The Rose Review Spring 2020
Director’s Report Andrew E. Busch, PhD
T
his semester at the Rose Institute has been unlike anything any of us has experienced. Since saying goodbye to our students at Spring Break, we have been operating remotely. Just before Spring Break, as is our custom, we named our next set of student managers for the year. Congratulations to Ben McAnally and Jake Leischner, and thanks to Sophia Helland and Rachel Alaynick for a job well done. Incoming and outgoing student managers have worked with senior staff at the Rose to manage the new circumstances. Some effort was required to set up for productive remote work by the students. The College required all employees, including student employees, to submit a “Temporary Situational Telecommuting Agreement.” Additionally, numerous students required temporary software licenses to be able to continue work on their assigned projects. Our IT department was very accommodating in working with them to meet their needs. Our operating principle has been that, in this difficult time, students must focus on school, family, and their own health first. However, we also have proceeded with the view that to the extent that Rose work could be carried forward, we should do so. Some alterations were unavoidable. The Board of Governors meeting was cancelled, as were our speaker events. Two redistricting conferences were put off
3 - New Student Managers 4 - Project Updates 6 - Off-Campus Reflections 9 - Senior Farewell 12 - In Memoriam
from April 15 and June 8 to later in the year, with the possibility that the event might be online or a hybrid online-in person conference. Other projects have continued. These include: Publications: Our Spring edition of the Inland Empire Outlook was published, featuring a series of articles on redistricting. Of course, we also went forward with publishing this edition of the Rose Review. Federalism: Earlier in the semester, our federalism team completed stage 1 of its project on federalism issues in the presidential race. Posted online, the project looks at the positions of major Democratic contenders on issues such as immigration, marijuana, education, and energy. They are nearly done with a summary look at how the federal Coronavirus stimulus package affects state and local governments. Local spending on homelessness: In cooperation with the Cicero Institute, a new public policy think tank, a team of Rose students is doing an analysis of local spending on anti-homelessness expenditures. City of Ontario: This Spring, the Rose Institute signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Ontario to conduct a study for the city every semester for the next several years. Work by students will begin in the Fall, but senior staff is working with the city now
Director’s report to identify a topic and methodology. The first project will be related to early childhood education strategies. Fiscal analysis: The project on city pension challenges is wrapping up and we hope it to be completed this semester. IE At a Glance: This is our revision of the Southern California Almanac. Instead of a selection of SoCal cities, we are focusing on detailed economic, demographic, and political data from all cities in the Inland Empire. Data collection is mostly complete, but final launch will probably have to be delayed because of difficulties in formatting for online usage. Business Guide: As we transition away from the annual Kosmont-Rose Cost of Doing Business Survey, we are developing a guide for understanding the key variables in the cost of doing business as well as the best places to go to find that information. A draft has been completed. Policy Snapshot: This project will identify a number of key legislative votes and explain in layman’s terms the effect and significance of the legislation. (This project used to go by the name of “Playbook.”) Some of these projects will undoubtedly suffer delays, but we are pressing forward as vigorously as possible under the circumstances. I am proud of our students, our current and outgoing student managers, and my colleagues on senior staff—Ken Miller, Bipasa Nadon, and Marionette Moore—for working with determination, resourcefulness, and professionalism. I am very much looking forward to the day when we can work together in person again.
Director Busch addressing the students at the Seniors Appreciation lunch held on March 12. Photo courtesy of the Rose Institute.
