Urban Studies Students: Scholars and Community Gardners

Just before the weather turned cold, as the Urban Studies department was putting the WSU Community Garden to bed, students in the Research Seminar Capstone class joined the garden faithful from the IUI to plant 5 berry bushes.   The bushes were donated by Tree USA and the Worcester Tree Initiative, and students were helped by the state Department of Conservation and Recreation.  Dividing into groups, students learned the proper techniques for planting and, of course, turned it into a contest to see which could most quickly and correctly complete the task. 

A couple of weeks later, these same students began to make their end-of-semester research project presentations.  All projects are interesting and show real promise.  Here are the first four: 

• Andrea Buffone is working on youth gangs in Worcester and the importance of early intervention;
• Megan Dealey is examining the increased need for regulation in a variety of areas surrounding artificial insemination;
• Rachel Pressey is exploring the multi-faceted reasons why urban youth turn to illegal activities in her paper, "Hustle-omics: Hate the Game, Don't Hate The Player"; and 
• Gary Cato is writing a case study in NIMBYism and town politics in the proposed construction of affordable housing in Sudbury, MA. 

Stay tuned for more research project and garden news as they develop.