Quote of the Week

“A man might say, ‘Yeah I can do that,’ and might run for office. But a woman might say, ‘I’ve done all these things and because of those things, I can run for office.’ Their self-evaluations are different.”

— Keith Smith, The Modesto Bee, Oct. 26, 2019

Examples of how University of the Pacific was represented in the news media in recent days:

“Liberty Medal awarded to former Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, Oct. 27, 2019: McGeorge’s Anthony Kennedy received the Liberty Medal at the National Constitution Center and part of the story reads, “Kennedy, who retired from the (U.S. Supreme Court) in 2018, was honored for his efforts to educate Americans about the Constitution through civic education and civil dialogue. The medal, which is accompanied by a $100,000 prize, is presented annually to someone who has worked to secure and promote liberty to people around the world.” Kennedy is the longest serving faculty member at the law school.
 
“Student Pharmacists Help Seniors Save Millions on Drug Costs,” ASHP.org, Oct. 25, 2019: Student-pharmacist Sarah Trinh and Pharmacy professor Raj Patel were interviewed for a story on this year’s Medicare Part D Clinics. “So we’ll basically look through the different plans and find the best plan that’s tailored to their medications and will save some money,” Trinh told the news arm of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. The clinics have saved an estimated 8,700 Medicare beneficiaries a combined $8.6 million on medications since the first clinic in 2007. Capital Public Radio News also covered one of the clinics in Lodi. “University of the Pacific student-pharmacists help senior save on prescriptions,” Capital Public Radio News , Oct. 21, 2019: “We’re looking at all of their medications, both over the counter and prescription, to make sure they are safe and effective to take together,” Patel told Capital Public Radio News. (No URL was available for the story.)

“Modesto’s mayoral candidates are older white men. Is that bad? Experts weigh in,” The Modesto Bee, Oct. 26, 2019: Political science’s Keith Smith was quoted in this story. He was not surprised by the gender imbalance reported in the story. “Men, whether because of social conditioning or historical experience or how they think of themselves — there are lots of possibilities — are much more willing to run for office,” Smith told The Modesto Bee, and added that is true at the local, state and federal levels. He later said, “A man might say, ‘Yeah I can do that,’ and might run for office. But a woman might say, ‘I’ve done all these things and because of those things, I can run for office.’ Their self-evaluations are different.”

“Will Fed’s Lawsuit Targeting California’s Key Climate Change Policy Cost Polluters And Taxpayers?,” CALmatters.org and Capital Public Radio, Oct. 27, 2019: John Sims, professor emeritus at the McGeorge and a constitutional law expert, was quoted in this story. “It’s just screaming and yelling and thumping the drum objecting to the policies that California is pursuing,” he told CALmatters.org. “The legal technicalities about whether California is allowed to do what it’s doing almost gets lost in the bushes. … Is California frustrating federal policy? That’s the big question here. From looking at this complaint, I just don’t think that’s going to be easy to determine.” CALmatters.org’s columnist Dan Morain mentioned the story and Sims: “Newsom invites Warren Buffett to seek control of PG&E, a Democrat falls, and Trump challenges California,” CALmatters.org, Oct. 28, 2019.

“Boosters say Sacramento’s MLS stadium will be an economic game-changer. Economists aren’t so sure,” PolitiFact California and Capital Public Radio, Oct. 23, 2019: Center for Business and Policy Research’s Jeff Michael was a source for this piece about the new Major League Soccer franchise and stadium in Sacramento. City leaders are sure this is an economic win for the region, but Michael and other economists think other recent additions are bigger. “It’s not going to have an enormous future economic impact, not in a game-changing type characteristic,” Michael told PolitiFact. “This announcement is nice, but it’s no match for what Sacramento has seen in recent years.” He mentioned Amazon opening a new warehouse in Sacramento and health insurer Centene opening a new campus near downtown as having much larger influences. The story was also used on Capital Public Radio.

“Squad ghouls: Pacific’s 21st annual Safe Trick or Treat draws thousands,” The Record, Oct. 24, 2019: Pacific’s annual Safe Trick or Treat was the feature of a front-page photo package and an online photo gallery. Student Life expected 6,000 or so trick-or-treaters and family members at the 21 st annual installment of the event as Pacific students, faculty and staff volunteered to distribute about 120,000 pieces of Halloween candy. This is Pacific’s largest annual free community event. Some news outlets wrote about it ahead of the event. “Scare up some fun — and treats — at Pacific’s annual Safe Trick or Treat event,” The Record, Oct. 23, 2019. ABC 10 also mentioned it .

“Graduate and Professional Aid Administrators Visit Capitol Hill to Advocate for Students,” NASFAA.org, Oct. 23, 2019: McGeorge’s Tracy Simmons was one of three people featured in this piece about NASFAA members meeting with congressional staffers as part of the group’s Advocacy Pipeline Initiative. She told the outlet, “The highlights of my trip were pinning my cities — where I was born and where I currently live — on Sen. Kamala Harris’ (D-CA) wall; having one of Sen. Barbara Feinstein’s (D-CA) staffers recognize my main university; eating lunch and buying a copy of Robert’s Rules of Order in the House; and getting to learn about the issues the public policy and medical schools are facing since my focus is on law.”

“How Languages Saved Me: A Polish Story of Survival,” WorkingMommyJournal.ca, Oct. 22, 2019: Eberhardt’s Stefanie Naumann is a co-author of her grandfather Tadeusz Haska’s story of survival. Haska was born in 1919 and orphaned at 13. He spoke nine languages and used that to survive World War II. He immigrated to the United States in 1949 and earned a Ph.D. in linguistics from UC Berkeley before teaching at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey for 35 years. A Q. and A. piece on the book was also published in The Pacifican: “Prof finishes grandfather’s survival story,” The Pacifican , Oct. 10, 2019.

“Judge Russell as Nevada Day Parade grand marshal is a family tradition,” Nevada Appeal (Carson City, Nevada), Oct. 23, 2019: McGeorge alumni and District Judge James Todd Russell ’74 has been on the bench since 2007 and was featured in this story about him being named the grand marshal for the Nevada Day Parade. He also announced that he’s running for re-election.

“U.S. Olympic Committee Hires Associate Athlete Ombuds,” The Ombuds Blog, Oct. 22, 2019: McGeorge alumna Emily Azevedo was named the associate ombudsman for the National Olympic Committee. Azevedo completed as an Olympic bobsledder from 2006 to 2014 and was a member of the U.S. Rugby National Team.

“Free Dental Checkups for Bay Area Military Veterans,” NBC Bay Area, Oct. 24, 2019: Free dental clinics at the San Francisco Campus and Union City clinics for military veterans by Dugoni students was featured in this story. “Get health questions answered by students and faculty, receive a free oral health goody bag, and learn more about their on-going program of reduced-fee dental care for veterans,” the story tells veterans.

“Pacific men’s water polo team handles Pepperdine at home,” The Record, Oct. 27, 2019: Coach James Graham was quoted in this story about a victory over No. 5 Pepperdine at home. “We pride ourselves of being an offensive team and being able to put up goals,” Graham told The Record. “As much as the six goals we put up in the first quarter, it was the zero goals I was really happy with because that was our focus this week — to get better on defense.”