GV PS

Student Scholarships for American Society for Public Administration Conference

The West Michigan Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) is hosting the 2008 ASPA Region IV Conference at Grand Valley State University on November 6 and 7. Because this is just a few days after the presidential election, the theme of the conference is "Post Bush: A New Administration and the Future of Public Serving Organization." The conference information is here. The student rate is $75. For students who would like to attend but are in need of financial assistance, SPNA is offering $50 scholarships. These are available on a first-come, first serve basis to Grand Valley students who are in the MPA program or who have declared as PA, Political Science or Geography & Planning majors. Please respond to hoffmanm@gvsu.edu ASAP with your name and student ID (G number) to request a $50 scholarship rebate on your $75 conference fee. (This rebate will be credited to your GVSU student account.)

Intercultural Law Student Informational Event

From Thomas M. Cooley Law School: On Wednesday, October 29th from 6:00-8:00 p.m. the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Grand Rapids will be hosting an Intercultural Law Student Informational Event in room 529 of the law center. Current students who are interested in pursuing a career in the field of law or interested in attending law school will have the opportunity to interact with local practicing attorneys and lawyers and current law students. If you know of students who would benefit from this event, please have them R.S.V.P to Tracie LaHuis at lahuist@cooley.edu or call 616.301.6800 X 6948.

Michigan Service Scholars

The Michigan Service Scholars program is an AmeriCorps program that encourages students to serve on their campuses and in their communities. MSS promotes civic engagement and active citizenship among college students.

Students willing to complete 300 hours of community service during one calendar year will receive a $1,000 education award to help further their education.

For more information, click on the link above.

Sustainability Week Events

GVSU's Campus Sustainability Week will be held October 22–25, with the theme of “Shaping Our World.”

For more information on events, please see this post from GV Now.

There are a few events with political dimensions that we wish to highlight:

Climate Change, Presentation by Peter Sinclair (Climate Change Project), October 23 in KC2204 from 11:30 to 12:45, followed by:

GVSU "Inter-Disciplinary Panel on Climate Change": Peter Sinclair and GVSU faculty Robert Hollister (Biology), Figen Mekik (Geology), Elena Lioubimtseva (Geography), Alan Steinman (Annis Water Resources Institute), and Laura Schneider (Political Science) will discuss the Global and Regional Climate Change in KC2204 from 1 to 2:30 p.m.

October 27th: The Hauenstein Center and Michigan Public Radio will co-host Election '08's Impact on Michigan: Energy, the Environment, and the Economy. The panelists will be:

Joe Schwarz on John McCain
Mr. Schwarz is the former Republican Congressman from Michigan's 7th District.

Mark Brewer on Barack Obama
Mr. Brewer is Chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party.

Mark Coscarelli on the Environment
Mr. Coscarelli is Vice President for Great Lakes and Environmental Research at Public Sector Consultants.

Paul Isely on the Economy
Dr. Isley is Associate Professor of Economics at Grand Valley State University.

Imad Mahawili on Energy
Dr. Mahawili is Executive Director of the Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center.

The panel will be moderated by Michigan Radio's Jack Lessenberry.

This event will take place in GVSU's Loosemore Auditorium, located on the downtown campus.

Does Translation Help in International Relations?

As part of our faculty exchange with our sister city university, the University of Perugia, Italy, we are pleased to welcome Professor Federico Zanettin.

Professor Zanettin will speak on the question:

Does Translation Help in International Relations?

Wednesday, October 22
3:00 – 4:15 p.m.
114 Lake Michigan Hall

In the field of international relations, the role of translators has been depicted as that of mediators who help intercultural communication by conveying messages carrying equivalent meaning from one language to another. However, translation is often blamed for disastrous or possibly disastrous outcomes in situations of conflict. I will present a number of cases in which a translation was seen as one of the causes, if not the main cause, for such an outcome, from the use of the A-bomb in WWII, to post-9/11 developments, to recent cases of translation involving sensitive texts. In the light of these examples, I will problematize the role of the translator as an impartial bridge-builder and translation as a way of promoting understanding among nations. Like all actors involved in the negotiation of meanings and outcomes, translators have their allegiances and loyalties, and are held responsible for the translations they produce. While it is true that translation can help communication, it can also promote miscommunication, whether unintentionally or not.

