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NEWS: Spring 2005
| Campus news for University of Wisconsin-Madison | Clipsheet: University of Wisconsin-Madison in the news |
Public affairs-neuroscience degree program announced
The La Follette School of Public Affairs and the Neuroscience Training Program at UW-Madison announce the creation of a new dual degree program in neuroscience and public policy. Students in the program will receive a Ph.D. in neuroscience and a master's degree in public affairs.
“I am very excited by this new program,” says Clark Miller, La Follette School assistant professor and program co-director. “This is the only program of its kind in the country. With this step, UW-Madison establishes itself as a leader in cutting-edge teaching and research in the field of science and technology policy.”
“As advances in neuroscience continue to accelerate, they will play an increasingly important role in defining public policy across a wide range of brain-related issues, affecting education, health, welfare, environment, from early development to old age. Understanding our brain is central to defining who we are as individuals, our interactions with each other and as a society. Developing rationale policies based on this understanding is essential to our future,” notes Ronald Kalil, professor of ophthalmology, visual science and neuroscience, and the program’s other co-director.
“As we learn more about the brain, it will be essential that we have scientists who are prepared to use the knowledge to inform public policies and who are trained for careers in organizations and agencies that will make and implement them,” adds Miller.
The program will be accepting applications this fall, and its first class will enroll in the fall of 2006. Anyone interested should contact Clark Miller, (608) 265-6017, miller@lafollette.wisc.edu; or Ron Kalil, (608) 262-4903, rekalil@wisc.edu.
New program in neuroscience and public policy offered, Sept. 13, 2005, UW-Madison news site
-- posted May 17, 2005; revised Aug. 3, 2005; updated Sept. 20, 2005
Madison-area residents release report on nanotechnology
A report on the promise and perils of nanotechnology by a panel of Madison-area citizens was accepted by legislators, public health and environmental policy-makers and researchers from UW-Madison's Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center on Thursday, April 28.
The demographically diverse residents produced the report through a consensus conference, an innovative democratic process for obtaining lay perspectives on the development of technologies. Nanotechnology involves the creation of products based on extremely small components and is expected to have a substantial impact on the economy during the next 20 years.
The citizens group conferred with experts, read background documents and met on three Sundays in April to discuss the future of nanotechnology.
“This citizen panel is at the cutting edge in contemplating this new technology, considering the opportunities it offers and the concerns it raises well before nanotechnology has a transformative impact on the U.S. and world economies,” says consensus conference co-organizer Professor Daniel Kleinman of UW-Madison’s Department of Rural Sociology. The citizen group, he adds, is a real innovation in democratic lay involvement in publicly important decisions about highly technical matters.
La Follette School professor Clark Miller served as an expert panelist during the consensus conference. "In a democracy, we say that citizens are entitled to have a say in developments that affect their lives," he says. "Beginning with this consensus conference, we are working toward the goal of building a robust public dialogue that will incorporate citizens' voices into the governance of emerging science and technology."
The report considers research funding, government regulation and ethics. It makes recommendations on health and safety, media coverage and information availability, creation of government bodies, research and research funding, military and surveillance, and public involvement.
The consensus conference and its examination of nanotechnology were sponsored by the Nanotechnology and Society Initiative and UW-Madison Integrated Liberal Studies. Miller leads the
Nanotechnology and Society Initiative, a $1.25 million interdisciplinary exploration of the social, economic and political dimensions of nanotechnology.The initiative is part of a $13.4 million Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center grant awarded by the National Science Foundation to establish a Center for Templated Synthesis and Assembly at the Nanoscale at UW-Madison.
For information on the Report of the Madison Area Citizen Conference on Technology, contact Daniel Kleinman, 265-3289, dlkleinman@wisc.edu; or Maria Powell, 240-1485, powell@wisc.edu.
Nano-sized, huge impact on society, April 29, 2005, The Capital Times
Nanotechnology recommendations, April 29, 2005, The Capital Times-- posted April 28, 2005; updated June 14, 2005
Presentation spotlights women, leadership, politics, public policy
Women, leadership, politics and public policy will be addressed by Georgia Duerst-Lahti, a Beloit College professor of political science, on Thursday, April 28, at 4-5 p.m. at the Pyle Center. A reception will follow her presentation, which is titled "Women and Politics in Wisconsin: Are We Moving Forward?"
Georgia Duerst-Lahti An expert on gender and political institutions and on the role of gender in political campaigns, Duerst-Lahti works with Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton on Wisconsin Women = Prosperity, a non-partisan, statewide economic development initiative. Her presentation is the last colloquium in a series that is part of that program.
At Beloit College, Duerst-Lahti, who earned her Ph.D. at UW-Madison, teaches U.S. government courses that focus on the political process, the federal government, public administration and policy, globalization and gender. She served as chair of women’s studies 1987-1990 and 1997-98 and as chair of the department of political science from 2000-05. From 1993-97, she was associate dean of the college.
