Volume 18, Issue 1 (2002)

This issue of the journal is a special issue of a different kind. It highlights the research capabilities of students in the Institute’s Masters of Science in Public Affairs (MSPA) program. The Director of the Institute, Ed Beard, has more to say about the program in his introduction. Suffice to say that tooting one’s own horn is occasionally permissible, especially if one has much to toot about. The three articles that appear in this issue were chosen after careful review with one criterion uppermost in mind: do they meet the standards that merit publication in a professional journal that prides its contribution to the arena of public policy research? Written initially as degree requirements, the articles merit a wider audience, and we present them proudly, more sure than ever that our Masters program fulfills a vital component of the university’s mission. These articles are testimonials to the caliber of student the program attracts, students who see public service not merely as a profession, but as a calling to enrich the quality of life for all in the Commonwealth and beyond.