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Project Updates Student MANAGEMENT
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s uncertainty and confusion dominate much of the current climate, we want this moment to be one of reflection and adaptation for the Rose Institute. We are both incredibly excited and humbled to be stepping into our respective roles and intend to meet the challenges facing us, our student staff, and the Institute as a whole with resilient determination. The former student management administration - Sophia Helland and Rachel Alaynick accomplished much in their roles and we are proud of their work to expand access to training
Benjamin McAnally ’21 Student Manager
Jacob Leischner ’21 Associate Student Manager
and skills development, while consistently building a strong community and delivering important research. We want to extend an earnest thank you to Sophia and Rachel for everything they have done for the Rose Institute in not only their most recent positions, but over the course of their entire four years. The move to remote learning has proved a challenge for the entire CMC community, but we have been consistently impressed by the determination demonstrated by our student staff. Whether it be Zoom student staff meetings or a BOG virtual Q&A session, we are excited to witness the growth prompted by this adaption, and we know our student staff is more than up to the task. Our student staff have continued to develop and refine long standing projects such as Redistricting, the MillerRose Initiative Database, and Inland Empire at a Glance, as well as bring new projects to the institute, such as the Policy Snapshot, Federalism, and Local Business Guidebook, among many others. Many of our juniors have returned to campus from our Washington, D.C program this spring, including Anna Green and Nandeeni Patel, while Will Frankel interned in Silicon Valley, Benjamin McAnally worked in Irvine, California, Naseem Nazari studied in Madrid, Spain, and Katherine Adelman was in Hong Kong. We unfortunately must say an early farewell to our seniors, who will be sorely missed. From spearheading new recurring projects to teaching important skills to our new hires to bringing so many smiles to our faces, they have all helped shape the Rose into what it is today. We would like to give one last thank you to the the Rose Institute Class of 2020: Melanie Wolfe, Nick Sage, Rachel Alaynick, Sophia Helland, Zane Tolchinsky, Joe Noss and Zenaida Huerta. We hope to continue the great work of the institute in the tradition of former student managers, bringing more capability and agency to student staff, making the Rose a place where we can all grow as researchers and people as we continue to provide first-rate research on California state and local government and beyond.
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Project Updates
Inland Empire At A Glance Anna Green ’21
Inland Empire at a Glance is a new Rose Institute project that aims to provide local business owners, policy-makers, and citizens with a comprehensive database detailing information about the population demographics, economic prosperity, government and politics in the greater Inland Empire. This project blends elements from two prior Rose Institute projects, the Kosmont-Rose Cost of Doing Business Survey and the Southern California Almanac. It is distinct in that it will focus exclusively on the Inland Empire, provide comprehensive, comparative information about the region and its local jurisdictions, and offer visitors a dynamic, interactive experience, including highquality data visualizations. The project is still in the development stage. This semester we have focused on project design and preliminary data collection. Our hope is to post this research on the Rose Institute website in the fall, with plans to update the site once the 2020 Census data is released. Although our circumstances have changed with the college’s switch to remote learning, we are still hoping to accomplish our goal of completing the initial data collection before the end of the semester, all thanks to the seven fantastic Research Assistants working on this project.
Fiscal Analysis Will Frankel ’21
Fiscal Analysis is currently wrapping up their first project installment, which analyzed public employee pension debt across struggling municipalities in California. It is now making progress in a second installment which will evaluate three Southern California cities--Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Riverside--for their fiscal approach and trends with respect to law enforcement. The project is especially focused on the effects of the Great Recession on public expenditures for essential services to identify which strategies helped cities weather the storm. It is keeping an eye towards how these lessons might be applied to the emerging 2020 recession.
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Fiscal Analysis team: Calder Altman ’22, Maria Gutierrez-Vera ’22, and Will Frankel ’21. Photo courtesy of the Rose Institute.
Project Updates
Analysis of California Private Attorney General Act Nohl Patterson ’22
After the preliminary proposal and approval by senior staff, the California Private Attorney General Act (PAGA) is moving forward. The basis for the project is examining PAGA’s economic implications for the California economy and examining the political accountability mechanisms at play. The project will utilize the original filing reports from California’s Department of Labor Relations and work in conjunction with labor law firms to further estimate the fallout on small businesses as well as on larger companies.
Prop 13 - Split Roll Marshall Bessey ’23
This project seeks to understand some of the effects of the proposed revision to Proposition 13. The revision would establish a split roll, whereby residential properties would still be taxed under the Prop 13 system, but commercial properties would be taxed based on an assessment of current market value. This project examines the current property taxes of all of the member-owned golf courses and shopping malls in Los Angeles County. It compares the property tax burden for each property under the current Prop 13-based assessed value to what it would be if the property were taxed based on its current market value. I have finished data collection and analysis for golf course properties and am almost finished with the data collection for shopping malls. The analysis of LA County’s golf courses’ property taxes showed a substantial difference between the assessed values of golf clubs and their current market values. I am excited to see how this difference compares to any differences in the assessed values of shopping malls and their current market values.
Policy Snapshot Maya Ghosh ’22
Maya Ghosh ’18, Felipe Williams ’18, and Maria Gutierrez-Vera ’18 have worked this year on the first edition of Policy Snapshot. Policy Snapshot is an annual report intended to increase public understanding of new California legislation. Ranging from topics like housing to college sports, Policy Snapshot conveys the financial, political, and social implications of ten laws. The project goal for this semester is to finish the report and publish. Currently, we are in an editing phase, and intend to have Policy Snapshot completed by the end of the month. As a brand new project, this iteration of Policy Snapshot has been largely dedicated to brainstorming improvements and working through different problems in order to increase effectiveness.
