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WWS Reacts: The Consequences of Postponing Obama's Immigration Policy February 18, 2015
WWS Reacts: The Consequences of Postponing Obama's Immigration Policy
On Feb. 17 – just one day before President Barack Obama's new immigration policy was planned to go into effect – a federal judge in Texas issued an injunction halting its implementation. Obama's proposed executive action was intended to legally protect five million undocumented immigrants from deportation. We discussed the decision with immigration expert Douglas Massey, Henry G. Bryant Professor of Sociology and Public Affairs at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Massey's research focuses on international migration, race and housing, discrimination, education, urban poverty and Latin America,…
How Income Fraud Made the Housing Bubble Worse February 16, 2015
How Income Fraud Made the Housing Bubble Worse
Historically, Englewood and Garfield Park are two of the poorest neighborhoods in Chicago. Yet, between 2002 and 2005, these neighborhoods experienced remarkable growth in terms of home purchases, but it wasn’t because these neighborhoods had suddenly turned a corner.Instead, these two areas exemplified a broader pattern of rampant mortgage fraud that was seen in areas across the United States that had historically low credit scores and incomes coupled with high rates of poverty and unemployment, according to a report from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and at the University of Chicago.The researchers…
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WWS Task Force: Debt Problem or Funding Safety Net Programs February 03, 2015
WWS Task Force: Debt Problem or Funding Safety Net Programs
To address long-term debt issues facing the United States, Congress needs to implement significant changes to entitlement programs and tax policy, concluded an undergraduate Policy Task Force (PTF) at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.In a report presented to Sarah Wartell, president of the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 9, the task force discussed many diverse solutions to the debt crisis. Students argued that significant changes should be made to the tax code to raise more money, make it more equitable, promote economic growth and make the United States more competitive. In addition, other…
WWS Reacts: Combating Antibiotic Resistance January 30, 2015
WWS Reacts: Combating Antibiotic Resistance
The White House recently announced that President Barack Obama's proposed fiscal year 2016 budget will double the amount of federal funding for combating and preventing antibiotic resistance to more than $1.2 billion. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), there are at least two million illnesses and 23,000 deaths in the United States each year caused by antibiotic resistant bacteria. This additional funding will be used to improve antibiotic stewardship; strengthen antibiotic resistance risk assessment, surveillance and reporting; and drive research innovation in the human health and agricultural sectors. We discussed the proposed…
WWS Reacts: Turning the Page January 21, 2015
WWS Reacts: Turning the Page
In his sixth State of the Union address, President Barack Obama promised to dedicate his last two years in office toward implementing a number of programs that have been on the back burner. Improving opportunities for the middle class, addressing climate change, stopping the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), beefing up cyber security measures and reducing stockpiles of nuclear material in Iran were among the many topics addressed in Obama's hourlong speech. But how feasible are the plans that President Obama discussed? We spoke with experts from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs who reacted to…
Faculty to Attend World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland January 20, 2015
Faculty to Attend World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland
Faculty from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs are traveling to Davos, Switzerland, this week to attend the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting.Convening leaders from business, government, international organizations, academia, journalism and civil society, the annual meeting will chart strategic dialogues that map the key transformations shaping the world.Princeton University President Christopher L. Eisgruber, the Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Public Affairs at the Wilson School, will attend the Global University Leaders Forum meeting, which brings together presidents of the top 25 universities…
Rouse Charts Uneven Progress toward King's Goal of Economic Justice January 20, 2015
Rouse Charts Uneven Progress toward King's Goal of Economic Justice
At Princeton University's annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration Jan. 19, Cecilia Rouse, dean of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, looked back at King's call for economic justice for all and assessed the nation's uneven progress toward that goal. Students, faculty, staff and community members came together at Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall for musical performances, remarks from several speakers on King's legacy and the presentation of the University's Martin Luther King Journey Award. In her keynote address, Rouse said King eloquently highlighted the need for improved economic conditions for the poor in a…
Women Seen as Lacking Natural 'Brilliance' May Explain Underrepresentation in Academia January 16, 2015
