tackles concerns
By Mary Campe
News Writer
More than 10 schools from around the country attended Saint Mary's 11th-annual "Play of the Mind" conference, entitled "Cultural Crossroads: Faces and Facets of Faith."
Following Martha Nussbaum's lecture "Patriotism and Compassion" to open the event on Thursday, the conference continued on Friday with small-group brainstorming sessions.
Participants discussed different issues and concerns they face on their own campuses. This time was described as an opportunity to reflect on different faiths within the participants' campuses and communities.
"This was a time for everyone to voice what problems or concerns they had on their own campus," said sophomore Jessica Silliman.
The rest of the evening was spent discussing the issues broke up in these small groups together and in different small groups. The participants put on skits at the end about the topics discussed to close the evening.
"The skits were a great way to inform everyone of what was discussed outside of their own groups," Silliman said. "They were fun and eye-opening."
After these presentations, each group posed a question for the audience to consider. This was in hope of bringing up more discussions and thoughts later in the conference.
On Saturday, the conference continued with more small group discussions designed to help participants realize the differences and similarities in each participating school's campus. These groups also tried to come up with plans as to how they could change the existing issues and concerns on these campuses.
"It was interesting to see that other schools have the same things going on at their schools," Silliman stated, claiming that this was a good view at other schools other than Saint Mary's.
The weekend ended on Saturday evening with a banquet dinner that some attendants called a celebration.
"There was music prayer, and more discussion and reflection," Silliman said. "I really enjoyed the whole weekend. It was a great experience that helped everyone learn how to be more accepting of others and different lifestyles."
All News Stories for Monday, January 28, 2002
