Fall 2011Newsforum

27

newsforum A PUBLICATION OF THE UCLA MEYER AND RENEE LUSKIN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

POLICY

ProFESSIONALs Public Policy Alumni on the Local, National and Global Scene

30 32 36

ALUMNI PROFILE Yolie Flores and Veronica Melvin on Teacher Effectiveness

P eople Faculty, Students and Alumni in the News S Tudent PROFILE Bohnett Fellows at Work in City Hall

FALL 2011

Public Policy Professor Mark Kleiman, Reality-Based Reformer. See page 26.

22

Ideas in Action Luskin Faculty on the Policy Front Lines

header

table of contents 2 ON THE COVER

FeatureS

Public Policy Professor Mark Kleiman and UCPD Assistant Chief Jeff Young

2 Milestones

8

� Building Construction � New Faculty � Transitions

6 Findings

� Los Angeles to Top Electric Vehicle Adoption � National Research Council Report: Brian Taylor � Pot Dispensaries and Neighborhood Crime

10 Recap

� Highlights from UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs Events � Unequal Pay Means Unequal Health � Governor’s Conference at UCLA Promises Green Energy by 2020 � California Edition of The Economist Sparks Debate on State Government

21 media highlights

16

� Luskin School Faculty in the News

22 Features

� Cover Story: Luskin Faculty on the Policy Front Lines � Public Policy Alumni on the Local, National and Global Scene � Alumni Profile: Melvin and Aguilar Head “Communities for Teaching Excellence”

32 People

� News, Notes and Accolades From Faculty, Students and Alumni

34 Support

27

� David Bohnett Foundation Puts Students to Work in City Hall � Our Generous Donors � Luskin Legacy

A publication of

Dean Franklin D. Gilliam, Jr.

EditorS

Genevieve Haines, Bill Parent, Stan Paul

Contributors

Robin Heffler, Bill Parent, Stan Paul, Seth Odell, Alison Hewitt, Zócalo Public Square

Photography Reed Hastings, Rich Schmitt, Stan Paul, Bridgette Amador, Adrian Gonzales, Todd Cheney, Dustin Hamano, Seth Odell, San Jose State University, The Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Sierra Club California

Design Escott Associates

© Copyright 2011 UC Regents

NewsForum | FALL 2011

BY Franklin D. Gilliam, Jr., Dean

The 2011-2012 academic year is well underway and there is much to report. Most notable is the extraordinary opportunity afforded by the $50 million naming gift from Meyer and Renee Luskin. This will allow us to rethink and strategically plan how the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs should meet the enormous challenges confronting Los Angeles, the state of California, the nation and the world. This fall, we are convening a wide range of thought leaders from government, the private sector, NGOs and philanthropies to meet with our faculty, alumni, students and supporters to engage in a year-long strategic conversation, “Defining Our Future: UCLA Luskin’s Critical Advantage.”

The strength of the Luskin investment is the pivot point to rethink everything. For example, what are the tools, the knowledge base and initiatives that will best position UCLA Luskin to be a leader in public interest research and teaching for the next quarter-century? How can we best exercise our responsibility as a public university to serve Los Angeles and beyond? What are the structures, new ideas, new models and strategies that will put us ahead of the curve? The outcome of this effort, the “Defining our Future” project, which began with a Thought Leadership Summit in October, will establish UCLA Luskin’s critical advantage. I look forward to hearing from you as we develop this project: learning what you think and where you think our school should be going. I hope you accept my invitation to be part of the conversation.

We are, of course, not starting from scratch. The stories in this edition depict a lively, smart and vital institution built by generations of faculty, students and administrators. Our faculty are truly providing ideas in action and working on the front lines of policy challenges. The four front-line faculty in our cover story — as well as others throughout this issue’s pages — are emblematic of our commitment to research and teaching that address both scholarly imperatives and realworld matters. Likewise, the Public Policy alumni profiled for their work in Washington, D.C., represent thousands of our graduates who are working diligently in the public interest in government, nonprofits, businesses and in their own lives as

www.publicaffairs.ucla.edu

dean’s message

citizens — both close to home and across the globe.

Not only is it an intellectually stimulating environment, but we are also fulfilling our promise to Meyer and Renee Luskin to create a modern learning environment for our students and faculty. The large double classrooms, 2343 and 2355, no longer look like a military induction hall. The picture on page 2 will give you a sense of their transformation into two of the most technologically sophisticated and comfortable classrooms at UCLA. Outside of my office, the steady sound of drills and hammers represents several significant renovations including spaces for the Luskin Center for Innovation, Career Services and Alumni Relations Center, and the administrative suite, to be completed in the next few months.

This coming summer, the next phase of our renovations will include upgrades to our smaller classrooms and seminar rooms on the third, fourth and sixth floors, as well as an extensive remodel of the third-floor student lounge. Our final phase is a remodel of the first-floor computer lab and accompanying “pocket lounge” complete with coffee bar in the barren patch of land that sits below street level off Charles Young Drive.

In the next year, I hope you accept one of our invitations to return to campus and attend one of our events to get the full effect of our intellectual and physical vibrancy.

1

milestones

PHOTO: STAN PAUL

PHOTO COURTESY OF SHEILA KUEHL

Regents’ Professor Sheila Kuehl to Teach at Luskin School Sheila Kuehl ’62, former state senator and state assemblywoman, will join the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs this Spring (2012) as a Regents’ Professor.

As a Regents’ Professor, Kuehl — a UCLA alumna, staff member and faculty member — will teach and deliver a public lecture. Kuehl served in the State Senate from 2000-08, representing regions from West Los Angeles to Oxnard, and chaired the Senate Health Committee and the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee.

Kuehl formerly taught law courses at UCLA, was a Distinguished Policy Fellow at the Luskin School, and co-founded UCLA’s Center for Women and Men. The former associate dean of students earned her law degree from Harvard in 1978 and served in the California State Assembly from 1994-2000, becoming the first female

Public Affairs Building Gets Much-Needed Makeover, Thanks to Luskin Gift On the heels of the Luskin historic naming gift, the Public Affairs Building is undergoing a much-needed facelift. The building’s second-floor classrooms are seeing a complete overhaul, including top-of-the-line audio and visual components that turn the space into a state-of-the-art learning environment. Other areas of the school seeing new construction, which will continue through the fall quarter, include the Career Services and Alumni Relations Center, human resources and the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation. �

Speaker pro Tempore. �

2

NewsForum | FALL 2011

New Luskin Urban Planning Faculty Luskin School Honors Retirees This year the Luskin School honored retiring faculty members and staff for their years of service to the school:

Michael C. Lens Assistant Professor Urban Planning

Paavo Monkkonen Assistant Professor Urban Planning

Alan Altshuler Visiting Professor Urban Planning

Michael C. Lens, who joins

Paavo Monkkonen MPP ’05

Alan A. Altshuler, a Harvard

the Department of Urban Plan-

is back at the school as an urban

University Distinguished Service

ning this year as an assistant

planning assistant professor.

Professor and the Ruth and

professor, investigates the role

His research focuses on four

Frank Stanton Professor of Urban

that housing policy plays in

areas: housing policy with

Policy and Planning, is a visiting

neighborhood decline and revi-

an emphasis on low-income

professor this year and will teach

talization and the clustering of

housing, the role of finance,

urban politics, planning and

crime, poverty and other social

policy and economic restruc-

development this winter quarter.

problems. Lens, who earned his

turing in the changing spatial

His teaching and research focus

PhD in public administration

structures of cities, housing

on urban politics, planning and

from New York University and

markets and household forma-

public investment. Altshuler’s

his MPP from the University of

tion, and the regularization of

prior appointments include

Michigan, is a former research

informally developed neigh-

dean of the Graduate School of

associate at the Vera Institute of

borhoods. His recent work

Design, director of the A. Alfred

Justice. His projects include an

includes a study of housing

Taubman Center for State and

investigation of the neighbor-

policy reform in Indonesia and

Local Government and the Rappa-

hood conditions of households

a spatial analysis of housing

port Institute for Greater Boston,

living in subsidized housing

finance in Chengdu, China.

academic dean of Harvard’s John

and studying whether crime

Monkkonen, son of the late

F. Kennedy School of Govern-

depresses commercial property

UCLA School of Public Affairs

ment, dean of NYU’s Graduate

values and neighborhood busi-

founding faculty member Eric

School of Public Administration,

ness activity. Professor Lens

Monkkonen, completed his PhD

and professor of political science

teaches courses in housing

at UC Berkeley. He returns to

and urban planning at MIT.

markets and policy, research

UCLA following an appointment

Altshuler also served as secretary

methods, and economic and

as assistant professor at the

of transportation for Massachu-

racial segregation. �

University of Hong Kong. �

setts from 1971 to 1975. �

� A.E. (Ted) Benjamin, professor and former chair of social welfare � Joycelyn McKay Crumpton, CalSWEC project coordinator and field faculty for the department of social welfare � Carole Bender, director of the Center on Child Welfare in the department of social welfare � Kenneth Roehrs, longtime MSO for the department of public policy See photos of their retirement parties at these links: A.E. (Ted) Benjamin at http://flic.kr/s/ aHsjv2v17M; Ken Roehrs at http://flic.kr/s/aHsjvdr2sU; and Carole Bender and Joycelyn Crumpton at http://flic.kr/s/aHsjv2peMF.

See all of our visiting faculty at http://ucla.in/r9VT4I.

www.publicaffairs.ucla.edu

3

milestones Transitions directs of the school’s Institute

Director of the University of

of Transportation Studies and

California Asian American and

recently concluded a three-year

Pacific Islander Policy Multi-

term as chair of the Depart-

Campus Research Program (UC

ment of Urban Planning.

AAPI Policy MRP), a partner-

The Ralph and Goldy Lewis

Brian Taylor Lewis Center Director

ship of more than 70 faculty

Center for Regional Policy

from across the UC system

Studies was founded in 1988

to develop policy-relevant

to promote the study, under-

research on AAPI issues impor-

standing of, and solutions

tant to California. She has

to regional policy issues in

more than 50 publications on

California, with special refer-

her research interests.

ence to the environment,

Professor Takahashi is a

housing and community devel-

member of the Inter-University

opment, and transportation. �

Consortium on Homeless-

Fernando Torres-Gil Social Welfare Department Chair

Urban Planning Professor

ness and Poverty, and the

Brian D. Taylor UP PhD

Geographers Network on

Fernando Torres-Gil,

’92 has been named director

Politics in America — groups

professor of social welfare

of the Ralph and Goldy Lewis

working to educate policy-

and public policy, is the new

Center for Regional Policy

makers and service providers

chair of the Department of

Studies, housed in the UCLA

about poverty, homelessness

Social Welfare. Torres-Gil, who

Luskin School. After four years

and broader social issues.

formerly served as associate

as associate director of the

Previous research has focused

dean of Academic Affairs for

center, Taylor steps into the

on HIV prevention, and she

the school, remains director of

post formerly held by Public

has served as a voting member

the Center for Policy Research

Policy Associate Professor J.R.

of the Ryan White CARE

and Aging, and also plans

DeShazo, who now directs the

Act Local Planning Group

to teach a graduate course

Luskin Center for Innovation at

for Orange County (the HIV

on aging policy this spring

the school.

Planning Advisory Council),

quarter. He takes over the post

Lois Takahashi New Urban Planning Department Chair

was a voting member of

held for the past three years

Orange County’s HIV Preven-

by Professor of Social Welfare

tion Planning Committee, and

Rob Schilling.

is a founding member of the

Recently, Torres-Gil was

leadership of the new director,

Professor of Urban Planning

Orange County Asian Pacific

named to a post in the Obama

Dr. Brian Taylor, and associate

and Asian American Studies

Islander HIV Task Force.

administration, serving as

director, Dr. Allison Yoh, as

Lois Takahashi is the

each of them has already

Commenting on the growth of the center, DeShazo said, “I am confident this growth will continue under the dynamic

She has taught courses

member and vice chair of the

new chair of the Department

in advanced planning theory

National Council on Disability.

contributed immensely to

of Urban Planning. Takahashi

and the history of planning,

This is the third time Professor

making the Lewis Center what

succeeds Professor of Urban

locational conflict, homeless-

Torres-Gil has served in a

it has become.” Taylor, whose

Planning Brian Taylor, who

ness, housing and social service

presidential administration; he

research centers on transporta-

served as chair for three years.

issues, and urban policy and

served under Presidents

tion policy and planning, also

Takahashi also serves as the

planning. �

Clinton and Carter. �

4

NewsForum | FALL 2011

Renee and Meyer Luskin, Congresswoman Jane Harman, Edwin Yau MSW ’11, Florentina Craciun MURP ’11, Karissa Yee MPP ’11, Chancellor Gene Block, Dean Franklin Gilliam Jr.

Congresswoman Jane Harman

Prof. Paul Ong and Deirdre Pfeiffer UP PhD ’11 with Prof. Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris

A master in urban and regional planning grad celebrates.

PHOTOS: RICH SCHMITT

Commencement Features Leadership Lessons From Former Congresswoman Jane Harman On June 10, the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs held its annual commencement ceremony at UCLA Royce Hall. Students from the departments of Public Policy, Social Welfare and Urban Planning were recognized for their academic achievements, as well as being the first graduating class of the newly renamed UCLA Meyer and Renee Luskin School of Public Affairs.

