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ALUMNI AND STUDENT NEWSMAKERS
1. “Daniel Borenstein:
2. “HEALTH CARE: Getting the word out as insurance changes” (San Francisco Chronicle, May 31, 2013); story citing study coauthored by LAUREL (TAN) LUCIA (MPP 2005) and MIRANDA DIETZ (MPP 2012).
3. “GSA Transforms 1974 Building into
4. “I-5 bridge loss cuts into profits” (The Oregonian, May 25, 2013); story citing JOE CORTRIGHT (MPP 1980).
5. “Agencies need to reduce building space and better use existing space, GSA building service commissioner says” (FierceGovernment, May 23, 2013); story citing DOROTHY ROBYN (MPP 1978/PhD 1983).
6. “Dr. Joseph Castro named new
7. “Bay Area’s big game – — 50th Super Bowl; Civic leaders
do touchdown dance as NFL owners award the 2016 game” (San Franciso
Chronicle, May 22, 2013); story citing DANIEL
LURIE (MPP 2005).
8. “Purdy: Landing 50th Super Bowl a team effort” (San Jose Mercury News, May 22, 2013); opinion column citing DANIEL LURIE (MPP 2005); http://www.insidebayarea.com/breaking-news/ci_23294171/purdy-landing-50th-super-bowl-team-effort
9. “Super Bowl L could be just the beginning” (San Francisco
Chronicle, May 23, 2013); column citing DANIEL
LURIE (MPP 2005).
10. “City ready to pick up tab on its super party costs” (San Francisco Chronicle, May 26, 2013); column citing DANIEL LURIE (MPP 2005).
11. “CITY INSIDER: The silver lining of the 49ers’ departure” (San Francisco Chronicle, May 26, 2013); column citing DANIEL LURIE (MPP 2005).
12. “The New Retirement: No Retirement” (US Fed News, May 21,
2013); newswire citing NICOLE MAESTAS
(MPP 1997/PhD Econ 2002).
13. “
14. “Obama won’t let media do their job” (CNN Wire, May 15, 2013); op-ed citing GARY PRUITT (MPP 1981/JD 1982).
15. “AP CEO calls records seizure ‘unconstitutional’” (The Associated Press, May 20, 2013); story citing GARY PRUITT (MPP 1981/JD 1982); http://www.sacbee.com/2013/05/19/5432043/ap-ceo-calls-records-seizure-unconstitutional.html
16. “Gone, but Still Linked to the Home Office” (The New York
Times, May 15, 2013); story citing NICOLE
MAESTAS (MPP 1997/PhD Econ 2002); http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/15/business/retirementspecial/still-linked-to-the-home-office.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0
17. “Variety of resources for home-buyer help; Programs available to give low-income people a chance in difficult market” (San Francisco Chronicle, May 14, 2013); story citing PAUL STALEY (MPP 1980).
18. “Удушение:
контекст,
проведение
и последствия
американской
морской блокады Китая” (Military Review, May
14, 2013); story citing ERIC HAGT
(MPP 2004).
19. “Super Bowl donations to also aid charities” (San Francisco Chronicle, May 13, 2013); story citing DANIEL LURIE (MPP 2005).
20. “Workshop Explores Progress of Artificial Pancreas Systems” (States News Service, May 13, 2013); newswire citing CYNTHIA RICE (MPP 1994).
21. “OPEN FORUM: UC Berkeley graduation a bonanza for hotels” (San Francisco Chronicle [*requires registration], May 10, 2013); commentary by KATHERINE MURTHA (MPP 2013); http://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/UC-Berkeley-graduation-a-bonanza-for-hotels-4504184.php
22. “Fannie Mae to pay $59.4bn back to
23. “Brown, Democrats wrangle over Medicaid expansion” (San Francisco Chronicle, May 5, 2013); story citing TOBY DOUGLAS (MPP 2001/MPH 2002), and MARIAN MULKEY (MPP/MPH 1989), and study coauthored by LAUREL (TAN) LUCIA (MPP 2005) and MIRANDA DIETZ (MPP 2012); http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Brown-Democrats-wrangle-over-Medicaid-expansion-4489874.php
24. “Boom, Bust or What?” (The New York Times, May 5, 2013); analysis citing SEAN WEST (MPP 2006).
25. “School of Thought - Supporters and Opponents Alike are Mobilizing to Sway Public Opinion on a Crucial Item in Gov. Walker’s Latest Budget - Private School Vouchers” (Wisconsin State Journal, May 5, 2013); story citing JEFF PERTL (MPP 2009).
26. “Tax reform plan offers difficult balancing act” (Morning
Sentinel (
27. “
28. “President Obama Tells West,
29. “Analyst:
30. “Jobs keep creeping out of downtowns - Sprawl steady
despite economy” (
31. “Report breaks down health care subsidy eligibility” (
32. “
33. “For-Profit Skills for Nonprofit Causes” (AR (Absolute Return + Alpha), April 2013); story citing HANS DEKKER (MPP 1991).
34. “Sulfur - Plan’s price tag debated” (Houston Chronicle, March 30, 2013); story citing LUKE TONACHEL (MPP 2004).
35. “State aims to ease RTA fund process - Applicants are prepped this time” (Denver Post, March 26, 2013); story citing JEFF KRAFT (MPP 1995).
36. “JDRF Comments on Economic Impact of Diabetes” (Targeted News Service, March 9, 2013); newswire citing CYNTHIA RICE (MPP 1994).
FACULTY IN THE NEWS
1. “The story of a Presidential tweet” (The Berkeley Blog, May 31, 2013); commentary by DAN KAMMEN; http://blogs.berkeley.edu/2013/05/29/the-story-of-a-presidential-tweet/
2. “News Fix Blog: In Vallejo, Citizens Directly Choosing Projects to Fund” (KQED Online, May 28, 2013); story citing LARRY ROSENTHAL (MPP 1993/PhD 2000); http://blogs.kqed.org/newsfix/2013/05/28/bay-area-participatory-budgeting/
3. “Beyond Fossil Fuels: A chat with renewable energy expert Dan Kammen” (Bay Nature, May 23, 2013); interview with DAN KAMMEN; http://baynature.org/articles/beyond-fossil-fuels/
4. “Ask The Experts: If I Could Make One Policy Change to Fix the Federal Deficit, I Would...” (Card Hub, May 18, 2013); commentary by JOHN ELLWOOD; http://www.cardhub.com/edu/policy-changes-to-balance-the-federal-deficit/
5. “Robert Reich, à gauche toute” (Le Monde [requires registration], May 16, 2013); profile of ROBERT REICH; http://www.lemonde.fr/ameriques/article/2013/05/15/robert-reich-a-gauche-toute_3205916_3222.html?xtmc=robert_reich&xtcr=1
6. “Kevin Riordan: One N.J. school district’s back-to-basics success story” (The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 14, 2013); interview with DAVID KIRP.
7. “David Kirp’s Strategy for Public Schools” (Forum, KQED public radio, May 13, 2013); program featuring DAVID KIRP; Listen to this program
8. “Robert Reich: The Triumph of Progressivism: Graduation 2013 and 1968” (YubaNet News, May 15, 2013); op-ed by ROBERT REICH; http://yubanet.com/opinions/Robert-Reich-The-Triumph-of-Progressivism-Graduation-2013-and-1968.php
9. “GOP strategy: Chisel funds off the laws it can’t repeal” (San Francisco Chronicle, May 12, 2013); op-ed by ROBERT REICH.
10. “Prison overcrowding: The magic number.
11. “State working poor lack education opportunities, report says” (Los Angeles Times, May 8, 2013); story citing ROBERT REICH and organization co-founded by GSPP former associate dean STEVE WEINER; http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-college-poverty-20130508,0,6390471.story
12. “Fresh Dialogues: The Amazing Race for Clean Energy - A Big Idea from Jennifer Granholm” (Huffington Post, May 7, 2013); interview with JENNIFER GRANHOLM; http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alison-van-diggelen/jennifer-granholm-clean-energy_b_3233779.html
13. “Failing the Test; Why cheating scandals and parent rebellions are erupting in schools in New York, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta” (Slate Magazine, May 7, 2013); commentary by DAVID KIRP; http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/science/2013/05/cheating_scandals_and_parent_rebellions_high_stakes_school_testing_is_doomed.single.html
14. “Revisiting the price of cheap; Workers’ rights in spotlight as death toll continues to rise” (The Toronto Star, May 5, 2013); story citing ROBERT REICH.
15. “Fear of foreigners a fig leaf for immigration reform foes” (San Francisco Chronicle, May 5, 2013); op-ed by ROBERT REICH.
