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Show unequipped to handle: controversies, frequently with racial overtones, between private groups or individuals. "We're in the crisis business," says Willoughby Abner, the tough-mindedirector. Abner supervises the program from his office in Room 550, 1815 H Street N.W., Washington, D vJ., but frequently ventures forth into the field. Crises include disputes between landlords and tenants, administrators and consumers and students, merchants. In Cleveland, for instance, a rancorous k sanitation strike would have wrought havoc if a water main had broken or a heavy storm had hit the city. Strikers were charged with "terrorist tactics," and militant union officials were jailed. Into this hornet's nest walked "Bill" Abner, acting (as always) by invitation oflhe parties. With the opposing factions polarized, he got the mayor and the union president into his hotel room. Five hours later, as the deadlock persisted, the two angry adversaries started to leave. Abner sprang up and t, placed his hulking frame against the door, blocking their exit. even-temper- Court, some cases are referred to the Project with the adversaries' consent. Usually these involve minor civil or criminal charges. "We often prevent the enlargement of an incident into a serious crisis," says Benne S. Herbert Jr., the earnest young "As long as people sense your integrity," Abner comments, "they open up and let you deal with them. An effective mediator listens for what people are not saying, for their underlying problems and motivations. And he avoids foisting decisions on them, al advertisement Dampen like chil- dren," he scolded. "Your outsized egos are getting in the way.'' And Abner proceeded to spell out the consequences of an escalating strike: destruction of property and possible bloodshed. Jn half an hour, an accord was reached. imIn another red-hIthaca College in broglio, at New York, fights broke upper out between black and white students. Militants called for guns at an open meeting. Armed Forces Day, coming soon, was expected to trigger a ferocious blowup. Abner, summoned by a desperate college administration, met with 40 students. "I come here in nobody's pocket," he assured them. "I give you the right to kick me off campus anytime you don't approve of my behavior." That broke the ice. After some negotiation, students and trustees approved a written package deal. It included a new system of campus justice the first in the nation under which accused students facing discipline could appeal to an impartial arbitrator appointed by the Center. ot ' V- - air is a break from the stale air indoors. And a change of surroundings usually helps give Egos scolded "You're acting "W ' you a new outlook. 3. Or take a Vivarin. Vivarin is a non-habforming caffeine tablet that will help you feel refreshed when you're feeling it a little dragged out. But don't have time to do something about it. lowing them to come to their own conclusions and choices." Not all the Center s expertise is lavished on contending groups. In Philadelphia and Hartford, it sponsors the 4A Project (Arbitration As An Alternative to criminal complaints) to settle quarrels between neighbors. Through a novel arrangement with the district attorney and the Municipal a lot of ly four-year-o- ld a wash cloth with cool water and put the cloth over your eyes. Just a few moments of this will leave you feeling cooler and fresher. k 2. Take a walk. The fresh 210-pou- two-fami- what to do when you're feeling a little dragged out. 1. four-famil- hair-pullin- A few helpful hints on two-wee- estranged husband swings a baseball bat at a man visiting his wife. A landlord, trying to empty an apartment in y his house, shuts off the water and heat, then swears out a warrant against a tenant for "breaking and entering" the padlocked basement. Seemingly minor episodes sometimes call for the wisdom of a Solomon. Recently, an assault and battery charge was filed against a woman we'll call Mrs. Johnson, after g a bout with her Mrs. peppery neighbor, Smith. They shared a house, with separate entrances and a joint porch divided by a wrought-iro- n railing. The Johnsons have a son, the Smiths a terrier. To protect the boy, the Johnsons put up a mesh screen across the railing, fastened by a wire extending over to the Smith side. When Mrs. Smith snipped the offending wire, the two ladies battled. Herbert Arbitrator sugsecond a that gested railing, with a meshed screen, be installed on the Johnson side with the help of Smith, who was handy with tools. Harmony now reigns. In the main, however, the Center tries not to function as a substitute law court. y . head of the Philadelphia Center. "Unresolved, it can heighten community tensions. Fortunately, many squabbles can be settled out of court. Most people dread a trial and they like the privacy of our hearings." No argument is too petty or bizarre for the Projec t mediators. A youngster smashes a neighbors picture window. Someone plays drums too loudly. An Social clashes Legal controversies are usually left to the traditional dispute-solving agencies. Except in Philadelphia, Center, mediators are particularly reluctant to insinuate themselves into domestic squabbles. Instead, according to a spokesman, they address themselves principally to emotionally-charge- d social clashes. of these come at colMany lege or even high school campuses. Last spring, for example, the Center intervened at St. Bonaventure University in Olean, N.Y. The ostensible issue was the right of men and women students to visit in one another's rooms, although the real problems ran deeper. Defying the administration, some 800 students and the staged a "visit-in,- " by president responded threatening to close the university. An arbitrator was summoned, and the result was a new handbook assigning the students a greater role in the governlives. ance of their At high schools, too, serious tensions have been quelled by Center referees. A three-mont- h boycott of a New York ic continued 9 |
