Arrivals

Over the past weekend, a bit over 2000 students arrived on campus along with a major hurricane. If you have been following in the national press, you would be forgiven for thinking the entire state of Vermont was now underwater. In reality, the state suffered severe flooding with extensive damage to property and public infrastructure in many locations, especially in the southern part of the state or along the east side of the mountains. Three to eleven inches of rain in a single day will do that. The nearby Winooski River crested several feet higher than previous records, surpassing last spring’s flooding or the legendary November floods of 1927. In contrast, Saint Michael’s College remained high and dry, and classes opened right on schedule.

A special welcome was given to the new Class of 2015, all 587 first year students. They came from 25 states and nine countries. Vermonters constitute 17% of the class, but 83% come from away. About 27% come from pretty far away, at least from outside of New England. Since many first year students arrive with no declared major, and many more typically change their majors after they have been here a while, it is hard to say how many students will be joining the Political Science Department. We can say that the top three majors are business, biology and psychology, but political science has always held its own among the more popular programs.

Combining all classes, first year through senior, the Political Science Department boasts 97 majors and 15 minors, but these numbers frequently change. Treat them as approximations. Of course many more students will take political science courses to satisfy liberal studies requirements, or just as electives. Seven political science students are studying abroad this semester, as is one member of the Political Science Department—Professor Siplon is in Jordan on a Fulbright Grant.

So the semester is off to a good start, with only some bumps in the road. Or in whatever roads are still open. Implementing a new curriculum is always a challenge (see the very first post on this blog) but all will be well enough, if only we could all remember the new course schedule.

As for the state of Vermont, there is a lot of rebuilding to do—roads, bridges and buildings need to be replaced. In time all that is gone or damaged will be replaced and great floods of Hurricane Irene will pass into local legend.

Randoms Thoughts from India

A story about America's startling and growing inequality on the PBS Newshour some ten days ago had the reporter showing people in the street a series of pie charts representing the percentage of a country's wealth owned by the richest and the poorest people. The first represented perfect equality, the second showed the top 20% owning 36% of national wealth, and the bottom 20% 11%. The third showed the top 20 with 84%, the bottom 40 with 0.3.% The reporter was asking them which countries they thought these represented.
The first gentleman to answer said the perfectly equal society was the U.S. Most said the U.S. was the country with middling inequality, with top 20% owning 36% and bottom 20 owning 11. Turns out this profile belongs to one among the most "egalitarian" socities in the rich world -- Sweden. The one set of people who guessed, correctly, that the U.S. was the third country, with 84% wealth for the top fifth and 0.3% for the bottom 40%,consisted of, coincidentally perhaps, one black and one Hispanic individual.
But this is all by the way. What caught my attention was a man's observation about the country in the third chart. He said, "Oh, that is some Third World country, like India." Now I have not lived in India for ten years now and things have changed a bit since then, so I decided to check things out. The first thing to note: the Bible of economic data in India, The Economic Survey of India, did not see fit to list the income distribution, while addressing all sorts of "equity" initiatives by the govenrment in a country where the national health budget is 3% of GDP to over 18% for defense. So I am sad to say that despite some diligence, I was unable to procure income distribution data for the country. I did glean however that 35 Indian FAMILIES were worth a total of about $200 bn in 2008, representing more than 1/7th of the national wealth in an economy that was $1.38 trillion in 2009.
More anecdotally but more enlighteningly, I think, found myself paying between 5 and 10 U.S. DOLLARS in local currency, the rupee, for an ice cream sundae. Needless to say, I would not pay that sum in the street here, but since I was treating family, I did not demur. At the airport, a tomato-cheese or ham 'n' cheese sandwich made with soggy whitebread can set you back by the same sums. For a perfectly disgusting and basic lunch in an uptown Delhi shopping district, I paid $15: most of my lunches in downtown Burlington do not exceed $10-12. For perspective, The Economic Times, Asia's largest financial daily for which I worked in a previous incarnation, was delighted to report that some time between 2010 and 2011, the per capita income of Indians would pass $1,000 a year. Such are the joys of this newfound prosperity that the Indian earning average income can expect to eat between 100-200 ice cream sundaes a year if she does nothing else with her income.
How do businesses get away with such obscene pricing of FOOD which for most people is not an optional expenditure? Easy, as we know now in America. With more than $150 million people in the Indian middle class who not only do not mind paying these sums, but can self-identify as "privileged" for the princely sum of $15 even if they can't afford that Lexus just yet, why should they care?

