Courtney Brings In A Crowd

The first Eastern Connecticut summit focused on the three E's: education, energy and economy, and U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney (D-2nd) made his panel discussion debut to a large crowd at the Student Union yesterday.

The meeting began with a mixed crowd of professors, graduate students, professionals and press there to see the 10 a.m. kick-off issue of energy security. More undergraduate students came in from classes for the 11 a.m. conference on education, and many business professionals from the tri-county area came in around noon to pose questions on economic development.

Panelists discussed the three issues with all the intensity and knowledge of their fields, covering everything from the current achievement deficit in schools to the dire need of manufacturing professionals.

Some students who stayed for the discussion were more interested in issues that didn't get covered.

"The energy part was pretty informational," said Heath Loder, a 1st-semester computer engineering major. "I didn't stay focused on the rest."

Courtney discussed his experience with one of his most popular issues, green energy investment.

"The rooms light up when I talk about energy issues," Courtney said. "People are ready for this. These are American jobs; you can't outsource those. We are thinking about the future as much as we are thinking about what can be done now."

Representatives of the Lyndon LaRouche Youth group made an appearance to discuss and promote the possibility of using nuclear power in Connecticut. While nuclear power is a viable generation method, most of the panelists disagreed with using it in the state, preferring wind energy, solar power and biodiesel instead.

"We're working on real science - science that has power dynamics" said Anton Stevens, the youth group's representative.

On the issue of education, the major concerns were education for adults going into second careers and the detrimental effects of the No Child Left Behind Act, which has forced the state to focus more resources than it had planned on yearly standardized testing. This standardized testing has been blamed for the recent high turnover rate of first-year teachers.

"The income gap is the underpinning of the achievement gap," said panelist Christopher Clouet, superintendent of the New London Public School District. He and several other panelists said they were tired of the testing and thought that students' achievement levels should be assessed instead.

"We need to help students understand the relevancy of science and math they are learning in the classroom," Clouet said.

Early childhood education was also deemed one of the best investments for the state to make because studies show it effectively prepares low-income students for grade school. Students who haven't had early childhood education often fall behind their peers as early as kindergarten.

In an overlapping issue of economics and education, UConn Chemical Engineering Director Richard Parnas gave a heartfelt speech to help bring more students into the engineering field. Parnas said many of eastern Connecticut's industries rely on manufacturing jobs that require engineering degrees.

"I think they have hit the nail on the head," said Martin Somer, dean of Continuing Education at the Center for Excellence, an adult education institute. "We should be thinking of lust to dust, cradle to grave - education to forward a thriving and nurturing society in America. None of us like the testing. These kids go through eight days of testing, and then two days of preparation - a considerable amount of time wasted. This is an expensive, time consuming program that provides nothing useful to us."

When the energy conference rolled around at noon, the most vocal panelists got up to discuss the serious, conflicting concerns about how to manage Connecticut's economic future.

John Filchak, director of the Northeast Connecticut Council of Governments, talked about how the eastern portion of the state has fallen short of producing the desired amount of living wage-jobs. He said the current economic model was to blame.

"[Some economists] have a Field of Dreams approach," Filchak said. "If you build it, they will come."

But according to Filchak and recent unemployment rates from towns like Killingly, which is experiencing 7 percent unemployment, they haven't come.

Steven Lanza, the editor of Connecticut Economy, said the answer to economic stagnation is not creating jobs, but improving the quality of life in the region. Lanza then segued back into education.

"[Education] is a lifelong endeavor; statistics say you won't have one job." he said. "We need to invest in [quality of life improvements] before making new jobs."

John Marcowicz, head of the Southeastern Connecticut Enterprise Region (SECTER), presented a compelling argument that the high cost of doing business in Connecticut is driving businesses away to other states. The high prices, according to Marcowicz, are affecting everyone from dairy farmers to the submarine base in Groton.

"Tourism accounts for 30,000 jobs and a few billion [dollars] in revenue that was nonexistent five or ten years ago," he said.

Tourism jobs, however, did not make the economic difference that was promised to the rural, outer-lying towns.

"Casinos provide jobs and yet unemployment is high," Marcowicz said. "If we don't make the [Groton submarine] base more militarily viable … when the [tax] bracket comes around - and by God, it will come around - $3.3 billion goes."

His words were heeded by Courtney and the remaining students.

"I'm trying to learn about what our congressman is doing for us - what kind of ideas he wants to employ for the future of Connecticut," said Gregory O'Donnell, a 6th-semester undecided major. "I question whether providing incentives - trying to choose the winners and losers - is the right path. [Students] are creative and adaptable; teachers are leaving because they are sick of tests."

"We need to let the markets decide," O'Donnell continued. "Let the private sector do what it needs to do."

Afterward, Courtney attended a luncheon in his honor, where students who had signed up beforehand were allowed to meet and talk with him about the day's issues.

"When you bring together University of Connecticut expertise… that is invaluable," Courtney said in his closing remarks. "One of the things [I did] when I ran for congress was using the university as a resource, and I was pleased that we had the chance to do that."