This was another very fast and very busy year. It started off with a bang when we learned that Tom Inglot was awarded an American Council of Learned Societies Postdoctoral Fellowship effective fall semester of this academic year. The award allowed Dr. Inglot to continue his research into the historical legacies and institutions emerging in the modern welfare states of Eastern Europe. The department worked hard to cover Dr. Inglot's courses with good adjunct professors.
Another good surprise was the visit of His Excellency Knut Vollebaek, Ambassador of Norway to the United States. Ambassador Vollebaek was the speaker at a special department seminar for faculty, graduate students and invited Mankato citizens. The topics covered were the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union. The Ambassador was impressed by the quality of the questions and the informed comments of the seminar participants and all of the participants were impressed by the Ambassador's breadth of knowledge and his ability to answer questions in clear, detailed language.
Another special department seminar presentation was by Stephen B. Young, Global Executive Director of The Caux Roundtable. The seminar centered on the subject of Moral Capitalism: Reconciling the Private Interest with the Public Good. Participants came to the seminar from many departments of the university and from the community at large. The questions and comments centered on the application of capitalism in the poorer countries of the world and whether there might be other economic models to help lift those countries out of the miasma of poverty.
In April of this year, the department (the law enforcement program) learned that it had been awarded a $15,000.00 grant from the MSU Distance Learning Initiative for the purpose of establishing an on-line certificate program in Law Enforcement Administration. The program will target current police officers holding the associate of arts or science degree who are searching for additional skills in the field of police administration. Jeff Bumgarner will be administering the grant along with the help of Colleen Clarke and David Karwoski.
Bill Lewinski continues to engage the law enforcement community with innovative ideas and challenges. This year, along with Bill Hudson, Dr. Lewinski created the Center for the Study of Performance in Extreme Encounters. This Center is a non-profit, university-based operation for the purpose of conducting ground-breaking research that brings scientific insight to the training and judgment of police officers in highly stressful, lethal force encounters. Dr. Lewinski spends a good deal of his time consulting with police departments and in giving expert witness testimony in trials involving police officers experiencing lethal force encounters.
One other example, although many others could be listed, of the superior work being performed by department faculty is the reception of a $150,000.00 grant from the United States Department of Justice to develop a training CD for the law enforcement community. The grant was awarded to Tami Wilkins and her colleague in the Department of Social Work, Nancy Fitzsimons. The title of the project is "Law Enforcement Training to Stop Abuse and Sexual Assault Against People with Disabilities."
We are privileged to welcome into our department, for the academic year 2004-2005, two new faculty members. Dr. Scott Granberg-Rademacker will be teaching in the fields of public administration and American government. His doctorate is in political science and he has been teaching for the last few years at the University of Southern Indiana. Dr. Eiji Kawabata will be teaching in the fields of international relations, comparative government and political economy. His doctorate is in political science and he has been teaching for the last few years at the University of Oklahoma. We all are looking forward to working with these professionals.
Our students continue to distinguish themselves. Pre-law students performed well on the Law School Admissions Test with a number being admitted to top twenty law schools. Many of our students have won scholarships and other awards for outstanding academic work. Ninety-five percent of our law enforcement students passed the Post Officers Training and Standards Board licensure examination. Many students attended national professional association annual meetings and in some cases presented research papers, and otherwise participated fully in the proceedings. The four department student clubs continued their many activities with most performing varieties of community service.
Finally, Dr. Carolyn Shrewsbury retired at the end of this academic year. Dr. Shrewsbury has made an enormous contribution to the department, university, and to the larger community. Her wise counsel and professional judgment will be sorely missed. We all wish her the very best as she moves into other areas of professional interest. Dr. John Parham left the university after completing the fall semester of this year. His years of service to the department and the community will be felt for many years to come.
As always, we wish our former students and colleagues success and happiness.
Dear Friends of Political Science and Law Enforcement:
Greetings to each of you from the Dean of Social and Behavioral Sciences. It is always a pleasure to insert a note in the department newsletter. I want to thank you for your continuing support of the Department of Political Science and Law Enforcement. This is a great department.
