Maxwell School News

On the Campbell Conversations, Grant Reeher, director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute, welcomes a different writer, politician, activist, public official or business professional to talk about their work each week.

“The problem of low-wage workers is real,” says Professor of Economics Don Dutkowsky. “It’s a trap for them. These jobs are precious to people, but they may not pay the best and moving around is not easy.”

Minch Lewis, adjunct professor of public administration and international affairs, pointed out this is not the first time the City of Syracuse has gone through government overhaul. “We have to be open-minded and realize this is a historical time and there’s a historic opportunity,” Lewis says.

Tom Keck was featured in The Daily Orange article, "SU political science professor evaluates President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee." "(Gorsuch) has also publicly praised Justice Scalia and indicated his hope to follow in his footsteps," he says, and notes that many Democrats and independents are unhappy with the nomination.

“The transportation funds can (not only) get the personnel coming down here, but visitors,” Michael Wasylenko, professor of economics, said. “It would have a very good economic impact for us as a region.” 

Next week, Professor of Political Science Mehrzad Boroujerdi said, the University planned to host a scholar who has been imprisoned in Iran. Now, he is unsure if the scholar will be able to come to SU at all. “It’s a serious infringement on our academic rights,” he said.

“She has no expertise or experience in the educational world,” Kristi Andersen, professor emerita of political science, says. “She has not been a teacher, she has not been an administrator, she has not been a policymaker, she has not worked for an educational think tank and she has not written about education.”

“When I talk about the consequences of not acting on climate change, I talk about freedom, liberty and property," Robert Wilson, associate professor of geography, says. "I tell them, ‘The greatest threat to property in the coming decades is climate change.'"

Alan Allport, associate professor of history, analyzes that the British government has been “cagey” on what it intends to do with EU citizens. Glyn Morgan, associate professor of political science, adds that Britain is expecting to get support from the United States during its transition away from the EU’s single market system.

“There seems to be, based on some of the public comments (Trump) has made, a focus on reducing the period over which someone is responsible for loans so that people that can’t afford to don’t have to continue repaying loans for an extended period, although the burden may be higher during the repayment period,” said Michah Rothbart, assistant professor of public administration and international affairs.

University Professor Sean O’Keefe says that the new administration faces challenges such as standardizing information technology, the consequences of budget decisions and talent acquisition.

“More information cannot easily be provided (to) the public—the classification is required to preserve the secrecy of the sources and methods we used to learn about the hacking,” says William Banks, professor of public administration and international affairs. “It creates a dilemma that is difficult to resolve.”

Don Dutkowsky, professor of economics, notes that doctorates in economics have thrived due to the expansive job market available in economics both inside and outside of academia. Alfonso Flores-Lagunes, professor of economics, adds that an increase in economic majors has yielded a higher demand for economics instructors, opening up doors for economics doctorates where they are closing in other fields of study.

Donald Dutkowsky, professor of economics, said that Syracuse University has been mostly self-sustaining for many years with funding primarily from tuition and donations, and that President Trump's education policies will not necessarily be a big player in SU’s operations.

Azra Hromadžić, assistant professor of anthropology, said she plans to return to Bosnia to focus on the country’s lagging public health services for the nation’s aging.