Post-debate Punditry

Two of our professors are in the news this morning offering commentary on the latest and final presidential debate of 2008:

Dr. Erika King in the Grand Rapids Press

The economy continues to dominate voter interest, a preoccupation that has played to Obama's advantage on this issue for several weeks.

That's why political analysts deemed the debate a critical opportunity for McCain to somehow change the momentum of the race.

King didn't see it.

"I don't see it changing the essential dynamics of the race. The dreadful situation with the economy seems to be in every public opinion poll driving voters' thoughts and emotions.

"It's going to be a hard year for Republicans."

Dr. Whitt Kilbur in the Detroit News

"I thought it was a pretty good debate, but I think Senator Obama did the better job. I liked Obama's health care ideas versus Senator McCain's: McCain is going to give a $5,000 tax credit that will go straight to the insurance companies, opening up borders for health care so insurance companies can go to cheapest state and have the least amount of regulations on health care. I liked Obama's plan to spread the wealth around and give 95 percent of people a tax cut."

New Section of PLS 206 for Winter

We have opened up a new section of PLS 206 in winter 2009. It is section 05, CRN 26423, and it will meet in the Honors building, room 219, Tuesday and Thursday, 10-11:15, taught by Dr. Kevin den Dulk, with a capacity of 30 students. (Note: It is not an honors course; we are just using the room).

This course is part of core requirements of the Social Studies major.

Description:

Integrates the perspectives of political science and constitutional law to examine the principles and institutional structures of the American political system. Analyzes political and constitutional sources of presidential, congressional, state and national power. Investigates federalism, voting, parties, interest groups, civil rights, and civil liberties. Primarily for social studies majors.

The Drift Toward Pure Numbers Admissions

Fascinating post by Bill Henderson on the Empirical Legal Studies blog about the numbers game in law school admissions; here are the first two paragraphs: Click through for the original post with nice charts.

The Drift Toward Pure Numbers Admissions

Law schools are part of a production function for entry level lawyers. Therefore, if law schools alter their admissions practices, the character and complexion of the hiring pool can shift in significant ways.

On the input side, the data are crystal clear: over the last fifteen years, the rankings arms race has pushed U.S. law schools toward a pure numbers approach to admissions. The more interesting question, however, is whether prestige-conscious law firms are now, inadvertently, experiencing any fallout. First the data.

Denounce Torture

Brought to you by
Amnesty International GVSU

We will be spending the week of Monday, October 13 through Friday, October 17 tabling in AuSable Hall informing students of what constitutes torture, why it doesn't work, and several locations in which it commonly occurs.

MON: Torture Doesn’t Work! Global torture techniques/statistics |Table @ ASH 9-6p.m.

TUES: Torture at Guantanamo Bay and in Iraq | Table @ ASH 9-6p.m.

WED: Torture in Africa | Table @ ASH 9-6p.m.

THUR: Torture in the Israeli-Palestine Conflict | Table @ ASH 9-6p.m….

Guest speaker Prof. Coeli Fitzpatrick | Cook-DeWitt Center 3p.m.

FRI: Wrap-Up: torture is illegal, immoral, and ineffective | Table @ ASH 9-6p.m.

Careers in Justice

“Careers in Justice”
Thursday, December 4, 2008
1:00 pm—4:00 pm
DeVos Center Building E—Exhibition Hall
The ­Office of Career Services of GVSU will hold a Field Fair at the Downtown Pew Campus in order to connect both graduate and undergraduate students preparing for successful careers in legal studies, law enforcement, criminal justice, probation and corporate protection services.

The Field Fair is an opportunity for students to learn about the wide range of opportunities and employment available in criminal justice. Agencies are encouraged to bring displays and brochures related to their organization to share with students from a provided table.

Hiring managers and representatives also have the opportunity to discuss employment needs within the organization. Students and graduates are encouraged to bring their résumés demonstrating related projects, internships and experiences that will bring value to the organization through an internship or entry level position.