Teleconferenced panel addresses issues of racism, hatred

The public is invited to a telecon-ferenced panel discussion with participants from Ithaca and Santa Monica, Calif., titled "The Social Ecologies of Racism And Hatred. And What Can Be Done About Them," Monday, Oct. 4, from 4:15 to 6 p.m. in 115 Ives Hall.

The Cornell event, together with Santa Monica College, is in part a response to the call for National Days of Dialogue issued by the White House and the U.S. Department of Education. Cornell speakers include Helena Viramontes, assistant professor of English; Robin Williams Jr., professor emeritus of sociology; and John Ford, the Robert W. and Elizabeth C. Staley Dean of Students.

"The goal of this teleconference is to approach the constructs of racism and hatred as issues relevant to social ecology and is both compelling and crucial as far as understanding the extraordinary eruptions of violence which have spread across society," said David Burak, B.S. '67, M.F.A. '80, an English department faculty member at Santa Monica College (SMC) and organizer of the event.

"It is hoped that through the process of reflection and communication, positive modes of resolution can be discerned, developed and put into place," he said.

Sujata Gadkar '01, minority liaison to the Student Assembly at Cornell, will moderate the discussion at the Cornell site. Burak will moderate the discussion at SMC.

The California panel includes Karen Gunn, from the SMC department of behavioral studies; Daniel Cano, SMC dean of admissions and author of a novel on the experiences of Latino soldiers in Vietnam; and Nam Ho, on the advisory board for the Center for Intercultural Programs at UCLA and president of Cheer for Vietnam, a humanitarian project to help Vietnamese orphans and victims of Agent Orange.

Cornell sponsors of the conference include: the Dean of Students Office, the Council for the Arts, W.E.B. DuBois Professorship, Department of Sociology, College of Human Ecology, and the James Norris Oliphant Fellowship of Sigma Phi.