16. “A gay athlete will divide a team? Didn’t happen in the military” (San Jose Mercury News, May 1, 2013); column citing ROBERT MACCOUN; http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_23147488/gay-athlete-will-divide-team-didnt-happen-military?IADID=
1. “Daniel Borenstein:
By Daniel Borenstein, mercurynews.com
For all their talk of
transparency and welcoming outside review, officials in charge of building the
new
● The officials previously promised that the Federal Highway Administration would review planned fixes for the infamous broken rods that were to provide stability during an earthquake. But they now admit they are proceeding with a $5 million-$10 million workaround without seeking the agency’s opinion.
● They insist they solicited input from respected outside engineers who wrote critical analyses of the rod failures. But they never let them talk peer-to-peer with bridge engineers.
● They talk about rebuilding trust by providing full information to the public, press and Metropolitan Transportation Commission, which controls the purse strings to the $6.4 billion project. Yet they continue to present sketchy information and dodge key issues.
Some commission members are frustrated. They’re tired of learning about construction problems from newspaper investigations and then receiving the officials’ substandard briefings.
With a planned Labor Day opening uncertain, the bridge remains plagued by questions surrounding the broken rods, similarly galvanized bolts elsewhere on the span, faulty welds, and corroded steel tendons in the roadway. The issues raise concerns about bridge durability and strength to withstand major earthquakes....
2. “HEALTH CARE: Getting
the word out as insurance changes” (San Francisco Chronicle, May 31, 2013);
story citing study coauthored by LAUREL (TAN) LUCIA (MPP 2005) and MIRANDA
DIETZ (MPP 2012).
By Drew Joseph
When people drop by the
Portillo, a senior program coordinator with the East Bay Agency for Children, answers their questions about food stamps and Medi-Cal and can help them address housing problems. Soon, her repertoire will include another service: educating people about the state’s new insurance marketplace created by the health care reform law....
The main pieces of the Affordable Care Act, which was signed into law in 2010, will take effect in January, but an April poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 4 in 10 Americans were unaware that it was actually a law and was being implemented. That figure rose to 59 percent when looking only at households that make less than $30,000, many of whom could benefit most from the law.
A September study by UC Berkeley [coauthored by Laurel Lucia and Miranda Dietz, et al.] and UCLA found that 3 million to 4 million Californians will remain uninsured after the law is implemented, 2 million of whom will be eligible for subsidies to buy insurance in the exchange or for expanded Medicaid. “With stronger outreach and enrollment efforts, this group of uninsured would be reduced to 1.2 million or fewer,” the study says....
[The UC Berkeley & UCLA study is “Medi-Cal Expansion under the Affordable Care Act: Significant Increase in Coverage with Minimal Cost to the State” by Laurel Lucia, Ken Jacobs, Greg Watson, Miranda Dietz, and Dylan H. Roby.]
3. “GSA Transforms 1974
Building into
“This building responds
to the needs of our most important customer—the American people,” said Dorothy Robyn, Commissioner of the U.S.
General Services Administration’s Public Buildings Service. “The renovation has created a new building
that will grace the
GSA invested $139 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to develop an efficient high-performance green building, which created jobs and opportunities for businesses. The project created 760 jobs onsite over the last four years and more than $26 million dollars went to local small businesses. The facility is now expected to achieve a 55 percent reduction in energy savings and use 60 percent less water than typical office buildings. Overall, these sustainable and innovative technologies are expected to result in $300,000-$400,000 in utility cost saving per year....
4. “I-5 bridge loss cuts
into profits” (The Oregonian, May 25, 2013); story citing JOE CORTRIGHT (MPP 1980).
By Molly Young, The Oregonian
Analysts say the
economic effect in
But long-term delays
along the span north of
The
5. “Agencies need to reduce building space and better use existing space, GSA building service commissioner says” (FierceGovernment, May 23, 2013); story citing DOROTHY ROBYN (MPP 1978/PhD 1983).
By Ryan McDermott
Agencies must
consolidate offices and better utilize existing offices to help reduce the
amount of money and energy spent on maintaining federal buildings, General Services Administration Public Buildings
Service Commissioner Dorothy Robyn told the House Transportation and
Infrastructure Subcommittee on Economic Development,
In June 2010 President Obama mandated that federal agencies save $3 billion by reducing operating costs of federal buildings by fiscal 2012.
Agencies exceeded the goal, achieving $3.5 billion in savings, Robyn said. GSA accounted for $350 million of that total by selling excess assets, eliminating operating costs associated with those assets, foregoing repair and alteration investments and avoiding leases by using federally owned space, Robyn said....
GSA proposed criteria that no single project will exceed $10 million in costs and all projects will provide a payback in fewer than 5 years, Robyn said....
Upon completion of phase one, GSA would vacate six leased locations across the region and nearly double the capacity of its headquarters building by using open offices, shared workspaces and telework, Robyn said.....
For more:
- go to the hearing webpage (webcast and prepared testimony available) ...
6. “Dr. Joseph Castro
named new
By Linda Mumma and Corin Hoggard
Castro is coming to
During his 23 year career,
Castro has served in several leadership positions across the U.C. system
including
Castro earned a
Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and Master’s
Degree in Public Policy from U.C. Berkeley and a doctorate in Higher
Education Policy and Leadership from
7. “Bay Area’s big game – 50th Super Bowl; Civic leaders do touchdown dance as NFL owners award the 2016 game” (San Franciso Chronicle, May 22, 2013); story citing DANIEL LURIE (MPP 2005).
By John Coté
Even though its team, the five-time Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers, plans to move in 2014 to a new, high-tech stadium being built in Silicon Valley, the NFL’s announcement Tuesday that the Bay Area will host the 50th Super Bowl in 2016 had officials declaring “touchdown” across the region, including in San Francisco....
Major companies, including Apple, Google, Gap and Yahoo, have committed a combined $30 million so far to cover costs, according to the bid committee.
Bid organizers said they’re looking to raise up to $10 million more to cover event costs, with one-fourth of the total going to help children and families living in poverty in the Bay Area.
Raising $7.5 million or more for poverty programs would make this Super Bowl the most philanthropic in history, said Daniel Lurie, the bid committee chairman and founder of Tipping Point Community, an antipoverty philanthropy clearinghouse.
“It’s definitely a+
surreal moment,” said Lurie, reached
in the
“I grew up a 49ers fan,” Lurie said. “The idea that I would be a guy who had a small part in being able to bring a Super Bowl to the Bay Area is definitely overwhelming and thrilling.” ...
8. “Purdy: Landing 50th Super Bowl a team effort” (San Jose Mercury News, May 22, 2013); opinion column citing DANIEL LURIE (MPP 2005); http://www.insidebayarea.com/breaking-news/ci_23294171/purdy-landing-50th-super-bowl-team-effort
By Mark Purdy, Mercury News
It’s going to be a lot different than 1985. I know that much.
In 1985, the only other
time the Super Bowl was played in the Bay Area, all
seats were bleacher seats at Stanford Stadium. Some of those seats were built
on dirt. Tailgate parties and hospitality tents were scattered across the
campus and some people got lost trying to find them, especially afterward in
the dark. There were bitter feelings among some in the
From what I saw Tuesday
when the Bay Area landed Super Bowl L, none of those things will be an issue
this time. The new stadium in
For this, you can primarily credit 49ers owner Jed York and bid chair Daniel Lurie, who had promised the project would involve as many area codes as possible. But you can also mention San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and Santa Clara Mayor Jamie Matthews, who from the start decided not to have an attitude. They even invited San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed into the mix of planning, realizing that the Bay Area’s largest city was going to be needed for pulling together such a large project....
Lurie, speaking in
9. “Super Bowl L could be just the beginning” (San Francisco Chronicle, May 23, 2013); column citing DANIEL LURIE (MPP 2005).
By C.W. Nevius
... The 2016 Super Bowl: The bid committee would have been happy with any game, but they really wanted the 50th anniversary.
“There’s no small Super Bowls,” said Daniel Lurie, head of the committee, “but Super Bowl L will be the biggest in history.”
Over the years, the Super Bowl game has almost become secondary to the parties and events in the preceding days. Many fans now come to the host city with no expectation of ever getting a seat in the stadium....
The 2016 bid promoted
the idea that the Bay Area is a destination, not a game. The bid included a
time-lapse film showing the construction of Levi’s Stadium, but that was just
to assuage fears that it wouldn’t be ready in time. It also showcased vistas
from the
... This has never been
just about 2016. It’s about getting into the Super Bowl rotation, like
“That’s been part of the equation all along,” Lurie said. “All we are thinking about is pulling off the first one. But we know if we do a great job we’ll get another opportunity.” ...
10. “City ready to pick up tab on its super party costs” (San Francisco Chronicle, May 26, 2013); column citing DANIEL LURIE (MPP 2005).
