Recent alum Colin Cronin has a piece in E-IR on Cambodia's development. Excerpt:
Small developing countries that have been historically caught up in great power politics often seem to be exotic destinations for academic and travel books rather than real and concrete places. Cambodia is one such example. As an insignificant part of the international system, it is difficult to appreciate what is happening there without seeing it for yourself. But Cambodia is a microcosm of development, and the changes that are happening there by no means trivial...
From Alex by way of Professor Share. As I was posting this, it took me awhile before I realized that Alex is standing with Peter Garrett of Midnight Oil; folks of my age will remember their music and political activism back in the 1980s. I recall seeing them in concert in the late 1980--they rocked, as you must see here. Anyway, enough of my misty nostalgia, let's hear from Alex:
I started my internship today and I'm working at the office of Kelvin Thomson, who is the Federal Member of Parliament for Wills. I'm learning a lot about the Australian political system and what it takes to prepare even one member of parliament for every day life in his position. So far I'm summarizing articles and doing research, but it's a really good experience.
I got a photo with the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts--Peter Garrett--when I went to the opening of a new environmental place, but I thought you might want to see it! And then the second picture is with the Mayor of Moreland on far left and Christine Campbell, the State member for Pascoe Vale right next to me. Just some photos from my internship! I hope your summer's going well!
With the academic year quickly approaching, I want to inform you of an opportunity for your students to apply for the 2009 fall Koch Internship Program in Washington, D.C. Please take a minute to pass this information along to anyone who may be interested in the program. Applications are due by August 21st.
The Koch Internship Program:
* Runs from September 14th to December 4th. * Is part-time, flexible, and paid. Interns receive an hourly rate of $12.00. * Places Interns in various fields ranging from policy research to communications. * Teaches Market-Based Management®, a management philosophy that emphasizes long-term success. * Prepares Interns for careers with market-oriented think tanks, policy institutes, and other organizations that work to advance free-market principles and economic freedom.
Applicants should:
* Have an interest in the non-profit sector. * Have a commitment to free-market principles and economic freedom. * Demonstrate an entrepreneurial spirit and self-starter attitude.
For more information on the program, please visit our website at www.cgkfoundation.org/internship-program. If you have additional questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Thomas Russell Associate, Marketing and Recruiting Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation www.cgkfoundation.org
I am currently working under a Gates Foundation grant for the Paul G. Rogers society as a global health researcher in D.C. Research!America is the nation's largest not-for-profit public education and advocacy alliance with a membership of 500 member organizations representing the voices of more than 125 million Americans. With support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Research!America established the Paul G. Rogers Society for Global Health Research, for whom I work. The Paul G. Rogers Society engages seventy-five of the United States’ leading global health scientists as advocates to increase public awareness of the economic, national security, and diplomatic benefits of increased funding in global health research. These researchers meet with policymakers and the media to make their case for the value and importance of a greater US investment in this research.
Any other news updates from alums? Drop me a line--
Some students will remember that Professor Williams was visiting faculty member in 2007-08, filling in for Professor Haltom when he was on sabbatical. Since then he's gone on to teaching at Sonoma State, and has continued to work on prisons in small town America. And this resulted in a recent editorial he penned for the LA Times. Excerpt:
The public's surprise that small towns are vying for Guantanamo inmates just demonstrates how little urban and suburban Americans understand about rural America. For the rural communities, prisons and prisoners are about the promise of more jobs and more money.
For more than 25 years, rural towns have been lobbying, cajoling and nearly bribing governmental institutions to give them prisons. I lived in and studied two such towns for more than a year. One was Florence, Colo., where some of the current controversy is focused. It is the home to ADX Florence, the so-called Alcatraz of the Rockies, where the federal government houses its most disruptive inmates under supermax conditions. It is home to "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski, would-be shoe-bomber Richard Reid and 9/11 co-conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, among others. And the town of Florence actually raised money to pay the federal government for the privilege of housing these inmates.
Stories like this have become commonplace in rural America. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation used to refer to the process of selecting a community to house a new prison as DAD (decide, announce and defend). Today's process would better be described as LLC: lobby, lobby and celebrate.
In the past, the government bore the burden of convincing towns of the benefits of having a prison. Today, communities must show the government why they are the best location for a prison.
Professor Ferrari has been active in helping support educational opportunities in Tanzania, and now has a full-fledged non-profit devoted to the cause. Here's more information if you are interested and would like to help--
Many of you have heard me talking over the last few years about a project that's close to my heart: helping especially poor kids in the developing world to get at least a high school education. Even with public education, a high school diploma is out of reach for many students, often for economic reasons.
After two trips to Tanzania in the past two years, and months of seeing how hard the kids are willing to work against the odds, I knew I had to help. I've started a nonprofit organization to support a group of students and teachers in Zanzibar who are doing great work. We're called the International CATALYST Fund, and we're registered as a 501(c)3 public charity with the IRS.
I would really appreciate it if you'd visit our website (http://www.incafund.org) to learn more about the students we're supporting. It's daunting to think about changing the world, but it's surprisingly easy to have a huge impact on one other person's life. I know these are hard times, and we have economic concerns of our own. But even small amounts of U.S. dollars go very far in the developing world. I'll be traveling back to Tanzania in September, so will personally make sure that all donations are benefiting the students.
Please learn a little more about us, join us if you can, and feel free to spread the word!
Interesting site--especially because one of our alums, Jordan Barber '09 has a piece there comparing Al Qaeda and Hamas, and even more so because he wrote it for one of my classes.
Terrorism Near and Far, Strategic and Symbolic: The Origins, Intentions and Future Threats of al Qaeda and Hezbollah http://www.e-ir.info/?p=1795
Here's the blurb on the site:
Created in November 2007 by students from the UK universities of Oxford, Leicester and Aberystwyth, e-International Relations (e-IR) is a hub of information and analysis on some of the key issues in international politics.
As well as editorials contributed by students, leading academics and policy-makers, you’ll find essays, diverse perspectives on global news, lecture podcasts and the very latest jobs from academia, politics and international development.
Pieces written for e-IR have been referenced and republished by organisations including the Wall Street Journal, World Politics Review, openDemocracy.net, Human Security Gateway and the Global Policy Forum. In addition, essays and editorials have been identified by publishers to be reprinted in edited volumes.
e-IR is recommended by universities on almost every continent (we haven’t reached Antarctica yet!) and received more than two and a half million hits in its first year. It is the world’s leading student-run website on international relations.
If you would like to contribute to e-IR please send us an email or look at the ‘Get involved’ page for more information.
Forwarded by Professor Share, from PG major Alex Carracino:
I started my internship today and I'm working at the office of Kelvin Thomson, who is the Federal Member of Parliament for Wills. I'm learning a lot about the Australian political system and what it takes to prepare even one member of parliament for every day life in his position. So far I'm summarizing articles and doing research, but it's a really good experience. I just wanted to fill you in on what my internship is and what I'm doing there so far. I hope your summer's going well!
I am so sorry that I haven’t written you until now! I have been very very busy for the last month and had finally adjusted to life here. It has been a crazy experience. I am so glad that I took advantage of this opportunity. The hot dog stand has given me a chance to see Beijing from a very unique perspective. Sadly there is a large expat community in the area that I’m living so my Mandarin skills haven’t improved very much but I have met some amazing people. I essentially manage the hot dog stand with some guidance from Paul and the help of his business parter Suntao. We’re basically overhauling it and making it a bigger operation. It’s all very exciting.
