This week’s issue contains special content about immigration and immigration related issues. Also: Club Budgets! MLB Spring Training! BIFF Reviews! Download the issue here!

As the presidential election cycle nears, we can expect to hear calls to secure the borders and deport those who break the law, countered by appeals to secure the rights of people in our communities and put undocumented immigrants on a path to legal status and citizenship.  The debate is riddled with myths.

Myth #1: Liberals support immigration reform and conservatives oppose it.

Not true.  Political scientist Daniel Tichenor offers a classification system of views on immigration held by four constituencies:  cosmopolitans, economic protectionists,  pro-immigration conservatives and border hawks.

“Cosmopolitans,” or pro-immigration liberals, see a problem not with undocumented aliens but with their status as vulnerable second-class citizens.  They want to see the 11 million unauthorized migrants put on a path to legalization and citizenship.

Other liberals, however, “economic protectionists,” believe undocumented immigration benefits corporate and professional Americans at the expense of blue-collar workers and the unemployed.  Protectionists favor employer sanctions and oppose guest worker programs, which exploit workers and take jobs.

Like liberals, conservatives appear on both sides of the issue.  “Pro-immigration conservatives,” who promote free markets and business growth recognize that the U.S. economy is dependent on and benefits from cheap, unskilled, and malleable labor.  They view employer sanctions as unfair to large and small American firms.

Also conservative, “border hawks” see illegal immigration as a challenge to American sovereignty.  Insecure borders, the hawks say, compromise national security, the rule of law, job opportunities for citizens, public education and social services.  “Amnesty,” for border hawks, rewards law-breaking and stimulates new waves of illegal immigrants who then hope for their own amnesty in the future.  This group favors strengthened border security, mass deportations, workplace enforcement and denial of social services and other public benefits.

Myth #2: Undocumented immigrants do not pay taxes.

Not true.  As pointed out by a Harvard University law review article, “every empirical study of illegals’ economic impact… demonstrates that the undocumented contribute more to public coffers in taxes than they cost in social services.”  Undocumented immigrants do use resources, particularly public schools and emergency rooms.  They also pay taxes.  Those who use false social security numbers to get minimum wage jobs in electronics assembly or other industries have federal income tax and social security taxes deducted from their paychecks.  These employees actually pay a higher tax rate than other residents since they are unable to reclaim any overpayment of taxes.  Unlike the wealthiest in our communities, who pay taxes at a much lower rate, these immigrants subsidize citizens and lawful permanent residents who use social security or other federal benefits.  Even those who are paid under the table—let’s say day-laborers or nannies paid in cash—join the rest of us in paying state and local taxes.  They pay taxes when purchasing or renting homes–which pay for schools and other state services–and when purchasing other goods and services.

Myth #3: It’s not about race.

Not true.  U.S. immigration policy through history sought to maintain what race theory scholar David Theo Goldberg calls a “racial state,” one that uses political means–like immigration law–to exclude and include in racially ordered terms and to categorize hierarchically.  There were explicit racial categories built into immigration laws until the middle of the twentieth century, after which Congress and the states began to pass laws with implicit racial consequences.  Highlights include the 1790 Naturalization Act limiting citizenship to “free white people,” the 1870 Act limiting citizenship to whites and blacks, the 1917 Asiatic Barred Zone, an imaginary line drawn through the Pacific Ocean blocking “Asians” from immigrating, quotas in 1924 limiting the number of not-quite-white Eastern and Southern Europeans (Italians, Jews, Poles, and Russians among others) the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act writing racial exclusions into national quotas (Ngai), and “Operation Wetback” in which Immigration and Naturalization Service deported Mexicans as a means of labor control (Lytle Hernandez).        

Recent immigration laws and actions implicitly affect people of color more than other groups.  Two examples are California’s Proposition 187, “Save Our State,” passed in 1994, which prohibited residents from accessing emergency health care and public schools and required medical personnel and school teachers to inform on lawbreakers (Jacobson), and Arizona’s strict 2010 law, SB 1070, soon to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. The law requires all persons to carry identity documents, police to determine the immigration status of any person suspected of being undocumented, and authorities to detain anyone who cannot produce identity documents.  It’s definitely about race.

Myth #4: Helping out at the border is less important than working locally.