U.S. Congresswoman Jane Harman, director, president and CEO of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, provided the event’s main address.

“Jane’s lessons” on leadership from her 2011 commencement address: Leadership is inside out: “It starts with your own head and heart. If it doesn’t, people will

sense it and not trust you.”

Leadership takes lots of work: “Trust your own instincts and marshal your

arguments.”

Failure is your friend: “Learning from tough experiences will set you up for even

greater success.”

Leaders never give up: “Think Nelson Mandela, Vaclav Havel, Aung San Suu Kyi.” Leadership is lonely, especially for women: “You have to assume you won’t please

everyone and some people will become your enemy.”

The mountain is steepest at the top: “The higher you rise, the less oxygen there is. It

takes enormous fortitude to keep climbing.”

Your most important obligation: “When you succeed, your most important

obligation is to mentor and help those who come after you.”

Never forget that leaders live real lives: “All of you have families — they need you too.”

Watch her address, as well as the entire ceremony, at http://youtu.be/bhyUYpySzTU.

www.publicaffairs.ucla.edu

5

findings To learn more about electric vehicle adoption in Los Angeles, visit http://luskin.ucla.edu/ev.

Study: 10 Percent Electric Cars in LA by 2020 Los Angeles will be a U.S. leader in the market for electric vehicles, with such vehicles accounting for nearly one out of every 10 automobiles purchased in the city in 2015, according to a new study published by the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation and the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

“For many buyers, electric vehicles will be hard to ignore,” said J.R. DeShazo, director of the Luskin Center and an associate professor of public policy. “However, the analysis predicts only about 2,000 electric vehicles will be sold in Los Angeles in 2011. This number is due to the limited supply; even if more residents are inclined to purchase them, it just isn’t possible right now.”

6

Partnership with policymakers The study is part of yearlong collaboration with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s Office for Environment and Sustainability, with the support of the City Council, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and the Clinton Climate Initiative.

“This is cutting-edge and will be critical to informing

Los Angeles’ electric vehicle strategy going forward,” Villaraigosa said. “Los Angeles has demonstrated itself repeatedly as a leader in this industry, and through this collaboration with UCLA, we have further strengthened LA’s commitment to become the EV capital of the world.”

Cross-campus collaboration UCLA Anderson MBA students worked under the direction of Jeffrey Dubin, adjunct professor of economics and statistics at UCLA Anderson, for an analysis of data from hybrid vehicle registrations, “green” initiative voting results, a market survey of 2,000 Los

Angeles residents supported by polling firm YouGov, and U.S. Census figures, among other sources, to arrive at the estimate.

Demand outstrips supply The supply of electric vehicles will be limited until 2013 or 2014, the research team said, at which point it will increase to meet demand. In 2015, the researchers predict that electric vehicles will make up 9 percent of new vehicles — an estimated 30,000 vehicles — purchased by Los Angeles residents. By the end of 2020, they say, Angelenos will have purchased roughly 229,000 electric vehicles. >>

NewsForum | FALL 2011

The analysis, which looked at 127 Los Angeles ZIP codes, allowed the team to identify which areas of the city would ultimately see the greatest number of electric vehicles, with the Westside and the Wilshire Corridor leading the pack.

Brian Taylor Contributes to National Research Council Report on Energy Use School of Public Affairs

over the next half century,

Board. The National Academy of

Professor of Urban Planning

policymakers will likely need

Sciences, National Academy of

Brian Taylor contributed

to implement a combination of

Engineering, Institute of

to a new report from the

measures that foster consumer

Medicine and National Research

National Research Council

and supplier interest in vehicle

Council make up the National

informing policymakers of

fuel economy, alternative fuels

Academies. They are private,

The next big opportunity: vehicle charging areas

available options to reduce

and a more efficient transporta-

nonprofit institutions that

energy use and emissions from

tion system, says the report.

provide science, technology and

A second UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation study, led by David Peterson UP ’11, provided an overview of the challenges and opportunities for charging electric vehicles in multifamily residential buildings.

About 70 percent of the city’s residents are renters and residents of multifamily housing.

Many of these residents do not own their garages and face difficulties in installing charging equipment at home. Those who park on the street have even greater difficulty accessing charging at home. The report explored options to increase home charging access for these residents. �

for reducing the use of oil in

the U.S. transportation sector.

“There’s no silver bullet

The study was sponsored by the Transportation Research

health policy advice under a congressional charter. �

transportation,” said Taylor.

“Officials must consider a range

The National Research Council report

of policy options to save energy

examines the pros and cons of policy

and reduce emissions from the U.S. transportation sector over

options to reduce petroleum use in the

the next 20 to 50 years.”

U.S. transportation sector, including:

Going beyond fuel economy standards

� Land-use and travel-demand management

Cars, trucks and aircraft collectively account for 95 percent of U.S. transportation oil use.

Federal regulations over the past 40 years, such as fuel economy standards, have helped the transportation

measures aimed at curbing household vehicle use

� Low-carbon standards for transportation fuels � Public investments in transportation infrastructure to increase vehicle operating efficiencies

� Transportation fuel taxes � Vehicle efficiency standards, “feebates” and

sector make significant gains in

other financial incentives to motivate interest in

controlling its oil use and emis-

vehicle efficiency

sions. However, these measures are likely to do little more than temper growth in the sector’s carbon dioxide emissions and demand for oil over the next several decades, according to the report.

— Robin Heffler

To significantly cut oil use

Read the complete report online at http://ucla.in/qP8GfS.

www.publicaffairs.ucla.edu

7

findings

Tracking Influence of Pot Dispensaries on Neighborhood Crime As cities across California struggle with how to handle medical marijuana dispensaries and police agencies blame them for an increase in lawlessness, academics are delving into data to find out whether pot shops really do influence neighborhood crime.

Freisthler's map of dispensary locations in Los Angeles city limits shows a distinct dearth in South Los Angeles. Red triangles represent dispensary locations in 2007; blue circles show locations in 2010.

Only Los Angeles dispensaries are mapped.

8

Bridget Freisthler, associate professor of social welfare, has turned up some surprising findings. She’s found that the hundreds of pot dispensaries operating in the city of Los Angeles are clustered in betteroff places, like beachside Venice, Hollywood and Westwood, but are sparse in places like South Los Angeles.

Worried about crime? You’re better off within 100 feet of a dispensary than a liquor store, bar or even a restaurant, according to a 2007 study Freisthler conducted with social welfare doctoral student Nancy Williams comparing average crime rates.

But Freisthler is not satisfied with her results — they’re snapshots in time, she said, and require further study, which she began this year. Freisthler received a $2.7 million National Institutes of Health grant this September for further research on LA and Sacramento in what is believed to be the first study of how dispensaries influence crime rates over an extended period of time.

“It’s a much more complicated picture, which a lot of people are studying,” she said. “It looks like the data differs very much from city to city and probably by how laws concerning dispensaries are enforced.” � —Alison Hewitt, UCLA Media Relations and Public Outreach

NewsForum | FALL 2011

The immigrant youth contingency demands the passage of the DREAM Act as a stand-alone bill during the May 1, 2010, immigrant rights protest in Los Angeles.

(Picture by Bridgette Amador)

Day 15 outside the tent used during the hunger strike for the DREAM Act in Los Angeles.

(Picture by Adrian Gonzales)

Migration is Focus of Urban Planning Students’ Journal Critical Planning The immigration journey of Somali refugees from Mogadishu to Columbus, Ohio, a case study of Chinese immigrants in Vancouver, Canada, immigrant integration in suburban America, and the impact of labor migration in an eastern Serbian town are among the stories featured in the 18th volume of Critical Planning, the graduatestudent-produced journal of the Department of Urban Planning.

This edition of the annual publication focuses primarily on migration, both locally and globally.

An article from Carlos Amador MSW ’11 documents the progress of the DREAM Act from his own perspective as observer and participant. He recounts his participation in a 15-day hunger strike:

www.publicaffairs.ucla.edu

“I am with 10 other hunger strikers plus volunteers camping in the corner of two major streets in the west side of Los Angeles, California. We have been outside the offices of U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein for over a week as part of a hunger strike calling for the passage of the federal DREAM Act to legalize immigrant undocumented students….I am low in energy and walking becomes difficult. I have an empty stomach, but at least the headaches are gone by now. That morning, we made the collective decision to continue with the hunger strike for another five days. The decision didn’t frighten anyone in the group as we stayed committed to the immigrant youth movement. We were continuing in the tradition of Cesar Chavez for a nonviolent struggle: this time for the rights of undocumented immigrants across the country….The cold nights, the hard floor we slept on, the loud noise of traffic, and the long days without food, they all reminded me of how much we desire to belong to a country we see as ours too.” —Carlos Amador MSW ’11 For more information on Critical Planning, or to subscribe, go to http://www.spa.ucla.edu/critplan.

9

recap

Unequal Pay Means Unequal Health Addressing the Many Facets of Health Disparities “The choices we make are constrained by the choices we have. If you live downwind from a toxic dump, that’s not about your choice. If you don’t have a place to get those five to seven vegetables per day in your neighborhood, that’s not a choice.”

—LARRY ADELMAN, DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER

Documentary filmmaker Larry Adelman opened his remarks on a panel about health inequalities by emphasizing why the subject matters for him personally.

The issue is “not just that the rich on average will live more than six years longer in the United States than the poor,” he said.

“Even middle-class white folks like me can expect to die two to three years sooner than the affluent. So this is about all of us, not just about the poor.”

That’s significant, Adelman said, because people need to focus on solving health inequality not just as charity, but because it affects their own lives. Adelman joined public health expert Tony Iton and urban planner Ryan Snyder on a panel as

part of UCLA Luskin’s social justice initiative, supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Moderated by KQED health reporter Sarah Varney, panelists discussed the challenges posed by health disparities, as well as possible solutions to the problems.

The scope of the problem Iton, senior vice president for the California Endowment, said the problem of health inequities is particularly visible in Oakland, where he once served as director of the county health department.

“A child growing up in west Oakland, an African American child, can expect to live 15 years less long — 15 years — than a white child in the Oakland hills, just two or three miles away,” he said.

In Los Angeles, too, health disparities are dramatic, Snyder said, using the example of childhood obesity. In Manhattan Beach, one of the wealthiest areas of Southern California, about 4 percent of children are obese. In Maywood, a tiny working-class city in Los Angeles County, that figure is 37 percent.

firm, said structural issues are a large part of the problem. He has consulted with more than 100 cities to try to make communities healthier through access to transportation, bike lanes and walkable sidewalks.

“The public health folks are really leading the charge, not the planners, on these health issues,” he said.

Causes behind health disparities

Implementing solutions

Too often, Adelman said, a person’s health problems are assumed to be solely their own fault, but the outside forces governing individuals’ health involve every issue of life.

Iton described the California Endowment’s work in 14 communities that face major public health challenges, saying despite their differences, the areas have many similar issues.

“The schools don’t work, they’re on the wrong side of the freeway, there’s no public transportation, there may even be environmental issues,” he said.

Snyder, who runs an urban planning consulting

Although none of the panelists claimed to have all the answers to solving health inequalities, all proposed partial solutions. Varney commended the California Endowment’s Healthy Communities initiative for addressing root causes rather than simply the surface issues.

“Change is not going to start from the top down,” Adelman concluded. “It’s got to come from people demanding it from the ground up.” � This article is excerpted from a larger article from Zócalo Public Square. See the full article at http://bit.ly/pjn17E.

For event video, visit http://bit.ly/r3LUJN.

10

NewsForum | FALL 2011

The event featured (from left to right) UCLA Professor Fernando Torres-Gil; Robert Greenstein, president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; Kilolo Kijakazi of the Ford Foundation; Zachary Gassoumis, researcher at USC Gerontology; Ronald Brownstein, political director of Atlantic Media; Chon Noreiga of the UCLA Chicano Studies Program; Max Benavidez of Latinos and Economic Security; and USC Professor Kathleen Wilber.

Young Latinos Vital to Baby Boomer Social Security UCLA hosts Hill staffers at a congressional briefing on U.S. demographic shift The potential economic, social and political impact of our nation’s rapidly growing young Latino population and aging baby boomers was the topic of a congressional briefing hosted by the Center for Policy Research on Aging in the Luskin School.

The briefing was an “opportunity to reframe the ongoing debates about immigration reform, aging and diversity, and to introduce new data and a new way to think about the demographic changes affecting this country,” said Fernando Torres-Gil, professor of social welfare and public policy and director of the Center for Policy Research on Aging.

Panelist Ronald Brownstein, political director of Atlantic Media, discussed an article he wrote for the National Journal, in which he reported that “Minorities now make up more than twofifths of all children under 18, and they will represent a majority of all American children by as soon as 2023, demographer William Frey of the Brookings Institution predicts. At the same time, the country is also aging, as the massive baby boom generation moves into retirement. But in contrast to the young, fully four-fifths of this rapidly expanding senior population is white.”

www.publicaffairs.ucla.edu

Working in self-interest Torres-Gil added, “It’s not that conservative older voters need to like these new populations, but rather it’s in the self-interest of older conservative retirees and voters to recognize the future solvency of Social Security and Medicare depends on the productivity of young immigrant minority and Latino workers.

“Without this diverse workforce, we will not have taxpayers to sustain those two important entitlement programs through their tax dollars.”

