- [Voiceover] Wheelan-Pressly Funeral Home and Crematory, a proud supporter of WQPT, has been serving Quad City families since 1889.

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We care about your financial and physical health.

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- A Russian invasion and a local impact, plus, getting your daughters into construction in "The Cities".

(upbeat music) Bold military moves by Russia half a world away is having a big impact in Europe; that's to be expected.

But it's also impacting other countries in the world.

And in our interconnected planet, that should be unexpected either.

What may be unexpected is that this invasion by Vladimir Putin has blurred some political lines in America, as some Republicans have credited Putin as a genius.

We talked with Monmouth College Political Scientist, Dr. Andre Audette, about the politics behind Putin, and a war that has immediate, and lasting effects, around the world.

Dr. Audette, I mean, on first blush, what do you think of this invasion, as far as the political ramifications?

- Sure, well, I think it was a surprising invasion.

Although we've seen the buildup, we saw intelligence reports that the US administration was releasing.

I think people were still thinking that Putin wasn't going to go this far, that he wasn't actually going to go into Ukraine.

And so I think this has long-lasting impacts on the international stage.

It's got some immediate effects on the US economy, and our politics, we have an election coming up in November, so lots of political ramifications from this.

- Yeah, and the timing is also interesting, also, because if you think about the fragility of the economics of the Western world right now, coming out of the COVID pandemic, inflation on the rise, and that any sanctions that are done by the US, and the allies against Russia, will also impact the US and its allies.

- Sure, I think one of the immediate impacts that we're gonna see from this is that gas prices are gonna rise.

President Biden is trying to employ some methods, to ease the burden on US consumers, but even just in the past couple of days, we've seen the oil markets fluctuating rapidly.

So I think it's gonna hurt US consumers at the gas pumps, and some of our allies too, Germany was gonna be one of the big beneficiaries of a new Russian pipeline, and they've since closed that off.

And so I think Europe is gonna see a lot of hits, in terms of their natural gas and gasoline supplies as well.

- No troops, no American troops, we're told, are going to be in Ukraine, but that doesn't mean that we're not gonna hurt, as you just pointed out.

- That's right, so President Biden has been very clear, from the beginning, that because Ukraine is not a NATO ally, that we are not going to commit US forces to military battle, but of course, there are effects of this.

So the sanctions that we put in place, those are gonna impact, like I said, gasoline, other nanotechnology, other imports that we get from Russia, and also the financial sector as a whole.

There's been some reluctance to go into the swift sanctions, which would be a little bit stronger sanctions placed on the Russian government.

So far, we've held back from that, and that's primarily out of a fear of what this is gonna do to the financial markets, both in the United States, and to some of our European allies.

- When you look at dealing with a superpower, if you want to declare Russia as a superpower, it does appear that always, politically, the first step is sanctions, rather than any direct kind of military confrontation.

- That's right, and particularly, in this case, where Russia, of course, has nuclear weapons, they're part of the UN Security Council.

We have to be very careful in how we deal with Russia, so that this doesn't lead to something worse.

And so I think sanctions are probably the natural first-step with this.

And we see that playing out at the world stage, where this is usually the first step in trying to prevent armed conflict from escalating, but we'll see how far Putin wants to go with this.

- Dr. Audette, I think one of the interesting thing is the lead-up to this invasion, where the Biden administration was pointing out information, that it obviously was getting through various sources, perhaps even hacking into systems in the Russian political system, as well as the government, and almost forecasting exactly what Putin was going to do.

Did you pick up on that as well, is that it seems like American intelligence is pretty sophisticated, when it comes to knowing what Russia might do?

- Yeah, and I think we benefit from having intelligence from our allies in the region as well.

And I think this was intentional, that the US... You know, we don't always release all this intelligence information at the beginning, but I think this was a strategy from the Biden administration, to try to be very transparent and forthcoming to the American people, about what's going on, what movements Putin is making.

And in a way, to try to reassure some of our allies in the region, that, you know, we have their backs, that NATO is still strong Alliance.

And that should this battle escalate any further, that the United States is taking this very seriously, and that we have a lot of good high intelligence information when it comes to our decision-making.

- You have seen some unity, a lot of unity, as a matter of fact, among the Western governments, trying to have a united front against Russia, but the unity isn't really being seen domestically at home, at least politically.

