SBS Newsletter – September 2010
In this issue
|
|
|
|
Students: Do You Need Money? Comm Alumni: Homecoming Reception Upcoming Events Alumni News Clarence Brooks '73 (sociology), a former all-conference lineman for UMass in the 1970s, is in his sixth season as defensive line coach for the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens. He began his coaching career at UMass under head coach Dick MacPherson. Read more... Ron Dottin '97 (economics), senior U.S. quantitative analyst at RBC Capital Markets in New York, is a member of the Economics Department Advisory Board. On September 20 he appeared on CNBC’s "Fast Money." View the clip. Aaron Saykin '01 (journalism) won the 2009 Edward R. Murrow National Award for Sports Writing for his WGRZ (Buffalo) piece, "Baseball Hero." In 2006 Saykin received an Emmy for his piece on “J-Mac,” about the Rochester-area teen with autism who was given the opportunity to play in a varsity basketball game and scored 20 points. That story, many will recall, went viral, bringing J-Mac (Jason McElwain) all the way to the White House for congratulations from the President. In an interview with News.Az, Ramil Maharramov '06 MPA (public policy and administration) discusses ongoing conflicts in Azerbaijan and why there has been a delay in getting a U.S. ambassador appointed for that country. AJ Gerritson ’99 (journalism/political science), founding partner of 451 Marketing, was named one of Boston Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 that acknowledges emerging business leaders in the Boston-area. Gerritson was selected from more than 400 nominations, the highest number in the program’s13-year history. Honorees are selected based on individual achievement, business talent and civic commitment that helps drive the local economy. Superior Court Judge Judd J. Carhart '71 (political science), who has taught at UMass Amherst in legal studies for the past 18 years, has been nominated by Gov. Deval Patrick to serve on the state Appeals Court. Carhart is an Amherst native who also served as Northwestern District Attorney. Backed by $22,500 from the UMass Amherst Innovation Challenge, Conor White-Sullivan '10 (anthropology) has launched Localocracy, an online town forum aimed at promoting public discussion of community issues, in Milford, MA. This is the third town where the forum has been introduced. The effort is backed By MassINC, a Boston-based think tank. Read more... In a Washington Post article about the high cost of education, Lindsay McCluskey '09 (anthropology), president of the United States Student Association and a former student trustee of UMass, says she is in the process of paying off $20,000 in student loans and thinks overall, students are borrowing too much money to attend college. (McCluskey's comments are on page 4). Please send us your news! Also, view upcoming alumni events, sponsored by the Alumni Assocation, 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 Dean Robert Feldman, author of The Liar in Your Life, is part of an impressive line-up of speakers for Westfield State University's 2010-2011 Distinguished Speaker Series that kicks off this fall with Attorney Alan M. Dershowitz. Others include historian Taylor Branch; comedian Dick Hardwick; science writer and best-selling author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot; and child safety advocate Kathy Picard. Feldman will speak on December 8. Read more... Nantucket and Other Native Places: The Legacy of Elizabeth Alden Little, coedited by Elizabeth Chilton (anthropology) and Mary Lynne Rainey, has been released by SUNY Press and the Massachusetts Archaeological Society. Besides being an indispensible, up-to-date overview of the archaeology of the Native peoples and earliest settlers of eastern Massachusetts, this book is a tribute to the career of the influential archaeologist Elizabeth Alden Little (1926–2003) who received her MA from UMass in 1985 and whose family gave generously a few years ago to renovate the Elizabeth Alden Little Laboratory of Archaeology in Machmer Hall. A celebration/book signing is coming up on October 23 in Middleborough, MA. Read more... In early September Jane Fountain (political science and public policy), director of the National Center for Digital Government, was an invited speaker at North Carolina State University's "CI Days at NCSU: The Excitement and Future of Cyberinfrastructure." Read more... Fountain also gave a keynote address at Portugal Tecnológico 2010 on September 22 at the Parque das Nacoes in Lisbon, Portugal. Her address, “The transformational effect of web technologies on government” examined the increasing usage of Web 2.0 tools in government, commonly referred to as “Gov 2.0.” According to Fountain, “Gov 2.0 signals government’s emphasis on the latest digital technologies for providing services and information, for policymaking, and for advancing the technology agenda of innovative national governments.” Read more... Donal Carbaugh, who was selected as a Conti fellow this past spring, has been named among 10 communication researchers to represent the field for the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education at the National Academies. Carbaugh's activities with this group will "advance the frontiers of behavioral and social sciences and their application to public policy." He was also recently awarded funds by General Motors Academic Partnerships for a project on cultural discourses in the use of speech applications, to be prepared for the Human Machine Interface Group in GM's R&D Advanced Technical Center in Israel. Carbaugh's scholarship in intercultural communication will soon be featured in a special issue of the Journal of Cultural Discourses, with several articles by other scholars about his work. Read an interview with Carbaugh that was published last fall in the distinguished British journal Language and Intercultural Communication. Razvan Sibii (journalism) published the article "Conceptualizing Teacher Immediacy through the 'Companion' Metaphor" in the journal Teaching in Higher Education (Vol. 15, Nr. 5, October 2010). Peter Haas (political science) was a keynote speaker at the 2nd annual Conference on Environmental Governance and Democracy at Yale University in September. He spoke on the topic of "Addressing Climate Change and Advancing a Green Economy: Do Institutions Matter?" He also was on a panel that discussed the governance of climate change science. The U.S. Embassy arranged a visit to Belarus for Annaliese Bischoff (landscape architecture and regional planning) to discuss greenways and public art as part of the U.S. Department of State's International Information Programs Sept. 19-26. Read more... The Center for Public Policy and Administration (CPPA) kicked off its Fall 2010 Faculty Colloquium on Sept. 20, with a talk by Professor of Communication