The policy briefing, “Framing the Generational Divide: Baby Boomers vs. Young Latinos,” was sponsored by the UCLA-USC Latinos and Economic Security Project in partnership with Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34) and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

“Just as our nation’s 78 million baby boomers are beginning to retire, our nation’s young Latino population is dramatically expanding,” said Congresswoman Roybal-Allard. “These intergenerational changes will undoubtedly have far-reaching economic, social and political impacts on our nation.” �

11

recap

MALDEF Head Denounces Immigrant Measures, Calls for a New Approach Department of Social

the state’s social services. It was

blocked the bill’s most contro-

law enforcement’s efforts to

found to be unconstitutional by

versial provisions.

apprehend lawbreakers.

Welfare hosts Mexican

a federal court.

American Legal Defense and Educational Fund’s Thomas Saenz

Saenz said the first way in

Criticism for the Obama Administration

which S.B. 1070 mirrors Propo-

Echoes of California’s Prop. 187 in Arizona’s immigration law

sition 187 is that it is “clearly unconstitutional.”

Saenz also criticized the Obama

Other similarities, he said,

Administration for its Secure

The 2010 passage of S.B. 1070

are that the Arizona measure

Communities program, in which

Recent governmental efforts to

by the Arizona State Senate

would be very costly to imple-

fingerprint information from

limit undocumented immigrants’

was an “echo” of Proposition

ment, ineffective in deter-

local arrests is forwarded to

rights echo earlier attempts to do

187, said Saenz, who noted

ring further immigration of

U.S. Immigration and Customs

the same, while violating consti-

that at least six other states

undocumented workers, force

Enforcement (ICE). ICE uses

tutional guarantees and national

are drafting similar bills. S.B.

people to continually prove

the information to detect and

values and sending a “dehuman-

1070 would require state offi-

their immigration status, make

deport a larger number of

izing” message, according to

cials and agencies to assist in

communicable diseases more of

undocumented immigrants than

Thomas Saenz, president and

the enforcement of federal

a threat to overall public health

previously. Saenz maintains

general counsel of the Mexican

immigration laws, and aims

by denying health services

that this results in many

American Legal Defense and

to identify, prosecute and

to some, deny schooling to

noncriminal, undocumented

Educational Fund (MALDEF).

deport illegal immigrants. After

undocumented immigrants,

people being deported.

The prominent civil rights

Governor Jan Brewer signed it

and threaten public safety

attorney presented his views to

into law, a federal judge issued

by having a chilling effect on

students in the final event in

a preliminary injunction that

immigrants’ cooperation with

An alternative vision for immigration policy

the 2010-2011 speaker series,

Saenz proposed an “alterna-

“Contemporary Perspective on

tive vision,” in which immigra-

Immigration,” sponsored by the

tion policy is exclusively set at

Department of Social Welfare.

the federal level and “reflects

Saenz has led numerous

and respects” federal laws and values, particularly “equal

immigrants’ rights, education,

protection, due process and all

employment and voting rights.

the rights in the Bill of Rights.”

These include a successful

Such an approach would allow

PHOTO: RICK SCHMITT

civil rights cases related to

legal challenge to California’s Proposition 187, the 1994 ballot initiative approved by voters to create a citizenship-screening system in order to prohibit illegal immigrants from using

12

Thomas Saenz of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (center) presented his views at an event hosted by the Department of Social Welfare.

for “individual opportunity and individual attention that are increasingly ignored in immigration policy.” � — Robin Heffler

NewsForum | FALL 2011

UCLA Center for Study of Women Names Policy Brief Contest Winners Ninth Latino/a Community Conference hosted by Master of Social Welfare Program More than 100 practitioners, professionals, students and community members attended the Ninth Social Services in the Latino/a Community Conference. Organized by the Latino/a Caucus in the Master of Social Welfare Program, the May 7 event explored contemporary issues impacting the Latino/a community in Los Angeles.

Multidisciplinary approach “The conference was multidisciplinary, even though it was presented by the Social Welfare program,” said Gerardo Laviña MSW ’88, field education faculty and faculty advisor for the Latino/a Caucus. “The idea was that participants could immediately apply information from the conference, regardless of whether they work in clinical settings, in community organizing or in policy.”

Workshops addressed shared communities (“Black and Brown”), juvenile justice, domestic violence, gangs, post tramatic stress disorder in the immigrant community, mental health, LGBTQ issues and community organizing for violence prevention.

Engaging the public “Afterward, community members talked about the experience of being in the Luskin School, and the feeling of support from the school that they have through the conference,” said Laviña.

Students in the Latino/a Caucus organized the conference, including writing grant proposals to secure resources and ensure the event remained free to the public. Sponsors included the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the UCLA Center for Community Partnerships and the UCLA Campus Programs Committee of the Program Activities Board. �

Three MSW students in the Department of Social Welfare took top honors in a spring policy brief contest coordinated through the Center for the Study of Women at UCLA. Focused on the topic of “Food Insecurity,” the contest was organized by Assistant Professor Michelle Johnson for her section of SW 240.

Winning briefs have been posted with the California Digital Library and sent to legislators, agencies and other interested parties in an effort to bring about policy change. �

Brandy Barta, MSW student “U.S. Farm Bill Makes Women and Children Food Insecure.”

Barta served as a Peace Corps volunteer on an indigenous reservation in Panama as a community development worker from 2008 to 2010.

Luis Quintanilla, MSW student “Reductions in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Increase Health Risks for Food Insecure Women.”

Quintanilla seeks to address the mental health needs of the Latino/a community through social justice and the inclusion of cultural models of healing in community mental health settings.

Tanya Trumbull, MSW student “Reducing Food Insecurity Among Female Farm Workers and Their Children.”

Trumbull’s interest in issues of food access began following a month-long volunteer experience on a community farm in Costa Rica.

See photos from the event at http://flic.kr/s/aHsjuPecrf

www.publicaffairs.ucla.edu

13

“If I Only Knew…”

Lessons From API Leaders

Michael Woo Dean, College of Environmental Design at Cal Poly Pomona; Former Los Angeles City Council member

Three prominent civic leaders from the Asian and Pacific Islander (API) communities shared their experiences and insights as activists and members of ethnic minorities with students in an April 7 panel discussion sponsored by the API Caucus. asked “What are you?”

When she responded “American,” they were never satisfied. “So I would say ‘I’m Japanese,’ and then I wasn’t satisfied.”

On Thinking of himself as Asian American:

While first running for city council, said Woo, who is Chinese American, “As much as I thought I was transcending my ethnic identity, my constituents wouldn’t let me do that.” Some engaged in stereotyping, while others viewed him as an unwelcome indication that the neighborhood was changing, he said.

What makes an effective

What makes an effective community leader:

Bill Watanabe MSW ’72, Diane Ujiye (second from left) and Michael Woo join students at the panel discussion.

community leader:

During his first campaign, “a constituent thought I was too quiet and asked me, ‘Why aren’t you more like Jesse Jackson?’” The appropriate model of leadership, Woo said, “depends on what needs to happen, what the troops are like, and whether there even are any troops.”

14

For future leaders — critical issues facing the API community:

Given the high percentage of Asian Americans in public colleges, they are likely to “comprise a disproportionate percentage of the future middle class of California.

What difference will that make?”

Diane Ujiiye Director, Asian & Pacific Islanders California Action Network Thinking of herself as Asian American:

Ujiiye, who attended a middle-class, largely Caucasian high school in Eagle Rock, said she was often

Sometimes it means acting as a facilitator who can “listen and distill the public policy implications.” Other times, when many people are involved in decisionmaking, “a leader just has to call the shots.”

For future leaders — critical issues facing the API community:

Dual-language learning is a necessity given the global economy. She also noted that, “We have to stop leaning in, trying to be like others, and validate ourselves.” >>

NewsForum | FALL 2011

recap

Senior Fellows Class of 2011-2012 Each year a distinguished group of leaders from the public, private and nonprofit sectors is invited to become part of our school

Bill Watanabe, MSW ’72

Senior Fellow; Executive Director, Little Tokyo Service Center Thinking of himself as Asian American:

Watanabe recalled that growing up in the San Fernando Valley, he was one of only three Asian Americans — all of Japanese ancestry — in his high school.

“I didn’t think of myself as Asian American then,” he said, noting that reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X “helped open my eyes to society” and to being “ready to make a better world.”

What makes an effective community leader:

“There are two kinds of leaders — those who are charismatic, a bright flame, and those who are there for the long haul and are able to get things done that take time.”

For future leaders — critical issues facing the API community:

Three issues: reforming immigration in the face of strong anti-immigrant sentiment in the U.S.; developing the Asian American community’s political and policy clout; and preserving its cultural heritage and identity.

—Reporting by Robin Heffler

community. These Senior Fellows represent a bridge connecting our problem-solving academic departments of Public Policy, Social Welfare and Urban Planning to the real-world challenges being faced by civic leaders at the local, regional and national levels.

Throughout the year, they will be presenting policy briefings, guest lecturing in classes and participating in school events. In addition, Luskin students will have the unique opportunity to spend time with our fellows at their place of work, giving a true insider’s view of what these fellows do and how they lead.

� Gisselle Acevedo President and CEO, Para Los Niños � Fred Ali President and CEO, Weingart Foundation � Gary Bagley (2010 through 2012) Counselor for Management Affairs, U.S. Embassy Madrid, U.S. Department of State; Diplomat in Residence, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs

� Derick W. Brinkerhoff Distinguished Fellow, International Public Management, RTI International

� Guillermo Cespedes Director, Gang Reduction and Youth Development, Office of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa

� Kathay Feng Executive Director, California Common Cause � Jonathan Fielding Professor of Health Services and Pediatrics, UCLA School of Public Health; Director of Public Health and Health Officer, Los Angeles County

� Therese W. McMillan Deputy Administrator, Federal Transit Administration

� Patt Morrison Op-Ed Columnist/Writer, Los Angeles Times; Host, ”Patt Morrison,” 89.3 KPCC, Southern California Public Radio

� Tony Salazar President of West Coast Operations, McCormack Baron Salazar Michael Woo (right) speaking after the event.

www.publicaffairs.ucla.edu

� Bill Watanabe Executive Director, Little Tokyo Service Center

15

recap

Governor’s Conference at UCLA Promises Green Energy by 2020 on solar power as the most likely and abundant source for the bulk of those 12,000 megawatts.

“Whatever amount of oil they have over there in Texas, we have a hell of a lot more sun right here in California. … The sun is more abundant, more powerful and capable of generating more power,” Brown said.

“We are spending, we Americans, hundreds of billions of dollars on importing foreign oil that could all go back into our economy if we had domestic energy sources.”

Placing solar panels on

“The UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation is helping California identify both the best practices for overcoming obstacles and a policy agenda to make renewable energy cost effective and feasible.”

—Gene Block, UCLA CHANCELLOR

the rooftops of homes and businesses would create decentralized power systems that would be harder to disrupt, Brown said. He joined a panel of solar-power supporters who highlighted feed-in tariff programs across the globe, which encourage homeowners and businesses

to install rooftop solar panels that feed power to the city around them.

J.R. DeShazo, director of UCLA’s Luskin Center for Innovation and associate professor of public policy, who led another panel at the conference, helped develop a feed-in tariff system that >>

PHOTO: TODD CHENEY

California Gov. Jerry Brown kicked off a two-day conference at UCLA, where politicians, business leaders, researchers and academics gathered to propose ways to meet Brown’s goal of developing localized renewable energy sources that can produce 12,000 megawatts of power for the state by 2020.

More than 300 of the nation’s energy experts attended the conference hosted by the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation, Governor Jerry Brown’s office and Bank of America.

Brown focused heavily

Governor’s Panel: Atlantic’s Steve Clemons, Governor Jerry Brown, Google’s Rick Needham, CRG’s David Crane and SolarCity’s Lyndon Rive (not pictured)

16

Assistant Vice Chancellor Keith Parker, J.R. DeShazo, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Executive Vice Chancellor Scott Waugh

NewsForum | FALL 2011

forms the basis of Los Angeles’ solar plan.

“The governor’s commitment to an event like this shows that he recognizes that he can play a leadership role in bringing together all of the pieces needed to make renewable energy possible,” DeShazo said. “The event itself recognizes the need to get all the stakeholders at the table, come up with a plan and implement it. That hard work’s going to start tomorrow, in all the panels, when we go through all of the challenges that renewable energy faces.”

Universities like UCLA have an important role in helping the state meet the 12,000 megawatt goal, Brown said.

“Universities are ... training people who are vitally necessary, and then, of course, they can do things on their own rooftops,” Brown said. “But I would say educating and research, that’s plenty important, and then maybe some partnerships with private industry.”

“UCLA is proud to partner with Governor Brown to host a conference bringing together national energy experts to develop innovative strategies to fulfill his renewable energy goals,” stated UCLA Chancellor Gene D. Block. “Through this partner-

www.publicaffairs.ucla.edu

ship, the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation is helping California identify both the best practices for overcoming obstacles and a policy agenda to make renewable energy cost effective and feasible.”

The governor expressed frustration with the limits of his power to move renewable resources forward. With distributed power, via solar panels on rooftops across the state, the breadth of the power supply is its strength, he noted, but he added that with 58 counties and more than 400 cities, each with their own rules and permits, the distribution is also one of the project’s biggest challenges.