Politics "in the Fields"

By Mike Bosia

With a larger than expected enrollment in my food politics course, taught for the first time in both political science and environmental studies for Spring 2011, one of the challenges was managing the field trip to a relocalizing food system around Hardwick in the Northeast Kingdom. This is primarily because, in northern Vermont, spring and planting come late. Some farms can start during the post winter "mud season" if they have greenhouses. But snow can stay on the ground well into April. As well, more than 30 students enrolled in the class this year, which meant we had to have two trips so that we wouldn't overwhelm any of the facilities we would be visiting, and to give students ample time at each site.

The photo essay below combines images from the first trip in April and the second, as the semester closed in early May.

The farms and business in and around Hardwick offer a unique learning experience. They have hosted tours for academics and community leaders from across the US and around the world, and received national media attention, including Dan Rather Reports and Emeril Legasse's Planet Green series. Local author Ben Hewitt wrote "The Town that Food Saved" about the relocalization of production and markets in the Hardwick area. The area is most noted for the network of mutually supportive farm related businesses that build on the practices of the past, including the generations of dairy farming families and the "back to the land" generation of organic farmers who arrived in the area in the 1970s.

Charlie Emers of Patchwork Farm demonstrates the art of heating an oven for baking bread.

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At Pete's Greens in Craftsbury, students joined proprietor Pete Johnson (pointing on left) for a tour of the the greenhouses heated with discarded cooking oil, and visited the fields in May with Tim Fishburne.

Andrew Meyer (below right) introduces students to Vermont Natural Coatings in Hardwick, which makes wood finishes from whey, a milk byproduct in the process of making cheese.

Neil Urie at Bonnieview Farm (second image below on the right with his daughter) introduced students to the newborn lambs. The April field trip was at the peak of lambing on the farm, which produces sheep's milk cheese.

In addition to the newborns, students learned about the milking and cheese making facilities at the farm.

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Sterling College is a small program in Craftsbury Common, combining the benefits of a 4 year college with an onsite working farm. Above, students visit the barn, and below, on the right, Tim Patterson gives us a tour of the farm, on a picturesque hilltop.

At the Highfields Center compost site, students talked with Tom Gilbert (second from right in the second image) about the importance of compost and soil for a sustainable local food system.

We stopped for lunch at Claire's Restaurant - on Main Street in Hardwick - which spends 79% of every dollar for the kitchen on farms within 15 miles, every month of the year. As a partner in the business, I convinced them to open early for both field trips, though General Manager Veronica Medwid made us take off our boots after the visit to Highfields Institute.

Elena Gustavson, program director and outreach coordinator at the Center for an Agricultural Economy, explains their role in the emerging food system.

Chef Steven Obranovich, a partner at Claire's, prepares dessert for the students, using only local products.

Nancy and Helm Nottermann, with their son Ben, operate Snug Valley Farm, where they raise male Holsteins - born on dairy farms - as beef cattle. Before feeding the calves, students had to cover their shoes with plastic to make sure they didn't bring any disease into the stalls.

In addition to beef, Snug Valley grown pumpkins and raises pigs.

On the right, Helm Nottermann - who calls himself the "Boucherie Frozenne" - explains how his mobile retail unit with refrigeration powered by solar panels.

