Who Is That Masked Man?
Hi there. I would bet the man in the photo [Bulletin Autumn 2002, page 80] is Gary Orren. He pulled this stunt in one of our MPA classes in 1982/3.

Jane Burnes MPA 1983
Vancouver, British Columbia

Editor’s note:
Jane, you’re correct! Gary Orren was the mystery Ronald Reagan in the photo. He’s not a smoker though.

 

Soft Power
In the final days of the 2000 presidential election, I expressed my concern about getting stuck with a “not-too-smart” one in the White House — “in the increasingly unstable world and equally volatile economy and social conflicts” (Letters, Bulletin Spring 2001). Two years into his incumbency, a good man, who won the most important job on the globe, has come to a crossroads of diplomacy, which may be well above his intellectual capacity and concern. I submit that he
is about to miss an unprecedented opportunity for America, the only and benevolent superpower, to lead the world into the new century of vigilant peaceful coexistence.

In so speaking, I subscribe to the use of “soft power” as Dean Joseph Nye advocates (Executive Summary and “Going It Alone?” Bulletin Spring 2002).…But, a foreign policy that “takes into account the views of others” is clearly not in the vocabulary of the Bush administration.

Contemptuous flexing of the decidedly overwhelming military muscle by the “cowboy” president who has not seen much of other parts of the world and by his equally “one-note” advisors personifies the derided “ugly American” image. At this writing (in February 2003), Bush’s superpower U.S.A. stands 4 to 10 in the U.N. Security Council on his “war on Iraq” declamation.…

It is worrisome when placards in
foreign lands say, “We are not against America. We are against Bush.” That challenges our choice of leadership. America’s undisputed superpower status calls for ever more intellectually disciplined and astute practice of

leadership in the world. It is the “soft power” of the head of state, commander-in-chief, leader of the free world, and “our” president that we should choose and insure in the quadrennial election of this free nation. It is indeed an unprecedented opportunity.

Thomas S. Momiyama SEF 1981
Silver Springs, Maryland

 

From Welfare to Working Poor
I read with keen interest the Bulletin article “Welfare to Work.” In my work as executive director of a large child and family mental health center in South-Central Los Angeles, I see the article’s themes played out on a daily basis. Eight-five percent of those we serve receive TANF support and, thus, are on the welfare-to-work trajectory. With histories of mental illness, substance abuse, and/or domestic violence, our families are those most in need of public assistance.

While some of our community’s TANF enrollees are leaving welfare rolls, including mental health clinic consumers, on balance they aren’t being lifted out of poverty, but rather “ascending” to the ranks of the working poor. This fact is documented in a recent City of Los Angeles study, which found that among former welfare recipients employed five years only 1 in 3 earned wages above the poverty level. Particularly concerning: Of children and youth in South-Central, 46 percent continue to live in poverty (compared to 29 percent for Los Angeles County).

Ultimately the measure of welfare reform must be a measure of child well-being; namely, are children made better off as a result of federal and state policy initiatives? Studies undertaken in conjunction with welfare reform have shown that children are made better off when family incomes are raised. Armed with this knowledge, I would argue that we should provide individually calibrated income supports to families
who enter the work force via welfare-to-work programs in order to ensure that long-term employment and its benefits relative to child well-being are sustained.

Elizabeth W. Pfromm MPA 1989
Los Angeles, California

 

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