Students travel to capital for social work
By SARAH RYKOWSKI
News Writer
Indianapolis isn't really that far away, but to the students and professor traveling from Saint Mary's to speak to legislators and advocates, it might as well have been the moon.
After two earlier trips were cancelled due to bad weather, members of Saint Mary's social work department ventured to the Indiana state capital to speak to Lt. Gov. Joe Kernan and Annette Craycroft, director of the Indiana Commission for women, as well as several other state leaders.
"It was nice to go after building up those expectations three times," Esther O'Connell, a sophomore, said. "The first time we were one-third of the way there and we had to turn around. It was so disappointing both times."
According to O'Connell's professor, Fran Kominkiewicz, who led the group, the first trip was cancelled due to an ice storm and the second trip was called off in the early morning hours of one of the South Bend area's biggest snowstorm of the year. But both spells of bad weather made the actual trip all the better, she said.
"Through the bad weather, we were able to add more speakers," Kominkiewicz said. In addition to speaking with Kernan and Craycroft, students also met with Pat Rios, director of the Hispanic and Latino Commission of Indiana; Joseph Smith, director of the Commission on Community Service and Volunteerism; Rep. Peggy Welch, chair of the Indiana Women's Caucus; and Rep. Vanessa Summers.
"Annette Craycroft got [the other speakers] set up around the lieutenant governor's schedule," Kominkiewicz said. "She worked hard to get all those individuals in one place at the same time."
Incidentally, Kominkiewicz and her students received assistance in scheduling from a Saint Mary's alumna, Megan Murphy, who is Kernan's chief of staff.
"Wherever we go there is an alum to pave the way," Kominkiewicz said. "It always helps."
Kernan also has ties to the South Bend area. Before he became lieutenant governor, he was the mayor of South Bend from 1987 to 1996. According to junior Laura Porto, Kernan told students that he never thought he would end up in government-elected office. According to Porto, Kernan also spoke his visitors about Indiana's tax structure, calling for a reevaluation of the system, which he declared outdated.
"He talked a lot about how he intends to run for governor," Kominkiewicz said. "A lot of their questions had to do with economic and social justice. The budget was also put back to the executive branch, and they have to make some very hard decisions."
Originally, the students were only given 15 to 30 minutes with the lieutenant governor, but when they arrived at his office, he pulled chairs from three different offices, learned all of their names and spoke with them for over an hour.
"I took it as a vote of confidence in Saint Mary's and our ability to turn out leaders," Kominkiewicz said. "He gave us so much knowledge. I felt like the students also gave much back. He was trying to get their opinions of what was happening in their home states to compare to Indiana."
O'Connell thought Kernan was the highlight of their day in Indianapolis. "He is one of the higher-ups in government, and he spoke to us about specific issues," she said. "That was really impressive. He took his lunch hour to meet with us. He took time to explain why money was being taken away from parts of the budget."
According to Kominkiewicz, O'Brien asked Kernan about taxation issues and the Indiana tax structure and Tebbe asked what effect the current economy and legislation has on rural farmers.
"The students modeled great leadership in speaking with the lieutenant governor," Kominkiewicz said.
Rios, Smith and Summers all spoke to the students about intercultural leadership. According to Kominkiewicz, Rios mentioned the presence of a very active Hispanic community in South Bend. As a result, the students plan to invite members of this community to the Community Legislative Forum they will hold on campus April 15.
"Commissioner Rios encouraged the students to become involved in working to improve the educational accessibility of all Hispanic students across the state," Kominkiewicz said.
The students completed a survey after their trip, which they turned in to Kominkiewicz. Based on those results, the students learned about intercultural leadership, state leadership, and intercultural communication.
"Saint Mary's College and the Social Work Program encourages student leadership in our community," Kominkiewicz said. "It is only one of twelve social work programs national selected to participate in the Intergenerational Program Pilot Project, through social work education, which has provided support to the Social Work Program, infusing gerontology throughout the social work curriculum. Students are working with REAL Services in South Bend in conducting policy assessments in the community, and are using the results to plan the Community Legislative Forum."
All News Stories for Tuesday, March 26, 2002
