SBS Newsletter – November 2011
In this issue
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Alumni News Maureen Stanton '83 (communication) is the author of Killer Stuff and Tons of Money: Seeking History and Hidden Gems in Flea-Market America (Penguin Press). Listen to a review on NPR. As managing director of the Government Accountability Office's defense capabilities and management team, Janet St. Laurent '77 (political science) investigates, reports and testifies on defense spending on behalf of Congress. She is a finalist for a Sammy Award (Service to America Medal), considered to be the "federal Oscars." Read more.... Longtime friends from Coolidge dorm have aided Patrick Lacey '96 (sociology/psychology) of Braintree, MA, in raising more than $1 million to help children who, like his son Will, have neuroblastoma. Lacey has founded two nonprofit groups to fund treatment options. Read more... Justin Hollander MRP '00 (regional planning) has written Sunburnt Cities: The Great Recession, Depopulation and Urban Planning in the American Sunbelt (Routledge) for urban scholars. It is suitable for a wide range of courses focused on contemporary urban studies. The Appalachian Jerky Company, developed by Ron Myrick '94 (engineering) and Doug Labb '95 (sociology), produces high quality and flavorful beef jerky. Take a look... Dan Gigliotti '11 (journalism/political science) is working for the Office of Cultural Development in Pittsfield, MA, building and managing a new website for tourists and residents. Caitlin (Coughlan) Kenney '11 (journalism) works for the Joint Readiness Training Center, a large area of several villages in Fort Polk, LA, where role players simulate scenarios that soldiers will experience in Afghanistan. She is a media-on-the-battlefield specialist and portrays a foreign affairs correspondent. She helps produce a newspaper, radio and TV shows. Read a NYTimes article about the center. David Pakman '06 (communication/economics), host of a nationally syndicated radio, television and internet show, discussed his work on WGBY-TV. National sports columnist for Yahoo.com Dan Wetzel '94 (journalism) is an award-winning sportswriter, author and screenwriter. He has covered all levels of basketball as well as college football, the NFL, MLB and NHL. He is the co-author of the book Death to the BCS: The Definitive Case Against the Bowl Championship Series, which following five printings of the first edition will be released in October 2011 in a second, updated edition. Read his take on the Penn State debacle. Victory in War: Foundations of Modern Strategy (Cambridge University Press) by William Martel PhD '81 (political science) explores the development of a theoretical narrative or language of victory to help scholars and policymakers define carefully and precisely what they mean by victory in war. On election day this month acting mayor of Northampton, MA, David Narkewicz '90 (political science), won a term of his own by a comfortable margin. Read more... For the third year in a row, Michelle-Kim Lee '03 (political science) was selected for inclusion in 2011 New England Rising Stars in the areas of Employment Litigation Defense and Employment & Labor Law. This recognition is published in the 2011 issue of Massachusetts Super Lawyers – Rising Stars Edition and includes only 2.5% of Massachusetts lawyers. Each year, Massachusetts lawyers are asked to nominate the best up-and-coming attorneys whom they have personally observed “in action.” Massachusetts Rising Stars are then evaluated and selected based on twelve indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement. Lee is affiliated with Schwarz Hannum PC in Andover. Michelle Hillman '98 (journalism) is communications officer at the MetroWest Community Health Care Foundation in Framingham, MA. Overseeing communications, she will implement the nonprofit’s social media plan, provide content for the website, interact with the media, and write promotional materials. With more than a decade of media experience, she has been a business reporter at the Boston Business Journal and a health reporter at MetroWest Daily News (Framingham), where she was recognized by the New England Press Association for her reporting on health care and social issues. She was also selected to participate in the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation Health Coverage Fellowship. Jeffrey Rosenfeld MA '70 (sociology) has published UnAssisted Living: Ageless Homes For Later Life (Monacelli Press/Random House 2011). The book celebrates the "Ageless" Homes and Communities that are already being created by and for Boomers. Jeff is a gerontologist with an interest in environmental gerontology: the interplay of aging, architecture and community. Brandon Skop '05 (communication) is account supervisor at Cooney/Waters, a leading healthcare communications group of companies. Mark Papirio '81 (legal studies) has practiced child welfare law at the trial and appellate levels for the past twenty years. Recently he argued successfully before the Supreme Judicial Court. He and his wife Sandra '95 live in West Brookfield, MA. Janice Colby Morse '73 (leisure studies and resources [formerly part of landscape architecture and regional planning]) is president and CEO of Newburyport Five Cents Savings, a community bank with six locations, $640 million in assets and solid local ties. 