Robert Pastor, director for the Center for North American Studies at AU, serves as a role model because of his drive to work through seemingly impossible situations, his students and co-workers say.
"I have never met anybody who is as respected and accomplished as he is in the
political and academic spheres, yet remains devoted to his students and [is] highly accessible to anyone who seeks his advice," said Jeri Buzzetta, a senior who as a sophomore took Pastor's class "North America: Union or Community?"
At AU, Pastor has five positions: vice president of international affairs, director of CNAS, creator of the Center for Democracy and Election Management, executive director on Commission on Federal Election Reform and professor.
Through his work, Pastor has inspired others to look at the relationships among Canada, Mexico and the United States in a new
way.
"Dr. Pastor introduced me to a way of thinking about international relations that I would not have encountered under the tutelage of anyone else," Buzzetta said. "His vision of the three North American countries as sharing more than a trilateral economic partnership has inspired me to pursue the study of deepening economic and social integration on the continent from a legal perspective in law school."
Pastor said he has a vision for how Canada, Mexico and the United States should advance.
"The three governments are very timid in their approach to the issues," he said. "I would like for them to be bolder."
David Stemper, who works with Pastor at CNAS, said his colleague is the "visionary, public speaker [and] public writer," while Stemper runs the daily operations and implements Pastor's vision.
"He is great at public speaking in a time where most people, starting with the president down to an undergraduate, can barely put together coherent sentences," Stemper said.
With the recent debate about immigration, Pastor has suggestions for how to help solve the problem.
"The only way to stop the flow over the long-term is to narrow the income gap," Pastor said.
Pastor said people are coming to the U.S. for more income since 93 percent of undocumented workers have a job in their home countries.
"We should share the blame," Pastor said. "Our businesses like cheap labor."
Pastor said the U.S. needs a national identification system.
"As long as we don't have a fraud-proof identification system, it is hard to hold businesses accountable," he said. "When they are given documents, they can say, 'We didn't know they were forged.'"
However, Pastor said that it will take a lot of time before the public is more receptive to these ideas.
"I have just testified before Congress and do not believe that its leaders have the imagination or political will to pursue a long-term investment fund at this time," Pastor said. "I think the problems will fester, but eventually Congress will walk back to this proposal."
In the middle of the debate on illegal migration, some may have forgotten that the U.S. welcomes more than one million legal immigrants each year, Pastor said.
Pastor also said the U.S. can absorb the numbers and the overall economy will benefit, but there will be social tensions in some areas where the new immigrants will collide with unskilled and unemployed Americans.
"Immigration is a source of American strength," Pastor said. "It introduces culturally diverse perspectives that permit us to identify with all nations of the world, but when the immigrants live outside the law, they are easily exploited, and rule of law is eroded."
CNAS "examines the differences and shared characteristics of Canada, Mexico and the United States; compares the North American experiment with Europe's; and challenges students and faculty to imagine a continental future," according to its Web site. North American Studies is offered as an undergraduate minor and a graduate certificate through the College of Arts and Sciences.
Pastor's teachings are not constrained to the classroom; he is willing to help students who seek his advice.
"Beyond the classroom, Dr. Pastor gave me the confidence to apply to law schools that I thought were beyond my reach," said Buzzetta, who will be attending Harvard Law School in the fall. "By helping me hone and believe in my writing, speaking and analytical skills, Dr. Pastor has helped guide me to pursue a career path that best suits my strengths."
Despite the difficulties Pastor finds, he persistently looks for ways to achieve his goals.
"It is easy for us to throw our hands into the air and say there is no hope," Stemper said. "It's hard to find people who want to work day to day to change that attitude abroad and in the U.S"