Not true.  Any concerned person could be of use to border organizations with networks already in place, such as Borderlinks, Humane Borders or No More Deaths.  This does not preclude local involvement.  Students who wish to get involved in immigrants’ rights issues here in Beloit can tutor or teach at Stateline Literacy, which offers citizenship, GED, math and computer skills classes.  Beloit alumni and students have interned and found permanent employment at local, regional and national organizations offering immigrant services and promoting immigrants’ rights.  Carol Wickersham at the Liberal Arts in Practice Center can help make contacts.

The debate over immigration is contentious and burdened by political rhetoric.  Yet polls conducted in Dec. 2011 by sources as varied as National Journal, Fox News, Pew Research Organization and Spanish-language Univision conclude that at least 66 percent of Americans support balanced solutions to immigration reform and reject radical solutions such as mass deportations.  There is plenty of room for all opinions in this debate, but know your facts before adding your voice to the conversation.

Beatrice McKenzie, Assistant Professor of History at Beloit College, teaches seminars on the history of U.S. immigration and citizenship.  Her book manuscript, “American at Birth: History of U.S. Birthright Citizenship, 1868-2001” is under review for publication.  Prior to studying for the Ph.D., Dr. McKenzie served as a diplomat in the U.S. Foreign Service where, among other duties, she issued visas to intending immigrants and visitors. 

IAN HEDGES, News Editor

This is a profile of an undocumented student who attends Beloit College. This student is one of several undocumented immigrants on campus, and is one of the few who is willing to speak about these issues. It serves as a reminder that  there are challenges and forms of discrimination against a group of students in our community that are uknown. 

Round Table: What motivated your family to come to the U.S.?
Student: It’s quite difficult to get a job in Mexico. Before we came over with my mother, there was no freaking way that she was able to get a job in Mexico to support two kids. No one comes over here as a vacation—when you are crossing over, you are starting a new life. There are better opportunities here. You know that you have a better chance at life than living over there.

RT: What was it like to apply to college?
S: It was difficult. To summarize for you: I was in a scholarship program that guided me through. I had a guidance counselor that told me what would better suit us [colleges that allow undocumented students]. I couldn’t apply to many schools.  You have to apply for so many because even with the schools who allow undocumented students, it is still hard to get in. So in the end, I ended up applying to….ten schools. Sure enough, I got into three. As to filling out the financial aid forms, it was also difficult.There’s no real way to apply for financial aid as an undocumented student. You do have to submit a  College Scholarship Service (CSS) profile, but I had to turn into the International Student CSS profile.

RT: Have you told many people on campus?
S: After a while, I stopped caring. I saw that it didn’t make a difference that people knew here. Back home, I lived in a town that specifically installed a law that allows any type of immigrant to be stopped [on the street]. A lot of people tend to be touchy about identifying themselves outside of academia.

RT: Do you feel like there’s a community of undocumented students?
S: I don’t feel there’s a connection among undocumented students. I feel people are on their own.  There’s interest to start a community, but not enough to start one for those who benefit the most from it.

RT: Have you ever felt any discrimination?
S: Not necessarily. I haven’t heard anything. I hear from people what other people have said.

RT: Are you afraid of the job market after college?
S: Yes and no. I’m kind of winging it at the moment. What’s motivating me to stay in school is self-fulfillment, and not the monetary value of a degree. I feel like I am developing knowledge independently. I enjoy the idea of acquiring more knowledge; it gives me something to live for.

RT: Has there been any moment when you were afraid to be discovered?
S: You learn to accept the fear, at least in my case. There’s a smart way to handle it and a dumb way to handle it—and that’s not cooperating. By cooperating, you don’t do anything stupid that puts you in a more vulnerable position to be deported. If I were to be found out, I would go straight to the media. One of the things I have learned based on observation, if you are put under immigratory probation, one of the first things you do is go to the media because if you have a clean record, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) does not want the bad rap. They don’t want to be the bad guys—sending good people back to their countries.

RT: If there was one thing that you could say about combating stereotypes, what would you say?
S: Not all Mexicans are illegals. Not every brown person is an undocumented immigrant.

RT: Do you one day hope to be a U.S. citizen?
S: I do. There are a lot of benefits that come with it. I’d sure as hell love to be able to do some things I am not able to do. I can’t travel outside of the country. I can’t get a job. I can’t join the armed forces. I can’t participate in many of the programs offered by the school, and I can’t participate in any research programs because they’re all funded by the U.S. government.