Since 2001, Duerst-Lahti has been faculty for an annual seminar on women in public leadership sponsored by Wisconsin Women In Government Inc. and the Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs at UW-Madison. Duerst-Lahti has been president of the Midwest Women’s Caucus for Political Science and president of the national Women’s Caucus for Political Science.
She serves on the Committee on the Status of Women of the American Political Science Association. She frequently shares her knowledge as an analyst for public radio and several newspapers.
The Wisconsin Women = Prosperity colloquia are sponsored by the UW-Madison Center for Public Policy and the Status of Women, an effort of the Women’s Studies Research Center and the La Follette School of Public Affairs. Information: Terry Shelton, shelton@lafollette.wisc.edu.
Noteworthy upcoming events at UW-Madison, April 25, 2005, News@UW-Madison
-- posted April 19, 2005
Former White House economic adviser to speak on campus
The former chief of staff for the White House Council of Economic Advisers will speak on Tuesday, April 26, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in 8411 Social Science.
Phillip Swagel, now a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, will present a public talk entitled "The Economic Agenda: A View from the Trenches." Swagel will discuss the broad sweep of U.S. economic policy and talk about Social Security, tax reform, health care, tort reform and international trade. He will touch on the policy-making process and political constraints affecting that process.
He joined the American Enterprise Institute earlier in 2005 after more than two years as chief of staff at the White House Council of Economic Advisers. Swagel previously served as a senior economist at the council, a visiting assistant professor at Northwestern University and an economist at the Federal Reserve Board and the International Monetary Fund. He writes on a range of topics, including international trade policy, international finance, and the political economy of taxation and the welfare state. At American Enterprise Institute, Swagel focuses on international trade and financial policy.“Phill Swagel’s experiences with the White House Council of Economic Advisers bridge the Clinton and Bush presidencies,” says La Follette School professor Menzie Chinn, who worked with Swagel at the Council of Economic Advisers during 2000-01. “This gives him a unique perspective on America’s economic policies.”
Upcoming UW-Madison lectures feature prominent state, national leaders
April 18, 2005, News@UW-Madison news release-- posted April 13, 2005; updated April 14, 2005
Professor speaks on taxes, public education
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Professor Andrew Reschovsky is sharing his expertise in financial issues and public education around Wisconsin and Massachusetts.
On April 1, he addressed a legislative forum in Weston, Mass., and presented “Funding Public Education in a Post-Hancock World: A National Perspective.” On April 7 he speaks to UW-Madison’s Academic Staff Institute on the impact of a taxpayer bill of rights in Wisconsin.
The following week he heads to Milwaukee to present “Hype or Hypothermia? The Consequences of Freezing Tax Levies” to a session sponsored by Grass Roots/ North Shore. On April 12 he addresses "Financing Wisconsin’s Future” for Legislative Day 2005 held by the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin and Wisconsin Women’s Network.
In May he presents “Property Tax Relief and Property Tax Limits” to a session on economic perspectives on property taxes and education finance held by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and New England Public Policy Center at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
-- posted April 6, 2005
Student wins prestigious city management internship
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| Bryan Gadow has accepted a yearlong internship with the city of Kansas City, Missouri. The LP Cookingham Management Internship Program is one of the most competitive in the country. Applicants come from some of the nation's largest public affairs schools. |
La Follette School student Bryan Gadow is off to Kansas City, Missouri, as an intern with the L.P. Cookingham Management Internship Program with the city manager’s office.
“This is one of the oldest, most competitive city government internships,” says La Follette professor Dennis Dresang. “Bryan competed with a diverse group of finalists from some of the largest public affairs schools in the country.”
The range of experiences the 12-month internship offers excites Gadow, who graduates in May with a master’s degree in public affairs. He enrolled in La Follette through the Accelerated Programs, through which undergraduates can complete their master’s in a fifth year of study.
“The Cookingham internship is a thorough introduction to local government,” Gadow says. “I hope to learn more about community economic development, an area I want to pursue professionally.”
The program rotates interns through the offices for the city manager, capital improvements, budget and public works. In each of these offices, interns work closely with staff on projects ranging from researching hospitalization insurance, analyzing intersection collisions and working with media.
While working in the rotations, Gadow and the other interns will select and design a yearlong project that will significantly affect Kansas City government. This project provides interns with an opportunity to work together on a project of specific interest to them.
Gadow, who is from Kaukauna, Wis., has been working for the Office of the President of the University of Wisconsin System, where he is involved in government relations and communications activities. He serves as chair of the Morgridge Center for Public Service Committee of Civic Participation, a university working group that examines strategies to incorporate civic learning into the UW-Madison curriculum.
