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>> ACR Update, July 31, 2002 <<
Published by the Association for Conflict Resolution,
a merged organization of AFM, CREnet, and SPIDR
http://www.acresolution.org
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WELCOME TO ACR UPDATE!

ACR Update is sent on a regular basis to share important conflict resolution news and organizational updates with our members. We encourage you to scroll through the items listed below, and hope you'll find this information useful. We look forward to your feedback!

OVERVIEW OF ARTICLES
July 31, 2002

[1] ACR Second Annual Conference
* Discounted Hotel Rate Cutoff is Today, July 31, 2002
* Advance Registration Deadline Extended Until August 7, 2002
* Call for Proposals: ACR's Third Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida, October 15-18, 2003.

[2] ACR Board Endorses U.S. Consensus Council

[3] Please Complete ACR's Conflict Resolution Quarterly Reader Survey

[4] ACR Staff Update
* New Administrative Coordinator
* New Publications Coordinator

[5] ACR Diversity and Equity Network Update
*ACR Diversity and Equity Network to Meet at Annual Conference
*ACR Diversity and Equity Policy

[6] ACR Section Updates
* ACR Criminal Justice Section
* ACR Family Section
* ACR Health Care Section

[7] Quotes

[8] Message from Our Sponsor
* Mediate.com

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[1] ACR Second Annual Conference: August 21-24, 2002
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BOOK YOUR ROOM NOW: HOTEL RATE CUTOFF IS TODAY--JULY 31, 2002

ACR's Second Annual Conference
August 21 - August 24, 2002
Town and Country Resort & Conference Center, San Diego, CA

ACR's Second Annual Conference is going to be an excellent professional development opportunity. It's also an important event for ACR Sections, all of which will hold their annual meetings during the conference. If you haven't yet registered to attend ACR's Second Annual Conference, please note that the discounted conference room rate at the Town & Country is guaranteed only until July 31, 2002.

CONFERENCE REGISTRATION DEADLINE EXTENDED TO AUGUST 7TH!

The advance conference registration deadline has been extended to August 7, 2002. After August 7th, you must wait and register on site. The complete brochure and registration information is available online at
http://www.acresolution.org/research.nsf/2002conf. If you would like additional printed copies of the conference brochure, please contact the ACR Conferences and Programs Department by phone (202/667-9700 ext. 210),
or send your request and complete mailing address to
conferences@acresolution.org.

We look forward to seeing you soon in San Diego!

SUBMIT A PROPOSAL FOR ACR'S THIRD ANNUAL CONFERENCE

ACR's Third Annual Conference: The World of Conflict Resolution: A Mosaic
of Possibilities
October 15-18, 2003
Orlando, Florida USA

The 2003 ACR Conference Planning Committee invites proposals that address questions facing the field such as: What are the best practices in conflict resolution? What do we -- as conflict resolvers -- want our field to become? What are the opportunities and challenges? What are the threats? What are the creative uses and innovative practices of conflict resolution? How do youth fit into the field? The committee is also seeking proposals that address such practical issues as how one develops a successful
conflict resolution practice.

For more information, or to submit a proposal, go to:
http://www.acresolution.org/acrconf.nsf/ac03sessioninput

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[2] ACR Board Endorses United States Consensus Council
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ACR BOARD ENDORSES UNITED STATES CONSENSUS COUNCIL

The Association for Conflict Resolution Board of Directors has recently given its enthusiastic endorsement to the U.S. Consensus Council "as an independent, nonprofit entity...uniquely poised to serve our nation in resolving contentious national issues." Currently, the U.S. Congress is considering legislation to create the USCC. Authorizing legislation has been introduced in the U.S. Senate (S. 1651) and U.S. House (H.R. 3305) and referred for consideration to the Senate Governmental Affairs and House Government Reform Committees, respectively. The initiative to create the
USCC is being organized and staffed by Search for Common Ground-USA, in coordination with Consensus Council, Inc. (North Dakota), the Montana Consensus Council, and the Policy Consensus Initiative.

