by Patty Baassiri
"For it isn't enough
to talk about peace. One must believe in
it. And it isn't enough to believe in it.
One must work at it." Eleanor Roosevelt
At Salisbury State University's Center for
Conflict Resolution, a small in number,
but great in spirit, staff of 3 are trying
to work at peace. Michael A McCormick,
director, Patty Baassiri, office manager
and Steven Adkins, AmeriCorps participant,
are promoting and teaching the nonviolent
resolution of conflicts to every one from
first graders to business executives.
Some History...
The Center for Conflict Resolution began
as the Center for Teaching Peace. It was
founded by SSU emeritus professor of
sociology,
Dr Phillip Bosserman, with a grant
from the Center for Teaching Peace,
established by Washington Post columnist
and activist, Coleman McCarthy, and was
housed in a small office at SSU. The
Center has since been embraced by the
university, thanks in large part to the
late president, Dr Thomas Bellavance, and
the Wicomico County Board of Education,
gone through a couple of name changes, and
now resides in a two-story brick house
across the street from Holloway Hall,
complete with offices and conference
and mediation rooms. (Phil will be returning
to the US from Japan in the summer and
after getting over major jet-lag, will
be returning to the Center to volunteer
in his retirement.')
Since August of 1994, when the Center acquired a full-time staff, we have served over 3,000 people in the collaborative and cooperative methods of approaching conflicts. Our activities have included mediations, trainings, consulting work, teaching, writing and sponsoring events and projects relevant to interpersonal, intergroup and global conflict resolution. These events have taken place in elementary and secondary school classrooms, university departments, within private business settings and with non-profit service organizations.
Some examples of what the Center has done:
training management and supervisory
personnel of SSU's Dining Services in
conflict resolution and mediation; training
the first dozen faculty and student members
of the Peer Mediation Program at Wicomico
High School; the Teaching Peace project at
Pemberton Elementary School, which
utilized SSU student interns to teach
3rd graders conflict resolution skills;
helping a hospital deal with down-sizing
and re-engineering; mediation training for
the volunteers that would help with cases
at the Center; and training the local
AmeriCorps/PALS group that works with
adolescents at service agencies in the
tri-county lower shore area.
Future Plans:
Future projects being developed include:
a two-year pilot program with East Salisbury
School that would be a comprehensive
conflict resolution project to train
students, their parents and faculty in
an intensive violence prevention effort;
mediation training for SSU Social Work
interns that work in several Wicomico
County schools under the tutelage of Dr
Eileen Matlack of the CARES program at
Bennett Middle School and Mr McCormick;
and conflict resolution training for the
CEO and vice-presidents of
Nanticoke Hospital in Seaford, Delaware.
What's Happening Right Here, Right Now:
The Center continues to provide mediation services for a variety of disputes, including (but not limited to) divorce/custody, landlord/tenant, neighborhood disputes, business or community problems, or property issues. Mediation involves a neutral third party helping disputing participants negotiate their own settlement. It's voluntary, confidential, and works to address concerns at the core of the dispute in order to resolve the issues on the surface. Fees for mediation are on a sliding scale basis.
Of immediate interest - and open to all - is a nationally broadcast teleconference "Conflict Resolution for Youth" that is being promoted by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and the US Dept of Justice. To be held in SSU's Caruther's Auditorium Wednesday, May 29, 1996, from 1:30 pm til 5:00 pm, the event will help:
- promote the release of the document Conflict Resolution Education: A Guide to Implementing Programs in Schools, Youth-Serving organizations, Community and Juvenile Justice Settings and outline and highlight the different conflict resolution approaches discussed in it;
- provide information on the availability of conflict resolution training and consultation resources;
- encourage and promote the incorporation of conflict resolution strategies into programming for schools, youth-serving organizations, and community juvenile justice settings.
Mr McCormick, the Center's director, will facilitate a discussion following the broadcast.
If you are interested in participating, please call the Center to register, 219-2873. The teleconference is being coordinated through the efforts of the OJJDP, Governor's Commission on Service, AmeriCorps/PALS and the Center for Conflict Resolution. There is no fee for the teleconference.
The Center welcomes any comments or questions regarding its work. Our address is:
As Dorothy Day said, "People say, what is the sense of our small effort. They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time."
May 26, 1996 Patty Baassiri All Rights Reserved
tpbaassiri@sae.ssu.umd.edu