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News & Events 2007

Speaker's Forum Event

Ms. Suzanne Jones, right, Recycling Coordinator with the City and County of Honolulu's Department of Environmental Services, was the featured speaker at our PUBA-Community Speaker's Forum on Friday, November 9, 2007. Ms. Jones discussed the recent launching of pilot projects for curbside recycling on Oahu, the challenges facing the county and the state in managing our solid waste stream, and the various options available to the people of Hawaii.

The PUBA-Community Speaker's Forum meets approximately every two months to highlight leaders in public service and to provide an opportunity to discuss issues with those interested in public and civic life in Hawaii.

Dick Pratt in Thailand

In late January Dick Pratt traveled to Khon Kaen University in northeast Thailand. UH Manoa has a long term relationship with KKU, and Dick has been going there for a number of years to work with the Development Administration Program. This time he gave a seminar on the role of critical thinking in both graduate studies and public service work; participated in a two-day conference on the roles local public administration can play in environmental issues, and worked on a project to develop local government leadership. As a first step in that project, in the spring of 2008 a small group of exemplary leaders from northeast Thailand will come to UHM to discuss their successes and challenges, attend PUBA classes, and meet with local officials.This program is being organized with the support of the UHM Center for Southeast Asian Studies. Below left: Dick at the KKU Conference. Below right: Conference participants.

 

On the way back from Khon Kaen Dick met with two Thai PUBA graduates, Chotima "Poon" Chaitiamwong and Wannasiri "Val" Weerasampan, who now both live in Bangkok. Poon works with the Fulbright Program in Thailand as a program organizer, and Wannasiri works with a firm that makes equipment to improve air emissions from certain industrial processes. Together with Debbie Shiraisihi-Pratt they spent the day at a former capital of Thailand, Ayutthaya, where this picture was taken. Poon and Wannasiri are starting to work on their idea of organizing a get-together of PUBA grads somewhere in Asia, joining getting together, touring, and some volunteer work. Pictured left: Poon, Dick and Val.

 

 

Graduation December 16, 2007

On December 16, 2007, three of our students graduated with their Masters of Public Administration degrees. Jason Lai, Vinh Nguyen, and Kristine Pagano completed the requirements for the masters degree by doing a capstone project entitled "Risk Communication" under the direction of Professor Jeffrey Ady. We are proud of this group of new PUBA alums and we wish them all the best in their new endeavors. Right: Jason and Kristine. Far right: Vinh and Kristine.

PUBA Practicum

Keona Mark, a PUBA masters degree student, recently completed a practicum with Habitat for Humanity--Leeward Oahu Chapter. Keona served as site manager for the construction of the new Kaneakua family home in Nanakuli. The adjacent photo shows Keona handing the house keys to the new owners. PUBA is especially gratified with the community-building and public leadership aspects of this type of practicum experience.

Alums visit Capstone Planning

On November 20, 2007, three PUBA alums visited with the current Capstone Planning class. Colleen Holmes (Army Corps of Engineers), Brandon Yamamoto (Veterans Administration), and Laurie (Young) Komatsu (American Savings Bank) shared with current students their experience and perspectives on assembling capstone project proposals and for implementing the projects in the Spring 2008 semester. We appreciate their taking time out of their busy lives to contribute to current students' work.

Guest speaker in PUBA 662

On November 16, 2007, Dr. Pearl Imada Iboshi, Chief Economist for the State of Hawaii, spoke to students in the Applied Policy Analysis course. The discussion focused on ethical issues that arise in the relationship between public policy analysts and clients (such as the Legislature, Governor's office, and executive departments). Since 1995, Dr. Imada Iboshi has been Chief of the Research and Economic Analysis Division of the State of Hawaii's Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. Included in the photo with Dr. Imada Iboshi (front center) are (from left to right) Erik Chun, Mai Chu, Tony Siamomua, Chelsea Tanimura, and Byambayar Yadamsuren.

Annual National Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) Conference in Seattle

PUBA is a member of NASPAA and Dick Pratt attended the annual conference in Seattle in early October. Most of those attending are the chairs, directors and deans of graduate programs in public service. Topics focus on issues facing the field of public service education, and include curriculum, the quality of research in the field, accreditation standards and the future of public service. A couple of sessions were of special interest to Dick. The first was a presentation by Rosemary O’Leary from Syracuse University about her book THE ETHICS OF DISSENT. The research looks at what she refers to as “guerilla government” – career public servants who act against the implicit or explicit wishes of their superiors. She is interested in the extent to which these acts occur, the reasons that individuals decide to go guerilla, and how they do it. Reasons include an over-riding sense that a public interest is being violated or the belief that the spirit of a policy is being undermined. The worthwhile point of the book is to shed light on a common dilemma for people in public service: how to balance respect for their organization’s authority structure with their commitment to doing what is in the public interest.

Another session of special interest organized a dialogue about the arena that is variously called “indirect government, cross sector collaborations, third party government and issue networks.” The panelists focused on what we know about how the networks operate, what education and training will help them to be public-regarding, and what challenges these networks present for how we think about public organizations. This is all still quite new and, as one panelist from the Humphrey School put it, “quite a mess.”

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