couldn’t do.

Apparently, students that do not
need medication and are not
seriously ill will be able to spend
the night in the Health Center. It
has not been decided whether
patients needing medication would
be allowed to remain. Though
student employees could not give
medication. it may be possible for
patients to take medication
themselves.

Durr and Mathes said that they
were worried about possible
liability problems with student
members. “i wouldn’t want to be
one of the students working over
here,“ commented Mathes. ”The
kids don't know what they're
getting into,“ she added.

However, both Pomerenk and
Paulson said that they did not
foresee any liability problems,
Pomerenk said that he supposed
the college would back any
student, who had such problems,
just as they do the rest of their
employees.

It students are required to stay
at Grinnell General Hospital, it will
cost them $59 a night for a private
room and $52 a night for a semis
private, The hospital charges a $10
base fee for emergency room
treatment, with labor and-or
supplies added to the tee.

With reduced hours at the Health
Center. students might find it
necessary to make greater use of
the medical facilities and per-
sonnel in the town. Paulson stated
that from talking to members of
the medical community in town, he
has gathered that they have no
strong objections to the proposed
change.

Historically, the Health Center
has not been an integral part of the
college. Across from Loose Hall on
Eighth Avenue, it is Visited mainly
by students who have an oc-
casional twisted ankle, upset
stomach, sore throat, and in-

ternally bleeding organs RUSH
Medical students use several
rooms in the Center during the fall
semester. However, other than
during those occasional treks
across Eighth Street, the Health
Center is out of sight and out of
mind

According to Waldo Walker,
dean of the college, the Health
Center is fulfilling its primary
purpose “In my opinion it is to
provide health service in the form
of practice on campus,” said
Walker.

However, others feel that the
Health Center could be functioning
in an educational capacity. ”I
think the Health Center should
provide health counseling as well
as health information to the
students." commented student Bob
Tracy “The Health Center should
be more than a pillbox.”

In a conversation about the
Health Center, Durr and Mathes
commented that they Should be
teaching classes like the first aid
one presently offeredi Mathes said
that the Sexuality Counseling
pamphlet that was passed out “put
them to shame.” Durr mentioned
that she had shown a health in-
formation booklet to Pomerenk
and suggested that something
similar to published at Grinnell,
That was a year and a half ago.
“There are a lot of good things we
could do. But we‘re blocked every
way we turn,” Durr explained,
“We have to fight to do anything,”
added Mathes.

The Health Services Suh-
committee is becoming interested
in playing a role in decisions about
the Health Center At first, student
members Russ Damtoft, Ed
Lisberg and Tammy Nyman all
commented that they didn’t see
any other way to cut the budget,
However, at a meeting Sunday
night Damtoft said that he cannot
say whether the cut is justified
because he doesn't know what is
being cut or not cut in other areas.
Nyman said that in her opinion the
Health Center service would be
greatly impaired if nurses were not
on duty at night.

Determined to take some action,
the sub-committee members made
plans to put signs up on each floor
requesting comments about the
Health Center. They also discussed
putting Sounding Board-type
sheets in the Center.

 

_\'/_
/|\

Y

Int-rdllclpilnaty curriculum
dutch-d and tluuhi py the
Vale coll-p- Faculty.
open to oualiiied students
who have completed at iesrt
one remeiter ct degree work
in college.

Mayan-Auguit is

rary Modernism
IAmcilca
origins or the Modern World
Modem .iaoun
Film
Social Science: center

Application lnloimallon'
sirmmorrerm Admissions
l502A Yale station AS
New Haven CT osszo
(zoo) tsz-tm

 

Each center altars courses
which are not related to the
interdisciplinary programs at
sludy. humor writing workshop.
introduction to music. intro.

Language, Culture, and Cognition
The etuoyoi Legal institutions
Capitalism, socialism, and Pa-
iiticsl Systems—Democvalic
and Nomnemocmilc
Policy and oeeisian Making
a Program Ipcnluvld jointly py
Iti- iiunianillu and social
Sci-noes cent-r.
Rlvoluiioris and social Change
Natural Science. center
Sysiems
The srcsphere

ALE

summer
term

uueiory philosophy, inter-
mediate psychelppy on the child
in society, malhemslict, com-
puter science. physics, chemls»
try. engineering. astronomy.

caustics and Biochemistry

 

 

 

