'Venus Envy' conquers gap

Those who like John Gray’s book "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus" will probably relate perfectly with what Tim Salladay has to say at "Venus Envy," a seminar being held today at the University Student Union.

Salladay is an expert in training and consulting between genders. He will speak to men and women alike in hopes of bridging the gender gap in some way. The bulk of his speech will concentrate on presenting different ways that men and women can communicate with each other, especially when they are "stressed out."

"Men tend to withdraw to caves when they are stressed out, whereas women tend to want to rationalize and talk," said Gray in his book.

This book, for those unfamiliar with it, describes men and women as coming from different planets -- men are Martians, women are Venutians. It rationalizes the difficulties in cross-gender communication by pointing out that the difficulty is quite possibly a language barrier of sorts and that the lack of a bridge in gender communication is not solely on the shoulders of either sex.

"Salladay will take off from this aspect of the so-called gender gap without reiterating the book," said Debbie Hoy, advisor of Cal State Long Beach’s Beach Student Ministries, sponsor of the event.

This is Salladay’s third appearance at CSULB. He is best remembered by students for his seminar regarding building self-esteem and his 1994 seminar on creating trust in relationships.

Salladay will speak for approximately an hour and will take questions at the end of each session.

"He will gear his lessons to both men and women," said Hoy.

"Venus Envy" will begin today in the President’s Room of the Union at 11 a.m. and will repeat at 12:30 and 2 p.m. There is no cost for the seminar. Those interested should call (310) 865-8749 for more information.