About 30 students and faculty bared the cold weather to attend the fifth part in the Penn State series, titled "What Can Conflict Teach Us? Putting the Pieces Together to Build Community." The event was part of the Undergraduate Student Government's Unity Week.

Rubina Javeri, USG community education director and organizer of the event, said the topic of conflict was chosen because "it's looking at a different aspect of unity — how conflict unifies us. It's a paradoxical approach of how differences can bring us together."

Five Penn State faculty members from various disciplines spoke at the event.

Each explored a different aspect of conflict.

Chuck Eisenstein, instructor in the department of kinesiology, focused on conflict on the most internal level: inner-conflict.

Eisenstein explained that inner-conflict occurs when people criticize one part of themselves that doesn't seem logical or appropriate and then try to suppress that part through willpower.

"If you do something through willpower, you're fighting yourself. And how are you going to excel if you're fighting yourself?" he said.

"If you don't listen to those dissenting voices, you're going to end up hating your life," he added.

The second speaker was Sherry Corneal, associate professor in the department of human development and family studies. Corneal stressed the importance of not shying away from conflict in relationships.

"It's a really ironic thing that we avoid conflict because we think it will hurt our relationships, but it is really when we avoid conflicts that we hurt the relationship," she said.

Vernis Welmon spoke about the importance of communication in dealing with conflict. Welmon, who is an assistant professor in the department of business administration, said that in the wake of the Sept. 11 tragedy it is important to be proactive about communication.

"How often do we reach out before conflict arises?" he said. "Let's talk, let's converse. Let's be assertive, not passive."

Laura Silver, who is involved in outreach education for the Center of Sustainability, critically examined U.S. policies regarding historical and present-day conflicts.

"We have to re-explore the paradigms given to us by the media and the government," she said. She said finding peaceful resolutions to foreign policy issues "will end terrorism faster and lead to much longer lasting peace."

Vanitha Dyananda, instructor in the department of sociology, examined the possibility of applying Mahatma Gandhi's principle of nonviolent resolution in response to the Sept. 11 tragedy and to problems in the Middle East.

In coping with the terrorist attacks, Dyananda said, "It is our duty to suffer without hatred . . . We need to appeal to the reason of those who misunderstand us."

USG President Justin Zartman was one of the students who attended the event.

"What better way to be a university then to have a classroom without walls?" he said, adding that faculty members involved in the event "are the most passionate at this university."

Many of the other students were at the event, at least in part, because they were getting extra credit for Biological Science 3 (Environmental Science).

Doug Kopeski (freshman-business management) was one such student, but also said he "came to see what people had to say."