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. Faculty and Department News More than 230 economists have added their name in support of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Read the statement and watch the video featuring Professors Nancy Folbre, Jim Boyce, Mwangi wa Githinji, and others to learn more. The "Trip Coach" column by lecturer Brad Tuttle (journalism) in Budget Travel won a silver medal in the 2011 Folio Awards, fondly known as the Eddies, in the Best Series of Articles for consumer magazines. Real Simple magazine recently published two of his stories: "Best Days to Do Christmas Online Shopping" and "Why Do Children Lie, Cheat, and Steal?" Anthropology graduate students participating in the National Science Foundation-funded Cultural Heritage in European Societies and Spaces (CHESS) program gave research presentations this month at the American Anthropological Association meetings in Montreal. Prof. Elizabeth Krause (anthropology), CHESS field supervisor and faculty mentor for 2011-2012, organized the panel, "Memory, Monuments, and Commemoration: Field Legacies, Field Futures." Read more... Prof. Jane Fountain (political science and public policy) gave the keynote address in mid-November at GovCamp Singapore. The conference assembled leading thinkers from government, academia, industry and citizen organizations to share ideas about how to improve citizen engagement and government services in Singapore through technology. Read more... Prof. Sut Jhally (communication) discussed advertising and society in a recent Honors Faculty Lecture entitled "Advertising and the End of the World." Read more... POLISCI 255, American Foreign Policy, taught by Laura Reed, featured two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner and Reuters journalist David Rohde on Nov. 14. He spoke on America's experience in Afghanistan and Pakistan.The following week Pulitzer Prize winner and contributor to Foreign Policy and The Washington Post David Hoffman spoke in the same class on the legacy of the Cold War. A new study by M.V. Lee Badgett (economics), director of the Center for Public Policy Administration and the Williams Institute, says that same-sex couples could reach parity in Mass in 2013. Stuart Shulman (political science) gave invited lectures on qualitative data analysis at the University of Manchester (UK) and the Methodology Institute at the London School of Economics. Learn more about this methodology at the QDAP lab. Leah Wing (legal studies) received grant from the UMass Arts Council for spring lecture series and art exhibit, "Transforming Threads of Resistance." Associate Prof. Ellen Pader (regional planning) spoke at the public library in Evanston, Ill. on Nov. 2 on Evanston's "Brothel Law," which defines "family" as it relates to housing, and its impact on student and other non-traditional Evanston households. Pader is a leading expert on the origins and consequences of familial housing occupancy standards and has written and lectured extensively on the subject. Read more... A new report, "Higher Education’s Role in Adapting to a Changing Climate," evaluates how colleges and universities are preparing society for a changing climate. SBS's Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning Department and Prof. Elizabeth Hamin (LARP) are highlighed in the Curriculum Examples on page 14. SBS in the News Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 11/28/11. Ralph Whitehead (journalism) comments about the election contest that is shaping up between Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown and Democrat Elizabeth Warren. He says she seems to be betting that middle-class anger will provide an electoral boost to her candidacy. New York Times (Economix blog), 11/28/11. Nancy Folbre (economics) writes about the need for economists to broadly discuss concerns about growing economic inequality in order to effectively address them. New York Times (Economix blog), 11/14/11. Folbre writes about how measuring the number of people in poverty can make a difference in how public policies are developed. In These Times, 11/13/11. Folbre is interviewed about her research on caring work, the labor that is often outside the mainstream economy that goes into caring for children, the sick and the elderly. New York Times, (Economix blog) 11/7/11. Folbre reflects on the global economy and the small group of companies and banks that control a large portion of power and money. In recent decades, a smaller number of players have increased their share of the global markets, leading away from competition and toward oligarchy. New York Times (Economix blog), 10/31/11. Folbre