- By Sandra Blanchette and Michael MacPhee

The John W. McCormack Institute of Public Affairs and the University of Massachusetts Boston have been chosen by the Kettering Foundation as a site to release the findings of the National Issues Forum (NIF) Report prepared by Doble Research Associates, Inc., on the Issues 2002 "Racial and Ethnic Tensions: What Should We Do?" series. The forum, featuring the results and subsequent discussion, is open to the public and will take place on Thursday, February 13, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. in the Chancellor's Conference Room.

Last February, UMass Boston hosted one of many forums on racial and ethnic tensions that were held in 2002 throughout the country. Moderators from each forum submitted written reports on their sessions to be compiled in the national report. UMass Boston was one of only three forums nationally that was also videotaped for the PBS television program "A Public Voice," which aired across the nation in June.

Participants in the forum included UMass Boston students, staff, faculty, and interested citizens. They deliberated using the NIF book Racial and Ethnic Tensions, which was prepared in collaboration with the Kettering Institute to provide a framework for participants to use in forum discussions. NIF, a nonpartisan network of educational and community organizations, sponsors forums such as the one held at UMass Boston to provide a way for citizens to exchange ideas and experiences with one another, and make more thoughtful and informed decisions.

To revisit the forum with the new report, two moderators from last year's event"Doug Challenger and Joni Doherty from the New England Center for Civic Life at Franklin Pierce College in Rindge, New Hampshire"will be attending the February 13 discussion. John Doble and Liza Kahn from Doble Research, Inc., will also attend to present the findings of their report. "The personal stories related in the various forums really had an impact on the participants. They made it apparent that two different realities exist, one for whites and one for blacks," said Doble. Many people defined the issue in terms of inequality, stating that access to quality education was the most important component to remedy economic and political inequities.

John Cavanaugh, an alumnus of the Master in Public Affairs Program, and program officer at the Kettering Foundation in Dayton, Ohio, was instrumental in the sponsorship of this event.

In addition to the report release, the PBS program "A Public Voice" will be shown in its entirety. Many of the UMass Boston participants in the 2002 forum and their comments were included in the television broadcast.