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Tuesday • January 23, 1996 Campus Sc Nation
Page 5 • The Battalion
Resolution center doubles caseload
□ Mediators help to resolve
roommate disputes most often.
By Courtney Walker
The Battalion
Twice as many Texas A&M students
sought campus mediation services in 1995
than in 1994, and fewer cases resulted in le
gal proceedings.
The Conflict Resolution Center reported
that 38 mediation cases, 288 judicial cases
and 507 legal cases were handled in Fall
1995. Nine mediation cases, 623 judicial
cases and 650 legal cases were handled in
Fall 1994.
Kim Walter, coordinator for student judi
cial services, said more students are aware
that the consequences of legal action are not
always desirable and that mediation ser
vices are an option.
Walter said students should consider us
ing mediation services to settle personal dis
putes before legal action is required.
“(If) students say they want to be treated
like adults, then they need to leam to settle
their own problems and not let us (legal ser
vices) solve problems for them,” she said.
A common problem that mediators deal
with is roommate disputes.
“When there is a roommate problem and
quiet hours are broken, or other' residence
hall policies are ignored, judicial services
will handle the policy aspect, but residents
are sent to mediation services to work it out
among themselves,” she said.
If roommates do not work out their differ
ences, judicial service officials create student
contracts, which, if broken, can result in the
loss of campus housing contracts.
The only problem mediation services will
not handle is sexual assault.
Rick Powell, coordinator for student legal
services, said students benefit from choosing
mediation service over legal services.
“There are court costs,” Powell said. “And
uncertainty of the outcome are things stu
dents do not even think about. It is ineffi
cient and uneconomical (to go to court) when
you can use first use mediation services and
find some common ground.”
Powell said mediation works by bringing
in an objective third party to facilitate ratio
nal discussion.
Students meet with mediators for two-
hour sessions until they reach verbal or
written agreements.
Jackson said many students mistakenly
think that mediators force sanctions on par
ticipating parties.
But mediators, he said, simply increase
students’ communication skills.
“It is teaching them to negotiate, compro
mise and work with people,” Jackson said.
“Instead of loosing their heads and overre
acting, mediation helps them gain control
and come out with a win-win solution.”
Construction program
focuses on industry
□ The four-week long
CEP attracts participants
from around the globe.
By Pamela Benson
The Battalion
A Texas A&M construction
program that began Sunday has
drawn participants to campus
from as far as New Zealand and
Indonesia.
The Construction Executive
Program (CEP), hosted by mem
bers of the Center for Construc
tion Education (CCE), deals with
issues affecting the construction
industry. The four-week long pro
gram, which will end Feb. 16., ex
amines topics ranging from hu
man-resource management to con
tract-labor laws.
In 1984, CCE members made a
commitment to provide the best
professional development opportu
nities in the construction industry.
The Construction Executive
Program evolved from that com
mitment, and later an entire con
struction management program
was formed.
Kaye Mizer, CEP coordinator,
said the program focuses on com
puter literacy, public relations, ef
fective communication and con
struction finance.
Dick Sloan, an ARCO Chemi
cal administrator, will address
awareness of environmental reg
ulations and the need to be
proactive in the workplace.
Course projects include prepar
ing profiles that describe the par
ticipants’ companies and job roles.
During the last week of the
program, participants will apply
skills they have acquired to a
project called the Caperstone
Case Study.
The Caperstone study, designed
specifically for the conference, re
quires participants to solve real-
life problems that could occur in
the workplace.
Sonya Miller, a participant in
last year’s conference, said CEP
had a tremendous impact on how
she processes information and re
sponds to changing environments.
She said the conference also led
her to a higher respect for others
in the construction industry.
Participants receive continuing-
education credit for the course.
Student loan default
rate drops sharply
WASHINGTON (AP) — The student loan default rate
has dropped sharply and government collection efforts
have cut net default costs by more than two-thirds since
1992, Education Secretary Richard Riley said Monday.
“These numbers reflect real and substantial progress,”
Riley said. “They are the product of several aggressive
management decisions that were intended to get the de
fault problem under control.”
The rate of borrowers defaulting on student loans
dropped to 11.6 percent in fiscal 1993, the latest year for
which figures are available.
That was the lowest rate since official default rate re
porting began in 1988. It has declined steadily since 1990,
when it peaked at 22.4 percent. “The program was hemor
rhaging” Riley said.
Monday’s news conference was aimed at countering con
gressional criticism by showing the department was im
proving its management of student loan funds. Republican
budget-cutters have suggested closing the department.
Education Department officials acknowledged that an
improving economy contributed to the improved rate and
that Bush administration programs deserved some credit.
But they said they accelerated those programs.
“When the Clinton administration came into office, I de
clared that reducing the number of loan defaults was our
No. 1 priority in the area of federal assistance for college
loans,” Riley said. “We have done just that.”
Increased collections, combined with the lowering de
fault rate, reduced the net cost of defaults to $400 million
in fiscal 1995, down from $1.7 billion in fiscal 1992.
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