As a college we have had a wonderful year, and the department definitely contributed to our success. Our focus has been on continuing improvements in our effectiveness and in the quality of the programs that we provide for our students. Across the college we have been making changes to strengthen programs in response to feedback from students, alumni, employers, and program reviewers. As a result of their program review, this department made some curricular changes and added a faculty member in International Relations. We have spent a great deal of time this year in discussion of diversity issues and ways of making the university more welcoming of diversity. Faculty members in this department have contributed a great deal to those discussions. Several departments, including this one, have moved forward in developing on-line programs, and overall the college has increased the use of technology by students and by faculty in support of teaching and learning. We launched an initiative in “Convenient Education” to increase contract training, Friday/Saturday classes, and other workshops; this department has proposed several contributions. Members of the college, including some in this department, dramatically increased the number of external grants funded in support of teaching and research, and we had a successful year serving the region through faculty-student research supported by the Center for Applied Social Science. Finally, we have begun looking at ways to increase interdisciplinary studies opportunities for our students. In this regard, Philosophy, Political Science and Economics have started a new interdisciplinary program that crosses their three fields.
It has been a successful year in the college and in the department. We hope you are as proud of this success as we are. Best wishes for a wonderful summer.
Sincerely,
Susan Coultrap-McQuin
This year I have enjoyed working with my colleagues on a variety of projects. From guest speakers to special seminars to recreating the department web pages to redrafting the requirements for the internship program to special initiatives to set up new on-line programs - my experience working with department members has been great.
I have especially enjoyed working with a variety of graduate students on theses and alternate plan papers. This year we have a large class of graduate students who are graduating this spring and next December. The research projects have been interesting, although some have been controversial. There is never a dull moment in going back-and-forth as these papers and theses are improved and finally become finished products.
My experience this year in working with pre-law students has been equally interesting. Some of our students scored in the high 90th percentile on the Law School Admission Test and were admitted to top twenty law schools. Some were awarded scholarships to law schools with astronomical dollars attached to the awards. The Pre-Law Society continued to have interesting meetings with practicing attorneys, judges and admissions officers from law schools.
This year I was able to scratch out one short article that was published in Minnesota Journal. The title is, Not so nice: what you don't want to know about Lake Wobegon. The article was co-authored with Steve Young, who is the Global Executive Director of the Caux Roundtable.
I do hope all is well with my former colleagues and students.
I have now completed 25 years teaching here at MSU. As much as when I started, I enjoy the challenge of teaching and trying to find better ways to help students learn. As always, I taught U.S. Government each semester. But this year, I moved into one of the two new lecture halls in Morris Hall. These auditoriums seat 88 students and have state-of-the-art audio visual equipment. I don't mind lecturing to such a large group, but it is harder to get to know students and I have had to stop using essay tests.
I enjoyed teaching Early U.S. Political Thought in the fall. The students in the class participated very well in discussions. In Legislative Process this spring, we are again doing a mock Congress simulation. Our issue is "Should the U.S. Constitution be amended to prohibit gay marriage?" We have some excellent speakers at our mock committee hearing. I continue to teach the courses for Social Studies majors, Democracy & Citizenship with the in-service Public Achievement program at Dakota Meadows Middle School.
During spring semester I taught a course on the politics of ancient Rome and led a tour to Rome and Pompeii over spring break. This is the third year I have done one of these "study-tours" to Italy with Dr. Suzanne Bunkers of the English department. We had a wonderful time with 28 great students and two other professors. I stayed a few days extra in Italy to check out some possibilities for next year. I will be on sabbatical from January to June. I am hoping to teach at a university in Italy and study Italian for a few months.
I have been following the 2004 elections closely and look forward to teaching Campaigns and Elections next fall. Outside the classroom, I have been involved with the International Programs Advisory Board and the Civic Engagement Task Force. I chaired the department's search committee which hired Dr. Scott Granberg-Radamaker to fill the vacancy created by Dr. Carolyn Shrewsbury's retirement.
In my leisure time, I sing with the Mankato Riverblenders Barbershop chorus and at church. I had a very productive vegetable garden last year and am looking forward to planting in a few weeks. I went camping in Maine last summer and made several trips to my hometown, St. Louis Missouri. My bicycle is nicely tuned up for the spring and I have been bicycling regularly to MSU for a few weeks. I very much enjoy hearing from former students and am very interested in how they are doing. Best wishes to everyone.