“My training at La Follette has provided me with skills that I need to succeed in this position,” Gadow says. “The Cookingham interview committee was really impressed with the broad array of policy fields that I had experience with. But I think that my La Follette internship experience, working at UW System on ‘Brain Gain’ strategies for attracting young professionals to the state, was what sealed the deal.
“I look forward to applying what I learned at La Follette in my new position.”
UW-Madison Student Wins Prestigious City Management Internship, April 6, 2005, UW-Madison news release
-- posted April 1, 2005; revised April 4, 2005
More than 40 prospective students check out La Follette School at open house
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| Prospective students listen to La Follette School professor Joe Soss describe his research and the challenges an academic analyst might encounter in providing data to be applied in real-life scenarios. Soss was one of five professors who spoke to more than 40 prospective students during an open house. |
More than 40 prospective students from around the United States visited the La Follette School March 31 and April 1 to get a taste of what a smaller program at a world-class research university can offer.
The open house introduces prospective students to faculty, students, career development staff and the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus on the shores of Lake Mendota.
Prospective students learned about how the domestic and international public affairs degree programs can help them make contacts, develop expertise and practice public policy with real-world clients.
“This group will become the rigorous policy analysts, innovative public managers and dynamic leaders of tomorrow,” says Director Donald A. Nichols. “We are very pleased to have them visit and meet with our faculty and staff.”
The visitors were from as far away as Texas, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio, California and Washington, D.C. Many met individually with faculty.
The morning session on Friday opened with an introduction to the school by Associate Director Melanie Manion. She reviewed the degree program structure, discussed professional development opportunities and introduced student service and career development staff members Joanne Chapin, Mary Woodward and Mara Warner. La Follette School professors Menzie Chinn, Carolyn Heinrich, Joe Soss and John Witte discussed the connection between their research and the real world of public affairs. Then La Follette School students talked about their research for their final semester workshop projects, the thesis-equivalent for the domestic and international programs.Other activities include lunch with the director and a mixer with the La Follette School Student Association.
-- posted March 31, 2005; revised April 1 and April 4, 2005
Faculty and students explore improvements for child-support system
La Follette School students and faculty are helping to craft social welfare policy to aid families burdened with child-support debt as part of an Institute for Research on Poverty project that involves Racine County in southeast Wisconsin and the Bureau of Child Support in the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.
The goal is to encourage parents who owe large amounts of child support – sometimes in the tens of thousands of dollars – to become regular payers and to reduce the burden that unpaid support places on the entire family.
“The hope is that the Racine project can become a statewide model,” says Carolyn Heinrich, one of the La Follette School faculty members working on the project and IRP associate director.
The debt-reduction program, named Families Forward, began operations in March 2005 in Racine County. IRP Director and La Follette School professor Maria Cancian, Heinrich and other IRP researchers are conducting the experimental evaluation of the program.
La Follette School students Hilary Shager and Alan Paberzs spent part of summer 2004 assisting Heinrich and IRP researcher David Pate with focus groups to learn what would motivate non-custodial parents to increase child-support payments and what would motivate custodial parents to participate in the debt-reduction program. This spring, La Follette School students Katie Keck and Amber Edwards are helping with implementation of the program and evaluation.
“The information that we collected in these focus groups was absolutely essential to determining the debt-reduction program features,” Heinrich says. Program design and the experimental evaluation that will accompany it were determined in a collaborative process during an 18-month period with the Bureau of Child Support, Racine County and IRP working closely together.
Shager, who graduates in May with a master’s degree in public affairs, says helping with the focus groups let her apply practical and academic skills, which was exciting. “Here was a state problem and here was a policy solution,” she says. “The focus groups showed that the researchers were concerned about the actual people and how they felt about the policy.”
This learning experience helped Shager decide to enroll this fall as a doctoral student in social welfare at UW-Madison. “It’s very inspiring to be a part of something active,” she says, "something going on in government that would affect real people."
Cancian briefs news legislators on child-support, welfare issues
-- posted March 30, 2005
Colloquium to focus on higher education, gender equity
“Gender Equity in Higher Education: What the President of Harvard Doesn’t Know” will be addressed in a presentation by Louise F. Root-Robbins, coordinator of the University of Wisconsin System's Status of Women Initiative, on Thursday, March 31, at 4 p.m. at the Pyle Center at UW-Madison.
Louise F.
Root-RobbinsPresentation slides Root-Robbins is also co-director of UW System’s Sloan Project for Academic Career Advancement. In these positions, she is a resource for campus-based and collaborative initiatives to work toward organizational development and change to improve the status of UW System women faculty, staff and students.
Prior to this position, Root-Robbins taught and conducted research in the medical and nursing schools at UW-Madison. She has been a senior administrator at the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and the Division of Health, where she worked closely with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on implementing statewide HIV/AIDS prevention programs and advising the state superintendent on comprehensive school health program implementation. She is frequently invited to speak on topics related to gender equity, women as leaders, work/life and organization change issues in higher education.
