Spring Break
Migrant workers focus of capstone presentations
Seniors hope to address public, social needs, dispel misinformation
Cassandra Golburg
Issue date: 12/10/07 Section: Campus News
Migration issues will be the focus of a student symposium today in Phillips Hall.
"Mexico, Migration and Wisconsin" will feature student presentations - in both English and Spanish - based on the research that capstone students have done on migrant workers in the area, geography professor Paul Kaldjian said.
UW-Eau Claire's geography and foreign language departments will sponsor the event.
"My goal towards research is to work toward addressing public and social needs," Kaldjian said adding part of that is addressing region, local and national needs. We are providing meaningful and accurate information and dispelling misinformation."
Senior Jess Mills, who is currently in the capstone course, agreed.
"I believe the community isn't as informed on Mexican migrant workers," she said. "My hope is they get informed on the real reason they are here. They have a family behind it. We want to humanize it more."
The students began research in Wisconsin, interviewing migrant workers and their employers around the state, Kaldjian said. He added they also interviewed employers, and other people who have been affected such as public health officials, teachers and business owners.
In order to get a wider perspective on the issue, the students traveled to Veracruz, Mexico to interview families and the community in places migrants come from.
"What was wonderful for the students, and for all of us, was that they don't get tourists, there aren't any hotels. We lived in homes built by migrant workers," Kaldjian said. "We benefited from the hard work of migrants."
Mills said living with the families gave the students a more complete picture of migration.
"Some of the people we met in Wisconsin, we stayed with their families," she said. "That's how we got both sides of the story."
The symposium begins at 3 p.m. Presentations can be heard in Spanish in Phillips 119, while an English version can be heard in Phillips 104.
Along with student presentations, the event will feature guest speaker Nathan Wolf Lustbader, a Mexican consul in St. Paul. The film "El Contrato" will be shown in Davies Theatre at the end of the evening. The film centers around a migrant worker who travels from Mexico to Ontario every year to work under poor conditions for little pay.
Senior Rachel Meneghini, who is doing her presentation on the social impacts of Mexican families once they arrive in Wisconsin, said the research has changed her perception on migration.
"I'd say I've learned more of the human aspect on migration," she said. "Men are coming here for the love of their children and their wives. There really is a strong desire to go back to Mexico; that kind of surprised me in my thinking.
"It's not about legal status," she said. "It's about people trying to make a living and put food on the table."
"Mexico, Migration and Wisconsin" will feature student presentations - in both English and Spanish - based on the research that capstone students have done on migrant workers in the area, geography professor Paul Kaldjian said.
UW-Eau Claire's geography and foreign language departments will sponsor the event.
"My goal towards research is to work toward addressing public and social needs," Kaldjian said adding part of that is addressing region, local and national needs. We are providing meaningful and accurate information and dispelling misinformation."
Senior Jess Mills, who is currently in the capstone course, agreed.
"I believe the community isn't as informed on Mexican migrant workers," she said. "My hope is they get informed on the real reason they are here. They have a family behind it. We want to humanize it more."
The students began research in Wisconsin, interviewing migrant workers and their employers around the state, Kaldjian said. He added they also interviewed employers, and other people who have been affected such as public health officials, teachers and business owners.
In order to get a wider perspective on the issue, the students traveled to Veracruz, Mexico to interview families and the community in places migrants come from.
"What was wonderful for the students, and for all of us, was that they don't get tourists, there aren't any hotels. We lived in homes built by migrant workers," Kaldjian said. "We benefited from the hard work of migrants."
Mills said living with the families gave the students a more complete picture of migration.
"Some of the people we met in Wisconsin, we stayed with their families," she said. "That's how we got both sides of the story."
The symposium begins at 3 p.m. Presentations can be heard in Spanish in Phillips 119, while an English version can be heard in Phillips 104.
Along with student presentations, the event will feature guest speaker Nathan Wolf Lustbader, a Mexican consul in St. Paul. The film "El Contrato" will be shown in Davies Theatre at the end of the evening. The film centers around a migrant worker who travels from Mexico to Ontario every year to work under poor conditions for little pay.
Senior Rachel Meneghini, who is doing her presentation on the social impacts of Mexican families once they arrive in Wisconsin, said the research has changed her perception on migration.
"I'd say I've learned more of the human aspect on migration," she said. "Men are coming here for the love of their children and their wives. There really is a strong desire to go back to Mexico; that kind of surprised me in my thinking.
"It's not about legal status," she said. "It's about people trying to make a living and put food on the table."
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