European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 24, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Resolving conflict by mediation by Kay Bartlett associated press he s sort of a Mobile judge of liner. A have Gavel we a travel kind of woman who employs her considerable Calm and ability to listen Loselle the kind or new York disputes that sometimes end up on the front pages of the City s tabloids. Laura Blackbum is president and chief executive officer of the Institute of mediation and conflict Resolution inc., an organization established in 1969 to resolve conflict through mediation. Some of the cases Are the trivial sort that keep the courts hopelessly clogged. Some involve the perennial wars Between tenants and landlords while others involve neighbourhoods on the Edge of violence. Sometime she has Learned things Aren t what they teem. There was the 14-year-old who rather viciously assaulted the the 12-year-old in the playground breaking the younger boy s glasses end opening wound that required stitches. On paper ii looked like an open and shut Case of the younger child being victimized by a bully she says. Bui in a mediation there is More time to talk than in the court system and it came out that the 12 year old had been systematically shaking Down the older boy a to year old sister for her lunch Money. I Don t even think the 12-year-old knew this boy was her bks brother. It was a Case of punch first and discuss  it was still assault but the parents were ready to Compromise when the facts unfolded. The two boys agreed to split the Cost of the broken glasses the 12 year old promised to leave the Little sister alone and medicare paid for the stitches Blackburne a tall 49-year-old woman who came to new York from her native Columbus Ohio to pursue a career As a dancer is still very involved As a mediator despite her administrative duties. She directs a 25-person full time stall is responsible for a panel of so other mediators teaches at St. Join University us Schoot is a member of the metropolitan transportation authority Board is counsel la the Mew York stale a act lectures on conflict Resolution and in 1965 was chosen to act As a mediator in the peace tent at the , International women s forum in Nairobi Kenya. I have to stay Active because if i stay away from the actual mediation my War stories and i prefer to Call Erma Bombeck hem peace stories gel  the dispute Resolution Center handles 400 disputes per month. They Are referred by the court after he parties agree to the binding nature of the arbitration. Blackburne prefers not to use the symbolism of the Gavel. People can come up with very creative solutions themselves. Sometimes what they really want is simply an apology. Other times things Are Jusi resolved after tha parties Are allowed to Call each other sobs. Once that s taken care of hey Are Wiffing to work on a  she mediated Mother Case where a photographer was holding a woman s paintings hostage because of a conflict Over the amount of the fee end the agreement Aslo when the slides were to be finished. He called her a dumb Broad and she go even More poetic. Then they got Down to business and came up with a  Blackbu a  mediators she s a lawyer but Many of her trainees Are not. They Are clergymen social workers teachers students nurses retirees just people. They Are Black while hispanic Young old. They Are paid a Small stipend usually something like $20 a Case so it s a labor of love to Large extent. The average mediation lasts about 90 minutes. If i see a mediator turning in 30-minute cases i investigate. What that usually Means is that the mediator is making the decisions and not allowing the parties to come up with their own  in involved medications teams of medications Are sometimes sent in to handle the conflict. The in Cut has gone to the scene along 125th Street the Southern Border of Harlem when asian merchants began opening their shops a couple of years ago. The Blacks Felt they were being squeezed out of their neighbourhood. Blackburne got the merchants to hire local people As clerks and tempers were soothed. Another time nine members of a school Board realized that they simply could not work together to the detriment of the children. To their credit they realized they weren t being effective year in end year out. Altitudes and hostilities were so ingrained they were deadlocked and could get nothing done Blackburne says. We reel with each Board member individually and then in Little groups. They figured out How to listen How to set an Agenda so that business could be accomplished. We did t cure Allol the political ills of lawyer Lun  mint Ltd Luton. Of photo that school Board but a to More is now getting accomplished. They began to bargain More effectively she says. They Learned that getting some of what they wanted was better than gelling  the incr has also been involved in dispute Between coops and i her Board and City agendas and the people they serve. And it has helped resolve neighbourhood rights Auch As the racial violence that erupted on Slaton Weiand in 1985, when White to Lucent with baseball bats attacked a bus Fuh of Mack. In addition in Cal has trained Over 5,000 people in conflict Resolution in 30 states m Well As Canada. A gradual of Ohio state Blackburne is married and the Mother of three daughters. She gave up her plan id become a dancer when she realized she could not pursue it with the single mindedness it required. Instead she taught health and physical education and moved to Washington o.c., with her husband returning to new York where she joined the staff of the new York City housing auth oily. In 1972, mayor John v. Lindsay named her a mayoral assistant and director of the narcotics control Council. She worked briefly in television before taking the incr position. My secret desire she confesses is to someday be the mayor of new York City and bring some of these techniques to hat office. I guess it in t really a secret desire anymore she says laughing. I be told that to a lot of  All of us Are born with body clocks. Those of us who Are Normal have alarms that go off Al around 7 in the morning. We Shower breakfast go to work and come Home. We have dinner around 6 or 7. Watch to and Are in bed by 11, there Are some who were born with clocks that Are out of sync. When their alarm goes Oil they smash it against the Wall and snarl Don t Tell me what to do buddy and disappear under the blankets. They shave and up clothes on Only what shows drag through the Day end sleep during dinner and Early evening. Around 11 they come to life and remain in this frenzied state of animation until 2 or 3 in the morning. Hamsters Are like this. I am married to a Hamster. It is something i would like to change in the name of compatibility. I Lake no Pride in knowing my husband is on he same time Cycle As our sprinkling system. I keep telling him he is a part of a limited world at night. The Banks Are closed. So Are his dentist s office the Post office and the shopping centers. Where is the Quality of a life without shopping he contends these places Ere Boring and deserve o close. We have nothing to talk about. He has never seen Steve be give the news. Have never seen David Letterman he has Bever seen the Man who delivers our morning paper. I have never seen the Kitchen without fights. I have never known who won an election before i went to bed. If our children had not been born in the Middle of the night he would never know their sex today. I must admit there Are advantages and disadvantages of being married to someone who in nocturnal. Since we Are a democratic family who make important decisions together i make then Al 7 in the morning when he is barely conscious. I decide we Are going to move to a bigger House buy a two seater for a second car and go on a vacation cruise where the men have to dress for dinner every night. The disadvantage is driving around on a vacation with three kids in the Back seat at 10 o clock at night and the Hamster wants to go another 200 Miles because he s fresh As a Daisy. Since i started to talk about the problem i find there Are a lot of couples who pass one another in the night. They Are people who basically is around watching one another sleep How do we stay married so Long Well there s Only about 15 minutes out of the Fay when we Are on the same time. By the time i Lell my husband he s moving to a bigger House and he informs me tha porch Light bulb is Burnt out and i Tell him How the Alda have grown and he tells me who had a big party in the neighbourhood that lasted unlit 3 am. It goes in a hurry. You have to hang around to see if it gels belter. Page 14 the stars and stripes saturday january 24,1987