SBS Newsletter – December 2010/January 2011
In this issue
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Three UMass Economists Selected for INET Inaugural Grants Program |
Upcoming Events Alumni News Michelle Cardinal '89 (communication) is the first woman contributor to the blog, Bizzy Life: For People Who Live Their Work. Co-founder of the advertising agency, The R2CGroup, she has been named "Oregon Woman Entrepreneur of The Year" and one of Inc Magazine's "Most Fascinating Entrepreneurs," in addition to receiving multiple recognitions for running Oregon's largest woman-owned company. Cardinal is a member of the SBS Dean's Advisory Board. Boston Herald sportswriter Steve Buckley '78 (communication) publicly disclosed that he is gay in a moving column (1/6/11). His announcement has generated enormous support among his fans and the sports community, as detailed in a follow-up article the next day. Lindsay McCluskey '09 (anthropology), president of the United States Student Association, was quoted in an AP article about a study that says 45% of college students show no significant improvement in critical thinking skills, complex reasoning and writing by the end of their sophomore year. Former Minuteman forward Tony Gaffney '09 (sociology) has signed with the Utah Flash of the NBA Development League. Read more... Khaled Saghieh MA '05 (economics) was featured in a New York Times story (12/29/10) about the Beirut, Lebanon-based newspaper Al Akhbar, the only Arab newspaper to obtain a substantial batch of WikiLeaks cables. Saghieh, managing editor, abandoned his PhD studies to help start the paper, which has developed a reputation for daring in a society where the press is usually very careful about what it prints. Grace Williams '08 (sociology) of Dighton, Massachusetts, is a Peace Corps volunteer in the Healthy Schools program in Guatemala. At home on her annual leave, she spoke with Dighton middle schoolers about her experience. Read more in the Taunton Daily Gazette. The Boston Globe featured Cori Simeon-Ohiri '10 (communication/classical civilization) in a story about recent college graduates who have found work in the Boston area. It took her three months and hundreds of applications, but she finally landed a spot as a hostess at the chic Boston restaurant Scampo. The good news is that job openings appear to be on the rise. Jennifer Braceras '89 (communication/history), a UMass trustee, wrote a Boston Herald editorial (December 13) about the political fallout from Gov. Deval Patrick’s intervention in the search process for a new UMass president. Patrick has been criticized for what some view as his blocking the candidacy of Martin Meehan, UMass Lowell chancellor, and the subsequent resignation of Robert Manning, the chairman of the Board of Trustee. The editorial has been archived and is available for a fee. Katie Huston '08 (journalism/political science) is a publications manager and research fellow at the Economic Policy Research Institute, an NGO based in Cape Town, South Africa. Newly elected Massachusetts Northwestern district attorney David E. Sullivan '81 (ISOM, management) has named Jeremy Bucci '98 (political science/philosophy) as chief trial counsel. Bucci, who has been a prosecutor in Suffolk County since 2001, will be attorney in charge in Franklin County and will prosecute major felonies and supervise narcotic and asset forfeiture cases under Sullivan. Read more... Please send us your news! Also, view upcoming alumni events, sponsored by the Alumni Association, on their Events Listing. And check out MaroonCentral, the Alumni Association's online community. This is a FREE social networking service that encourages communication and professional networking among alumni and students through class notes, profiles, a searchable directory, and more. Department/Faculty News Professor Jack Ahern (landscape architecture and regional planning) has been named Vice Provost for International Programs. A UMass Amherst alumnus ['74, environmental design], he has been on the faculty for 25 years, nine of them as head of LARP. SBS in the News The Olympian [Olympia, Wash.], 1/13/11. An article on military spending and its job-generating capacity cites a 2007 study by Robert Pollin (economics), co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute. He found that $1 billion in defense spending creates fewer jobs than the same amount invested in education, mass transit, health care or home weatherization. Inside Higher Ed, 1/12/11. An article cites the Joya Misra, Jennifer Lundquist et al (sociology) article in Academe (see article above). New York Times (Bucks blog), 1/10/11. M.V. Lee Badgett (economics), director of the Center for Public Policy and Administration, discusses her personal financial resolutions for 2011. The Economist, 1/6/11. Badgett weighs in on the debate about single-sex marriage as a featured guest in an online debate. She points to evidence that shows same-sex couples should share in the basic human right to marry, and having the right to marry is good for same-sex couples and their families, for the institution of marriage and for society as a whole. Newsweek, 12/14/10. A story on whether the fight for gay rights is the contemporary equivalent to the civil rights movement of the 1960s cites a study on poverty in the LGB community, coauthored by Badgett, economics graduate student Alyssa Schneebaum, Randy Albelda PhD '83 (economics), and the Williams Institute at UCLA. Springfield Republican, 1/10/11. A new project of Five Colleges, Inc. aims to connect communities from Turners Falls to Springfield more closely to the river running through them. The Connecticut River has value not only as a working economic lifeline but as a regional symbol, says Frank Sleegers (landscape architecture and regional planning). The “riverscaping” project is supported by a grant from the Delegation of the European Union plus course, program and faculty support from Hampshire College and UMass Amherst. Springfield Republican, 1/6/11. Landscape architecture students are developing a design for