People who say that “California doesn’t have any seasons!” must not have lived in the Sacramento area. That is especially evident of late. When I get up to walk my dogs before 7:00 a.m., I put on a hat, gloves, and a jacket over a sweater. It is almost hard to believe that in five months I will be taking the same walk… in shorts.
CONGRATULATIONS TO PETER DETWILER
Our part-time instructor Peter Detwiler has been named to the editorial board for State and Local Government Review. He joins only a handful of practitioners on the board of this academic journal, and this is a clear sign of how much he is respected by his colleagues. Good work, Peter!
GREETINGS FROM ANOTHER WASHINGTON BASED ALUM
Kate Nzive (Boyd) is one of a small but growing number of PPA alums working for the federal government. In December she wrote: “I’ve been living in Washington, DC since September of 2004, when I was appointed as a Presidential Management Fellow at the U.S. Dept of Housing and Urban Development. Working as an analyst in the Department’s central budget office, my policy analysis background turned out to great asset as I could offer different insights than those with purely financial experience… Earlier this year I was recruited by the Deputy CFO at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (who had been at HUD) to come work with him in furthering reform initiatives launched following Hurricane Katrina. There were obvious problems at FEMA on the program delivery side, but also huge ones on the financial side of things. I took him up on the offer and as of March have been working in the Planning, Analysis, and Evaluation office within the Office of the Chief Financial Officer at FEMA. I’ve been spending a lot of time on long-term budgetary planning issues, as well as internal control projects – efforts that seek to reduce fraud/improper payments without decreasing program effectiveness.”
Note how Kate’s Washington experience started with her appointment as a Presidential Management Fellow. Application for the 2007 class is now closed, but students should consider applying for such a fellowship during the following year.
SEND ME YOUR REFERRALS!
Since we now get so much of our information electronically, it is easy to forget how important a personal reference may be to someone choosing a graduate program. A great many PPA students have come to us by way of referrals from current students and alums. Please continue this practice! I am glad to talk to folks you think would do well in the program, and this is the time of the year when people need to make a decision if they wish to be considered for the fall.
CONSIDER A MANAGEMENT INTERNSHIP
This is also the time of year when I tend to make a plug for local management internship programs. And I will do so again because many of these programs appear to be quite well structured, offering a diversity of experiences and an “in” to local government personnel systems that otherwise appear difficult to crack. I have been especially impressed by the design of the programs in Long Beach (CA), Phoenix (AZ), and Kansas City (MO).
A BOOK RECOMMENDATION
Cormac McCarthy’s new novel “The Road” is one of the best books I have read in the last 20 years. Indeed, I know of nothing like it. It is set in a post-apocalypse America (with the details of the catastrophe barely mentioned), but is different from everything of which I am aware in the apocalypse genre in its single minded focus on two individuals—a father and son—and their struggle for day-to-day survival. The book is spare and relentless, beautifully written, with moving moments but no sentimentalism (much as I might have secretly wanted it simply as a diversion from the harsh reality that he describes). Most of all, it is that rare work of art that has made me feel differently about what is important. I urge you to read it, provided you are willing to try something that is hard to take in places.
Ted Lascher
PPA Department Chair
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