PULLMAN, Wash. Social and political issues, including one that will be before Washington voters in November, will be considered during five events Oct. 16-22 co-sponsored by the Foley Institute for Public Policy & Public Service at Washington State University.
Events:
* Implementing Obamacare: Regulating the Insurance Industry in Washington, 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 16, Bryan Hall 308. RSVP to relgar@wsu.edu so there’s enough pizza and pop.
State insurance commissioner Mike Kreidler will discuss implications of the federal Affordable Care Act for insurance companies in Washington and provisions requiring competition on price and quality.
* Canceled: A Debate about Washington State’s Referendum on Gay Marriage. Originally scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 17, this debate has been canceled.
* Marijuana Legalization: A Debate about Washington State’s Initiative I-502, 9:15 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 18, CUE 518, cosponsored with the League of Women Voters of Pullman. RSVP to relgar@wsu.edu so there’s enough coffee and doughnuts.
Tonia Winchester from New Approach Washington, the Yes on I-502 movement, will discuss marijuana legalization with Douglas Hiatt, co-founder of Sensible Washington and opponent of marijuana legalization as set out in this year’s ballot initiative.
* Reproductive Health Rights and Religious Freedom – a Science, Ethics and Public Policy Panel, 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 18, CUE 202, cosponsored with WSU’s School of Politics, Philosophy and Public Affairs.
The panel will discuss religious freedom in the context of the federal contraception mandate that requires employers to provide health insurance plans to their employees that include access to all contraceptives approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Panelists will include Leslie Francis, professor of law and philosophy at the University of Utah; Dorothy McBride, emeritus professor of political science at Florida Atlantic University; Thomas Spencer, professor in the Center for Reproductive Biology and Animal Sciences at WSU; and a representative from the faith-based community.
* Rhetoric, Sincerity and the Death Penalty, noon Monday, Oct. 22, Bundy Reading Room, Avery Hall, cosponsored with the WSU Department of English. RSVP to relgar@wsu.edu so there’s enough pizza and pop.
Todd Butler, associate professor and chair of the WSU English Department, will speak about the intersection of rhetoric, digital technology and Supreme Court jurisprudence, especially in regard to the increasing use of new media technologies to create victim-impact statements for the penalty phases of capital murder trials.
Grounded in a recent Supreme Court decision (Kelly v. California, 2008), he will look ahead to how judges, lawyers and academics can use classical rhetoric to better understand the intersection of emotions and technology in judicial decision-making.