PRX default Piece image

Veterans on Campus - A Challenge to Adjust

From: Karen Brown
Length: 05:03

Veterans are entering college in droves thanks to the new GI bill -- but they often need help adjusting to campus life, and not all colleges are prepared for that. Read the full description.

Piece Audio

Playing: Veterans on Campus - A Challenge to Adjust
From: Karen Brown

Default-piece-image-0 This piece profiles several veterans who are finding it challenging to relate to their student peers, not to mention grapple with the emotional aftermath of war. And it also includes discussions from college administrators on efforts, and difficulties, to make colleges more veteran-friendly.

More from Karen Brown

Caption: Kathy Picard, Credit: Karen Brown

Toxic Stress: Why Abuse and Trauma Linger into Adulthood (05:22)
From: Karen Brown

It's no surprise that early trauma can effect someone for years to come, but researchers in Massachusetts are starting to understanding what exactly is happening to the brain ...

Caption: Meghan, Brady, Diane (L-R), Credit: Karen Brown

Surrogate Motherhood Between Friends -- After Baby (04:46)
From: Karen Brown

A Massachusetts woman carried a baby for her best friend, who has cystic fibrosis; baby Brady was born in August. This is a follow-up to a previous story about the pregnancy ...

Living with Hypochondria: The Real Costs of Imagined Illness (28:56)
From: Karen Brown

Woody Allen made hypochondria famous as a source of self-deprecating humor, but this clinical condition can be seriously debilitating for individuals and their families -- ...

Surrogacy Among Friends (06:58)
From: Karen Brown

A woman carries a baby to term for her best friend, whose chronic disease would make pregnancy hazardous.

Child Obesity - Part Three - Spreading the Lifestyle (05:17)
From: Karen Brown

Families in the low-income community of Holyoke, MA -- who successfully lost weight through a community clinic program -- are trying to share their newfound lifestyle with ...

Child Obesity - Part Two - Kihuanna's Story (05:17)
From: Karen Brown

This feature profiles a 9-year-old girl named Kihuanna who, at 4 foot one and 139 pounds, has a body mass index twice what it should be. With the help of her family and ...

Child Obesity - Part One -- The Clinical Approach (05:05)
From: Karen Brown

One health center in Holyoke, MA addresses the 50 percent rate of overweight and obese children in this predominantly low-income, Puerto Rican community.

Caption: Smith Spirit Squad, Credit: Smith College

Women's College Cheerleaders Challenge Stereotype (05:02)
From: Karen Brown

A new cheerleading squad at one of the country's pre-eminent women's colleges -- alma mater of Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan -- is raising eyebrows with its short skirts ...

Urgent Care Clinics -- Taking on the Primary Care Overflow in Health Care (05:21)
From: Karen Brown

Urgent Care clinics are doing brisk business as the primary care shortage sends patients their way.

Health Reform Part 3 - Who Benefits from Massachusetts Public Programs (05:28)
From: Karen Brown

Who benefits from the greatly expanded public health programs, and who doesn't.

Piece Description

This piece profiles several veterans who are finding it challenging to relate to their student peers, not to mention grapple with the emotional aftermath of war. And it also includes discussions from college administrators on efforts, and difficulties, to make colleges more veteran-friendly.

Broadcast History

Aired on WFCR in Sept 2009, and a shorter form on NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday on October 10, 2009.

Transcript

THANKS TO THE FEDERAL GI BILL, THE NUMBER OF VETERANS ON AMERICAN COLLEGE CAMPUSES IS EXPECTED TO JUMP BY 30 PERCENT THIS YEAR -- SOME ESTIMATES PUT IT AT 100,000 PEOPLE NATIONWIDE, WITH ABOUT 400 AT UMASS-AMHERST ALONE. BUT EVEN WITH FINANCIAL HELP, THE TRANSITION FROM COMBAT TO CAMPUS CAN BE TOUGH. WFCR’S KAREN BROWN REPORTS.

WHEN JON SCHNAUBER FINISHED HIS COMBAT DUTY IN AFGANISTAN, HE WAS EAGER TO GET A COLLEGE DEGREE -- AND ENROLLED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS. HE GOT MOSTLY A'S, BUT JUST COULDN'T RELATE TO HIS FELLOW STUDENTS. HE'D SURVIVED SHELLING, SHOOTING, AND WORSE, WHILE MOST OF HIS CLASSMATES WERE FRESH HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES WHO'D GONE STRAIGHT FROM THEIR PARENTS' HOMES TO THE COLLEGE DORM.

[CutID: VET AX - pp running.wav
Time: 19s
Title: VET AX - pp running
Out-cue: ]

[pp running up and down the halls at night. screaming and yelling at night. just gen...
Read the full transcript

Timing and Cues

5:03, plus introduction

Intro and Outro

INTRO:

THANKS TO THE FEDERAL GI BILL, THE NUMBER OF VETERANS ON AMERICAN COLLEGE CAMPUSES IS EXPECTED TO JUMP BY 30 PERCENT THIS YEAR -- SOME ESTIMATES PUT IT AT 100,000 PEOPLE NATIONWIDE. BUT EVEN WITH FINANCIAL HELP, THE TRANSITION FROM COMBAT TO CAMPUS CAN BE TOUGH. KAREN BROWN REPORTS.

OUTRO: