Comparative Environmental Health Policy
Left,
Kim Joki '09, a political science major from Greenville; a Leadership
Fellow in the Center for Responsible Leadership; and a Posey Global
Leadership fellow, talks with Dr. Ed Lorenz, Reid-Knox Professor of
History and professor of political science, and Lee Posey '56 of
Dallas, Tex., in the Mexican town of Anapra divided by a fence and a
land ownership dispute between one of the country's richest families
and long-time residents.
Lorenz's Spring Term Class "Comparative Environmental Health Policy" is examining the effects of public policy on the environment and the social fabric and investigating community-based organizations’ solutions to the problems.
Based in El Paso, Tex., working in Texas and Juarez, Mexico, the cross curriculum course involving political science and chemistry, also analyzes organic compound contamination in neighborhoods of the two sprawling cities. Meeting with activists, government agencies and citizens on both sides of the border gives the students a unique overview of such issues as free trade, poverty, environment and immigration.
David Lapham '08 of Greenville and a Mexican boy who had been swimming
in the water at an American dam near the ASARCO lead smelting plant
collect samples from the Rio Grande River for testing. Lead in the soil
and water in El Paso and Juarez have been a major concern and a reason
many environmentalists want to keep the smelting plant closed.
Below, alumni Cardell Johnson '02, Posey and April LaCroix '05, 2005 Canada-U.S. Fulbright Fellow, pose for pictures overlooking the sprawling border cities of El Paso and Juarez.
