NMSU Govie Gazette (beta version-suggestions welcome!)

October 2014

The First One!Some of the GGSO members thought it would be nice to share our academic and personal accomplishments. Hopefully, this newsletter will give us a place to keep up with each other and celebrate our individual achievements, as well as our accomplishments as a department.

Speaking of GGSO…Your officers this year are:

Uziel Marte, President

Bonny Wells, Vice President

Lydia Hammond, Secretary

Joshua McDermott, Treasurer

Meetings are held every other Friday at 4:30 in Breland 179. Next meeting is Friday, October 3rd! All graduate students are welcome to join.

Student OpportunitiesCity of Las Cruces

Las Cruces City Council Members are interested in working with Government students to get research and analysis on a variety of issues

facing them. Contact Chris Kincaid at kincaidc@nmsu.edu for more information.

Know a Professor

We asked our department professors to answer a fun survey, expect more in the months to come.

Dr. William Corbett

What’s your favorite place to visit, and why?

My favorite place to visit is where I grew up: Western Pennsylvania for the many friends, the comforting local accents and idioms, and, of course, the pizza.

What’s your favorite non-academic book?

FDR’s Splendid Deception by Hugh Gregory Gallagher; Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Champion of Freedom by Conrad Black; FDR: A Biography by Ted Morgan; No Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns Goodwin; And Robert Caro’s multi-volume work on LBJ.

What’s something you do to get your job off your mind?

Volunteer work: e.g., act as an attorney mentor for the State Bar of New Mexico’s Lawyers and Judges Assistance Program (NMJLAP)

Tell us about any papers you’re working on?

When I get time: an update to my previous New Mexico Bar Journal article analyzing New Mexico jury tort verdicts Your greatest concern in current issues of government/public administration?

Campaign Finance Reform

Your greatest epiphany as a graduate student? To pay for school, you had to work—a lot. The same epiphany I had as an undergraduate.

What do you wish you’d done differently during your graduate student days?I wish I had worked fewer jobs.

What was the last thing you learned from a student?

Naming a Chihuahua “Hercules” is a perfect name.

Dr. Gregory Butler

What’s your favorite place to visit, and why?

Yellowstone National Park for fly fishing.

What’s your favorite non-academic book?

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole – funniest book I ever read.

Tell us about any papers you’re working on?

Now I am finishing up a paper that attempts a thematic connection between dark/gothic elements in the work of representative figures in three genres: the blend of jazz, blues, and rock in Springsteen’s music, the Southern gothic short story, and German expressionism in early film.

True hometown?

Went to high school in suburban wastelands of Washington D.C. But family roots since the 1740s are in western Virginia (New River valley).

Your greatest concern in current issues of government/public administration?

The unreflective instinct to address every problem through the coercive power of the state.

Your greatest epiphany as a graduate student?

That the anti-historical Straussian approach to political theory is infantile. And that Lasswell’s definition of politics (“who gets what, when, and how”) is idiotic.

If you hadn’t ended up a Professor what would have been your profession?

Landscape/public space architecture.

What was the last thing you learned from a student?

In a very interesting graduate paper last semester: The extent to which the U.S.

military is making implements of war

available to local governments, and why this should be a matter of concern.

Thanks to the Professors who answered our surveys! Next issue we’ll hear from Dr. Conner and Dr. Harvey!

Quick Hits The MPA Program has a new candidate

from Columbia - Laura Carvajal James Stepp (MA) worked at an kid’s

arcade all summer and survived Eddie Bernaldez (MPA) bought his

first motorcycle over the summer and is very happy with his Harley Sportster

Dr. Neil Harvey, did a "shark tank" style presentation with other department heads about how to retain/graduate students. His team's pitch won and received a portion of a cash prize that the Government Department now has to do things like the Welcome to Government Department party we had early in the month

Dr. Jiaqi Liang is our newest faculty member, when asked her first impression of Las Cruces, she said the "...sun was very impressive".