I haven’t seen much of the touristy part of the city but I have a friend who is coming to visit and we’ll see all the typical sights together. It’s an amazing time to be here. I would send you a link to see my pictures but they’ve blocked Facebook (as well as Flickr, Twitter and most blog platforms) and that’s where all of my photos are. The internet essentially ground to a halt today due to the unrest in Xinjiang. It’s amazing how little people seem to know or care about the situation. It’s difficult to be a politics student in a place where talking about politics isn’t a popular activity. I have met a few locals who speak enough English to talk about it but most of them won’t. Professor O’Neil sent me the chapter about China from the Essentials of Comparative Politics and I’m giving it to two of my friends to read and reflect on. It should be an interesting experiment.
Well, I’d love to tell of my stories now but I’ve got to sell some more hot dogs! I’ll try to keep in touch a bit more from now on. Hope all is well back in the states.
Patricia Mannie from the Merritt for Mayor campaign is looking for interns for general office work and doorbelling. She promises that this will be a good opportunity to learn about practical politics and to meet many Tacoma community leaders.
This is random, in no way related to our department, but still cool--from the Japan Times--
Brit muscles way to BayStar success
...Since 1998, Turney, 37, has been the Yokohama BayStars' strength and conditioning coach. The seeds to his success were planted in England. Turney's father, Alan, naturally had his own dreams as a boy. Studying judo in London, where he grew up, Alan became fascinated with all things Japanese. His love of the language, literature and budo would eventually take him as an adult to Tokyo.
...
Turney studied karate for 10 years in the Japanese community near his home. He also played tennis, but his mother's favorite sport was baseball. "As a kid, we always watched baseball on TV and went to games at the stadium in Yokohama," Turney says.
While in high school helping his tennis coach at a children's summer camp in England, he began to consider a career in coaching. "I thought, maybe I can find something like this in baseball, not skill-related, but more conditioning-related."
His choice of baseball took him to yet another country, as Turney realized the U.S. could offer more specialized training in baseball.
Although he started his undergraduate program on the U.S. East Coast, he transferred after one year to the University of Puget Sound in Washington state and stayed on the West Coast to complete his masters in exercise science.
"Every year, I wanted to come back to Japan, during Christmas break and summer." The West Coast was a little closer to home.
Turney's experience with a number of cultures, as a student at an international school, as a foreigner in the traditional Japanese community of karate, in America with a bicultural perspective, all helped when he faced his biggest challenge — entering the world of Japanese baseball as an outsider.
Colin Cronin and Sarah Glancy, both class of '09, were in Cambodia and Thailand this summer as part of a trip organized by Professor McCullough in the Business department. Colin sent these two pictures above (Colin is on the left, and Sarah is in the middle). If you want to see/read more, Colin has his own blog: http://tabriscorner.blogspot.com/. Lots of good stuff there.
Position Description Position Title: Transportation Coordinator Exempt/Non-Exempt: Exempt Reports to (Title): Metropolitan Development Manager, City of Tacoma Mobility Coordinator Closing Date: July 6, 2009
The following job description contains representative examples of work that will be performed in positions allocated to this classification. It is not required that any position perform all of the duties listed, so long as primary responsibilities are consistent with the work as described. Roles and responsibilities can often be expanded to accommodate changing business conditions and goals, as well as to tap into the skills and talents of the individuals in the organization. Accordingly, associates may be asked to perform duties that are outside the specific functions that are listed.
Purpose of Position:
To assist in the development and management of the Downtown: On the Go! program.
Downtown: On the Go! is a partnership between the City of Tacoma, the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber, and Pierce Transit. These agencies work together with downtown Tacoma employers and commuters to promote commute options. While the position is housed at the Chamber, the staff member works closely with all three agencies, serving as a pivotal liaison between them by understanding and communicating perspectives and activities of each.
The main components of this effort are direct outreach to employers and employees, and the Downtown: On the Go! Transportation Partnership. In conjunction with Pierce Transit’s employer services staff and the City’s Commute Trip Reduction (CTR) efforts, this position provides outreach, education, and support for downtown businesses to develop plans that promote commute options in their workplace, and also to downtown commuters interested in shifting their commute. The Downtown: On the Go! Transportation Partnership is composed of downtown business leaders. This private-sector group works with public agency partners to address downtown transportation challenges and increase non-drive alone commuting.
Essential Job Functions
Business & Employee Outreach
* Work with agency partners to develop an education and communication strategy to inform downtown members of commuting options and resources. * Maintain and develop relationships with an individual in each member business who will act as the organization’s “Transportation Specialist” responsible for coordinating commute planning within the company. * Publish monthly e-newsletter for downtown commuters. * Plan programs, campaigns, and activities for downtown commuters and Transportation Specialists.
Downtown: On the Go! Transportation Partnership
* Provide logistical support to the Downtown: On the Go! Transportation Partnership. * Maintain regular communication with Partnership members.
Other
* Assist with periodic Transportation Forums and events. * Support transportation and environmental advocacy efforts on local and state level. * Participate in weekly meetings and activities with agency partners.
Position Dimensions
Supervision Received
Metropolitan Development Manager and Mobility Coordinator will provide oversight and guidance for all activities undertaken by the Transportation Coordinator.
Principal Relationships/Key Contacts
o Metropolitan Development Manager o City of Tacoma Mobility Staff o President & CEO o Chamber staff o Chamber members o Pierce Transit Staff
Position Specifications
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
* Familiarity with transportation issues that impact urban centers. * Some knowledge of commute trip reduction and the environmental and economic impacts of congestion. * Excellent organizational skills. * Good oral and written communication skills and effective interpersonal skills. * Skilled in managing multiple projects simultaneously within assigned deadlines and prioritize a range of responsibilities. * Ability to communicate oral and written complex technical information to an audience that is relatively unfamiliar with the topic. * Solid knowledge of current transportation and environmental issues and topics. * Ability to effectively work and communicate with private sector businesses and the public sector. * Confident public speaking. * Ability to “cold call.”
Experience and Education
* Bachelor of Arts, or equivalent. * Strong computer and word processing skills.
To Apply:
Submit a letter of interest and resume to the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber no later than 5:00 pm July 6, 2009.
Or whatever that is. Actually I have no idea what I said above. Professor Sousa may be getting lauded in The American Prospect, but I am a central source in that Paper of Record, the Tacoma News Tribune, in a piece on Iran. It's not worth reading but if you're desperate, you can find it here.
Professor Sousa gets his due in a piece in the American Prospect on the EPA:
As Christopher McGrory Klyza and David Sousa explain in their book, American Environmental Policy, 1990–2006, "The reformers offer a classic ‘both and' agenda, seeking to achieve real improvements in environmental protection while accommodating the legitimate concerns of business leaders and others about the economic and social costs of the implementation of the golden-era laws." The laws passed in the "golden era" of the early 1970s -- the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the National Environmental Policy Act -- were meant to, in some ways, punish businesses for polluting, not accommodate them. Yet cap-and-trade is essentially a policy of accommodation, as it acknowledges businesses' primary role in the nation's economy.
After 33 years and one of what he described as his best years in the classroom, Hal Neace is calling it quits. Sort of.
Retiring from the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District, the former Homer Middle School science teacher will take a three-month break, during which he'll travel and spend time with out-of-state family. After that, Neace shifts his focus from students to instructors, becoming a mentor for first-year teachers across the state through a University of Alaska Fairbanks program.
As a youngster on the family ranch in Washington state, Neace spent his childhood outdoors, thanks to the influence of his parents, Lawrence Neace and Anna Belle Edmonson, and his maternal grandparents, Harold and Della Hopkins. He graduated from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma in 1968, with a bachelor's degree in political science and a minor in biology, but "never, ever considered education," he said of a possible career choice.