--MATIER & ROSS
Super Bowl committee Chair Daniel Lurie and S.F. Mayor Ed Lee (second and third from left) at the 49ers new stadium during bid planning to host the 50th. (Susana Bates / Special to The Chronicle)
The Bay Area’s Super
Bowl committee got 15 minutes to make its case to NFL owners for why
So far, it looks like the city will be footing the bill — just as it does for other big events that land here.
One thing Tony Winnicker, adviser to Mayor Ed Lee, said his boss wouldn’t do was “nickel and dime’’ the bid committee on costs....
11. “CITY INSIDER: The silver lining of the 49ers’ departure” (San Francisco Chronicle, May 26, 2013); column citing DANIEL LURIE (MPP 2005).
By John Coté
... Seventeen years after its host chance washed away, San Francisco last week was finally named to host a Super Bowl, in large part because the 49ers decided to build a $1.2 billion stadium about 40 miles south in Santa Clara, where the 50th game will be played in 2016.... The added wrinkle is that it’s because the team is leaving that the host city bid effort materialized in the manner it did....
Last summer, [Niners CEO Jed] York recommended to [Mayor Ed] Lee that Daniel Lurie, founder and CEO of Tipping
Point Community, which funds antipoverty programs, lead the Super Bowl bid
committee. Lurie and York are close
friends, and
One of Lurie’s first calls was to Joe
D’Alessandro, president and CEO of San Francisco Travel, who reached out to his
counterparts in
Another went to brokerage guru Charles Schwab, who made calls to business figures, which gave the bid committee “instant credibility,” Lurie said.
Lurie also enlisted former Giants executive Pat Gallagher, and the
two became the moneymen who made the pitch to Apple and Google executives and
others. Lurie also turned to his
friend Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer. The committee lined up 12 companies, many from
“This is really a testament to our whole region pulling together,” Lurie said.
12. “The New Retirement:
No Retirement” (US Fed News, May 21, 2013); newswire citing NICOLE MAESTAS (MPP 1997/PhD Econ 2002).
People are retiring
later for a lot of reasons, but a key one is economic. Employer health
insurance benefits for retirees are eroding, spurring many employees to hold
out until they qualify for Medicare at age 65. Changes to Social Security, such
as the increase in the age at which people can receive full benefits from 65 to
67, also may be playing a role. And people are living longer, requiring
additional savings to support those extra years.
Some 40 percent of older
Americans delayed retirement in the years after the Great Recession, according
to an analysis of data from ISR's Health and
Retirement Study and its Cognitive Economics Study....
Although people are
working longer, most still decide to retire at some point. But even that
process has changed. According to an analysis of Health and Retirement Study
participants born between 1942 and 1947, nearly two-thirds of those who retired
from full-time work passed through some sort of bridge job—either part time or
of short duration—before leaving the work force entirely.
Going part time may seem
an obvious bridge step. More surprising is the move to different full-time work
after retirement, according to Nicole Maestas, a RAND economist and researcher with ISR's
She said the number of
people who retire, take a break for a couple of years and then return to work
has been increasing since the early 1990s. Some 40 percent of workers between
the ages of 51 and 61 who stop work will return in some full-time capacity,
according to her analysis of data from the Health and Retirement Study. Maestas coined
the term "unretirement" for this
phenomenon.
13. “
By Peter Hegarty
On Tuesday, the City
Council will consider adopting a resolution approving the conveyance of the property—which
is divided into 66 parcels—from the U.S. Navy. It consists of 509 acres of land
and 870 acres of property under
The parcels have restrictions on how they may be redeveloped based on what they were once used for and how much environmental clean-up they need.
The land could be turned over to the city as soon as the end of this month or early June, according to Jennifer Ott, the city’s chief operating officer for Alameda Point.
“The detailed parcelization will allow the city to assemble and sell parcels for private development with clear information about the specific conditions relevant to each parcel,” Ott said in a background report for the council. “If fewer, larger parcels had been created instead, environmental restrictions and notifications would appear on deeds for many areas that do not need them potentially, creating a challenge in understanding which restrictions and notifications would apply to which portions of each parcel.”
The aim is to avoid uncertainty among investors about the environmental conditions of the property, which could effect its marketability.
Clearing the way for the conveyance of the property follows the U.S. Navy agreeing to drop the $108 million price tag for the former base in September 2011 and give it at no cost to the city....
14. “Obama won’t let media do their job” (CNN Wire, May 15, 2013); op-ed citing GARY PRUITT (MPP 1981/JD 1982).
--Ruben Navarrette – CNN Contributor
... The Associated Press revealed this week that the Justice Department, in April and May 2012, used subpoenas to secretly help itself to two months’ worth of phone records from journalists....
The Justice Department
was interested in the conversations of anyone who worked on a May 7, 2012,
story about the CIA thwarting a terrorist plot in
According to the news agency, 20 different phone lines were tapped, including not just work phones and the AP’s main switchboard, but also the journalists’ home and cell phones. In all, according to the AP, when you count all the people who came in contact with the phones in question, more than 100 journalists could have been affected....
On Monday, AP President and CEO Gary Pruitt fired off a letter to [Attorney General Eric] Holder condemning this “massive and unprecedented intrusion” into the agency’s reporting.
Pruitt wants the Justice Department to return the phone records and destroy any copies.
That would the smart
thing to do. I’ve known Pruitt for
more than 20 years, since he was a young publisher of my hometown newspaper in
central
The counterpunching has already begun. On Tuesday, Deputy Attorney General James Cole sent a letter to Pruitt defending the decision to grab the phone records. Cole insisted that the subpoenas were “drawn as narrowly as possible” and aimed at collecting “limited subject matter.”
Not good enough, said Pruitt in a quick response. Saying that Cole’s letter did not “adequately address our concerns,” Pruitt questioned how such a sweeping investigation could be called “narrowly drawn.”
My friend is right on
the money, and he’s right to raise a ruckus. A line has been crossed here.
Every journalist in
15. “AP CEO calls records seizure ‘unconstitutional’” (The Associated Press, May 20, 2013); story citing GARY PRUITT (MPP 1981/JD 1982); http://www.sacbee.com/2013/05/19/5432043/ap-ceo-calls-records-seizure-unconstitutional.html
By Philip Elliott – The Associated Press
(CBS, Chris Usher / AP Photo)
WASHINGTON -- The Associated Press’ president and chief executive says the
government’s secret seizure of two months of reporters’ phone records has
already had a chilling effect on newsgathering, a week after the subpoenas were
revealed publicly.
Gary Pruitt on Sunday called the Justice Department’s actions “unconstitutional” and said the AP hasn’t ruled out legal action.
In his first television interviews since the AP reported the Justice Department seizure, Pruitt said it has made sources less willing to talk to AP journalists and, in the long term, could limit Americans’ information from all news outlets.
Pruitt told CBS’ “Face the Nation” that the government has no business monitoring the AP’s newsgathering activities.
“And if they restrict
that apparatus ... the people of the
Although the Justice
Department has not explained why it sought phone records from the AP, Pruitt pointed to a May 7, 2012, story
that disclosed details of a successful CIA operation in
The AP delayed publication of that story at the request of government officials who said it would jeopardize national security.
“We respected that, we acted responsibly, we held the story,” Pruitt said.
Pruitt said the AP published the story only after officials from two government entities said the threat had passed. He said the administration still asked that the story be held until an official announcement the next day, a request the AP rejected.
The news service viewed
the story as important because White House and Homeland Security Department
officials were saying publicly there was no credible evidence of a terrorist
threat to the
“So that was misleading to the American public. We felt the American public needed to know this story,” Pruitt said....
16. “Gone, but Still
Linked to the Home Office” (The New York Times, May 15, 2013); story citing NICOLE MAESTAS (MPP 1997/PhD Econ 2002);
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/15/business/retirementspecial/still-linked-to-the-home-office.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0
By Amy Zipkin
A FEW years after John
McGowan, a former contracts negotiator at Hewlett-Packard, took early
retirement in 2006 at age 59, a friend persuaded him to join the H.P. Agilent
Retired Employees Club-Bay Area, one of more than a dozen H.P. retiree clubs in
the United States and abroad. Last fall he became president of the 1,300-member
group, whose activities include lunches, hikes, bowling, golf outings and community
service.
''The club is an
opportunity to stay connected with former colleagues,'' he said.
As baby boomers approach
retirement and consider their future, some are forging ties with their former
colleagues and employers for social and philanthropic activities, and some for
work, rather than devoting time to traditional civic and religious groups....
Nicole Maestas, an economist at the RAND
Corporation, has studied what she calls ''unretirement.''
