[Members of a panel on domestic violence who spoke at a seminar Thursday evening are, left to right:
Paramedic John Short, Rev. Glenn Shelton of Second Baptist church, Police Officer Diana Short, Mental Health Specialist Alisin Gosda, domestic abuse survivor Tina Merchant, Sergeant Thomas Rowland, Dayle Eldridge of Health Communities Partnership, and Marcia Stall of Logan Mason Mental Health.]

Tina Merchant, domestic violence survivor and a member of the Domestic Abuse and Violence Task Force of the Healthy Communities Partnership (HCP), explained the process of becoming an abuse victim.

"It starts with verbal abuse, name calling, erosion of your self-confidence. You are told you have to quit work. You are isolated from your family and friends. For me the physical abuse started with pushing, then dragging me by the hair, then punching me. He shaved my head and pushed it in the toilet. He choked me until I was unconscious. He beat me when I was pregnant and when I was holding the children.

"I was a strong person, but he broke me down, little by little. He took away my job, my family, my friends."

Merchant left her abuser and came to Lincoln, but a year and a half later he followed her. She sent him away, but on Valentine’s Day he came back, kicked in the locked door, followed her outside and punched and kicked her unconscious. "If it hadn’t been for my neighbor, he would have killed me," she reported.

Her abuser is now serving 11 years in prison.

Tim Butterfield, one of the Lincoln police officers who was called to the scene, described Merchant as "one of the worst cases I’ve ever seen. We do have a domestic violence problem in Lincoln that we have to do something about," he added. "A lot of these crimes don’t get reported because the abused woman feels it her fault. She’s been broken down so much."

"For years and years there were no laws that covered domestic battery," explained Police Sergeant Thomas Rowland. "The only thing an abuser could be charged with was battery. And it didn’t work. We were getting the same calls over and over again."

The attitude of the general public didn’t help, either. It was, "These are family matters and should stay private," Rowland said. "Once new laws came into effect, things started to change."

Since the passage of the Domestic Violence Act in July of 1990, police not only can but must take action, he said. They can make an arrest, regardless of the wishes of the victim. Previously, victims had to state that they wanted their abusing husband or boyfriend arrested, and many were too frightened or embarrassed to do that.

Also, police must offer the victim information on what her options are, offer to find her a safe place to stay, and offer to transport her for medical treatment. They must also make written reports of all incidents.

"I’d like to have seen this occur long before," Rowland said.

"We try to keep victims from having to testify," she said. "It’s her fault he goes to jail and gets his name in the paper. When he’s out, he’s going to go looking for her and she knows it." She said 90 percent of victims who start to prosecute change their minds within the first 48 hours.

McPheron has worked in Lincoln since August of 1999. "Forty percent of the cases that crossed my desk were domestic violence, and only one out of 10 such cases is reported," she said. "This crime crosses all barriers – cultural, social, financial. And a batterer doesn’t look like a bad guy. He looks like Joe Ordinary."

McPheron said Logan County needs domestic violence shelters. "Where do these victims go in the dead of the night when the blood is fresh and the tears are stinging, with three small children in pajamas? They have no money and no place to live. They are afraid they can’t survive on their own, and they try to convince themselves the abuser will change.

"Abusers never change unless they are forced to change. Abusers convince females that it’s all their fault."

John Short of the Logan County Paramedic Association explained that paramedics must try to convince victims to leave the scene of the violence and get medical treatment, and they must try to determine if the injuries the victim has sustained correlate with the story the abuser tells.

Alison Gosda and Marcia Stoll of Logan-Mason Mental Health discussed the myths about domestic violence and the multiple needs of domestic violence victims. "It takes a community to help in this situation," Stoll said. "The inability to find emotional and financial support is the main reason domestic violence victims return to their abusers.

"They are embarrassed and ashamed, and they think other marriages are the same way. They are also afraid DCFS or some other agency will take their children away from them."

Stoll also pointed to the need for a shelter. "If I could call a police officer and say, ‘Can you take this woman and keep her safe?’ the rest would be history."

Merchant summed up the attitude that abuse victims, and the community, must take to begin solving the problem of domestic violence.

"It’s okay that I was abused," she said, "but it’s not okay to accept it."

[Joan Crabb]

At the last meeting, research historian Bryon Andreasen said that to ensure that Looking for Lincoln is a success, it will require a coordinated effort of the county’s residents. And, Wendy Bell, who serves in an ex-officio role to help community members steer the process, agrees, and adds: "We need to think big. There are a lot of possibilities."

The project’s structure for Lincoln includes a Looking for Lincoln Master Plan Committee from which several additional committees will form: the Postville Cluster Committee, Downtown Cluster Committee, Lincoln College Cluster Committee, Finance Committee, and Publicity Committee.

