Panel addresses issues of diversity in Week Without Violence event

Conflict Resolution Services held a two-hour discussion panel Monday at 7 p.m. in the Oak Room of the Indiana Memorial Union to inform students about diversity on campus as well as discrimination and local resources available to victims. The event was the second installment of the organization's Week Without Violence program.\nThe panel consisted of three representatives from various campus advocacy groups. \nMark Bryson spoke on behalf of the Office of Diversity Education, graduate student Eloiza Domingo represented the Commission on Multicultural Understanding and Doug Bauder participated on behalf of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Student Support Services.\nResolution services member Marissa Codey, a graduate student, helped organize the panel.\n"Our goal throughout the week is to bring the campus and residential communities together to discuss the issues of diversity and discrimination," she said.\nThe workshop began with Bryson, a diversity educator, explaining how and why people develop stereotypes and prejudices.\n"We are only born with two fears -- a fear of falling and a fear of loud noise," he said. "Everything else is learned. When toddlers play together in a park, color doesn't come into play." Bryson said that while growing up, humans receive misinformation about other groups of people from sources such as their families and the media. He said these prejudicial ideas are stored in "mind tapes," which are played in the brain whenever someone sees members of groups they have stereotyped. Eventually the mind tapes "go on automatic" and cause impulsive reactions.\n"That's why we need these workshops," Bryson said. "They can't transform us, but they can inform us. Through awareness, we can check ourselves."\nDomingo, a graduate student employed by the commission, explained the organization's functions.\n"We try to consistently provide diversity programs on campus," she said. "In addition, deans and faculty sit on the board of COMU. If you need information or help regarding multicultural issues quickly, you can contact us and we can help you avoid any red tape."\nDomingo said the commission is trying to combine all IU multicultural resource pamphlets into a single booklet. In the past, the association has intervened with regard to the Ku Klux Klan murals in Woodburn Hall Room 100 and the swastika floor and wall tiles in the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation.\n"We produced an eight-minute video to make the students who have classes in Woodburn Hall Room 100 feel less overwhelmed by the murals," she said. "We stated the history of the murals and why IU commissioned them. We also made the point that the KKK is a sad chapter in the history of Indiana, but it must not be forgotten. In terms of the swastikas, we put up a plaque in the HPER to explain that the building was built before World War II and the Nazi regime, and that the swastika was a religious symbol before the Nazis adopted it. These are examples of how COMU tries to promote understanding."\nBauder discussed the objectives of GLBT, for which he serves as commissioner. He said the organization provides counseling and support for homosexual, bisexual and transgendered students, as well as educational tools for students to learn more about these groups.\nBauder said a team of GLBT workers review sexual orientation harassment complaints made to the Student Ethics Office and decides how to rectify the situations.\n"Does harassment stop by reporting it?" he asked. "No. But we can collect enough information to intervene effectively."\nHe asked audience members to pretend they were members of that GLBT team and to create settlements for two complaint scenarios.\nBryson said he hoped those who attended benefited from the discussion. \n"We want people to take what they heard here and apply that knowledge elsewhere," he said.\nThe Resolution Services will continue its Week Without Violence with a discussion panel on school violence at 7 p.m. today at the First United Methodist Church, 219 E. Fourth St. \nThursday, a domestic violence discussion and a wrap-up meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. respectively in the City Council Room of the Showers Building.