In ''Back to Work,'' a paper published in The
Journal of Human Resources in 2010, she found individuals went through
multistage retirement transitions, and as many as half the youngest retirees
returned to work. (As the data was collected before the recession, there was
little evidence of financial shocks, poor planning or lower levels of wealth to
influence the decision.)
Some retirees find their
corporate ties can provide opportunities for entrepreneurship....
And Mr. McGowan, the
president of the Bay Area club, is also doing part-time consulting with a
training company in Marin Country,
''There is a diversity
of adaptations, as older men and women seek to extend their working lives,''
said Ms. Maestas
at RAND. ''It's an adaptive process from both sides.''
17. “Variety of resources for home-buyer help; Programs available to give low-income people a chance in difficult market” (San Francisco Chronicle, May 14, 2013); story citing PAUL STALEY (MPP 1980).
By Carolyn Said
Wakeelah and Andre Davis and their son Dre’onn moved into their first home in
Wakeelah and Andre Davis “always wanted to own a home and had been saving up,” said Wakeelah, an AC Transit bus driver. Like many first-time home buyers, especially those of modest means, they were consistently outbid by investors who could pay all cash.
“I kind of gave up for
awhile,” Wakeelah Davis said. Then she came across a
The ad had another unusual requirement: It asked prospective buyers to write a letter about themselves, their house-hunting quest and their ties to the community.
“I told them I was born
and raised in
Even though theirs
wasn’t the highest offer, the
“We want to help low-to moderate-income families get into home-ownership so they can increase their self-sufficiency,” said Nicole Tay-lor, CEO of the East Bay Community Foundation in Oakland, which provided seed money for the program as a project of Self-Help Community Development Corp. ...
The mission also includes boosting local communities.
“We seek families who have roots in the community so they can maintain their family ties and help neighborhoods by having more stable families,” said Paul Staley, vice president of Self-Help Community Development Corp. ...
18. “Удушение:
контекст,
проведение
и последствия
американской
морской блокады Китая” (Military Review, May
14, 2013); story citing ERIC HAGT
(MPP 2004).
... Bruce Blair, Chen Yali,
and Eric Hagt,
'The Oil Weapon: Myth of China's Vulnerability', China Security, Summer 2006, 32-63, also examines the viability of a
blockade [to prevent and delay American forces from entering the theater of
operations], but operates under the same 'fundamental assumption of a limited
conflict' (42) and focuses on the economic consequences of a blockade....
57 As a comparison, the
U.S. military used a little more than 350,000 barrels of oil per day in 2011
(Defense Logistics Agency, 'Defense Logistics Agency Energy Fact Book - Fiscal
Year 2011', U.S. Department of Defense, 58 This rough approximation uses the
method outlined in Appendix B of Blair, Chen, and Hagt, 'The Oil Weapon,' 58-9,
and data obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics of China, 'The
People's Republic of China's 2011 National Economic and Social Development
Statistics Bulletin,' 22 Feb. 2012....
19. “Super Bowl donations to also aid charities” (San Francisco Chronicle, May 13, 2013); story citing DANIEL LURIE (MPP 2005).
By John Coté
Companies from Apple to the Gap have pledged to
pitch in a combined $30 million if the Bay Area lands the Super Bowl in either
2016 or 2017, money that would go to cover hosting costs and affiliated charity
efforts, including programs for needy young people, bid organizers said.
The fundraising is notable not only in its quantity — organizers say they’ve raised more money at this juncture than any other bid committee — but also for an unprecedented commitment to use 25 percent of the total on local youth poverty reduction and environmental efforts.
“CEOs are fired up,” said Daniel Lurie, founder of anti-poverty philanthropy clearinghouse Tipping Point and head of the Bay Area’s Super Bowl bid committee. “They’ve been saying, ‘We’re happy to support this.’ … The region is excited to have its first Super Bowl in 30 years.” ...
Lurie described the $30 million in commitments as “a great number” that exceeded his expectations.
“We were hoping to have half of that at this point,” Lurie said. “And we’re not done fundraising yet.”
The outpouring of corporate philanthropy stands in contrast to fundraising efforts to offset San Francisco’s costs for hosting the America’s Cup regatta this summer and fall, where attempts to raise up to $32 million to cover public bills faltered....
Corporate donors, though, have been quite receptive to Lurie’s pitch for money to host a Super Bowl, despite little being offered to top donors beyond a suite at the game and tickets, he said.
Part of the appeal, Lurie said, is the commitment that 1 in 4 dollars will go to local poverty reduction and sustainability efforts — a total that currently stands at $7.5 million. The NFL requirement for a Super Bowl host city is to raise $1 million for a charitable effort, dubbed a legacy project.
Exactly how the money will be spent has yet to be determined. Lurie, whose expertise is in raising money for antipoverty programs and to make them demonstrably more effective and efficient, said a separate nonprofit organization with an independent board will be formed to award the money to groups with a proven track record. None of the money will go to his organization, Tipping Point, Lurie said.
“It can’t be just about passion for the game,” said Lurie, citing advice he got from former 49ers star defensive back Ronnie Lott [a member of the board of Tipping Point. “It’s got to be about compassion for the community.”
20. “Workshop Explores Progress of Artificial Pancreas Systems” (States News Service, May 13, 2013); newswire citing CYNTHIA RICE (MPP 1994).
By Lindsey Bewley McCann
Bruce Buckingham, M.D., a JDRF-funded professor of pediatrics at Stanford School of Medicine, presented his study of reducing overnight incidences of hypoglycemia using a system that suspends insulin delivery when it senses falling blood-glucose levels. Nocturnal hypoglycemia is a serious issue for people with T1D because if left untreated, it can cause convulsions, coma, or even death....
Roman Hovorka, Ph.D., director of research in the department of
pediatrics at the
Cynthia Rice, JDRF’s senior vice president of advocacy and policy, commented, “The Artificial Pancreas Project is a tremendous example of how JDRF has the unique ability to drive therapies from the early stage of research through the development process to people with type 1 diabetes.” ...
21. “OPEN FORUM: UC Berkeley graduation a bonanza for hotels” (San Francisco Chronicle [*requires registration], May 10, 2013); commentary by KATHERINE MURTHA (MPP 2013); http://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/UC-Berkeley-graduation-a-bonanza-for-hotels-4504184.php
By Katherine Murtha
Coming to
UC Berkeley will award diplomas to more than 10,000 students on the weekend of May 18-19, and that means all kinds of relatives are in town for the happy occasion. But nobody could be happier than local hotels — or to be more specific, hotels within a 13-mile radius of campus.
Within walking distance
of
Don’t look for those prices
on graduation weekend, however, when 16,000 guests will be in
We economists call this the law of supply and demand. We sympathize with you travelers who might regard it as price gouging, but it’s really only a matter of market efficiency....
Searching the the 60 hotels nearest
As a public policy student, I am that dedicated, so that’s just what I did. Here’s what I found: When you look at the average distance of hotels that raised their rates, they are 13 miles from campus. The average distance of hotels that didn’t raise their rates is 15 miles from campus....
Katherine Murtha is a student at the UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy.
22. “Fannie Mae to pay
$59.4bn back to
By Dominic Rushe
The government-backed mortgage giant Fannie Mae is to pay $59.4bn back to US taxpayers, in a move that is likely to forestall a looming battle over the federal debt limit....
In 2008, the government poured about $170bn into Fannie Mae and its smaller sibling, Freddie Mac, to save them after the financial crisis. Fannie Mae received about $116bn in loans. With its latest dividend, it will have repaid about $95bn. The payment looks set to boost the Treasury’s coffers as it sees off a summer of fighting over the debt limit.
The government has reached its current debt limit, of $16.4tn, but after a budget battle at the end of last year Congress moved to allow the Treasury to borrow enough money to meet its obligations. That authority expires on 18 May....
Sean West, head of analyst Eurasia Group’s United States practice,
said it was clear that next week’s limit was unlikely to lead to any meaningful
resolution to the
West said political posturing over the debt limit was likely to continue over the summer while both sides positioned themselves for a solution. But he said that the chances of a so-called “grand bargain” now looked slim.
“We are not going to default and we are not going to fix the deficit,” he said.
23. “Brown, Democrats wrangle over Medicaid expansion” (San Francisco Chronicle, May 5, 2013); story citing TOBY DOUGLAS (MPP 2001/MPH 2002), and MARIAN MULKEY (MPP/MPH 1989), and study coauthored by LAUREL (TAN) LUCIA (MPP 2005) and MIRANDA DIETZ (MPP 2012); http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Brown-Democrats-wrangle-over-Medicaid-expansion-4489874.php
By Judy Lin, Associated Press
Turns out, saying yes was the easy part....
Democrats, who control the Assembly and Senate, disagree with Brown over the Medi-Cal enrollment and implementation process. Meanwhile, the governor is pushing for budget savings by reducing county support for indigent care....