Jarice Hanson. CPPA's Colloquia are held monthly each semester and enable members of the UMass community to discuss ongoing research projects that have significant policy implications. Then, on Sept. 23, CPPA celebrated its move to Gordon Hall with an open house. State Sen. Stan Rosenberg and State Rep. Ellen Story, along with campus faculty and administrators, gave remarks at the event. SBS in the News Washington Post, 9/28/10. A recent proposal by Robert Pollin (economics), co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute, calls for having the federal government create strong incentives for both lending by banks to small business and for businesses to seek loans. He says, currently the private credit markets are locked up, especially for small businesses. Pollin’s proposal uses federal loan guarantees to boost bank lending and a tax on excess reserves held by banks. The Real News Network, 9/24/10. Pollin is interviewed about why federal stimulus funding and deficit spending are not creating inflation. He also says austerity now would weaken the already fragile economic recovery. Huffington Post, 9/21/10. Pollin comments about why unemployment continues to be the overriding political and economic issue. He says the current high level of joblessness is casting a pall on everything and is creating a “negative feedback loop” for the Obama administration and members of Congress trying to deal with the problem. MSNBC.com, 9/8/10. Pollin is among prominent national economists asked about what will work to stimulate the U.S. economy. Pollin says the government needs to help make credit easier and more affordable for small business. New Hampshire Business Review, 9/24/10. A study by Jeffrey Thompson (Political Economy Research Institute) finds that public sector workers in New England earn about 3% less on average than private sector workers. Connecticut Mirror, 9/20/10. A columnist cites Thompson's study that says New England states can best grow their economies by spending on infrastructure and education rather than tax breaks for business. Boston.com, 9/23/10. A blog by B.J. Roche (journalism) discusses the Facebook experience and how it has changed the way middle-aged women connect, across the generations, as well as with one other. Keen News Service, 9/23/10. M.V. Lee Badgett (economics), director of the Center for Public Policy and Administration, says same-sex couples suffer an even larger “marriage penalty” than heterosexual married couples. Congressional Republicans say if they gain control of Congress, they plan to get rid of the marriage penalty, but because they don’t support same-sex marriage it’s unlikely they would extend that effort to gay and lesbian married couples. WFCR, 9/22/10. Prof Emeritus Alan Swedlund (anthropology), author of Shadows in the Valley: A Cultural History of Illness, Death and Loss in New England, 1840 to 1916, is interviewed about this study of medical issues and mortality in New England. Truth-out.org, 9/20/10. Prof. Emeritus Richard Wolff (economics) writes a column about how poverty has been affected by the current economic downturn. NPR “Planet Money,” 9/16/10. A story on assertions that President Obama and many congressional Democrats are socialists includes an interview with Wolff, a Marxist socialist. He says there is little understanding of what socialism is and very little of what has been done by the president or Congress is even close to socialism. Dollars & Sense, Sept./Oct. 2010. Jeannette Wicks-Lim (Political Economy Research Institute) writes a column about the need for a green jobs program to provide employment and to counter pollution and reliance on fossil fuels. Boston Business Journal, 9/14/10. A report by a coalition of business groups says Massachusetts has lost out on creating 40,000 jobs that would have been created by a climate and energy policy bill that has stalled in Congress. The report cites a study done by the Political Economy Research Institute that found many of the jobs in question would be in the energy conservation and retrofitting areas. Boston Globe, 9/14/10. Ralph Whitehead, Jr. (journalism) says November's primary election results will give a good look at the level of voter anger among the electorate. That anger helped elected Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown last January. IPSnews.net, 9/13/10. M.J. Peterson (political science) says plans to pass a resolution at the U.N. granting the European Union expanded speaking rights during formal meetings of the General Assembly, actually puts the multinational organization on par with larger states. SFGate.com, et al [from AP], 9/6/10–9/12/10. Emily West (communication) comments about how Hallmark Cards Inc., the largest greeting card company in the world, is faring in the current tough economy. New York Times, 9/20/10. Nancy Folbre (economics) writes in her weekly blog, Economix, about how the cash-welfare program for needy families with children is inadequate and growing more so as the numbers of poor children grows due to the economic downturn and high unemployment. New York Times, 9/13/10. Folbre blogs about what level of job growth is actually needed by the U.S. economy. She also looks at the relationship between available jobs and job seekers. Huffington Post, 9/9/10. Donald Tomaskovic-Devey (sociology) writes that the huge growth in the financial sector of the U.S. economy has distorted household and private sector behavior. He says hefty bank profits are the problem, not the solution to the current economic ills. Boston Herald, 9/8/10. Raymond La Raja (political science) comments in a story about the dearth of serious Republican candidates in Massachusetts despite enthusiasm generated by U.S. Sen. Scott Brown’s victory last January. He says this lack of credible candidates shows how anemic the GOP is in the state. Telegram & Gazette, 9/5/10. Tom Juravich (labor studies) comments about the political health of the labor movement on Labor Day. Washington Post, 9/5/10. Jesse Rhodes (political science) is cited in a story about how political observers and academics now believe President Obama has been a polarizing figure since he began running for president. Rhodes is co-author of a paper on the subject. 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 donation to SBS for your department, student financial aid, or a purpose that speaks to your personal experiences and priorities. 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. If you wish to add your name to the mailing list, or if you wish to unsubscribe, please contact us. If you have had a change of address, email or other personal information, you can update it online. The College of Social and Behavioral Sciences respects your privacy. Your contact information will not be shared with anyone unrelated to the University of Massachusetts Amherst. |