This year all of us on the international relations side of the department have been deeply engaged in discussions and debates on the Iraqi war. As our country remains deeply involved in shaping the future of the Middle East, sadly, casualties on both sides continue to increase by the day. Now, more than ever before, our citizens need to know the outside world much better and be able to express their position on American foreign policy more clearly and decisively. I also believe our students should be offered more opportunities to learn about the past and present of American engagement in the world. Therefore, last fall I decided to offer my U.S. Foreign Policy class every semester for a time being, at least as long as the war in Iraq continues to rage on. This course is especially important in an election year when foreign policy is the number one issue of the presidential campaign.
I just completed a busy and very engaging semester. After my return to campus in January, I taught not only U.S. Foreign Policy, which again was a very lively and exciting class, but also a Global Issues course, European politics, and a graduate seminar in Comparative Politics. In the meantime, I chaired the International Relations/Comparative Politics Search Committee to select a new faculty member to teach international political economy and Asian politics. I am happy to announce that Dr. Eiji Kawabata (Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh 1996) will be joining us in the fall. His teaching and research interests include international trade policy, comparative bureaucracy and Japanese politics. He is going to contribute to our political science and international relations by teaching not only an urgently needed course in international political economy of developed nations, but also a variety of courses on East and South East Asian politics, as well as graduate courses in his area of expertise. We are all looking forward to another exciting and rewarding year with four full time faculty now able to teach classes in the politics of all major areas of the world.
As I mentioned already in my previous newsletter entry, the grant from the American Council of Learned Societies enabled me to get an extended leave of absence in the fall semester. This turned out to be a very productive time for me. I completed three chapters of my book on Central and Eastern European welfare states and I already sent them out to my publisher, Cambridge University Press. I also drafted three more chapters of the book that I plan to finish this summer. In the meantime, I also published a couple of book reviews for Canadian-American Slavic Studies and served on the grant selection committee for Research Scholar Programs at the American Councils for International Education (Washington DC). I have also begun to plan the next stage of my work in the area of social policy and European studies—putting together an international conference on welfare states/social safety nets in the former communist countries.
In between all these engagements, however, I still managed to carve out some time for fun. Last summer, I spent lovely time with my dad and my sister in Arizona and California. Last June, they both came from Poland for a month-long vacation with us. My sister was especially excited – this was her first time in the United States and she absolutely loved it here! A couple of month ago I also celebrated with my wife, Joanna (who is an art historian at the College of St.Catherine in St. Paul) the publishing of her new book on the figurative sculpture of the internationally renowned Polish artist, Magdalena Abakanowicz (the artist is exhibited in major sculpture parks and gardens around the world – including the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis). We spent a week in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to celebrate Joanna’s achievement and years of hard work on the book.
I would like to finish with my warm greetings to all our alumni and friends. Please pass on the word that our international relations and political science programs and offerings are getting stronger and more diverse. Also, I have a special request to all former IR majors – let us know how you are doing and share with us all the good news….we would love to hear from you!
It has been an amazing year. I spent last summer doing research with Tempe, Arizona, Police Department conducting experiments on reaction times. I combined resources with Dr. Bill Hudson from the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. He and two of his graduate students built some equipment that allowed me to test officers using a variety of test situations and then measure reaction time to thousands of a second. Tempe was a great department and was very helpful, especially one of our graduates, Commander John Dorsey. The training staff was amazingly professional and competent – especially their lead firearms instructor Sergeant Craig Stapp. The research results are really impressive.
The research was published in articles in the Police Marksman and has been accepted at national criminal justice conferences, law enforcement conferences, engineering conferences and an international engineering conference in China.
The collaborative effort with Dr. Hudson was so productive that we decided to continue our work together and we formed a Center for the Study of Performance in Extreme Encounters (aka the Lethal Force Center), whose sole purpose is to research the human performance elements of lethal force encounters. In the last six weeks, the Center’s research has been used in four Grand Jury’s and one Coroner’s inquests—all dealing with officer-involved shootings. We have an awesome blue ribbon advisory board of national experts and a technical advisory board that is truly impressive. We are completing a new version of our website and will have a variety of elements on it including a refereed electronic journal, resources for research, such as bibliographies, and of course our research projects and results.
As you can tell, life has been busy and fulfilling, but I am looking forward to the summer. I am really excited about the next research projects. The Center will conduct two research projects, likely fund at least one and we will be searching for funds for an additional eight projects.
