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New and Noteworthy
Hot
marketing idea: Fireproof Salmon
When Distinguished Professor Ron Hites announced that farm-raised
salmon were higher in toxic chemicals than the wild variety, the
news made serious headlines across the country. Then it hit NPR
in the form of satire by Harry Shearer, a former cast member of
Saturday Night Live and comic actor (This is Spinal Tap,
A Mighty Wind).
The fake radio spot, entitled “Sammy the Flame Retardant
Salmon,” depicts a family dinner that goes awry when the
salmon suddenly bursts into flames. A new product, marketed by
the fictional Innovent Foods, is described as “the first
salmon guaranteed not to turn your dinner table into a fiery nightmare.”
Hites loved the spoof. “It is not often that someone’s
research gets reported so widely to the public in such a palatable
way,” he says. “Although this was a parody, it did
in fact communicate the main points of our paper and even mentioned
the industrial point of view.” The NPR parody can be accessed
by going to www.npr.org and searching for “flame retardant
salmon.”
Hites’ original article can be found at
http://pubs.acs.org/journals/esthag/
It's Transparent:
There's room for improvement
Are Indiana’s nonprofits prepared to demonstrate accountability?
A new study from SPEA’s Kirsten Grønbjerg shows that most groups are,
in fact, prepared for the kind of scrutiny recommended by the Senate
Finance Committee, but there’s ample room for improvement.
Based on a survey of 2,206 Indiana nonprofit organizations,
the study shows, among other things, that 64 percent have audited
financial reports, 30 percent have a formal conflict of interest policy,
and 70 percent have an annual report—three of the tools the Finance
Committee recommends.
Grønbjerg emphasizes that many nonprofits don’t have the resources to put all
these tools in place. “It’s clearly not realistic to ask very small nonprofits
to get a full audit. It’s expensive,” says Gronbjerg, the study’s project director
and Efroymson Chair in Philanthropy at the Center on Philanthropy IUPUI. “But
something like an annual report or a conflict of interest statement is within
the purview of virtually every organization and would help nonprofits operate
systematically and with greater transparency.”
Grønbjerg is a professor in nonprofit management in the School of Public
and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University. For more details see:
www.indiana.edu/~nonprof/
Fresh Faces:
A few of the many new faculty members at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs
John Krauss, Indianapolis
Teaches: Public policy mediation. Joint appointment
with IU School of Law, Indianapolis.
Before: Was Senior Fellow at SPEA’s Center for
Urban Policy and the Environment at IUPUI. Served as Deputy Mayor
of Indianapolis (1982-1991) under Mayor Bill Hudnut.
Also: Directs 40-hour civil mediation certification
course for lawyers and professionals. Serves as director of Center
for Urban Policy and the Environment.
Reading: Franklin and Winston by Jon
Meacham.
Daily Web hit: www. Washingtonpost.com
Alfred Ho, Indianapolis
Teaches: Public budgeting and financial management.
Before: Taught in the public administration program
of the political science department at Iowa State University for
six years.
Also: Was the first graduate of the SPEA Ph.D.
program in public affairs, 1998.
Reading: Lonely Planet Slovenia by Steve
Fallon. “I presented a paper in the annual conference of the European
Group of Public Administration held in Slovenia. I was well prepared
for the trip after reading the book.”
Daily Web hit: www.iupui.edu
Beth Gazley, Bloomington
Teaches: Nonprofit management to undergrads
and grad students.
Before: Fundraiser and management consultant
in nonprofit sector for nearly 20 years.
Also: Served on the board of the Georgia ACLU.
Reading: The Life of Elizabeth I by
Alison Weir, Anne Lamott’s Blue Shoes Daily
Web hit: www.dogpile.com
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