Legislative Update
Thanks to the leadership and support of Senator Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), earlier this month the Senate Appropriations Committee approved legislation to provide $1 million in FY 2003 (starts October 1) for the USCC, subject
to passage of authorizing legislation.

Though challenges remain, Search-USA reports that there is still a good chance to get the underlying authorizing legislation through Congress. First on that list is to get S. 1651 approved by the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee. According to Search-USA project director, Rob Fersh, "We hope that our ACR colleagues may have direct contacts with these Committee members or with key members of their staffs and that they may also have colleagues who might be able to offer help. If this is the case, we ask that people let us know so we can work together to move the legislation forward."

How ACR Members can Help
According to Fersh, it is critical for supporters of the effort to make a significant push between now and September 15th to encourage Senate Governmental Affairs Committee members to co-sponsor the bill and urge Committee approval of the bill as quickly as possible.

- The highest priority is to get the Committee Chairman, Senator Joe Lieberman, (D-Conn.) to co-sponsor and move the bill forward.

- Committee members, Senators Susan Collins, (R-Maine) and Thomas Carper, (D-Del.) already are co-sponsors. ACR members can write to thank Senators Collins and Carper and urge them, too, to move the bill forward.

- It is very helpful if other Committee members also co-sponsor S. 1651.

Other priority contacts include:

Senator Fred Thompson, Ranking Member, (R-Tenn.)
Senator Richard Durbin, (D-Ill.)
Senator Carl Levin, (D-Mich.)
Senator Pete Domenici, (R-N.M.)
Senator George Voinovich, (R-Ohio)

Finally, ACR members are urged to contact these Committee members as well:

Senator Daniel Akaka, (D-Hawaii)
Senator Robert Bennett, (R-Utah)
Senator Jim Bunning, (R-Ky.)
Senator Max Cleland, (D-Ga.)
Senator Thad Cochran, (R-Miss.)
Senator Mark Dayton, (D-Minn.)
Senator Robert Torricelli, (D-N.J.)
Senator Ted Stevens, (R-Alaska)

You may address letters to:

The Honorable Senator ___________
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Learn More About the USCC at the ACR Conference
On Friday, August 23rd from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m., the Search-USA staff is presenting a workshop at the ACR 2002 Annual Conference, "The U.S. Consensus Council: How is Congress Responding and How Would it Work?"
(Workshop Session 4.05).

If you're not planning to be in San Diego but would like more information on the USCC, contact:

W. Steve Lee
Search for Common Ground-USA
1601 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 200
Washington, DC 20009
(202) 265-4300 x261 - phone
(202) 232-6718 - fax
slee@sfcg.org

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[3] Conflict Resolution Quarterly Reader Survey
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PLEASE COMPLETE THE ONLINE CRQ SURVEY

Attention all ACR Members: It's time to survey our Conflict Resolution Quarterly (CRQ) readership! Please click here:
http://www.acresolution.org/mail/ballot.nsf/CRQ, or copy and paste this link into your favorite Web browser, to reach this important Survey and make sure your ideas are heard. We estimate that it will take you 12-15 minutes to complete the CRQ survey. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Tricia Jones
Editor, CRQ

Heather E. Prichard
Director of Communications, ACR

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[4] ACR Staff Update
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TWO NEW ACR STAFF MEMBERS COMPLETE TEAM

ACR is pleased to announce the addition of two new staff members, Nussi Abdullah and Mark Sawchuk. With Mark and Nussi on board, ACR's staff is now complete! The entire staff looks forward to working with you to achieve ACR's goals and objectives.