RT: Are you upset that you can’t vote?
S: Yeah, and what it comes down to is that I can bring awareness to the candidates about the ideas that interest me. But because I can’t make the mark on that paper, it’s less of an interest to me. I don’t have a voice.

HENRY GREENFIELD, Staff Writer

This primary season, the Republican presidential nominees have been especially critical on current immigration policies, culminating in former presidential hopeful Herman Cain’s call for a deadly twenty-foot high electric fence to be built along the Mexican border.

Now that Cain is out of the race, Rick Santorum is probably the toughest on immigration.  He supports building a wall along the Mexican border although he has also voiced tentative support for a guest worker program.

Ron Paul is also a strong opponent of immigration. Although he criticized deportation in his recently published book “Liberty Defined” and does not support a wall at the border, Paul has argued that the children of immigrants born in the United States should not automatically receive American citizenship. Paul has argued that parents should instead become citizens first for their children to become eligible for citizenship.

During the primaries Newt Gingrich’s rhetoric has probably been the friendliest voice of all the candidates towards immigrants.

“No serious citizen who’s concerned about solving this problem should get trapped into a yes/no answer in which you’re either for totally selling out protecting America or you’re for totally kicking out 20 million people in a heartless way. There are humane, practical steps to solve this problem, if we can get the politicians and the news media to just deal with it honestly,” said Gingrich, speaking on what Romney aides have painted as “amnesty.”

After the debate, Gingrich aide Kiron Skinner stated that using “the a-word was a rhetorical slant made by the Romney campaign.”

Prior to the primaries, Mitt Romney also had a fairly moderate record on immigration. A state health care bill, which he helped pass when he was governor of Massachusetts, provided a safety net whereby illegal immigrants were entitled to health care.  But since the primaries, Romney’s stance on illegal immigration has become harsher.  He has said that if he were elected president he would complete a security wall along the Mexican border, although he has backed off from this kind of rhetoric since the Jan. 31 Florida primary.

As of last year, the Obama administration held the record for detaining and deporting the most immigrants out of any other administration. However, the White House has changed its tune on immigration in what some perceive as a technique to attract Latino voters during an election. Earlier this year, the Obama administration announced that Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) will be adopting a priority system in which illegal immigrants who are otherwise law abiding are left alone. But illegal immigrants who are found to be breaking the law are deported.  Republican lawmakers say this policy is not strict enough and amounts to amnesty.

Additionally, President Obama appointed Andrew Lorenz-Strait on Feb. 7 as the new public advocate in charge of legally representing immigrants and their interests.  Mr. Lorenz-Strait is the first to hold this position and the creation of this position has attracted a lot of criticism.

This action led Republican lawmakers to further criticize the president, accusing him of pandering to Hispanic voters in an election year. Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) said, “President Obama refuses to enforce immigration law, sues the states that do so and now he’s appointed a czar for illegal immigrants. The president is making a conscious decision to evade Congress in order to appease his base.”

Four days before Valentine’s Day 2012, a married gay couple, Tim Smulian and Edwin Blesch, received notice from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that action on Smulian’s deportation would be deferred for a year. Smulian is from South Africa, and Blesch is a U.S. citizen. For several years, they have only been able to see each other for six months at a time because Smulian continually renews a tourist visa. Usually, Smulian would receive a green card after marrying Blesch, except the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) prevents that from happening.

The Defense of Marriage  Act was passed in 1996 and prevents the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages. Gay couples, even married ones, do not receive the same legal benefits as straight couple as a result. One of these benefits is for binational same-sex couples to apply for a green card. According to the Immigration Policy Center, 36,000 binational same-sex couples are affected by DOMA.

This discrepancy has sent the Obama administration’s views over immigration into a limbo. President Obama has called for the repeal of DOMA by Congress and has granted the Department of Justice permission to not defend the law in federal appellate courts. He has pursued this policy because of his continued belief that same-sex couples should have the same legal recognitions as straight couples, minus the title of “marriage.”

Last year, the Obama administration had detained the most  immigrants of any previous administration. It was only in July 2011 that the Justice Department announced that deportation would no longer be focused on law-abiding undocumented residents in a memorandum. But in regards to gay couples, this enforcement has been on a case-by-case basis, and some binational gay couples have been deported.