She is vice president of the national organization College and University Work/Family Association and president-elect of the Wisconsin Women in Higher Education Leadership. She received the 1993 League of Women Voters Citizen of Distinction Award, the 2003 YWCA Woman of Distinction Award and the 2003 Margaret Miller Award from Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin.
Her presentation is one of a series of colloquia that are part of Wisconsin Women = Prosperity, a non-partisan, statewide initiative that Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton directs. The program works to improve the status of women and to drive economic growth for Wisconsin by increasing women’s success. Root-Robbins is the third speaker in the spring portion. The series concludes April 28 with Beloit College political science professor Georgia Duerst-Lahti.
The presentations are 4-5 p.m. at the Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St. A reception follows each talk.
The colloquia are sponsored by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Public Policy and the Status of Women, an effort of the Women’s Studies Research Center and the La Follette School of Public Affairs. Information: Terry Shelton, shelton@lafollette.wisc.edu.Gender, Attitude, Aptitude and UW, March 27, 2005, Wisconsin State Journal
Expert to discuss gender equity in higher education, March 7, 2005, News@UW-Madison
-- posted March 21, 2005
Wisconsin economy should be strong, director tells gathering
Wisconsin's economy is likely to outperform that of the nation this year, La Follette School director Donald A. Nichols told about 100 people at the Economic Outlook conference on Friday, March 4, 2005.
Donald Nichols Audio recording of March 2005 presentation, "Outlook for Midwest and Local Economy" Presentation paper Presentation slides The economy is coming out of the recession, says Nichols, who serves on the Governor's Economic Advisory Council and the Midwest Economists' Workshop at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. "This economy is going to do well. It's been doing well. It's going to continue to do well."
Nichols expects the economy to grow at least 3 percent this year. Wisconsin should thrive because of its strong production of capital goods under demand thanks to corporate profits and a weak dollar. Machinery and industrial parts made in Wisconsin will sell well overseas, also due to the weak dollar.
Nichols, who joined several other presenters, predicts a shortage of skilled workers in the state due to the increase in manufacturing. Higher labor costs in China and higher fuel costs will boost U.S. manufacturing. He also expects the Federal Reserve Board to increase short-term interest rates.
"This is one of the easier forecasts I've ever had to make," says Nichols, a professor of economics and public affairs. "The claim that the economy is going to do well in 2005 and early 2006 -- or even all through 2006 -- is pretty much in the bag."
The Executive Education program of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's School of Business holds the Economic Outlook session twice a year at the campus. The one-day briefing brings together executives to hear forecasts for the Midwest, U.S. and world economies.
Audio recordings from Economic Outlook conference for Midwest and Local Economy, 2003-2005
U.S. forecast is good, state's is very good, March 4, 2005, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Experts see same pretty picture, March 5, 2005, Wisconsin State Journal-- posted March 10, 2005; updated March 18, March 24, 2005
Professor, lawmakers explore tax proposals on "For the Record"
Andrew Reschovsky joined Wisconsin Assembly members Mark Pocan and David Ward on the WISC-TV's show "For the Record" on Sunday, Feb. 20. They discussed budget proposals by the governor and in the Legislature to freeze property taxes.
-- posted Feb. 21, 2005
Teen pregnancy, insurance, depression top state women's health agenda
Reductions in teen pregnancy, better services to women with depression and higher quality health insurance are the priorities for improving the health, safety and well-being of women in Wisconsin, Dr. Gloria Sarto told a group on Thursday, Feb. 24.
Dr. Gloria Sarto Presentation slides Sarto is co-director of UW-Madison's Center for Women's Health Research, a National Center of Excellence for Women's Health. Her presentation is one of a series of colloquia that are part of Wisconsin Women = Prosperity, a non-partisan, statewide economic development initiative that Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton directs.
Teen pregnancy, mental health and insurance became priorities to address in the wake of the low C-minus grade the Institute for Women’s Policy Research gave Wisconsin for the status of its women.
In response, a group of women leaders from around the state determined to use the report to inform private practice and drive better public policy. With Lawton, they launched Wisconsin Women = Prosperity, a public/private partnership that works to improve the status of women and to drive economic growth for Wisconsin by increasing women’s success. Sarto is a member of the committee examining health issues.
Sarto is the second speaker in the spring portion of the colloquia series, which continues March 31 with Louise Root-Robbins, coordinator of the University of Wisconsin System Status of Women Initiative and co-director of the UW System’s Sloan Project for Academic Career Advancement. Beloit College political science professor Georgia Duerst-Lahti will present April 28.
All the presentations are 4-5 p.m. at the Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St. A reception follows each talk.
The colloquia are sponsored by the UW-Madison Center for Public Policy and the Status of Women, an effort of the Women’s Studies Research Center and the La Follette School of Public Affairs.