NEW ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATOR

Nussi Abdullah joins the staff as ACR's Administrative Coordinator. Nussi performs a variety of tasks at ACR including answering the phone and providing administrative support to the CEO. For the past two years she has
worked in the Office of the Deans at Georgetown College and served as the editor of the College Weekly Review, an electronic newsletter for faculty and staff. She is originally from India, but grew up in the Middle East, having been in the U.S. for ten years and a citizen for four years. Nussi
has a wide range of interests with a special focus on promoting diversity.

She holds a master's degree with Distinction from Georgetown University's Communication, Culture and Technology Program and a B.A. from Virginia Commonwealth University, magna cum laude. Nussi may be reached by phone at 202-667-9700 ext. 200 or by e-mail at nabdullah@acresolution.org.

NEW PUBLICATIONS COORDINATOR

Mark A. Sawchuk is ACR's Publications Coordinator. Mark performs a wide range of editing and communications tasks within the organization, including serving as the Managing Editor of ACResolution, ACR's quarterly magazine. Mark joined ACR after two years at the law firm of Harmon,
Curran, Spielberg & Eisenberg, where he wrote for and served as Assistant Editor of the Nonprofit Navigator, a monthly on-line newsletter. He was also a Legal Assistant and worked directly with the firm's nonprofit clients on federal tax and election law issues. Mark holds a B.A. in
History from Brown University, where he graduated magna cum laude and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. He spent his junior year studying modern European politics and international relations at the Institut d'études
politiques de Paris (the Paris Institute of Political Science), and was an Editorial Intern at the American Foreign Service Association's Foreign Service Journal. You may reach Mark by phone at 202-667-9700 ext. 230 or by e-mail at msawchuk@acresolution.org.

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[5] ACR Diversity and Equity Network Update
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ACR DIVERSITY AND EQUITY NETWORK TO MEET IN SAN DIEGO

A group of energetic volunteers is planning a pre-conference gathering of the ACR Diversity & Equity Network, to be held at ACR's Second Annual Conference in San Diego, August 21-24. The gathering will take place on Wednesday, August 21, from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. The purpose of this meeting
is to provide a forum for Diversity and Equity Point Persons to meet, share resources, select leadership, and decide how to work together through the ACR Diversity/Equity Network, and throughout every facet of ACR.

The Network -- made up of Diversity/Equity representatives from each ACR Section, Chapter, Committee, and project -- is charged with helping implement ACR's Diversity and Equity Policy throughout the organization.

More than 200 educational workshops are planned at the conference, including a significant number that focus on the many and complex issues of diversity and equity.

ACR DIVERSITY AND EQUITY POLICY

The Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR) is committed to diversity and equity in its membership, structure, and organizational work. A culturally diverse organization is one that recognizes, supports, values, and utilizes people's differences and similarities in support of the organization's goals and objectives. Equity means recognizing and working
to eliminate injustices in access, process, and consequences of ACR's efforts to strive to meet the needs of diverse members and stakeholders.

ACR seeks to encourage and promote participation, accessibility, active representation, and leadership from diverse populations including, but not limited to, races, ethnicities, national origins, languages, genders, sexual orientation, economic statuses, school or organizational locations, physical abilities, ages, religions, educational types or levels, and perspectives. Further, ACR actively implements equity and affirms diversity in its work, including its publications and standards, and in its Board, staff, programs, chapters, sections, and committees.

In order to promote diversity and equity in our organization and our field, ongoing self-examination is essential. We are committed to discussing and implementing fairness and openness in our values, procedures, conceptual frameworks, and structures. All persons participating in ACR programs and activities are a part of this endeavor.

The ACR Diversity/Equity Implementation Framework is designed to ensure that all parts of ACR reflect our deep commitment to increasing diversity and equity within ACR, as well as within the field. This inclusive network structure provides for representation, communication, and involvement throughout the organization (through Diversity/Equity Point Persons, who come together in an ACR-wide Diversity/Equity Network). It relies on
self-evaluation as well as guidance and facilitation by the ACR Diversity/Equity Committee (a smaller representative group to be selected in August 2002 by the Diversity/Equity Network).