The committees have begun to take shape, with Paul Beaver serving as the chairman for the Master Plan Committee. Other members of the Master Plan Committee include Paul Gleason, historian; Beth Davis, county representative; Jan Schumacher, Main Street representative; Gillette Ransom, Logan County communities representative; and Charles Ott, tourism representative.

Postville Cluster: Linda Churchill

Downtown Cluster: Larry Crisafulli, chairman; Larry Steffens, business representative; and Bernie DePuy, Bill Post, Perry Johnson, Marion Smith, committee members

Lincoln College: Dr. Jack Nutt, chairman; Bob Neal, liaison

Publicity: Penny Zimmerman-Wills

Finance: Ivan Ray and Shirley Bartelmay

Many more spaces are yet to be filled for the committees. Input, ideas, questions and volunteers are welcome at Wednesday’s meeting. For more information, call Main Street Lincoln, at 732-2929.

[Katherine Heller]

"I understand the graduation rate is not where everyone would like to see it," said Robert Meinershagen, board president and a board member for 12 years. "When the state figures graduation rates, they look at students who come in as freshmen. If those students don’t graduate in four years, they don’t count. If the student drops out, comes back, graduates – but not in four years – that student doesn’t count.

"I think the truancy social worker at Lincoln High is making a difference. I also feel that parents need to become involved in their child’s education. Some students are self-motivated, but others need a lot of support. I think we’ve got a good administrative team and good programs to help students at Lincoln High School," he said.

Board Vice-President Judy Lumpp, who has been on the board since 1991, said, "I think it’s a community problem. I don’t think it’s just LCHS’ problem. Parents call at the end of the senior year and say, ‘My kid’s not graduating.’ They should have thought about their child’s educational goals at the beginning of the freshman year."

Lumpp believes the students themselves should take their education more seriously. "Too many kids who don’t need to work are working to support a car. They don’t want to study. Their concerns are their car, their job and the girl or boyfriend. They’re worried about their jobs today instead of thinking about their employment goals for tomorrow.

"If a student is interested in graduating there are programs at the high school that will help," she said. "I’m really proud of the staff. They do a good job."

Board member Melissa Frioli also thinks low graduation rates are "a society problem that we are not going to solve easily. Government can’t solve all our problems, and schools can’t solve all our problems. It’s an issue of responsibility and it starts well before the kids get to high school," she said.

"The attitude today is that we are always looking to blame somebody. We have to stop shifting the blame all over the place and take responsibility for our own lives and our own actions.

"We offer every kind of help you can possibly think of. We have summer classes and night classes. National Honor Society students offer free tutoring. Teachers give extra help. All the kids have to do is ask. But the school and administration can only do so much. Ultimately the parents have to take responsibility for getting the kids to school and the kids have to take responsibility for doing their schoolwork."

Board member Chuck Bennett, who has served almost 12 years on the board, wishes the community would become more involved with the school system. "Parents should at least be attending school board meetings and coming to activities at the school. Parents and the community should know the people who are responsible for their children’s education.

"Students need motivation and encouragement from their parents. Many times kids are disappointed to find they lack a credit and can’t graduate. The school has a responsibility to help them, and their parents or guardians – even some of their peers – need to encourage these students to finish," he said.

He believes the school is having more success with these students now. "Miss Hubbard and the staff, with their attitude of reaching out to the students to encourage them to get into the after-school and summer programs, are helping."

"About two years ago we put in place a program in which department heads come to board meetings to make presentations. They talk about their concerns and their successes. Better lines of communication help us work together," he said.

"In spite of our problems, there are far more positive things taking place at LCHS than negative things," he concluded.

Larry Gleason, who has served on elementary school boards as well as the high school board, said he believes programs to help youngsters stay in school need to start much earlier.

"If kids are not getting support at home there is very little we can do at ages 14, 15 and 16 years. They have been lost before they get to the high school level. We’re shutting the barn door after the horse has already gotten out.

"I’ve been on school boards for a long time, implemented different programs, hired people, written grants. Our graduation rate isn’t any better than it was five or six years ago. If we are spending all this money and still just treading water, maybe we need to start spending earlier. I believe we would get more bang for the buck if we started working with troubled kids in the lower grades.

"I’ve seen a solid effort from our administration," he continued. "I’ve seen our staff, both administrators and teachers, bend over backwards to help these kids. If I could think of better things to do, I would do them. If other people think of things to do, I wish they would come forward."

Bridget Schneider, who was appointed to the board two years ago, says she still has much to learn, but she believes the programs in place are good ones.

"I have wondered why the dropout rate began to go up. The school saw the decline before I came on.

"Perhaps we are seeing the effects of what has happened economically in our community, with several big employers leaving. I do believe that has an impact on families. Also the changing family unit over the long haul to single-parent families may give the student less support at home and more financial need."

