Forum on guns, gun culture at Seminole Campus May 22

The Village Square, an initiative of the Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions at St. Petersburg College, launches into its second season with Shooting Straight: Unmasking America’s Love Affair with Guns. The dinner forum will be from 6 – 8:15 p.m. Wednesday, May 22, at the Seminole Campus Conference Center.

Two distinguished authors and the Pinellas County sheriff will discuss the issues that often are ignored in the current debate about guns and gun ownership. Not another debate about assault rifles, magazine sizes and background checks, panelists will discuss the questions that are seldom asked in the wake of the Newtown, Aurora and Tucson shootings.

The discussion panel will be moderated by Joni James, Deputy Editor of Editorials for the Tampa Bay Times. Panelists include:

• Dan Baum, author of Gun Guys: A Road Trip, Nine Lives: Death and Life in New Orleans, Smoke and Mirrors: The War on Drugs and the Politics of Failure, and Citizen Coors: An American Dynasty
• Bob Gualtieri, Sheriff, Pinellas County
• Al Tompkins, Senior Faculty for Broadcast and Online, The Poynter Institute

Seating is limited and online registration is required for this event. The program will include dinner and is $30 for Village Square members and $40 for guests.

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Changes to Florida’s juvenile justice system

The forum “Kids are Different: Youth in the Justice System,” held in March at St. Petersburg College’s Seminole Campus, was mentioned in an article in The Daily Record about change in Florida’s juvenile justice system.

The panel discussion is part of an ongoing series on criminal justice reform presented by the SPC Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions and the Florida State University Project on Accountable Justice.

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In the news: SPC forum looks at youth incarcerations

An upcoming forum at St. Petersburg College’s Seminole Campus will look at issues related to incarceration, such as why the United States is holding more youth than any other nation in the world and why Florida’s youth incarceration rate is 40 percent higher than the national average, TBNweekly.com reported.

The forum, titled “Kids Are Different: Youth in the Justice System,” is presented by the Project for Accountable Justice and SPC’s Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions. The event will be held on March 27.

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Forum on youth in the justice system March 27

SPC’s Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions and the Project on Accountable Justice present a public forum entitled Kids are Different: Youth in the Justice System in March.

The event will be in the Digitorium (UP Building) on the Seminole Campus on March 27 and is the second in a series of programs on criminal justice reform.

Panel Members

Jeanette Moll, Juvenile Justice Policy Analyst, Texas Public Policy Foundation/Right on Crime

Ajmel Quereshi, Staff Counsel, National Prison Project, American Civil Liberties Union

Irene Sullivan, Senior Judge, Florida Circuit Court, Juvenile and Family Divisions

Maj. Scott Ballou, Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, Juvenile Justice Division

Joe Clark, President of Eckerd Family Foundation, will serve as moderator.

This panel of experts will review the vast challenges that remain in how to address youth involved in delinquent behaviors and crime. Topics on the program are reform efforts, the latest in research and promising practices, and recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings driving changes in how we handle the unique needs of children involved in our justice systems.

The forum runs from 6 to 8 p.m.

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Forum on climate change, sea level rise March 20

The Village Square will host “Climate Change and Sea Level Rise: Time for a strategic retreat from the beach?” on Wednesday, March 20.

A panel of scientists will explore issues of coastal community vulnerabilities, beachfront inundation and sea level rise in a dinner forum co-sponsored by the Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions at SPC and the University of South Florida College of Marine Science.

A panel of scientists will address the issue of rising seas:

• Dr. Don P. Chambers, Associate Professor of Physical Oceanography at the University of South Florida College of Marine Science
• Dr. Mark R. Hafen, Senior Instructor in the Department of Geography, Environment, and Planning at the University of South Florida, Tampa
• Dr. Albert C. Hine, Professor of Geological Oceanography at the USF College of Marine Science
• Dr. Orrin Pilkey, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Earth and Ocean Sciences at Duke University

The event will be in the Conference Room in the Seminole Community Library at the SPC Seminole Campus, 9200 113th St. N., Seminole, from 6 to 8 p.m. Presenting media sponsors are the Tampa Bay Times, WUSF Public Media and WEDU TV.

Advance registration for the dinner program is required. Tickets are $30 for Village Square members, $40 for guests. Register for the event online. For more information, call 727-394-6251.

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Taxpayer costs, public safety strategies topics at prison reform forum

More than 120 people attended the inaugural forum in a series on prison reform held at the Seminole Campus Digitorium on Wednesday, Feb. 6.

A panel of four experts explored themes related to the issue of crime reduction from incarceration.

Daniel D’ Amico, Julie Ebenstein, Anthony Holloway and Marc Levin delved into topics of prison cost-effectiveness, taxpayer costs, emerging public safety research, best and worst practices and the impact that incarceration and other public safety strategies have on crime reduction. Dr. Allison DeFoor, chair of the Florida State University Project on Accountable Justice, served as the event’s moderator and discussed current trends within the criminal justice system. Panelists also took questions from citizens in the audience.

The forums, hosted by the Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions, are a collaborative effort with the Florida State University Project on Accountable Justice, a coalition that combines academic research and practical solutions with the goal of helping state lawmakers reform the state prison system. The partnership includes ISPS, Florida State University, Baylor University and Tallahassee Community College.

A video of the forum is available on the college’s YouTube channel.

The next forum, which will focus on the issue of juvenile justice, is scheduled for Wednesday, March 27, 6-8 p.m., at the Seminole Campus Digitorium.