I hope our graduates remember to keep in touch...........Good luck and stay safe.
This past year has been a fun one for me. I took a one-year leave of absence from MSU and returned to federal law enforcement as a special agent with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. I had a chance to work some cases throughout the Midwest, especially in Detroit, Cleveland, and of course, the Twin Cities. It was fun to renew and refresh some of the friendships I have among members of the federal law enforcement community.
As the year pressed on, I must confess that I had a terrible time trying to decide whether to allow my leave of absence at MSU to simply expire and remain with Homeland Security, or to return to MSU as scheduled. My coworkers at DHS were great. But in the end, I’m happy to say that I decided my place was back at MSU. I missed teaching, I missed the students, and I missed the faculty and staff. It is good to be back. And hey, I got my Top Secret clearance renewed after all these years. Now I can resume using the ever-annoying “I’d tell you but I’d have to kill you” line.
I am looking forward to the coming year. To begin with, my colleagues have given me the opportunity to serve as the Law Enforcement Program Director. Dr. John Parham’s shoes will be difficult to fill, but I’ll try. I look forward to working with our students, the faculty and staff, and with the POST Board to continue our reputation as one of the best professional law enforcement programs in the Upper Midwest.
In terms of publications, my first book is coming out in the late summer. It is entitled “Profiling and Criminal Justice in America” by ABC-CLIO. Beyond that, Dr. Tamara Wilkins and I have contracted with Wadsworth to co-author an introductory text in law enforcement. That will keep us busy (and cranky) for the foreseeable future.
Finally, I will be applying for tenure and promotion to associate professor this coming year. I was eligible during the past year, but the process was postponed during my stint with the feds. I am looking forward to getting that behind me, whatever the outcome.
I’m in Dr. Parham’s old office in Morris Hall 109. Come on by. Don’t be a stranger.
The 2003-2004 academic year has kept my hands full with projects, challenges and travels – and with them, rewarding experiences, personally and professionally. I was honored in May, 2003 to be awarded tenure and a promotion to Associate Professor. In July, I received a Best Chapter Advisor award from Pi Sigma Alpha, the national political science honor society – one of three such awards given nationwide. During 2003-2004, I was sole author of two just-published articles: an encyclopedia entry on immigration and politics, and a book chapter on racial issues in Southern politics. I also co-authored (with Dr. Yueh-Ting Lee in Ethnic Studies) a soon to be published book chapter, “Racism, Racial Stereotypes and American Politics.
During fall semester 2003, I again offered one of my signature courses, Public Opinion and Polling Methods, in which students completed a survey for MSU’s Office of Information and Technology Services. This project resulted in 554 written surveys and telephone interviews, and was funded with a grant from MSU’s Center for Applied Social Science. I was the chief organizer for the 2003 Kessel Lecture by sociologist Dr. Jack Levin. Another major project during fall semester was updating and expanding my faculty web page. I added numerous links to pages on my activities including the Kessel Lecture series, my past travels to professional conferences, and my Pi Sigma Alpha activities. In November, I traveled with graduate student Jennie Scott to the Minnesota Political Science Association meeting at Gustavus Adolphus College. I was interviewed by the Jackson, Mississippi Clarion-Ledger newspaper on racial issues in Southern politics – a longstanding interest of mine. For fall semester, my courses included Public Opinion and Polling Methods, Environmental Politics and a Topics course in American legal philosophy.
During spring semester 2004, I traveled far and wide. From January 8 to 11, I attended the Southern Political Science Association conference in New Orleans, where I presented a paper on authoritarianism and racial response, and chaired a panel on “Race and Politics in the South.” On January 30, I took students to St. Paul for a visit to the Minnesota Judicial Center and state Capitol. From March 19 to 21, I brought students to a student conference at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska (see the ‘Pi Sigma Alpha activities’ section for more details on the St. Paul and Omaha trips). Finally, from April 14 to 17, I attended the Midwest Political Science Association conference in Chicago, where I served as chair and discussant for the panel “Intra Race Relations: Conflict and Cooperation.”
On March 2, I was interviewed on live television (KEYC, Channel 12) on the Minnesota political party caucuses that evening. I was elected as a delegate to the Minnesota DFL Party’s state convention in May 2004. For spring semester, my courses included Political Parties and Southern Politics – the latter another one of my signature courses.