In April 2011, the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate introduced the Uniting American Families Act, which included provisions to address binational couples.  The bill sought to eliminate discrimination in immigration policy by amending the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 to include partnerships with a lifelong commitment that are eligible for green card applications. The bill has not yet passed and is still awaiting approval from the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.

In a roundtable discussion in Puerto Rico, Obama addressed that he did not think that this issue could be solved through legislation, nor would the legislation be passed in a Republican-led Congress.  President Obama stated, “Once that law is put down [by judges]–and I don’t know what the ruling would be-–addressing these bi-national issues could flow from that decision.”

A Beloit College squirrel enjoys a mug of coffee.

HANA SKOBLOW, Staff Writer

After a brief hiatus, the student-run co-op Coffee on College will return the first weekend after spring break to provide the campus with caffeine, sweets and good company. The coffee co-op is still in its beginning phases and took some time off to reevaluate what is working and what is not.

Coco will be changing its hours from weekdays to exclusively Sundays and special events. The rational is that Sunday evenings are a good time for a cup of joe in a relaxing homework or hangout venue. Special events will vary, but ideas involve student art shows and open mic nights in the Slow Food/French House basement.

Founder Keston Geistwalker’13 says that he and the crew are excited to be up and running again in March. Keep an eye out for updates; your favorite Java Joint alternative will be back soon, better than ever.

Scotty B. makes it rain.

BETH HANSON, News Editor

Last week, clubs were startled to discover that they had not been allocated their requested club budgets for the 2012-2013 academic year. Seventeen clubs were awarded a baseline allocation of just $50 and many others were awarded budgets much lower than requested in the “pre-interview proposed club budget allocations.”

Hugh Berglind’14, BSC treasurer, explained, “The $50 meant we needed to correct a problem with the form.”

Several clubs initially misinterpreted the $50 baseline allocation, intended by the Club Oversight Organization (COO) to represent a guarantee that clubs would not receive less.

Director of Student Activities Jennie Hartzheim said, “There was a breakdown in communication between COO and clubs.”

Last semester, BSC changed the bylaws for the budget process. Instead of budget committee directly setting the budgets, COO now receives budgets and requests an allocation from budget committee. As a result of this change, budgets were due the last week of classes in the fall semester rather than a few weeks after the start of the spring semester.

After the bylaw changes were made late last semester, an all-club meeting was held to train clubs to fill out the forms. Binter said, “We talked about the budget process and how to fill out the form. It was pretty well-attended.”

However, Karin Carlson’12, a WBCR station manager, said, “I went to the budget meeting at the end of last semester, but when I asked about how to fill [the budget form] out for WBCR, they just told me to ‘do the best I can.’”

There were also some issues with the BeloitLink (BLink) system. Carlson’s budget proposal for WBCR did not go through correctly on BLink when she initially turned it in, a problem noted by other clubs. Even when she successfully turned in the proposal, she was not made aware that it was filled out incorrectly until last week.

Since the deadline was so late last semester, COO did not have access to budgets until after the first BSC meeting this semester.

When COO began to review budget proposals, they discovered that many had been filled out incorrectly. Some clubs were confused about the club contribution section (i.e. the amount of money in the club’s budget that the club spends). Other clubs had numbers that did not add up, did not fill out the supplement or did not submit a proposal.

Nicole Weber’15, the chair of COO, said that they awarded clubs what they could give them based on their budget forms. Clubs who filled out the forms incompletely were awarded $50.

“We weren’t intending for that to be the final amount,” Weber said. “We honestly want to give clubs all the money they want [but] we needed to start somewhere. [The $50 placeholder] gave us a way to increase communication.”

This was not clearly communicated to the clubs when they received the chart of club budgets.

“I emailed the head of COO and she gave me an explanation,” Carlson said. “But something before a couple days before the budget meeting would be nice.”

The intent with the new budget form and added COO step was to make the process easier.

“We were hoping to eliminate interviews with [all] the clubs,” Binter said. “That’s why we made the form more comprehensive.”

That intent backfired, as most clubs who proposed budgets needed to be interviewed last week in order to clear up confusion.

“That’s really helped people understand what’s wrong,” Berglind said.

“A lot of clubs honestly made simple mistakes,” Weber said. “Those were easily fixed.”

The new form and extra COO step in the process do not come without kinks.

BSC hopes to fix the problems in the budget process for next year, including changing the deadline to a week earlier so that COO can review proposals before winter break. On the club end, one problem is that clubs frequently change financial access officers.

