Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 23, 2000)
Volunteers keep an eye on campus events ■The Office of Student Life sponsors a program to have neutral observers at campus events in case of trouble By Lisa Toth Oregon Daily Emerald They’re watching us. The Neutral Observer Program of the Office of Student Life pro vides trained student and faculty volunteer observers at campus events to allow for the availabili ty of unbiased witnesses should any form of escalation arise. “The idea of the program is to have trained non-participating observers at events on campus, like protests, demonstrations and sit-ins,” said Annie Bentz, direc tor of Conflict Resolution Ser vices. “The role of the observer is to stay uninvolved with the actu al event and to observe the activi ty of students, [Office of Public Safety], the community and the police. So if there is any kind of escalation or critical incident, be ing a situation where there is po tential harm to people or proper ty, then the observer writes up a report of what they see.” Conflict Resolution Services offers mediation and facilitation service and training related to conflict resolution for students, faculty and staff. Bentz said observers are often necessary in situations where there are differing perspectives, high emotion and high energy.1 Observers are only asked to ob serve in situations where they' feel that they can be objective. Reports by observers are only released for legitimate reasons, such as a violation of the law, and may be used in the event that action is taken, such as when a person presses charges against another person or group. The Neutral Observer Program was established at the University in 1990 as a pilot program through the Office of the Dean of Student Life. Currently, the program is coor dinated by Conflict Resolution Services. It is modeled after simi lar programs at the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Colorado, which were developed in the 1960s. Observers are trained to make behavioral observations rather than judgments or interpreta tions. Bentz said other campuses have noted that having impartial observers present at events can have a calming effect on partici pants. Observers are identifiable at campus events by their bright yellow badges. Observers have been present at events including the Worker Rights Consortium protests this April and the Johnson Hall sit-in May 18, 1999, when demonstra tors demanded the improvement of campus diversity. Next fall, volunteer observers will participate in five hours of training to gain necessary obser vation skills to have an objective perspective about an event. Chris Loschiavo, the director of Student Judicial Affairs, said that he assists Bentz in training the neutral observers to write a report from a neutral standpoint and helps them to develop obser vation skills. Aside from the Neutral Ob server Program, Loschiavo also trains student resident assistants to write conduct reports. Bentz said that observers are taught that when they are ap proached by people involved they are instructed to be respectful, to give out information about the Neural Observer Program and to have minimal engagement with the questioner. This allows them to focus on observing the event. At the WRC rally in April, San dra Liu, a neutral observer and graduating master’s student in the Creative Writing Program, said that the older observers were often approached more than the student observers. “As an outside observer, it seemed ironic because we were there to observe and perceive, and what turned out to be a diffi culty was the perception of us,” Liu said. “I didn’t expect us to be perceived.” Liu added that she would en courage students to get involved in the program because the ob servers ensure that students re ceive fair treatment. r “The term ‘neutral’ is question able,’’ Bentz said. “We can do our best to be as unbiased, as objec tive and as descriptive in our ob servations as possible.” Currently, this year’s team of 10 volunteers consists of faculty, staff, graduate students and one undergraduate student. Bentz said that Conflict Resolution Ser vices is looking for 15 to 20 ob servers for next year. Director of Resource Manage ment with Public Affairs Greg Stripp, a volunteer for the pro gram, said he became involved with the Neutral Observer Pro gram at the University partly be cause he witnessed a similar pro gram that oversaw the police and National Guard at UC-Berkeley in the mid-1960s. Stripp was an observer at the WRC protest. He said that no crit ical incidents occurred while he was observing, and consequently, no reports were filed. Regardless, he stressed the significance of be ing a volunteer in the program. “It’s really important for volun teers to come forward from all groups on campus to lend more credibility to the program,” Stripp said. In the future, Stripp said a sim ilar program could appear in the i Eugene community as well. Pre liminary talks began on May 9 be tween Stripp, Bentz and Greg Rikhoff, a manager in human rights for the city of Eugene, to discuss implementing a Neutral Observer Program in the city. Th Ireland on Page and Screen Eric Reimer, 1:00 p.m., MUWH ENG 199/CRN 42604 English in 2000 SUMMER SESSION • JUNE 19-AUGUST11 Register by telephone now. Pick up a free summer catalog in Oregon Hall or at the UO bookstore. It has all the information you need to know about UO summer session, http://uosummer.uoregon.edu/ /7 ._ diversity of Oreeo^ Grad’s Get $1,000 Off from GM! Now Thru September 30th, 2000 2000 Jimmy* 4WD SLS 2-Door. Available equipment shown. Plus... 2000 Alero* GLS Coupe. Some optional equipment shown. 2000 Cavalier* Z24 Coupe. Some optional equipment shown. 2000 Sunfire’ SE Coupe. Some optional equipment shown. • Fast and Easy Credit Approval • No Down Payment When You Purchase • No Monthly Payment For 90 Days On Eligible Purchases1 • Finance Rates As Low As 0.0% Choose from any new Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile or GMC car or truck. For More Information Visit Us at: www.gmgrad.com Or Call: 1.800.964.GRAD CHEVY TRUCKS GMAC CHEVY WEIL BE THERE 1 pom^c Most Dependable, enMNa swacxrswiHWT Longest-tasting, Truck on tbe Road Do one thing. Do it well. * GM College Grad Program requires financing or leasing through your dealer and GMAC. Available only to eligible college graduates who are residents of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming and select counties in Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota and South Dakota. tMonthly payment deferral not available with GMAC SmartLease® or SmartBuy®. Finance charges accrue from date of purchase. “GMAC" is a registered service mark of the General Motors Acceptance Corporation.