revitalizing Hatfield center. Their work is using suggestions from a Pioneer Valley Planning Commission report. Time, 1/5/11. Article cites research by Michelle Budig (sociology) and PhD candidate Melissa Hodges, published in December's Gender and Society, that says married men who are fathers get paid more than women and other men. The Economist, 1/6/11. Gerald Epstein (economics) and graduate student Jessica Carrick-Hagenbarth recently published a paper that found many of the financial economists who weighed in on new federal regulation of Wall Street didn’t disclose their potential conflicts of interest. They also organized a letter to the American Economic Association, the world’s largest professional society for economists, calling for adoption of a code of ethical standards. The first day of the annual meeting, that convened Jan. 6 in Denver, included a debate on the role of ethics in the profession. News coverage has been extensive: Boston Herald, 1/12/11 Planet Money [NPR] ; New York Times [Economix blog], The Economist, 1/4/11; Cincinnati.com, 1/3/11; Bloomberg, 12/31/10; New York Times, 12/30/10. STLtoday.com, 12/10/10. Epstein comments in an editorial about large bonuses for Wall Street executives and what impact such payments have on the larger economy. Epstein says, “These things don’t add to the pie. They redistribute it – often from the taxpayers to banks and other financial institutions.” Public News Service, 1/3/11. A Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center report says the state has lost fewer jobs and maintained higher wages than most parts of the country and didn’t have a sharp increase in the poverty rate. This is due largely to the role that education plays in Massachusetts' economy, according to Jeff Thompson (Political Economy Research Institute). New York Times (Economix blog), 1/3/11. Nancy Folbre (economics), writes about economic and environmental impacts of conserving and caring for trees. She says that effective representation of women in community forestry decision-making significantly improves conservation outcomes. The Real News Network, 12/16/10. Folbre discusses why men have suffered higher levels of unemployment than women in the current recession. She notes that manufacturing, a male-dominated sector of the economy, has been hit harder with job losses than female-dominated sectors such as health care and services. New York Times (Economix blog), 12/13/10. Folbre writes about the same topic, that has been dubbed the "mancession" by many. The Atlantic, December 2010. An economics columnist takes note of Folbre’s observation and says construction, another male-dominated area of the economy, has also been hard hit. New York Times (Economix blog), 12/6/10. Folbre writes about sex discrimination in pay in the private sector and how difficult it is for people to find out whether they are being paid the same as other people doing the same work. Christian Science Monitor, 12/5/10. Folbre, author of Valuing Children: Rethinking the Economics of the Family, comments in a story about what it actually costs to raise a child. Boston Globe [from AP], 12/28/10. In an article about top stories for 2010 Ralph Whitehead (journalism), who tracks politics and popular culture, says Republican Scott Brown’s surprise victory in the Massachusetts special election for the U.S. Senate resonated more outside than within the state, however, it was a wakeup call for many Massachusetts Democrats. Boston Herald, 12/22/10. In the wake of the announcement that Massachusetts will lose one Congressional seat, various scenarios are taking shape. Emeritus Prof. Jerry Mileur (political science) comments that U.S. Rep. John W. Olver (D-Amherst), despite holding a key position on the Appropriations Committee, might be vulnerable. Washington Post, 12/12/10. Pulitzer-winning columnist Gene Weingarten, author of Fiddler in the Subway and recent guest-speaker at UMass, referenced the event, calling the students "intelligent, engaged, sophisticated, and accomplished individuals." The Tennessean, 12/12/10 (sorry, the article is no longer available online). Sheldon Goldman (political science) discusses the Obama administration's decision to support a federal judge nominee from Tennessee who was backed by the state’s two Republican senators rather than one preferred by some of the state’s Democratic House members. He says the administration has apparently concluded it has more to gain from working with the Republicans than the House delegation. Federal Computer Week, 12/10/10. Jane Fountain (political science), director of the National Center for Digital Government, comments about progress that is being made in sharing government data. She says the number of people who take advantage of the available data remains relatively small. Kansas City Star, 12/8/10. A study, co-authored by Arindrajit Dube (economics), finds that raising the minimum wage does not lead to the elimination of low-wage jobs in either the long- or short-term. The study was published in the journal The Review of Economics and Statistics. A Word from SBS Gifts from alumni and friends are vital to the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. Your investment allows us to create remarkable opportunities for today’s—and tomorrow's—students. If you are already a donor, please accept our sincere thanks. If not, please consider a gift to SBS for your department, student financial aid, a purpose that speaks to your personal experiences and priorities, or an unrestricted designation. To make a gift online, click here. Or, send a check to the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Draper Hall, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 40 Campus Center Way, Amherst, MA 01003-9244. Questions? Contact James Mallet, 413.577.1700. We welcome feedback related to this newsletter, the college in general, specific concerns, or topics of interest. Please address all correspondence, including story ideas, to Sabine Cray, director of communications and marketing. 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