Archive for October, 2005

Newman on Mind and Matter in the University

dnorris10 October 23rd, 2005

Ronald Hustwit, professor of philosophy at The College of Wooster, will present “Newman on Mind and Matter in the University” at the second Faculty at Large lecture of the fall semester on Tuesday, Oct. 18. The lecture, which is free and open to the public, begins at 11 a.m. in Room 009 of Severance (Chemistry) Hall (943 College Mall).

Hustwit will examine the educational views of John Cardinal Newman as put forth in a series of lectures he gave in conjunction with the opening of a new Catholic university in Dublin. In the 19th century, the Vatican had given Newman the task of overseeing the establishment of this university, which was intended to serve the same purpose for the Catholics as Oxford University did for the Anglicans. Of Newman’s views, his worries over the role of the then advancing materialist characteristics of “Modernism” and its role in the curriculum were particularly prominent.

“Newman worried that this set of materialist presuppositions could eventually exclude the study of mind and its issue from the curriculum,” said Hustwit. “This would manifest itself in the curriculum by excluding mental philosophy and the humanities from the curriculum. It would turn the study of human social relations into social sciences and leave the philosophical presuppositions of the natural sciences unexamined.”

Hustwit, who joined Wooster’s faculty in 1967, is a graduate of Westminster College (1964). He earned his M.A. from the University of Nebraska (1965) and his Ph.D. from the University of Texas (1970). His teaching responsibilities include ancient philosophy, logic, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of education. He specializes in the work of philosophers O.K. Bouwsma, Søren Kierkegaard and Ludwig Wittgenstein. Hustwit’s publications include Something About O.K. Bouwsma and Who Needs a Liberal Arts College? A Philosophy of Education by Alburey Castell.

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Globalization and Inflation

dnorris10 October 23rd, 2005

“Hundreds of millions of people are gaining an opportunity to climb out of poverty” through participation in an increasingly open, market-based global economic system, Federal Reserve Board Governor Donald L. Kohn said on Tuesday.

Speaking to a crowd of almost 300 at The College of Wooster, he urged that protectionist forces be resisted. “If we put up barriers to trade…everyone is going to be a loser,” he said.

In answer to an audience member, who asked whether the end result of globalization was not that the rich are getting richer while the poor are getting poorer, Kohn acknowledged that “there are losers as well as winners,” but stated his belief that what’s really happening is that “the rich are getting richer faster than the poor are getting richer.”

In answer to another question, he said he thought the Chinese were beginning to recognize that maintaining their currency on a fixed exchange rate limited their ability to absorb shocks and respond to changing economic conditions.

Kohn, a 1964 graduate of The College of Wooster, noted with a smile that while his senior Independent Study thesis had advocated shifting to flexible exchange rates as a means of bringing greater stability to international markets, “I don’t pretend that led to the breakdown of the Bretton Woods” system of fixed rates. He also confessed that as an undergraduate, he too often “focused my intellectual energy on figuring out ways to avoid chapel, in favor of a cup of coffee and a cigarette at The Shack.”

A 30-year veteran of the Fed, Kohn has been mentioned as a possible successor to Chairman Alan Greenspan, who is due to step down in January.

“After the chairman…Don has had a greater impact on the Fed’s monetary policy process than any other single person,” says Robert Parry, a former president of the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank.

Kohn returned to Wooster as part of the James R. Wilson Lecture Series in Business Economics. In addition to his Tuesday evening speech, which was covered by Reuters, Bloomberg Business News, The Associated Press, and The Daily Record, Kohn met with students in James Warner’s economics class on Wednesday morning, giving them a behind-the-scenes look at the workings of the Federal Open Market Committee and fielding questions for almost an hour.

The Wilson lecture series is supported by the James R. Wilson Fund for Business Economics, which was endowed in 2001 by a gift from James R. and Linda R. Wilson.

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Daring to Lead: Women as Change Agents

dnorris10 October 23rd, 2005

Investing in women and supporting their efforts to bring about change at the grassroots level is the mission of the Global Fund for Women and the dream of its leader, Kavita Ramdas. Speaking Thursday evening in McGaw Chapel, Ramdas addressed the topic of “Women as Change Agents” as part of the 2005 Wooster Forum, whose theme is “Integrity: Local Actions and Global Reactions.”