Sarto has played a pivotal role in the evolution of national policy to improve women's health. She was a founding member of the Society for Women's Health Research, which has helped bring national attention to the fact that many diseases affect women differently than men, and that women largely have been excluded from clinical trials.
She is the immediate past president for the Society for Women's Health Research, formerly known as the Society for the Advancement of Women's Health Research, of which she was a founding member. She also serves on the board of directors of the National Center for Genome Resources, and chairs the Advisory Council of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the American College of Surgeons.
An obstetrician-gynecologist, Sarto has held many national leadership positions. She is the first woman elected president of the American Gynecological and Obstetrical Society. Her many honors include the American Medical Women's Association's Lila A. Wallis Women's Health Award for lifetime achievement in women's health and research. In 2001, the Wisconsin Medical Alumni Association gave her its highest recognition, the Medical Alumni Citation Award.
In addition to performing groundbreaking genetic research, Sarto has chaired two departments of obstetrics and gynecology. As chair, she was committed to improving the training of physicians in providing care to women throughout their lifetimes and dedicated to the career development of women, particularly women of color.
Women's health expert to address state issuess, Feb. 21, 2005, news@UW-Madison
-- posted Feb. 16, 2005; updated Feb. 25, 2005
La Follette School director joins New Yorker magazine tour -- temporarily
La Follette School director Donald Nichols will catch up with one-time presidential speech writer Hendrik Hertzberg, who is now a senior editor and staff writer with the New Yorker magazine.
Nichols and Hertzberg served together in President Jimmy Carter's administration. Nichols was deputy assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor from 1977 to 1979..
Nichols will interview Hertzberg in an open forum on Tuesday, March 8, from 5:30-7 p.m. in Memorial Union’s Great Hall. The event is part of the New Yorker College Tour, three days of university classroom visits, interviews, talks and performances organized by the magazine.
The March 8-10 event will include New Yorker writers Malcolm Gladwell, Nancy Franklin, David Denby and Sasha Frere-Jones; fiction writers George Saunders and Aleksander Hemon; humorist Andy Borowitz; cartoonists Roz Chast, Matt Diffee and Bob Mankoff; film director Paul Haggis ("Crash" and the screenwriter of "Million Dollar Baby"); and the band They Might Be Giants. The magazine is also showing an exhibit of 80 years of political cartoons from the magazine.
Hertzberg is the author of the book “Politics: Observations & Arguments, 1966-2004." At the New Yorker he spends much of his time writing the "Comment" that opens the editorial each week.
-- posted Feb. 16, 2005
Participants sought for democratic discussion on nanotechnology
Applications are being taken for participants in a democratic, consensus-based forum on nanotechnology that will take place in April as part of the Initiative on Nanotechnology and Society led by Clark Miller of the La Follette School.
Clark Miller
The forum will provide a diverse group of residents from the Madison-area an exceptional opportunity to work together and influence public policy on an important new technology.
Organizers are looking for residents to become involved in one of the first consensus conferences to be held in the United States. A consensus conference is a public forum where people from all walks of life learn about a developing technology of great social importance from readings and specialists.
Participants will ask experts about nanotechnology, emerging technologies that enable the control and manipulation of matter at molecular and quantum scales. They will produce a position statement that, while not binding on government, will have the potential to affect the outcome of policy decisions and developments in industry.
Forecasters project that products of nanotechnology will flood the market. Currently used in numerous chemicals, computer chips, and even in sunscreens and makeup, applications for nanotechnology are anticipated in medicine, environmental science and surveillance. While offering much promise, some people are concerned about possible human health and environmental hazards. Others have suggested such technologies as biosensors raise important privacy concerns.
Organizers of the consensus conference are seeking panelists representative of the Madison area; those interested can apply. The consensus conference will be held during three Sunday afternoons: April 3, 17 and 24. A brief informational session will be held on Monday, Feb. 21, at 6:30 p.m. in the Memorial Union at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. People who are interested and cannot attend this session should contact the organizers.
Madison’s first consensus conference is sponsored by the UW—Madison Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center and the UW Integrated Liberal Studies Program. For information and application materials, contact Daniel Kleinman (608-265-3289 or dlkleinman@wisc.edu) or Maria Powell (608-240-1485 or powell@wisc.edu).-- posted Feb. 15, 2005
Wisconsin Women in Government Seminar celebrates fifth year
Celebrating an important partnership between the La Follette School and the nonprofit sector, the Wisconsin Women in Government Seminar celebrated its fifth year with the graduation of 20 women in a ceremony featuring Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2005.
La Follette student joins WWIG board
Melanie Fonder, who is enrolled in the La Follette School’s master of public affairs degree program, has been elected to the Wisconsin Women in Government Inc. board for 2005.
Fonder has been press secretary for Gov. Jim Doyle since July 2004. Before joining Doyle’s administration, Fonder was associate editor of WisPolitics.com, a Madison-based online political news service.