While lawmakers have passed regulations for private insurance, they have yet to agree with the governor on the Medicaid portion because Brown is particularly wary of the potential costs that could affect state spending for years to come.
“We want to implement this and we still believe there’s time to be successful and to implement the optional expansion, but we need to do it and recognize that it needs to be done in a way that is affordable and sustainable given that the governor has worked to make sure that we have our fiscal house in balance over the long haul,” said Toby Douglas, director of the California Department of Health Care Services, which runs Medi-Cal.
Under the expansion,
more than 1.4 million
Another 240,000 to 510,000 Californians who are eligible but not enrolled in Medi-Cal are projected sign up by that time. Overall, the study estimated that 5.8 million Californians will be uninsured in 2019 without the Affordable Care Act.
The federal government will pay 100 percent of the costs for newly eligible Medi-Cal recipients from 2014 to 2016, gradually phasing down to a 90 percent share.
Despite those generous
matches, the state will still bear some of the costs. According to researchers
at the UC Berkeley’s Center for Labor Research and Education,
To make matters more complex, the state still has to figure out how to help individuals with incomes between $15,000 and $22,000. People in this group are most at risk of being unable to afford coverage. Even with federal subsidies, they still will have monthly premiums and co-pays.
The next few weeks will
be pivotal for
“If in fact we drag on into June and mid-summer ... and we don’t know what’s going on by that time, then yes, the prospects for smooth and wide enrollment are much diminished,” she said....
[The joint study by the University of California, Berkeley’s Center for Labor Research and Education and the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research is “Medi-Cal Expansion under the Affordable Care Act: Significant Increase in Coverage with Minimal Cost to the State” by Laurel Lucia, Ken Jacobs, Greg Watson, Miranda Dietz, and Dylan H. Roby (January 2013).
24. “Boom, Bust or What?” (The New York Times, May 5, 2013); analysis citing SEAN WEST (MPP 2006).
By Adam Davidson
... Sean West, a young political analyst at Eurasia Group, a consulting firm, has been remarkably prescient. He told me that my fantasy—one big, bipartisan solution—is common these days. Given the current circumstances, though, any reform to our economic system will have to be incremental and ultimately unsatisfying to all of those clamoring on the left and the right for significant change. And that starts with tax reform. Nearly every economist feels that some clear reforms are needed, as Hubbard and Summers certainly do. Our current tax system presents many opportunities for little fixes that both parties could chalk up as victories, like a cap on total deductions that any person could take, which would increase government revenue while also allowing the top marginal tax rate to be lowered. Who’s against that?
West recently told me that he thinks there’s about a 50-50 chance that Congress will pass a tax-reform bill suitable for Obama’s signature in the next two years. It will be a step in the right direction, but it won’t solve everything. West added—only partly joking—that he has come to think of the presidential election of 2016 as a battle between whoever will hire Larry Summers and whoever will hire Glenn Hubbard. Because somewhere in those following four years, he said, the fiscal crisis will become unavoidable, Congress will have to act, and it will have to work with the White House.
When that happens, though, West said the edge will very likely go to Summers’s path. There is little popular support for Hubbard’s drastic solutions. Just as Summers and Hubbard held on to the ideals of their upbringings, tens of millions of middle-class Americans won’t just let go of the retirement benefits that they have expected to collect their entire lives. As both men know, you can’t separate economics from politics.
25. “School of Thought - Supporters and Opponents Alike are Mobilizing to Sway Public Opinion on a Crucial Item in Gov. Walker’s Latest Budget - Private School Vouchers” (Wisconsin State Journal, May 5, 2013); story citing JEFF PERTL (MPP 2009).
By Matthew DeFour,
At a recent rally in a
Latino community center in
“I need your help,”
A week earlier at
“This is a
“You’ve got good schools here,” concurred [Department of Public Instruction] financial adviser Jeff Pertl. “We’ve got to fight to protect them.” ...
26. “Tax reform plan
offers difficult balancing act” (Morning Sentinel (
By Steve Mistler - State House Bureau
Like its counterparts in
other states, the
“Tax reform is hard,” said Tracy Gordon, an economic studies fellow at the Brookings Institute. “Economists in general believe that having lower tax rates is good, all things being equal. But the question always is: How do you raise adequate revenues to continue to fund government and provide the services that residents and businesses count on?” ...
A draft outline of the coalition proposal shows that the plan generates revenue by raising the state’s sales tax from 5 percent to 6 percent and eliminating a host of exemptions. Meals and lodging taxes also are increased, as are excise taxes on tobacco, beer and wine and auto rentals....
[Scott Drenkard, an economist for the Tax Foundation] also warned that increasing sales taxes above the rates in neighboring states could create “leakage”—instances in which residents in towns bordering a state with a lower rate buy goods there rather than in Maine....
However, Gordon, with the Brookings Institute, warned that there are other consequences leaning too heavily on sales taxes. That’s because many tax policy experts believe sales taxes are more regressive and disproportionately affect low- and middle-income residents.
“Low-income people tend to consume more of their paychecks,” Gordon said. “A sales tax is a tax on consumption, so a sales tax affects them.” ...
Gordon said the evidence is “murky” that businesses migrate to state’s because of corporate taxes.
“Businesses tend to care more about an educated workforce, access to infrastructure and affordable health care and their ability to attract and retain workers,” she said....
27. “
--Bob Egelko
A state audit has found persistent security problems at Alameda County Superior Court, where guns kept as courtroom exhibits were stored in unlocked cabinets, several drug exhibits were held in open, unlabeled sandwich bags, and chemical and biological evidence lacked seals to protect employees from toxic exposure.
Each of those
deficiencies at the René C. Davidson Courthouse in
The court’s executive office endorsed most of the audit’s findings and said it was working to fix the problems. In responses attached to the audit, court officials said they keep “high-risk items” in an exhibit room protected by an alarm, and would work with the county sheriff and district attorney to make sure “sensitive evidence is properly packaged and labeled.”
Leah Wilson, who took over as the court’s executive officer April 15, pledged Tuesday that the problems will not recur on the next audit. “We intend to fully address these issues,” she said....
28. “President Obama
Tells West,
By Sandy Smith
Thousands gathered for a
memorial service at
... West Fertilizer Co.
filed an emergency response plan update in 2011 with EPA, listing anhydrous
ammonia on site, but did not indicate there was a risk of fire or explosion at
the plant. And no one can explain the enormous quantity of ammonium nitrate
(the substance used in the
▪ The incident shows the need for better training of first
responders, specifically for those potentially involved with the estimated
6,000
▪ The incident highlights the difficulty of OSHA reaching
small hazardous facilities with its limited number of inspectors. Other countries have two to three times as
many inspectors per facility.
▪ The incident suggests the value of information exchange among public agencies. Although OSHA had not inspected the facility since 1985, both EPA and the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration had found serious deficiencies at the plant in the last 7 years.
29. “Analyst:
By Judy Lin, Associated Press
The governor and the legislative analyst noted that much or all of the extra revenue will likely be required to go to public schools and community colleges under Proposition 98, the state’s education funding formula....
The Brown administration is interpreting the state’s rules in a way that would require as much as 90 percent of extra revenue go toward public education, said Edgar Cabral, an education expert with the legislative analyst’s office.
“You’re looking at $3.5 billion or more would be required to be allocated to schools and community colleges to meet this higher Prop. 98 requirement,” Cabral said in an interview.
The analyst’s office also cautioned lawmakers not to spend the extra money on ongoing education programs. Instead, it is recommending the state pay down education debt and past obligations to schools.
“It will be additional money for schools, but it may not necessarily mean that schools are going to go right ahead and then start hiring additional teachers, because it could be one-time in nature,” Cabral said....
30. “Jobs keep creeping
out of downtowns - Sprawl steady despite economy” (
By
The recession put the brakes on job growth but did nothing to reverse a decades-long trend: job sprawl.
Despite the economic slump, the share of metropolitan areas’ jobs farther from downtowns increased from 2000 to 2010, according to Brookings Institution research out today. The share of jobs located in or near a downtown declined in 91 of the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas....
But there are signs of a counter-current. As young professionals flock to city centers, companies that want the best and brightest are starting to follow, says Joe Cortright, senior research adviser for CEOs for Cities, a national organization of urban leaders. “Suburban office locations are not as attractive as they once were,” he says. “A big factor is gas prices.”
He points to Swiss financial
giant UBS, which just moved its trading floor from suburban
“I don’t expect it to go back to the way it was,” Cortright says....
31. “Report breaks down
health care subsidy eligibility” (
By Larry Bivins, Gannett
Among those eligible, nine out of 10 are in working families and more than two-thirds are ages 18 to 54, according to the report by Families USA, a national consumer health advocate....