While at UPS, Neace did become interested in philosophy.
"There was lots of social activism," he said of the 1960s and his admiration for individuals such as John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Kennedy's brother, Robert. "It looked to me like there was enough unrest in the country and I thought I'd serve another way."
That "way" was as an American Peace Corps volunteer. From 1968-1970, Neace served as an agricultural extension agent in West Bengal, India, a "life changing" experience that awakened his love of science and a hunger to teach....
We've blogged in past regarding Kevin Billings '77, who has been a great friend to the university and Politics and Government. He has a new job:
ROCKVILLE, Md., May 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) today announced the addition of Kevin W. Billings to its Energy Services team. As Director of Federal Energy Efficiency Programs, Billings will support business development and program operations related to Lockheed Martin's pursuits of Federal Energy Savings Performance Contracts.
Prior to his new role, Billings was the Acting Assistant Secretary of the United States Air Force for Installations, Environment & Logistics. He was responsible for managing facilities and programs in support of the Air Force's 188 installations worldwide, including supply chain logistics, infrastructure and environmental, safety and occupational health to support the war fighters and their families. As the senior energy official, Billings led the Air Force Energy Strategy and was focused on helping reduce its energy consumption in support of DoD and Presidential Directives for greater energy independence and national security. His responsibilities included developing and mandating energy strategy and policies, meeting energy goals, reporting the energy security posture, and managing the Air Force's culture change related to energy usage.
In one of my last duties as department chair, I am sending the blog on a much-deserved vacation so that it can return refreshed for the fall. Never fear, gentle readers--though shorn of power, I will return with all the news and tips and odds and ends that are fit to pixelate. Have a wonderful summer, keep us posted, and see you soon!
Two of our majors are off on epic travels this summer:
Elly Henriksen has taken a job in Beijing for the summer to work for Puget Sound alum Paul Strickland '98. Among other things, she'll be helping with his expanding hot dog franchise, of all things (see pic below), but Mr. Strickland is involved in a number of businesses in China, including investment banking.
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Meanwhile, Geoff LeGrand has arrived in Nicaragua to do work connected with his university summer research grant, "The Sandinstas since the Sandismo Experiment: Preserverance and Change" Read more here: http://sites.google.com/site/geofflegrand/updates
Last weekend we had our department graduation reception. Awards were given, breakfast eaten, toasts made (always courtesy Professor Haltom), and students sent off into the wild. Pictures here:
And the titles of this year's senior theses:
Senior Seminar in Comparative Politics
* Kali Bechtold, “Amnesty: The Road to Justice No Matter How you Walk It? South Africa, Guatemala, and Argentina, and the Path to Transitional Justice.
* Josh Cole, From Political Benediction to Divine Resistance: The National Catholic Churches of Nazi Germany and Pinochet Chile.
* Sarah Glancy, The Effect of Culture on Attitudes Towards Immigration: A Comparative Study of Denmark and the United States.
* Paul Hughes, Empowering Bullies?: Power-Sharing and its Success in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kenya.
* Liz Kaster, “Who’s Pedaling This Thing? Bicycle Planning Process in the Twin Cities.
* Elliott Largent, “Submit or Defect, You Will Not Succeed: The Role of Foreign Actors in Land Reforms Past and Present.”
* Kagan Riedel, “Too Close to Home: Examining Race and Religion in Times of Crisis.
* Jared Sage, “Does Democracy Make a Difference? The Relationship Between Student Protest and Political Regimes.
* Stephen Souvall, “Dictator’s Dream or Despot’s Nightmare? Questioning the Olympic Movement’s Ability to Liberalize Authoritarian Host Governments.
* Peter Stanley, “The Greater of Two Evils: Choices of the Revolutionary Middle Class in Iran and Cuba.
Research Seminar in International Relations
Seminar Paper Titles
Lauren Bagby An African Curse: Resource Dependence and Civil War
Jordan Barber State Responses to International Terrorism: Is Cooperation Useful?
Tashi Chogyal Title unavailable
Alycia Corey Creating Cooperation: The Transformation of States’ Identities
Colin Cronin Navigating Conflict: Cooperation in the Structure of Hydropolitics
James Edwards Organizing Terror: How Successful Terrorist Groups are Structured
Max Harris Armed Conflict in a Post-Cold War World
Garrett Heilman Preserving U.S. Hegemony Through Financial Institutions
Torey Holderith Offense-Defense Theory and the Security Dilemma: Capabilities and Transformation as Indicators of State Preference in the 21st Century
Lindsey Janes Assent and Dissent: European Responses to U.S. Interventions
James Melton America’s Future: Primacy Through Checkbooks or Battlefields?
Ashley Reyes The Media’s Influence on Conflict Intervention: The U.S. Decision to Intervene in Foreign Conflicts
Harry Stevens Under Uncle Sam’s Thumb: Regional Hegemony and U.S.-Latin American Relations
Nicholas Van Putten American Evangelicalism: National Identity and the Formation of National Interest
US Politics and Public Law Judicial Hellholes California And Litigation Descending Into Hell Or Just A Political Ploy? Ashley Guerriero
Paradox Of Liberal Pluralism: Equality And The Comprehensive Doctrines That Protect It Josh Louie
City Governing: An Analysis Of Centralized And Decentralized Policy-Making And Administration At The Municipal Level. Nick Cronenwett
Increase In Presidency Decline In Legislating: The Expansion Of The Presidential Role Through Control Of The Executive Branch Agencies’ Functions And Regulatory Processes FDR Through Reagan Charles Davis-Aitken
Surfing The Toll-Road: How Surfers And Their Friends Stopped The Destruction Of The Largest Protected Wetland In Southern California Sam Kussin-Shoptaw
The conundrum of the exclusionary rule the struggle to balance crime control and fourth amendment rights Justine Shepherd
Small Is Not Always Beautiful: Why The Town Of Ruston Is Failing And What Can Be Done To Save It Caitlin Boersma
Legal Rights And Rehabilitation: A (False?) Dichotomy A Bridge Between Criminality And Community To Save At-Risk Youth Jay Free
Fear And Consequence Along The US-Mexico Border: The Creation Of Operation Gatekeeper Seth Tucker
Entering The Permanent Campaign Framework Jeremy Ciarabellini
“In Common With”? A Fight Between The Traditional And The Contemporary: How The Boldt Decision Violated The United States Constitution And In Doing So Reestablished Rights Long Denied To Native American Tribes Kip Carleton
Hat tip to Megan Buscho '06 for this recent NYT piece on growing tensions between schools and cities; "as endowments everywhere sink with the economy, town-gown relationships, often carefully nurtured during the boom years as colleges and universities sought to expand, are fraying." Read the whole thing here.
How is Puget Sound doing? There was a university forum on our finances yesterday, and the short answer is: pretty good. Incoming class is strong (so far--there is always the question of who will actually show up), and ironically our smaller endowment has worked to our advantage. Since we rely less on it, we had less to lose in the market. The administration has been pretty conservative in planning and construction, and we can see the benefits of that.
Hat tip: Ned Culhane 06. Looks pretty interesting.
Research!America's Paul G. Rogers Society for Global Health Research Full-time, stipend provided Summer 2009
Research!America is the nation's largest non-profit public education and advocacy alliance working to make research to improve health a higher national priority. We are located in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, a 10 minute walk from the King Street Metro stop. For more information, visit www.researchamerica.org.
Internship Description
This full-time internship reports to the Vice President, Public Health Partnerships and will work closely with those responsible for specific advocacy outreach activities of a select group of prominent U.S. global health researchers ─ known as Ambassadors ─ in the Paul G. Rogers Society for Global Health Research. Candidates must be available 40 hours per week between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. and for a minimum of eight weeks starting as soon as possible.