Fonder earlier worked for The Hill newspaper in Washington, D.C., and for the Green Bay News-Chronicle. The Grafton, Wis. native is a 1999 graduate of St. Norbert College. Fonder graduated from the Institute for Political Journalism at Georgetown University. She is co-author of "The Complete Idiot's Guide to American Government."The Wisconsin Women in Government Seminar is an annual six-week course that provides management training to 22 women working in the public and private sectors. It helps mid-level managers move into leadership positions by building on their skills in management, networking and leadership.
“The Wisconsin Women in Government Seminar is an educational opportunity that promotes women’s participation in public affairs,” says program director Dennis Dresang, a professor with the Follette School.
A joint project of the La Follette School and Wisconsin Women in Government, the seminar is part of WWIG’s mission to help women build careers in government-related fields. For the La Follette School, the seminar is a component of its practice of the Wisconsin Idea, of extending the boundaries of the university to the borders of the state.
Participants come to Madison from as far away as Milwaukee, Rice Lake, Kenosha, Rhinelander, La Crosse, Hudson, Onalaska, Oshkosh, Jefferson and Sparta. The classes meet on two Saturdays and four evenings during the six weeks.
“The La Follette School and Wisconsin Women in Government, through their partnership, have developed a seminar curriculum that combines academics and the practical aspects of management, enhanced with information geared toward women working in Wisconsin government,” says Katie Mnuk, chair of the WWIG Scholarship Committee and a 2002 graduate of the seminar. “This seminar helps participants hone the skills they need to attain top management positions so they can take the next step in their careers.”
Course topics focus on the process of decision-making and the effect of gender, management style, small groups and political culture on that process.
Dennis Dresang “The La Follette seminar meets the needs of women in government through training sessions and discussions designed to develop an understanding of the ways in which men and women manage and make decisions," Mnuk says.
Other classes examine how policy issues emerge and develop, and how the policy process unfolds. Participants also practice their writing and presentation skills.
In addition to Dresang, faculty include Georgia Duerst-Lahti, a professor of political science at Beloit College; Alice Honeywell, a writing consultant and former La Follette School publications director; and Terry Shelton, La Follette School outreach director.
For the seminar’s Feb. 7 session, more than 50 people gathered to learn how women in the upper echelons of state government achieved their positions.
The speakers included Burnie Bridge, chair, Public Service Commission; Laura Engan, deputy secretary, Department of Revenue; Roberta Gassman, secretary, Department of Workforce Development; Margaret Lewis, associate vice-president for university relations, University of Wisconsin System; and Terese Berceau, representative in the Wisconsin Assembly.
“The panel was a group of outstanding women who shared stories and advice on how to succeed at building careers and to make contributions to the public welfare,” Dresang says.
“I’m quite gratified that alumni of the seminar came back to see each other and spend time talking with the current students,” he adds. “The reception was a great opportunity for networking.”
A daylong Saturday session focused on presentation skills. The students selected topics on which to speak in various scenarios, such as a presentation to a town meeting, to a legislative committee, a supervisor presenting to subordinates, or an agency representative presenting to citizens.
Public officials who evaluated the presentations included Jessica Tormey, chief of staff to Wisconsin Sen. Alberta Darling; Supreme Court Justice David Prosser; Mark O’Connell, executive director of the Wisconsin Counties Association; JoAnna Richard, executive assistant to Department of Workforce Development Secretary Roberta Gassman; and Burnie Bridge, chair of the Public Service Commission.
“Given the state budget deficit, training dollars for state personnel are tighter than ever,” Mnuk says. “The La Follette seminar gives women with demonstrated leadership potential the training they need to take that next step in their careers."
-- posted Feb. 10, 2005; updated Feb. 16, March 24
La Follette prof leads campus NSF application team
The National Science Foundation has invited a network of universities led by Arizona State University and UW-Madison to submit a full proposal for a new Center for Nanotechnology in Society.
The $13 million, five-year center will lead a national effort to study the economic, legal, political, and ethical implications of advances in nanoscience and engineering and serve as a national resource for engaging business, policy, and public leaders in dialogue about the future of this exciting new area of technological innovation.
La Follette School professor Clark Miller leads the UW-Madison team preparing this proposal.
"UW-Madison is well-positioned to compete for this center. We have an outstanding collection of faculty researching science and technology policy," Miller says. "We are a leader in nanoscience and engineering. And with the universitywide Initiative on Nanotechnology and Society, we are one of a very small number of universities that already have a strong base of ongoing research in this field."
Miller is leading the $1.25 million interdisciplinary initiative that explores the social, economic, and political dimensions of nanotechnology — emerging technologies that enable the control and manipulation of matter at molecular and quantum scales.
The funding is part of a new, five-year, $13.4 million Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center grant awarded in 2004 by the National Science Foundation to establish a Center for Templated Synthesis and Assembly at the Nanoscale at UW-Madison.
