Students surprise assistant

   Many people ignore the helpful individuals, without whom life would be much more difficult than it is, but one class made it their mission to perform a random act of kindness on two such unsuspecting individuals.
   Elizabeth Whatley, NE adjunct speech instructor, asked her class to pick someone on campus that they noticed who seemed in need of some cheering up.
   "No one knew her name," Whatley said. "She works in the registration office and is always helpful; she never made anyone in my class feel stupid."
   Carolyn Lee, senior office assistant in the NE registrars office, was the person picked by the afternoon class.
   "At first I thought it was a setup. I didn't think something like this could happen to me; I've never won anything," she said.
   The students showered gifts upon the bewildered assistant.
   "I just asked the students to bring something little, but they all did a lot," Whatley said.
   Lee found familiar faces in the crowd of smiling students.
   "I recognized two or three of them. One of the students was in a wheelchair. When he came to register, he was smiling. I just wanted to do my best to help him," she said.
   Surrounded by flowers and other tokens of good will, she continues her work.
   Lee said her days were brightened by the knowledge that the students she helps appreciate her.
   "I just want to thank everybody for their kind words. It was a day I will always remember," she said.