This position was created to assist the organization in its mission to make research to improve health a higher national priority - through education, advocacy and public policy activities. Within this framework, this position focuses solely on strengthening advocacy for an increased investment in U.S. funded global health research.
Responsibilities include:
* Assist in scheduling and planning meetings between policymakers and leading U.S. global health researchers. Conduct, analyze and summarize succinct background meeting materials and information as requested. * Track relevant policy issues, including budget and appropriations legislation and hearings related to U.S. investment in global health research. * Complete and present a self-directed project on a global health research policy topic relevant to U.S. concerns. * Provide administrative and project coordination support.
Eligibility
Graduate students, recent graduates (undergraduate or graduate school), and highly accomplished college seniors with a public health, global health, political science, public policy or related degree or degree goal are encouraged to apply.
Ideal candidates will have a strong academic background with excellent oral and written communication skills; a strong interest in connecting global health research to U.S. policy and be proficient with Microsoft Office Suite software.
Compensation Research!America offers a competitive stipend and paid parking or a transportation subsidy (Metro).
To Apply
E-mail resume and cover letter (no phone calls please) indicating your academic status and interest in this internship. Please include three references (complete contact information) and one writing sample that relates to global health research, global health or public health by May 22, 2009 to: Karen A. Goraleski Vice President, Public Health Partnerships kgoraleski@researchamerica.org
We've received word that Linz Heppe '07 has taken a job with the Middle East Policy Council as an assistant to the president, William L. Nash (Major General, U.S. Army, Retired). Sounds like a great job and a cool place. Congrats!
...oh, and Linz? Got any internship opportunities?
Hmm. From Business Week (hat tip, Shirley Skeel in Media Relations):
Kindle may start getting a warmer reception in colleges come May 6, when Amazon (AMZN) launches what is expected to be a larger version of its Kindle e-book reader that is more suited to academic publishers. Six universities including Case Western, Pace, and Princeton are partnering with Amazon and major publishers to supply students with the new device in the fall, The Wall Street Journal reports. Details of the name of the device, as well as specific features and price, have not been released. Amazon declined to comment on the report.
Why not just wait for the Asus T91 tablet? That's what I'm waiting for:
Hat tip: Dean Ferrari. Looks very interesting. You go?
Centre for International Studies of the Université de Montréal
One of North America’s most ambitious international-affairs summer school programs is to be found in Montreal. Aimed at undergraduate students in their last years and at graduate students as well as members of NGOs and civil society, the courses are offered in English. Each of our schools is given by a dozen experts in the field. The schools last six days in early July -- and coincide with Montreal's famed jazz and comedy festivals.
Subjects in 2009:
From June 29 to July 4th: The Obama Presidency: Year One India: Surprising Modernity Pluralism and Radicalization in the Arab-Muslim World International and European Environmental Law/Climate Change
From July 6 to 11: Biodiversity: current situation, challenges and management issues China Risen: How it is Changing, and Changing Us Understanding and Preventing Terrorism Peace Operations: Manufacturing Peace
Registration and lodging fees for students (one week): about $1000
For further information and a short video: www.cerium.ca/summer
What are they saying about the schools ?
"The CERIUM runs a serious program that is at once educational and very enjoyable. The courses typically include regular instructors and invited participants of a very high quality. Even better, the student body is very international and very diverse (including working professionals, MA students, and undergrads mixed together). All of the students that I took profited enormously from it (and from their stay in Montreal - a beautiful, cosmopolitan city). The internationally-renowned jazz festival occurs during the first week of their summer session. The staff at UdeM is a delight and are very welcoming. And Montreal is a blast." Charles Noble, Chair, Political Science Dept, USC Long Beach, Ca.
"Aside from the outstanding quality of the conferrences, I was impressed by the expertise of the participants and their involvement in the debates, which often drew on experiences in the field" Celestin Monga, Senior Economist, World Bank
Centre for International Studies of the Université de Montréal
My name is Olgy and I worked with Hart Edmonson last fall in the Tacoma democratic headquarters. I understand you have a very prominent blog at UPS and I would really appreciate your assistance in recruiting a intern by posting the below announcement. I'm running a Tacoma City Council race and this would be a great opportunity for students gain campaign experience by working in a tight knit local race directly with the candidate, myself (an Obama organizer here in Pierce County last fall), and our consultant (one of Obama's original Iowa Caucus organizers).
Thank you, Olgy Diaz
Internship, Roxanne Murphy for Tacoma City Council Dist. 4
Tacoma City Council campaign is seeking energetic interns to help elect Roxanne Murphy, a local Eastside community leader. Learn more about Roxanne on Facebook at http://tinyurl.com/d5zvbp Internship offers extensive experience in local politics and field work. This campaign is very grassroots in nature. It focuses heavily on community and voter contact as inspired by President Obama's successful field campaign and our management team of former Obama organizers. Duties will include:
* Voter outreach through canvassing and calling * Event coordination and participation * Database management * Voter Registration * Research, as needs arise * Assisting with volunteer management
Qualifications:
* Ideal candidate is a self-starter, detail orientated, and hard working * Interest or experience at any level in community advocacy, politics, or public service. * Must have reliable transportation. * Internship is unpaid but may count towards class credit
Scheduling is flexible however interns are required to work at least 1-2 days a week, with time off available for vacations and midterms/finals. Ideally students will be available this summer and into fall through Election Day on Nov. 3. If interested in solely this summer or postponing involvement until fall, please indicate that in your inquiry.
To set up an interview or find out more, contact:
Olgy S. Diaz Campaign Manager Roxanne Murphy for City Council Dist. 4 olgy.diaz@gmail.com (253) 228-8567
Professor Weinberger is interviewed in the NY Metro newspaper on Obama and the use of torture: http://www.readmetro.com/show/en/NewYork/20090429/1/6/ Meanwhile, his father, Professor Jerry Weinberger, sends in another dispatch from Kurdistan:
On first entering my apartment here, I knew that my palate, tongue, and nose were under assault from petroleum molecules—but I didn’t know why, since there’s no oil drilling nearby. It turns out that every house, business, and hotel has an ample, and often leaky, supply of diesel fuel in the basement. That’s because there’s hardly a house or business in Suli that doesn’t have a diesel-powered generator just outside the door. And that’s because electricity is available from the main grid only six or eight hours per day...
The accolades keep coming in for Kate Trinh (and PG, of course). Last week it was the news that Kate had been granted a Trimble award so that she could continue research in Vietnam; this week we heard she was one of five students to be given the Matelich Scholarship for $12,000.
University guidelines state that "Matelich candidates...demonstrate exceptional drive, discipline, and determination to achieve a high measure of success after college and emerge as a leader in their chosen field. Candidates...exhibit strong moral character, leadership abilities, and be involved in campus activities and/ or are making a difference through community service."
Defining Torture: The Justice Department Memos and Coercive Interrogation Monday, May 4, 2009 5-6pm Wyatt Hall 109
When President Obama decided to release four memos written by the Office of Legal Counsel in the U.S. Department of Justice he created a political tempest that will not go away any time soon. These memos outline in graphic detail the procedures used to interrogate suspected members of al Qaeda and the legal justifications for those procedures.
Professor Seth Weinberger will lead a discussion of many of the issues raised by these memos: Are the techniques used by the CIA to interrogate suspected terrorists torture? Were they illegal under U.S. law? Under international law? Should members of the Bush administration involved in these practices be prosecuted, and if so, who should be? Does it matter if the techniques produced “actionable intelligence”?