-- posted Feb. 4, 2005
Professor Holden addresses individual retirement accounts
In the wake of a Jan. 26 presentation at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., La Follette School faculty member Karen Holden is sharing her expertise on individual retirement accounts that could be created as part of Social Security reform.
Holden is talking about the complexity of personal retirement accounts. If the federal government does establish individual accounts, the questions of how much to pay out, and when, how and to whom the payouts would be made have to be addressed. Also, Holden notes, how traditional Social Security benefits would be paid also would have to be determined.
At the D.C. presentation last month, Holden and other members of a National Academy of Social Insurance task force on Social Security presented findings about how distributions from individual retirement accounts could be handled to ensure lifelong income. Holden primarily worked on sections dealing with family and disability benefits, and with financial demographics.
Holden, a professor of public affairs and consumer science, and the panel studied proposals for strengthening retirement savings. The report considers some of the issues that might arise from implementing a system of individual accounts, if such accounts were to become a part of federal retirement policy. She has shared her expertise with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel newspaper, and several radio stations.
The report, "Uncharted Waters: Paying Benefits from Individual Accounts in Federal Retirement Policy," will inform current debates to establish individual retirement savings accounts. Part of the public policy challenge is whether these accounts would be separate from Social Security, or whether the Social Security system would be revamped to include such accounts.
"The transition from an entitlement system like Social Security to retirement accounts that individuals control would be very complex," Holden says. "The changeover would have to consider ownership of accounts, and the rights of family members to manage and share the wealth."
"Most analyses of proposals to create individual retirement accounts as part of Social Security reform do not consider issues like taxation, the rights of debt holders or the need for additional administration and regulation," Holden added. "This report looks at these issues in depth."
Holden is also associate dean of graduate education and research for the School of Human Ecology; and a faculty affiliate with the Institute for Research on Poverty, the Center for the Demography and Health of Aging, and the Institute on Aging.
Media tip for editors and news directors: Social Security reform and individual retirement accounts
Academy news release, Jan. 26, 2005: New Social Security Report Identifies Key Questions about Payouts from Private Accounts at Retirement, Divorce, Disability, and Death
Experts parse Social Security payout options, Jan. 30, 2005, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
-- posted Feb. 1, 2005; updated Fed. 4, 2005
Chinn, Engel share insights at Federal Reserve meeting
La Follette School professors Menzie Chinn and Charles Engel participated at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s Academic Advisory Council meeting on Jan. 25, 2005. This meeting of the council, which is intended to provide a variety of perspectives on current macroeconomic issues to the staff and president of the Chicago Fed, focused on the sustainability of the U.S. current account deficit, in advance of the meeting of the Federal Reserve Board's Federal Open Market Committee on Feb. 1 and 2.
-- posted Feb. 1, 2005
Lt. Gov. Lawton to report on Wisconsin Women = Prosperity
Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton will report on her Wisconsin Women = Prosperity project on Thursday, Jan. 27, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Her presentation is one of a series of colloquia that are part of Wisconsin Women = Prosperity, a non-partisan, statewide initiative that Lawton directs. The program works to improve the status of women and to drive economic growth for Wisconsin by increasing women’s success.
More than 700 women in the state participate in the project, which is compiling narrative data about issues women face in their personal and professional development, and on what can help them succeed. The information was gathered online and at 10 forums attended by women of all ages at libraries, universities and community centers throughout Wisconsin.
The second speaker in the spring portion of the series is Dr. Gloria Sarto, who will address the health, safety and well-being of Wisconsin women. Her presentation is Thursday, Feb. 24. Beloit College political science professor Georgia Duerst-Lahti will present Thursday, April 28. The speaker for March 31 will be announced later. All the presentations are 4-5 p.m. at the Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St. A reception follows each talk.
The Wisconsin Women = Prosperity has its roots in The Status of Women in the States, a biennial state-by-state comparison co-published by the Women’s Fund of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation and the Institute for Women’s Policy Research in Washington, D.C. In 2002, the report gave Wisconsin an overall grade of C-minus for the quality of life for women in our state.
The colloquia are sponsored by the UW-Madison Center for Public Policy and the Status of Women, an effort of the Women’s Studies Research Center and the La Follette School of Public Affairs.
For information, contact Terry Shelton, (608) 262-3038, shelton@lafollette.wisc.edu.
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Student project helps state leaders explore women's issues
Lawton to discuss women and prosperity project-- posted Jan. 20, 2005; updated Jan. 21, 2005, Jan. 22, 2005
La Follette School Student Association to host Jan. 27 reception for alumni
La Follette School alumni, students and faculty will gather Thursday, Jan. 27, for a reception and to hear about some of the research going on through the school.
The event will be 5:30-7 p.m. in the museum of the Wisconsin Historical Society on the Capitol Square. Alumni, students and faculty can catch up with each other over wine and cheese until about 6:15 p.m.