We have seen some interesting criticism of the President, and support, perhaps, for not what Putin has done, but for Putin himself.

- That's right, so if we just take a look, former President Trump gave an interview, where he called Vladimir Putin "a genius", where he was saying that he's making strategically smart moves, and that's not something that we see all the time.

Of course, there's always opposition to conflict, from different sectors, but it's very unusual that we would have of a former US President talking up Putin, who many view to be one of the primary enemies of the United States, or at least, a frenemy of sorts, where we have to engage.

But really is striking at the heart of some of the US strategic interests in the area.

So I think that's definitely something unusual that we would see in American politics.

- Do you think it's unusual for this time and place, or do you think this is the way it's going to be from now on?

Because, let's be honest, it's very much red, blue.

It's very much us, them, Democrat, Republican, that the unity is never really totally there.

- That's right, we're extremely polarized right now.

People are divided into their partisan camps.

I think this might be the new norm for now, but we also see a shifting movement, in terms of people's attitudes about the US's role on the international stage.

So one thing that the Republican party is dealing with, right now, is this sort of divide between the more establishment Republicans in the Senate, who are very much opposed to what Vladimir Putin is doing.

And they wanna see a large and strong role for the US, and the international stage, versus President Trump, and some of his allies, that are taking a more domestic approach to American politics.

And they are de-emphasizing some of our strategic commitments to NATO, and some of our movements around the world, and trying to focus more on the American economy, and our American political system.

And so I think we see the Republican party also dealing with some of these shifting norms, in terms of, how do we approach foreign policy issues?

- Well, current thinking, and looking into the crystal ball, has it that Democrats are gonna fare badly in November, in the midterms, because of the economy, for the most part, but other issues as well.

If this drags on, and sanctions continue, you would assume that it's gonna have a continued impact on the economy, as well as the midterm elections come November.

- That's right, so as a political scientist, we talk about the midterm law, which suggests that the President, the incumbent President, is going to lose seats in Congress, in the midterm elections.

And that can only be exacerbated by the inflation that we see, people who are paying more for gasoline, paying more for food, a lot of different commodities that are increasing in prices.

And so I think that's going to hurt Democrats.

And then if this escalates further, you know, I think this just kind of adds to Republicans' message, that Democrats are not moving us in the right direction.

That perhaps there's just a "sense of malaise", to bring back a phrase from the Carter administration, as many people are looking backwards in history.

So I think that, you know, there's a possibility that this could unite people depending on what happens.

It's too early to tell how this whole situation's gonna play out.

But, you know, I really think there are very few scenarios in which this could actually help Democrats, come 2022 elections in November.

- So when you talk about Putin being savvy, or a genius, that does somewhat factor in, because I mean, everyone's a student, worldwide, of American politics.

And they know what can be done to trigger political crises, or political uncertainty in America.

- Yeah, you know, I think this is something that the United States is dealing with, and even outside of the United States, too, what sort of role do we see for democracy in the world?

And if we look at the trends, we've seen some backsliding in democracy, not only in the United States, but in other countries.

And so I think this really does put a lot of pressure on liberal democracies.

What sort of role are we gonna have in the future?

What sort of role do we have in engaging authoritarian regimes?

You know, of course, Russia and China, with which both tend to be on the authoritarian side, forming some strategic alliances.

So how do democracies, like the United States, balance that out?

And I think it raises a lot of questions moving forward.

- After this interview, you're gonna be teaching students about American politics.

What are you gonna say today?

I'd assume it's the first class that you've taught, with this group of students, since the invasion.

- Yeah, I think students are worried about what's gonna happen.

You know, much like the American public, our students have a variety of different opinions about what we should do.

And I think there's a lot of uncertainty as to, you know, what do we do moving forward?

So I think one thing that we're gonna do, is just talk about some of the updates, the recent things that have happened, how does this impact American politics?

And, you know, raise some of the questions that we've been talking about.

What does this mean for polarization?

What does this mean for the economy?

What does this mean for their futures?

That something that I've heard students say a lot, you know, "What a time to be graduating college, when we have a COVID pandemic, we have rising inflation, we have student loans, we have now Russia invading Ukraine."

There's a lot of things to deal with.

And so I think there's a lot of fear and uncertainty, not only in the general population, but even among our students.