You may have seen this editorial in the NYT yesterday; a few excerpts below. Thoughts? One response can be found here.
April 27, 2009 Op-Ed Contributor End the University as We Know It By MARK C. TAYLOR
...If American higher education is to thrive in the 21st century, colleges and universities, like Wall Street and Detroit, must be rigorously regulated and completely restructured. The long process to make higher learning more agile, adaptive and imaginative can begin with six major steps:
1. Restructure the curriculum, beginning with graduate programs and proceeding as quickly as possible to undergraduate programs. The division-of-labor model of separate departments is obsolete and must be replaced with a curriculum structured like a web or complex adaptive network. Responsible teaching and scholarship must become cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural.
Just a few weeks ago, I attended a meeting of political scientists who had gathered to discuss why international relations theory had never considered the role of religion in society. Given the state of the world today, this is a significant oversight. There can be no adequate understanding of the most important issues we face when disciplines are cloistered from one another and operate on their own premises.
It would be far more effective to bring together people working on questions of religion, politics, history, economics, anthropology, sociology, literature, art, religion and philosophy to engage in comparative analysis of common problems. As the curriculum is restructured, fields of inquiry and methods of investigation will be transformed.
2. Abolish permanent departments, even for undergraduate education, and create problem-focused programs. These constantly evolving programs would have sunset clauses, and every seven years each one should be evaluated and either abolished, continued or significantly changed. It is possible to imagine a broad range of topics around which such zones of inquiry could be organized: Mind, Body, Law, Information, Networks, Language, Space, Time, Media, Money, Life and Water.
3. Increase collaboration among institutions. All institutions do not need to do all things and technology makes it possible for schools to form partnerships to share students and faculty. Institutions will be able to expand while contracting. Let one college have a strong department in French, for example, and the other a strong department in German; through teleconferencing and the Internet both subjects can be taught at both places with half the staff. With these tools, I have already team-taught semester-long seminars in real time at the Universities of Helsinki and Melbourne.
4. Transform the traditional dissertation. ...For many years, I have taught undergraduate courses in which students do not write traditional papers but develop analytic treatments in formats from hypertext and Web sites to films and video games. Graduate students should likewise be encouraged to produce “theses” in alternative formats....
6. Impose mandatory retirement and abolish tenure.
P&G Brown Bag Series: the Department of Politics & Government invites all interested students to join a casual conversation about current events led by department faculty and driven by student questions.
The next P&G Brown Bag will be held on April 28, 2009, from 12-1 in WYATT 226.
TOPIC OF DISCUSSION: U.S.-Cuba relations in the Obama Administration
The recent Summit of the Americas presented President Obama with an opportunity to meet with leaders from 33 Latin American and Caribbean nations and to articulate his approach to diplomacy. The administration has also begun to liberalize relations with Cuba, and just announced some important changes to U.S. policy toward Cuba, including easing travel restrictions for Americans with family members in Cuba and expanding telecommunications services in Cuba. Professor Share will lead a discussion about these changes, the Summit of the Americas, and their implications for U.S.-Cuba relations in the Obama administration.
P&G will provide beverages and dessert; just bring your lunch and your interest!
For questions about this event, or to recommend a discussion topic for the future, email Professor Kessel, akessel@ups.edu.
PG has a bumper crop of research award winners this year:
Katrina Bloemsma has been awarded a Bangs-Collier Research Award for her summer project, "Understanding History and Sovereignty in Native American Environmental Conservation".
Geoff LeGrand has been awarded a Summer Research Award for his summer project "The Sandinistas since the Sandinismo Experiment: Perseverance and Change".
Kyla Roberts in Foreign Languages and International Affairs will be working under PG professor Don Share on her Summer Research Award project, "Socialism or Death: The Trajectory of Socialism in Venezuela".
Kate Trinh has been awarded a Charles Garnet Trimble Award for research in Vietnam during the summer of 2009 in preparation for her senior thesis project in the Politics and Government department.
From T'wina Franklin '06 who is campaign manager for Victoria Woodards:
Victoria Woodards for Tacoma City Council!
Public Service That Puts People First
Tacoma is at a critical juncture in its history, a city rich in tradition, history and culture. Proud to call the “City of Destiny” home for nearly her entire life, Victoria has seen this city grow and become the amazing community we all know it as today, but Victoria also knows….we’re not done yet.
We haven’t yet achieved all that we know this city is capable of achieving. Through hard work, collaboration, and strong leadership we can make Tacoma the city we know it can be, but to get us there we need a committed public servant who knows Tacoma and its people.
Victoria Woodards is that leader.
Please join us as we build our community block by block on this campaign, we would be honored to have your support. Please contact T’wina Franklin to volunteer! 253.882.7810 tfranklin@ups.edu
On April 30 ASUPS Lectures presents an evening with Armstrong Williams, called “one of the most recognizable conservative voices in America” by The Washington Post. Mr. Williams, a third generation Republican, is a political commentator, syndicated columnist, and TV and radio host. His column appears weekly in the Washington Times and his radio program, “The Armstrong Williams Show,” can be heard across the nation throughout the week.
Armstrong will present a lecture titled, “Has America Lost Its Moral Economic and Military Might in the World?” at Kilworth Chapel (N. 18th and Warner) at the University of Puget Sound at 8:00PM. Williams is a pugnacious, provocative and principled voice for conservatives and Christian values in America’s public debates. Admission is free for UPS students and $5 public. Tickets are available at the UPS Info Center.
From 2002 to 2005 Williams hosted “On Point” with Armstrong Williams, a monthly primetime television special whose guests included Vice President Richard Cheney, former Secretary of State Colin Powell and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Williams has served as confidential assistant to the Chairman of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as well as legislative aide and advisor to U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond. In addition, Williams served as a presidential appointee to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and legislative assistant to the U.S. Representative Carrol Campbell, former governor of South Carolina.
Williams is a board member of The Carson Scholars Fund, Inc and the Youth Leadership Foundation and a member of Independence Federal Bank Board of Directors. He is also the CEO of the Graham Williams Group, an international public relations consulting firm.
The email with everything in it--travel, alums, internships, and paramilitaries...
Hi Professor O´Neil,
This e-mail has been long in coming. First, let me say that UPS Politics people do indeed flock together! We had a lecture from two U.S. State Department representatives from the US Embassy here in Quito and the Political Officer was Mark Pannell, UPS Politics and Government Class of `89! Small world.
Times down here have been pretty fascinating with elections coming up on April 26 and doing work on the politics of alternative development with a group called Defense of the Community of Intag (DECOIN) which is a region in Imbabura, the province directly above Pinchincha (where Quito is located). This group has been resisting copper mining by Canadian companies since the late 90s. My advisor is Carlos Zorilla, the president of DECOIN and, interestingly enough, was targeted for assasination by paramilitaries hired by two companies and had to live in hiding and change his appearance on two separate occasions. He has recently brought charges against a number of Canadian companies for violations of the Ecuadorian constatution, so while he´s a busy guy, he´s an amazing resource. I´m excited to have the opportunity to work with him.
