Posted by BEN BEAUMONT - NPR’s “All Things Considered” has an item this morning on the presidential candidates’ views of public service. Presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama has called for expansion of the military and Peace Corps, while Republican John McCain has said that American leaders should have issued a greater call to public service after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Both candidates boast extensive backgrounds in public service — McCain as a Vietnam War veteran and former POW and Obama as a community organizer in Chicago.
While the NPR story lays out the differences in the candidates’ philosophies toward service, we at the Clinton School love to see both of them making serivce a focus of their campaigns. As the first graduate school in the nation to offer a Master of Public Service Degree, we believe in the importance of educating the next generation of public servants. Click here for the NPR story.
July 3rd, 2008
Posted by BEN BEAUMONT - This fall we will welcome a truly remarkable woman to the Clinton School. Beatrice Biira, whose rise from poverty and illiteracy in Uganda inspired the bestselling children’s book “Beatrice’s Goat,” will be one of 30 new students starting the Master of Public Service Degree program this fall. Birra’s family received the gift of a goat from the gobal nonprofit Heifer International and used this new source of income to put their daughter through school. Her story is artfully told in today’s New York Times by columnist Nicholas Kristof. Read it here. Below is an excerpt.
Beatrice was such an outstanding student that she won a scholarship, not only to Uganda’s best girls’ high school, but also to a prep school in Massachusetts and then to Connecticut College. A group of 20 donors to Heifer International — coordinated by a retired staff member named Rosalee Sinn, who fell in love with Beatrice when she saw her at age 10 — financed the girl’s living expenses.
A few years ago, Beatrice spoke at a Heifer event attended by Jeffrey Sachs, the economist. Mr. Sachs was impressed and devised what he jokingly called the “Beatrice Theorem” of development economics: small inputs can lead to large outcomes.
Granted, foreign assistance doesn’t always work and is much harder than it looks. “I won’t lie to you. Corruption is high in Uganda,” Beatrice acknowledges.
A crooked local official might have distributed the goats by demanding that girls sleep with him in exchange. Or Beatrice’s goat might have died or been stolen. Or unpasteurized milk might have sickened or killed Beatrice.
In short, millions of things could go wrong. But when there’s a good model in place, they often go right. That’s why villagers in western Uganda recently held a special Mass and a feast to celebrate the first local person to earn a college degree in America.
Moreover, Africa will soon have a new asset: a well-trained professional to improve governance. Beatrice plans to earn a master’s degree at the Clinton School of Public Service in Arkansas and then return to Africa to work for an aid group.
July 3rd, 2008
Photos by NEEMAH ESMAEILPOUR -
June 30th, 2008
Meet the finalists - Top: Judge Vic Fleming, Wes Lacewell, Robert Crook, Janet Stewart; Front: Lydia Plant, Beth Levi
Posted by ERIC WILSON - After two hours of grueling competition, Arkansas’s crossword and sudoku champions have been crowned. Wes Lacewell, after finishing second last year, won the crossword tournament while Beth Levi successfully defended her title as sudoku master.
Merl Reagle, U.S. crossword puzzle creator, made his first trip to Little Rock, Ark to judge the competition and afterwards gave the audience a lesson on creating crossword puzzles. Games Magazine has called him the “best Sunday crossword creator in America.” We thank him for conducting this tournament and look forward to hosting next year’s Arkansas Puzzle Day.
Results for Crossword Puzzle Tournament:
1st Place - Wes Lacewell, 2nd Place - Janet Stewart, 3rd Place - Judge Vic Fleming
Results for Sudoku Puzzle Tournament:
1st Place - Beth Levi, 2nd Place - Lydia Plant, 3rd Place - Robert Crook
June 28th, 2008
Posted by DEAN SKIP RUTHERFORD - These cartoon prints were originally displa
yed on the walls of the Farkleberry Restaurant which opened in 1975 in the Regions Bank Building in downtown Little Rock. Public relations executive Ron Robinson proposed the Farkleberry Restaurant theme to bank chairman B. Finley Vinson.The Farkleberry, a bush which grows in the wild, was made famous by the late George Fisher, an award winning Arkansas Gazette cartoonist. The legend of the Farkleberry is based on a story about Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus, who refused to let a Highway Department crew cut one down.
After the Farkleberry Restaurant closed in 1988, the late Jack Fleischauer of Regions Bank collected several of the prints and later donated them to the Clinton School. In tribute to Fisher, Farkleberry bushes are planted on the east side of the Clinton Presidential Park near the river. This rotating cartoon display honors Fisher, Fleischauer and the Farkleberry Restaurant (1975-1988).