Another Academic Year Completed

Monday, May 16^th, was a fabulous day for approximately a quarter of our students—the 435 seniors and 95 graduate students who received their diplomas. This was the 104^th graduation ceremony at Saint Michael’s College. Local press coverage and photographs here:

Thirty-five of these happy graduates were political science majors; another 11 completed a political science minor. Many more took one to a few political science courses, evidenced by our enrollment figures. Several of our courses fulfill Liberal Studies requirements while others are popular electives.

Although the crop of graduates are facing a tough job market several of my students indicated they already had employment lined up. I tell my seniors that their first job will only be their first job—a chance to acquire skills and build a resume. They should take their first job seriously, of course, but the also need to understand it is not the rest of their lives. In today’s market, they should expect to change jobs frequently, especially at the beginning of their careers.

Also, every job has some degree of routine, repetitive, boring drudgery. That is why employers pay us to do them. If they were all fun and glamour, we’d be paying them. I consider myself privileged to have one of the most stimulating jobs around. Not only is political science inherently interesting, but I truly enjoy interacting with the intelligent and idealistic students who populate my classes. The only down-side is grading exams and papers. It is not in any way the students’ fault that grading requires hours piled upon hours of what can only be called mind-numbing drudgery. That is just the way grading is and there is nothing that can be done about it except for me to grunt my way through it. So the happiest day for me is when I can at long last turn in my final grades. I miss my classes already, but let the summer begin!

Teaching in the Tenderloin

Today we hear from another former political science major, Caroline Fischer, class of 2010. Caroline is volunteering with AmeriCorpts, in San Francisco. Here is her note:

“I think it’s in your best interest to press charges, Ms. Fischer. The only thing that may happen is that he will get the help he deserves.”

It wasn’t the first thing I was expecting to deal with on my Monday morning, but it was the Tenderloin, and it wasn’t the first time a man high on crack gave me a hard time. It was, however, the first time a man attempted to punch me while walking my students back from PE.

It has been exactly nine months that I have been working for AmeriCorps as a 5^th grade social studies teacher and TA in San Francisco. The story I mentioned above, is just one of the many incidents I have faced on a day to day basis as a volunteer.

My name is Caroline Fischer and I am a recent graduate from Saint Michael’s College. While attending SMC, I explored a wide-variety of extracurricular activities to satisfy my social palette.

Hailing from New Haven, CT, I was looking for a way to make my freshman year a little less challenging on the friendship-front. Joining the woman’s lacrosse team was one way in which I expanded my athletic and multi-tasking abilities. Being part of a team helped ease the challenges of “starting over.”

Over the next four years at SMC, I desired something more than just a physical obstacle to overcome and I decided to throw myself into my true passion: social justice and politics.

Being a Political Science major at SMC might have just been one of the most enriching aspects of my college career. Living just a few blocks away from Burlington, VT; a place where college students and social movements align, I felt as though I was in the perfect place for cultivating a rich sense of social responsibility and putting it into action.

During my time at SMC, I became involved in the Obama Campaign, studied in Salamanca, Spain, mentored a girl from Somalia and interned for the Department of Children and Families. These wonderful opportunities were all brought to me through Saint Michael’s College.

It’s pretty incredible to look back at my experience in college and realize that much of what I did was encouraged by my professors. That’s what makes SMC so different from other schools, because apart from being an intellectually stimulating environment, we are also a place that promotes justice and social awareness.

After graduating from SMC, I had made the decision to do a year of service. I spent most of the spring applying to the Jesuit Volunteer Corp, and when I was finally offered a position, I decided it wasn’t exactly the right fit. I did, however, find the right fit in June 2010, when I joined the Vincentian Service Corps, a volunteer program supported by AmeriCorps, located in San Francisco, CA.

In mid-July, I stuffed all of my unkempt belongings (while listening to Scott McKenzie’s “If youre going to San Francisco,” of course) into several bags and came out west. I moved into a relatively spacious apartment with four other women—all living in an intentional community and living in solidarity with the poor. I was told that I would be working at an elementary school in the heart of the Tenderloin. At first, my best guess was that this area had some of the finest meat in the neighborhood. I would soon learn, however, that this area wasn’t known for its fine meat, but rather its poverty, highly potent crack and conspicuously present prostitution.

