EVENTS AT KSG

A Struggle for the Soul of the 21st Century Former President Bill Clinton rallied the crowd at the ARCO Forum in November. In his second visit to Harvard, Clinton compared the current fight against terrorism to a “struggle for the soul of the 21st century.” Clinton expanded on globalization, public service, and the fact that recent events had provided the United States with an opportunity to play a truly historic and critical role in the world.

Look Ma, I’m a Bureaucrat! At a November Forum event called “Look Ma, I’m a Bureaucrat, Attracting the Millennial Generation into Government,” Sam Heyman, founder of the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, said he hoped to mobilize “a national call to government service.” Heyman has donated $25 million to launch the partnership dedicated to revitalizing government through public-private partnerships. This event was part of a two-day executive session devoted to the problems of the public sector workforce in the 21st century.

Irish Prime Minister Brings a Message of Hope In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern offered advice to those involved in negotiating a peace settlement in the Arab-Israeli conflict. His advice: “Stick with it. Build the process and trust. You won’t love them. You probably won’t ever love them.” Ahern is known for his significant role in establishing the 1998 Good Friday peace accords.

Woodruff Assesses September 11 At the Theodore H. White Lecture on Press and Politics last fall, CNN prime anchor and senior correspondent Judy Woodruff reflected on her industry’s successes and failures while covering the news following the events of September 11. “Journalism in general, television in particular, has risen brilliantly to the occasion,” she told the crowd at the Forum. In her criticism, Woodruff said that networks’ reliance on pundits to analyze events undermines their own credibility.

Kabila Says Good Government Is the Only Way Democratic Republic of Congo’s President Joseph Kabila outlined his vision for bringing prosperity and democracy to his war-torn country during a recent visit to the Forum. To be the democratic society it wishes to be, Kabila said, his country must continue to map out a plan for economic growth, address human rights issues, and clear the way for free, fair, and democratic elections. “We must raise more expectations as a government — that good government is the only way.”

STUDENT NEWS

Service with a Touch of Paint This year’s Serve-A-Thon was a slightly different experience for Kennedy School volunteers than in years past. They worked with students from the Citizen School’s program at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School in Dorchester to paint vast numbers of knee-high white picket fences, walkways, and gardens in the Warren Gardens housing community in Roxbury, which was chosen by City Year as one of several “impact sites.” “Sometimes beautifying and promoting a certain kind of environment does a lot more for establishing community norms and unity than one might think,” says Kathryn Crewe, a second year MPP student who volunteered at the event.

Harvard’s Only Women’s Policy Journal Launched They started with a vision of a journal that would address women and public policy, but the Women Students Association (WSA) had little publishing and editorial experience. This fall, with help from faculty and staff at the school, the first issue of the Women’s Policy Journal was published. The new journal focuses on capturing and communicating the good work that is going on globally, as well as raising tough questions for issues that have yet to get on the political agenda.

ACADEMIC NEWS

Falkenrath Appointed Special Assistant at the Office of Homeland Security Reporting to Governor Tom Ridge, Richard Falkenrath, assistant professor of public policy, is serving as special assistant to the president and senior director for policy and plans. Falkenrath’s responsibilities include drafting the national strategy for homeland security and developing the office’s budget proposals.

Blackwill Serves in India Kennedy School Lecturer Robert Blackwill is serving as U.S. ambassador to India as the country expands its military cooperation with the United States, which began with joint military exercises in the Arabian Sea last fall. At the diplomatic helm in India, Blackwill is focussing his energies on the Bush administration’s policy of treating India as an emerging power in its
own right.

KSG Professor Honored with National History Book Award The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States has earned Alexander Keyssar, a Kennedy School professor, the Albert J. Beveridge Award. The award is given annually to the best English-language book on American history.

Sachs at United Nations Economist Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Centerfor International Development, was named in February as a special advisor to the UN on poverty, health, and educational goals. He will be working with the UN Development Programme, which is coordinating the UN's campaign for the Millennium Development Goals.

Former Kennedy School Professor Wins Nobel Prize One of the recipients of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics, Michael Spence, began his career here at the Kennedy School as an assistant professor. In his work, Spence — who shared this prize with two other economists — challenges one of the basic tenets of traditional economic theory, namely that market participants have the information they need to make rational decisions.

BITS AND PIECES

Alex Jones Hosts PBS’s Media Matters At the helm
of the new PBS show Media Matters, Alex Jones, director
of the Shorenstein Center, explores contemporary journalism from the inside, providing new insight into how — and how well — the new media do their job. Last fall’s show focused on how well networks like CNBC and CNN/FN cover the business world.