- So when you put it in the spectrum of American politics, I mean, the era that we're living through right now, I mean, we've seen polarization, turn of the century, from 1800s to 1900s, we saw it, certainly, during the Civil War.

I mean, is this...

I always think of politics and American government as a pendulum swing; it seems to swing one way, one era, another way, the next.

Is that the way you see our current situation?

- You know, it's hard to tell, I can't predict the future.

You know, I'd like to see some easing up of the polarization.

There were times where the American Political Science Association, to which I belonged, was saying, "we need more polarization."

Back in the 1950s, the parties are not different enough.

We got our wish, the parties are very different now.

And I think there's a lot of forces that would suggest that we're gonna continue along this path, that we're gonna continue being divided.

I don't see any immediate resolution to that, but perhaps as things develop over the next couple of years, hopefully there's something that can pull us back a little bit, and perhaps rally the country together.

- Dr. Andre Audette, Political Scientist with Monmouth College.

In a moment, getting more women into the construction and trades field.

But first, welcome to March, Spring is not far away, but there are still some great wintertime activities, and other events you could put on your list of things to do.

So here's Laura Adams, "Out & About".

- [Laura] This is "Out & About", from March 3rd through 10th.

The Antique Spectacular returns to the QCCA Expo Center March 4th, while the Championship Mallards team returned to the TaxSlayer Center to fight breast cancer, the 4th, at 7:00PM.

And the Missouri Valley Women's Basketball Tournament takes place at the TaxSlayer the 10th at 4:00.

Quad City Irish Rugby hold a corned beef and cabbage fundraiser, the 5th, at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds, while the Geneseo Moose Lodge hosts the Kiwanis Pancake Day, the 6th at 7:00 AM.

Join Augustana College for two artistic and cultural events, the 5th and 12th.

While "39 Steps", the farcical whodunit, plays at the Brunner Theatre, the 10th through the 12th.

And "'Night Mother", the Tony-award winning drama, is presented at the Augustana Black Box, the 3rd through the 5th.

"The Revolutionists" opens at the Black Box Theater, and runs through the 12th, rated R for language.

And for music, Aaron Watson is at the Rust Belt, the 5th at 7:00.

Wishbone Ash performs the 8th at 7:00 at the Red Stone Room.

Hiplet Ballerinas take the stage at Galvin Fine Arts, the 5th at 7:30.

"From East to West", presented by the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, at the Adler Theater, is the 5th at 7:30, and at Centennial Hall, the 6th at 2:00.

There's a free jazz concert at Wallenberg Hall, the 9th at 8:00.

And "Tom Foolery on Tremont" features Andrew Frank, the 5th, at Renwick Mansion.

For more information, visit wqpt.org.

- Thank you, Laura.

We try to spend some time each week highlighting a local musician, who's creating original music for audiences in the cities.

And that includes Jonathan Turner, who performed for us, his original "Midwest Boy".

(slow piano) ♪ Just a Midwest boy ♪ ♪ And the Jersey girl ♪ ♪ Alone in New York ♪ ♪ Alone in the world ♪ ♪ Night after night, the boy and girl wondered ♪ ♪ If they'd ever find the one ♪ ♪ Or would their hungry hearts be forever born to run ♪ ♪ They thought, where are you ♪ ♪ Where are you ♪ ♪ Where are you ♪ ♪ Where are you ♪ ♪ Just share with me the rest of my life ♪ (energetic piano and beat) ♪ Just the Midwest boy ♪ ♪ And the Jersey girl ♪ ♪ One day they met online ♪ ♪ Let their own feelings unfurl ♪ ♪ With the touch of a mouse ♪ ♪ They clicked, got together the very next day ♪ ♪ The date she was born ♪ ♪ On their gate she was reborn to stay ♪ ♪ She felt, I found you ♪ ♪ I found you ♪ ♪ I found you ♪ ♪ I found you ♪ ♪ For the rest of my life ♪ ♪ Just a Jersey girl ♪ ♪ And a Midwest boy ♪ ♪ She gave him hope ♪ ♪ He brought her joy ♪ ♪ Then one afternoon in June ♪ ♪ She asked him to be his bride ♪ ♪ Though it was raining out ♪ ♪ The sunshine streamed inside ♪ ♪ He said I love you ♪ ♪ I love you ♪ ♪ I love you ♪ ♪ And I love you ♪ ♪ For the rest of my life ♪ ♪ Now we're so happy ♪ ♪ To be here on your wedding day ♪ ♪ To bask in your glow ♪ ♪ And let you know ♪ ♪ That either of you ♪ ♪ We love you ♪ ♪ We love you ♪ ♪ We love you ♪ ♪ We love you ♪ ♪ And we'll love you ♪ ♪ For the rest of our lives ♪ - Jonathan Turner and Midwest Boy, performed at the Black Box Theatre in Downtown Moline.

