Describe how you would arrange the physical setting for this mediation.

Read the Mediation Scenario below and post your responses. Please make sure that you have read Chapters 1, 2, and 3 in Elements of Mediation prior to addressing this assignment. Make sure that you are adhering to the requirements for Discussion Posts as set forth in the syllabus. In addition, the Rubric “Weekly Discussions” from the syllabus will be used to help assess this assignment.
“GREEK PARTY GONE WRONG”
DELTA DELTA AND ZETA ZETA
General A couple of months ago Delta Delta and Zeta Zeta jointly sponsored a ball. The men of Delta Delta wanted to have the ball at Zeta Zetas’ house because it is very attractive, and the women agreed. DD and ZZ are next door to each other. Before the ball the two Presidents, Michael and Rose, agreed that the bills would be split 60:40, with Delta Delta paying more because the event was at the sorority. No maximum was set on party expenses by either house. The party was open to members of the two organizations and their guests from outside, but not the general public. The alcohol at the party was monitored, but several men and women arrived already very drunk. Several people were quite rowdy, threw up on the carpet, and broke things. There were people at the party not from DD or ZZ. There was no agreement before the party about paying for damage. Delta Delta has paid all the bills, and now there is disagreement about Zeta Zeta paying their part. Michael, president of DD, sent Rose, president of ZZ, a bill for $800 for ZZ’s share of the expenses. Rose called him and said that because of what happened at the ball and the expenses of repair and clean-up, ZZ did not feel they should pay anything. Michael said that he was stunned by her response and felt it violated their agreement. They did not meet to discuss the disagreement. DD went to the Inter-Fraternity Council to complain that ZZ should have to pay up. The IFC recommended mediation. Michael requested mediation, and Rose agreed. They are representing their organizations with authority to settle the disagreement.
Michael/Delta Delta’s Side of the Story:
You are quite concerned about the finances of that party. You are incensed by the bills coming in. Your house has paid $2,000 for this ball which is more than you expected. You asked Rose to pay $800, and she refused. You expected to pay for some modest decorations, but Zeta Zeta claims they spent hundreds of dollars (was it $500 or $600?) on painting and rug cleaning and carpentry for repairs. That is really a capital improvement to their house and not just for a party. You are also amazed at the amount of beverages that were consumed and wonder if the sorority maybe kept some of the extra drinks. You also just cannot believe that ZZ is now refusing to pay anything for the party, and you are really worried about this. At least a dozen of your brothers are now going out with women living there. Obviously you cannot afford to break off relations with them. Besides, they throw the best parties at Lees-McRae, and the men of DD will want to continue these balls each fall. To you it seemed like a good dance. Maybe a bit raucous — and of course, there were one or two miserable messes when the brothers drank too much pre-party — but that is not unusual. Was there some nick or hole in someone’s door? But that was supposed to have been made by an interloper from another frat. So what could have persuaded Rose into reneging completely on $800? She is the new president of a relatively new sorority — is it inexperience? She must have expected to do some clean-up. Why did she think they were only paying 40%, not 50%, of the bills? Come to think of it, maybe you and she should talk about a few other things also, since the whole subject of responsibility has come up. For example, a couple of the ZZ women eat at DD almost every night, and there is a lot of discussion, whether jovial or not, among the brothers about eating bills going up. A number of women are taking up a lot of time on the brothers’ computers. About a dozen women come over to use the house Test Bank, to prepare for exams, because ZZ has not been in existence long enough to have good Test Banks, and they sometimes monopolize those resources before exams. You need to straighten a few things out with Rose and get $800. You personally want to settle this, but you think the brothers are expecting you to be tough. You are sad and confused about why this dispute arose. You try to avoid conflict and want this one to go away.
Rose/Zeta Zeta’s Side of the Story:
Your whole house is really angry with Delta Delta. The ball was superficially a great success from the point of view of other students, but it was a mess for Zeta Zeta. It is a real pain in the neck for you as the new President of a two-year-old sorority which is next door to these jerks. Six of your friends are dating DD men. DD men sleep over all the time. Come to think of it, THAT is a pain also. Men in the bathrooms, men in the halls, men eating our breakfast. Of course, it is a mixed blessing. The DD men are good about sharing their course Test Banks with some of the first-year women before exams, since ZZ does not have many Test Banks yet, and they organize some fun activities. The ball was fun for a while. But several DD men got very drunk. Somebody you do not even know put his fist through a bedroom door — who WAS that clod? Several men seemed to really go after a couple of the freshmen women. Many of Zeta Zeta are angry about the way they behaved. One sister drank too much pre-party and took a DD brother up to a room that was not even hers. They both threw up. The DD guy somehow tipped a drink onto a little rug that the owner of the room really prized and then came back down banging into the stairwell and splashing more drink onto carpets and wall paper. There must have been few others who joined in some of the crashing about. Really it was a bad night. It has cost you many, many hours to deal with all this, and it cost $435 — to pay for cleaning the rug, buy paint, get a brand new door, scrape and repair the damage to the stairwell, clean the wallpaper, etc., etc. That was the cost with Zeta Zeta doing all the work. It would have served DD right if you had contracted with outside carpenters and painters to do the work and sent them those bills. Of course, a little painting needed to be done anyway, but not all this work. Now that ZZ has paid the $435 for cleaning and repairs, Michael is demanding another $800. Zeta Zeta is short of money and cannot afford another $800. You budgeted $500 for this party and have no extra money now, though you may have some, maybe $200, in a month or two. It does not seem fair for ZZ to pay more than the $435 they have paid so far. The men drank most of the beverages and ate most of the food anyway, and so much disappeared that you think some of them must have taken bottles home. You are embarrassed both because the ball, which you urged Zeta Zeta to agree to, turned out badly and because DD filed a complaint with IFC, making ZZ look like cheapskates who do not pay their bills. You want to show you will not knuckle under to DD, but are under pressure from several Zetas who want the dispute settled because they date DD men.
Discussion Items: As the Mediator
Determine if this dispute is appropriate for mediation.
Determine if the parties (DD and ZZ) are appropriate for mediation
Clarify the issues to be handled in the mediation; generate ideas to help foster discussion; help each party find ways to “save face”; distinguish the needs from the wants of both sides; and develop practical solutions to resolve this dispute
Describe how you would arrange the physical setting for this mediation
Remember to respond to the posts of others and to provide feedback that is both critical and compassionate.

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