Institute Insider

The Freeman Center for International Economic Policy sponsors the Global Policy Seminar/Workshop series every other Tuesday. The next program will be on November 24 from 12:45 to 2 p.m. in the Stassen Room (Room 170) of the Humphrey Center.

Professor Ní Aoláin will draw on a book in progress to discuss the ways in which women experience transitions from conflicted and violent societies. The talk will examine the multiple forms of violence that pervade conflicted societies and how legal sanctions often fail to fully capture its effects for women.

The discussion also will touch on a number of the dimensions that are engaged in transitional societies including amnesty, security sector reform, reparations, and rule of law transformations.

Join us for a panel discussion of research released by the Humphrey Institute and the Minnesota Business Immigration Coalition, analyzing immigrants' economic contributions to the state and the nation. The panel discussion will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. on Thursday, November 12 at Cowles Auditorium at the Humphrey Center.

Panelists include Dean Brian Atwood and Professor Katherine Fennelly of the Humphrey Institute, Bill Blazar of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, Rodolfo Gutierrez of HACER (to discuss the need for credible research on immigrants), Minnesota State Demographer Tom Gillaspy (to address Minnesota's aging population), Professor Raymond Robertson of Macalester College (to talk about Mexican workers competing with or complementing U.S. workers), and Ana Luisa Fajer Flores, Consul General of Mexico in St. Paul.

The Public Affairs Student Association will host its annual first-year representative event at the James J. Hill house at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 14. All Humphrey students, significant others, and children are invited to take part in the tour, which will last approximately 85 minutes. The tour is free, but an RSVP is necessary, at brow3019@umn.edu or by visiting http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=165048964569&ref=mf. When responding please indicate if you have significant others/spouses and/or children, and if you need a ride OR if you can drive (and how many people you can take. For those who need a ride, the carpool will leave the Humphrey at noon.

For more information, please e-mail Jonathan Brown or Shaker Raban.

The Humphrey Institute's Global Policy area will host a brownbag lunch from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, November 19 in Freeman Commons at the Humphrey Institute. The talk will feature Dr. Samuel Myers, analyzing the income inequity and disability in China.

There are wide differences in per capita household income between Han (majority group members) and ethnic minority group members in China.

Conventional wisdom suggests that much if not all of the disparity can be explained by rural versus urban residence. The vast majority of ethnic minority group members in China, who account for less than 11 percent of the overall population, can be found in rural, less developed areas of the country. A significant impediment to full participation in income earning activities particularly in the rural sector is poor health and specific forms of disability.

The Humphrey Institute's State and Local Policy Program will co-host a public lecture and luncheon called "Performance Driven: A New Vision for U.S. Transportation Policy" from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Monday, November 23, at the Humphrey Center.

The Bipartisan Policy Center's National Transportation Policy Project (NTPP) has begun a dialogue across the country regarding recommendations contained in its report Performance Driven: A New Vision for U.S. Transportation Policy. The forum will be held at the Humphrey Institute in conjunction with the Martin Olav Sabo Lecture Series. Former Congressman Sabo, NTPP co-chair, will speak at the event.

This event will bring together state transportation officials, federal and state legislators, academics, the business community, and other key stakeholders in a conversation about the need for reform in the next federal surface transportation bill.

Registration is required as space is limited. Please RSVP by completing the online registration form.

The Center for the Study of Politics and Governance will host a discussion with Norm Ornstein, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute from noon to 1:15 p.m. on Friday, November 20, at the Humphrey Center.

Expert Washington analyst Norm Ornstein will review the Obama Administration's wide-ranging policy initiatives and their progress in Congress as the political winds appear ready to shift.

The Center for the Study of Politics and Governance is hosting a conference focused on financing solutions for long-term care in America, which will be held from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, November 17, in Cowles Auditorium at the Humphrey Center.

Today, 10 million Americans need long-term care. In the next three decades, the number of citizens needing sustained care is expected to double, placing our nation's long-term care financing system-based largely on Medicaid-in jeopardy. While there is a growing consensus that long-term care financing reform should be part of health care reform, there remain underlying questions about next steps towards reform. This conference is free to attend. For a complete program agenda and to register please go to http://www.mhha.com/.

The Humphrey Institute's Center for Science, Technology, and Public Policy and the University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment will host Lester Brown, president of the Earth Policy Institute, to pose the question of whether or not climate change will cause the collapse of the world food supply at 9:30 a.m. on November 16 in Cowles Auditorium at the Humphrey Center. Brown will present research and his new book Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, in which he lays a road map to avoid environmental collapse, focusing on renewable energy and resources.

The Center for Science, Technology, and Public Policy will host a systems dynamics interest group meeting about the effect of biofuels at 1:30 on Friday, November 13 in the Stassen Room (Room 170) at the Humphrey Center.

Are biofuels sustainable considering the world's need for food? How do biofuels contribute to greenhouse gas emissions? How have biofuels been helpful? Finally, how do we develop policies that actually encourage rather than stifle development of truly sustainable biofuels? John Sheenan from the Institute on the Environment will present his work in modeling the effects of biofuels and help answer some of the existing land-management issues.

The Regional Planning and Policy Discussion Series will continue with a brownbag discussion featuring Thomas Smith talking about "Safety and Signing of Uncontrolled Pedestrian Sidewalks" from 12:45 to 2 p.m. on Thursday, November 12, in the Wilkins Room (Room 215) at the Humphrey Center. RSVPs are appreciated to Laura Noble at lnoble@umn.edu.

The Center for Science, Technology, and Public Policy will co-sponsor an interdisciplinary panel to challenge the prevailing assumptions about the role of science in society and higher education. The discussion will be held from 4 to 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, November 11 in Cowles Auditorium at the Humphrey Center.

The panel members are uniquely qualified to assess the civic possibilities of science and the pathways for productive partnerships between "citizen scientists" and other citizens. Panelists include Professor Judith Ramaley of Winona State University, Bobby Milstein of the Centers for Disease Control, John Spencer of the University of Iowa, Eric Jolly of the Science Museum, and Deborah Swackhamer, Charles M. Denny Chair, Center for Science, Technology, and Public Policy and co-director of the Water Resources Center. The discussion will be moderated by Steve Kelley, of the Center for Science, Technology, and Public Policy.

The Freeman Center for International Economic Policy will host a discussion called "Paternalism: A Reconsideration" with Professor Michael Barnett at 12:45 p.m. on Tuesday, November 10, in the Stassen Room (Room 170) at the Humphrey Center. Professor Barnett will argue that paternalism is not a legacy of the 19th century but very much part of the present and future of nearly all kinds of action designed to promote the global good. He asks: "Is this bad?"