“A lot of people we interviewed weren’t in charge of the money the previous semester,” Weber said. “We’re trying to encourage all clubs to make their financial access people an academic year position.”

Carlson said she would like to see the budget process become more consistent in the future. “WBCR’s budget has been done three different ways in three years, so it’s frustrating to have to figure out which way [it] is going to work this year,” she said.

Binter also mentioned a plan to task COO with tweaking the budget forms to make them more accessible to clubs. BSC is working to standardize the budget process, added Berglind. They plan to map out a timeline for the budget process for the next few years.

“We will constantly try to improve it to make it easier for people,” Weber said. “On the club end, they need to be more proactive about figuring out how to do things.”

Berglind also said, “Communication is definitely something [that] we’re going to take a long, hard look at when this process is over.”

•   On Feb. 13, the New Jersey State Senate passed a bill legalizing gay marriage. On Feb. 16, Gov. Chris Christie vetoed the bill, following through on his promise to “take swift action” if the bill should pass. Christie emphasized that he thinks it is more important that the decision is made by his voters, not the state’s officials, and is proposing a statewide vote. Some supporters of the bill speculate that Christie vetoed the bill to stay on the GOP’s good side, as he will probably run for president in the future. “He won’t veto the bill because he’s anti-gay,” said Steve Goldstein, chairman of Garden State Equality, New Jersey’s largest gay rights group. “He’ll veto the bill because the 2016 South Carolina presidential primary electorate is anti-gay.”

•   In a stroke of entrepreneurial genius, a student from the University of Michigan created a taxi service for students walking home for a Valentine’s Day hookup. On Feb. 15, Kellyann Wargo launched the Walk of Shame Shuttle to pamper her hungover and lovesick peers. For only five dollars, students can call the service and receive a ride back to campus, free of judgment. But that’s not all! Wargo also offers a complimentary high-five, a bottle of water and a coupon for Plan B. Can we get one of these shuttles at Beloit for the morning after St. Patrick’s Day?

•   At the Heart Attack Grill on Feb. 15, one poor sucker of irony actually suffered a heart attack in the restaurant, eating a meal dubbed the “triple bypass burger.” The Las Vegas chain prides itself in being unhealthy, promising free meals to anyone over 350 pounds, advertising such delights as “flatliner fries” and boasting the tagline, “Taste worth dying for.” If you’re interested in satisfying a morbid sense of humor, many tourist pictures and videos of the event have been posted online by witnessing patrons.

•   Wanna join the Mile High Club? Fly Flamingo Air. The Cincinnati-based airline offers couples a $425 one-hour trip in a private jet to get down and dirty. The package includes champagne, chocolates, a cushioned loveseat, a self-designed flight path and guaranteed privacy. The trip is wildly popular, with up to eight flights in one day. Feel like planning for next year’s Valentine’s? It’s only 300-something days away.

•   Rihanna is working on her new track “Birthday Cake (Remix)” and decided to feature another singer on it. Who could it be?! Chris Brown. I sh*t you not. The man who violently hit and bit her in 2009 while she begged for mercy is now collaborating with her professionally. Never mind that he is one of the most famous domestic abusers of our generation and that he caused injuries that the police called “horrific,” because it seems that his career is far from over. Just look at him now.

Sources: CNN, Huffington Post, Nerve, Jalopnik, CBS, WCPO

You could feel the love in the air at last week’s Beloit Student Congress meeting, falling as it did on Valentine’s Eve.

We hit the ground running at 7:05 p.m. with announcements. BSC secretary Harley Liu announced that he is looking for an assistant; the Beloit Independent Theater Experience (BITE) encouraged everyone—especially males—to sign up for student one act productions. One has to wonder, is the thespian gender split uneven, or is BITE a dating service in disguise?

Club Oversight Organization (COO) came forward to speak on the budget process. COO’s initial budget allocations for next year left many clubs with next to nothing. The allocations were rough estimations, said COO Chair Nicole Weber. The intention was for club leaders to meet with COO and talk through budget proposals. “There’s been some frustration, but we’ll get through this,” said Weber.

Residential Life Committee is finishing up special interest housing reviews and considering expanding gender neutral spaces across campus.

The student forum presented information on new voter IDs and the proper use of BeloitLink (BLink), a new web platform for campus organizations. First year IDs are voter-ready, but if sophomores, juniors and seniors wish to vote in Wisconsin, they must pick up a new ID from Student Activities. The IDs are free of charge. Limit one per person.

