John Bottala
Staff Writer
Matthew Witt, associate professor of public administration, demonstrated the usefulness of the study of public administration by sharing his lecture “Integrity in Public Administration: Toward New Vistas” on Monday in the President’s Dining Room.
Witt wanted to share his research with his fellow colleagues and students and demonstrated some key points like the “shock doctrine.”
“The shock doctrine is the dramatic governmental deregulation of industry, that culminates with financial markets,” Witt said.
Witt used a video clip from the documentary “Inside Job” to make his point clear to the audience.
“Inside Job,” released in 2010, looks at the systemic causes of the Great Recession.
The clip highlighted events that Witt then used to illustrate the need for public administration in this world.
“People who attended the lecture felt the energy, and point Dr. Witt was sharing with us,” Al Clark, associate vice president of academic affairs, said.
Witt raised awareness of the current state of our society and how we need to model ourselves after the motto of the city of Portland, Ore., “A City that Works.”
People need a motto to live by that will motivate them and help bring this economy back to life, he said.
Academia offers a unique opportunity for students to see that our society needs public service to remind it about leadership.
“We are in a society where we need administration everyday, it is important to have that,” Clark said. “It was very interesting to hear about what Dr. Witt proposed about integrity in public administration.”
Witt said he hopes the information he shared with students and faculty on Monday will be shared beyond the lecture and spread throughout the community.
“This lecture raised our awareness of this troubled economy,” said Yingxia Cao, assistant professor of decision sciences.
“We have to be more aware of what we should be doing as members of society to help lift up this economy, before it gets worse,” Cao said.
John Bottala can be reached at john.bottala@laverne.edu.