“Our system of participation is such that any old fool can object to anything,” Brown said. “Restricting participation is very difficult — it has the feel of [being] undemocratic. And yet, if you allow every person, however benighted, to play a role, you never get anything done. “[As mayor] in Oakland I learned that some opposition you have to crush. You can talk a little bit, but at the end of the day, you have to move forward. And California needs to move forward with renewable energy.” � —Alison Hewitt, UCLA Media Relations and Public Outreach

Dean Gilliam Meets With Nigerian Delegation On June 21, Dean FrankLIN D. Gilliam, JR. met with 15 members of a Nigerian delegation from the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies of Nigeria. Delegates were participating in a study tour of the United States exploring issues related to managing Nigeria’s pluralism for peace and national development. Gilliam discussed dimensions of pluralism, ethno-religious diversity and challenges of nation building, and federalism and resource management for development.

Founded in 1979 as a policy formation center for bureaucrats, private sector leaders, armed forces officers, senior public servants and academia, the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies of Nigeria is based in Kuru, Nigeria. The study tour was conceived to provide participants the opportunity to acquire practical knowledge of problems common to Nigeria and other nations and learn how those countries have addressed such problems. �

“I was honored to meet with the thoughtful and committed members of the Nigerian delegation.

Our nations can learn so much from one another, and I was pleased to be able to represent UCLA Luskin in a serious dialogue about nation building and respecting diversity.” — Dean FrankLIN D. Gilliam, JR.

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recap

Why has California seemingly become ungovernable?

And what can and should be done about it?

California Edition of The Economist Sparks Luskin Debate on State Government Why has California seemingly become ungovernable?

And what can and should be done about it? Those concerns were tackled in a UCLA Roundtable Discussion organized by the Luskin School of Public Affairs featuring West Coast correspondent for The Economist magazine Andreas Kluth and a panel of California experts.

Sparking the discussion was a special report Kluth authored for the April 23 issue of the magazine. Noting the inability of the state to pass timely budgets, even in good financial years, the report characterized California as “an experiment in extreme democracy gone wrong,” especially the direct democratic process of the state’s ballot initiatives.

Kluth opened the roundtable event by describing how initiatives were introduced in California 100 years ago to prevent corruption. Initiatives were used sparingly until Proposition 13, the property-tax-cutting measure, was passed in 1978. After that, collecting signatures for initiatives became “an industry” fueled by well-financed special interests.

He proposed “reforming the initiative process and the legislature.” In some states, Kluth noted, the legislature has the power to repeal initiatives when negative consequences result.

One way to improve the legislature itself, he said, would be to increase the number of representatives.

“The People’s Will: Reforming the Way We Govern California” panel discussion Panelists included Robert Hertzberg, former speaker of the California Assembly and now co-chair of California Forward, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization seeking restructuring and other reforms of state government; Daniel J.B. Mitchell, UCLA professor emeritus of management and public policy and editor of California Policy Options; and Carol Whiteside, partner of California Strategies, a public affairs consulting firm focusing on good governance.

“We need to create a new model of government that’s nimble, highly democratic and thinks big, which means thinking

The UCLA Roundtable Discussion featured Andreas Kluth, U.S. West Coast correspondent for The Economist magazine, and a panel of California experts.

small,” said Hertzberg, presenting one goal of his organization.

“With smaller units [of government] you get the benefits of big government and the human condition of social connectedness.”

Mitchell suggested that given the governing problems of Washington D.C.’s elected representatives, “maybe direct democracy is not the problem. … I would focus reform on the governor. … In California, the governor is held accountable but doesn’t have authority to make good decisions.” He said one step would be to institute a nonpartisan state primary.

Thinking like “American Idol” For Whiteside, many issues will be solved “when as many people vote in elections as vote in ‘American Idol.’” She suggested giving people a forced choice, such as “Do you want to raise taxes or see 50 kids in a classroom?”

She suggested that cynicism needs to be replaced by community concern, citing Governor Brown’s 2011 inaugural address.

“He asked people to think first as Californians and second as individuals. I think we’ve lost a sense of responsibility to community,” she said. “It’s hard to restore that, but that’s essential.” � — Robin Heffler

To see photos and video of the event, visit http://ucla.in/qK97nB.

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NewsForum | FALL 2011

Former Chancellor Young Proposes Contract With State to Bolster UC’s Finances Former UCLA Chancellor Charles E. Young outlined how California and the University of California arrived at the current budget crisis, and suggested that the path to economic stability for UC lies in a modified form of privatization on which it already has embarked to some degree. Young, a UCLA professor emeritus of political science and public policy, was speaking at the 25th annual Bollens-Ries-Hoffenberg Lecture held at UCLA on April 21.

Young presented highlights from his article, “Policy Options for University of California Budgeting,” for California Policy Options 2011, published by the Ralph and Goldy Lewis Center in the Luskin School.

Young — who helped to draft the California Master Plan for Higher Education in 1959-1960 and served as UCLA’s chancellor from 1968 to 1997 — first described the important role UC played in California’s dynamic economic development after World War II, when it received increasing financial support from the state, grew for decades and developed a world-class reputation. However, in the late 1980s, this support began to decline, and “now UC is in jeopardy,” he said.

Factors behind the decline in funding for the UC Young cited several factors for the funding decline: the inability of Democrats and Republicans to reach agreement on the state’s budget because of legislative-district apportionment practices; Proposition 13, the 1978 state measure reducing property taxes, which also mandates a two-thirds majority in both the Assembly and Senate to pass a state budget; and Proposition 98, which requires the state to spend about 40 percent of its budget on K-14 education.

As a result, Young said, the state is very dependent on income-tax revenues, which fluctuate dramatically with the economy, leaving budget allocations to prisons and higher education as the only significant areas of spending flexibility.

For UC to have a more viable financial footing, he proposed shaping the movement toward “modified privatization” of the university, already underway to some degree.

Five-year contract between state and UCs proposed “Let’s take the bull by the horns and have it mean something,” Young said, “with funding from the state based on a contractual relationship. A five-year contract would provide some stability.” Such a contract would specify UC’s obligation to educate a given number of students in specified disciplines in exchange for a set amount of money.

In addition, he said that improving UC’s finances also would require increased student tuition offset by increased financial aid and more international students, with all qualified California residents continuing to have access to UC; more money generated from research; and more unrestricted private funding.

“We have to come together as a people and decide what is in the best interests of the people,” Young said. � — Robin Heffler

Watch video of the entire speech online at http://bit.ly/n6crNa.

www.publicaffairs.ucla.edu

19

recap

Rishwain Award Honors Social Justice Entrepreneurs

Legislative Lobby Days 2011 Advocating for social justice, human rights and the protection of the most vulnerable members of our society In April, more than 40 MSW students joined social workers and students from across to California to lobby state legislators on behalf of AB 12, AB 130, AB 131 and AB 671.

“As a micro student, Lobby Days helped my social work education come full circle. I learned that advocacy is integral to our profession and our responsibility as social workers,” said Brittany

Rudinica, an MSW student.

Luskin School student Gianina M. Bermudez was among those recognized on the assembly floor for contributions in social work.

Following the legislative visits, UCLA field faculty member Mary

Kay Oliveri opened a public rally on the steps of the Capitol. �

Achieving social justice requires not only a desire to help others, it also demands a strong entrepreneurial spirit.

Students across UCLA in the sciences, humanities, medicine, public health, public policy, urban planning, African studies and other areas of study have just that. While working on their undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees, this year’s applicants to the second annual Rishwain Social Justice Entrepreneur Award are actively addressing issues such as poverty and homelessness, language and literacy barriers, education, hunger, and criminal justice, just to name a few.

Two of these students won this year’s Rishwain Social Justice Entrepreneur Award at a May 18 event sponsored by a gift from entrepreneur and attorney Brian Rishwain ’87. Rishwain’s gift sponsors two $2,500 awards each year and is administered by the UCLA Center for Community Partnerships.

This year’s winners: � Krista Barnes, a graduate student in African studies, is also the founder of The REEL Project. Barnes’ nonprofit produces humanitarian films and media projects for populations in the developing world such as the film “Today We Pack, Tomorrow We Settle,” which can be viewed at http:// www.thereelproject.org. The film’s purpose was to empower thousands of Congolese refugees to return home. The organization also provides micro-credit loans to aspiring business owners in post-conflict Democratic Republic of Congo. � Bryan Pezeshki, president of Swipes for the Homeless, a campus group founded by Bryan to help mitigate hunger through an innovative use of unused meal card “swipes” on students’ on-campus meal plans. Students donate credits for unused meals, which are collected and redeemed for meals and nonperishable food for the hungry in Los Angeles. The Swipes program also helps stock a food closet for UCLA students who may be dealing with poverty and homelessness. Bryan is an undergraduate in neuroscience with a minor in political science.

This article is excerpted from the student blog at http://legislativedays2011.blogspot.com.

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NewsForum | FALL 2011

media scene

Expert media commentary by faculty Follow us on Twitter and Facebook Link from www.publicaffairs.ucla.edu

On the Air

In the News

Andrew Sabl on The Next Election: The associate professor of

Fernando Torres-Gil on Voting: The chair of the Department

public policy commented on National Public Radio’s “All Things

of Social Welfare and director of the Center for Policy Research

Considered,” in October on President Obama’s second bid for

on Aging is quoted in The New York Times in June regarding

the White House — “He’s going to have to dial down some of

the voting behaviors of the young and old for the next election

the rhetoric of the social movement and be clear about the fact

— “Age is up for grabs. … In the last election it was about the

that he can accomplish some things and not others, and should

young vote, and Hispanic vote. This time the issue is age.”

be rewarded for limited but real achievements rather than for

(Read the entire story at http://nyti.ms/kh8OgP.)

promising transformation.” (Listen to the entire program at http://n.pr/q3jVtJ.) Chris Tilly on Jobs of the Future: The professor of urban planning

More Coverage Mark Kleiman on Rethinking Drug Policy: In the August 10 edition of

and director of the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and

UCLA News Week, the professor of public policy talks about his new

Employment, joined a KPCC-89.3 FM “Air Talk” panel Sept. 5 on

book, Drugs and Drug Policy — “Our current policies are driven by

“Jobs of the Future” — “It depends on competitive strategy of

misunderstanding and mythology and fear, and as a result are doing

the companies; it depends on public policy. The whole discussion

a lot less good than they could and a lot more harm than they need

about green jobs, for example, depends greatly on what state

to.” (Watch the entire interview at http://bit.ly/mQeIJS.)

and federal policies get adopted.” (Listen to the entire program at http://bit.ly/nJgV1M.) Franklin D. Gilliam, Jr. on “Could Jobs Crisis Spark U.S. Riots?”: The dean of the Luskin School appeared Sept. 19 on CNN American Morning, commenting on New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s recent remarks on the economy and civil unrest in England and other parts of the world — “We have not yet had unrest. … I think the one thing that has made America a little different is that people always had hope, and here in California, the so-called Golden State, we thought we always had hope and now people are feeling really quite hopeless, and that is dangerous.” (Watch the interview at http://bit.ly/ps514G.)

Gary Orfield on suggestions that the middle class may be headed out of public schools: http://bit.ly/kwXXm0 Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris on mass transit ridership and crime prevention: http://bit.ly/fQchAA Matthew Kahn states hybrid drivers are people wanting “their virtuousness” and wanting “to get to work quickly”: http://wapo.st/ksmHmv Michael Dukakis on LA’s apron parking crackdown: http://lat.ms/mSXoi0 Paul Ong answers questions on Asian American voting power at a Queens College forum: http://nyp.st/g9roq5 The shutdown of LA’s 405 freeway from July 16 to 18, 2011, also

DONALD SHOUP on Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Proposed $2 Fee

billed as “Carmageddon,” held the national and local media

on Lot Parking: The professor of urban plannning commented on the

rapt for months. Planning experts from the UCLA Luskin School­

Oct. 21 broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered” — “I think the

including Brian Taylor, Allison Yoh and Martin Wachs ­

most important thing to do for any city is to get the price of curb

commented regularly in news reports on the impending shut-

parking right.” (Listen to the entire program at http://n.pr/qBxj4x.)

down. (For coverage, see http://bit.ly/pff6Fy.)

www.publicaffairs.ucla.edu

21

cover story

Luskin Faculty on the Policy Front Lines

T

he hardest part of writing a story about Luskin School faculty who work to see their ideas realized in policy is pinning down a few of the exemplars to have a conversation. A week before fall classes, Donald Shoup was in Italy meeting with the local funcionarios about parking. Fernando TorresGil was en route to San Francisco to address a Pan Asian policy conference on aging. J.R. DeShazo was between meetings with Los Angeles Department of Water and Power officials. And Mark Kleiman was on his way to Georgia to speak to a Council on Foreign Relations luncheon on the Mexican drug violence.

Luskin School faculty — across the departments of Public Policy, Social Welfare and Urban Planning — are hardly ivory tower types. They are closely engaged with people and problems; theory and practice are braided together with research and teaching.

“You’ve got to get out of the building,” says Dean Franklin D. Gilliam, Jr. “When your work is about creating fair and effective public policy, planning communities and protecting the most vulnerable populations, you have to get out there with the politicians, policymakers, and civic and nonprofit leaders, where the action is.”

What’s interesting as well are the many different ways in which faculty carry out their policy agendas, consciously framing their work, writing and civic engagement to be relevant and useful in the arena of public affairs. Here are a few notable examples:

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NewsForum | FALL 2011

PHOTO: San Jose State University

Ideas in Action

“My career has been a 30-year campaign to educate the public and policymakers on the dramatic demographic changes that are happening and their effects on older and vulnerable populations.”

