This is http://www.essayz.com/a9111051.htm Previous-Essay <== This-Essay ==> Following-Essay Click HERE on this line to find essays via Your-Key-Words. {Most frequent wordstarts of each essay will be put here.} ========================================================== %GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY SECURITY STUDENT PROF 911105 The security of students, faculty and staff within the college and university setting depends upon all members of the community cooperatively creating a context within which all members are free to be open and honest in intimate relationships which entail vulnerability. True security is the freedom to be safe while being vulnerable. If the power to influence the course of events in the community is (or appears to some to be) held tightly by a few influential people, or by the members of a privileged class; then members of the community are not free to be open and honest in intimate relationships which entail vulnerability---and none of the members of the community can be truly secure. Within most communities there are some members who are (or perceive themselves to be) the victims of an unequal distribution of power. They perceive themselves to be the victims of circumstances outside of themselves, and blame things outside of themselves for their "problems". They objectify their problems; rather than reflexively meditate upon what they can do to respond to their situations creatively with internal personal changes---in how they perceive, think about, and respond to their own circumstances. They do not examine their own attitudes to see how helpful their own attitudes are. When problems are objectified there is a tendency to deal with the problems in objective ways; through object manipulation. People become the objects of manipulative procedures. Imperfections in one's own situation are projected onto the fabric of the community, and manipulative efforts are envisioned which might seem to promise to make one's own situation more tolerable. People who are encouraged to spend major portions of their time in objective procedures, analysis, controlled experimentation, and manipulations---to the exclusion of spending time developing healthy inter-personal relationships---are likely to deal with personal frustrations in ways patterned after the objective procedures, analysis, controlled experimentation, and manipulations upon which they have been encouraged to focus so much of their attention. People who are encouraged to strive for perfection in some compulsive ways are unlikely to be satisfied with their personal situation in life, and seek to perfect their situation in life. If they have spent little time developing healthy interpersonal relationships, they are likely to be frustrated with imperfections in their personal situations, and not know how to deal with them. Their frustrations are likely to be expressed in manipulative ways, especially if they have been encouraged to spend major portions of their time in objective procedures, analysis, controlled experimentation, and manipulations---to the exclusion of spending time developing healthy inter- personal relationships. People who are frustrated in the ways suggested above are likely to seek fixes for what is wrong in their lives, in the manner of addicts such as: workaholics, research-alcoholics, perfectionists, manipulators, sexaholics. Their foci of addictive behaviors may be very sophisticated and highly respected, and still be confused, dishonest, and dysfunctional. They are a danger to themselves and to those about them upon whom they may some day vent their anger and frustration. If members of a community do not feel secure in expressing their emotions openly and honestly; they are likely to keep their emotions pent up, until some day they explode in destructive ways when they try to dramatically change conditions around them, because they believe that the source of there problems reside out in the objective world. For these reasons it is important that within the context of colleges and universities where high standards of performance are held in high respect, there be healthy efforts made to create environments within which all members of the community feel secure and safe in being open and honest with each other about their experiences, perceptions, emotions, thoughts, and opinions. Only then can all members of the community be secure. (c) 2005 by Paul A. Smith in (On Being Yourself, Whole and Healthy) ==========================================================