Summer work travel: Cheap labor or cultural exchange?

by Chris Owen on

The Summer Work Travel (SWT) program is a U.S. Department of State initiative that brings college students from around the world to the United States for seasonal jobs. But far from the cultural exchange advertised, students are finding themselves exploited by workplace safety and health violations.

Late last year, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ordered an “extensive and thorough review” of the program. Last month, federal officials issued citations and possible fines of nearly $300,000 against the Hershey Company, an employer involved with the program, reports PennLive. This week, the Center for Immigration Studies will hold a public discussion panel sorting it all out.

The panel will discuss results of the report “Cheap Labor as Cultural Exchange: The $100 Million Work Travel Industry” that says the SWT program has become a cheap labor program in the guise of cultural exchange.Critical of motives behind the program, the Center for Immigration Studies report accuses the program of providing “incentives for employers to bypass American workers by exempting SWT employers from taxes that apply to employment of Americans. Employers also don’t have to worry about providing health insurance, since SWT students are required to buy it for themselves.”

The discussion will be held in Washington D.C. tomorrow, March 13, 2012 at 9 a.m. in the Murrow Room at the National Press Club, 14th and F Streets, NW. Admission is free and open to the public. A transcript and video of the discussion will be available the following week.



[Flickr photo by Ryan.padilla]

California cooking classes teach artisanal, local food-crafting

by Meg Nesterov on

Cooking classes are nothing new, but how about learning how to roast your own coffee beans, brew beer at home, or even prepare a roast chicken from scratch, including catching the bird? The Southern California-area Institute of Domestic Technology brings farm-to-table eating to a new level with workshops focusing on hyper-local food-crafting of everything from dairy products to artisanal mustard.

Classes are currently posted for March and April, with a few more on the schedule for early summer. Most workshops are around or under $200 including ingredients and lunch, and held at or near the Institute’s headquarters at Mariposa Creamery, north of Pasadena. The coffee roasting class will be held on April 28 with fees of $95 for supplies and snacks. The classes are a tasty way to take a piece of California home, and learn how to eat locally, wherever you are.

Photo courtesy Institute of Domestic Technology Facebook page.

Texas authorities urge students to avoid Mexico

by Libby Zay on

As spring break draws near, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) has issued a warning that advises college students to stay away from Mexico. The warning cites ongoing drug cartel violence as the main reason to avoid going south of the border, but also mentions criminal activity including homicides, gun battles, kidnappings, carjackings, rapes and more.

Popular resort destinations such as Cancun, Acapulco, Mazatlan, Cabo San Lucas and Tijuana are not exempt from the warning, which states these areas “can be havens for drug dealers and petty criminals.” Although the DPS acknowledges that many travel to Mexico without incident and that the Mexican government has made strides battling the cartels, it encourages travelers to carefully research any planned trips and always check the U.S. Department of State website for up-to-date information on security issues in Mexico.

Just a few weeks ago, the U.S. Department of State issued a new Mexico travel warning that advised against nonessential travel to areas within 16 Mexican states. According to U.S. Department of State numbers, 120 U.S. citizens were murdered in Mexico during 2011, a number that has increased dramatically since the tally was at 35 in 2007. All U.S. citizens living or traveling in Mexico are advised to register with the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate.

Mexico tourism adds environmentalists to list of foes

by Chris Owen on

Mexico gets bad press for a number of reasons causing travelers to use extra caution when visiting south of the border. Attractions, like UNESCO biosphere sites along the Baja California Peninsula, draw travelers but a newly thriving coral reef is under threat from a mega-development planned for the area, adding environmentalists to Mexico tourism’s list of foes.

In Cabo Pulmo, Mexico, the shallow reef was a typical degraded reef 17 years ago that had been damaged by commercial boats dragging their anchors through the coral to get at valuable species that lived there.

“We started noticing there were fewer fish, and we were having to go farther out,” says Judith Castro, a local commercial fisherman. “We just saw the reef as a garden. We didn’t know the importance of it.”

Aided by local residents, the economy was gradually transformed from fishing to ecotourism, and the amount of life on the reef blossomed, increasing by 460 percent.

Now, a new sprawling project would transform the sleepy little village of Cabo Pulmo into a major tourist destination with about 30,000 hotel rooms, golf courses and a marina on a strip of seaside desert about a 90-minute drive northeast of the Los Cabos resorts.Opposing the project, The World Wildlife Fund recently brought schoolchildren bearing the flags of 70 countries to present almost 13,000 signatures from around the world asking President Felipe Calderon to cancel permits for construction at the site.

“It is unique, not only in Mexico, but in the world,” says Omar Vidal, the head of the WWF in Mexico. “It is a nursery for marine species to repopulate many areas of the Gulf of California.”

Mexico is a land rich in natural beauty and wonderful places to visit, making the country still one of the most visited in the world. Of course, this means tourism is an important part of the economy. At a time when cruise lines have canceled stops at Mexican ports and an updated US Department of State Travel Warning does not help matters, a new tourist destination is going to be awfully hard for Mexico’s government to pass up as it weighs its options.





Flickr photo by NOAA’s National Ocean Service

Southwest gives back, engages with medical transport program

by Chris Owen on

Thinking of Southwest Airlines commonly brings to mind discount fares, free checked luggage, on-board snacks and a quirky, relaxed attitude about air travel. But to get a complete picture of Southwest, we need to add “a company that gives back in a big way.” This week, the airline announced that over 70 hospitals and charities from across the United States have been selected for Southwest’s 2012 medical transportation program, a grant system that seeks to lessen the financial burden for families who are facing serious illness by providing complimentary, round-trip airline tickets to nonprofit hospitals and medical organizations.

“We believe in making a difference, and we hear from patients and hospitals how important this program is to families who already are dealing with so much,” said Linda Rutherford, Southwest Airlines Vice President of Communication and Strategic Outreach. “We are proud that we continue to grow this program to provide this much-needed assistance during such a difficult time.”

Entering its fifth year of operation, the Medical Transportation Grant Program (MTGP) has helped nearly 19,000 people in 26 states with free transportation and will give out flights valued at more than $2.4 million in 2012. Targeted are patients who must travel for medical treatment, are facing huge expenses, and who appreciate any help they can get.

That could be the end of the story. Other organizations have medical transportation programs that also help people in need. But Southwest, the only airline we know of with a program dedicated to making such a huge impact, takes charitable service a few steps further, engaging the world in a very social way.

Southwest’s Blog invites others to make a difference too, through a partnership with photographer Robert X. Fogarty (@rxfogarty) and Dear World, a website dedicated to giving its subjects a simple and profound voice through photos.

“These emotional and impactful photographs help convey the message of hope, the importance of the Medical Transportation Grant program, and Southwest’s commitment to making a difference,” says Dear World.

Each person in the photos has their own story to tell and whether it is a patient and their family, volunteers, or Southwest Airlines employees, each chose messages that resonated with their personal circumstances.

“We’re working towards a beautiful, wonderful world where a Dear World portrait stands for something,” says Dear World. “People get that we’re connected and that you can build something fast alone, but to build anything great you have to go together.”

Here, photographer Robert Fogarty speaks to the inception of the program:


Southwest Airlines is the nation’s largest carrier in terms of originating domestic passengers boarded. Serving 73 cities in 38 states, the airline operates more than 3,300 flights a day and has more than 37,000 employees with a unique commitment to the triple bottom line of “Performance, People, and Planet.” They are profitable, have no planned layoffs, and through efforts like this, look to be an airline that will be around for quite some time.

Flickr photo by gTarded