Paw'd Defiance

Part two of our conversation about the Labor Solidarity Project with UW Tacoma Assistant Teaching Professor Alex Miller, Assistant Professor Sonia De La Cruz and alumna Teresa Dennerlein . In this episode we talk about the pandemic's impact on work including the "Great Resignation." We also discuss the changing nature of work as well as what it's like to work in higher education during COVID.

Listen to The Labor Solidarity Project Part I.

The Labor Solidarity Project at UW Tacoma  consists of faculty and students working to highlight labor studies in the curriculum, in research, and through community outreach. In this episode, the first of two parts, we talk with UW Tacoma Assistant Teaching Professor Alex Miller, Assistant Professor Sonia De La Cruz and alumna Teresa Dennerlein about the LSP, its mission and why an understanding of labor history and current labor issues is important.

Listen to The Labor Solidarity Project Part II.

The 133 foot schooner Adventuress has been to the Artic and was used by San Francisco Bar Pilots to transfer pilots to and from cargo vessels near the Farallon Islands. Today Adventuress is operated by the non-profit organization Sound Experience, as a platform for environmental education about the Puget Sound. In this episode we board the Adventuress with Associate Teaching Professor Julie Masura as well as a group of current UWT students and recent grads. Masura and Associate Vice Chancellor for Research Cheryl Greengrove teamed up with Sound Experience to provide students with a chance to do some field work. 

In this episode UW Tacoma student Ashley Young tells her story. Young struggled in high school. After graduation she attended community college for a year but eventually left school and moved to Florida. She got a job selling sport bikes. The 2008 financial crash lead Young to move back to Washington where she eventually decided to join the Air Force. Young talks about her experience in Afghanistan including the injury she sustained. She also talks about life after the military and how she regained a sense of purpose by going back to school and by playing women's tackle football.

The Tacoma-Pierce County Housing Justice Project provides free legal aid to low-income Pierce County residents who are facing eviction. In this episode we talk about the status of the eviction moratorium in Washington state. We also discuss the changes to state housing law. Among the changes, providing representation to tenants facing eviction as well as creating fair repayment plans to tenants who have fallen behind on their rent.

Rental Assistance in Pierce County: https://www.piercecountywa.gov/7142/Rental-Assistance

For the first time in 18 months, the UW Tacoma community gathered on campus as part of the annual back-to-school celebration called Convocation. In this episode we'll drop in on the event and hear from some of the speakers including new Chancellor Sheila Edwards Lange. We'll also listen as new and returning students talk about life during the pandemic and how they feel about coming to campus, some for the first time.

Most of UW Tacoma's students, faculty and staff have been working, teaching and learning remotely for the past 18 months. In this episode we hear from the campus community as the university pivots back to an in-person model of instruction. Students, faculty and staff share their concerns as well as their hopes about returning to campus. They also discuss how the pandemic has changed them and how they'll think about this time years from now.

In this episode we talk about the role students play in getting people vaccinated against COVID-19. We also talk about what life has been like for healthcare professionals during the pandemic and how the healthcare field can address vaccine hesitancy. We're joined by Carol McFarland, Assistant Dean, Strategic and Community Partnerships at Seattle Pacific University and Briana Sanger, Nursing Staff Development Coordinator at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.

UW Tacoma alumna Erica Myron has been crowned Ms. Wheelchair USA 2021-2022. In 2003 the then-20-year-old was shot four times. A bullet lodged in one of the vertebrae in her lower back and left her paralyzed from the waist down. Myron talks about her life and how competing in pageants helped her find her voice. Myron plans to spend her time as Ms. Wheelchair USA advocating for things like accessible playgrounds and increased representation in the media for people with mobility issues.

UW Tacoma alumni Dana Malick and Lyndsey Conway work in the healthcare field at a time that is unparalleled in recent history. Malick recently completed her master of nursing and Conway received her degree about a year ago. Over the last few months Malick has been working at a vaccine clinic at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. Conway is a program supervisor at the Cancer Care Alliance. The two will talk about why they went into nursing. We'll also hear about the challenges of working in healthcare during a global pandemic and what it's like to be on the frontlines of history.