The tax credits will be available to individuals and families with incomes ranging from 138 percent to 400 percent of the federal poverty level—$15,860 to $45,960 for an individual; $32,500 to $94,200 for a family of four....
“This report shows the
Affordable Care Act is going to be hugely beneficial for
The tax credit combined with a proposal pending in the state legislature to continue the MinnesotaCare health program for the poor would be a health care boon to the state’s low-income residents, Doyle said....
32. “
BAKU -- The United
States on Thursday slapped financial penalties on an Iranian businessman, a
Malaysian bank and a network of companies it accused of attempting to evade
international sanctions on Iran's nuclear program through money laundering.
The Treasury Department
blacklisted Babak Zanjani
and First Islamic Investment Bank for providing financial and other support to
the National Iranian Oil Company.
It said Zanjani and a network of companies had moved billions of
dollars on behalf of the Iranian government, including tens of millions of
dollars to an engineering unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps....
The measures are the
latest by
Commenting on Thursday's
action by Treasury, an academic said further sanctions and diplomacy may be
required to persuade
'Every bit helps, but it
seems unlikely that this straw will be the one that breaks the camel's back for
33. “For-Profit Skills for Nonprofit Causes” (AR (Absolute Return + Alpha), April 2013); story citing HANS DEKKER (MPP 1991).
By Jan Alexander
Efficiency is not generally a strong point of nonprofits. But it’s an area where Robert Vogel, an associate principal at asset management firm Lucas Capital Management, felt he had a lot to contribute, with his 18 years of experience as a finance officer at Hess Corp.
Vogel is a trustee at the Community Foundation of New Jersey, an alliance of families, businesses and foundations that connects donors to organizations. Soon after he joined the board in 2004, he began working with foundation president Hans Dekker to restructure board meetings in such a way that the toughest and most important topics are first on the agenda. Otherwise, says Vogel, “You’ll end up spending half an hour debating the color for new carpeting.” From experience, he knew that people tend to avoid deliberating difficult questions.
Such as the time the board addressed an issue presented by Dekker involving children who were sent to foster homes. Volunteer advocates noticed that when children were sent from one foster home to another, they had to get on a bus carrying their possessions in a black plastic garbage bag. Dekker suggested raising enough money to provide the children with new duffel bags instead. Within a few weeks, the foundation had bought $6,000 worth of duffel bags for the children, in a program now known as Pack with Pride.
By moving the issue to the top of the agenda, the board was able to act more quickly. Now, says Vogel, “We have some of the most effective board meetings of any organization I’ve been involved with.” ...
In late 2011 Vogel formalized a plan that he hopes will help the foundation raise more money through less liquid assets than cash. While the foundation has always accepted noncash contributions such as stock shares, artwork and property, it isn’t supposed to be risk averse. He began a marketing campaign for such donations and helped set up a structure that allows CFNJ to become a limited partner when a donor contributes hedge fund or private equity holdings. If and when the stake becomes liquid the donor can still direct where the money goes.
“We try to think of our funds as something like venture capital,” says Dekker. “We take some risks. We might have some misses, but we’re interested in taking risks if we find a critical gap.” ...
34. “Sulfur - Plan’s price tag debated” (Houston Chronicle, March 30, 2013); story citing LUKE TONACHEL (MPP 2004).
By Jennifer A. Dlouhy
Either way, gasoline costs are forecast to climb under the EPA’s proposal, which would force refiners to slash sulfur emissions from gasoline to an average of 10 parts per million, down from the current limit of 30 parts per million....
The EPA estimates the new standards would help avoid as many as 2,400 premature deaths each year and 23,000 cases of respiratory ailments in children, resulting in $8 billion to $23 billion in annual health-related benefits by 2030.
“These common-sense standards will save lives, save money and clean up our air—all at a minimal cost,” said Luke Tonachel, senior vehicles analyst at the Natural Resources Defense Council.” ...
35. “State aims to ease RTA fund process - Applicants are prepped this time” (Denver Post, March 26, 2013); story citing JEFF KRAFT (MPP 1995).
By Aldo Svaldi, The
State economic development officials want to avoid some of the bumps and bruises local governments suffered last year when they jostled for funding under the first round of the Regional Tourism Act.
Last year, six
governments applied for RTA incentives, but Economic & Planning Systems in
The RTA gives developers of a project a share of the added sales tax revenues generated within a pre-defined zone. They can then borrow against that money stream to fund the project....
Part of the difficulties last year resulted from the various sides trying to figure out the program’s parameters, and the state is trying to be more explicit this year in what is and isn’t allowed.
Applicants can’t claim added tax revenues resulting from normal economic growth or which are pirated from other areas, said Jeff Kraft, director of business funding and incentives at OEDIT. Nor are they allowed to claim increased property and construction use taxes.
“We want people to think is it worth it if we don’t get the full increment,” he said....
36. “JDRF Comments on Economic Impact of Diabetes” (Targeted News Service, March 9, 2013); newswire citing CYNTHIA RICE (MPP 1994).
“As the leading global organization focused on type 1 diabetes (T1D) research, [the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation] knows the heavy toll that diabetes places on our nation’s economy, and on all those living with the disease,” said Cynthia Rice , JDRF vice president of government relations. “We will not rest until the burdens of T1D have been lifted, and will continue to fund over $100 million in T1D research and advocate tirelessly for federal support of research including renewal of the Special Diabetes Program.”
In 2012, JDRF released a study showing that therapies to improve glucose control could save the Medicare program $190 billion over the course of 25 years....
1. “The story of a Presidential tweet” (The Berkeley Blog, May 31, 2013); commentary by DAN KAMMEN; http://blogs.berkeley.edu/2013/05/29/the-story-of-a-presidential-tweet/
Daniel Kammen,
Class of 1935 Distinguished Professor of Energy
We generally complain that action on climate change is mired in polarized partisan politics and thus nothing can be done. True to an extent, but let’s hold on a bit.
In terms of generating important discussion about the clarity that exists around the conclusion that the scientific debate over climate change as an anthropogenic process is over, the political bully pulpit can be incredibly powerful.
A case in point is the paper published last week
in Environmental Research Letters,
where I am the Editor-in-Chief: “Quantifying the consensus on anthropogenic
global warming in the scientific literature” John Cook, of the Global Change
Institute,
We analyze the evolution of the scientific consensus on anthropogenic global warming (AGW) in the peer-reviewed scientific literature, examining 11,944 climate abstracts from 1991–2011 matching the topics “global climate change” or “global warming.” ... Among abstracts expressing a position on AGW, 97.1 percent endorsed the consensus position that humans are causing global warming.... Our analysis indicates that the number of papers rejecting the consensus on AGW is a vanishingly small proportion of the published research.
The paper came out, and President Barack Obama’s Twitter account weighted in:
@BarackObama: Ninety-seven percent of scientists agree: #climate change is real, man-made and dangerous....
That high-profile tweet ... drove a wave of
attention to the research. Follow-on tweets came from Vice-President Al Gore
and
What this story highlights – beyond the excellent data collection, analysis and scholarship in the paper itself – is the value of thoughtful comments and recognition of these findings.
Daniel M. Kammen is the Distinguished Professor of Energy at the University of California, Berkeley, where he founded and directs the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory (http://rael.berkeley.edu). He is a coordinating lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, and serves as the lead scholar for the Fulbright NEXUS program in energy and climate for the U. S. Department of State.
2. “News Fix Blog: In Vallejo, Citizens Directly Choosing Projects to Fund” (KQED Online, May 28, 2013); story citing LARRY ROSENTHAL (MPP 1993/PhD 2000); http://blogs.kqed.org/newsfix/2013/05/28/bay-area-participatory-budgeting/
By Lauren Bénichou
The
Vallejo City Council is set to vote Tuesday on a series of projects — from
streetlights to senior centers — that were chosen directly by nearly 4,000
residents last month. These projects came about as part of the city’s adoption of
a new civic model called “participatory budgeting.” The items up for a vote,
totaling about $3 million, represent a small chunk of the city’s budget....
Professor
Larry Rosenthal, from UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy, said
people have been thinking about direct democracy for years. “What differs here
is that a city like
Groups like [Community Democracy Project] and
Open Budget Oakland can make things clearer for voters like [
“These things are extraordinarily difficult to administer in total budget settings,” Rosenthal said. “We would be looking at a substantial investment of time and effort.” ...
3. “Beyond Fossil Fuels: A chat with renewable energy expert Dan Kammen” (Bay Nature, May 23, 2013); interview with DAN KAMMEN; http://baynature.org/articles/beyond-fossil-fuels/
By Paul Epstein
Ever
heard of
As director
of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Lab at the
BN: ... What about the state?
Kammen:
But the most important feature goes beyond
innovation.