The building and trades field has long been male-dominated in every aspect, but there is a growing attempt to get more young women interested in construction.

Next week is Women in Construction week, as the spotlight shines on efforts to get women into building their own futures.

And we talked with Stephanie Hintermeister, at Bush Construction, who's also with the Quad City Chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction.

So Stephanie, what really is the purpose of Women in Construction week?

'Cause I mean, it really does highlight a need in the construction field.

- Yeah, NAWIC's mission is to enhance the success of women in the construction industry, and to provide awareness of the opportunities, that we, as women, have available to us.

And then also to emphasize the growing role of women in the industry.

So WIC week helps us bring more visibility to that mission.

And so then chapters celebrate, throughout the whole week, with tons of different events, like networking, job site tours, workshops.

We do some community service projects, and our favorite, the hard-hat happy hours.

(both laugh) - I do like that.

What is interesting is that, I mean, the statistics just still blow me away.

Only about 11% of construction workers are women, but really, only 1 out of 100 are in the field, most are in office jobs of that sort.

But you really want to get more women out in the field, and it seems like the way society has changed, that's more accepted.

- Yeah, I think so, and I think it's great.

I, myself, am an office employee.

I'm a project coordinator at Bush Construction, so I do spend the majority of my time in our office.

I'm very lucky that I am able to go and visit the different job sites, and attend meetings at our job sites, and pretty much do what I need to do, to help me learn more, and be better in my job, as far as being able to go out into the field.

I'm not, you know, picking up hammers, and doing anything like that, but it's still like, cool to be able to get out there, and see the progress.

I really think that we need to start at a younger age, like showing girls, and guys, that construction is like, such a viable option, as a career path, because there's so many different things you can do in the construction industry.

Like I think, also, young people may have like, a stigma in their mind, about that construction is out... You know, yeah, like I said, like banging the hammer, and you know, building a building, but there's so much more to it than that, you know?

We need the architects, we need the designers, we need the field guys, we need the office support, we need project managers.

There's so much to it, and I don't think that kids, or younger people, women, know that about the construction industry.

So that's another reason why being a NAWIC member is so important, so that we can bring that awareness to others; I didn't know it.

- Yeah, yeah, but you do now.

And construction is in so many different ways.

I mean, there's housing construction, there's commercial construction.

But one of the biggest construction projects in the Quad City history was the new I-74 bridge.

And one of my favorite pictures is this one, that we're showing right now, of all of those women that were part of the I-74 construction project.

I mean, I just think that's such a great picture.

What does that mean to you?

- It's really special, I am...

I, unfortunately, didn't get to attend that job-site tour, I really wish I had, but I wasn't a member yet.

But it's still...

Listening to the stories of the women that did get to participate, and that did work for companies that did play a part in the bridge construction, it's just like, amazing to me, to be a part of things like that.

And even smaller projects around the Quad Cities.

Like I drive around, you know, with my...

I have younger kids, I drive around with my kids, and I'm like, "Hey, Bush Construction built that."

Like, and you know, they're just like, "Oh my gosh, that's so cool."

So I just think it's special.

And it's like, it's just exciting to get to be a part of these awesome, big, important projects around the Quad Cities.

- And it's not just, like I said, not just the big ones, and you pointed it out, too, there's small ones as well.

There's just so much work to be done.

And it's interesting, 'cause I got this other statistic that says, "New construction industry jobs are expected to balloon by almost 2 million workers, this year, nationwide."

I mean, it really does underline the fact that workers in construction and trades, are needed; both men and women.

- Absolutely.

We've all seen, you know, every different type of job, and career, and business, has seen it, with what's going on with the pandemic, and everything else.

