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On a Saturday that many people spent basking in the warm rays of the sun, 19 focused citizens sat in the dimly lit Renaissance Room of the SIUC Student Center, deliberating several issues facing America.
Participating in "America's Role in the World," a forum presented by the Jackson County Issues Forums and planned in collaboration with the International Student Council, the group discussed international issues and America's place in them.
Frank Sehnert of Carbondale, who coordinated the event, said he was pleased with the way things turned out. Sehnert said he was expecting higher attendance but figured that many people were probably busy with Fourth of July preparations.
"I was a little disappointed with the crowd," Sehnert said. "But the participants we had communicated very well with each other."
Those who attended the forum, 15 participants and four moderators, had a wide range of age, from college students to retired SIUC professors.
Split into two groups, the participants openly discussed four issues, which were termed approaches. Each of the approaches was deliberated for about 45 minutes to an hour, depending on how much talk the issue created.
The approaches consisted of using our military power to secure peace around the world, promoting democracy around the world to ensure people's rights, raising the standard of living around the world by promoting free trade and working through international organizations to face worldwide problems such as AIDS, dwindling water supplies and environmental pollution.
Sehnert said the forum differed a lot from events like debates because it was based on good listening. Every member listened to what everyone else had to say and responded respectively instead of on the topic in general, so that the discussion could move forward.
While discussing America's military power, some members of the group seemed to think that emphasis on military power is a mistake and the United States should focus on other ways the county could use its power.
Barbara Statler of Carbondale was one of the members that agreed with this idea.
"Military should not be our first course of action," Statler said.
Marvin Kleinau, former head of the speech department at SIUC, agreed that it may not be right to use the military first, but he also looked at it from a different view.
"America should prevent war if possible," Kleinau said. "But some people think having military strength can prevent war."
For about an hour, the participants exchanged many views about the selected issues that America is facing. By the end of the section of deliberation, all members had expressed their point of views, and they all worked together to find a common ground among them.
The same process was taken with the other three approaches, leaving each group to look past their differences and focus on what is in the best interests of America as a whole.
Will Major of Carbondale, who was participating in his first forum, said that even though everything went smoothly, it was sometimes hard to hold back feelings about issues.
"Sometimes people would say things that I just wanted to yell about," Major said.
Major said that because the forum stressed listening, it made him think more about what other people were saying. He said that after being able to think about what was said, one can usually give it a better chance.
"This forum expanded my appreciation of other viewpoints," Major said.
Ana Velitchkova, president of the International Student Council, who was a moderator at the forum, said she believes people should be encouraged to talk and relate to each other. She fulfilled this goal by acting as a neutral party in the discussion, asking questions to the whole group to facilitate deeper thinking.
"It's important for people to communicate to find out what others think and to work together to solve the problems they have identified," Velitchkova said.
Eric Moniger, a senior in cinema at Joliet Junior College, attended the afternoon forum and said he was impressed with his group's discussion.
"Our group was pretty much in agreement about what was problematic," Moniger said. "We came to the consensus that we do need to take action that calls for a lot of attention."
Forums are not a new thing to Moniger, who started a group for free discussion at his college in Joliet called "The Bards' Guild." His group met twice a week for a semester and talked about many different issues that faced America. Moniger said he created the group because he wanted people to realize that there are options available right here in our own community.
"It's the ideal atmosphere for learning," Moniger said. "I think classrooms should be set on the same principles."
Sehnert said that there will definitely be more forums to come, but he does not know when. He said he believes that they may try having the event at a different time of year. A good time would be during the school year when more students will be around to attend.
"It's too bad there weren't more students here," Sehnert said. "Their perception is very important for our future."
Sehnert invites anybody, whether they went to the actual forum or not, to attend a follow-up analysis of the forum at 3:30 p.m. July 15 at the Center for Independent Living located at 100 Glenview Drive. The follow-up is to evaluate the remarks made throughout the forum to find out what was accomplished.