BN: You write about the “activist scholar”. Does this describe you and your work?
Kammen: We work with business to change policies, providing high quality scientific research in support of an activist engaged agenda. For example, my lab does research on low carbon technologies, such as solar energy, and it also works with Native American communities in the Sierras and out of state to provide energy efficient homes and generate renewable energy on tribal lands for local use and for sale to the utilities....
4. “Ask The Experts: If I Could Make One Policy Change to Fix the Federal Deficit, I Would...” (Card Hub, May 18, 2013); commentary by JOHN ELLWOOD; http://www.cardhub.com/edu/policy-changes-to-balance-the-federal-deficit/
--Lynn B. Johnson
... In order to gain a bit of added insight into the matter as well as perhaps advance the overall discussion, we asked a number of experts for their take. More specifically, we posed the following question to professors of economics, public policy, and finance from many of the country’s leading institutions of higher learning:
If you could make one policy change to solve the federal government’s deficit problem, what would it be?
Here’s what they had to say about proposed solutions and the likelihood they’ll actually be adopted: ....
Policy
Change: “The correct package would include (1) an increase of the revenue
burden to what it was at the end of the Clinton Administration. (2) The passage
of legislation to control health care expenditures — in both the private and
the public sectors. (3) Passage of changes to Social Security program so that
it is in balance over the 75 year time line. These changes should be phased in
so that they will not thwart the recovery but would take effect over the long
term. The Social Security problem is not nearly as serious as the health care
sector problem. The
Likelihood: N/A
–John Ellwood – Professor of Public Policy at the
5. “Robert Reich, à gauche toute” (Le Monde [requires registration], May 16, 2013); profile of ROBERT REICH; http://www.lemonde.fr/ameriques/article/2013/05/15/robert-reich-a-gauche-toute_3205916_3222.html?xtmc=robert_reich&xtcr=1
Tout
le monde le dit, mais lui le dit depuis
toujours: les inégalités minent la démocratie américaine. Robert
Reich est, avec Paul Krugman
et Joseph Stiglitz, l’un
des principaux penseurs économiques de la gauche, mais, contrairement à ses deux collègues, il s’est frotté
aux réalités de la politique.
C’était du temps de Bill
Aujourd’hui, Robert Reich, 66 ans, est l’un des enseignants les plus populaires de l’université de Berkeley, en Californie. Les étudiants se pressent dans un amphi de 440 places pour entendre son cours, intitulé “Richesse et pauvreté”. Certains sont assis par terre au premier rang, d’autres sont sur liste d’attente. Quand l’université a essayé de ramener l’assistance à 300 personnes, dans le cadre des restrictions budgétaires de 2009, il a trouvé lui-même des financements. “Si ce n’est pas trop demander, professeur, pourriez-vous aussi résorber le déficit de la Californie ?” a supplié le blog étudiant The Daily Clog....
6. “Kevin Riordan: One N.J. school district’s back-to-basics success story” (The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 14, 2013); interview with DAVID KIRP.
By Kevin Riordan; Inquirer Columnist
Tough little
But in the late 1980s, the only schools with
which
While public education in
Improbable
Scholars (Oxford University Press) offers something of a guide for
The author also is an old friend of mine, and after I finished his insightful, immersive take on how urban public education can be made to work for even the poorest kids, I called him up.
“There is no quick fix, no magic solution, no miracle cure,” Kirp says, “other than system-building.” ...
“This is a back-to-basics story,” says Kirp, whose book cites smaller classes, attentive teachers, reading, and writing as the keys to the district’s improvement.
No wonder Kirp is so unimpressed with “celebrity” superintendents and “no-excuses” reformers who generally parachute down on troubled city school systems, foster a crop of admiring headlines, and then move on.
“You have to get stability into the school system, and you can’t do that in just a couple of years,” he says. “You have to build a culture of trust, and that’s not something you just assert. It’s something you earn.” ...
“The place to begin . . . is where the system is most potentially malleable, which is preschool, and working your way up to elementary school,” Kirp says. “You have to lay the foundation. And you don’t try to do everything at once.”
7. “David Kirp’s Strategy for Public Schools” (Forum, KQED public radio, May 13, 2013); program featuring DAVID KIRP; Listen to this program
(Paula
Bronstein/Getty Images)
In
rebuilding our public schools, education
policy expert David Kirp says we should stick to
what works, like quality early-childhood education and creating word-rich curriculums.
In other words, avoid getting carried away by quick fixes and the latest
trends. His new book, “Improbable Scholars,” tells the success story of
Host: Michael Krasny
Guest:
David L. Kirp, James D. Marver Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley, member of President Obama’s 2008 education policy transition team, and author of “Improbable Scholars: The Rebirth of a Great American School System and a Strategy for America’s Schools”
8. “Robert Reich: The Triumph of Progressivism: Graduation 2013 and 1968” (YubaNet News, May 15, 2013); op-ed by ROBERT REICH; http://yubanet.com/opinions/Robert-Reich-The-Triumph-of-Progressivism-Graduation-2013-and-1968.php
By: Robert Reich
May 13, 2013 - Many of you soon-to-be college graduates are determined to make the world a better place. Some of you are choosing careers in public service or joining nonprofits or volunteering in your communities.
But many of you are cynical about politics. You see the system as inherently corrupt. You doubt real progress is possible.
“What chance do we have against the Koch brothers
and the other billionaires?” you’ve asked me. “How can we fight against
Monsanto, Boeing, JP Morgan, and Bank of America? They buy elections. They run
Let me remind you: Cynicism is a self-fulfilling prophesy. You have no chance if you assume you have no chance....
When I graduated in 1968, the Vietnam War was
raging. Over half a million American troops were already there. I didn’t know
if I’d be drafted. A member of my class who spoke at commencement said he was
heading to
Two months before, Martin Luther King Jr. had
been assassinated.
George (“segregation forever”) Wallace was on his way to garnering 10 million votes and carrying five southern states. Richard Nixon was well on his way to becoming president....
I remember a classmate who was dating a black girl being spit on in a movie theater. The Supreme Court had only the year before struck down state laws against interracial marriage.
My entire graduating class of almost 800 contained only six young black men and four Hispanics.
I remember the girlfriend of another classmate almost dying from a back-alley abortion, because safe abortions were almost impossible to get.
I remember a bright young woman law school graduate in tears because no law firm would hire her because she was a woman....
When I graduated college I would not have believed that in my lifetime women would gain rights over their own bodies, including the legal right to have an abortion. Or women would become chief executives of major corporations, secretaries of state, contenders for the presidency. Or they’d outnumber men in college....
It would have seemed beyond possibility that a
black man, the child of an interracial couple, would become President of the
Yet we achieved it. And we have just begun. Widening inequality, a shrinking middle class, global warming, the corruption of our democracy by big money – all of these, and more, must be addressed. To make progress on these — and to prevent ourselves from slipping backwards — will require no less steadfastness, intelligence, and patience than was necessitated before....
ROBERT B. REICH, Chancellor’s Professor of
Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley, was Secretary of Labor in the
9. “GOP strategy: Chisel funds off the laws it can’t repeal” (San Francisco Chronicle, May 12, 2013); op-ed by ROBERT REICH.
By ROBERT REICH
The chemical and fertilizer plant in the town of West, Texas, where at least 14 were killed and more than 200 injured a few weeks ago hadn’t been fully inspected by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration since 1985. (A partial inspection by a different agency in 2011 resulted in $5,250 in fines.) OSHA and its state partners have a total of 2,200 inspectors charged with ensuring the safety of more than 8 million workplaces employing 130 million workers. That comes to about 1 inspector for every 59,000 American workers.
There’s no way it can do its job with so few resources, but OSHA has been systematically hollowed out for years under Republican administrations and Congresses that have despised the agency since its inception. In effect, many of our nation’s worker-safety laws and rules have been quietly repealed because there aren’t enough inspectors to enforce them.
That’s been the Republican strategy in general: When they can’t directly repeal laws they don’t like, they repeal them indirectly by hollowing them out — denying funds to fully implement them and reducing funds to enforce them.
The strategy also seems to bolster the Republican view that government is incompetent. If government can’t do what it’s supposed to do — keep workplaces safe, ensure that the rich pay taxes they owe, protect small investors, implement Obamacare — why give it any additional responsibility?
The public doesn’t know that the real reason the government isn’t doing its job is because it’s being hollowed out.
© 2013 Robert Reich Robert Reich, former U.S. Secretary of
Labor, is professor of public policy at the
10. “Prison overcrowding: The magic number.