—FERNANDO TORRES-GIL

Fernando Torres-Gil, Policy Entrepreneur “I was accepted into the PhD program in political science at UCLA,” Fernando Torres-Gil recalled. “It was a hard decision not to accept, but pure poli sci wasn’t for me.”

Instead, coming out of San Jose State University, where he was a student activist on behalf of farm workers and the Chicano student movement, he went to Brandeis University and earned an MSW and PhD in social policy and planning.

From there, he was appointed a White House Fellow, where he worked closely with then Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Secretary Joseph Califano and got his first taste of federal policymaking.

“I like to think of myself as a policy entrepreneur,” he said, borrowing a phrase

www.publicaffairs.ucla.edu

from political scientist John Kingdon. “My career has been a 30-year campaign to educate the public and policymakers on the dramatic demographic changes that are happening and their effects on older and vulnerable populations.”

Indeed, Torres-Gil’s career has been like a long commute between academia and government, Los Angeles and Washington. He started in academia at USC and later moved to UCLA, where he has been a professor, academic dean, acting dean, and now chair of the Department of Social Welfare.

His 1992 book, The New Aging: Politics and Change in America, set the foundation for constant reexamination of demographic, census and economic data on aging.

In the first Clinton administration, he served as the very first Assistant Secretary for Aging in DHHS, where he organized the White House Conference on Aging and advised on welfare reform. In earlier D.C. stints, he served as staff director of the House Select Committee on Aging and as a special assistant to the DHHS Secretary.

Currently, as President Obama’s vice chair of the National Council on Disability, he works to promote the Amercans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and is also engaged with DHHS in the implementation of the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS Act), which is part of the Obama health care plan. He has served and serves on a wide range of municipal commissions and task forces, nonprofit boards, and issue campaigns.

“Someone once called me a Paul Revere, sounding

warnings about dramatic demographic shifts,” TorresGil said. “What I began to see back in the 1980s, that retirement for many Americans would not be what they were envisioning, has turned out to be true. There’s not enough savings, home equity isn’t what it was, and the social safety net is fraying.

“We are getting older and more diverse as a country. We need better responses to a whole new set of problems and challenges, which the country has never faced before.”

Still, Torres-Gil is optimistic. “I think people are now starting to see the real choices. The current crisis gives us a new opportunity for civic engagement, to renew and rethink the civil contract between government and citizens,” he said. “At this stage in my career, this is what I care about the most.” >>

23

cover story “Our job is to provide policymakers with better decision tools. We help them collect and understand the information that is available and define the additional information they need

to make good choices.”

J.R. DeShazo, Enviro-Policy Pathfinder J.R. DeShazo has range. A former Rhodes Scholar with a PhD in urban planning from Harvard, he is just as comfortable writing for highly technical economic journals (e.g. “Designing Transactions Without Framing Effects in Iterative Question Formats”) as he is pouring over Google maps of Los Angeles looking for government buildings that could support solar installations.

In the past five years, after taking over as director of the Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies and subsequently the Luskin Center for Innovation, he has found himself getting deeper into local and regional energy policy at the intersection of politics, economics and environmental problems. This past summer, for example, he led the Luskin Center in convening a Governor’s Conference on Local Renewable Energy Resources, which was a platform for California Governor Jerry Brown, public and utility officials, and academics to figure out how to realize a goal of building 12,000 megawatts

24

of renewable energy in the state through solar energy, biomass and other green energy technologies.

“Our job is to provide policymakers with better decision tools,” DeShazo said. “We help them collect and understand the information that is available and define the additional information they need to make good choices.”

DeShazo and his Luskin Center colleagues have also been instrumental in designing municipal solar energy plans for Los Angeles and providing analysis to the Department of Water and Power (DWP) as it moves to adopt a “feed-in tariff” policy, a complex but proven strategy. Feed-in tariffs are designed to spur the adoption of renewable but still expensive technologies by paying utility customers who install such renewable sources as solar and wind for unused energy they generate.

“We helped DWP identify the trade-offs,” DeShazo said.

“From there, we were able to identify win-win policy designs.”

This combination of

DeShazo’s analytic skill, commitment and real-world engagement was one of the factors that inspired Meyer and Renee Luskin to endow the Luskin Center. “J.R. is highly intelligent, but the intelligence comes through behind a steady and a calm demeanor,” said Meyer Luskin. “It’s really unusual — you find a person who has the intelligence to make creative and substantial contributions and the ability to get them accomplished by getting other people involved and having them feel that they’re wellaccepted and needed.”

—J.R. DeShazo

Asked for an example of the difference between working in politics and academia, DeShazo answered almost immediately: “Time.

Politicians out of necessity and with term limits have to have short-term goals and achievements. But energy policy is something that we have to think of in the long term. That’s a challenge.

“And one other thing I’ve learned,” he added, “is about the politics, an article of faith: Always make sure the full credit goes to the public official.” >>

“The vital last step in research is making the results useful to public decision-makers.”

—Donald Shoup

Donald Shoup: Curb Your Economics Donald Shoup has a keen eye for irrational behaviors, a wry lilt in pointing them out, and a relentless desire to make sure people understand what’s at issue.

Shoup is best known for his passion for fair-priced parking and all the public good that can flow from it. He wrote his first paper on the topic as a graduate student at Yale in the 1960s and has never let go. Distilled to its essence, his prescription is simple: First, charge fair-market prices at parking meters; second, use the revenue to make the neighborhood clean, attractive and safe; and third, get rid of offstreet parking requirements that force cities to reserve more space for idle cars than

www.publicaffairs.ucla.edu

for housing, commerce and recreation.

“My research method is to identify situations where individually rational action leads to collectively irrational results, then to try to devise politically acceptable solutions to remedy the problem,” Shoup said. “I try to identify situations where prices deviate seriously from costs, and then to devise politically acceptable ways to bring prices closer to cost.

Parking is a perfect storm of both these situations.”

Over the years, Shoup has applied his methods to other public problems as well. He was a force behind California’s successful parking cash-out law, which requires many employers who offer free

parking to offer the option to trade a “free” parking space at work for its cash value. He devised a deal that allows Los Angeles residents to get their sidewalks fixed faster if they are willing to chip in part of the costs. He has been a nudge extraordinaire in getting UCLA to realize the true costs of building parking structures, and has been the leading campus advocate for subsidizing students and employees to take public transportation.

After one of his wheelchair bound students had trouble navigating cars parked on local sidewalks, he enlisted Michael Dukakis and others on a two-year successful public crusade against sidewalk parking abuses.

But it’s not just the substance that has earned him an almost cultlike following (“The Shoupistas” are a Facebook group of about 1,000 members) in the planning community, it’s also his style. Shoup has a mischievous economist’s eye for seeing significance in the mundane and a light questioning rhetorical delivery that both disarms and challenges his listeners.

Over the course of his academic career, he has made a conscious effort to make academic work in the field more accessible and useful to

planners, elected officials and citizens. He has developed an arsenal of simple metaphors to describe complex problems.

Knowing that Professor Robin Liggett is loved by generations of math-averse students for her ability to teach statistics, he audited her class to improve his own teaching and writing to reach wider audiences. He is also the editor of ACCESS, a transportation journal with the sole purpose of making highly technical academic research readable for the professional field and journalists. His magnum opus, The High Cost of Free Parking, is written in a conversational tone, rich in ironic quips.

“An important aspect of policy research is the style of writing,” Shoup said. “When academics write for each other, we often seem to want to impress each other with our erudition — using lots of references suggesting familiarity with other academic research.

That never works in trying to convince elected officials to consider a new policy.”

As he put it in an introduction to ACCESS: “The vital last step in research is making the results useful to public decision-makers,” which takes a strong, conscious effort. To quote Nathaniel Hawthorne: “Easy reading is damn hard writing.” >>

25

“Of the things we could actually do about this situation, which would have the best results? And what would it take to make that happen?”

—Mark Kleiman

Mark Kleiman: Reality-Based Reformer Mark Kleiman wants you to know what he thinks and knows. Whether writing for journals like Foreign Affairs and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, lecturing without notes to students on social capital and benefit-cost analysis, advising the California’s corrections departments on managing parolees, or blogging for www.samefacts.com, his ideas and examples seem to come fast and fully formed, with a distinctive knack for ironic setups and research-based, practical recommendations.

His recent book, When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment, which advocates trading severity for swiftness and clarity in criminal justice, has drawn strong support both from liberals

26

waiting to lower incarceration rates and from conservatives wanting to lower crime rates.

His recent article in Foreign Affairs on the U.S.–Mexican drug trade, calling for better targeting and smarter tactics, has been quoted by the President of Mexico. And his latest co-authored book, Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know has been hailed as “a product of genius, in form and content” by no less than economics Nobel Laureate Thomas Schelling.

Like Fernando Torres-Gil, Kleiman’s passions formed early as he went back and forth between academia and government jobs, in his case between Harvard and Capitol Hill, Boston city government and the U.S. Department of Justice. Like J.R. DeShazo and Don Shoup, he has a unique

analytic approach to his work.

While his thinking makes use of traditional game theory and microeconomics, Kleiman doesn’t consider himself either a political scientist or an economist.

“A social scientist wants to know ‘What is happening?’

‘Why is it happening?’ ‘What does this teach us about how the world operates?’ And sometimes ‘Who’s to blame?’”

Kleiman says. “A policy analyst wants to know, ‘Of the things we could actually do about this situation, which would have the best results?

And what would it take to make that happen?’

“Being a policy analyst means looking at the effect size first and the statistical significance only later; I don’t care whether a causal link is real unless it’s big

enough to care about. And even then, it only matters if the purported cause is something you can get a handle on,” he said. “Don’t tell me something is due to ‘racism’ or ‘inequality’ unless you’ve got a way to change racism or inequality. Point me to something I can fix.”

That’s the formula of When Brute Force Fails. It opens with tight analysis of how we came to present rates of crime and punishment, and early on frames the solution using the case of the HOPE probation program in Hawaii that cut drug use by 80 percent and prison time by 50 percent by using swift and certain sanctions in place of what Kleiman calls “randomized severity.”

“HOPE had spectacular results,” Kleiman said. “A social scientist would ask how far those results generalize, and start thinking up ways to replicate the experiment with different populations.

I’m grateful to the people who do that work, but what I really want to figure out how to implement HOPE in every probation and parole office in the country. It’s a basic difference in orientation.”

It’s the kind of difference in orientation that makes the Luskin School of Public Affairs what it is. �

NewsForum | FALL 2011

alumni profiles

By Robin Heffler

“People are drawn to a public policy program because of a passionate desire to improve the world in which they live. We produce graduates who are equipped to become real leaders in policymaking, wherever that process takes place.” —Professor Michael Stoll

Public Leadership is Their Policy Sara Estes Cohen MPP ’08 helps first responders and publicsafety officials nationwide to make social media a part of their disaster response efforts. Celeste Drake JD/MPP ’02 gives Congressional and White House staff members a labor union’s views about the potential of international trade agreements to create jobs in the United States. And Chuck Gatchell MPP ’05 includes corporate responsibility measures as he plans and directs strategy for Nike’s global brand and sports categories division.

These are just a few of the UCLA public policy alumni who are putting their training to use in a wide range of occupations and fields. Many have taken jobs in the nation’s capital, putting them at the center of U.S. policy creation. Others are exerting influence on local and international stages. More than 40 percent hold government positions, with the remainder working in the nonprofit and private for-profits sectors.

“Our program combines the best of traditional policy education with a flexibility and responsiveness that enables our graduates to remain relevant and influential in a rapidly changing world,” says Michael A. Stoll, professor and chair of the Department of Public Policy. “Increasingly, policymaking and implementation involve not only government, but also nonprofit and for-profit institutions.”

NewsForum recently spoke to some of these alumni about their work and how their careers have been shaped and advanced by the skills they learned, the faculty who guided them, and the experiential opportunities that were available to them — all through the MPP program.

Initiating Innovative Careers For New Orleans-native Cohen, a harrowing experience with Hurricane Katrina in 2005 led to her innovative career. After being unable to either fly home or reach family and friends by cellphone during the disaster, she was able to check on people through Myspace. Once in the MPP program, Cohen focused her applied policy project on “Using Social Media for University Emergency Communications,” in tandem with internships in the emergency management offices of UCLA and the city of Beverly Hills.

She went on to assist members of the U.S. House of Representatives whose districts were affected by hurricanes Ike and Gustav in 2008, receiving a commendation for her efforts from then Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

Currently a consultant with the Washington, D.C.-based G & H International Services, Cohen says that the MPP program “taught me the ways to approach a challenge and quickly identify possible solutions, and gave me the ability to implement those solutions and refine them to meet changing needs and circumstances.”

Adam Clampitt MPP ’03 also is breaking ground by combining his public policy skills with the burgeoning potential of social media.

As a public affairs officer with the U.S. Navy Reserves, Clampitt directed strategic communications planning and initiated a social media campaign for coalition forces in Afghanistan during 2008-2009. Today, he owns a Washington, D.C.-based communications firm, District Communications Group, and is directing two social media campaigns for the U.S. Department>>

27

Warren T. Allen MPP ’03 Associate attorney Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

DAVID BORTNICK MPP ’01 Senior legislative analyst, White House

Adam Clampitt MPP ’03 President, District Communication Group

of Veterans Affairs. One promotes suicide prevention and a crisis hotline, and another seeks to remove the stigma of seeking help for mental health issues.