At the same time I´m working as a consultant for Earth Economics (I think I mentioned this) on a project doing a cost-benefit analysis of ecosystem services provided by the Intag It is actual, factual, on the ground development work and I´m happy as a clam building alliances, conducting interviews, and talking with stake-holders. Today I had took two kids from the street out to lunch after I spoke with them for a bit about their work. It´s crazy to see how prevelant the informal economy is here and how sistemic it actually is. David(10) and Efran(11) came in and offered to shine my shoes (which I didn´t need). But in the process I asked them what they made, if they made enough, and (because they looked like hell, but dirtier and more thin) when the last time they had eaten. I suppose it was for my own selfish reasons, but I asked them if I could buy them lunch, proceeding to glean some insight into the effect of poverty on these kids. After asking if they went to school, Efran said he did, likes math and wants to be a doctor, but David responded that he couldn´t becasue he didn´t have good shoes. He proceeded to show me the gaping hole in his shoes that went from the middle toe around to nearly his arch. That was the only thing that (he said) was keeping him from going to school. Shoes are cheap (to we comparatively rich americans) so I sprung for a $15 pair, and he said I was a gift from God. I can´t believe that something as seemingly trivial as a pair of shoes can stand between a ten year old kid and his education...like we have reasons to complain.
Any way, I´m learning a great deal and am looking forward to hearing back from the enrichment comittee about a research grant proposal I submitted. If it goes through I´ll be continuing looking at Intag´s development model through the political lens of the Correa administration´s populist rhetoric concerning mining revenue. He has pointed to mineral wealth as a source of funding for social programs, but he´s quoting a ridiculous figure ($220 bn revenue), when less than 7% of the reserves are ¨proven,¨ the rest are possible reserves (which are least certain). Furthermore, only 5-7% of the actual $220bn quoted would stay in the country. If we´re critical (which numerous economists here are), we find only a meager amount that would be gained, only for 10-15 years and at the cost of some of the richest areas of environmental importance to both the carbon and water cycles. All that said, I really hope to have the opportunity to continue on this.
My name is Zach Shelton and I am the campaign manager for Keven Rojecki who is running for Tacoma City Council, at-large. I was wondering if you and your department at UPS would [let your students know of] opportunity to intern with our campaign. We would be able to provide a firsthand experience of municipal elections and on the ground campaigning at the local level. Feel free to call me at 360.259.0202 or via e-mail.
Thank you, Zach Shelton Keven Rojecki for Tacoma City Council 360.259.0202
On April 17, Elly, Zak and I attended the 2009 Pacific Northwest National Security Forum. This year the topic was the complex relationship between the United States and China. Presentations included short speeches by Washington State Representatives Adam Smith and Dave Reichert, and a great keynote speech and question/answer period with Ambassador Darryl Johnson, whom the three of us got to meet and speak with afterward (and we got a picture!). He was an incredibly interesting and friendly person, and all three of us were amazed by his career which included government placements at crucial moments in the recent histories of various countries, including China.
Later in the day there were two panel sessions, with experts speaking on issues of how the U.S. both partners and competes with China. Overall the event was very interesting and informative, and most of the people there were excited to see students participating in the event. The three of us are definitely planning on attending next year's forum, and we would strongly recommend that other students take advantage of this opportunity as well. For those who need an added incentive, the refreshments included the biggest cookies any of us have ever seen...just putting that out there. As one last note, we'd like to thank the PG department for funding our attendance of the event. It was a great experience.
Dexter Van Zile '87 has been working for the organiation CAMERA (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America). He's given a couple of presentations of late; below, a talk at Boston College:
You can also hear excerpts from a recent radio interview here. Thanks for the update!
Congrats to Giorgio Cafiero who has been accepted to the University of San Diego's International Relations Master's program and will be studying Middle Eastern politics there. Way to go!
I had heard that the recent campaign for the 2009 Lincoln included some promo stuff shot in Tacoma. What I didn't know is that if you go to the main webpage, not only is the car on top of the Glass Museum, but that you can do a 360 view that shows the Tacoma skyline. Pretty cool. http://www.lincoln.com/mks/home.asp
I'm directing a play for the Senior Theatre Festival that might be of interest to your students and I was wondering if you would forward this on to your Latin American Studies Listserve. It's called Death and the Maiden and was written by Ariel Dorfman, a Chilean who lived in exile during the Pinochet dictatorship. Dorfman's notes at the beginning of the play state that it is set in "a country that is probably Chile but could be any country that has given itself a democratic government just after a long period of dictatorship." One does not need to know anything about Chilean or Latin American history to get a lot from this play, but as a Spanish minor who has studied abroad in Chile, I know how much more meaningful this play is when one has studied or cares about the issues that shaped it.
Death and the Maiden is Friday, April 24 at 7:30 and Saturday, April 25 at 2:00 and 7:30, Norton Clapp Theatre in Jones Hall, $6 for UPS community, with a free preview on Thursday, April 23 at 7:30 as well.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at mknottingham@ups.edu
Afghan Law School Dean to Speak on New Islamic Law and Women’s Rights
TACOMA, Wash. – Dean Gran, dean of the Kabul Shari'a Faculty (Kabul School of Islamic Law), will give a talk addressing a new law passed in Afghanistan that expands Shi'ite men’s rights over women. The controversial new law has been condemned by many in Afghanistan and internationally for severely restricting the rights of Shi'ite women and for turning the country toward a renewed totalitarianism of religious extremists. The talk, “Islamic Law and Women’s Rights in Afghanistan,” will start at 3:30 p.m., Thursday, April 23, in Wyatt Hall, Room 109. The public is welcome to attend. Admission is complimentary.
Gran, who heads the oldest and most prestigious Faculty of Islamic Law in Afghanistan, will follow his talk with an extensive discussion and question-and-answer session. Details of the new law came to light this month and set off an extraordinary public debate on the once-taboo topic of religion and sex in the conservative Muslim nation. Critics say the law enables men to imprison and rape their wives. It requires women to seek their husband’s permission to leave home, except for purposes such as work or weddings, and to submit to their sexual demands unless they are ill.
The law was initially intended as a conciliatory gesture to the Shi'ites, who make up just 20 percent of the country’s population, and who have complained about being subjected to Sunni laws. But it has stirred up a political storm, including a formal protest by more than 200 Afghan leaders. It is also straining relations with Western nations which have been a major source of economic and military aid.
The talk is sponsored by the Department of Religion; Office of Spirituality, Service, and Social Justice; Department of Politics and Government; and the Gender Studies program.
Last August, Utah instituted a four-day workweek for 17,000 government employees. They started working four 10-hour days instead of five eight-hour days. They all get every Friday off and their pay is unaffected. The hope was that, with many agencies closed on Friday, the state could save money on utilities...
And what are people doing with their time off? They invest in their children and build social capital. Robert Putnam would be proud:
“Every Friday morning now, [Sonia] Smith volunteers at her son’s school. She helps students with their spelling tests and relishes the extra time with her son. Smith’s family and baby sitter adjusted their schedules to enable her to work the adjusted hours.”
From our friends in the English Department. Invaluable:
Business and Social Science Majors: Wondering what you’ll do after graduation? Enroll in Fall 2009’s Writing Beyond the Academy (English 300A) to help you figure it out.
In this one-night-a-week course you will . . .
• apply your communication skills to the sorts of tasks you’ll encounter in the working world
• learn about careers in fields you’re interested in and make professional contacts in those fields
English 300 will give you practice in business writing and will introduce you to new publishing technologies that professionals in more and more fields are expected to be familiar with. You’ll write and polish targeted resumes and cover letters, critique websites of potential employers, and publish articles on a commercial blog space internet (that is, worldwide) exposure. You’ll come way from the course with confidence in your communications skills--and a portfolio of written work to share with prospective employers.
English 300A Fall 2008 Wednesday eves., 7-9:30 p.m. Enroll now!