LOS ANGELES |From the print edition
IS IT unreasonable for
... At one point more than twice as many
prisoners were stuffed into the state’s facilities as they were designed to
hold. So in 2009 three federal judges ordered
That forced
11. “State working poor lack education opportunities, report says” (Los Angeles Times, May 8, 2013); story citing ROBERT REICH and organization co-founded by GSPP former associate dean STEVE WEINER; http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-college-poverty-20130508,0,6390471.story
By Carla Rivera
The report, Working Hard, Left Behind, found that the state has the largest number of adults without a high school diploma or equivalent and ranks last among states in the percentage of low-income working families in which neither parent has a college education.
And although the state’s older population is among the most well-educated in the nation, younger adults are losing ground, with those ages 25 to 34 ranking 25th among their peers in other states in obtaining a bachelor’s degree or higher.
The report was produced by the nonprofit Campaign for College Opportunity [co-founded by Steve Weiner] and the Women’s Foundation of California and is based on 2011 U.S. census data.
“What’s really
disturbing to see is how many working poor families there are in
According to the report, more than one-third of
Education, the report finds, can reap major benefits, with those graduating with a bachelor’s degree earning more than $1.3 million over their lifetime than those who obtain a high school diploma.
Meanwhile, the demand for a college-educated workforce is expected to outpace supply by more than 1 million bachelor’s degrees by 2025.
“As this report makes stunningly clear… the future of the Californian economy — and millions of low-income working families — depends on increasing the pathways to and through higher education,” UC Berkeley public policy professor and former Secretary of Labor Robert B. Reich said in a statement....
12. “Fresh Dialogues: The Amazing Race for Clean Energy - A Big Idea from Jennifer Granholm” (Huffington Post, May 7, 2013); interview with JENNIFER GRANHOLM; http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alison-van-diggelen/jennifer-granholm-clean-energy_b_3233779.html
--Alison van Diggelen, Host, Fresh Dialogues
Fresh Dialogues recently sat down with Berkeley’s Jennifer Granholm to find out about her big idea: An Amazing Race for clean energy and clean jobs. Let’s face it, President Obama is struggling to get anything through Congress right now, never mind a national energy policy, so Granholm plans to create policy... from the bottom up.
You may remember Jennifer Granholm as the Governor of Michigan (2003-2011), the TV host of The War Room or the passionate speechmaker at the DNC 2012; but perhaps her most lasting contribution to the world will be this big idea: a Clean Energy Race to the Top.
Leveraging her experience in
Modeled after the Education Race to the Top (RTT), her clean energy idea is to offer a pot of money to incentivize all 50 states to compete and raise their clean energy standards to 80 percent by 2030....
13. “Failing the Test; Why cheating scandals and parent rebellions are erupting in schools in New York, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta” (Slate Magazine, May 7, 2013); commentary by DAVID KIRP; http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/science/2013/05/cheating_scandals_and_parent_rebellions_high_stakes_school_testing_is_doomed.single.html
By David L. Kirp
A new study by the Economic
Policy Institute’s Broader, Bolder Approach to Education quantifies the
negative effects of test-driven education reform in
It’s a terrible time for advocates of market-driven reform in public education. For more than a decade, their strategy—which makes teachers’ careers turn on student gains in reading and math tests, and promotes competition through charter schools and vouchers—has been the dominant policy mantra. But now the cracks are showing. That’s a good thing because this isn’t a proven—or even a promising—way to make schools better.
Here’s a litany of recent setbacks: In the latest
Los Angeles school board election, a candidate who dared to question the
overreliance on test results in evaluating teachers and the unseemly rush to
approve charter schools won despite $4 million amassed to defeat him, including
$1 million from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and $250,000 from Rupert
Murdoch’s News Corp. Former Atlanta superintendent Beverly Hall, feted for
boosting her students’ test scores at all costs, has been indicted in a massive
cheating scandal. Michelle Rhee, the former Washington D.C. school chief who is
the darling of the accountability crowd, faces accusations, based on a memo
released by veteran PBS correspondent John Merrow,
that she knew about, and did nothing to stop, widespread cheating. In a
Washington Post op-ed, Bill Gates, who has spent hundreds of millions of
dollars promoting high-stakes, test-driven teacher evaluation, did an
about-face and urged a kinder, gentler approach that teachers could embrace. And
parents in
More damningly, a new study, by the Economic
Policy Institute’s Broader, Bolder Approach to Education, quantifies the negative
effects of this test-driven education reform in
14. “Revisiting the price of cheap; Workers’ rights in spotlight as death toll continues to rise” (The Toronto Star, May 5, 2013); story citing ROBERT REICH.
Until they died, no one outside
They toiled at their work tables jammed side by side in the searing heat, waiting for the few breaks they were allowed, to run to the toilet or splash water on their sweating faces. They worked more than 12 hours a day for less than $2. And sometimes even that pathetic pay came late.
But the workers at
When more than 500 garment workers—547 was the ever-rising official toll on Saturday—were crushed under tonnes of rubble in the illegally slapped-up factory building in Dhaka last week, however, that façade cracked. And, along with it, confidence in the international brands that claim concern for worker safety and the feel-good factor of global shoppers who scoop up armfuls of cheap chic from their favourite stores....
But for those who have spent years investigating working conditions in poverty-stricken developing countries, the expression “déjà vu” is top of mind....
Long-time workers’ advocate Charles Kernaghan, knows the checkered history of monitoring well.
“We were the first group ever to do monitoring in
Shortly afterward, Kernaghan
said,
“He said ‘congratulations, you started a growth industry,’ “
By that Reich meant a worldwide explosion of monitoring touched off by a series of sweatshop scandals that activists like Kernaghan had brought to light....
15. “Fear of foreigners a fig leaf for immigration reform foes” (San Francisco Chronicle, May 5, 2013); op-ed by ROBERT REICH.
By Robert Reich
The Boston Marathon bombing has brought out the
xenophobes. Often when
Let’s blame immigrants, say the xenophobes. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is urging Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to reconsider immigration reform because of the bombings. “The facts emerging in the Boston Marathon bombing have exposed a weakness in our current system,” Paul says....
Immigration reform shouldn’t be confused with national security in any event. The main purpose of reforming our outmoded immigration laws is to do what’s right and give the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in America — many of them here for years, working at jobs and paying withholding taxes and many of them children — a path to citizenship....
The new xenophobia doesn’t end there. Other
politicians want to declare the surviving
If American citizens can be arrested and held indefinitely without a lawyer or proper trial, and without the full protection of our system of justice, because we suspect they have ties to terrorists, where will that end? ...
We need immigration reform. We must protect our
civil liberties. These goals are not incompatible with protecting
© 2013 Robert Reich Robert Reich, former
16. “A gay athlete will divide a team? Didn’t happen in the military” (San Jose Mercury News, May 1, 2013); column citing ROBERT MACCOUN; http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_23147488/gay-athlete-will-divide-team-didnt-happen-military?IADID=
By Nathaniel Frank, Slate
In
this Jan. 30, 2013, file photo, Boston Celtics center Jason Collins, right,
struggles for control of the ball with Sacramento Kings forward Chuck Hayes
(42) during the second half of an NBA basketball game in
NBA
player Jason Collins’ declaration that he’s gay has been followed, thankfully,
by supportive messages from peers like Dwayne Wade, Pau Gasol,
and Tony Parker. In the lead up to this highly anticipated moment, though,
there have been plenty of negative comments from athletes and pundits about the
potential negative consequences of open homosexuality in sports.
Chris Clemons, a defensive end for the Seattle Seahawks, posted on Twitter that it would be “selfish’ for an athlete to come out, as it would entail “trying to make themselves bigger than the team’ and would “separate a locker room and divide a team.’ ...
Those arguments should sound familiar—every last
one of them was tossed around by those who supported the
... Berkeley psychologist Robert MacCoun, who contributed to a RAND Corp. study that the Pentagon commissioned when it first considered openly gay service in 1993, later published the results of an extensive review of 50 years of research covering nearly 200 publications. MacCoun concluded that “it is task cohesion, not social cohesion or group pride, that drives group performance. This conclusion is consistent with the results of hundreds of studies in the industrial-organizational psychology literature.’ In other words, it’s a myth that group members have to share the same values, or even like each other, to work together effectively. The positive correlation between group cohesion and mission performance results not from affection but from group members being mutually committed to the task at hand....
May 30 Robert Reich spoke at the Munk Debate (“Be it resolved, tax the rich more”); he
supported the resolution with former Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou;
former U.S. Speaker of the house Newt Gingrich and economist Arthur Laffer opposed it; in Toronto, Canada.
To view a complete list
of GSPP videos, visit our Events Archive at: http://gspp.berkeley.edu/events/webcasts
Recent events viewable on UC Webcast: http://webcast.berkeley.edu/events.php?group=The+Richard+%26+Rhoda+Goldman+School+of+Public+Policy
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Director of External Relations and Development