Refreshments served. Join us as we highlight and celebrate the intellectual achievements of graduate and undergraduate students at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. The thirty-four posters on display were nominated for inclusion by Ford School faculty, and they will represent a wide range of student work: from local issues to foreign policy, from social welfare policy to health care reform, from undergraduate work to dissertation research.

Spring Preview is designed to help you make the most informed decision about our school. With this in mind, we have organized a program that will allow you structured time with our faculty, staff, and students.

The purpose of the conference is to explore a number of regulatory issues involving trade and related policies that cut across the economies of the United States and European Union and that have wider ramifications for the global trading system as a whole. An indication of the scope of the conference and the papers being commissioned is available via the links in the agenda, below. Attendance: Open to interested faculty, students, and the public.

Sponsored by Ford School Queers & Allies and the Ford School. Often groups working for social change feel conflicted about the best strategy for doing so. Often, when the legislative process is involved, compromises must be made that can often feel like 'selling out' or sacrificing a core value. Is this necessary? Students in different schools learn different theories about social change. How can we better work together for positive change? Recent history is full of examples - hate crimes legislation, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2007, community revitalization.

Tentative Program: Presenters: Elizabeth Bruch, Scott Page, Dan Brown Discussants: Ken Kollman, Walter Mebane This mini-conference is part of the 25th Annual Summer Conference of the Society for Political Methodology. [More information.]

Speakers are Ford School MPP student Jeff S. Barnes, Former U.S. Army Captain and Ground Cavalry Troop Commander during the Iraq War; Taryn Barnes, Former U.S. Army Captain, Air Cavalry Reconnaissance Pilot and Platoon Leader during the Iraq War; P. Onni Hynninen, Former U.S. Army Captain, Troop Executive Officer, Scout Platoon Leader during the Iraq War; and Johnnie Farmer, Former Operations Sergeant Major during the Iraq War.

On November 12, 2004, alumni, friends and donors attended the ceremonial groundbreaking for the new home of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, Joan and Sanford Weill Hall (see photo). Construction of the $34 million building is now officially underway – and the promise of a magnificent academic facility is literally coming to life. Over 450 guests attended the groundbreaking, including Ford school alumni from as far back as the Class of 1953, current students, President and Mrs.

2:30pm – 3:45pm. Leveling the Field: The Legacy of the 1972 Title IX Legislation. Speakers: William C. Martin, director of the U-M Department of Athletics and former president of the U.S. Olympic Committee; Nancy Hogshead-Makar, Olympic champion, professor of law, and legal advisor to the Women's Sports Foundation; Welch Suggs, author of A Place on the Team. Moderator: Edie Goldenberg, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy.

4:00pm. A Tribute to President Ford.

Alberto Trejos, the Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, will focus his presentation on the evolution of Costa Rica's decision to join the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). In addition to addressing the implications of a Costa Rica-United States free trade agreement, Dr.