Last week Tibetan monks were on campus to create a sand mandala as part of broader range of events about Tibet that was spearheaded by PG major Tashi Chogyal '09. Saturday I took a few pictures just as they were finishing up, after which they dismantled it and distributed the sand (and put some in the Sound). Here is some information on the sand mandala: http://www.mysticalartsoftibet.org/
If you look over on the left you'll see Professor Fields, who was there with a Boy Scout troop
my kids didn't understand why they couldn't play with these bowls of sand.
PG majors--I have inquired about a student discount, and just heard back that they will reduce the price the $25. Let me know if you're going, get a receipt, and PG will cover it. It's this friday---
Pacific Northwest National Security Forum Chair: Lt. Gen. William H. Harrison, USA (Ret)
Please accept our invitation for you and your students to attend the 2009 Pacific Northwest National Security Forum: "Competitors and Partners: China and the U.S." Military and regional experts will delve into the complexities of the United States’ relationship with China during a day-long forum. The event is expected to draw an audience of active duty and reserve military, retired military, and civilians including local and regional civic leaders. We would like to specifically invite you and your students, as they will be our future leaders in our relations with China later this century. The forum will be held on April 17 at the Clover Park Technical College in Lakewood, Washington. The forum is from 11:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m., and includes a luncheon and keynote speaker U.S. Ambassador Darryl Johnson, followed by expert panel discussions and a reception. Registration cost is $45 prior to April 1 ($50 after April 1), and parking is free. Participants can find additional information and register online at www.pnwnsf.org or www.tacomachamber.org.
Please contact Mr. Dan Wasserstrom at djstrom@comcast.net or 253-584-9300 with any questions. Thank you for joining us in a stimulating day with the opportunity to learn more about our relationship with China: Competitors or Partners.
Sincerely,
William H. Harrison LTG USA (Ret.) President Pacific Northwest National Security Forum
...It’s early, but based on graduate school applications this spring, enrollment in undergraduate courses, preliminary job-placement results at schools, and the anecdotal accounts of students and professors, a new pattern of occupational choice seems to be emerging. Public service, government, the sciences and even teaching look to be winners, while fewer shiny, young minds are embarking on careers in finance and business consulting.
...Graduate schools of government and public policy are seeing a surge of applications. In a survey of its members released last week, the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration found that 82 percent reported an increase in applications this year, and many saw the largest percentage jumps in several years, or ever. The most-cited reason was the expectation by students that government will be hiring.
Still, the appeal of public sector careers extends beyond job openings, say school officials. The laissez-faire presumption that government is not the solution but the problem, dating back to the Reagan era, has been cast aside, they say.
The government’s need to step in with financial bailouts and recovery programs to steady the economy is seen as the immediate proof, they say, but not the only one. The environment, energy and health care also pose huge, complex challenges. “Young people today understand that government has a powerful role to play in solving these problems,” said Sandra Archibald, dean of the Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington, where applications this year are up 26 percent.
Cellphones and text messaging are widely believed to have played a crucial role in fostering the Orange Revolution in Ukraine (or at least, making the protests as widespread and successful as they were); the Berkman Center at Harvard published probably the most comprehensive study of the role that social media played in the Orange Revolution (even though I criticized some of its cyber-utopian assumptions in a recent essay for Boston Review).
Could it be that five years after the famous protests in Kiev's Maidan Square another technology - Twitter - will usher in another revolution in neighbouring Moldova? Will we remember the events that are now unfolding in Chisinau not by the color of the flags but by the social-networking technology used?
Abi Dvorak '10 sends along some pictures from Namibia where she is on study abroad:
The first photo is of our group climbing Dune 7 in Swakopmund, Namibia. The second is of the main method of transportation in the rural areas of Namibia- donkey cart. We had the pleasure of riding them during the rural homestay when we stayed on Damara farms outside of Khorixas. The third is part of the informal settlements of Windhoek. The population in the informal settlements is incredibly high and most cannot afford enough water, food, or school fees for their children. The fourth is of the Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria, South Africa. This monument is a source of pride for Afrikaner history- it commemorates when the Dutch traveled from Cape Town to Pretoria and conquered the Zulu people.
It’s about as last-minute as can be, but if you have any students who are interested in what it’s like to work in a campaign they are welcome to come visit PG101B Monday, April 13. That day we’ll have a speaker, Nathan Williams, who will be discussing his experience working in the 2008 election, most recently as the regional field director in NC. Mr. Williams has worked in the past three presidential elections, and will be able to compare/contrast 2008 with previous elections, particularly in terms of mobilization strategies and participation.
So, if you have any students who might be vaguely interested in this discussion, we meet from 2-3:20pm in Howarth 005.
Spearheaded by PG major Tashi Chogyal '09 (see earlier posts), if you're in the area do attend or at least come by to see the sand mandala--
Tibetan Monks to Perform Sacred Healing Dance April 3, 2009
The famed Tibetan monks who sold out Carnegie Hall with a show including multiphonic singing, 10-foot horns, and masked dancing, will appear at Kilworth Memorial Chapel for a single performance on Saturday, April 11, at 8 p.m. The monks from Tibet's Drepung Loseling Monastery will also spend three days creating a mandala (circular and cosmic) painting of colored sand, which will then be destroyed in a ceremony symbolizing the impermanence of life. The events coincide with the 50th anniversary of the takeover of Tibet by China's former chairman Mao Tse-Tung. Tickets are $11 for the public, $6 for campus members.
The Dance for World Healing features multiphonic singing, wherein the 10 monks simultaneously intone three notes of a chord, and traditional instruments such as the long dung-chen horns, drums, bells, cymbals, and gyaling trumpets. Rich brocade costumes and masked dances create an exotic atmosphere. The performance is part of an international tour endorsed by the Dalai Lama. The aim is to raise awareness of threats to Tibetan civilization and to raise support for the Tibetan refugee community in India.
The Drepung Loseling monks have won world renown. They are featured on the Golden Globe-nominated soundtrack of the film Seven Years in Tibet, starring Brad Pitt, and have shared the stage with Philip Glass, Paul Simon, Sheryl Crow, Patti Smith, the Beastie Boys, and other artists.
During their Tacoma stay, the monks will construct a 10-foot wide mandala sand painting in the Reading Room of Collins Memorial Library. This will begin with a ceremony including chanting and mantras starting at noon on Thursday, April 9, and finish with a ceremony starting at noon on Saturday, April 11. The painting requires that millions of grains of sand are painstakingly poured into place on a flat platform over many hours. Each monk holds a traditional metal funnel called a chakkpur while running a metal rod on its grated surface. The vibration causes the colored sand to flow like liquid onto the platform. At the end the sand is swept up and placed in an urn. To fulfill the function of traditional healing, half of the sand will be distributed to the audience in small sacks or vials, while the remainder will be ceremonially poured out on the Ruston waterfront to disperse the healing energies of the mandala throughout the region.
Sponsors of the event are University of Puget Sound's Cultural Events and the Associated Students of the University of Puget Sound, with support from the Chism Endowment, Department of Asian Studies, and Students for a Free Tibet. Tickets for the performance are available at the information desk in Wheelock Student Center.
Mr. Perry is a PG alum; contact him if you have any questions--
Job Description: Office Assistant (full-time), Tacoma District Office of U.S. Congressman Adam Smith
Letters of interest & resumes with references must be received by April 20th Attn: Linda Danforth
* faxed to 253.593.6776 * mailed to: U.S. Rep. Adam Smith, 2209 Pacific Avenue, Suite B, Tacoma, WA 98402 * emailed to: Linda.Danforth@mail.house.gov
CORE RESPONSIBILITIES:
Answer calls and greet visitors; open, code, and route incoming mail and email correspondence; clip newspapers; answer constituent requests for general information; draft letters to constituents; assist with intern supervision; monitor deliveries to/from the office; and assist with other various duties and office projects including coordinating the Bringing Congress to Your Door program.