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Off-Campus reflections Katherine Adelman ’21 I spent (most of) my fall semester studying abroad in Hong Kong. The city offered us endless opportunities to take part in adventures of every sort. The city is composed of dense urban terrain, unreal beaches, and gorgeous mountains. More importantly, I was able to watch a political movement unfold in real time. My classes were wrought with emotional tension, with both professors and students crying during class discussions. Locals jumped at the opportunity to share their experiences and views with us. My semester was ultimately cut short after our campus was turned into a battle ground between police and protestors. After four days of complete chaos, I packed a bag with the essentials and hiked out of campus. It was a difficult and abrupt goodbye to a city that will forever mean so much to me.
Photo courtesy of Katherine Adelman ’21
Naseem Nazari ’21 Last semester, I studied abroad in Madrid, Spain. Studying in Madrid was an incredibly gratifying experience, primarily because I was able to improve my Spanish. I was enrolled in a fully-immersive Spanish language program, meaning that all my courses were taught in Spanish. In addition to the courses I took at my abroad program center, I directly enrolled in a class at the local university. It was incredibly interesting to compare the college experience of Madrid locals to my experience at CMC. One of my favorite parts of studying abroad was taking a class at the Prado museum-learning about Spanish culture through artwork was illustrative and engaging. Overall, studying abroad in Madrid was an experience that I will never forget! Naseem in Plaza Mayor, a major public space in the heart of Madrid. Photo courtesy of Nasseem Nazari ’21.
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Off-Campus Reflections Benjamin McNally ’21 I spent my fall semester in Irvine, California, where I served as Policy Director and Interim Campaign Manager for the U.S. congressional campaign of CMC and Rose Institute alumnus Aditya Pai. Through the experience, I was able to get a fairly complete view of the congressional campaign process, beginning from early platform construction to fundraising to communications and outreach. I worked to create a policy platform informed by the community, facilitating dialogues with local constituents from California’s 45th District. This informed my career aspirations in focusing on a few areas of policy interest, as well as gave me a new perspective on leadership and dialogue that I hope to apply in my work at the Rose this coming year.
Ben (third from left) with friends, including Rose alum Aditya Pai ’13, at Shady Canyon in Irvine. Photo courtesy of Ben McAnally ’21.
Robin Peterson’22 Over the fall semester, I interned for Senator Michael Bennet’s Washington office where I worked on international affairs and veterans projects. I learned a lot about the Senate and the complexities of passing legislation. One thing I found really interesting was the disconnect between Washington and the rest of the county. The experience helped me compare working in the federal government to working for state and local governments. While I was in DC, Senator Bennet secured a $2 billion grant for my town to improve its public transportation and I saw first hand how national politics can help Coloradans on a state and local level. My semester off campus was really informative and I enjoyed witnessing the impeachment vote in the House chambers!
Robin on the Speaker’s balcony in the U.S. Capitol. Photo courtesy of Robin Peterson ’22.
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Off-Campus Reflections
William Frankel’21
Nandeeni Patel ’21
Last fall I participated in CMC’s Silicon Valley Program. During the week, I worked as a Trust & Safety Intern at Quizlet, an online learning platform. My work included remodeling Quizlet’s content moderation process and engaging with product management to ensure appropriate policy and legal risk management. I spent my weekends in class with the rest of the Silicon Valley Program cohort studying industrial organization and the Silicon Valley regional economy. The semester helped me continue developing a career path involving technology policy, and I plan to return to Quizlet for summer 2020.
I spent fall 2019 on the DC Program interning for the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution. I published two blog posts: one recapping an event with former Secretaries of Education Arne Duncan and John King; the second, analyzing the impact of vaping on public school campuses in America. I learned a lot about the implications of federal education policy at the local level, explored DC’s museums, and had the opportunity to watch the House vote on the impeachment trial from the gallery. I cannot wait to be back in DC soon!
Anna Green ’21 I spent last fall participating in CMC’s Washington Program and living with fellow Rose research assistant Nandeeni Patel. Though I missed everyone on campus, I really enjoyed getting to spend a semester exploring D.C. while taking CMC classes and interning fulltime at the Brookings Institution. At my internship, I contributed to the Leveraging Transparency to Reduce Corruption project led by Ambassador Norman Eisen in the Governance Studies department. After gaining a preliminary understanding of Think Tank research at the Rose Institute, it was exciting to see similar processes in a new environment, while honing my qualitative research, fact-checking, and data analysis skills. While I loved my time in D.C., I returned to Claremont this spring with a newfound appreciation for the communities that I’ve found at CMC, especially at the Rose Institute. Nandeeni (left) and Anna in front of the U.S. Capitol in D.C. Photo courtesy of Anna Green ’21.
