Each Fall several senior social work majors submit proposals for a particular project that he/she will conduct during the course of his/her senior year.  From these submissions, one or two proposals are selected by the Social Work faculty to fulfill the requirement of an Honors Project.  These projects are selected on; the needs of the population, commitment to Social Work values, breadth and depth of proposed idea, methodology, and contribution to the field.  It is one of the highest honors to have a proposal approved.  Students who submit proposals must be an Honors student as outlined by the Phi Alpha Honor Society.

This project seeks to dispel myths about homelessness and poverty through an informative presentation to interested classes, campus groups, and community organizations.  This presentation provides empirical research pertaining to the growth population of people working in this country but whom remain in poverty, the shortage of affordable housing, the real facts about homelessness and poverty, and ways people may get involved in working towards improving societal conditions for this population.

Prior to the presentation, each individual was asked to complete a survey that was designed to measure attitudes about homelessness and poverty.  Proceeding the presentation individuals were asked to retake the test.  Simple t-test suggested that a statistically significant number of people had a less blaming attitude towards the poor and a greater commitment to investing societal resources into the problem of poverty after hearing the presentation.  Currently this project is being examined for publication.

Finally, campus consciousness continued to be raised through an event called "Sleeping Under the Stars, United for Social Justice."  Several guest speakers from a variety of social service agencies serving the homeless and poor were invited to "speak out" on the issue.  Agencies represented included The Center for Poverty Solutions located in Baltimore, The Carroll County Department of Social Services, and The Human Service Administration of Westminster.  In addition, a former homeless man discussed his trials and tribulations in overcoming poverty status.  All students were welcomed to attend and encouraged to sleep out in Memorial Plaza in recognition of the plight of the homeless.

Recently released data from the 2000 Census show that Latinos are the fastest growing demographic group in the United States, expanding 58% between 1990 and 2000, to represent now the largest minority at 13% of the population.  Members of this highly diverse population have much to offer, as well as many needs.  They are often, however, isolated from the rest of our society, who may have little knowledge of their existence.  I designed my honors project to gain a greater understanding of the experiences and challenges faced by the Latinos.  Specifically, I examined demographic trends, family patterns, economic status, and immigration factors among Latinos of lower socioeconomic class living in this are of Maryland.  I used a case study model to guide my research.  The bulk of my information came from a series of interviews, corroborated by research of online and textual resources.

With my advisor's assistance, my research began with an interview of a person who has worked extensively with laborers from CEntral America.  He then introduced me to a 39-year-old man originally from El Salvador who now lives and works in Baltimore.  I also met with his wife, from Guatemala, and their three U.S.-born children.

In addition, I attended several ESOL classes in Carroll County, through which I met other people willing to be interviewed.  For example, I spoke with a young man from Mexico, his American wife, and an exchange student from Columbia.  These individuals were by no means intended to typify the diverse spectrum of the Latino population.  Rather, hearing the stories of some individuals gave me insight to their experiences and the reality of the human side of factors affecting Latinos in the U.S..

Finally, I had the chance to share some of my findings with social work classes.  This helped to foster awareness of the expanding Latino population, while enhancing my own presentation skills.  Overall, I found the opportunity to design and conduct this project while at the undergraduate level invaluable to my academic and professional growth.

On Monday, October 30, 2000, Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College) hosted its first Rally Against Domestic Violence.  The rally, a joint collaboration between the Social Work Club of McDaniel College and my Honors Project, took place at the end of a month designed to promote awareness around the issue of domestic violence.  Throughout the month, purple and silver ribbons were given out, and posters with messages against domestic violence were displayed around campus.  The rally itself consisted of poems written about violence in the home, information about how McDaniel projects its students against incidents of dating violence and a keynote address given by Bev Gonce, director of Family and Children's Services Domestic Violence Program.  Ms. Gonce spoke about her experiences working with women and children affected by domestic violence about services available to those who are living through the violence every day.

In addition to the rally, the last week of October, McDaniel hosted its own version of the "Clothesline Project."  This "project" which began on a college campus similar to McDaniel College consisted of T-shirts made by women and children affected by domestic violence.  These hand-made T-shirts were hung on a clothesline in Decker College Center as a symbolic airing out of the dirty secrets of violence in the home.  Some of the messages were simple ("Don't Tread on Me") and others far more angry ("An Abuser Comes From the Pit of Hell").  All in all, the adult and children's size T-shirts were powerful symbols to view.

As a member of both the local community as well as college community, Carrie identified a need for greater comradery between the two.  Carrie's observations suggested that there was a potential ailing division between the college students and their neighbors.  She suspected that some of the tension may have emerged from a perceived difference in socio-economic status.  McDaniel College is a small private liberal arts college while many of our neighbors on Union Street live in low income housing.  Carrie was convinced that people have the capacity and good will to transcend the barriers economics can create, and interdependently thrive to create a humane environment.  She decided that one was to develop a sense of harmony within the larger community may be to bring the groups together in a festive way.  She wanted to host a carnival for the neighbors to enjoy with the students.

Carrie worked tirelessly to secure grants from social service organizations to purchase or rent what she saw was necessary for a successful day.  She also elicited local agencies for monetary contributions to support her cause.  She rallied numerous campus organizations to work with her and provide personnel on the day of the event to run the various activities.  She also had local churches, social service agencies, businesses, Channel 19, and the Carroll County Times publicize the event.  She carefully selected to host the event on the lawn directly across from Union St.  The day was hugely successful as just about the whole neighborhood spent the day at McDaniel.  Students, faculty, and staff equally enjoyed themselves and established new friendships.  Carrie left careful instructions  and an expectation to carry on the tradition and this year the repeated success of the day has ensured an annual tradition.

It is an inevitable fact that social workers work with people.  They encounter various populations in their extremely diverse profession, and society looks upon them to suspend their biases and prejudices to minister to some of the most stereotyped groups and individuals.  One group in particular which has begun to raise some questions about the objectivity of social workers is the gay and lesbian population.  As a group that is quite often discriminated against, more and more social workers are seeing homosexual clients and addressing some very sensitive and difficult issues, such as adoptions and same sex marriages.

My honors project was to conduct a quantitative research study involving BSW programs of Mid Atlantic colleges and universities.  The purpose was to determine where social work students are in their attitudes about homosexuals, and how this could affect their future gay and lesbian clients.  Three hypotheses were proposed; 1) There will be a difference in heterosexist attitudes between freshmen and sophomores compared to juniors and seniors, 2) there will be a difference in heterosexist attitudes between traditional (age 18-22) and non-traditional students (age 23+), and 3) there will be a difference in heterosexist attitudes between the school locations of urban, suburban, and rural students.  Findings were positive in all areas.  Currently, this project is being prepared in collaboration with other members of the research team for publication.

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