ETHICS COMMITTEE
The ACR Core Ethics Committee is completing a comprehensive set of policies and procedures to guarantee a fair and timely review of any complaints involving ACR members. To ensure the smooth working of this process, each ACR section has appointed an ethics representative or ethics committee. These ethics liaisons are broadly charged with working with the Core Ethics Group to review complaints involving ACR members who also are members of
their particular sections. In addition, they will carry out a variety of activities -- including writing articles, conducting research, and making public presentations -- that will help educate ACR members and the general public about ethical procedures and standards in the conflict resolution
field.

A meeting of all ACR Ethics liaisons and the Core Ethics Group will take place at ACR's Annual Conference in San Diego on Thursday evening, August 22, from 6 pm to 7 pm.

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[6] ACR Section Updates
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ACR CRIMINAL JUSTICE SECTION UPDATE

The Criminal Justice Section is pleased to announce the appointment of Cheryl Swanson as Ethics Representative and Marco Turk as Newsletter Editor for the Section. Cheryl will send an ethics survey to Section members, and the findings will be presented at the Criminal Justice Section meeting at ACR's Second Annual Conference in San Diego, August 21-24. The Section will hold its meeting on Friday, August 23 from 3:00 to 4:30 pm.

ACR FAMILY SECTION

The 2003 ACR Family Section Conference will be held from July 10-13 in Denver, Colorado. Mark your calendar!

The Family Section Legislative Committee continues to monitor legislative activity involving the Uniform Mediation Act (UMA). Contact Greg Firestone at firestoneg@aol.com, ACR Family Section Legislative Chair, for additional
information.

The Rudy and Denise van Daalen Wetters Scholarship Fund is still accepting applications for individuals with culturally and ethnically diverse backgrounds who are interested in making family/divorce mediation their career and practicing in underserved areas of our society. For more information, please contact Danette Ross at dross@acresolution.org or visit our Web page at
http://www.acresolution.org/research.nsf/key/fam-scholarship

If you are a Family Section member, we urge you to join one of our very active committees and get involved with promoting unity, diversity, and other issues important to our field.

ACR HEALTH CARE SECTION EVENTS AT ANNUAL CONFERENCE

The ACR Health Care Section cordially invites all ACR Annual Conference attendees to join us on Wednesday, August 21, from 6:00 to 7:30 pm at our Health Care Section Reception. Drop by for a little camaraderie to jump-start a great conference, find out who we are, help us plan a new
direction for the Section, get reacquainted with old friends, make new ones, and share stories and ideas for the coming year.

On Thursday, August 22 from 7:00-8:30 pm, there will be a Health Care Section Dialogue, a reprise of last year's successful idea-exchange forum. Anyone is welcome to join this working session to learn what others are working on in health care conflict resolution, kick around potential
projects, and draw on colleagues for potential solutions to thorny practice issues. For more information, contact Lynne Kinnucan, Membership Development Associate for Sections and Publicity, at lkinnucan@acresolution.org.

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[7] Quotes
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It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it. -- Lena
Horne

A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving. -- Albert Einstein

We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately. -- Benjamin Franklin

We are not going to be able to operate our Spaceship Earth successfully nor for much longer unless we see it as a whole spaceship and our fate as common. It has to be everybody or nobody. -- Buckminster Fuller

I love to hear a choir. I love the humanity to see the faces of real people devoting themselves to a piece of music. I like the teamwork. It makes me feel optimistic about the human race when I see them cooperating like that.
-- Paul McCartney

My satisfaction comes from my commitment to advancing a better world. -- Faye Wattleton

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[8] Message from Our Sponsor: Mediate.com
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Encourage your colleagues and friends to join the Association for Conflict Resolution! Immediate Benefits: See
http://acresolution.org/research.nsf/key/reasons
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Copyright 2002, Association for Conflict Resolution
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