Uzi Marte (MA) somehow found and bought an Iphone 6 in the obscure town of Alamogordo, NM

Chris Kincaid (MPA) found a tarantula in his house last month, then two weeks later found another tarantula in his house. Come for a visit!

Impressive…Current MPA Candidate Andy Hume is also the City Planner now in charge of the Las Cruces Downtown Revitalization; here he talks about the effort:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK0AjOrY-J4

Kevin Sullivan just returned from the National University Weight Lifting Championships. Here’s how it went in his own words: “There were 44 people in my weight class (85kg) and I placed 11th. I set another state record for the snatch at 120kg, but almost bombed out on the clean and jerk. I was able to hit the last one at 135kg (which is not very good, but it's good that I made that or I would have ended up not placing at all). I totaled 255kg, which is OKAY, I guess. Overall it was pretty fun, there were quite a few Olympians there and they were all really cool and helped me out quite a bit.

Put the book down

What is the name of the

government building that provides this

view?

Grad students should try to see the sun during their studies and some are planning an overnight trip to Rockhound State Park,

18-19 Oct.

The park just one hour

away and is the nation’s largest source of Thundereggs-what you find you can keep!

Contact Chris Kincaid for more information.

                                          Quote of the Month “The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

Theodore Roosevelt, excerpt from the speech "Citizenship In A Republic" delivered at the Sorbonne, in Paris in 1910

Papers in Progress

Marianne Bowers is researching migrant workers’ access to health care, and a border region NGO’s capacity to meet the health care needs of migrant workers. She recently finished interviewing migrant workers in El Paso. She is also working on a paper with Dr. Chand on what influences judges’ decisions to grant or deny asylum in immigration cases. They will be submitting the paper to present in April at the Midwest Political Science Association Conference. She and Dr. Chand also submitted a paper to the International Journal of Migration and Border Studies about income inequality among farmworkers.

Bonny Wells is working with Dr. Chand on a paper about what factors drive police to respond violently to protests. They will be submitting the paper to present in April at the Midwest Political Science Association Conference

Chris Kincaid is currently revising a paper about city police forces using military equipment, and the potential effects this might have on the relationship between police and community members. He will submit the paper for presentation at a conference.

Uziel Marte is doing thesis research about the BRICS countries and why they have done well economically, despite government corruption. He will be submitting his research to present at the Midwest Political Science Association Conference in April.

Special EventsNMSU’s Model United Nations team hosts El Salvador’s ambassador to the United Nations, Dr. Ruben Zamora. He will be a special guest from 6-7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3, in Breland Hall Room 179.

NMSU Student Association for Latin American Studies (SALAS) is going to meet Friday, October 3rd at 5 PM in the coffee shop at Barnes and Noble. Students interested in politics in Latin America, immigration and border issues, social justice and human rights are invited to attend!

The NMSU Political Parties (Democrats, Republicans, Young Americans for Liberty and Aggie Solidarity) are having a debate tonight, September 29, at 6:00 PM in the Corbett Center Auditorium. MA student Joshua McDermott will be representing Aggie Solidarity.

Students: We want to hear from you! This issue we heard from some professors about their lives outside the classroom, but we’d like to hear from students too! Check your e-mail for our student survey (coming soon) and send your responses to bwells@nmsu.edu to be included in the next issue!

Thanks!Thanks to all the people who contributed to this issue:

Dr. Butler, for suggesting we create a professor survey

Dr. Butler, Dr. Corbett, Dr. Conner and Dr. Harvey for filling out the surveys so quickly, despite their crushing workloads

Chris Kincaid (aka Max Power) for coming up with the idea to start a newsletter and formatting it in such a stylish way

Uzi Marte for his infinite wisdom and strong leadership as GGSO President

All of the faculty and students for your support and enthusiasm

Until next time, have a great week!

This page is blank but we can’t get rid of it. If you can, we’ll give you our undying gratitude.