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Forum series on incarceration kicks off at SPC campus Feb. 6

The Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions at St. Petersburg College will host the first in a series of four forums on prison reform on Wednesday, Feb. 6, 6-8 p.m. at the Seminole Campus Digitorium (UP 160).

The forum, titled Does Incarceration Reduce Crime?, features a panel of five experts in academia and law enforcement. Panelists will explore the questions of effectiveness, taxpayer costs, emerging public safety research and practices and the extent to which incarceration succeeds in reducing crime.

Panel members include: Daniel D’Amico, William Barnett Professor of Free Enterprise Studies, Loyola University, New Orleans Julie Ebenstein, Policy and Advocacy Counsel, Florida Branch of the American Civil Liberties Union Anthony Holloway, Chief of Police, City of Clearwater Marc Levin, Director, Center for Effective Justice, Texas Public Policy Foundation/Right on Crime Dr. Allison DeFoor, Chairman, Project for Accountable Justice, will serve as moderator.

The forum is a collaborative effort with the Florida State University Project for Accountable Justice, a coalition that combines academic research and practical solutions with the goal of helping state lawmakers reform the state prison system. The partnership includes ISPS, Florida State University, Baylor University and Tallahassee Community College.

Future programs in this series will address pretrial decision-making, juvenile justice and citizen oversight of the criminal justice system. The series is free and open to the public but advance registration is requested online or by phone at 727-394-6251.

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Forum at SPC breaks down proposed amendments

TBNweekly.com reported on the Oct. 4 forum held at SPC’s Seminole Campus that looked  at 11 proposed amendments to the Florida Constitution.

The forum’s panel talked about what they thought would happen if the amendments passed. Panelists included Tony Carvajal, chief operations officer of the Collins Center for Public Policy; Judithanne Scourfield McLauchlan, associate professor of political science and associate director of the Bishop Center for Ethical Leadership and Civic Engagement, University of South Florida St. Petersburg; Tara Newsom, associate professor of social and behavioral science at St. Petersburg College; and Aaron Sharockman, deputy editor for government and politics at the Tampa Bay Times. The event was co-sponsored by SPC’s Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions and the Collins Center for Public Policy.

For those who couldn’t attend the forum, it also is available on the college’s YouTube channel.

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Workshop Oct. 24 focuses on health service boards of directors

The college is hosting a training workshop Oct. 24 for members or prospective members of health service agency boards of directors.

The workshop will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Seminole Campus, 9200 113^th St. N. Registration of $125 includes lunch and continental breakfast.

SPC’s Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions is partnering with the Citizen Advocacy Center of Washington, D.C., and the Florida Department of Health’s Medical Quality Assurance Division to present the workshop for members of health professional licensing boards and for individuals who may be interested in seeking appointment to one of these boards. Facility regulators and the directors and staff of healthcare facilities are also encouraged to attend to learn more about how the two regulatory systems can work together to advance patient safety.

The workshop comes as frightening headlines draw attention to outbreaks of deadly disease traced to viruses contracted in hospitals and to an epidemic of prescription medication abuse, sometimes resulting in death. Hospital-based infections are often attributed to a widespread failure to follow hygiene protocols. Abuse of controlled substances is made possible when licensed health care professionals prescribe improperly or lend their credentials to “pill mills.”

Preventing or fixing problems like these is the job of regulators, some of whom are responsible for ensuring the safety of healthcare delivery systems and others for enforcing standards of practice for the individual professionals who deliver care.

The training is offered in recognition of the fact that appointees to licensing boards often have little understanding of what is expected of them in their role as board members. Little in the average appointee’s background prepares him or her for such service. This is especially true for public members, who are told to bring a consumer perspective to their board’s deliberations. What exactly does this mean, they ask, and how can we do it effectively? Facility leadership and facility regulators may also be unfamiliar with professional licensing and how it impacts their day-to-day operations.

The training will cover:

• The basics of boardsmanship – how boards work, their structure and powers, roles and responsibilities of public members
• How board actions affect the quality, safety, cost and availability of services
• Their relationship to other agencies: How do boards that regulate persons interact with agencies that regulate health delivery facilities?
• Rulemaking
• Relations with state Legislatures
• Outreach to the public
• And the responsibilities and pitfalls of discipline

To register, go to spcollege.edu/solutions and click on Upcoming Programs for a link to the Citizen Advocacy Center, or phone 727-394-6933.

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Constitutional Amendments forum at Seminole Campus Oct. 4

The college will try to take the mystery out of the constitutional amendments on this year’s ballot at a special pre-election forum on Thursday, Oct. 4. The free forum, co-sponsored by SPC’s Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions and the Collins Center for Public Policy, will be 6-8 p.m. in the Seminole Campus Digitorium.

Debating the pros and cons of the amendments will be a distinguished panel:

• Tara Newsom, Associate Professor of Social and Behavioral Science, St. Petersburg College
• Aaron Sharockman, deputy editor for government and politics, Tampa Bay Times
• Tony Carvajal, Chief Operations Officer, the Collins Center for Public Policy
• Judithanne Scourfield-McLauchlan, Associate Professor of Political Science and Associate Director of the Bishop Center for Ethical Leadership and Civic Engagement, University of South Florida St. Petersburg

Frank Alcock, Associate Professor of Political Science, New College of Florida, will serve as moderator.

Registration can be completed online.

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