~ Faculty Musings ~

This page is dedicated to the faculty of the department who teach primarily sociology-designated courses. The three following web pages are devoted to the Anthropology faculty and the sociologists who teach primarily criminology-designated courses respectively.

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From the Sociology Faculty
 

Making the World a Better Place - One Semester at a Time
by Dr. Gary Brock

What can we do about waste? Is poverty getting worse or better? Should controlled substances be criminalized or legalized? Is the family disintegrating or merely adapting?  Are men and women equals - or should they be treated differently? How can the American educational system better meet students’ needs? What should be done about the health care crisis? Why do we treat each other disrespectfully because we look different from one another? After 9/11, have we responded appropriately? Serious questions - and issues that cannot be resolved in a single semester. But, Drs. Carlie and Brock took an old course, Social Problems, gave it a new look, and attempted to address these issues.

Students tackled nine social problems - from family to education to terrorism - on a four-day cycle. The first day we introduced students to the issues associated with that problem. On the second day we invited an academic who has done extensive research in that area to speak to the students. The third day, we invited someone from the community who was actively attempting to resolve aspects of that social problem. Then, on the fourth day, Dr. Carlie and I met with our respective sections, to discuss a review they’d written from a current newspaper article, what they’d learned about the problem from our guest speakers, and we then proposed solutions.

The most rewarding aspect of the course, at least for me, was the personal social action component. We emphasized throughout the semester that everyone can become part of the solution. Therefore, each student was required to engage in a personal social action. They had to select, from the problems we studied, something they felt passionately about and were willing to devote personal time and energy to in hopes of resolving that problem. I must admit, I got a “warm and fuzzy feeling” as I read their personal social action statements.

So, this fall, 140 students variously served food to the homeless, organized groups to help disenfranchised individuals, built homes, registered voters, volunteered at animal shelters, picked up trash, organized and marched about a variety of social issues, worked with disadvantaged children, read to children in schools, and wrote letters - to their local newspaper, congressman, U.S. representative or senator, President Bush and foreign governments. Students became involved in their community, locally and globally. They addressed issues in small Missouri towns and those in the Middle East.  Education became more than an academic exercise where their primary concern was the grade they would receive for the course; they were forced to consider others’ needs and how their academic experience potentially could make a difference in the world outside the university.

Missouri State has a public affairs mission and SOC 152 reflected that state mandate. The Missouri State academic environment is supposed to produce concerned citizens.  Our hope is the public affairs aspect of this course will motivate students to remain involved, and informed, citizens after the semester concludes and following graduation—the mission of this university. Throughout the semester, we stress the following quote from Sidney Sheldon as found on page 21 of his book Windmills of the Gods.

Let us remember that the problems we share
are far greater than the problems that divide us,
and that the problems that divide us
are of our own making.

May we all work to become part of the solution.

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World Population Beyond 6 Billion
by Dr. Robin Amonker

One major social change taking place in the world today is a “population explosion,” a rapid increase in the size of the world’s population. For approximately 150,000 years, Homo sapiens increased very slowly in numbers throughout most of their existence. However, ever since the beginning of the modern era the population has been accelerating. It took many centuries for the world population to reach one billion people in 1850, but by 2000 the world population had grown to over 6 billion (Table 1). At the current rate, another billion people will be added to the world population in about 12-13 years. According to United Nations projections the world population will be over 9 billion by 2050.

The tremendous increase in population growth in the modern era is the result of two factors: the world wide death rate has declined dramatically, but the birth rate has not shown a similar decline. The large gap between the birth and death rates has resulted in a high rate of population growth (Table 2). With 135 million births and 58 million deaths, 77 million people are added to the world population each year.

Throughout most of human history, death rates have been very high and the average life expectancy at birth was only about 30 years. The high death rates in pre-industrial times were primarily the result of famines and food shortages, epidemic diseases, and poor sanitary conditions. Only since the beginning of the twentieth century have there been sharp reductions in death rates as a result of improved agriculture, the industrial revolution, immunization, and advancement in medical technology.