QUALIFICATIONS:
Professional manner; excellent communication and organization skills; ability to use computer, photocopier, facsimile and other office equipment; ability to work cooperatively and courteously with others; knowledge of the political process; and compassion and commitment to public service and customer service.
Salary range
$26,000+ depending on qualifications and experience, with Federal employee benefits.
U.S. Rep Smith's Office is an equal opportunity employer.
Matt Perry Field Representative Office of Congressman Adam Smith 2209 Pacific Ave, Suite B, Tacoma, WA 98402 Main: 253.593.6600
Last week I attended the 60th annual Public Affairs Conference at Principia College in Elsah, Illinois. The them of this year's gathering was "China Rising." The three-day conference was packed full of an all-star team of china scholars including David Lampton, Daniel Wright, Minxin Pei, Melvyn Golstein and Jonathan Spence. The issues at the conference ranged from the chinese economy, political future, human rights and security perspectives.
Lectures were given in all of the issues while on the last day we broke up into policy groups to further discuss our areas of interest. The hosts of the conference was Principia College, a small 500-student christian science college. The conference was entirely student run and the organizers run an extremely professional, well-run conference. The Principia campus was amazing as well, located right on the Mississippi River in the forests of Illinois.
During my short time on campus, I also ran into the local goats on campus, that are used on campus as lawn-mowers. The Principia campus takes sustainability much more seriously than we do, purchasing enough carbon offsets to make the conference a carbon-neutral event. A big thank you to the PG and Asian Studies Department for sponsoring my trip. Next year's topic is "The End of Oil."
I encourage everyone to take advantage of this amazing conference and if your interested in the future in attending PG conferences, just ask Professor O'Neil.
The Sixty-First Conference on World Affairs is getting underway, and they are streaming a number of presentations. Check it out here: http://colorado.edu/cwa/webcast.html. A lot of interesting presentations on just about everything international.
My three-year stint at department chair is drawing to a close. By unanimous acclimation and over his strenuous objections, Professor Sousa will take the reins starting in the fall. I will continue to blog out to our community as the instrument of Our New Leader's will, and we can expect to see more from from Professor Sousa on these pixels as well. Stay tuned--
No, not Seth Weinberger, his father, Professor Jerry Weinberger, who is currently teaching at the American University of Iraq-Sulaimani (AUIS). An excerpt from his first dispatch:
AUIS was closed the day before, too, which by contrast was filled with raucous festivities commemorating the 18th anniversary of the Kurdish uprising against Saddam—the Kurdish Fourth of July: beautiful girls decked out in colorful Kurdish garb, loudspeakers blaring, big crowds in social halls. As I walked in the swirl, I couldn’t go far without young men coming up to ask where I was from and shake my hand. “U.S./Washington D.C.” elicited replies such as: “America and Kurdistan good friends,” or “White House.” One young man even said: “Jack Bauer.” But invariably, they would ask: “How you like Suli?” while simply bursting with pride in their freedom and their city.
BEIJING (Reuters) – Eight Chinese who used high-tech communications equipment, including mobile phones and wireless earpieces, to help their children cheat at university entrance exams have been jailed on state secret charges, local media said.
The eight, from the wealthy eastern province of Zhejiang, got together in 2007 to plot how to help their children as "they knew their achievements were not ideal," the official Legal Daily said.
One of the parents hired university students to provide answers which were sent to the children via wireless earphones while they were in the exam room, the report said.
But their ruse was discovered after police detected "abnormal radio signals" near the school, the newspaper said.
The parents were given jail terms ranging from six months to three years after being found guilty of illegally obtaining state secrets, it added, without saying what happened to their children.
China's college entrance exams, or "gaokao," are fiercely competitive tests.
Stories of cheating surface every year, despite stiff penalties. Students reportedly pay for leaked exam papers, smuggle in mobile phones and electronic dictionaries, or pay others to take the exam for them.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Sugita Katyal)
NAFTA Turns 15 Free Trade, Food Security and Migration in Mexico
Monday, April 6th, 4 pm, Trimble Forum
Baldemar Mendoza Jiménez, agro-ecologist with the Union of Organizations of the Sierra Juarez, Oaxaca, has participated in the informational campaign regarding the contamination of native corn by genetically modified corn. He is a promoter of sustainable agriculture using the farmer to farmer method to attain food sovereignty in the working groups that UNOSJO assists, as well as in communities where their organization has a presence.
Take a deeper look at the effects of NAFTA, including resistance to genetically modified (GMO) corn, the impact of migration on sending communities, and the struggle for food security in Oaxaca's indigenous communities. This event is open to the public. Professional interpretation (Spanish-English) provided.
I am grateful and excited to have been selected to be the University of Puget Sound's Miki Scholar for 2009-2010. Former Prime Minister Takeo Miki (PM from 1974-1976) spent time in Seattle in his early years and I believe his daughter and grandchild attended UPS. As part of my fellowship I intend to study government efforts to promote light emitting diode (LED) manufacturing on the Island of Shikoku. I expect this to be an extremely interesting project because of (1) depopulation and migration out of Shikoku causing workforce challenges, (2) intense competition from firms in Taiwan, Korea and China, and (3) the LED industry's status as an emerging field in energy saving technology. A recent collaborative effort between the Tokushima prefectural government, leading LED firms and academia has been called "LED Valley."
Since graduating UPS in 2006 I have been at the University of Washington's Jackson School in the Japan Studies Program. When I first started taking Japanese class in middle school I wanted to go the UW, study electrical engineering and take the university's Technical Japanese program. Although I ended up changing course on the engineering front, since being at UW I have had succeeded in taking Technical Japanese courses. I highly recommend TJP to anyone considering taking advanced Japanese language courses. The curriculum is very well developed and focuses heavily on cultural and business practices as opposed to being solely focused on technology related topics.
The high brightness blue LED was invented in Shikoku by Shuji Nakamura of Nichia corporation in 1993. Despite having only modest research and personell budgets, Nakamura succeeded where leading firms such as 3M, Hewlett Packard, Matsushita and the like had been trying for decades. Nakamura and his invention would become infamous in Japan because of lawsuits between him and his employer during subsequent years. Nichia paid Nakamura a mere $300 bonus for creating an invention that would open up a new multi-billion dollar industry! Instead of being promoted and given expanded resources to pursue further research, he was forced into the dreaded madogiwa zoku to stamp papers all day. Currently Shuji Nakamura is a professor of Materials Science at the University of California Santa Barbra. A Tokyo court awarded him approximately $800 million dollars in a counter suit against Nichia, after an appeal the award was reduced to $8 million, still an improvement over $300 dollars. Nakamura and other developments in the LED world are profiled in a recent book by technology journalist Bob Johnston.
This just came through the transom from Alum Relations. PG majors, want to go? It's $25, but PG can cover a few of you. If you are interested in going, contact me.
Puget Sound Business Breakfast
Life as a Venture Capitalist: A Career Decoded Lucinda Stewart '92 Managing Director, OVP Venture Partners
Lucinda Stewart, named one of Seattle’s "40 Under 40" by Puget Sound Business Journal in 2007, Lucinda has more than 15 years of operations and investment experience in emerging-growth companies. At OVP, her investments are focused primarily in infrastructure software, and wireless and digital media. Lucinda serves on the board of directors for numerous companies, including Seattle-based Lucid Commerce, AdmitOneSecurity, and Vantos.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009 7 - 9 a.m. Bell Harbor’s Maritime Event Center, 1st Floor 2211 Alaskan Way, Pier 66