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Senior Farewell SUMMER UPDATES
Rose Institute class of 2020: Nick Sage, left, Rachel Alaynick, Zenaida Huerta, Sophia Helland, and Melanie Wolfe. Joe Noss and Zane Tolchinsky are featured on page 10. Photo courtesy of the Rose Institute.
Sophia Helland
Rachel Alaynick
It is difficult to find the words to express how much my time at Rose has meant to me. I’ve grown as a researcher, a manager, and a student and I have watched dozens of fellow students do the same. The mentors and friends that my time at Rose has given me are unparalleled, and I am eternally grateful that I was able to be a part of this institute. I loved working on the Competitive Districts project and wrangling big datasets while seeing the nitty-gritty of campaigns I had been watching just a year before, and it was such an honor to see my report on the Tribal Law and Order Act published when I was just a sophomore. I have learned new skills and been pushed to think creatively about problems, while always feeling like there were people ready to support me when I struggled. Evacuating campus in March was difficult in so many ways but by far one of the hardest was saying goodbye to everyone at Rose months before we were supposed to. Thank you to everyone who made this experience worth it, and so difficult to say goodbye to.
I’ve probably spent more time in the Rose workroom than anywhere else on campus. A lot of campus just feels like campus; Rose feels like home. The friendships and memories I’ve made through the Institute are some of my favorites, and my college experience would have been very different (read: worse) without Rose. Thank you for countless late night discussions, for silly jokes on the whiteboard, for uncontrollable laughter in the side room, for pranks (and one kidnapping), for opportunities to grow and learn, and of course, for the double monitors that got me through almost four years of essays.
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Senior Farewell Zane Tolchinsky When I got to CMC as a freshman, I had no intention of applying to the Rose. After all, I was an econ major with zero experience with politics. One year later, at the urging of my Gov20 professor, I applied not thinking I had any shot. I am so glad that I did. Looking back, it is hard to put into writing the ways that working at the Rose Institute has made me who I am. Not only has the research I have done stimulated interests I never knew I had, but it has reshaped what I thought would be my career path. More importantly, and I assume that many of the seniors will echo this sentiment, it has provided me with a set of lifelong friends. It is hard to process the ending to my Rose experience outside the context of the ending of my college experience: abruptly cut short. That being said, I will forever be grateful for the time I did have at this wonderful place.
Melanie Wolfe Although our senior year has come to an unexpected ending, I couldn’t be more grateful for my time at CMC and my experience at the Rose Institute. From my first semester at CMC, the Rose has both connected me to a community and given me an academic outlet to develop my political interests and research skills. I’ve been lucky to work on a range of topics and projects, from California charter school policy to redistricting court cases across the country. Even so, my strongest memories from my time at the Rose Institute will be the late nights (that sometimes turned into early sunrises) spent in the workroom, laughing with my fellow research assistants and getting advice about school and life. Thinking back on all of the mentorship and friendship I received from the upperclassmen in my first year at the Rose, I can only hope that I’ve been able to pay it forward and leave some wisdom behind for the most recent new hires. I can’t wait to reconnect with those upperclassmen in the ‘real world’ next year, and to come back to CMC as an alumna and see what the younger Rosies are up to! Rose Review | Page 10
Zane, left, and Joe at the Air and Space Museum, September 2018, Washington D.C.. Photo credit: Melanie Wolfe ’20.
Joe Noss The Rose Institute defined my CMC experience. Nothing will ever compare to watching a sunrise or sunset over the San Bernardino Valley from the top of the Kravis building. At the same time, the Rose, with its professional and accomplished senior staff and research assistants, regularly pushed me to be a better version of myself—this was especially true in my first two years of college. What I appreciated most about my time at the Rose were the relationships I was able to build with alumni. Bob Walker and Ray Remy are two of the greatest men I have ever met, and I am glad the Rose enabled me to call them my friends. I am proud to call myself a Rose Institute research assistant and will be proud of my time here for the rest of my life.
