The daddy track

By Kit Binns 0 Comments Aug 1, 2000

A little time off at birth doesn’t solve the working-parent dilemma So Tony Blair is back at the office, his parental leave fading into memory. The arrival of little Leo gave rise all too briefly to earnest adult rumination about work, gender roles, and child care. But it’s not too late to parse the chatter.(...)

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Civic Engagement

By CommonWealth Staff 0 Comments Aug 1, 2000

In his new book, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, Harvard sociologist Robert Putnam attempts to quantify what he views as the crumbling character of American civic life by taking a closer look at public attitudes and community participation. Among the 48 continental states, Massachusetts fares better than most. In Putnam’s composite(...)

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Robert Putnam on the decline of civic life

By Robert Keough 0 Comments Aug 1, 2000

IF ANYONE HAS ever put to the test Andy Warhol’s famous thesis that everyone is accorded 15 minutes of fame, it is Robert D. Putnam. A former dean of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, Putnam is an expert on international diplomacy and comparative politics. Though well respected for works such as his 1993(...)

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Holyoke teens take control of their neighborhood

By B.J. Roche 0 Comments Aug 1, 2000

It’s a quarter to five on a Friday afternoon and Holyoke Mayor Michael Sullivan is talking on the telephone about the problems facing young people in his city. There’s a lot to talk about: 11 murders in the year leading up to his inauguration–two on the day he took office. The highest teen pregnancy rate(...)

Health Care

Understanding the health care crisis that isn’t but could be

By John E. McDonough 0 Comments Aug 1, 2000

At a regional health forum in March, House Speaker Thomas Finneran bluntly told an audience of 300, “I do not believe our health care system is in crisis.” During a follow-up session, I asked the audience if they thought: A) This is the most severe crisis they have seen; B) There are serious problems, but(...)

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Counterpoint

By Edwin J. Shanahan 0 Comments Aug 1, 2000

There are two separate components to our current housing problem–the need for “affordable housing” and the equally important need for housing that can be made affordable. The distinction might be subtle, but it is significant nonetheless. What is generally thought of as “affordable” rental housing cannot be built today without deep government support. As illustrated(...)

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Argument

By Aaron Gornstein 0 Comments Aug 1, 2000

During a two-week period this spring, 27,000 low-income households in Massachusetts applied for federal housing vouchers to help pay their rent. They joined at least 60,000 families already waiting for other government-assisted housing programs. Only a small percentage of these families will receive help. And about half of those who reach the top of the(...)

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The debt cap that isnt

By Gary Susswein 0 Comments Aug 1, 2000

When state leaders approved a $2.4 billion Big Dig bailout this spring, they said their plan was responsible. And they said it was fair to taxpayers. What they didn’t say was that it would force the state to borrow money in excess of its self-imposed debt cap. Again. In the interest of holding down the(...)

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State seal

By Alandra Hutchins 0 Comments Aug 1, 2000

Native American wearing moccasins, a disembodied arm holding a sword, and some words in Latin that hardly anyone can understand. How did Massachusetts end up with this conglomeration of images as its state seal? For that matter, why does the state have a seal at all? We turned to the stewards of the seal, the(...)

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Massachusettss overseas sales force

By Millicent Lawton 0 Comments Aug 1, 2000

Gov. Paul Cellucci and other state officials have caught flak over the years for their frequent trips and trade missions to foreign countries. But some state workers who promote Massachusetts businesses overseas never have to pack their bags for exotic locales. They’re already there. In March, Gov. Cellucci personally opened the new Massachusetts Trade Office(...)

Summer 2000