Letter from the Executive Director
CSGI Advisory Committee Members
Mission Statement
Publications
Sponsored Research: Faculty Fellows and CSGI Student Interns
Sponsored Events

Letter from the Executive Director

Dr. James A. Null

I am pleased to write this letter for the first Annual Report of the Center for the Study of Government and the Individual. Although the idea for the Center occurred in late 2000, the appointment of a Program Assistant in June of 2001 really signaled the actual start-up of the Center’s activities. It is for that reason that the first annual report really covers primarily the 2000/2001 academic year. It seems appropriate that the annual report should be published at the end of each academic year in the future.

CSGI's offices located at UCCS

One of the first activities was to appoint a Center Advisory Committee of thirty members comprised of faculty, students, university leaders and community representatives. At the committee’s first meeting a variety of ideas were generated for proposed activities to be considered. The committee has been invited to all events and has been given publications of the Center for their review. It is planned that the Advisory Committee will meet annually in the early fall.

I feel good about our first year in the Center. Initially, it was necessary to acquire publication equipment and some computers for our staff and fellows. Dr. Robert S. Lorch was appointed as the Center’s first Senior Research Fellow to supervise our publications. Early Colorado was authored by him and published by the Center. The publication is available for campus classroom use and by anyone requesting a copy. Two other books are in progress and will be published this year.

CSGI has also recently funded eight research and scholarly activities that will come to completion during the coming academic year. Each of the projects focuses on the limits of government in some way and the subject matter areas range across Economics, Business, History, Art, Public Policy and Political Science. As is the policy of the Center, the products from each of these projects will be housed at the Center and made available for classroom, research and community use. These products will be distributed at no cost or sold for a little more than the cost of production.

To date, three graduate student assistantships have been granted- two in the Graduate School of Public Affairs and one in the master’s program in Sociology. Each of the graduate assistants has worked with resident faculty on campus on scholarly projects.

Dr. Peter Bishop: "Into the Future"

Finally, we are pleased to have been able to co-sponsor three forums for campus and community attendance. Our first forum attracted a nationally known futurist, Dr. Peter Bishop and focused on the role of government in our lives twenty or more years into the future. This was co-sponsored by the Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce.

The Center also facilitated a dinner seminar with a national speaker from the CATO Institute, Dr. Stephen Moore, who spoke about his co-authored book entitled: It’s Getting Better all the Time.

The Center sponsored a daylong forum in the spring semester that focused on terrorism and how it has changed our lives regionally in terms of government activity. We were fortunate to attract a large number of local, state and national speakers to address activity since 9/11/01 and finished the forum with a panel addressing civil liberties.

It has been a successful first year for the Center. We are well prepared for additional activities to be offered through the Center. We are currently planning the presentation and  forum programs for next year and are looking forward to the year with excitement. Please accept our thanks for your support of the Center and its purpose. I look forward to working with you all in the upcoming year.

Professor James A. Null
Executive Director

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Staff
Dr. James A. Null, Executive Director
Ms. Vydia García-Torres, Program Assistant

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The purpose of the Center for the Study of Government and the Individual is to provide a vehicle for the candid, open, diverse and multi-faceted exploration of all the issues in this topic area in all of their dimensions. Its purpose is to stimulate the confrontation of all orthodoxies in regards to the role of government in American social and economic systems.

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• "Early Colorado," Dr. Robert S. Lorch. Published in September, 2001.
• "Public Administration," Dr. Robert S. Lorch. Published in August, 2002.
• "Colorado’s Government: Structure, Politics, Administration and Policy," Dr. Robert S. Lorch. Scheduled for publication in March, 2003.

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• Dr. Paul A. Ballantyne - “Wealth, Poverty and Economic Freedom.”
• Dr. Andrew J. Czaplewski - “Adaptive Promotional Strategies of Tobacco Firms Subsequent to the 1998 Master settlement Agreement: Corporate Rights and the Responsibilities of Government.”
• Dr. Dale R. DeBoer - “Wealth, Poverty and Economic Freedom.”
• Dr. Bernice Forrest - “Affirmative Action and Diversity in Higher Education and Business: Current Status and Prospects for the Future.”
• Dr. Andrea Herrera - “Café II: The Journeys of Cuban Artists.”
• Mr. Michael McLeod, J.D. - “Exploring the Potential of AIDS Ministries in Colorado to be Partners in Public Service with Government Agencies and Nonprofit Organizations.”
• Dr. Eric M. Olsen - “Adaptive Promotional Strategies of Tobacco Firms Subsequent to the 1998 Master settlement Agreement: Corporate Rights and the Responsibilities of Government.”
• Dr. Daniel E. Ponder – “The President and the Presidency: The Making of an Institution ”
• Dr. Timothy Tregarthen - School Choice in Colorado Springs, a survey.

Faculty Fellows: Participate in the Center Roundtable, act as editors for publications, serve as mentors to students and take on special roles in the Center’s program development.

• Dr. Robert S. Lorch, CSGI Senior Fellow and Professor of Political Science, UCCS.
• Dr. Dale R. DeBoer, Chair, Economics Department, UCCS.
• Dr. Paul A. Sondrol, Chair, Political Science Department, UCCS.

CSGI Student Interns: work with faculty mentors on projects in the community directly related to the Center.

• Ms. Suzanne Becker, Graduate Research Assistant, 2001-02 worked on research related to school choice and the organization Parent’s Challenge in Colorado Springs.
• Mr. William Althoff, Graduate Research Assistant, 2002, worked on research related to the book titled: “Public Administration” by Dr. Robert S. Lorch.
• Ms. Angela Graham, Graduate Research Assistant , Summer 2002 currently working on “Exploring the Potential of AIDS Ministries in Colorado to be Partners in Public Service with Government Agencies and Nonprofit Organizations”, with Michael McLeod, J.D.

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Dr. Peter Bishop: "Into the Future"

III. Sponsored Events

• Into the Future ... The Role of Government in our Lives. Co-sponsored by the Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce. Speaker: Dr. Peter Bishop, Chair and Professor of Studies of the Future, Executive Director of the Institute for Futures Research at the University of Houston, October 24, 2001.

• Terrorism: How It Has Changed Our Lives and Our Future”
  March 16, 2002.
  Seminar to discuss terrorism from the psychological, civil liberties and governmental perspectives. The photo shows Mr. Michael Schrader, Executive Director of Memorial Hospital, during his presentation at the “9-11, The Local Government’s Response”. U.C.C.S. Science Building Auditorium. Dr. James A. Null introduces Ms. C. Suzanne Mencer, Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Public Safety.

Dr. Null introduces Ms. C. Suzanne Mencer

Mr. Michael Schrader: "911" Presentation