Mediation office ready to intercede in student disputes
By Sarah Kitchen
Of I be Emerald
The Office of Mediation,
which was proposed by a
University graduate student last
term, is now open to handle stu
dent disputes.
The office, co-sponsored by
the ASUO Executive Committee
and the University, will operate
for a six-month trial period.
Sheila Hale, a student in the In
terdisciplinary Specialized In
dividualized Program,
presented the idea to the ASUO
in October. Hale had studied
and worked with mediation
while working on her master’s
thesis.
Mediation is a problem
solving process in which a
neutral third party facilitates
resolution between conflicting
parties, Hale said.
The mediation office is able to
handle student-to-student
disputes such as roommate
disagreements and disputes bet
ween co-workers or neighbors.
It also can handle student
faculty disputes. In such a case.
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the mediation office may be us
ed as a first step before a formal
grievance is filed.
Hale hopes to attract students
through two methods. One is
self-referral, and the other is by
making presentations to pro
grams and academic
departments.
"When a student calls or goes
into the Office of Student Ad
vocacy they are asked for the
nature of their concern and
whether or not it involves
another student. If it involves
another student, they cannot be
helped and will be told about
our office.” Hale said.
A committee, to be appointed
by both the ASIJO and the
University, will work with Hale
on further developing the of
fice. The committee is to consist
of three students and two
members of the administration,
said ASUO President Steve
Nelson.
Hale hopes the committee
will give her more ideas that
will help increase the options
available for the office, she said.
“The ideas that come up
within the committee will have
the backing, the knowledge and
the support of at least those peo
ple in the committee. For exam
ple: If we have a faculty member
on the committee who could see
that mediation would be very
useful at the lowest level of the
grievance procedure for
academic issues, then that
faculty member may be just the
spark to make the program grow
in that direction,” Hale said.
In the future, Hale said she
would like to see conflict
resolution training so that peo
ple can learn to use those skills
in their daily lives. This could
be narrow, that is, focused on a
certain population, or wide and
offered for academic credit, she
said.
“One of my goals is to help
people to learn collaborative
problem solving.” Hale said.
“No change can take place
without conflict, and it can be
either productive or unproduc
tive. and learning how to make
conflict productive would be a
great contribution to make to a
person’s future.”
The role of the committee is
to work directly with Hale on
the pilot program in the hope of
developing the program into a
regular academic office. Nelson
said.
The mediation office is to be
reviewed during spring term
when the decision will be made
whether it should be fully fund
ed by both the University and
the ASUO.
Pomfo Continued from Page 1
While busy serving crowds of
students in the registration pro
cess Friday, employees at
Oregon Hall were asked to be on
the lookout for anything appear
ing or sounding strange,
sources said.
“We were told to search
around our area and look for
anything suspicious, and then
report it immediately.” said
Vicki Wanner, management
assistant to Business Affairs
Director William McLaughlin,
whose office is located in
Oregon Hall.
“1 personally would have felt
more secure having a person
here who is trained to search for
this sort of thing, but evidently
they thought we were
qualified.’’ she said.
Police later conducted
thorough searches for ex
plosives in all three buildings,
Glenn said.
In the 11-and-a-half years
Wanner has worked at Oregon
Hall, this is the first time she
and her co-workers have been
asked to look for a bomb, she
said.
"I figured it was my job to
look,” said Eva Abbott, an ad
ministrative assistant in the
business affairs office in Oregon
Hall. “If I had been afraid I
would have left. But I didn’t
feel very apprehensive at all.”
About six bomb threats have
been received on campus since
fall term began, Glenn said, “no
more than the usual amount.”
“Over a period of 16 years
you learn a lot of these threats
come for certain buildings dur
ing certain times of the year,
like during finals week when a
student doesn’t want to take a
test,” he said. “It gets to be so
routine after a while.”
9Tl S tj°nt*nue<* ^rom PaRe 1
Specifically:
•Would tin; delivery of and
disclosure of the Athletic
Department's policy and drug
testing protocol prior to a stu
dent athlete's consent to par
ticipate in the testing serve as a
valid waiver of a student’s
rights under the IJ.S. Constitu
tion, 14th and Fourth amend
ments, and under the Oregon
Constitution, Article 1, Section
Nine when consent is given
before the first practice and first
test.
•Would informed consent ob
American English Institute
Department of Linguistics
Oral Communication for Academic Purposes
UH 18:30-19:00 261 PLC Fee: $150*
This course will improve the ability of in
ternational students to participate in
seminar and class discussions and to com
prehend academic lectures.
1 he course is a 3-hour, non-credit course
tor a fee* of $150*. The course will meet
two evenings each week. Enrollment is
limited to 15 students. The course is aim
ed at graduate students, but advanced
undergraduates may also enroll.
To register please come to the first
meeting, Thursday, 6:30 PM, in 261
PLC.
A detailed description of the course objec
tives and enrollment procedures is posted
in 241 PLC. If you are unsure whether this
course might benefit you, see your
academic advisor, or you may contact the
AEI testing coordinator, Peggy Dame, at
686-3945 for assistance.
* The At.I is a non-profit, self support unit within the Deport
ment of Linguistics ond receives no state funds. It operates
through tuition and fees collected for its services with all
revenue utilized to develop and provide its programs.
tained prior to the recruited
athlete’s signing an NCAA Let
ter of Intent serve as a valid
waiver for athletes’ same con
stitutional rights when consent
is given before the first practice
and first test.
•Would the same procedure
for both recruited and non
recruited student athletes be
modified to call for mandatory
analysis of the urine sample on
ly for performance-enhancing
drugs (and eliminate the man
datory testing of marijuana)
serve as a valid waiver for
athletes’ same constitutional
rights.
•Would implementation of
the consent-to program in ac
cordance with the policy and
protocol satisfy procedural due
process requirements under the
US. Constitution’s 14th
Amendment and under the
Oregon Constitution, Article 1.
Section 10.
•Is there a right or a privilege
to compete in intercollegiate
athletics at an OSSHE institu
tion without agreeing to follow
procedures and qualifications
required of all team members.
•Is the denial, suspension or
termination of the ability to
play/practice for failure to abide
by disclosed and consented-to
procedures, behaving contrary
or acquiring a condition out of
compliance from previously
disclosed coaching rules or
qualifications a denial or
revocation of a right or
privilege.
•Should the University
engage in rulemaking under the
Oregon APA when it wishes to
implement a program of man
datory, sometimes randomized,
drug testing only for inter
collegiate athletes.