Clampitt says that the “Crisis Decision Making in U.S. Foreign Policy” course taught by Amy Zegart, associate professor of public policy, “helped me a great deal in understanding how policy gets created as well as how to be a leader myself.”

In the Forefront of Health Care Improvements In 2010, Jared Fox MPP ’09 stepped forward as the lead author of a Center for Disease Control (CDC) article on health insurance coverage and utilization. It found that 50 million American adults under 65 — one in four — had no insurance at some point in 2009, and uninsured people with chronic diseases were six to seven times more likely not to get needed medical care than those with insurance.

The study was reported in major national media and was a big factor in his receiving a Presidential Management Fellow (PMF) peer-recognition award. Fox just completed a two-year term as a prestigious PMF at the CDC, where he is now a staff policy analyst in the Office of Prevention through Healthcare in Atlanta.

Celeste Drake JD/MPP ’02, who served as a legislative director for U.S. Rep. Linda T. Sanchez from 2006 to 2011, also considers her most notable achievement to be in health care.

Drake was instrumental in including a provision in the 2010 U.S. health care reform legislation that women cannot be asked to pay higher premiums simply because they are women, as well as a program to provide health care for low-income and at-risk populations who remain uninsured.

Since last spring, Drake has been an international trade policy specialist with the AFL-CIO, where, she says, “I make suggestions on how provisions of the agreements should create good manufacturing jobs with middle-class salaries for Amer-

SARA ESTES COHEN MPP ’08 Project Manager, G & H International Services

CELESTE DRAKE JD/MPP ’02 International trade policy specialist, AFL-CIO

ican workers.” While using her public-policy analytical training to “ask the right questions and see the big picture,” she also still turns to faculty, such as Mark Kleiman, professor of public policy, for help with approaching and arguing an issue.

Advocates for Better Working, Living Conditions Worldwide, Sabina Dewan MPP ’04 and Deborah Perlman MPP ’06 are also seeking to improve living conditions.

Dewan serves as director of globalization and international employment for the Center for American Progress (CAP) in Washington, a progressive public policy research and advocacy organization. She coordinates an international network of think tanks for CAP’s recently launched “Just Jobs” program, which advocates for jobs with labor rights and appropriate compensation and benefits, both in the United States and abroad.

Perlman shares best practices and resources in the areas of democracy and governance, and conflict and disaster management with her colleagues at Chemonics International, a Washington-based consulting firm focused on bettering the lives of people in poor countries. Recently, she returned from a trip to Sri Lanka, where she gathered information for a project to reform the justice system there.

Through the public management course taught by Michael Dukakis, visiting professor of public policy, Perlman learned the importance of involving nongovernment, local stakeholders in decisions about government matters. That practice is “especially true of the democracy and governance programs I work on, since the reforms tend to be politically sensitive.”

Tackling Sensitive Security and Enforcement Issues Working on national security issues with the Department of Justice from 2004 to 2011 gave Diana Simpson MPP ’04 experience with politically sensitive matters, and she has called on her public policy objectivity training to meet the challenge. “I

For detailed profiles of public policy alumni, please go to www. . . . . . . . .

28

SABINA DEWAN MPP ’04 Director of globalization and international employment, Center for American Progress

alumni profiles PHOTO: University of Texas AT AUSTIN

JARED FOX MPP ’09 Staff policy analyst, Centers for Disease Control

CHUCK GATCHELL MPP ’05 Strategic planning director, Nike

Jane Lincove MPP ’00 Assistant professor, University of Texas at Austin

DEBORAH PERLMAN MPP ’06 Project manager, Chemonics International

followed our national response to 9/11 just like many other people, and developed a lot of personal opinions about how we should be approaching our counter-terrorism requirements,” she says. “I had to be extra vigilant to keep my personal opinion out of my analysis.”

Since 2008, Simpson has been providing budget analysis and allocation recommendations as a professional staff member for the Commerce-Justice-Science subcommittee of House Committee on Appropriations. Her portfolio includes the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Science Foundation.

As an associate attorney with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in Washington, D.C, Warren T. Allen MPP ’03 periodically faces the challenge of applying his public policy knowledge. He specializes in government enforcement matters that include the Securities and Exchange Commission, and litigation related to disputes between companies.

In one high-profile case, Allen and other attorneys investigated the contract-and-grant-award practices of Washington, D.C. Council Member Marion Barry, who was later censured by the Council based on the investigation’s findings. When the attorneys were asked for recommendations to improve public policy, Allen says he drew on his graduate training to be aware of stakeholder interests, “which sensitizes you to concerns that policymakers may have,” and techniques to “integrate the knowledge of several people.”

Reflecting on the range of contributions by public policy alumni, Stoll says, “People are drawn to a public policy program because of a passionate desire to improve the world in which they live. We produce graduates who are equipped to become real leaders in policymaking, wherever that process takes place.” � —Robin Heffler is a Los Angeles-based writer and editor, and former UCLA editor.

DIANA SIMPSON MPP ’04 Staff member, House Committee on Appropriations

GREG SPOTTS MPP ’08 Director of transportation project delivery, Los Angeles Mayor’s Office

Paying It Forward Many public policy alumni are helping to prepare future generations to make significant contributions to society. They include: � Jane Lincove MPP ’00, assistant professor in the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, and an expert on the relationship between education policy and economics in the U.S. and in developing countries. “I’m teaching economic theory as applied to policy analysis in a real-world setting, which is how it was taught to me.” � David Bortnick MPP ’01, a senior legislative analyst for international affairs and trade in the White House Office of Management and Budget. He mentors students at the UC Washington Center, where he studied as an undergraduate.

“I try to make them aware of the opportunities to work in government, help them figure out whether it’s right for them, and whether programs like the MPP will help them achieve their goals.” � Chuck Gatchell MPP ’05, strategic planning director for Nike. A member of the Department of Public Policy’s Alumni Council, he sees his involvement as a way to show “that some of what I learned in the MPP program can be taken into the business world — and that it can provide a pretty powerful cross-sector perspective for addressing issues and shaping corporate strategy.” � Greg Spotts MPP ’08, director of transportation project delivery in the office of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. He first gained experience in the Mayor’s office as part of the inaugural class of David Bohnett Fellows and today serves as a liaison to the program. “It’s a wonderful way to give back to something that’s been so important to me.”

29

BY Genevieve Haines

As a board member for the Los Angeles Unified School District, Yolie Flores MSW ’88 pushed for significant reform efforts around public school choice and teacher effectiveness. She built coalitions that brought together the mayor, philanthropies, parents and stakeholder groups like Alliance for a Better Community, headed by Veronica Melvin MPP ’01.

While making progress on fixing failing schools, Flores recognized that she had to build the political will to sustain change over time.

“Reforms are very fragile, and leadership changes, right? So you get a new board of education, elections for union leadership that are very frequently very contentious,” she said. “There was no guarantee that what that current leadership team had agreed to would actually survive after a transition of a leader on any of those levels.”

Those concerns were fresh in Flores’ mind in December 2004 when she was sent a job description for CEO of Communities for Teaching Excellence. Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the new nonprofit would work to increase public support for policies that improve the effectiveness of teachers in the classroom.

The organization would work alongside a separate Gates Foundation initiative funding school districts that were partnering with their teachers’ unions. Those >>

30

NewsForum | FALL 2011

alumni profiles

Leading the charge

for teacher effectiveness

groups would work together to alter their approach to recruiting, supporting, evaluating and rewarding effective teachers, while Communities for Teaching Excellence would focus on building community engagement to ensure those reforms “go to scale and are sustained over time,” said Flores.

It was an opportunity to “build a movement across the nation on ensuring every child had an effective teacher in every classroom every year,” said Flores.

Soon Flores was named CEO of Communities for Teaching Excellence, and Veronica Melvin joined as COO.

Data-driven Research shows that the single most important in-school factor to raising student achievement is effective teaching. However, schools have been slow to use data to measure effective teaching practices.

“Business has traditionally used data to drive change or to plan or to set a direction, and so has philan-

thropy,” said Flores. “I think the public school system in general has not been savvy with data, nor has it deployed data to drive change.”

The delay has motivated philanthropic organizations like the Gates Foundation to act. “Data can help determine the different measures of effectiveness,” said Flores. Related to issues of equity, she added, “I want a map, so we can see where the effective teachers are. And to move forward, how do we make decisions about where they go?”

UCLA in the community Passionate about UCLA’s role in supporting reform, Flores and Melvin shared three ways the Luskin School can continue to make an impact in the educational arena.

Most important is “getting the policy and the research and into the hands of people that are in places of power and in places of where change can happen,” said Flores. “Being mindful of how the landscape looks right now, what research and data can help or move a policy or

a reform agenda — that is so essential.”

“Data that you can use,” added Melvin. “It’s one thing to get a 50-page document, and it’s another thing when it’s distilled into actionoriented research and policy.”

Second, the school must engage with the community.

“Connecting a university to what’s happening on the ground with our families and making sure that what you're teaching inside those schools and what you’re researching is really valid with the population in the broader community,” said Melvin.

Third, training students “through internships and job opportunities, making certain that you're getting the internships out of organizations that are on the cutting edge of policy and reform,” said Melvin.

What’s next Communities for Teaching Excellence is working with school systems and their local unions in Florida, Tennessee and Pennsylvania.

In Los Angeles, Communities

for Teaching Excellence is working with a consortium of charter management organizations called The College-Ready Promise. Flores and Melvin have a threeyear plan. “At the end of those three years, we expect to be in eight regions and impacting at least 500,000 kids,” said Melvin.

Melvin is also active in federal reform efforts as a member of President Obama’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics.

Whether navigating change at the local and national level, Flores and Melvin keep their focus razor-sharp. “If you don't provide a fundamental, core, quality education to every child, the ills of our society will only manifest themselves. And yet our opportunity for greatness is nationalized for every student that we serve better,” said Melvin. “We have an obligation as individuals and as a community, the responsibility to make certain of that fundamental education.” �

At press time, Veronica Melvin was appointed the new CEO of LA’s Promise. www.publicaffairs.ucla.edu

31

people

Forum discussion of the future of nuclear power with Victor Gilinsky, a former commissioner of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and nuclear physicist Arjun Makhijani, head of the Institute for Energy and Dustin Hamano

Environmental Research. While some advocates for reduction of greenhouse gasses and others have shown support for nuclear power, the recent reactor disaster in Fukushima, Yoh Kawano UP ’97 is

humanities, sciences and tech-

Japan, has revived the debate

Research by Michael Stoll,

actively researching the poten-

nology. To learn more about

on the pros and cons of

chair of the Department of

tial of social networking as a

Kawano and his research, and

nuclear power. “Nuclear power

Public Policy and professor of

tool for providing post-disaster

to watch his TEDxUCLA presen-

requires vigilance,” said Carn-

public policy and urban plan-

relief. Following the recent

tation, please visit Kawano’s

esale, and, as with earthquakes

ning, is cited in a September

disaster in Japan, he has looked

blog The Urban Nomad at

and other natural disasters,

2011 Daily Caller story titled,

for ways to improve the flow

http://gis.yohman.com.

comes with the need to plan

“Will Restricting Criminal Back-

of real-time crisis manage-

for highly unlikely events.

ground Checks Actually Increase

ment via locational technolo-

Carnesale is also professor

Minority Employment?” The

gies and social media outlets

of mechanical and aerospace

story focuses on the Equal

such as Twitter. Kawano had

engineering at UCLA. His

Employment Opportunity

the opportunity to explain

research and teaching focus

Commission’s (EEOC) consider-

how this technology works

on public policy issues having

ation of restricting, or possibly

this summer at UCLA’s first-

substantial scientific and tech-

eliminating, employers’ use of

ever TEDxUCLA conference,

nological dimensions, and he

criminal background checks

modeled on the popular TED

is the author or co-author of

in hiring new employees. The

program, the nonprofit orga-

six books and more than 100

story reports that the EEOC has

nization dedicated to “Ideas

articles on subjects including

held at least two hearings on

Worth Spreading.” Kawano,

national security strategy, arms

the issue, prompted by groups

UCLA’s campus GIS coordinator

control, nuclear proliferation,

arguing that criminal back-

and lecturer in urban planning

With the recent tsunami and

the effects of technological

ground checks affect the hiring

and public policy, was one of

resulting nuclear disaster

change on foreign and defense

of minority groups, including

only 18 speakers selected to

in Japan, optimism about a

policy, domestic and inter-

African Americans and Latinos.

speak at the event. The June

so-called nuclear renaissance

national energy issues, and

In an August 2011 letter to

18 conference, an exploration

has been called into ques-

higher education. To listen to

the EEOC, members of the U.S.

of “Minding, Mining, Mending

tion. Professor of Public Policy

the entire program, visit the

Commission on Civil Rights

and Mapping,” included UCLA

and former UCLA Chancellor

Hammer site: http://bit.ly/

charged that the EEOC “failed to

professors, instructors and

Albert Carnesale took

orw0ve.

consider recent scholarly papers

students representing the arts,

part this summer in a Hammer

32

challenging the assumption that

NewsForum | FALL 2011

the use of criminal background

program is to engage graduate

of five area residents “who

checks would lead to lower

students from groups under-

make a difference,” because

hiring of African Americans.”