Over the past nine months I have worn many different hats on the job. I’ve done everything from curriculum mapping to giving parenting advice. I have had to file a report against a man who attempted to assault me outside of the school because he was high on crack. I’ve become the school watchdog—asking people to take their syringes elsewhere so I can walk my students to PE.

I have found that the experience and knowledge I have gained isn’t typically something one might have acquired in your average “entry level job.” Indeed, I have faced many troubling realities, such as our rigid economic disparities and our plunging literacy rates. However, with all the frustration comes a great deal of appreciation for education. Most importantly, my desire to have a hand in the future’s education. If I can look back on this experience and remember just one thing, it will be that my future did start here: at De Marillac Academy, located in the Tenderloin of San Francisco—a place that Captain Joe Garrity (on the Tenderloin Community Advisory Board) describes as a “complex, yet beautiful community…full of saints and sinners.”

Earning a personal stipend of $125 a month has presented its challenges, however, it has paved the way for a rewarding career path that I might not have ever found. It’s my hope that I can encourage other seniors to follow a similar path. To take on a year of service that might not be the most financially lucrative route, but one that will certainly provide a lifetime of lessons in the “real world.”

Guest Blogger: Mary Skahan '09

I have mentioned before—several times actually—that I love hearing from former students. I never cease to be fascinated by the choices they make as they pursue life after college. Today, we feature a guest post from Mary Skahan, Class of 2009. Mary has been on a voyage of self-discovery and has made a definite decision for her next chapter.

I graduated from Saint Michael’s in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science. The education I received at Saint Michael’s gave me both the confidence and intellect to explore my career options while traveling around the world. I did not follow the conventional post-graduation plan as many of my peers immediately did engaging in 9 to 5 jobs, Americorp positions, graduate programs and so on.

Since graduation, I have spent the last two years of my life traveling both domestically and internationally, overcoming cultural boundaries and engaging in different societies. I have walked the streets of some of the poorest, most desolate communities there are, as well as flourished in the vibrant city of San Francisco where I resided for nine months. While I was always searching for “real” job opportunities, I found that the real life experience I gained from traveling to 17 different countries and living in a large metropolitan city was much more rewarding allowing me to find my passion and formulate my next step post-college.

The most beautiful driving force in life is finding one’s purpose, instigating change and transforming the lives of others. During the tough economic times, I did find it relatively hard to find purposeful work, so I paid the bills by working not-so glamorous jobs while engaging in volunteer activities everywhere I went. I learned the most through these volunteer opportunities both domestically and abroad. From recreating a Thanksgiving meal in Bulgaria in November to assisting in trail reparations in the Golden Gate Park, I recognized my passion to serve others. It was this realization that has guided me to pursue a Master in Public Policy and Management from the Muskie School of Public Service in Portland, Maine. I will focus my studies on the organizational management of non-profits with the dream of one day starting my own.

The education I received from the Political Science Department at Saint Michael’s taught me to analyze contemporary issues in our society today and their direct effect on the world we live in. It opened my eyes to the ongoing need for people looking to effectively and sustainably better the world. For me, Saint Michael’s stands as the building block that instigated my desire to be a positive influence in society.

Food for Thought

Democracy Matters & the Office of Sustainability host a panel discussion on local food movements this Tuesday at 7 pm in the Farrel Room at Saint Michael's College. The four panelists are Megan Luce from Democracy Matters, Political Science Professors Mike Bosia and Jeff Ayres, who are collaborating on research about local food movements, and Ben Hewitt, author of The Town that Food Saved, about one Vermont community's effort to promote rural development. This event is part of a week of actions to Fight the Corporate Takeover hosted by Democracy Matters. FREE AMERICAN FLATBREAD PIZZA will be available.