Then, three faculty will give brief presentations about their research, which explores child support, community corrections, community development in Latin America and a “taxpayer bill of rights,” (TABOR) a proposed amendment to the Wisconsin constitution to limit government taxation and spending."The evening is a great way for alumni to learn more about what La Follette faculty are doing and to get a sense of what the current students are interested in," says second-year student Alison Bergum, one of the event's organizers. "The students look forward to connecting with alumni and maybe learning about possible internships and job openings."
The impacts of the TABOR proposal on the ability of state and local governments to deliver public services will be discussed by Professor Andrew Reschovsky. He will explore why limits on spending growth would probably lead, over time, to a reduction in the quantity and quality of public services in Wisconsin, and eventually hinder the state’s economic growth and prosperity.
Associate Professor Carolyn Heinrich will explore her work on the design and evaluation of public programs to reduce poverty and improve opportunities for low-income and disadvantaged individuals. In the city of Racine, Wisconsin, she is working with the state to reduce child-support debt burdens of low-income parents and get more support to the children. She also works with the governments of Honduras, Argentina and Brazil to improve the targeting and effectiveness of their poverty-reduction and human-capital development programs.
Community corrections programs and prison spending are the topic of Professor David Weimer’s presentation. He and La Follette School student Jason Engle are working on a policy proposal that would implement a program of block grants and sentencing fees to create incentives for counties to develop community corrections programs. Diverting some offenders to these less expensive programs could offset prison costs, which has increased dramatically in Wisconsin during the last 10 years.
The La Follette School Student Association is organizing the post-holiday gathering to connect students, alumni and faculty in a setting close to where many alumni work -- the Capitol and state office buildings near Capitol Square.
To RSVP for the event, please send an e-mail to careerdev@lafollette.wisc.edu by Wednesday, Jan. 24.More alumni news: La Follette Notes, fall 2004
-- posted Jan. 12, 2005; updated Jan. 20, Jan. 23, 2005
Environmental regulation conference brings together international experts
Experts from around the world will gather at a La Follette School conference on Monday, Jan. 31, to examine innovative policies in environmental protection, including Wisconsin's Green Tier law.
Register now
Registration is underway for the Monday, Jan. 31, conference Environmental Law in a Connected World at Monona Terrace in Madison. The conference begins at 8 a.m. On-site walk-in registration only, $20 (no lunch). Information: shelton@lafollette.wisc.edu.Continuing legal education credit approval in progress. Sign up on site with no additional fee.
Conference agendaThe conference, "Environmental Law in a Connected World," will feature a rare, three-way exchange among environmentalists, policymakers and business representatives from around the globe.
The daylong session, which will be held at the Monona Terrace Convention Center, will feature experts from Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, China, Australia and the United States. The public is welcome.
Participants will contrast traditional environmental regulatory models that focus on minimum compliance with those that promote exceeding base expectations.
Wisconsin's voluntary Green Tier law rewards superior environmental performance beyond that required by law. Under the innovative regulatory concept, companies, communities and governments negotiate agreements that are flexible, efficient and enforceable.
The conference grows out of a three-year study, "Wisconsin Style: New Approaches to Regulatory Innovation" by Graham Wilson, a faculty member of the university's Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs, into public-private agreements regarding environmental regulation.
As part of his research, Wilson traveled with a Wisconsin delegation to Bavaria in October. Wisconsin has a regulatory innovation agreement with Bavaria.
"In Bavaria, we saw examples of how a governance system can work," Wilson says. "They are achieving real environmental results through the cooperation of government, business and environmental groups - a practice I hope we can import."
The conference is sponsored by the La Follette School, with the cooperation of Gov. Jim Doyle and an advisory board that includes state Sens. Neal Kedzie and Mark Miller, Pat Schillinger of the Wisconsin Paper Council and Steve Hiniker of 1,000 Friends of Wisconsin.
Funding and sponsorship support are provided by the Ira and Ineva Reilly Baldwin Wisconsin Idea Endowment; the UW-Madison Center for World Affairs and the Global Economy; the European Union Center, UW-Madison; American Transmission Co.; the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources through its Dairy Gateway Project, which is funded by the Joyce Foundation; and the Multi-State Working Group on Environmental Performance and its Policy Academy on Environmental Management Tools; the office of Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle; Institute for Legal Studies, UW-Madison; Global Legal Studies Initiative, UW-Madison; Wood Communications Group; and Printing Industries of Wisconsin.-- posted Jan. 6, 2005; updated Jan. 21, Jan. 23, Jan. 26, 2005
Professor's ruling on school finance draws on La Follette professor's research
La Follette School professor Andrew Reschovsky will participate in a University of Nevada, Las Vegas, conference about controlling property taxes on Friday, Jan. 7. Read more ...
-- posted Jan. 4, 2005