Congrats to Kate Trinh '10, Matelich Scholar

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."

Way to go, Kate!

5/4 Brown Bag Talk: The Torture Memos

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”?

Hosted by the Department of Politics & Government

Change education?

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 The division-of-labor model of separate departments is obsolete and must be replaced with a curriculum structured like a web or complex adaptive network.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.

Reminder: 4/28 Brown Bag: US-Cuba Relations

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.

Congrats to our research award winners!

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.

Congrats, all!

PG alum needs interns in Tacoma

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

4/30 talk: Armstrong Williams

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.

http://www.armstrongw.com/
http://washingtontimes.com/staff/armstrong-williams/
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Armstrong_Williams

Jonathan Roberts '10 updates from Ecuador

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.

Intern for Tacoma City Council race

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

Recap: Pacific Northwest National Security Forum

From Kammi Sheeler '10


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.

--Kammi Sheeler

Dexter Van Zile '87 on CAMERA

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 '08--on to grad school

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!

See Tacoma through the eyes of a Lincoln (pic)

Hat tip: Derek Young '96 at Exit133:


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

Death and the Maiden and CHE

Film and theater:

CHE begins at run at the Grand Cinema http://www.grandcinema.com/movie.php?id=282

and...

Hello,

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

Thanks!

Megan Knottingham

Asia Wright '04 on Cruise Ships and Antarctica

Interesting piece from Asia Wright '04 in the California Journal of International Law, "Southern Exposure: Managing Sustainable Cruise Ship Tourism in Antarctica". Check it out--

4/23: Afghan Dean of Law to talk on Sharia

see you there--

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.

Four Day Workweek and Social Capital

Hat tip: Carly Kneppers '05:

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.”

Read the whole thing here.

Must-take course: Writing Beyond the Academy

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!

Wednesday! Brown bag talk on nuclear proliferation

I'll be there--join us!

Sand mandala recap (pics and video)

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.