The world is divided into two population categories. These include: (a) more developed countries (MDC) - North America, Europe, U.S.S.R. Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, and (b) less-developed countries (LDC) - Asia, Africa, L. America, and Pacific Islands.

The MDC countries as a whole are increasing at a relatively modest rate of 0.1 percent per year, and many countries of this group are moving close to zero population growth. Some countries are even experiencing negative population growth. On the other hand, the LDC countries are growing at an annual rate of 1.6 percent per year, and in many countries the growth rates are in excess of 3 percent per year. These different growth rates have substantially altered the distribution of world population, and they will continue to do so in the years to come (Table 3).

Although birth rates of the MDC countries has declined dramatically, birth rates of the LDC countries have remained high. The key factors affecting birth rates are importance of children as a part of the labor force, religious beliefs and cultural norms, cost of raising and educating children, average age at marriage, infant mortality rate, employment opportunities, status of women, and availability of legal abortion and contraceptive methods.

The world is facing a number of population problems, which include poverty, hunger, disease, housing shortage, illiteracy, crowding, pollution and climate change, low status of women, unemployment, political conflict, and loss of individual freedom. As we enter the 21^st Century, it becomes clear that rapid population growth will increasingly affect the world situation. We face the challenge of anticipating the future and encouraging institutions at all levels to plan in ways that will maximize the well-being of the population.

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The Good Community Committee has been trying to do that in Springfield now for a decade. Chairing that group since its beginning has given me a chance to understand what C. Wright Mills was talking about, to use what I learned as a sociologist, and - most important - to find my personal role in Missouri State's public affairs mission. They have been good years.

Due to Dr. Young's generosity, the department annually offers the Lloyd R. Young Scholarship. If you wish, you can visit the site for additional information. If you're interested, you can also contribute to the Scholarship or create a scholarship of your own. (Editor)

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Brazil – A Sleeping Giant?
from Dr. Marvin Prosono

When most Americans think about Brazil they either think of beautiful beaches in Rio populated by the young and the beautiful or the Amazon River and the lush rain forest associated with it. 

That Brazil is a country of almost 180 million people, is larger than the continental United States, has the largest city in the Western Hemisphere (Sao Paulo), has a soap opera industry which is followed in a great part of the world,  and has the largest and most diversified economy in South America are facts that also deserve recognition. Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, was built as a city of the future in the 1960s and ever since Brazil has been trying to live up to its aspiration as a leader of the progressive spirit.

In 2002, Brazil elected a new President, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva (known affectionately as “Lula” by his countrymen). Lula, as leader of the Workers’ Party, was feared by the business sector and by foreign investors and observers because they imagined he might possibly lead Brazil down a socialist path. However, Lula has surprised everyone and tightened the reins on government spending, holding inflation in check and satisfying world financial authorities.

The Brazilian currency continues to gain strength against the dollar, unemployment is falling and the general business atmosphere is improving. Lula has his problems because those in his party expected him to embark upon ambitious social programs to improve the life of the 100 million Brazilians who live either in poverty or in fairly precarious circumstances. Lula has had to backpedal on some of his earlier promises but he still works to improve the lives of Brazilians and his campaign “Fome Zero” (Zero Hunger) works to insure that no one in Brazil is lacking food. By working so hard to satisfy the International Monetary Fund, he has alienated many of his supporters who have turned against him for not acting forcefully enough to handle the country’s many social problems.

I have visited Brazil on a number of occasions but in January 2003, I attended the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre where I heard Lula deliver a 35 minute, unscripted speech to a crowd of 100,000 people. It was inspiring because he was telling the attendees at the World Social Forum that we all have much work to do to insure that justice and peace be made realities in this world.

I have witnessed many political occasions, but his performance before this crowd was something that Americans could surely envy in terms of its authenticity and sincerity. Lula worked himself up from the lowest reaches of Brazilian society, eventually becoming an organizer and leader in the metal workers union. From there he helped form the left-leaning Worker’s Party. That party along with European intellectuals conceived the idea of a forum that might bring together all the progressive forces in the world.

