Monday Update: Upcoming Election

Hello UW-Parkside Community,

Election Day 2020

A healthy democracy requires a decent society. Charles Pickering explains that it requires that we are honorable, generous, tolerant, and respectful. Democracy is more about the process than the outcome.

Election day is hours away and is likely to have a stronger than usual impact on our students and campus community. Inevitably, some may be unsatisfied with the result, yet the democratic process assures us that there will be opportunity to achieve a different result in the future. The strength and resilience of our democracy requires that we understand and support this. Let us strive to respect all votes, honor the result, and be generous and tolerant of others’ opinions.

The election may not be resolved Tuesday night or shortly thereafter, but we must encourage our students and community to let the process continue uninterrupted to its conclusion. And we must remember that democracy is much more than an election. We need to fight for it every day. The National Task Force on Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement identifies five essential actions for democracy’s future:

1. Reclaim and reinvest in the fundamental civic and democratic mission of schools and of all sectors within higher education.
2. Enlarge the current national narrative that erases civic aims and civic literacy as educational priorities contributing to social, intellectual, and economic capital.
3. Advance a contemporary, comprehensive framework for civic learning—embracing U.S. and global interdependence— that includes historic and modern understandings of democratic values, capacities to engage diverse perspectives and people, and commitment to collective civic problem solving.
4. Capitalize upon the interdependent responsibilities of K–12 and higher education to foster progressively higher levels of civic knowledge, skills, examined values, and action as expectations for every student.
5. Expand the number of robust, generative civic partnerships and alliances, locally, nationally, and globally to address common problems, empower people to act, strengthen communities and nations, and generate new frontiers of knowledge.

First, we all must vote!

Dean Peggy James

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Four Ways to Make a Difference in the Community

Check out the Ranger Reach Out website to sign up to Fill food boxes at the Shalom Center on November 5th; Give to the UW-Parkside Food Drive; Help Root Pike Win on the Wayne Dannehl Cross Country Course; and Participate in the Annual United Way Campaigns. 

“Since Covid-19, we are seeing higher than normal numbers in our Food Pantry. The loss of jobs during these unprecedented times is causing households to utilize food pantries even more to help them stretch their dollars. We are also seeing families who have never visited our pantry before and now have found themselves in need. Donations are always needed, especially this time of year, to ensure we can continue to keep up with the demand. We are thankful for partners like UW Parkside who are assisting us in our efforts to provide nutritional healthy food to our community. Together, we are stronger.” 

Tamarra Coleman, Executive Director, Shalom Center, Kenosha

UW-Parkside steps up to help meet this community need and YOU can make a difference in one of four ways:

1. Donate nonperishable food items. You can drop off nonperishable food in the bins at the entrance of the Student Center, the Rita and the Sports & Activities Center October 26-Nov 6.
2. Volunteer at the Box Build at the Shalom Center to prepare food boxes on Thursday, November 5, 9-11 AM. Covid safety measures will be in effect. Sign up to volunteer here: https://www.uwp.edu/currentstudent/rangerreachout.cfm
3. Drop off nonperishable food items on Saturday, Nov 7 at the drive-thru collection at the Sports & Activities Center, 10 AM-2 PM
4. Support UW-Parkside’s United Way campaign Nov 9-21. Look for a link in your email.

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Managing Election Anxiety – here are some great resources from the College and University Personnel Association (CUPA) for dealing with anxiety and stress related to the upcoming election: 

• How to Deal With Election Anxiety (Psychology Today)
• How to Handle the Stress Between Now and Election Day (Healthline)
• Already Got Election Anxiety? Here are 4 Ways to Grapple (Psychology Today)
• Stressed About the Election? 5 Tips to Get You Through (Cleveland Clinic)

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Why You Should Get Out and Vote!

“I encourage everyone to vote since there are so many like myself that do not have the opportunity to do so! Your vote matters and it affects everyone around you.”

Name: Alisson A. Anguiano Salas

College year: Junior

Major: English and Political Science, with a concentration in law

“As the amendment states, every American is endowed to the right to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The pursuit of happiness begins with making the right choice. Hence I ask you this-- to chose to treat your right to vote as an obligation to get one step closer to be in control of your choices. Being an International Student from a developing Nation I share this significant passion towards the right to vote and urge you to register to vote.

Can I count on you to make the right choice and vote for this election? Please remember every vote counts.”