On the personal side, my father passed away on April 1, which brought me on a long-distance driving trip to North Carolina to be with his wife and other family members. Our two boys, Andrew (nearly 4) and Christopher (nearly 2) are growing and flourishing. I continue as a singer and chief grant writer and administrator for Musicorum, a Mankato-area choral ensemble. Musicorum performs in May at Good Counsel chapel in Mankato. I also have continued running several times a week. I ran two 10-kilometer road races in 2003 and look to run a few more in 2004.
For more details on my courses, conferences and professional activities, please visit my web page: http://www.mnsu.edu/psle/fac/Slocum.html.
My last year at MSU has been a good one. For the first time, I tried teaching State and Local Government in a classroom where every student was at a computer station. I began to discover the many additional riches this technological opportunity provides for teaching and learning. Graduate seminars continued to be full of dynamic and interesting students. I leave with the same pleasure in classroom dialogue as I had in my first class.
On the publishing front, my article, “Minnesota: A Decade of Demographic Change“ appeared in the new edition of Perspectives of Minnesota Government and Politics edited by Hoffman, Williamson and Wolburn. My article, “Information Technology Issues in an Era of Greater State Responsibilities; Policy Concerns for Seniors” in the 2003 volume of Aging and Social Policy was reprinted in Caro and Morris’ (eds) Devolution and Aging Policy, Haworth. I had several book reviews in Choice and in Perspectives on Political Science.
I presented the Minnesota demographic research at the Minnesota Political Science Association fall meeting and will be using that research for my last service activity for MSU by presenting it as part of a panel for the Minnesota League of Cities.
I was very honored this year to receive the SBS Advisory Board Award for Distinguished Professor. In my 36 years at MSU, I have seen many changes, but what has remained constant has been the joy in seeing the many contributions you all make to your communities, your professions, your families and friends. To be recognized by our alumni is thus very special.
Scott and I attended the American Political Science Meeting in Philadelphia and the Midwest in Chicago. We enjoyed visiting with old fiends and colleagues and keeping up with former students.
Scott and I will relocate to Minneapolis to our condo in the East Isles/Uptown area. If you have suggestions for new work opportunities for me, please get in touch. It has been a long time since I was on the job market! Otherwise, watch for us when you’re in our neighborhood.
This year involved several few changes. Some colleagues were off on sabbaticals which was good for them, but they were missed by us “holding down the fort.” Other colleagues took on more responsibilities by offering new courses and working on various new committees. Negative changes also occurred. Several students had to leave when they were asked to actively serve in various branches of the military. Another negative change for me occurred when Dr. John Parham left us in December. John was largely responsible for me being hired by MSU and I found it difficult to see him go. He taught me a lot about the working atmosphere and politics of MSU and together, John and I had traveled with students to Europe on two occasions. This year John did not go and I missed him immensely. Fortunately, a big part of the void was filled by Dr. Nina LeNoir. Nina is a professor of Theatre here at MSU. I offered students the opportunity to study Comparative Criminal Justice Systems on our tour of Europe, and Nina gave students the chance to study theatre. We had 25 outstanding and remarkably fun students register for our courses. Nina was a real trooper trucking all over the streets of London with the students and me, and I look forward to her going to Europe with us again this coming January. It makes for an interesting, interdisciplinary experience for both law enforcement and theatre students to travel abroad together for several days. The thoughts and ideas shared made for an “out of the ordinary” and entertaining group. This coming January (2005), if we get enough students to register, we will visit Edinburgh, Scotland for three nights, London, England for five nights, and Reykjavik, Iceland for two nights. Like years passed, I can hardly wait to go!
My other travels this year involved trips to Orlando for grant training, Chicago for the Midwestern Criminal Justice Association meeting, and Las Vegas for the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences annual conference. I also plan to travel to Washington, DC in June for a Community Policing Conference hosted by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Last summer I went to Puerto Penasco, Mexico and wrote a couple of chapters for a future textbook and then spent some time with my mom in New Mexico. I am hoping to do the same this summer. I got a lot of writing done last year in Mexico and since Jeff Bumgarner and I are now writing an Introduction to Law Enforcement text, I would love to go back and be just as productive this year as I was last year. I have no definite plans yet, but I am hopeful.