So was born the “World Social Forum” which meets every year in January at the same time as the elitist World Economic Forum which meets in Switzerland. The World Social Forum has met in Brazil since 2001 except for its 2004 meeting which was held in Mumbai, India. The motto of the Forum is “Another World is Possible”. Brazil is working to demonstrate that this is true, but it has many problems of its own to overcome, not the least of which is the terrible inequality that plagues the country.  Nonetheless, with the election of Lula and leadership within the World Social Forum, Brazil has set itself on the path of progressive change and may in time become a model for the world.

Editor's Note: This year Dr. Prosono was a recipient of our
College's Excellence in Teaching Award.

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Missouri Higher Education is in Trouble:
The Structural Basis of Missouri’s Higher Education Crisis
by John B. Harms*

Editor's Note: I asked Dr. Harms to write about the state of affairs in higher education in Missouri. He recently spoke about this issue with the 140 students in our Social Problems (SOC 152) course. The impact of his comments were measurable, and devastating.

Consider the following facts about Missouri’s public institutions of higher education:

*  Appropriations for Missouri’s public institutions of higher education were cut $140 million in FY2003 (FY = Fiscal Year) and FY2004 (Keiser, Missouri State Focus, August 2004).

*  Higher education cuts have resulted in a $1,700 average tuition increase for MO’s public 4 year institutions, affecting 80,000 Missouri students. (MO Budget Project, Jan 2004, p.3).

*  State tax cuts in the late 1990s have reduced MO’s state general fund revenues by $700 million in FY2005. (MO Budget Project, August 2004, p.4).

*  From 1995-1999, the Hancock Amendment triggered returns of over $980 million to corporate and individual income taxpayers. (MO Budget Project, Jan 2004, p.3).

*  Between 1991 and 2003, Full Time Equivalent (FTE - going to school full time) student enrollment in Missouri’s public colleges and universities declined by more than 3%, while the national trend was an increase of 18.7%. MO is one of only 3 states to have a FTE decline in this period. (2003 SHEF Report, p.26)

*  Missouri ranks second in the nation in tuition hikes in the last two years. (MNEA White Paper, July 2004).

*  Missouri has the lowest per capita funding support for higher education among the surrounding states: MO=$321, KS=$496, AR=$449, OK=$477, IA=$507, IL=$411. (2003 SHEF Report, p.41).

*  Changes to Missouri’s tax code in the late 1990s resulted in a loss of $818.1 million dollars in FY2000, and have eroded its tax base by 11% annually (Missouri Budget Project 2004, p.5).

*  Missouri’s state support for public higher education has declined as a percentage of the overall state budget from 8.3% in FY1980 to 6.8% in FY2000 to 5.8% in FY2003 (Keiser 2003, Appropriations Request For Operations. p.37).

*  Nationally, median student loan debt was $16,500 in 2003. At Missouri State University the average student graduated in 2003 with $17,000 of student loan debt, an increase of 74% since 1997 (USA Today 6/30/03; Missouri State Office of Student Financial Aid).

What these facts reveal is that state revenues and appropriations for higher education are declining, while tuitions and student loan debts are increasing. The cause of this imbalance between revenues and appropriations is rooted in the structure of Missouri’s Constitution and tax code, and its appropriations policies.

Editor's Note: The code and the formulae used to determine appropriations could be revised to be more equitable. The first step in the process of rectifying current policy is educating the public, hence Dr. Harms' article above. If you would like to read more about this issue, please see:

The Structural Basis of Missouri’s Higher Education Crisis and
State Policy and the Crisis of Public Higher Education in Missouri

If you feel moved to express your opinion on matters raised in Dr. Harms' article above, please click to find and send an email to your Missouri State Representative or Missouri Senators.

* Dr. Harms is currently the President of the Missouri Conference of the
American Association of University Professors.

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