Name: Ankit Shah, MBA 

College year: last semester (as we don’t have years but if taking time into consideration this would be my second year)

Major: General Management 

“Voting matters because it is how we put in our part to create a better future. Future for our loved ones and the younger generation. It’s putting your part to help not just yourself, but everyone around you. Voting is showing how much you care for your neighbors and the world. Please make sure you let your voice be heard by voting on this year’s Election Day and the elections to follow. Thank you!” 

Name: Jaricsa Ascencio
College Year: Sophomore
Major: Elementary Education 

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Nontraditional Student Week

Hello,

Next week, November 2-6, UW Extended Campus will be celebrating Nontraditional Student Week. Our Student Success team will be offering specialized content to our current students within the Student Resource Lounge, and we will be promoting student stories and features on our social media channels.

Where a student has a home campus, we will tag you in our social posts. We also invite you to like and share any posts. These will be tagged with #NontraditionalStudentWeek. If your campus is participating in NTSW, we’ll also like and share your posts.

We are excited to have this chance to feature and celebrate just a few of our nontraditional students, and hope you can join us during the week.

Lisa

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Native American Heritage Month 

November is Native American Heritage Month! The Office of Multicultural Student Affairs (OMSA) presents a virtual Kick Off, a MOSAIC workshop, a social media campaign, and webinars to celebrate and honor the importance of recognizing and educating ourselves on Indigenous history and culture. Join us for the virtual Kick Off on Monday, November 2, 2020 and view additional events on the Native American Heritage Month website. All events are free and open to the public. 

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Volunteer with Root-Pike WIN to Improve Pollinator Habitat at UW-Parkside

When
Saturday, November 7, 2020 from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM CST

Where

UW-Parkside Cross Country Course @ CTH JR & STH 31
919-901 Green Bay Rd
Kenosha, WI 53144

Why and What

We will remove invasive buckthorn plants - making way for native food sources. Invasive buckthorn crowds out native plants - robbing them of sunlight and space. No skills are needed; you will be trained onsite. Bring work gloves, safety glasses, and loppers if you have them. All COVID precautions are recommended, and all work will be socially distanced.

Work will occur on the corner of CTH JR and STH 31 (Green Bay Rd). Parking is available within Petrifying Springs Park, and then a short walk in the woods to the southwest across CTH JR.

Weather

Please register below in advance. If the workday is cancelled due to weather conditions, an email will be sent to notify you at least two hours prior to the event. If there is no cancellation message, the workday will continue as scheduled.

Register Now!

Root-Pike WIN is partnering with the University of Wisconsin - Parkside to preserve and restore the natural areas within the course. This area supports the federally-endangered Rusty-Patched Bumble Bee.

Bee at Parkside! 
Dave Giordano, Executive Director
Root-Pike Watershed Initiative Network
ford@uwp.edu
262-883-4018

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Five Things You Should Know:

• Moon Shot for Equity: The University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Carthage College, Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) and UWM have joined a national initiative led by education firm EAB aimed at ending equity gaps in higher education by 2030. Read more.
• Community Conversations: Dr. Jonathan Shailor (UW-Parkside), Pastor Kara Baylor (Carthage College), and students in the UW-Parkside Certificate Program in Conflict Analysis and Resolution have been facilitating “Rebuilding Kenosha” conversations since September. There are still three sessions remaining! Talks will be held on October 28, November 11, and December 2. The conversations will be held via ZOOM on Wednesday evenings, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. To register, contact Jonathan Shailor at shailor@uwp.edu.
• Polling Location: The polling location on campus is in the SAC. There will be extra traffic, so please plan ahead!
• Smash COVID: If you haven’t seen it already. System has put out a video featuring Tommy smashing COVID! This is meant to help encourage students to stick to safety guidelines. (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram)
• Parkside Presente: Check out the latest episode of Presente! In Season 2, Episode 8, Gia talks to Esmeralda Aguilar, a MOSAIC program educator and student at UW-Parkside. The MOSAIC program focuses in Motivating Our Students to Advocate for an Inclusive Campus. Esmeralda shares with us the complexities of implicit bias and how we can begin to understand via dialogue the barriers that implicit bias creates to create an inclusive campus.

And as always, make sure to keep an eye on the News page (uwp.edu/news) and on our social media channels for updates!