“Small grants lead to big change,” said Ramdas, president and chief executive officer of the organization. “Women must be heard in order for things to change.”

The Global Fund helps to facilitate change through grants that seed, strengthen and link women’s rights groups that address such issues as gender-based violence; economic and environmental justice; health, sexual, and reproductive rights; civic and political participation; access to education; and social change philanthropy.

“People often refer to these as women’s issues, but they are really basic human rights issues,” said Ramdas. “Our goal is to provide resources at the local level for women who have a vision about how they would like to change the world.”

Since its founding in 1987, the Global Fund for Women has granted more than $42 million to nearly 2,800 women’s groups in 162 countries. This has enabled each organization to apply the funds to address the specific needs of women in their communities. Last year alone, the organization awarded $7.3 million in grants.

Ramdas warned about the danger of ignoring women and their potential as leaders, particularly on issues dealing with disaster, hunger, and peace. “Women are demanding to have a place at the table,” said Ramdas. “It is important for them to have a voice and a choice on all issues.”

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Political Secrecy and Hidden Agendas

dnorris10 October 23rd, 2005

John W. Dean, former White House counsel to President Richard M. Nixon, criticized the Bush administration’s penchant for secrecy, and drew parallels between this administration and the one in which he served from 1970 to 1973 in a speech at The College of Wooster last night. Dean addressed a crowd of almost 1,000 Wooster students, faculty, and local residents at McGaw Chapel in the opening event of the 2005 Wooster Forum.

Dean, whose most recent book is titled Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush, also asserted that an unprecedented level of authority has been concentrated in the office of Vice President Richard B. Cheney.

“Decisions that used to go into the president’s office now go into the vice president’s office and don’t go any further.” Cheney acts as “a super chief of staff who is president in all but name,” Dean claimed. “But the problem is Cheney doesn’t answer any questions. He only has to answer to George Bush.”

During the question and answer period, one Wooster student drew laughter from both Dean and the crowd by asking why “your Independent Study is missing from the library’s special collections.”

Dean, a 1961 graduate of the college who double majored in English and political science, explained that John Baker, the adviser for his I.S., “Verisimilitude in the Political Novel,” later became head counsel for the National Council of Churches in Washington. One day, when Dean was serving as White House counsel, their paths crossed.

“John looked at me and said, ‘You know, I never liked your Independent Study,’” Dean recalled. “I think that’s what happened to it.”

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Death and Taxes: The Political Economy of Ethiopian Revenue Reform

Persa Zula October 23rd, 2005

Warner, who has spent considerable time working and studying in Ethiopia during the past decade, will discuss the present revenue and governmental reform actions in that country today, particularly how the present state has been influenced by recent elections. Though the ruling party won the nationwide election in May by a small majority, it lost almost every major urban center. Charges of voting fraud began to emerge and culminated with a crackdown on student protesters, which left 36 dead on June 8. The end result was a bitterly contested outcome that left the ruling party with a slim majority, and hence a tenuous control of the government. The ruling party has now undertaken massive reforms before they leave many primary government posts in September.

“The current environment is to dramatically cut taxes in an effort to deny the incoming government fiscal resources for government projects,” said Warner. “In July, I witnessed firsthand the reforms that have cut tax burdens by as much as 83 percent to some of the wealthier taxpayers. The incoming opposition will ultimately be left with little money to undertake government operations, and the near future is bleak for such vital programs as elementary education and healthcare. My talk will focus on the problems associated with fledgling democracy and economic development from the perspective of a person directly involved in policy formulation.”

Warner, a member of Wooster’s faculty since 1999, earned a bachelor of arts degree from Bates College (1983), master of arts degrees from the University of California-Riverside (1985) and the University of New Hampshire (1992), and his Ph.D. from the University of Utah (1996). He specializes in macroeconomics, international economics, and economic development. He has worked, researched, and taught in most of East Africa. For the past three years, he has served as a consultant for a Swedish consulting firm on issues of fiscal decentralization in Amhara, Ethiopia. His current project, administered by Harvard University, is regional tax reform in Ethiopia.

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