discusses how American society is depreciating the value of care at home for elders and people who are sick or with disabilities at the same time the number of older Americans is rising. Associated Press, 11/27/11. A story on how colleges are feeling pressure to defend teaching the humanities rather than concentrating on science and high technology includes comments from Abbey Drane ’12 (anthropology/environmental design). New York Daily News, 11/23/11. SBS Dean Robert Feldman comments in article about Mitt Romney's decision to disavow his first name. Indian Country Today Media Network, 11/21/11. Prof. emeritus Peter d'Errico (legal studies) describes the inconsistencies within federal Indian law as "mind-boggling." Moreover, the concept of federal plenary power, he says, "is totally false as a Constitutional doctrine." Washington Times, 11/20/11; Washington Post, 11/17/11; Ivillage.com, 11/16/11; Wall Street Journal, 11/15/11. Articles focus on Amy Schalet (sociology), author of Not Under My Roof: Parents, Teens, and the Culture of Sex, and her research about attitudes toward adolescent sexuality and the differences in attitude about teen sex among Dutch and American parents. The way to overcome the differences in attitude between the U.S. and the Dutch is through comprehensive sex education. “Parenting on the Edge” [KPCC radio], Time, Minnesota Public Radio, 11/14/11. Schalet is inteviewed. WBUR, 11/13/11. Schalet discusses differences in attitude about teen sex among Dutch and American parents. Huffington Post, 11/12/11. Schalet writes an op-ed about how teen sex is portrayed on the televison show "Glee." Huffington Post, 11/2/11. Schalet discusses attitudes towards adolescent sexuality. She says parents should pay attention to what she calls the ABCDs of adolescent sex: autonomy, building healthy relationships, connectedness and diversity. The Take Away [NPR], 11/1/11. Schalet discusses her new book. Huffington Post, 11/1/11. Schalet says connectedness between parents and teens is key for thriving not just around sexuality and relationships, but around health, and school outcomes. bloggingheads.tv, 11/16/11. Jillian Schwedler (political science) discusses whether the Arab Spring has passed Jordan by with Jordanian activist and writer Hisham Bustani. Engineering News-Record, 11/15/11 (subscription required). Jack Ahern (landscape architecture and regional planning), vice provost and director of the International Programs Office, says for cities to become sustainable, treatment of storm water needs to be decentralized. Springfield Republican, 11/14/11. A “Community Conversation,” organized by faculty and graduate students from landscape architecture and regional planning, discussed the future of the Falls area of South Hadley. Graduate student Sally Miller and faculty member Mark Hamin comment. Springfield Republican, 11/11/11. Community Spirit, a mural depicting silhouettes of students, city planners and professors working cooperatively on underused urban areas in Springfield, MA, has been installed at the corner of Lyman and Chestnut streets. Frank Sleegers (landscape architecture and regional planning), his students and Ashfield artist Robert Markey led a tour through downtown Springfield and the Lyman Street warehouse district to showcase how public art can change a city's landscape in a positive way. Organizations, Occupations and Work (American Sociological Association). 11/9/11. Don Tomaskovic-Devey (sociology) blogs regularly on this site. Take a look at recent observations on Financialization and Income Inequality. Boston Globe, 11/6/11. Tatishe Nteta (political science) comments on Jose Tosado's mayoral race in Springfield, MA, noting that he has had to make his ethnicity part of his campaign without alienating white voters. Wall Street Journal [from AP] and numerous other national publications, 11/4/11. Eve Weinbaum (labor studies), director of the Labor Center, discusses why she has been traveling to Springfield to join the Occupy Wall Street protestors after work and on weekends. She considered joining the overnight protests in New York City or Boston, but couldn't justify that with three children under age 12 and a full-time job. Instead she has made day-trips to those destinations along with her visits to Springfield and participated in events in her hometown of Amherst. Kansas City Star, 11/4/11. David Kotz (economics) says the online theft of trade secrets from U.S. companies by China and Russia makes sense because both countries are trying to catch up to the U.S. economically. He says given the gap between where they are and where most American companies are, there is a strong temptation to “borrow” the technology rather than develop it themselves. Boston.com, 11/2/11. B.J. Roche (journalism) offers ideas on how to prepare meals that will be available for several days and make use of easily available foods and fresh vegetables. 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. 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