Student representatives then presented on BLink. It is important that students understand BLink, as the platform is used to share important information such as club finances and events. Student activities will hold workshops to further educate users. If you’re a good BLink user, you just might win free stuff! Student Activities is hosting the BeloitLink Swag Contest. Desperate clubs with free time and a knack for digital décor are encouraged to jazz up their BLink profiles for the chance to win $100.

Break commenced at 7:47 p.m., and the BSC Executive Board generously, lovingly, shared trays of pink DK’s cookies with the BSC body.

No body wrap or power to speak of, so we forged ahead to business.

Rotaract Club, a Rotary-sponsored service organization, presented a Capital Fund proposal for $234.95 to purchase an official club flag. Apparently, the national Rotary kingpins demand (well, strongly encourage) all club chapters to have an official flag. The fancy felt flag will be proudly brandished at club meetings held in the Center for the Sciences. Rotaract Club has 21 members, and is currently working on service projects that address hunger. The Capital Fund proposal will be voted on at tonight’s BSC meeting.

We finished the night with the election of two BSC representatives to an ad-hoc committee. The committee will re-evaluate the format and structure of BSC. Miranda Cole’13 and Josh Carton’12 were elected.

CAROLYN STRANSKY, Staff Writer

Starting this summer, Beloit College will be offering three-week intensive courses to current students. Each course will run from May 17 to June 6 and will be worth one full unit.

“The Beloit Block program is part of a broader initiative started in Fall 2010 to enhance summer learning opportunities for Beloit College students and showcase Beloit’s distinctive approach to liberal learning to high school students,” Director of Summer Programs Alisa Pykett said.

The block format will allow students to explore a course topic in a way that, according to the website, is often not possible during the regular academic year.

“We give a lot of attention to integrating the curricular and co-curricular on campus and the idea of experiential learning,” Professor of English and Director of the Writing Program Chuck Lewis said. “During the regular semester, there is a space and time dynamic to scheduling courses. During the summer though, that space and time element is eliminated.”

Currently, there are four courses being offered:

Reading, Writing, and Riding a Bike (WRIT 200, ENGL 223, IDST 210):

“It’s a cross-disciplinary reading and writing course that will look at the movement of bicycles in this nation, as well as participating in it… We will take rides every day, usually in the afternoon,” said Lewis. “Since it’s primarily a writing course, students will use the bicycle to explore many different modes of writing, including creative, academic, journalistic, scientific and research.”

Structuring Chaos: Jump Starting Creative Work (TDMS 205):

“Our summer course is a class for artists intrigued with science, philosophy, practice and development of the creative ‘spark.’ We will research, plot, set-up, test and attempt ‘sparks’ all in the same day,” Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts John Kaufmann said. “We’ll also have time to get immediate feedback and jump right back into it. In the evenings we can watch videos of other artists working in inspiring ways.”

Conceiving Evil (PHIL 190):

“This is an interdisciplinary seminar course that looks at a variety of attempts to make sense of evil, starting with The Book of Job and going through recent attempts to respond to twentieth-century evils like the Holocaust,” Professor of Philosophy and Hales Professor of Ethics Phil Shields said. “We will examine literature and philosophy from both theistic and secular contexts with seven or eight visiting faculty to help guide our discussion on specific readings.”

Fair, Green, Organic, and Natural: Social Responsibility and the New Conscious Consumer (POLS 209, IDST 210):

“It’s about topics that many Beloit students really care about—ethical trade, sustainability, organic and nature and the consumer movements that are pushing for this,” Professor and Chair of Political Science Georgia Duerst-Lahti said. “I’m planning at least one overnight field trip and many day trips to particularly good examples of corporations that are greening their operations.”

Although registration fees appear hefty—nearly $3,000 in tuition and just over $800 for a meal plan and housing—many attest that the benefits will outweigh the cost.

“There’s plenty of financial aid, and the intensity and depth of the courses will be worth the money,” Duerst-Lahti said. “Don’t be worried about ‘sticker shock’ as we say. If you’re interested at all, look into it.”

Lewis agreed, “It’s a very special opportunity to do a unit that you won’t be able to do at another time and place.”

For more information on registration and costs, see www.beloit.edu/summerblock. Questions can be directed to Pykett.