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By St&cie Tlioraas
Roommate squabbles, landlord-tenant
disputes and neighborhood arguments
don't have to lead to legal battles. Now,
they may lead to the Lincoln Neigh
borhood Justice Center, 3601 Calvert
St. .
The center provides mediators free
of charge to help disputing parties
communicate through mediation. The
mediators aren't counselors, center
director Rebecca Winston said. They
dont tell clients how to solve problems
nor do they make value judgments
be solved through better communica
tion, she said.
The center has operated for
years and claims a 75 percent success
rate. It has handled about 150 cases.
Winston said some problems only
require a phone call to solve. Here's
how. After the center is contacted by
'one of the disputing people, a media
tor calls the other person and restates
the dispute from the perspective of the
first person. The mediator then asks if
the ether person agrees or disagrees
and if there is the possibility of reconci
liation. Once the case h&3 been restated by
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Becky Winston at the Neighborhood Justice Center.
about who is right, Winston said.
"Our society has been so geared
toward having someone else solve our
problems," Winston sid. "The Justice
Center is basically a place to learn to
solve our own problems."
According to Winston, most people
learn early to rely on others to solve
problems for them. When a mother
separates two arguing children and
forbids them to speak, she is teaching
them to avoid working out their own
problems, Winston said.
This lesson has caused many to
resort to the judicial system to solve
every day problems which could easily
the mediator, the people may be able
to solve the dispute simply because the
phone call opens communication lines.
Winston said the people most likely
either have been yelling or not talking
at all.
"When you've been yelling or not
talking, you're not working toward a
solution," she said.
If the people still are unable to agree
on a resolution, the mediator asks if
they are interested in mediation at the
center.
During the mediation process, the
clients discuss the dispute in person
while the mediator looks for common
ground.
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The clients then work toward a reso
lution with the mediator going back
and forth between them until the reso
lution 13 acceptable to both parties.
Ordinarily this process takes two to
three hours, Winston said.
Once the parties agree to a resolu
tion, it' is written down and signed.
Winston said she thinks signing the
resolution also gives each person a
possessory interest.
"When you own or possess some
thing, you generally want to follow
through with it," she said. This is the
reason for our success rate."
The mediators periodically check
with their clients to make sure the
resolution was successful
If the resolution failed, the center
offers to mediate again, although only
about 20 percent of the failed cases
will be remediate, Winston said. The
others are referred to lawyers, small
claims court or other agencies.
Winston, who also maintains a pri
vate law practice, said she receives
$150 per month for her expenses. She
said she takes each call, reviews every
case and assigns mediators to them,
and handles most of the center's paperwork.
All other workers at the center are
volunteers and the center is supported
entirely by donations.
Rhonda Kenney has been working a3
a mediator for two years. Kenney, a
senior criminal justice m?jor at UNL,
sid she became involved with the cen
ter when she was looking for prac
tical experience in her major.
. Working as a mediator has given her
an understanding of what bothers people
and the different leveb of hostility,
Kenney said.
Mediators receive a total of 16 to 18
hours of instruction in safety techniques,
techniques for reducing hostility bet
ween people and stress management,
Winston said.
. The center also has a special pro
gram to help juveniles make restitu
tion to victims for vandalism and mis
demeanor criminal mischief. Winston
said the center tries to make sure
juveniles more aware that the victims
actually lost something. It may also
help the victims deal with any hostility
or fear resulting from the crime.
"It doesn't make the victims whole,
but it helps," Winston said. "It makes
the victims know the system is actually
starting to work for them."
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