Greetings all! My family and I are recently home from a summer trip to Israel, which was wonderful in all kinds of different ways. Yes, we got back before the recent conflict with Hezbollah in the north of the country and that’s very fortunate.
If anybody is curious about or contemplating a trip to Israel I would be more than glad to discuss our experiences. Send me a note or give me a call and I’ll get back to you.
PIZZA PARTY
Please mark your calendar for a popular PPA event: the annual beginning-of-the-school-year PPA pizza party. We will be getting together on Wednesday, August 30 at 6 p.m. in the Alumni Grove near the Guy West Bridge on the Sacramento State campus. Yes, the department will be supplying the pizza. You can bring picnic blankets and lawn chairs if you like. While the main purpose of the party is to welcome our new students, all PPA students, alumni, faculty, family (bring the kids!), and friends are encouraged to attend. If you are able to make the party, please RSVP to Suzi Byrd or me so we can plan for sufficient food/drink. I hope to see you there.
THIRSTY THURSDAY
While we’re on the subject of social events, let me remind everyone that we’re continuing to hold PPA “thirsty Thursday” get-togethers downtown on the third Thursday of each month. Our next get-together is tonight (July 20) at 5:30 p.m. at Marilyn’s on K (908 K Street). Recently we’ve seen a lot of current students and a few alumni; it would be nice to see a few more alums.
NEWS FROM A PPA ALUM IN LOS ANGELES
Recent alumnus Gary Hoggatt writes that he’s enjoying his position as a Management Assistant for the City of Los Angeles Department of Public Works, Bureau of Engineering, Recreational and Cultural Facilities Program. “As a Management Assistant, I handle many different areas of the program. I work with agencies currently building projects we've funded to see that they comply with our requirements, and also work with other City departments to make sure our various internal processes go smoothly. I also visit facilities that have completed projects we've funded to make sure they're taking care of the buildings and ballfields the City paid for, and that they actually have kids using them... I've gotten to dabble in personnel a bit, too, coordinating between our unit and the personnel office filling of a vacancy, scheduling candidates for interviews, and administering their writing sample test… All that, and I don't even finish my 6 month probation for another month! This is really the job I was looking for all along.”
If any other alums have information about their experiences they would like to share with the PPA community, and especially information about positions outside the region with which we may not be familiar, please let me know. I like to include such information in our newsletters.
PREPARING FOR THESES
I’m very encouraged that several students have contacted other faculty members and me about possible thesis/project topics even though they have at least a semester or so of course work to complete before enrolling in PPA 500. I’m pleased that students are willing to devote time to refining topics, doing background reading, etc. As I have indicated on several occasions I am convinced that such preparation is a virtual requirement if someone really plans to finish a thesis/project in the semester he or she is enrolled in PPA 500.
Ted Lascher
PPA Department Chair
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