Last week, PoliFact’s “Truth-O-Meter” assessed President Obamas assertion that the sequester “won’t consider whether we’re cutting some bloated program that has outlived its usefulness, or a vital service that Americans depend on every single day. It doesn’t make those distinctions.” Citing analysis by UMBC political science professor Roy T. Meyers and others, PolitiFact concludes that Obama’s statement is an oversimplication, but it is mostly true that sequestration cuts will be indiscriminate. The site notes, “even the fact that some programs are exempted from the sequester supports Obama’s point.” How? Meyers explains that the list of exempted programs (e.g., Social Security,… Continue Reading Roy Meyers, Political Science, on PolitiFact
UMBC and The Hilltop Institute are pleased to announce that Cynthia H. Woodcock has been named Hilltop’s next executive director. An MBA by training, Ms. Woodcock’s managerial skills span organizational development, strategic planning, marketing and new business development, system design, and financial management. She has designed and managed research projects and authored issue briefs for the federal government, states, and foundations on the delivery and financing of long-term services and supports (LTSS), chronic disease management, and preventing childhood obesity.
As criticism emerges surrounding a $758,000, no-bid contract the city of Cleveland awarded to a Texas company for a racial disparity study, The Plain Dealer asked UMBC professor George La Noue, political science and public policy, for his take on the situation. La Noue is director of the Project on Civil Rights and Public Contracting. The newspaper says La Noue believes Cleveland’s study is the most expensive study to-date of a city’s race- and gender-based contracting programs and legitimate studies can be done for as little as $250,000. “Typically these studies overwhelm the cities’ capacity to understand them,” La Noue… Continue Reading George La Noue, Political Science and Public Policy, in The Plain Dealer
Following the Ravens’ Super Bowl win, the team will increase ticket prices at M&T Bank Stadium, reports the Baltimore Sun. Season ticket holders will see an average price increase of 10%, plus a $5 parking rate increase. UMBC sports economist Dennis Coates notes, “In the grand scheme of ticket price changes, I’m not sure that a 10 percent is particularly a big one. But it doesn’t make it any easier for the average fan to pay an extra 10 percent. We’re still in a relatively sluggish economy and there are a lot of people whose income hasn’t changed a whole… Continue Reading Dennis Coates, Economics, in the Baltimore Sun
Responding to recent cheating scandals — from Lance Armstrong using banned substances to reports of inflated performance data in higher ed — Thomas F. Schaller’s latest Baltimore Sun column argues, “there’s ample evidence that cheating is rampant in almost every sphere of American life.” The political science professor delves into the economic impacts of cheating, particularly in the realm of tax evasion. Schaller writes, “In a July 2012 report, the Tax Justice Network estimated that, conservatively, between $21 trillion and $32 trillion of global income is hidden in offshore tax havens…that means probably a minimum of $5 trillion in U.S… Continue Reading Thomas Schaller, Political Science, in the Baltimore Sun
Donald F. Norris, professor and chairman of UMBC’s Dept. of Public Policy, has been named an inaugural honoree of the new Urban Affairs Association (UAA) Service Honor Roll. This award recognizes Norris’s contributions to both the association and the field of urban studies. The UAA credits honorees with contributing to the current breadth and richness of the discipline. Norris will be reorganized at an award luncheon for Honor Roll inductees on April 5 at the UAA conference in San Francisco.
The Association for Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE) has selected professor Leslie A. Morgan, Sociology & Anthropology, as recipient of the David A. Peterson Award for her Gerontology & Geriatrics Education article “Paradigms in the Gerontology Classroom: Connections and Challenges to Learning.” The AGHE will present Morgan with this “best paper” award at its 2013 annual meeting. The group notes, “The purpose of this award is to recognize excellence in scholarship in academic gerontology.” Manuscripts are evaluated on “innovation, the soundness of their approach, and their significance to and implications for gerontology and geriatrics education.” Morgan’s research focuses on social… Continue Reading Leslie Morgan, Sociology & Anthropology, Honored with AGHE Award
In the current legislative session, Maryland Republicans plan to focus on transportation funding, school safety and the budget, writes reporter Daniel Leaderman in the Gazette. Donald F. Norris, professor and chairman of UMBC’s Department of Public Policy, doesn’t think they’ll have much success in their efforts. Norris anticipates, for example, that even with some conservative Democrats joining Republicans in opposition to bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazine clips, those proposals are still likely to pass. In Maryland, Norris says, Republican legislators “have virtually no influence” — a position he describes as “not enviable.” Read the full article online.
“The desire to empower citizens directly is alluring in principle but can be very problematic in practice,” writes UMBC political science professor Thomas F. Schaller in his latest Baltimore Sun column. Schaller is referring to the practice of using ballot referenda to impact policy, rather than working through the legislature. He writes, “Last week, top Maryland Democrats announced their intention to make it more difficult to put statewide policy referenda on the ballot. The move is a clear response to Republicans’ success last year in putting to referendum policy questions in the hope of achieving victories the GOP couldn’t win… Continue Reading Thomas Schaller, Political Science, in the Baltimore Sun
This week the University of Maryland law school journal Race, Religion, Gender and Class will publish George La Noue’s new article, “Defining Social and Economic Disadvantage: Are Government Preferential Business Certification Programs Narrowly Tailored?” (see abstract). La Noue is a professor of political science and public policy at UMBC. He is recognized nationally for his scholarship on education policy (K-12 and higher ed) and constitutional law, and he’s been invited to testify before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in early February. La Noue is also highly committed to undergraduate teaching and recently coauthored a paper with undergraduate student Matthew… Continue Reading George La Noue, Political Science and Public Policy, Shares Latest Scholarship
This week Minnesota Public Radio’s “The Daily Circuit” hosted UMBC political science professor Thomas F. Schaller for a show on the role of the South in U.S. politics. Schaller is the author of Whistling Past Dixie: How Democrats Can Win Without the South and appeared with David Woodard, professor of political science at Clemson University. Schaller articulated the argument, central to his book, that the South is no longer required for Democrats to win a presidential election. He further suggested that the South — though it will, to an extent, always “remain distinct” culturally — is becoming increasingly like the… Continue Reading Thomas Schaller, Political Science, on Minnesota Public Radio
