Forum focuses on friendship
LAURA CORISTIN
News Writer
Forty-one people attended an open forum discussion about friendships in the Regina North lounge at Saint Mary's Monday night.
The discussion, the first part of a series entitled "Relationships: Sexuality at its Best … " concentrated on friendship as a growing relationship.
The planning committee for the discussion included of Sister Lousita Welsh, who works for the Saint Mary's Division for Mission, history professor Bill Svelmoe, campus minister Cindy Mongrain, student body vice president Elizabeth Jablonski-Diehl, junior Shannon Maloney and senior Anne DeCleene.
The discussion allowed students to talk about different issues pertaining to friendships, including qualities people look for in friendships, and whether or not it is possible to "just be friends" with males.
"[Our goal is to see] how we can continue to build friendships and relationships in an open environment on campus as we look at issues that relate to the deepening of relationships," Welsh said.
"I think it's nice to get a chance to talk about friendships and relationships because they're something that we deal with everyday here, especially being a women's college," Jablonski-Diehl added. "I think we have a really unique view, and we talk about it on a daily basis, but we don't really sit down and talk about it or think about different points of view on the subject."
The next session of the series "Meeting, Dating, and Mating" will take place on Monday, Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. in Carroll Auditorium.
Junior Desiree Paulin says she plans to attend the future sessions.
"It's a good start to what can happen at Saint Mary's. They're starting to put more effort into what the students want, what the students need," she said. "It's good to see so many of the students come out."
All News Stories for Tuesday, September 10, 2002
