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<B>Group trying to raise numbers</B><P>
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<FONT SIZE=4><B>By Mat Herron</B><BR></FONT>Features Editor
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Talking with Monica McQueary, one could hardly believe the Social Work Association has been a registered student organization only since January.<P>
The president of the organization and a social work junior, McQueary said involvement is low ("We have eight people that do everything"), and she hopes more students make an effort to join.And not just for the bumper stickers and the membership cards.
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McQueary and another member, social work junior and executive director candidate Mandy Lewis, said they first got the idea to jump start the organization while attending a national social workers' conference in Cleveland last November.
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The two said there was a "real need for the College of Social Work to come together and to be involved."
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Both approached professor Holly Riffe, who agreed to be the group's faculty adviser.
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A bake sale and a Super Bowl fund-raiser later, SWA now looks to April 26, when 35-40 social work majors and six professors in the college will gather for Repair Affair.
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SWA will help repair an elderly woman's house in the Lexington area.
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Participation in the AIDS Walk April 20 and two trips to national conferences in Baltimore and Orlando, Fla., next fall and spring are also planned.
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Attending conferences and getting involved in SWA, McQueary and Lewis said, aid in networking for graduate schools and entering the work force.
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It gives members an opportunity to meet deans from prestigious social work programs from around the country.
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"You never know what can turn up," Lewis said.
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Forming ties with the professors also helps students who are focused on "get me a degree, get me a job," she said.
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Membership dues are $10 for the first semester and $5 for subsequent semesters to cover the association's expenses. Those wishing to join can check in the social work department on the sixth floor of Patterson Office Tower. The College of Social Work made headlines recently with the approval by the Council on Higher Education to form a joint doctoral program in the major with the University of Louisville, which was six years ahead of UK in completing the paperwork for the doctorate.
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McQueary said this merger benefits the association and the college as a whole.
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"It's a good opportunity for our college to be recognized on a national level."
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