So there are shortages, and price increases, and all this, but yeah, the labor shortage, to me, is like the most important thing.

So if we can get these kids out of high school, and out of college, and into the trades, and into construction, like, there is a definite need for it, and it's a positive thing.

And so I just think we need to be better, as an industry, at catching 'em young, and getting 'em excited, and doing anything and everything that we can, to like, bring awareness to both men and women, that the construction industry is where it's at.

- Well, and let's be honest, the trades in the area, the trade unions, the plumbers, the pipe-fitters, the electricians, they all have apprentice programs.

They all have areas where people can... you know, you don't have to be just a young kid, you can be in your 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s- - Oh, yeah.

- if you wanna change your career.

I mean, there's so many opportunities to learn.

- Yeah, absolutely, and that's like, one of the cool things about the construction industry, is that you don't necessarily have to have attended a four-year college, and have some big degree.

You can go to technical school, or community college, or like you said, like the apprenticeships, that way you're earning your money, while you're learning how to do your job.

And so I think that would be one of the better things about it, is that you can get out out there right away, and start making your money, and then learn how to do the different things, like you said.

Like electricians, plumbing, all those specialties, those trades, it's nice that that's a route that you can choose to go that way.

You know, not everybody wants to go to a four-year school, and to know that that isn't your only option, in the construction industry, I think is very important.

- Well, and as you said, I mean, WIC, Women in Construction, you've been trying to talk to young people, well before college.

I mean, high school kids, to get them at least slightly interested in the trades.

How is that going right now?

Because, I gotta tell you the truth, if you find your niche, if you find that, "Oh, I love building, you know, frames to any type of construction," or, "I really do like the electrical," or, "I really do like pipe-fitting and plumbing."

I mean, are you reaching those kids?

- I certainly hope so.

We try to, NAWIC tries to, and all of our members, our individual companies that we work for, I think, are very good at trying to do different things to get out there in the communities, to the younger kids.

Most recently, at St. Ambrose, they had just this week, actually, they had a STEAM event, so NAWIC was there.

We had a table set up so that we could talk to you about construction, we had an activity.

So that was like one of the things that we've done, most recently, to get out there.

But then we also...

I know the Quad City schools last year started the new, the STEP Pathway Program.

So we actually, NAWIC, our local chapter, was able to sponsor two female students, that actually signed, to begin an apprenticeship as electricians, so that's pretty cool.

And then there's different...

I know a lot of the schools now, are starting with like, the 8th graders, like an 8th grade career fairs.

So we like to try to participate in things like that too, just so we can show you.

Yeah, like you said, like starting 'em off, like when you're in 8th grade, like that's when you're... You know, you kind of start figuring out, you have some definite things that you're good at, and that you like, so yeah.

Catch them young, I think, is very important.

Bush Construction is actually, next week, in celebration of Women in Construction week, we are holding our second annual workshop with the Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois.

And we do a build-like-a-girl workshop.

So this year, we are building birdhouses, 'cause last year, that's what they said they would like to do next time.

So we just kind of like to get out there, and show the girls that they can do everything that the guys can do, and that building can be fun.

And that there's all types of different projects that you can build.

And like you said, like it's all different types of construction, there's houses, there's commercial, there's, just like the individual trades.

So I think just doing as much as we can, catching 'em young, in the schools, with different events, and fairs, and just anything word of mouth.

I know, like I had mentioned before, my kids are younger.

So, you know, I'm always talking to them about... 'Cause I have a boy and a girl, so I'm always talking to them about construction, and that they can both do it, or neither them can do it.

They can do whatever they want.

But I just think it's very important, the younger we can catch 'em, the better off we are.

And just to show 'em like, how cool this stuff is.

- Stephanie Hintermeister of Bush Construction, with the Quad City Chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction.

On the air, on the radio, on the web, on your mobile device, and streaming on your computer, thanks for taking some time to join us, as we talk about the issues, on "The Cities".

- [Voiceover] Wheelan-Pressly Funeral Home and Crematory, a proud supporter of WQPT, has been serving Quad City families since 1889.

They now have livestream capabilities for viewing your loved one's funeral or memorial service.

- [Voiceover] At IHMVCU, we've always been here for you.

You are, and always will be, our top priority.

We care about your financial and physical health, and we are here.