She believes the truancy program helps a lot. "It adds another level of support. It is keeping in touch with the kids, keeping them motivated and keeping their eye on the goal," she said.

"Also I am very pleased with the administration and staff we have now. I have seen no negativity or bickering. We are very fortunate to have a team that works so well together."

Superintendent Plesé said he would like to see the graduation rate higher, because that would indicate "we have fewer students who have problems." But, he says, education is a very complex process.

"Education has to do with the development of the human mind. What motivates one child will not interest another," he said.

"Regardless of their differences, I want to see all of our students get those diplomas. I am not ashamed of a school that helps them to do it in six years if that is what they need."

Although some board members and administrators describe the statistics used by the State Board of Education to compute graduation rates as "skewed toward the low side" and "inappropriate," they do agree that a rise in the graduation rate means more students are succeeding in getting their diplomas in a four-year period.

In 1999 the state board’s "School Report Card" showed that only 74 percent of LCHS seniors graduated. However, the figures for the year 2000, which have not yet been officially announced by the state, will be 82 percent, an eight percent increase, according to LCHS Principal Joyce Hubbard. In 1998 the graduation rate was at 79.3 percent, down from a high in 1996 of 85.5 percent. In both 1998 and 1999, LCHS fell below the state averages of 81.8 percent and 81.9 percent.

However, in the previous three years (1995, 1996 and 1997) the LCHS graduation rate was as much as five percent above the state average, running 82.7 percent in 1995, 85.5 percent in 1996 and 85.3 percent in 1997. In the same years, the state average was 80.7 percent, 80.5 percent and 81.6 percent.

Hubbard says she believes this year’s LCHS rate will be just about at the state average. "When our rate is 82 percent, I’m guessing the state rate will be right around that figure as well."

This year, for example, 33 students did not graduate with their class. According to Hubbard, 11 of those 33 will finish their requirements and graduate within the coming year, but they will not be counted in the graduation statistics.

"Every year, some come back and graduate as fifth-year students," she explained. "We typically have three, four or five who will get that diploma after summer school. Maybe they failed something required, like American history or civics. There are a variety of reasons – we can’t pigeonhole what they need." Others will get diplomas after first or even second semester next year.

Hubbard estimates that another 11 of those 33 students will eventually realize they need a diploma and take the GED. They will not be counted in the graduation rate, either.

But even though they are not satisfied with the state’s method of computing graduation rates, when administrators and board members saw the figure starting to go down, they determined to do something about it. "We saw a trend and started putting programs in place to reverse it," Hubbard said.

"With some students, there is an attendance problem. Two years ago we got a state grant to employ a truancy social worker, Janet Hudleson. She works closely with the dean of students. She is also working with the families to encourage them to get their children back in school," Hubbard said.

Another step the school took was to ask for more help from Logan-Mason Mental Health. That organization has provided counseling services for LCHS students for the past 10 years, but during the 1999-2000 year a counselor was available at the school four days a week. "This counselor can help the students who are having personal problems that are getting in the way of their education," Hubbard said. "This gives us one more helping hand."

Last year LCHS also started an after-school program for students who needed to make up classes. An evening program and summer remedial programs were already in place, but the new program gave students one more option.

"If they fail a class the first semester, they can make it up in an after-school program during the second semester. Then they don’t get so far behind and get discouraged," Plesé said.

Most students who fall behind do so in the first two years, he said, and tend to drop out at age16. "They look at their record and see that they haven’t passed very many classes. We are trying to help them stay on track. They are less likely to give up on themselves if they see we don’t give up on them."

LCHS also has a tutor who works three days a week. The tutor’s emphasis is working with freshman and sophomore students to keep them on that graduation track, Hubbard said. She also noted that teachers are more than willing to come in early and stay late to work with students.

Hubbard has inaugurated still another program to help new students feel comfortable at LCHS. Before the school year begins, she will visit all incoming freshmen who have indicated they would like to have a home visit. "We are trying to bridge the gap from junior high school to high school," she explained.

Yet another option for students who don’t function well in the ordinary academic environment is Salt Creek Academy, an alternative education program housed in a former elementary school in the Athens school district. This school has a small setting, a self-paced program, less stimulus and more focus, Hubbard said, and serves students in the counties of Logan, Mason and Menard. Students can stay from one to four years in Salt Creek Academy and can elect to come back to the home school whenever they are ready. Lincoln area Salt Creek students do get diplomas from LCHS and are counted in the graduation rate statistics.

"We are trying to help our community’s children obtain their high school diplomas. It may not be the best way to raise the graduation rate statistics as the state computes them, but we don’t regulate what we’re doing based on state statistics."

[Joan Crabb]