Senior Farewell
Zenaida Huerta
Nick Sage
Managing two Rose Reviews in my time as a Rosie, I’ve read through dozens of senior farewells. Still, as I write my own, I feel a bit at a loss for words. At CMC, my classes and even my interests have varied semester to semester, but the one constant I had in my academic experience was my experience at the Rose Institute. When I came to the Rose Institute Open House as a freshman, I was a timid freshman with little professional development. As a senior, I attribute my technical and soft skills to my experience at the Rose. Presenting at Board of Governors and at the Southern CA Conference for Undergraduate Research developed my public speaking. Writing thorough articles in IEO and the California Playbook brought my writing to life. Using Cal-Access to aggregate campaign finance data as Competitive Districts project manager showed me how matrices of data tell stories. But most importantly, the Rose gave me a family on campus. I will cherish all the workroom sunrises after communal all-nighters and board game nights in the workroom with my peers. Likewise, I will cherish moments such as playing Cosmic Golf with Dr. Busch at Boomers and singing karaoke with Dr. Miller at the annual holiday party. I am heartbroken that our goodbyes were rushed, but I know we will be forever connected as a Rose family. COVID19 may have bore into my college experience, but it will never destroy the skills and relationships I have developed over the years at the Rose. Thank you to Marionette, Mrs. Nadon, Dr. Miller, and Dr. Busch for being mentors invested in my growth over the past four years. Thank you to the Board of Governors for the mentorship, support, and wonderful conversations at our biannual meetings.
Although my final week on campus was filled with many rushed goodbyes, I found that some of my hardest farewells were with my fellow ‘Rosies.’ The unconventional way we seniors parted with the Institute last month made me reflect on how much I value the four years we spent together. When I received my acceptance call that September night in 2016, I did not realize that I would find some of the most important mentors and forge some of the closest friendships of my college experience through my work with the Rose. Working on articles for IEO and videos for ILG allowed me to discover my passion for writing and editing. As New Hire Manager over the past year, I had the pleasure and privilege to help seven brilliant, ambitious new hires cultivate the same skills (not that they needed much help!). Even though it usually wasn’t further than seven minutes from my dorm, the Rose was always my home base on campus. The research room was not only where I went to work but also where I went when I had a few hours to kill or needed advice. Sometimes I went just for a pickme-up. Indeed, my gratitude for the opportunities and friends the Rose provided me overwhelms any sense of grief I have over the circumstances of our departure. Thank you to everyone both on student and senior staff for your commitment to our community and to the development of our students (including myself).
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In Memoriam Rose Institute Board of Governors chairman Ray Remy passed away on Saturday, December 21 at the age of 82. Mr. Remy served on the Rose Institute Board since 1990 and became chair in 2017. He was also a member of the Claremont McKenna College Board of Trustees since 1989. During his long and illustrious career, Mr. Remy served as Assistant to the Director of the League of California Cities, Los Angeles (1962-1969), Executive Director of the Southern California Association of Governments (1969-1976), Deputy Mayor of the City of Los Angeles (1976-1984), President of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce (1984-1997), and Executive Director of the State of California Employment Development Department (1997-1999). The Rose Institute celebrated this impressive record by awarding Mr. Remy the Rose Institute Award for Excellence in Public Service in 2012. Mr. Remy was a 1959 graduate of Claremont Men’s College and received a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of California, Berkeley in 1963. He also served in the U.S. Army, attaining the rank of sergeant. Mr. Remy is survived by his wife Sandra, daughters Erin and Kimber, nine grandchildren and four greatgrandchildren. Mr. Remy was a great friend of the Rose Institute and a tremendous supporter of its students, many of whom he mentored over the years, including Nathan Harden ’07, Gavin Landgraf ’14, Tyler Finn ’17, and Grace Lee Kwon ’17. He was a model to our students and staff of commitment, thoughtful analysis, respect for others, and professionalism. His genuine affection and concern for our students were apparent to all. He will be greatly missed.
Student Staff
Senior Staff
Benjamin McAnally ’21
Andrew E. Busch, PhD
Student Manager
Jacob Leischner ’21
Associate Student Manager
Rose Review Staff David Almaraz-Roman ’22
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Director
The mission of the R ose Institu te is to enhance the ed uc ation of students at Cl aremont McKenna College, to pr od uce high q ualit y rese ar ch, and to pr omote public under standing on issues of state and lo c al g overnment, politics, and polic y, with an emphasis on C alifornia .
WWW.ROSEINSTIT U TE.ORG
Ken Miller, JD, PhD Associate Director
Bipasa Nadon, JD Assistant Director
Marionette Moore
Administrative Assistant