• printer friendly
• mail this article
• iPod format
• digg

Thursday, February 26, 1998

Creativity resolves conflicts, ROTC says

ROTC: Event shows that school military organization are in sync with university's mission

By Barbara Ortutay

Daily Bruin Contributor

With its first-ever community outreach program, the UCLA ROTC is exploring aspects of conflict resolution not commonly attributed to the military.

Although men and women in uniform outnumbered civilians at the relatively sparsely attended event, this did not deter the organizers from carrying on a successful conflict resolution panel.

"There is this general sense that ROTC does its thing out there, separate from the rest of the student body, when in fact we are largely in sync with the mission of the university," said Cadet/First Lieutenant Evan Seamone, who organized Wednesday's event.

"This event has been my baby for a while," he added.

The panel was somewhat delayed because of parking problems, but around noon it began with a performance by the UCLA ROTC drill team.

"This is to get the creative juices flowing," said Seamone.

The goal of the panel was to resolve conflict creatively, through communication and understanding.

The first speaker, Carol Petersen from UCLA's conflict resolution program, spoke about affirmative action and the diversity of the UCLA student body during the 1993 protests over affirmative action.

"The strength of the presence of students was extremely important - the protests showed the diversity of the student body in a peaceful way," she said.

Following Petersen, members of the conflict resolution program performed a skit demonstrating racial conflict in a restaurant.

In the skit, two students got into an argument with a waiter over ordering a one-drink minimum, and the conflict resulted in both sides using racial slurs against each other.

"The purpose of this exercise is to show that arguments can arise from everyday situations," said Michael Megturo, also from UCLA's conflict resolution program.

"Stereotypical assumptions and words one uses can result in a conflict whether one is in a restaurant or a policy table discussing affirmative action," he continued.

Following the issue of conflict resolution within the UCLA community, the panel moved on to national, then international conflict mediation.

Speaker John J. Welsh, from the Strauss Institute for Dispute Resolution in Pepperdine, emphasized the importance of resolving conflict without going to court. He said about 80 percent of conflicts brought to organized mediation are settled, without cases going to court.

"Especially in California, mediation has become part of the the fabric of the community," he continued.

The panel explored cultural and racial conflict resolution through understanding different perspectives.

"In a dispute, particularly one that is volatile, the key issue is to make connections that will allow people to see each other as individuals," said Petersen.

Although the audience was mostly made up of ROTC members, a handful of civilian students also expressed interest in conflict resolution.

Mariana Corozo, director of programs at the International Student Center, said she attended the panel to help understand conflicts within the international student community.

"We work with people from different cultures, and sometimes there are misunderstandings and problems - I am trying to bring this back to the work I do," she said.

NASA Gen. John R. Dailey's speech capped off the event. He spoke not only on international conflict resolution, but also on his experiences as an UCLA student many years ago.

Executive Vice Chancellor Charles Kennel presented Dailey with a UCLA pin, which he said he will wear with pride as he confronts his co-workers.

"This place provided me with a foundation that carried me through life; I learned more here than anywhere else," he said.

"It opened my eyes to things I was not aware of before, because of the cosmopolitan and international environment," he added.

Dailey used U.S. relations with Russia as an example of the need to learn cultural differences in order to communicate successfully.

"Vodka is an essential part of Russian negotiation - they take it as an insult if you don't drink," he said.

To comply with this, Dailey said he always has a bottle of vodka (approved by the state department) in his NASA office in case he needs to negotiate with Russian delegates.

"We had to be aware of different cultural customs in order to communicate successfully," he added.