President's Peace Commission

Dr. Barbara Hardin, director of the Counseling and Testing Center of St. Mary's University and member of the President's Peace Commission, presents Ms. Sharon McMahon, therapist at th San Antonio Play Therapy Institute, and Ms. Marilyn Stavinoha, adjunct instructor of child development at San Antonio College and member of the San Antonio Association for the Education of Young Children. The speakers discuss the importance of play and positive, non-judgmental, individualized attention in the successful nurturing of children. (68 minutes)

Dr. Sonia R. García, professor of political science at St. Mary's University and member of the President's Peace Commission, presents Ms. Virginia McDaniel, licensed professional counselor at Child Abuse Prevention Services, Ms. Susana Lopez, member of Hispanas Unidas, and Ms. Isabel Muñoz, children's protective service worker and program development specialist for the Family Support and Educational Services branch of Avance. The speakers discuss how the organizations which they represent are addressing the issues of child sexual abuse, teen pregnancy, illiteracy, and lack of parenting skills. (60 minutes)

Dr. Larry Hufford, professor of international relations at St. Mary's University and member of the President's Peace Commission, presents Dr. Nancy Kellogg, associate professor of pediatrics at University of Texas Health Sciences Center-San Antonio and medical director of Alamo Children's Advocacy Center, Dr. Thomas Hoffman, professor of political science at St. Mary's University, and Ms. Kate Campbell, development director of Child Advocates of San Antonio. The speakers describe the efforts of their organizations to help child abuse victims and discuss psychological aspects of child abuse including reasons the victims do not tell, long-lasting effects, and the hopeful evolution from victim to survivor to thriver to advocate. (69 minutes)

Fr. Charles H. Miller, Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at St. Mary's University, presents Dr. Patricia Owen, professor of psychology at St. Mary's University, and Mr. Oscar Ehrenberg, Nazi concentration camp survivor. The speakers discuss children and fear. Dr. Owen addresses the questions of whether certain childhood fears are universal and others culture-specific as she presents slides and data from several countries and discusses relevant aspects of these countries' culture, history, and social conditions. Mr. Ehrenberg relates his experiences as a child, in hiding and later as a deportee to Auschwitz and other Nazi concentration camps, and attributes his and others' survival to resilience gained from stable family backgrounds and religious convictions. Dr. Owen comments that resilience is fostered in children by the presence of a caring adult who accepts the child unconditionally, by identification and reinforcement of a child's "island of competence", and by provision of opportunities for the child to feel that he or she is contributing to the home, school, or community. (86 minutes)

Ms. Cecilia Aguilar, member of the President's Peace Commission, presents Dr. Nora V. Demleitner, professor at St. Mary's University School of Law, Mr. Terence S. Coonan, attorney-at-law for the Immigration Law Office of Joseph B. DeMott, and Mr. Peter Vallecillo, administrator of the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights Under Law of Texas. The speakers discuss current U.S. legal responses to three distinct problems affecting children of immigrants in this country: female circumcision, bonded child labor, and recent California and U.S. national initiatives toward curtailing welfare benefits, particularly for immigrants. (46 minutes)

Ms. A. Kristina Rodriguez, member of the President's Peace Commission, presents Prof. Ana Novoa, director of the Civil Justice Clinic of St. Mary's University and professor at St. Mary's School of Law, and Mr. Christopher Jonas, special education attorney of Corpus Christi. The speakers discuss different aspects of children's rights in the United States. Mr. Jonas speaks about his work in securing education for special education children in Texas. Prof. Novoa speaks on the history of family law and the merging of private/property law with public/poverty law. (45 minutes)

Mr. Phillip Vargas, member of the President's Peace Commission, presents Ms. Sandy Villarreal of the Gonzales Achievement Center, San Antonio Independent School District's only special elementary campus, and Mr. Christopher J. Phillips of Youth Achievement Foundation, Inc., a non-profit child placement agency. Ms. Villarreal and Mr. Phillips discuss efforts made in public schools and group homes toward modifying behavior and establishing accountability in children. (40 minutes)

Ms. Vanessa Manning, member of the President's Peace Commission, briefly introduces the purpose of the hunger banquet -- to demonstrate the unfairness of resource distribution in the world. Fr. Cris Jansen, associate vocational director of the Marianist Vocation Ministry at St. Mary's, and Mr. Alfredo Ortiz hall director of Marian Hall at St. Mary's, add their perspectives on hunger gained during work in Mexico, Guatemala, and Bangladesh. (20 minutes)

Fr. John Moder, president of St. Mary's University, presents Mr. Robert Meeropol, executive director of the Rosenberg Fund for Children and son of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Mr. Meeropol discusses the purpose of the Rosenburg Fund -- to ease the lives of political prisoners in the United States, and relates his own experiences as the child of political prisoners. (76 minutes)

Ms. Márida Carmona, member of the President's Peace Commission, presents Ms. Diane Gonzales Bertrand, professor of English at St. Mary's University and author of several children's books, Mr. Paul Rode, former principal of Cambridge Elementary School, Alamo Heights ISD, and literacy volunteer, and Ms. Kathleen Muldoon, children's author and advocate for persons with disabilities for the Justice & Peace Office of the Archdiocese of San Antonio. The speakers discuss the importance to children of seeing themselves reflected or represented in the books they read. (63 minutes)

Dr. Terri Boggess, assistant to the Academic Vice President of St. Mary's University, presents Dr. Jerri Abrams, of Northwest Pediatrics Associates, Dr. Steven R. Pliszka, chief of the Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, and Dr. Richard Wayne, the director of Santa Rosa Children's Hospital. The speakers discuss various aspects of health care for children, including issues which arise in routine pediatric practice, the increase in severe mental illness in children that has accompanied the deinstitutionalization of mentally ill adults, and the lack of coherent public policy in children's health care that has resulted in health care being a right for the elderly but a privilege for children. (64 minutes)

Dr. Missy Tobia, member of the President's Peace Commission, presents Dr. Jerry Christian, Superintendent of the Alamo Heights Independent School District, Ms. Mary Ward, Superintendent of the Ingram Independent School District, and Dr. Mildred West, Instructional Steward of the San Antonio Independent School District. (73 minutes)