11/01/2008
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Contributed photofrom the Kennebec Journal
Sport of Kings
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All of today's:
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from the Kennebec Journal
from the Morning Sentinel
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New system for Medicaid payments worries providers
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Parks to have facelift
GOLFER OF THE YEAR: Sweet does job for Madison
YOUTH SOCCER: Local team gives 'care package' to children in Afghanistan
All of today's:
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from the Morning Sentinel
UNITY -- When it came to politics, Heidi Kowalski considered herself "kind of jaded" and not very knowledgeable about policies.
Not anymore -- especially concerning environmental conservation.
Kowalski, 29, has spent more than two months diving into the proposals and records of presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama, compiling mountains of information. Then, she and her classmates distilled the research onto posters, which were displayed for the campus this week.
"I was really proud it came out like it did," Kowalski said. "I do feel more informed, especially on these issues and that's a very important thing for me, being at an environmental college."
The project is part of a top-level natural resource policy class taught by associate professor Nancy Ross. Ross, who has taught at the college for eight years, says she saw an opportunity this semester with the presidential election: "To carry out natural resource policy research that will make a difference."
"I am so proud of my students," Ross said. "I wanted to get it more close to home."
The posters, plastered in a hallway in the student activities center on campus, include bullet points of the candidates' policy positions, voting records, and a question the students would ask of each candidate. There are five posters -- one per a specific topic -- plus a sixth that lists citations and sources.
Collecting the information wasn't as simple as logging onto the candidates' Web sites, Ross said.
They also had to find reputable, independent sources to verify policy positions, voting records and public statements, while examining the background and significance of votes and positions and the roles of donors and interest groups. Classmates would also challenge and debate each other's research and findings, Ross said.
"They really had to analyze the sources they used, their biases," Ross said. "They looked at congressional voting histories, press records."
Students divided into five groups, of two to three people, to examine five areas of energy policy: nuclear power, alternative energy sources, expanded drilling for oil, climate change with a focus on reducing fossil fuel use, and energy conservation.
"The deeper they went, the more inconsistencies that they found. They had better appreciation of the political process," Ross said.
As the general election on Tuesday draws near, crowds of Unity College students have clustered around the posters, Ross said.
"I don't think (the posters) changed anybody's vote, but I did hear one of the students say to his buddy, 'You're going to vote, aren't you?'" Ross said. "I think it did inspire some people to at least chastise a friend to go out and vote."
Scott Monroe -- 487-3288, 861-9253
smonroe@centralmaine.com
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