represented in the evaluation

“Their generosity is bound-

Studies by Stoll indicate that

field and, through the program,

less and their belief in a better

statistics on hiring without

expand and improve upon the

world unshakable.” The issue,

background checks has the

evaluation work conducted in

devoted to “The LA Woman,”

unintended effect of lowering

racially, ethnically and cultur-

features women with “strength,

the percentage of African Ameri-

ally diverse settings, said Lois

brains” and “commitment to

cans actually hired, and that

Takahashi, chair of the Depart-

service,” said the monthly publi-

employers are more likely to

ment of Urban Planning. GEDI

cation’s editors. She is in good

“infer criminality through a set

program interns each receive

company — the list includes the

of proxies,” such as race, age or

a stipend and participate in an

supervisor of a nonprofit that

gender. (University of Chicago

internship near their home insti-

provides housing and treatment

KATHRYN PHILLIPS MPP ’01,

Legal Forum, p. 381, 2009)

tutions. Interns also attend a

for veterans addicted to drugs

a 10-year veteran of environ-

four-day seminar in Washington,

and alcohol; a 2011 California

mental advocacy in the state,

D.C., as well the AEA annual

Teacher of the Year; a public

has been named director of

conference, a winter seminar

defender who was named

Sierra Club California. The

and the Evaluation Institute.

defense lawyer of the year

organization is the lobbying

“I hope to use the skills of eval-

by the LA County Bar Associa-

and advocacy arm of the

uation to work toward assessing

tion; and a seventh-grader who

state’s 13 Sierra Club chapters

programs to improve the quality

founded “Lemon: Aid Warriors,”

representing 180,000 members.

of life in low-income communi-

which benefits charities. Leap,

Previously, Phillips has been

ties,” said Pryor.

a faculty member at the school

a transportation and clean air

since 1992, is noted for her

advocate for Environmental

commitment to the problem of

Defense Fund and a senior

gangs and gang violence as a

policy adviser at the Center for

senior policy adviser on gangs

Energy Efficiency and Renew-

Laura Pryor, a second-year

and youth for LA County Sheriff

able Technologies. “Kathryn’s

Master of Urban and Regional

Lee Baca, as well as a continuing

experience and enthusiasm

Planning student at the Luskin

five-year study evaluating LA–

will help Sierra Club California

School, has been accepted into

based Homeboy Industries, the

continue to lead the fight for

the Graduate Evaluation Diver-

largest gang intervention and

protecting our climate and

sity Internship (GEDI) program

re-entry program in the country.

natural resources,” said Andy

of the American Evaluation

Leap is also recognized as an

Katz, chairman of the Sierra

Association. Pryor, a Southern

expert in crisis intervention and

Club California Executive

California native who received

trauma response in violent and

Committee. Phillips spent nearly

her undergraduate degree from

postwar settings such as Bosnia

20 years as a journalist, writing

UC Berkeley, was among 10

Jorja Leap, adjunct professor

and Kosovo. Her book, Jumped

for newspapers and

students chosen from 75 final-

of social welfare at the Luskin

In: What Gangs Taught Me

magazines and authoring two

ists nationwide, and the first to

School, is featured prominently

About Violence, Drugs, Love and

books on environmental topics

represent the Los Angeles area.

in the October issue of Los

Redemption, is scheduled to be

before turning to environmental

The purpose of the year-long

Angeles Magazine. She is one

published early next year.

advocacy.

www.publicaffairs.ucla.edu

33

In Gratitude Dean’s Leadership Circle $50,000,000 Meyer Luskin ‘49 and Renee Luskin ‘53 § $100,000 and above John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation § James Irvine Foundation W.K. Kellogg Foundation § $50,000 and above Anonymous * National Bureau of Economic Research § Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation § $25,000 and above Calvin B. Gross and Marilyn B. Gross § Mark Kleiman § Maria Mehranian MA ‘86 The New York Academy of Medicine § Russell Sage Foundation Weingart Foundation § $10,000 and above California Community Foundation Jeffrey Glassman ’69 and Cecilia Glassman JD ’88 § Joanne and Roger Kozberg § Wallis Foundation §

Dean’s Associates $5,000 and above Anonymous Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation § Loma Linda University Donald and Susan F. Rice MPA ’76 § Leonard Shapiro and Annette F. Shapiro The Skirball Foundation $2,500 and above Seth A. Aronson and Valerie Aronson Astrid Beigel MA ‘67, PhD ‘69 § John F. Cooke and Diane F. Cooke § Harvey A. Englander ‘72 and Donna R. Black JD ‘75 Garold L. Faber and Joyce E. Faber MSW ‘89 § Karen Malmuth Kaufmann ‘81, MBA ‘85, MA ‘93, PhD ‘98 and Gadi Kaufmann ‘79 § Gregg W. Perloff, BA ‘74 and Laura Perloff, BA ‘73 § Robert F. Schilling and Sheryl L. Miller § Ryan Thomas Snyder ‘79, MA ‘85 § Henry L. Taylor Jr. and Claudette L. Taylor §

The Meyer and Renee Luskin School of Public Affairs gratefully acknowledges the following alumni, students, friends, faculty and staff, as well as foundation and corporate partners, for their donations made during the 2010-11 fiscal year.

Luskin Friends $1,000 and above Vanessa M. Dingley and John Dingley MA ‘75, PhD ‘83 Laurie Marie Eddleston MSW ‘04 and Ian Eddleston § The J2 Foundation * Tom and Joanne Lenny * Jeffrey Levine and Jill Stein * The Marilyn S. Broad Foundation Inc.§ Carl and Freya Muhlstein * James and Cheryl Murphy * Ralph J. Shapiro ‘53, JD ‘58 and Shirley L. Shapiro ‘59 Edward Shikada MA ’88 and Ruth Shikada Mary Jane Varley and Joan C. Sherman § Martin and Helen Wachs § $500 and above Appel & Henick LLP Arthur P. Lombardi MPA ‘67 and Lindsey D. Lombardi § A.E. Benjamin Jr. Ron and Barbara J. Goldman Monica Harris MSW ‘88 § Scott Kutner ’81, MA ’85 and Linda Kutner ’84, MSW ’88 § Ray Landy MA ’77 * Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris and Athanasios Sideris § Carol Melville and Lanning Melville MSW ’83 * Ailee Moon VC Powe Cindy and Bill Simon * Claude Townsend ’49, MSW ’51 § Antonia P. Tu MSW ’73 and Norman Tu § Jerry Watkins MSW ’71 § Emily Williams ’91, MPP ’98 and Randall Scharlach MD ’95 § $250 and above Warren T. Allen II ‘99, MPP ‘03 and Chandra Keller-Allen MPP ‘03 § John Bragin ’65 § Brentwood Country Mart * W.D. Coggins MSW ‘55 and June C. Coggins § Jannah Dacanay Maresh BA ’03 § John Fairbank ’75 and Cynthia Fairbank * H. Frederickson MPA ’60 John Gahbauer MPP ’10, MBA ’10 Jocelyn Guihama MPP ’03 and David Olson Shirley Hsiao MA ’79 and An-Chi Lee § Elizabeth Johnson MA ’91 and Alan Johnson * Eric Lee MA ’92 * Tuey Lee ’66, MSW ’74 § Marin Country Mart LLC * Kevin and Kathleen Matchett MA ’09 *

Ryan David Matulka MA ’09, MBA ’09 § Montecito Country Mart LLC * Marilyn Ortner Jessica Ramakis ’01, MPP ’03 and Anthony Ramakis § David Rzepinski MA ’89 David Sausjord MA ’83 and Susan Karlins MPH ’84 § Lawrence Sauve ’70, MA ’78 § Jason K. Spivak ‘91 and Laurie P. Spivak ‘92, MPP ‘98 * Danilo Sapinoso Torres Jr. ‘92, MA ‘96 § Richard T. Washington ’67, MPA ’69

Luskin Supporters $1-$249 Christine Abeltin MSW ’82 § Manar Abou Nidah MPP ’10 and Tamer Crosby MS ’10, PhD ’11 * Lori Achman MPP ’00 § Anabel Aispuro ’88 * Jenna Allen MPP ’00 § Karen and Attala Amarawansa § Elizabeth Anderson MPH ’10, MSW ’10 * Enrique Anorve ’79, MA’81, MBA ’83 and Lucy Anorve § Lawrence Apodaca MSW ’78 § Rosalia Arellano MA ’06 * Jimmy Aycart MPA ’74 § Katherine Baker and Henry Caroselli § Joan Ballon BA ’84, MSW ’86 Roslyn Barouch MSW ’58 § Kevin Barry MPP ’09 § Jonathan P. Bell MA ‘05 § Nicola Bellé MPP ’08 * Vivien Benjamin MSW ’84 Melissa Bersofsky * Mary Black MSW ’90 * Florence Blaustein MSW ’66 Carol Bley MSW ’65 § Darryl Boston MSW ’09 * Thomas Brauner, LCSW, PhD § Thomas Brock PhD ’92 § Hye Young Brown MA ’05 * Diana Brueggemann ’70, CRMS ’71 and James Brueggemann BS ’68, MS ’71, JD’75 Robert Bullock MPP ’06 * Lynne Burroughs MSW ’87 § Jill Cannon ’91, MPP ’98 and Mykel Lefkowitz MBA ’98 § John Carney MSW ’69 Joanne Carr MSW ’83 Cheryl Casanova MA ’03 §

Lourdes Castro Ramirez ’94, MA ’03 and Jorge Ramirez Paula Castro Rosenfeld MA ’03 Christopher Chandler MPP ’09 * Cecilia Chang MSW ’92 § Cynthia Chang ’07, MSW ’09 Chevvy Cheung ’02, MSW ’05 Stephen Cheung ’00, MSW ’07 * Joanne Chiu ’09 * Adam Clampitt MPP ’03 § Vivian Clecak MSW ’69 § Anamaria Clemons MSW ’94 § Marie Cobian MA ’04 * Ellen Comis MA ’78 and Stuart Comis BA ’74 § Stephen Commins ’71, PHD ’88 and Sharon Commins BA ’72 § Valerie Corcoran MSW ’00 § Catherine Cordoba MSW ’62 § Anibal Cortez MA ’03 § Stephen Coussens ’07, BA ’07 * Bruce Cowan MSW ’72 Charles Coy MPP ’00 * Randall and Marta Crane § Stephen Crosley MA ’06 § Rebecca Danelski MSW ’93 § Ashok Das PhD ’08 and Priyam Das PhD ’09 * Robert De Forest BS ’99, MBA ’06, MA ’06 Herman DeBose PhD ’92 and Maureen DeBose Michele Difrancia ’91, MA ’00 * Robert Dobbs ’93, MSW ’95 § Falicia Donald MSW ’96 Celeste Drake ’89, MPP ’02, JD ’02 Matthew Dresden MA ’06, JD ’06 Amy Drizhal * James Duckman MPP ’05 and Emily Linnemeier § Margarita Duran ’74, MSW ’76 * Eric Eidlin MA ’04 § Christopher Elias MPP ’08 and Alexa Delwiche MPP ’06 Ward and Myrna Elliott * Stephen Finnegan MA ’92 and Margaret Finnegan MA ’91, PHD ’95 * Catherine Foltz MA ’75 § Leslie Freilich MA ’88, MBA ’88 * Rachel Freitas MPP ’04 and Jason Cohen § Alysse Furukawa ’69 Carol Gable MSW ’92 § Katherine Gaffney MBA ’07 * Michelle Garcia MPP ’01 § Gwen Gary MSW ’00 * Sabrina Gates Schaffer ’88, MA ’92 James Gilbert MA ’93 and Susan Orbuch § Junko Goto PhD ’93 § Valerie Gray MA ’80 * Kristin Green MSW ’00 * David Greenberg MA ’09, JD ’09 *

§ denotes Renewing donors who have sustained their support over the last two consecutive fiscal years. * denotes NEW donors

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support We deeply appreciate the generosity of all supporters of the Luskin School, as well as those who have lent their time and talents to enhance the educational experiences of our students.

