BALLSTATE UNIVERSITY
Department of Political Science
Alumni Newsletter

Bowen Institute Celebrates 25^th Anniversary
Former Indiana Governor, Otis Bowen, urged attendees to overcome cynicism by embracing public service at the twenty-fifth meeting of the Bowen Institute for Political Participation held at the Westin Hotel in downtown Indianapolis March 25-26.  Bowen made his address to the largest number of participants in the history of the event, including thirty-four Ball State students and seventeen citizens from around the state.

The anniversary was marked by the announcement that Governor Bowen was donating personal papers from his service as Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Ronald Reagan to Bracken Library at Ball State University for use by future scholars.   "The papers are a treasure trove of information regarding the formulation of social policies during the Reagan administration," commented Dr. Ray Scheele, co-director of the Institute and Ball State Professor of Political Science.  "Ball State is honored to be a repository for these documents." 

Dr. Sally Jo Vasicko, who also co-directs the Institute, reminisced about the past twenty-five years, noting some of the salient social and political events taking place in 1981, the first year the Bowen Institute convened.  "In 1981, President Reagan was inaugurated, Sandra Day O'Connor was named to the Supreme Court, and Indiana University won the national championship in basketball," Vasicko, also a Ball State political science professor, recalled.  "When the first participants of the Bowen Institute met on the campus of Ball State, few of us imagined the Institute would continue to grow and change venues in order to accommodate greater citizen demand for training in public service." 

Also attending the event was Dr. Robert "Tad" Perry, co-founder of the Bowen Institute and now Executive Director of the Higher Education Board of Regents for the state of South Dakota.  

Ball State University and the political science department want to express gratitude to John and Janice Fisher and to attorney Mark Shublak and the law firm of Ice Miller, LLP for their support of celebratory events at this year's meeting.  The Bowen Institute for Political Participation is one of the nation's oldest continuously operated programs in civic education.

Congratulations Graduates and Award Winners
Several graduating seniors are headed back to ivy-covered halls in the fall.  Olufunmbi Elemo has been awarded a graduate assistantship to pursue doctoral studies in political science at Michigan State University.  Steve Nawara will pursue his Ph.D. at Ohio State University where he was awarded a graduate assistantship.  Steve was also named this year's recipient of the Herbert H. Hamilton Award for the Outstanding Senior in Political Science and the department's Academic Honors in Writing Award.

Other awardees included:

• Amber N. Michel, recipient of the Wendell L. "Roy" Gruenewald Intern Scholarship
• Sean Towner and Colin P. Gainer, recipients of the Herbert Hamilton Award  for Graduates Attending Law School
• Michael Whitican, Raymond H. Scheele Award  for Civic Engagement
• Denise Cox, recipient of the Joseph F. Menez Award in Legal Studies
• Kelly Hacker, recipient of an Academic Honors in Writing Award

Meet Steven Hall
Steven R. Hall, the newest member of the political science faculty, joined us this past fall from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  Steve teaches courses in International Political Economy and International Relations.  His research specialty is the political economy of capital inflow and outflow controls in developing countries.  This summer he was awarded a Fisher Fellowship to investigate the impact of foreign aid policies requiring recipient nations to buy commodities from donor states.  Such policies, Hall's previous research indicates, may restrict genuine development opportunities.

First Recipient Named for Scholarship Honoring A. Michael Corbett
Jacob Clere, a junior majoring in political science, was named the first recipient of the recently endowed scholarship honoring Anthony Michael Corbett, former professor and colleague in the department of political science.  Corbett served the department for thirty-one years before succumbing to cancer in 2001.  He was a much beloved scholar and member of the Ball State community, remembered for his wit, his wisdom, and his ability to motivate students studying political methods and behavior by involving them with real world data.  He produced books on political tolerance, public opinion, and religion and politics and created innovative classroom software for the American Political Science Association   The award is offered to an undergraduate majoring in political science who exemplifies a love for the discipline and a desire to serve others.  Jacob has a 4.0 GPA in political science and is actively involved in the campus chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. 

Funding for the scholarship was made possible by donations from a wide circle of scholars, former students, and colleagues, and was immeasurably aided by the generosity of Julia Corbett Hemeyer, Mike's widow and co-author.

News in Brief
A new Mock Trial Association made its debut at a competition in South Bend in March.  The team of Ball State students, under the direction of attorney and part time Legal Studies instructor, Brad Gideon, won the Spirit of the Competition Award at the event.

Gene Frankland's new book Global Studies: Europe was published this year in its 9^th edition by McGraw-Hill

Misa Nishikawa saw the publication of her second book, Mixed Electoral Systems: Contamination and Its Consequences (with Frederico Ferrara and Erik Herron), by Palgrave Macmillan.

Dr. Nishikawa also gave birth on April 8 to a baby girl, Nina.