McCarthy Center sponsors participation in Student Conference on United States Affairs

From Nov. 5 through 8 the McCarthy Center for Public Policy sent Sean Suter and Jenny Schwope to participate as student delegates in the Student Conference on United States Affairs held at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y.

This annual conference brings together college students from across the country and around the world to discuss American foreign policy.

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Peace, Poetry and Politics

“Peace, Poetry and Politics” examines the role of poetry as a form of social protest and as a means of calling for peace and justice. The program is sponsored by the Literary Arts Institute of the College of Saint Benedict and the Eugene McCarthy Center for Public Policy and Civic Engagement in collaboration with Graywolf Press. The program will feature three writers who will respond to the topic: Fred Marchant, a Graywolf poet and one of the first Marine officers honorably discharged as a CO during the Vietnam War; Brenda Hillman, a noted poet with seven books of poetry who is also an energetic activist with Code Pink’ and Nick Flynn, also a Graywolf poet and memoirist who has just completed a new book exploring Abu Ghraib and torture.

The program will recall the poetry of protest in World War II and in Vietnam, highlighting Graywolf’s recent publication of a collection of poems by William Stafford titled Another World Instead. The book centers around Stafford’s experience as a conscientious objector during World War II. Eugene McCarthy, an alumnus of Saint John’s, was an admirer of Stafford; in fact, he read Stafford’s poems on the Senate floor and was able to recite the poems from memory. And McCarthy was himself a poet. We will use these past events and experiences as a means to illuminate the situation on the current war-fronts and to explore these questions: do words have any effect on a nation at war? Is the declaration of conscientious objection a public or private act? How does a nation imagine itself at war and can that imagination be enlarged or transformed?

There will be two presentations with this lively group of writers, one on campus on February 5th in Alumnae Hall (HCC) at 7:30 PM and the other in Minnesota Public Radio’s UBS Forum in St. Paul on February 6 at 7:00. Registration will be required for the St. Paul event.

Please visit the McCarthy Center events calendar for a full list of events sponsored by the McCarthy Center.

Health care public policy panel held at CSB

Update: Photos now online.

ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – A panel on health care public policy is at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 8 at Room 204A, Gorecki Dining and Conference Center, College of Saint Benedict, St. Joseph.

“At What Cost? A Health Care Policy Panel” looks at who should pay and manage health insurance, and what are the dangers and benefits of government and market solutions.

The panel includes:

• Twila Brase, a public health nurse who is president of the Citizens’ Council on Health Care, a non-profit organization based in St. Paul;
• Steve Ehlen, an insurance broker at Holland and Frank Agency, Sartell. He is a 1993 graduate of Saint John’s University;
• Joe Friedrich, economics professor at CSB and SJU whose areas of academic interest include health economics and the design of health care financing. He is a 1964 graduate of SJU;
• State Rep. Larry Hosch (DFL-St. Joseph), who is a 2001 graduate of SJU. Hosch is the vice chair of the Health Care and Human Services Finance Division committee for the House;
• Kathy Mock, vice president for public affairs at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. She is a 1980 graduate of CSB.
  

The event is sponsored by The Eugene J. McCarthy Center for Public Policy and Civic Engagement at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University. The center seeks to engage the campus and wider community in debate and discourse regarding public policy and public affairs. More information about the center can be found at www.csbsju.edu/mccarthycenter.

Student Conference on US Affairs in West Point, NY

Each fall semester, the Eugene J. McCarthy Center for Public Policy and Civic Engagement sends one CSB and one SJU student to the United States Military Academy in West Point, NY for an undergraduate student conference focusing on international public policies. Students live in the barracks, eat in the mess halls, and enjoy debate and discussion with other students from around the world. All expenses are paid by the McCarthy Center.

More information about the conference is in the conference email below and at the web site linked in the following email.

If you are interested in being considered for nomination, email the following to Suzanne Reinert no later than August 15, 2008. Late applications will not be accepted. Early applications are welcomed.

Your application to be a CSB or SJU delegate should include the following:

1. A cover letter no longer than three pages explaining why you'd like to go, what you could offer the conference and elaborate on your experiences that help prepare you for this conference
   
   
2. Unofficial transcript
   
   
3. Resume

Thanks for considering this opportunity. Have a great summer.