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Guest opinion: Senate report on torture a sad chapter for U.S.

Cornell Clayton
Cornell Clayton

In the wake of harrowing revelations about the CIA’s secret torture program, Cornell Clayton, professor of politics, philosophy, and public affairs and director of the Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service at WSU, critiques disturbing reactions. “The tragedy,” Clayton says, “isn’t that torture failed. It’s that Americans resorted to it.

“Nations are not individuals or even extensions of individuals. A nation is its values and what it stands for. This is especially true of America, which has never been defined by a shared ethnic or religious identity, but only by our common ideals. Chief among these is the belief in human rights, the rule of law, and the dignity of the individual. Torture is an affront to these ideals.

“Those who insist that brutal terrorists who kill innocent civilians forfeit the right to humane treatment miss the point. It is not about who they are, but who we are. America is an exceptional nation because it embraces – often imperfectly – exceptional values. We lose if we abandon those values.”

Read Clayton’s entire guest opinion in the Spokesman-Review

Campaign 2014 report: A surge in ‘dark money’

Travis Ridout
Travis Ridout

With midterm elections weeks away, outside interest groups are pumping a record amount of anonymous “dark money” into television political ads, according to a WSU researcher who tracks national campaign advertising.

“I suspect the numbers will go up even more during the crucial weeks leading up to Nov. 4,” said WSU political scientist Travis Ridout, co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project, which recently released a report showing a surge of political spending, mostly on highly contested U.S. Congressional seats. (See Wesleyan Media Project)

Not only is a lot of money being spent on broadcast ads, but it’s frequently being done in secret, said Ridout. Unlike candidates and political action committees, dark money groups—those able to claim tax status as social welfare organizations—can keep individual contributors anonymous.

Find out more about the nature of dark money:

WSU News

The Columbian Blogs

Sept. 17: Need for land ethic in environmental policy

Walter Echo-Hawk
Walter Echo-Hawk

Native American attorney Walter Echo-Hawk will discuss “The Need for an American Land Ethic” in a free, public presentation about environmental challenges at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 17 at 101 Kimbrough Hall on the WSU Pullman campus.

A tribal judge, author, activist, and law professor, Echo-Hawk will discuss the role of indigenous peoples in helping nations form environmental ethics, and will explore the need for an American land and sea ethic to address the global environmental crisis.

“Long known as a leading advocate for Native American rights, Walter Echo-Hawk is now exploring ways in which the unique perspectives of indigenous communities can be brought bear in solving environmental issues around the globe,” said Cornell Clayton, director of the Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service, event co-sponsor. “It is both a great honor and a great opportunity to welcome him at WSU where our students, faculty, and community can engage directly with him.”

More about Echo-Hawk’s talk

WSU Vancouver political scientist nabs grant to study climate risk governance

Mark Stephan
Mark Stephan

Mark Stephan, associate professor of political science at WSU Vancouver, is part of a collaborative research team receiving a National Science Foundation grant for a three-year study of state and local climate risk governance.

WSU Vancouver’s share of the grant, $99,646, will pay for data collection and field work in six states as well as the hiring of a research assistant for the three years. The research team presented initial analysis results at the American Political Science Association annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

The team analyzed the greenhouse gas emissions from more than 7,000 facilities in nine sectors. Preliminary results suggest that greater reductions in emissions are occurring in states with active governance related to climate change.

More details about the grant

Foley distinguished speaker Nick Hanauer offers insights for saving U.S. capitalism

Seattle business owner, economics activist, and one of the Northwest’s most ardent advocates for income equality, Nick Hanauer will present the 2014 Thomas S. Foley Distinguished Lecture “Saving American Capitalism: The Truth about Jobs, Prosperity, and Economic Growth” in two events Oct. 2 in Pullman and Spokane, Wash.

Hanauer will speak and take questions from the audience at 2:30 p.m. in the Compton Union Building (CUB) Auditorium at WSU Pullman and at 7:30 p.m. at the Fox Theater in downtown Spokane. Both events are free and open to the public.

The Thomas S. Foley Institute at WSU provides public-affairs programming and education, supports student engagement in public service, and fosters scholarly research on public policy and political institution in a nonpartisan setting.

Learn more about Nick Hanauer’s Foley lectures:
WSU News
The Spokesman-Review