TUESDAY,APRIL30,2002
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 3A
Week to focus on suicide prevention
By Lauren Beatty Kansan staff writer
With suicide as one of the leading causes of death among young people, Marcia Epstein thinks this problem needs to be addressed in an open and honest way.
Epstein is helping to organize National Suicide Prevention Week May 6 through May 12 in Lawrence. There will be two opportunities for students to discuss and learn about suicide, which is the third leading cause of death among 15-to-24-year-olds according to the National Center for Vital Statistics.
Epstein, director of Headquarters Counseling Center, 1419 Massachusetts St., said a suicide
discussion would take place from 7 to 8:30 p.m., Monday, May 6, at the Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vermont St. Epstein said the discussion would feature a video, a question-and-answer period and a lecture by someone who had personally dealt with suicide.
From 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, May 9, a healing circle will take place at Haskell Indian Nations University.
"It will be a discussion on a personal level," Epstein said. "We want to get people thinking. We will have people who struggle with suicide and people close to others who committed suicide. There are a lot of difficult things for people to deal with."
Epstein said National Suicide
Prevention Week was a call to action for communities to get involved with suicide prevention.
"We want to encourage communities to make a difference," she said. "The risk of suicide is in all kinds of people — not a certain age or gender or race. We want to make it easier for people to talk and get help. With the week, people are doing activities to provide support for people who are at risk or who have lost a friend to suicide."
John Wade, a staff psychologist at Counseling and Psychological Services at Watkins Memorial Health Center, said the center received many calls about suicide.
"That is something we work with on a regular basis," he said.
"We certainly see a significant number of people here who are thinking about suicide."
Wade said there were some warning signs to look for. A person who was normally outgoing may become socially withdrawn.
"If your roommate is sleeping until noon every day and missing classes, that may be an indication," he said.
Epstein said Headquarters received about two calls daily about suicide. She said the most important thing for people to remember was to seek out help.
Contact Beaty at beaty@kansan.com. This story was edited by Angela Cox.
WOMEN
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
Amsereen Shaffie, Kansas City, Kan. freshman, said she thought mainstream media gave a biased report of the conflict. She said few people really knew about the conflict.
Shaffie said a poll in the London Guardian was an example of this. She said the paper's readers had been asked who the occupying force in the conflict was and 90 percent of those people hadn't known.
"That's ridiculous," she said. "People must know the basic facts about issues like this."
Only women dressed in black for the protest, but Cook said the concept was about finding support among women, not excluding men.
"Men hold out information,
so they still participate," she said.
William Justice, Saline county senior, said he thought a woman-only protest made more of an impact.
"It's more powerful for women to voice opposition because
they've suffered more at the hands of these power structures," he said.
Justice participated in the protest by passing out fliers and information. He said several people opposed the protest because they thought Israel's actions were self-defense. But Justice said he saw the conflict differently.
"Elements of both sides are in the wrong here," he said. "The difference is that terrorists are individuals and aren't organized under a group subject to the laws of the international community."
The demonstration's goal was that information and images of women in mourning would make people think about alternatives to violence.
"It's a sight to see." Dalyn Cook said. "Part of the impact is visual."
Contact Maggie Koerth at mko-
erth@kansan.com. This story was edited by Joanna Miller.
CHRISTINA NEFF/KANSAN
Lorraine Bayard De Volo, assistant professor of political science, women's studies and government, protests Israeli-Palestinian violence
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