There were lots of activities this year. I served on two faculty search committees, one for Women’s Studies and the other for our International Relations/Comparative Politics position. Both searches produced high caliber applicants and the folks who were hired will be outstanding faculty. I also spent a good deal of time working on a $150,000 U.S. Department of Justice grant. Dr. Nancy Fitzsimons of Social Work and I are developing a training CD for law enforcement to help them better interact with and understand people with disabilities who are victims of crime. Nancy is very professional and one of the most capable individuals I’ve ever had the pleasure with which to work. She is, no doubt, the brains of this partnership. Working with her, and among other such fine colleagues, as well as interacting with numerous admirable students keeps me inspired and very happy to come to work each and every day. After five years, I find myself even more content with my career choice. I love MSU and am very thankful to work here! Fortunately for me, the University must be pleased with me as well, because I recently found out that I was awarded tenure and promotion to Associate Professor. I guess MSU is going to be stuck with me for years to come. I know it won’t be the same without the usual folks around everyday like Carolyn, John, and a good many of you graduates. But, many of us are still here and we’d love to have you come back and see us. If you can’t come in person to visit, at least drop us a quick note to tell us what is going on with you. You’re not easily forgotten and we’d love to hear from you. Take care…
One of the many positive attributes of MSU is the collegiality of the faculty, staff and students. It was this friendly and respectful interaction that made my second year a very pleasant journey. Although fast paced and hectic, it was an enjoyable ride.
I had the opportunity to attend and participate in a number of interesting conferences and teaching-related experiences this past year. The first event was the Midwestern Criminal Justice Conference held in Chicago. As a prelude to presenting in Las Vegas, I offered a brief overview of my proposed study to my peers on Canadian police terrorist preparedness during a College Conversation at MSU. Following this was the Teaching Collaboration Conference in February in the cities, where the presenters offer advice and experience on enhancing teaching practices. I presented a paper at the Academy of Criminal Justice Science (ACJS) in Las Vegas during March break on the reluctance of Canadian police agencies to respond to studies or questions regarding duties or preparedness of their officers, post 9/11. The presentation focused on concern over excessive secrecy that will threaten society’s most basic democratic rights. At issue for discussion was the implementation of new initiatives while fulfilling both reactive and proactive obligations toward criminal activity. I am presently working toward completion of my dissertation and plan to continue research in the area of police and terrorism.
Currently, my attention is working on the Law Enforcement Outreach Program, reaching out to minority and ethnic students in the state. It is our hope this group of young people will consider a career in law enforcement. Up to this point in time, visits to schools in the cities have taken place. This summer, for two weeks between July 6th to the 10th and 12th through the 17th an Ethnic Heritage Pre-College Summer Institute will be held by the Cultural Diversity Program inviting young people to our campus to enhance their ethnic heritage while, at the same time, acquainting potential students to three areas of study. This summer the Law Enforcement Program was chosen to participate. Faculty and students are giving freely of their time. The purpose is to teach a few “hands on” techniques associated with law enforcement.
It is my observation that the law enforcement students are particularly generous with their limited free time. They willingly participate as actors and offer input during simulation examinations in the Advanced Criminal Investigation Course. These simulations test students on their grasp of preliminary investigations, evidence collection, continuity and presentation. Input and assistance from students as well as alumni in the fall and spring semesters is welcome. I appreciate hearing from alumni and invite you to introduce yourselves to me either in person when visiting the University or via e-mail at colleen.clarke@mnsu.edu.
I wish to thank the faculty, staff and students for making a lifelong dream come true. My first full time position as a faculty at Minnesota State University, Mankato has been extremely rewarding. During the last ten years that I had spent in law enforcement I knew that I wanted to become a teacher. After teaching here this past year I have confirmed what I already knew, this is what I was destined to do. I have already been told by students that I have made a difference in their lives and in their potential new careers.
In Minnesota Traffic and Criminal Code, students learned statutes, rules and procedures. This course is a foundation course for their future in law enforcement. With this information students can determine if a crime was committed and what elements of the crime are essential for them to know.