Women Seen as Lacking Natural 'Brilliance' May Explain Underrepresentation in Academia
The stereotype that women lack natural "brilliance" could explain their underrepresentation in academia, according to new research based at Princeton University. The researchers surveyed 1,820 faculty, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students, men and women, from 30 disciplines at high-profile public and private research universities nationwide. The study, "Expectations of brilliance underlie gender distributions across academic disciplines," will be published Jan. 16 in the journal Science. Researchers measured academics' belief that success in their own disciplines depended on raw brilliance. The researchers concluded that what they call "field…
Center for Health and Wellbeing Announces U.S. and Global Health Scholars January 16, 2015
Center for Health and Wellbeing Announces U.S. and Global Health Scholars
The Center for Health and Wellbeing (CHW) at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs has selected three U.S. Health Policy Scholars and three Global Health Scholars. The scholars, all juniors, will receive financial support for travel and research to pursue internships and senior thesis research projects related to domestic and international health care and health policy.Up to eight juniors are selected each year for the program through a rigorous application and selection process focusing on both academic performance and plans for work and research on health policy issues.The scholars are supported by the…
Crafting a Strategy During Times of Crisis January 13, 2015
Crafting a Strategy During Times of Crisis
How should policy makers craft a national security strategy during a time of crisis? A group of Woodrow Wilson School students found out during a Dec. 6 crisis simulation sponsored by Princeton’s Center for International Security Studies (CISS) and organized by two of the center’s student fellows.Focusing on the strategic interactions between five countries – Germany, Poland, Russia, Ukraine and the United States – the 70 participants involved in the project were able to examine and experience some of the obstacles to formulating strategies in the real world.Throughout the day-long event, the participants – which included Princeton undergraduate and…
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Students Selected for 2016 "Scholars in the Nation's Service Initiative" January 13, 2015
Students Selected for 2016 "Scholars in the Nation's Service Initiative"
The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University is pleased to announce its selection of the 2016 cohort of the Scholars in the Nation’s Service Initiative (SINSI). Established in 2006, SINSI is designed to encourage, support and prepare the nation’s top students to pursue careers in the U.S. federal government, in both international and domestic agencies. The goal of the highly competitive scholarship program is to provide the rigorous academic preparation, language skills and workplace skills needed to succeed and make a difference in the public policy arena. “I’m delighted to extend congratulations to the five…
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Student Documentaries Tell Stories of Trenton, its People and Their Jobs January 12, 2015
Student Documentaries Tell Stories of Trenton, its People and Their Jobs
Kenya's story starts on a bus as she rides to her job at a recently opened Amazon distribution warehouse.Juan's story starts at a small store on State Street, a permanent home for a business he started by selling dresses and women's shoes from the back of his car.They are stories of Trenton, New Jersey, its people and the ways they make a living. Princeton undergraduates are telling these stories and others like them this semester through short documentaries as part of the course "Documentary Film and the City.""If you want to live in the city, you have to have jobs in the city," said Purcell Carson, a filmmaker and a documentary production specialist…
Making Government Work in Hard Places January 12, 2015
Making Government Work in Hard Places
What does it take to build a better government? Are there ways to overcome some of the difficult obstacles reform leaders often face?These are questions Princeton University professor Jennifer Widner receives often. In fact, these questions come with such regularity that, in 2008, Widner decided to launch a program dedicated to answering them.Widner directs Innovations for Successful Societies (ISS) at Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School, which is home to a collection of nearly 140 case studies focusing on how specific policies are implemented in different countries.From Jordan's streamlining of the passport renewal process to Chile's transfer of power…
WWS Reacts: Making Community College Free January 09, 2015
WWS Reacts: Making Community College Free
On Thursday, Jan. 8, President Barack Obama unveiled America's College Promise, a proposal that would use government funds to make community college free for millions of American students. The White House says the proposal would save a full-time community college student $3,800 in tuition a year on average and could benefit roughly 9 million students each year. The federal government would provide three-fourths of the costs, and participating states would be expected to contribute the remainder. Eligible students would need to be enrolled at least half time, maintain a grade point average of 2.5 or higher and make steady progress. We discussed the…