PPA Newsletter

Greetings everyone. I hope everyone is enjoying these nice days in the 60s and 70s. And I especially want to reassure those new to the Sacramento area that it will stay exactly like this throughout the summer, even in August. And if you believe that last claim I really want to talk to you about a can't-miss stock option with a Houston based energy trading company...

FACULTY SEARCHES
You'll recall that we're currently conducting a search for two full-time faculty members, one in the area of public management and the other in the area of higher education policy and leadership. In response to my earlier message, several students and alumni expressed interest in serving as non-voting members of the search committees. For some categories only one person expressed interest; for one we chose the representative through a carefully designed random selection process (i.e., picking names out of a bowl). This left us with the following representatives.

Deborah Franklin: alumni representative on higher education search committee.

Meagan Foster: current student representative on higher ed. search committee.

Phyllis Smith: alumni representative on public management search committee.

Michael Shaw: current student representative on public management search committee.

While these people will provide direct input during our discussion of candidates, others are welcome to share their thoughts as well (preferably through e-mail messages to me).

We also now have seminar times scheduled for the four remaining candidates we plan to consider (as you may recall from reading my e-mail messages, Becky Acosta, a higher education position candidate, has already visited the campus). The schedule is as follows:

Paul Umbach (Ph. D., Higher Ed., Maryland), Higher Ed. Candidate, Monday, March 18, 3:30 p.m., Mountain Room University Union

David Weerts (pH D., Higher Ed., Wisconsin), Higher Ed. Candidate, Friday, March 22, 1:30, Capital Room, University Union

Mary Kirlin (DPA, USC), Pub. Mgmt. Candidate, Monday, April 8, 3:00, Capital Room, University Union

Christopher (Chris) Mausolff (Ph.D., Pub. Adm., Pitt.), Pub. Mgmt. Candidate, Friday, April 12, 1:30, Orchard II, University Union

BOOKS, BOOKS, BOOKS
Recently a couple of people have asked me to recommend books for summer reading, when people aren't taking our core courses and may desire- nay, even crave- some way to fill their too abundant free time with policy related ideas. Most people are aware that it's not hard to get me to express opinions about the best books, the best movies, and the best sport (hint: it involves a relatively large, round ball). But this column gives me a chance to share my opinions (or inflict them on) a wider audience. So for what it's worth, here is my list of the best policy/political books I've read in the last several years, with those by CSUS authors excluded to ensure my complete objectivity. I've also excluded books we assign in core classes (though we may use selections).

Richard Ellis, The Dark Side of the Left: Illiberal Egalitarianism in America (University Press of Kansas, 1998), a well written, incisive, and often witty analysis of disturbing elements in the American left since the 1900s; yes, I'm a Liberal (with a large as well as a small L) but I find this book helpful and generally convincing (interestingly, Richard considers himself a mainstream liberal as well). Note that at my invitation he'll likely come to our campus as a visiting scholar next year.

Robert Frank, Luxury Fever: Why Money Fails to Satisfy in an Era of Excess (The Free Press, 1999) , a provocative, well constructed argument about why luxury goods have become more prominent in our society, why they fail to satisfy us, and what can be done in the policy arena. Frank also demonstrates how economic ideas can be conveyed clearly to non-economists.

Kristen Renwick Monroe, The Heart of Altruism: Perceptions of a Common Humanity (Princeton University Press, 1996), a truly moving and at the same time intellectually provocative book on the nature of altruism in society, drawing on interviews of people who rescued Jews from the Holocaust, everyday heroes, entrepreneurs, etc. This is the kind of book that can change your view of what accounts for admirable behavior.

Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (Simon and Schuster, 2000), a modern classic, and much discussed in the popular and academic press; don't just listen to the critics or fans- read Putnam's case for the decline of social capital and decide for yourself (just don't pay too much attention to his policy recommendations which are the weakest part of his book). Real aficionados of social capital theory might also try Putnam's Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy, where his argument is first developed in the Italian context.

James Richardson, Willie Brown: A Biography (University of California Press, 1996), a masterful, captivating biography of the legendary Assembly speaker that also serves as a helpful overview of legislative politics.

Carol Swain, Black Faces, Black Interests: The Representation of African Americans in Congress (Harvard University Press, 1993), another modern classic investigating what difference skin color makes to the type of representation offered African Americans. It also shows how comparative case studies can be used effectively in research.

KUDOS
On behalf of the entire PPA community, let me offer congratulations to our own Bob Waste for being elected chair of the City of Sacramento Planning Commission for 2002-03. Perhaps we should offer sympathy as well, since that puts him in the middle of "store wars."

AND FINALLY...
Here's something for your "Is the glass half empty or half full?" folder. You'll recall that some people (including faculty as well as students) have raised concern about a few course sections getting too large because of the sharp increase in PPA enrollment, with "too large" meaning something like "more than 20 students." In response we're moving to create double sections of many core courses during the coming academic year. But a comparison may also be reassuring. Nancy Shulock recently sent me an item about Columbia University's MPA program. It seems that Columbia students are angry because the administration proposes "more than doubling" (only doubling??) section sizes- to 100 students or more! Now that's scary.

COMMUNICATOR