O'Neill student focuses on future in policy while recovering from bone marrow transplant

O’Neill student focuses on future in immigration policy while recovering from bone marrow transplant

Posted on November 23, 2020 by Leslie Wells

By IU Health Senior Journalist T.J. Banes, tfender1@iuhealth.org

She has her sights set on a career with a focus on social justice and equality. And the sooner she recovers, the sooner she can get back on track as a student at O’Neill IUPUI.

It was 2018 when Mayra Rodriguez found a mass under her right armpit. It didn’t hurt so she thought she might have an ingrown hair or something simple like acne. But when she eventually felt pain, her doctor biopsied the growth. It was about the size of a softball. Rodriguez was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a blood cancer that starts in the lymph nodes.

Under the care of IU Health oncologist/hematologist Dr. Sherif Farag she completed six rounds of chemotherapy.

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O’Neill IUPUI and University of Miami win Fourth Annual Voinovich Public Innovation Challenge

Posted on November 18, 2020 by Leslie Wells

Authored by Ohio University Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs

Faculty from the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IUPUI and the University of Miami won the fourth annual George V. Voinovich Public Innovation Challenge with an online dashboard to compare the ways states are responding to COVID-19.

The challenge is sponsored by Ohio University’s Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs in conjunction with the Network of Schools and Public Policy, Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) during their 2020 virtual annual conference. This year’s challenge focused on innovation in the face of COVID-19.

The winning innovative project, “COVID-19 Executive Orders Project,” was created and presented by Peter Stanley Federman, O’Neill IUPUI, and former O’Neill IUPUI faculty member Cali Curley, now at the University of Miami. The tool examines and analyzes pandemic-related executive orders adopted at state levels and presents them in a dashboard for comparison.

“We think that we can learn from how executives have responded to this crisis and potentially identify the variables that might predict the type, style, and comprehensiveness of further responses to other crises,” Federman said.

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O’Neill students play crucial role in COVID-19 response

Posted on November 16, 2020 by Leslie Wells

Mohammad Khan (L) and Aaron Farrer (R) both used their internships to help respond to the national and state COVID-19 pandemic.

As Mohammad Khan sat at his computer this summer, he worked on a white paper for the Boston-based urban planning group The Collaborative. Khan was an O’Neill Policy Studies major at the time, interning for the group and tasked with examining alternate care facilities that could be set up within 48 hours of an outbreak.

“The team wanted to know how and where they could quickly create makeshift hospitals,” he says. “We looked at what could be viable options—including schools, convention centers, hotels, even dorm rooms. Most city and state officials will have questions, so we will have answers to guide them.”

Khan’s research found that a centralized, well-connected location near public transportation was ideal in most large cities—a city within a city, he explained.

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Paving the way for future generations

Posted on November 10, 2020 by Leslie Wells

Public Safety Management major Ingrid Ortega is the first in her family to attend college.

Ingrid Ortega wasn’t sure what her first semester at IUPUI would hold. While many freshmen share similar feelings of stress, this Public Safety Management major had an extra layer of anxiety. Ortega is the first in her family to attend college.

“College isn’t easy for anyone, but I wish people understood how scary it can be for someone who has absolutely no idea what they’re doing and barely anyone to help them,” she says. “I wish people knew that it’s a struggle, but we’re trying our best. For most first-generation students, simply going to college is a huge success.”

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O’Neill student uses grant to support early voters

Posted on November 1, 2020 by Leslie Wells

Group of volunteers holding a sign that say you're not you when you're hungry — Cynthia Morraz (L) holds a sign with a group of volunteers handing out food and water to early voters at the City-County Building in Indianapolis.
L-R: Cynthia Morraz (O’Neill MPA student), Phyllis Washington (Director, 21st Century Scholars Success Program), Danielle Tate McMillan (Asst. Director Special Programs, IUPUI), Edwin Flores (21st Century Scholar mentor), and Clifton Norman (IUPUI Multicultural Center)

Polls in Indiana are open on November 3, 2020, Election Day, from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. To find Election Day polling sites in your area, visit indianavoters.org.

As soon as early voting opened in Marion County, a line began to snake around the City-County Building in downtown Indianapolis. Despite having more than 650,000 registered voters, the CCB was the only early voting location in Marion County until October 24.

With just one location open, long lines became the standard, with some voters waiting up to seven hours to cast their ballots. Like so many others, Cynthia Morraz was watching the frustration grow on social media. Yet she saw something else in those long lines: a demand for early voting that could help secure future opportunities for all voters.

“In Marion County, early voting is new,” she explains. “Satellite locations were just introduced in our local elections in 2018. By participating in the early voting process and waiting in long lines, we are demonstrating the need for additional early voting sites in all elections.”

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