June 27th, 2008
Posted by DEAN SKIP RUTHERFORD - Clinton School alumnus Dr. Gary Wheeler has joined the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Board of Directors and we had the opportunity to visit after this morning’s meeting. In addition to his role as a practicing physician, Gary is also very involved in major health policy issues. For the children of Arkansas and America, both are good things because Gary is a real pro.
During our discussion Gary shared a very interesting fact: 116 members of Georgetown University’s recent graduating class (including Gary’s daughter) applied for Teach for America. This makes Teach for America the number one career choice for the Georgetown class of 2008. Apparently, this is true on several other college campuses as well. As we can tell by this statistic and by the large number of young voters now engaged in the political process, the commitment to public service is very much alive and well.
Clinton School students Sara Himelfarb and Sanford Johnson are Teach for America alumni and several Arkansas school districts are served by the Teach for America program. Clinton school students like Sara and Sanford, along with alums like Gary, are on the front lines helping others.
June 25th, 2008
Posted by BEN BEAUMONT - With many top students taking big salaries to work for Wall Street hedge funds and consulting firms, The New York Times ran a story yesterday about increasing consideration of public service careers among Ivy League graduates these days. One Harvard professor has started a seminar to encourage students to connect their careers with personal aspirations, while Tufts University has started paying off college loans for students who choose to work in public service fields.
On other campuses as well, officials are questioning with new vigor whether too many top students who might otherwise turn their talents to a broader array of fields are being lured by high-paying corporate jobs, and whether colleges should do more to encourage students to consider other careers, especially public service.
As Adam M. Guren, a new Harvard graduate who will be pursuing his doctorate in economics, put it, “A lot of students have been asking the question: ‘We came to Harvard as freshmen to change the world, and we’re leaving to become investment bankers — why is this?’”
Read the full article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/23/education/23careers.html?_r=1&ref=education&oref=slogin
June 24th, 2008
Posted by DEAN SKIP RUTHERFORD - Much has been written in the local and national press about Verizon’s purchase of ALLTEL, the nation’s fifth largest wireless phone company. There’s no doubt that Little Rock and Arkansas will suffer job losses as a result of this sale. While I regret that, it’s also appropriate to point out that since 1943 Allied (now ALLTEL) has served Arkansas well. A 1983 merger with Mid-Continent could have resulted in the relocation of the entire company to Ohio but due to the leadership and persistence of CEO Joe Ford the operations were ultimately placed in Little Rock. Since 1998, ALLTEL has acquired over a dozen other companies and over these 65 years (1943-2008) thousands of people have achieved professional success.
Let’s not take 65 years of jobs and corporate commitments for granted. Let’s not take the millions of dollars ALLTEL has given in charitable contributions to our city, our state and our region for granted either. Let’s not minimize the fact that Charles Miller, Hugh Wilbourn, Joe Ford, Scott Ford, Randy Wilbourn and many other ALLTEL staffers have played monumental roles in our city and state’s future over the years. Even though Bill Clinton and Joe Ford had political differences, when support for the Clinton Presidential Center was needed, Joe Ford stood tall. I will never ever forget it either. Neither will the people at UAMS and many other organizations who also saw ALLTEL and the Fords stand tall. Just days ago, Scott Ford made a major gift to Arkansas Baptist College in the heart of our inner-city. President Fitz Hill, I assure you, will never forget it.
I recently attended a performance at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre. The night was underwritten by ALLTEL which in turn gave it to the Volunteers in Public Schools (VIPS) to sell the seats to benefit that worthy organization. VIPS doesn’t have a big budget so every dollar helps. ALLTEL was there to help. There are countless stories just like this one.
Yes, we’re going to miss ALLTEL, but at the same time, we should be saying thank you for 65 great years, including the generous contributions along the way that helped make our people better and the positive example the company set for others.
June 24th, 2008
Posted by BEN BEAUMONT - Clinton School students Lukman Arsalan, Russ Swearingen and Penelope Sur joined her Her Royal Highness Princess Wiljdan Al Hasehmi, Ph.D. of Jordan at the opening reception of “Breaking the Veils: Women Artists from the Islamac World,” an exhibit currently on display at the Clinton Presidential Library. The exhibit is presented in cooperation with the ArtReach Foundation, Delta Air Lines, Royal Society of Fine Arts, Jordan and the Pan-Meditteranean women Artists Network, F.A.M.
June 21st, 2008
Posted by BEN BEAUMONT - The Clinton School is hosting the 2nd annual Arkansas Puzzle Day on Saturday, June 28, featuring renowned crossword puzzle creator Merl Reagle. After a successful event featuring New York Times crossword editor Will Shortz last year, the Clinton School will again crown the state’s top crossword and sudoku puzzle champions. Click here for more on Puzzle Day.
Also, for a puzzle-related laugh, we thought we’d share this item from Reuters: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080611/od_nm/sudoku_dc.
June 16th, 2008
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