In the Police Patrol course, I have had the opportunity to take theory and blend it with real life practical experiences and give this information to our students. The students have had the opportunity to cast foot prints, tire tracks, tool mark impressions and fingerprints off of paper. Teaching students that it is up to them as peace officers to be able to discern the modus operandi and tie that information to the suspect is critical if they want to be successful in their jobs.
In Senior Seminar, students started to prepare themselves to take the Police Officers Standards and Training test. Seniors also learned about how to keep themselves from becoming corrupted by the noble cause of the chosen field of law enforcement.
I also have continued to be active in the Police Unity Tour. This organization was created to help fund Police Officers who have been killed in the line of duty. Every police officer who was killed has his/her name carved into the Law Enforcement Memorial Wall in Washington D.C. This is not funded by any government agency; the wall is kept up by private donations. Last year I had an opportunity to ride my bicycle from Indianapolis, Indiana to Washington, D.C., 600 miles in 10 days. We rode 300 miles in the first three days, then we hit the Appalachian and Blue Ridge Mountains. At that point, we only rode about 50 miles a day. This year I will be riding from Virginia Beach, Virginia to Washington, D.C., only 240 miles in 3 days.
Again I would like to thank everyone for all of their support and encouragement my first year.
Pi Sigma Alpha is the nationwide honor society for students in political science, and MSU is home to the Upsilon Alpha chapter (Dr. Fred Slocum, Chapter Advisor). In July 2003, the national office of Pi Sigma Alpha awarded Dr. Slocum a Best Chapter Advisor award for 2003, one of three such awards given nationwide. During fall semester, the honorary society met periodically to prepare a Chapter Activity Grant proposal. We sent the proposal to the national office, and in December learned that our grant was funded for $530, in support of our trip to Omaha, Nebraska in March 2004. In November, we inducted four students into Pi Sigma Alpha. Congratulations to the fall 2003 newly initiated student members: Richard Castillon, Christina James, Andrew Kalis and Nick Morriston.
During spring semester, Pi Sigma Alpha students participated in two trips. On January 30, student members Christina Anderson, Takehito Kamata, Colin Lovett, Nicole Meyer and Nick Morriston went to St. Paul. We visited with Minnesota Supreme Court Justice (and Mankato native) Sam Hanson, who had come to MSU to give the keynote address at our spring 2003 initiation banquet. Following this meeting, we took a tour of the Minnesota Judicial Center, followed by a tour of the nearby state capitol. We then drove to Minneapolis’ Uptown district for lunch at A Taste of India restaurant.
On March 19-20, the Midwest Political Science Student Convention took place at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. Five MSU students and Pi Sigma Alpha members – Ina Acharya, Shain Bestick, Christi Coburn, Takehito Kamata and Jessica McLaren – made the trip. Each presented a paper at the conference, and Dr. Slocum served as a discussant on the “Political Culture” panel. While in Omaha, we met students and faculty from Creighton University, Coe College, Bemidji State University, the University of Minnesota at Morris and other schools. The conference ended Saturday afternoon, and we took advantage of our free afternoon and evening to explore Omaha’s Old Market district, where we savored Persian food at Ahmad’s restaurant.
The year concluded with our spring initiation on April 26. Congratulations to the spring 2004 newly initiated student members: Roxann Beranek, Christi Coburn, Lee Gilleland, Bryan Johnson, Heather McCallum, Candace Meether, Nicole Meyer, Rachel Mudd, Merit Raff, Jeet Sausen, Bayarmaa Tserendavaa and Desiree Wiesen.
Alpha Phi Sigma is the National Criminal Justice Honors Society. The purpose of this organization is to improve the field of criminal justice through education. Students must be in the top 35% of their class and maintain a high grade point average to be eligible for membership. Over the past five years, the membership figures have increased significantly from about five or six members to around twenty-five members. Students of law enforcement (and corrections) recognize the fact that they need to be able to distinguish themselves from other students in order to get the jobs they want. One way to do this is to join Alpha Phi Sigma. Recognized for their leadership capabilities and efforts, like years passed, students participated in a variety of community service events. We were fortunate to hear several amazing guest speakers this year, and last March, a few members traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada to attend Alpha Phi Sigma’s national meeting. Next year, in March, the national meeting will be held in Chicago. We have lots of fund-raising activities planned this upcoming year in hopes that every member will be able to travel to Chicago and attend the national conference.
