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VOLUME 21, NUMBER 26
JULY 19,1974^
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA
Volunteers from Duke
Crisis and Suicide Center
Listens to Lonely Voices
Many centuries ago, Greek playwright
iVlenander wrote, "in adversity, a man is
saved by hope."
This stiatement, the truth of which is
immediately apparent to anyone who has
experienced physical, emotional, spiritual
or financial difficulties in his or her life,
forms the motto of a group of concerned
area citizens who serve as volunteers for
the Durham Crisis and Suicide Center.
The group, which includes many Duke
people, has taken on the responsibility of
manning telephone lines on a 24 hour
basis, offering counsel to fellow citizens
with problems which range from how to
apply for food stamps to how to
overcome periods of depression severe
enough to foster thoughts of suicide.
Established in 1969 by Dr. John
Altrocchi, formerly a member of the
Duke faculty, the Crisis and Suicide
Center is now a part of Durham's Mental
Health Center under the direction of
Patricia Guarino. Altrocchi began the
center on his own initiative by getting 25
of his friends together for training in how
to best respond to callers with a host of
difficulties.
After two years, each original
volunteer brought a new volunteer into
the organization, and this procedure has
remained as one of the more successful
ways of recruiting new volunteers.
What kinds of problems might
stimulate someone to call the center?
Janet Krigbaum, a 1973 Duke
graduate who majored in psychology and
who is currently serving as a volunteer
while attending the University of North
Carolina's School of Public Health, said
that there are possibly as many different
kinds of dilemmas as there are people in
the area.
"The last call I received," she said,
"was from a person who needed to get to
California, but didn't have any money. I
haven't had any calls from anyone who
was threatening to commit suicide,
although several people have told me that
they had considered it."
Occasionally, volunteers do get calls
from people who say they are going to
kill themselves, however. It is to their
credit that no one who has called the
center with this intention has ever
followed through with the act.
"Callers who mention suicide generally
aren't completely sold on the idea," she
continued. "And that's why it's good to
have someone to talk to."
Ms. Krigbaum explained that many of
the calls that come into the center are the
result of interpersonal problems between
a man and his wife or parents and their
children, for example. Other calls are
from alcoholics and still others may be
from individuals needing information on
pregnancies, drugs, what to do about
rapes and where free psychotherapy is
available.
Why did she become a volunteer?
The 22-year-old future public health
administrator said that she is interested in
all areas of mental health generally and
that her work with the center is a way to
learn how the county provides services to
its citizens. Also, she admitted she
wanted to "see whether I was up to it."
Not the least important of the
considerations was her belief that "it's
important to have someone somewhere
(Continued on page 3)
AND
ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES IN THE £/?—Former ER administrator George
Brandon (left) discusses various facets of the emergency room with its new
administrator, James Daniel. Following promotion, Brandon has assumed the position
of administrator of the operating rooms, the Acute Care Unit and the Recovery Room,
succeeding John M. Stribling, former assistant administrative director of the hospital.
(Photo by Dale Moses)
OR, ACU and ER
New Administrative Posts
Go to Brandon and Daniel
688-5504
24 Hours A Day
Two medical center administrators and
graduates of Duke'-iS Health
Administrators Management
Improvement Program have been
promoted.
They are George Brandon, who is now
administrator of the operating rooms, the
Acute Care Unit and the Recovery Room,
and James Daniel, now administrator of
the Emergency Room.
A native of Indianapolis, Ind.,
Brandon is a retired military man who
served in the Air Force from 1940-63.
During his last four years of service as a
•Mason non-commissioned officer for an
^Air Force reserve squadron stationed in
Durham, he did part-time work at Duke
in the ER and the business office.
Following retirement from military
duty, Brandon served as business manager
of the outpatient clinics at the University
of Florida's Shands Teaching Hospital in
Gainesville.
Prior to his arrival at Duke in 1968 as
manager of the five surgical outpatient
clinics, the Discharge Unit and the ER,
Brandon worked in the business office at
the University of North Carolina's
Memorial Hospital in Chapel Hill.
Succeeding former assistant
administrative director of the hospital,
John M. Stribling, who left Duke to
assume the position of administrator of
Broad Oaks Hospital in Savannah, Ga.,
Brandon's present duties include the
management and operation of three
central areas in the hospital which are
staffed by over 250 medical personnel.
Among his other responsibilities,
Brandon will be involved in long-term
planning for the new Duke Hospital
North, the compilation of cost studies
and the preparation of innovations in the
OR.
Former night administrator James
Daniel has succeeded Brandon as ER
administrator.
A native of Creedmoor, Daniel is
presently enrolled as an undergraduate at
Shaw University (University Without
Walls) and will receive his B.S. degree in
administration and behavior science in
May of 1975.
Following graduation from high school
in 1960, Daniel worked as a salesman at
the Saks Store in Newark, N.J., an
(Continued on page 2)
Scholarship Fund
To Honor Minah
Ted Minah, director of the dining halls
at the university since 1946, is retiring
this year. In observance of his retirement
and the high regard in which he is held by
thousands of students, alumni, faculty
and employees of the university, a
scholarship has been established in his
name.
The scholarship, to be known as the
Theodore W. Minah Scholarship
Endowment Fund, will be used to
provide financial aid for students
currently working in the dining halls.
During his 28 years with the
university, Minah has had responsibility
for 12 dining areas offering an extensive
variety of services on both campuses,
serving between 12,000 and 15,000 meals
each day.
He is the past president and vice
president of numerous national and state
(Continued on page 2)