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Events and Guest Speakers
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Ethics Center launches speaker series Culture critic discusses politics Congressman Camp Visits Campus
Panelists discuss threats to the Great Lakes during the Griffin Policy Forum on April 19. From left to right: Bill Rustem, Lana Pollack, Mike Johnston, Wil Cwikiel, and Dave Poulson. Griffin forum examines threats to Great Lakes Michigan is home to the world’s longest freshwater shoreline, so it is no surprise that its citizens hold strong and often conflicting opinions about how to manage and preserve these valuable resources. The spring Griffin Policy Forum, “That Giant Sucking Sound: The Multiple Threats to Michigan’s Water,” gave panelists and audience members an opportunity to express their concerns about issues such as commercial bottling of water, control of beachfront property, and water pollution. “We are the Great Lakes State, and for everyone living in Michigan — especially the political community — water has always had a salience. It’s always hotly debated in the legislature,” said Bill Ballenger, CMU’s Griffin Endowed Chair in American Government, who organizes the biannual Griffin forums. “The idea that Michigan government possesses not one but two departments, the Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Environmental Quality, when the effort elsewhere has been to consolidate — well, it just shows how deeply people in this state care about the environment,” he said. Dave Poulson, assistant director of the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism at Michigan State University, moderated the forum. The panelists included Wil Cwikiel, program director of Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council, Mike Johnston, director of regulatory affairs for the Michigan Manufacturers Association, Lana Pollack, president of the Michigan Environmental Council, and Bill Rustem, president and CEO of Public Sector Consultants Inc. The Griffin forums are hosted twice yearly by the Robert and Marjorie Griffin Endowed Chair in American Government, the Department of Political Science, and the College of Humanities and Social and Behavioral Sciences.
Ethics Center launches speaker series CMU’s Center for Professional and Personal Ethics kicked off the inaugural Dr. Jeffrey Wigand Ethics Lecture Series in February with two lectures by retired FBI agent Coleen Rowley, who publicly criticized the FBI for its failure to prevent the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Her letters, later made public, and her testimony before Congress led to a review of U.S. intelligence gathering operations and earned her Time magazine’s co-person of the year honor in 2002. Rowley’s lectures at CMU were titled “Always Do Right” and “Patriotism, Democracy and Common Sense: Restoring America’s Promise at Home and Abroad.” The lecture series also hosted two lectures by Adam Penenberg, former senior editor at Forbes and reporter for Forbes.com.
He also is the author of the book Tragic Indifference: One Man’s Battle with the Auto Industry Over the Dangers of SUVs, which examines the Ford-Firestone product liability case. Penenberg’s lectures at CMU were titled “Corporate Ethics: The Seamy Side of Business” and “Media Ethics.” The ethics center supports the study, teaching, and practice of ethics and aims to promote moral excellence in both the personal and professional lives of those in the community. Visit http://ethics.cmich.edu for more information.
Expert discusses history of Dead Sea Scrolls Daniel Harlow, an expert on the Dead Sea Scrolls, explained the history and discovery of the scrolls and discussed what they can reveal about the Jewish background of Jesus, the writing of the New Testament, and the emergence of Christianity during a lecture at CMU on Feb. 15. “The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls is the most important find of the last century,” said Gregory Spinner, a CMU religion professor and event organizer. “It changes in major ways our understanding of the text of the Bible. It changes our understanding of the Second Temple period of Judaism, which then indirectly changes our understanding of Christianity,” said Spinner.
Daniel Harlow, an associate professor of religion at Calvin College, displays photographs of fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls during his lecture at CMU in February. Harlow, an associate professor of religion at Calvin College, has published research on the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Jewish context of the New Testament, and both Jewish and Christian apocalypticism. He currently is co-editing an encyclopedia of early Judaism. His lecture, “Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls: What the Qumran Texts Tell Us About Early Christianity,” was sponsored by the philosophy and religion department and the College of Humanities and Social and Behavioral Sciences.
Army commander describes effective leadership
Macdonald, deputy director of operations at the National Military Command Center, was one of the first female cadets to be admitted to the U. S. Military Academy at West Point, where she received a commission in 1980. Speaking to an audience filled with many cadets from CMU’s ROTC program, she described several key elements to becoming effective military leaders. “Treat people with dignity and respect,” said Macdonald. “Know your soldiers and look out for their well-being. You’re building a team when you demonstrate that you care.” She also emphasized the value of having a positive attitude, maintaining a balanced life, and doing the right thing even when you think no one is watching. “You are a leader to develop human capital,” she said. “Every person has something to offer and wants to be developed. Find out what that is and go with it.” The Nolde Lecture Series, named after former CMU assistant professor of military science Col. William B. Nolde, seeks to promote an understanding of the role of the U.S. Armed Forces in the life and history of the United States and to recognize the tie between military science and the broader disciplines at CMU.
Culture critic discusses U.S. politics
Frank wrote the books One Market Under God and What’s the Matter With Kansas?, which describes his observations about why his home state of Kansas has undergone a dramatic political shift from a blue state to red over the years. CMU sociology professor Robert Newby, who also is from Kansas, said the state is sometimes described as a “northern state with a sort of quasi-Southern attitude.” It is known as a state with a history of strong trade unions, but it tends toward “cultural conservatism,” on issues like abortion and teaching creationism in public schools, he said. “In his book, Frank talks about how it is that people vote against their interest,” said Newby. “The people who largely don’t vote their interest are in some of the most conservative states and some of the poorest states.” Frank’s visit to CMU was sponsored by the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work.
Congressman Camp visits campus Congressman Dave Camp, R-Midland, visited Central Michigan University on March 24 to address students from four sections of political science classes taught by assistant professor Chris Petras. He also met with members of the Student Government Association. Petras invited Congressman Camp to speak to his classes about Social Security Reform legislation, a public policy topic currently under consideration by the U.S. Congress.
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The main office of CHSBS is located at:106 Anspach Hall, Mount Pleasant, MI 48859 Phone: (989) 774-3341 FAX: (989) 774-7106 E-mail: chsbs@cmich.edu |
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Rowley wrote a series of memos to
FBI Director Robert Mueller in 2002 criticizing the bureau for
ignoring critical leads regarding the Sept. 11 hijackings,
specifically related to hijacker Zacarias Moussaoui’s 747 flying
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Penenberg gained public attention
for his exposé on Stephen Glass, a Washington journalist who
fabricated the majority of articles he wrote. %202005-0215.jpg)
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“Soldiers
deserve good leaders,” said West Point graduate Brig. Gen.
Anne F. Macdonald during her speech on effective leadership
for CMU’s Col. William B. Nolde Lecture Series on April
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Author
and culture critic Thomas Frank discussed his theories on
how conservatives have transformed American politics during a
visit to CMU in April..jpg)