Carol Greenough MSW ’66 § Gerald Grey MSW ’69 * Yamileth Guevara ’01, MA ’09 § Ninnette Gutierrez ’99, MSW ’02 § Constance Hafner-Edwards Cynthia Halpin Brown MSW ’99 Rida Hamed ’81 and Elisa Hamed * Samuel Hanes MSW ’75 * Irene Harwood MSW ’72 David Healy MA ’72 and Linda Gray Kara Heffernan MA ’00 § Anthony Hein MSW ’76 § Mark Henrickson PhD ’96 * Candace Hernandez ’07, MSW ’10 * David E. Hernandez MSW’ 75 § Jaime Hernandez MSW ’06 * Susan Herre MA ’03 § Lola Himrod MSW ’66 and David Himrod PhD ’77 Setsu Hirasuna * Stanley R. Hoffman ‘66, MA ‘72 and Linda J. Hoffman ‘71 § Kevin Holliday MA ’04 and John DiLazzaro MBA ’98 Ra Jendra Hunter MA ’92 § Brent Hurwitz MA ’89 § Judy Hutchinson PhD ’99 and James Hutchinson § Kazumaro Ishida MSW ’71 and Sachiyo Ishida § Derek Ishikawa MPP ’09, JD ’09 and Jaynie Ishikawa * Claretha Jackson MSW ’73 § Kelley Jackson MA ’06 Rose Jacobs-Meltzer MSW ’91 and James Meltzer § Sanford Jacoby and Susan Bartholomew MA ’81, PhD ’87 Woodrow Jefferson MSW ’79 Joan Johnson MSW ’73 Patricia Johnson CERT ’53 Irving Jones MA ’76 and Darlene Jones Genevieve Juillard MBA ’06, MPP ’06 * Leslie Kaplan MSW ’91 and Travis Wall MA ’91 § Nurit Katz MBA ’08, MPP ’08 Rob Kaufman MSW ’86 and Linda Dach-Kaufman ’68 § Joanne Kealoha MSW ’73 * Douglas Keiller MBA ’97, MA ’98 and Christina Heitz Muriel Kessler MSW ’60 § Jonathan Kevles MA ’98, MBA ’98 Eunie Kim MPP ’08 Gilbert Kim MPP ’06 § Nicelma King ’69, MA ’71, PhD ’76 and Donald Shelton MS ’73 * Etsuro Kinoshita MA ’81 § Stuart A. Kirk Joyce Kitchen MSW ’99 Stephanie Klopfleisch MSW ’66 and Randy Klopfleisch §

www.publicaffairs.ucla.edu

Richard Kolodziej MA ’75 Patricia Kruger MSW ’72 Marian Lawrence MA ’80 and Damon Lawrence § Elaine Leader ’68, MSW ’70 § Malca Lebell MSW ’55 § Andrew Lee MA ’10 * Bernard Lee MA ’05 * Jay Levy BA ’87, MSW ’90 § Laurence Lewin ’57 * Richard Lieboff § Limor Consulting, Inc.* Heather Lind * George Liou MSW ’07 * Elaine Litster MA ’90 Marilyn Little Tai-Kuo Liu MA ’80 § Cynthia Longnecker MSW ’94 and J. Mark Longnecker § Robert Looper MSW ’71 and Alcene Looper § Anthony Lopeman MPP ’09 § Pauline Louie ’92, MA ’95 and Timothy Yip § Gloria Lozano-Ramos MSW ’04 and Wilfred Ramos § Michael Manville MA ’03, PhD ’09 and Laura Zahn MA ’08 § James Mather CPH ’89, MAR ’89 and Jacqueline Golding MA ’82, PhD ’85 Anne McAulay MA ’06 § Helen Miller-Maxwell MSW ’73 Daniel and Alice Mitchell Renee Moilanen MPP ’05 and Leigh Sorgen § James E. Moore II Darryl Mori § Eric Morris MA ’06 § Ira Neighbors MSW ’83 Todd Nelson § April Newman MPP ’07 § Alfred Nichols MSW ’72 Delilah Niebla MSW ’10 * Alex Norman DSW ’74 and Margaret Norman * Charles Arthur Norris ‘50, MPA ‘52 and Carol L. Norris Carole Oken ’81, MA ’83 § Marilyn Olson MSW ’73 and N. Thomas Olson Jun Onaka PhD ’81 and Yoko Onaka Luis Orozco MSW ’81 and Barbara Orozco Chloe Osmer MPP ’09 * Patricia Osuna MSW ’84 § Miranda Ow MSW ’86 Ruby Owens MSW ’93 Stephanie Owitz MSW ’92 Denise Padilla ’07, MSW ’10 * Norma Padilla-Duenas MSW ’00 Karen Parker MPP ’09 * Rita Patraporn MPP ’01, PhD ’07 and Patrick Bautista

Deborah Perlman MPP ’06 § Mark Peterson and Jane Margolis John Petrilla MPP ’09 § Brooke Pickens CERT ’88 * William Pitkin MA ’97, PhD ’04 and Anaite Caceres § Raquel Pizano-Hazama MSW ’89 § Deborah Potter MA ’82 § Lisa Evans Powell ’93, MPP ’01, MSW ’01 § Roberta Powell MSW ’78 * Sarah Price MA ’10, MBA ’10 * Valerie Pryor ’89, MA ’90 and Rod Bennet MFA ’89 * Patricia Ramirez ’08, MSW ’10 Sarah Ramsey MPP ’03 § Diana Ray MSW ’07 * Lara Regus MA ’06 and Justin Regus § Jeremy Rempel MPP ’05 Valvincent Reyes MSW ’82 and Marissa Reyes MN ’83 * Dawn Robertson MSW ’09 § Sharon Robinson ’83 * Faisal Roble MA ’84 * Robert Rodino PhD ’03 and Elaine Rodino § Kenneth Roehrs and Sara McGah Harriet L. Ross MA ‘04 and Geoffrey M. Ross ‘02 § Terri Rubio MSW ’00 Timothy Ryan ’76 and Amanda Ryan § Anita Sadun MA ’89 Liza Saglamer ’05, MSW ’08 § Morris Samuel MSW ’69 and Cynthia Samuel Arnold San Miguel MA ’91 * Muhria Sanati MSW ’10 * Josephine Sanchez ’92, JD ’95 * Salvador Sanchez MPP ’02 § Catherine Sapiro MPP ’05 § Ethan Scherer MPP ’07 § Barbara and Terry Shainberg § Cindy Shainberg MA ’91 § Eric D. Shaw ‘98 § Sarah Sheehy MPP ’05 * Elizabeth Shigekawa ’53 and John Shigekawa * Sarah Shoff MPP ’09 * Herbert Shon MSW ’91, PhD ’01 and Elizabeth Shon Ann Shonstrom ’59 * John Siegel MPP ’10 * Sarah Simons MPP ’07 John Slifko MA ’89, CPH ’06 and Valinda Slifko Thomas E. Smith Jr. MA ‘76 and Lorraine C. Smith § Jordan Snedcof MPP ’04 and Lauren Godsil § Anson Snyder MA ’90 § Adam Sonenshein MPP ’05 and Jenna Sonenshein MBA ’05 * Adelina Sorkin ’66, MSW ’74 and Alvin Sorkin ’64 § Wilhelmina Stanley MSW ’65 Cosette Stark ’87, MA ’89

Vidya Sundaram MBA ’06, MPP ’06 Janet Suzuki MSW ’05 * Sangeeta Swendson MSW ’95 Jeffrey Tamura MSW ’89 * Linda F. Tanamachi ‘72, MSW ‘74 Jonathan Tang MPP ’08 § Brian D. Taylor ‘83, PhD ‘92 and Evelyn A. Blumenberg MA ‘90, PhD ‘95 § Laura Telles MSW ’04 Timothy Tesconi ’11 * Thomas Brauner, LCSW, PhD § Faye Tolmach MSW ’59 § Lindsay Torrico MPP ’10 * Sirinya Tritipeskul MA ’09 and Juan Matute MA ’09, MBA ’09 § Manan Trivedi MPP ’07 and Surekha Trivedi MBA ’07 * Waiyi Tse JD ’02 § Peter Valk MA ’79 and Barbara Valk § Russell Vare MPP ’04 § Nancy Vazquez ’00 Nicole Viola MSW ’03 and Tony Morales Faye Wachs § Steven Wachs and Shirley Tse-Wachs * Rhonda Wade * Mary Wallace MSW ’09 * Martha Watson MSW ’70 Donald S. White ‘56 and Sylvia P. White PhD ‘83 § Kenneth White MSW ’79 § Catherine Williams MA ’79 * Nick Wilson ’09 Ray Wilson MSW ’70 Elaine Wittert ’09 and Alan Wittert * Andrew Wong ’94 * Vicki Wynne MSW ’77 David Yale MA ’89 and Catherine Mac Lean Anthony Ybarra MA ’80 Celia Yniguez ‘88, MA ‘90 § Mieko Yoshihama MSW ’86, PhD ’96 and Arno Kumagai MD ’88 * Catalina Zaragoza-Barrios MSW ’91 and Albert Barrios ’87 * David Zimmer MBA ’09 MPP ’09 * Limor Zimskind MA ’98, MPP ’02 and Lyle Zimskind JD ’07 § This listing reflects gifts, grants and new pledges made between July 1, 2010, and June 30, 2011. If you have any corrections or questions, or would like to make a gift, please contact the School of Public Affairs Development Office at 310-206-4612 or advancement@spa.ucla.edu.

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support David Bohnett, co-founder of GeoCities and chairman of the David Bohnett Foundation, is a philanthropist and technology entrepreneur committed to improving society through social activism.

2011 Bohnett Fellows New Bohnett Scholars Get Firsthand Experience in City Issues Cyber-terrorism, port security, emergency communications, transportation, climate and troubled schools are just a few of the many issues facing Los Angeles, one of the world’s largest, most diverse and most complex cities.

Four students from the Luskin School are participating in a unique opportunity to work directly with these issues in the Office of the Mayor of Los Angeles, thanks to support from the David Bohnett Foundation.

Once again, an outstanding group of UCLA students is collaborating with faculty and senior executives in the Mayor’s office, applying lessons learned from UCLA to the challenges faced daily by the city of Los Angeles.

“It’s a great laboratory for urban policy and a place to see the direct impact of our studies and the skills we have developed at UCLA,” said Joshua Low, one of this year’s Bohnett Fellows.

The 2011-2012 Bohnett Fellows: � Michelle De Santiago is an MPP student working in the Mayor’s Office of Education, where she engages with local stakeholders in support of improving the quality of education for the youth of Los Angeles and surrounding communities. DeSantiago earned her undergraduate degree in politics from Occidental College. � Joshua Low is an MPP student working in the Mayor’s Office. The San Diego State University graduate has worked on policy issues including cyber-terrorism, port security and emergency communications for first responders.

“Being at the nerve center of a city of nearly four million people has given me a tremendous opportunity to utilize what we’ve learned in the MPP program,” said Low, now a policy analyst in the Mayor’s Performance Management Unit.

� L ys Mendez is Master in Urban and Regional Planning (MURP) student working with the Mayor’s Office of Environment and Sustainability on transportation and climate adaptation issues. As a former journalist for a Southern California daily newspaper, Mendez has covered city government and Latino affairs. She is a graduate of UC Santa Cruz. � Amanda Smick is an MSW student concentrating on education, juvenile justice and public child welfare policy.

Her work with the Mayor’s Office of Education focuses on supporting the Mayor’s Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, a nonprofit organization managing more than 20 historically low-performing district schools. The goal of this program is to improve academic outcomes for students. Smick majored in economics at Long Island University Honors College.

As Bohnett Fellows, the four Luskin students receive full fee remission for the academic year, as well as a paid full-time summer and part-time school year position in the Mayor’s office. The program, which grew out of a 2007 collaboration with the David Bohnett Foundation, professor and former Governor Michael Dukakis, and the Luskin School, now includes public policy and public service programs at the University of Michigan and New York University.

“For the fifth consecutive year, we are proud to foster the professional development of some of the best and brightest public affairs students — young women and men who are committed to serving the public good through their work in municipal government,” said Michael Fleming, executive director of the David Bohnett Foundation. �

More information on the Bohnett Foundation may be found at http://bohnettfoundation.org.

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NewsForum | FALL 2011

Career Services Center

Luskin Legacy This year our Public Policy, Social Welfare and Urban Planning alumni and friends are making a significant difference for current and future students of the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.

Together, we are collectively showing our support for the new Luskin School with a gift of $30 or more in celebration of Meyer Luskin’s first scholarship, a $30 scholarship in 1943. It was this scholarship that gave Meyer Luskin the support he needed to continue his UCLA education and pursue his dreams. Returning home after serving his country in WWII, Meyer commuted to campus from Boyle Heights and earned his BA in economics in 1949.

The Luskins, eternally grateful for the support Meyer once received, have given back to ensure that current and future students are afforded the same educational opportunities at UCLA to pursue their own passions.

If each alumnus gives just $30, we will raise more than $200,000 for student scholarships and more.

Learn more about how you can give back at http://luskinlegacy.ucla.edu.

www.publicaffairs.ucla.edu

The UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs Career ServiCes and Alumni Relations Center is a full-time resource to assist students and alumni in managing their professional careers and building relationships.

Students and grads can also access CareerView, the school’s searchable online employment database and career management system.

“We’re going to count on our many active alumni to help us build up the center’s programs and activities,” says Sherry Dodge, director of career services. “Alumni participation is essential in cultivating strong professional networks and providing mentorship and guidance to students.”

Services offered:

n Career Development Workshops n Employer Information Sessions n On-Campus Interviews n Alumni Speaker Panels n Resume Critiques/Mock Interviews n Individual Counseling Sessions n Networking Events Visit us online: http://bit.ly/UCLA-Public-Affairs-Careers

Sherry Dodge Director of Career Services (310) 206-4613 Paul Phootrakul Alumni Relations and Event Coordinator (310) 825-3589

405 Hilgard Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90095 www.publicaffairs.ucla.edu

events Fellowship Breakfast 2011 TOP, LEFT: (left to right) Calvin Gross; Karissa Yee MPP ’11; Susan Snyder SW PhD ’11; Renee Luskin; Meyer Luskin; Patricia Torres UP PhD candidate; Franklin D. Gilliam, Jr.; Michael Fleming. BELOW: Karissa Yee MPP ’11. BOTTOM, LEFT: Meyer Luskin and Cara Franson Underwood MPP ’11. BOTTOM, CENTER: Chanell Wheeler MPP ’11. BOTTOM, RIGHT: Chris Tilly and Patricia Torres UP PhD candidate.