1. One Alert Too Many: Addressing Sexual Assault Through Prevention, Protection, and Prosecution

During my deliberation, we explored 3 different approaches with the goal of addressing sexual assault and looking at preventative measures. The 1st approach we explored was prevention through things such as avoiding risk and empowering the individual. T he only issues we found here were that the approaches might limit the freedom of the individual or it may lead to victim blaming if the victim employs the tactics, and they do not work. The second approach we explored was protection if an attack is pending or actually happening. This involved discussing bystander action, better police training, and self-protection things such as a nail-polish that can detect date-rape drugs. Lastly, we explored the prosecution aspect of sexual assault such as shortening court proceedings. A common theme that came up during our deliberation was that there’s a lot of gray area when exploring sexual assault. A big thing that came up was personal preference whether that applied to setting an intention for yourself before going out, or even what age to start the discussion about sex and sexual assault. A lot of conflict arose when discussing when it would be appropriate to start discussing sexual assault. One person suggested in elementary school even because kids at this age might not even understand that they’re being violated. A few people definitely disagreed with this just because there’s another issue of who has the discussion with them, and what you can exactly explain to them without crossing the line. I think the most successful approach would be a combination of prevention and protection. We talked a lot about the people that you’re with when you go out which I think is a big part of solving the problem. If you’re out with people you know it’s a lot easier for them to tell if you’re comfortable with the situation you’re in. I think this would probably fall into the prevention category but it really could be your friends protecting you from a risky situation. I also think that educating children younger would be a great idea, especially young men. Yes, there are women that sexually assault men, but the highest number of sexual assaults committed are by men. If young people are educated earlier about the kind of effect sexual assault has on a victim’s life, that idea will stick with them for longer and may make them actually take a step back if they create a situation that would involve an assault. The prosecution approach is great but it only happens after a sexual assault occurs. So yes, it’s part of solving the problem sexual assault creates, but only after the fact which is why I think prevention methods would be a lot more effective. Overall, I think our deliberation did not really stray from the likes of a normal deliberation. At points when people were comparing statistics the discussion did remind me of a debate a little bit, but no one got very argumentative. Everyone shared their opinion without openly trying to take down another person’s argument which I think made the discussion feel a lot more like an open-forum. As said by a participant in the deliberation, just having an open discussion like we did should become part of the solution when actually looking at accomplishing preventing sexual assault.

2) Plastic State University: Reducing Single-Use Waste

The second deliberation I attended on my own was a discussion regarding reducing the use of plastic products that people only use once. What I noticed about this talk that was very different from the one that my group hosted was that the discussion was held in a public place so it was slightly less organized than the one that we held in the classroom. Being in a public place, it can get kind of difficult to hear people and actually find space for participants, but once the talk started, I don’t really think it was a problem. Another strength of the group was that they had a lot of people that had a personal stake in the discussion come and actually talk which was nice because people like this typically know a little bit more about the issue at hand and might be able to offer straightforward information if the deliberation comes to a stand still. Also as an added bonus, the mayor of state college came which was a great addition. So although the location of the deliberation wasn’t ideal, the actual discussion that we had definitely made up any little hiccups.  The first approach we looked at (I think) was the idea of reducing things like to-go containers or introducing the idea of green to-go containers like the ones we have in our dining halls on campus. I say “I think” because some of the approaches came across a little bit confusing and unfocused but I’m pretty sure that was the point they were trying to get across. During this approach they also discussed the possibility of a small tax on order put in to-go containers which I think could be beneficial in reducing their use and increasing the use of green to-go containers. Approach 2 involved discussing positive incentives to get rid of single-use items such as discounts for using reusable cups. This was a bit similar to the negative incentive idea but I still think it would be very effective. The 3rd approach introduced was just general education of the public about being environmentally conscious. This included ideas such as websites, advertising on CATA buses, and sustainability updates in emails/news sections. Approach 3 is probably where most of the “arguing” came in because people disagreed about how/f we should even bother attempting to educate the public. This was because people might not even wan to be educated, or they might be educated and not care because sometimes things like recycling are difficult and inconvenient. Overall, the group fostered the discussion pretty well and I think it was a good sign that they only had to participate here and there because other people had so much to say on the topic. I originally went to this discussion because I thought I was a pretty environmentally-conscious person but honestly, I think I was in a bit over my head attending the deliberation. It definitely made me realize that there were a lot of other things I could be doing to be more sustainable and that things I was doing may not have been the best way to recycle which is why I did not participate as much as I should have at the deliberation.