O’Neill emergency fund helps cover costs for student after crime

Posted on April 30, 2020 by Leslie Wells

Jadah Cunningham was planning to spend the weekend at her parents’ house. She went into work ready to finish her shift before heading home. But while she was working hard inside, a thief was working outside.

“When I got off work, I discovered my car had been broken into,” she recalls. “My backpack, purse, and an entire suitcase of my stuff was missing. I felt violated.”

Not only was Jadah preparing for her weekend trip, she was also in the middle of mid-terms and just eight days away from leaving for a professional conference in Phoenix.

“I feel lucky to be in the financial situation I’m in, but it was still incredibly difficult” she says. “My teachers were understanding and gave me extensions on my assignments, but I had to figure out fixing my car window, which was destroyed, and replacing everything that was stolen.”

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Understanding the impact of COVID-19 executive orders

Posted on April 29, 2020 by Leslie Wells

By: Kelsey Cook, Office of the Vice President for Research, and Leslie Wells, O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IUPUI

As COVID-19 began spreading across the United States, governors found themselves needing to react—and fast. Many began issuing executive orders aimed at slowing the spread of the virus. O’Neill IUPUI’s Peter Federman and Cali Curley are examining the executive orders issued and future ramifications of those decisions.

Federman and Curley, both assistant professors in the Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, are looking at executive orders issued from all 50 states. They are coding each one to gain a better understanding of which orders worked and which ones did not make an impact.

“We want to know what orders are coming from the top level, when they were put into place, what they do and don’t do, how they delegate power, and how they differ from state to state,” Federman said. “We are building a very robust data set that will help us understand the overall progression of how the country and each state has adapted using these executive orders.”

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O’Neill emergency fund helps student connect with ailing mother

Posted on April 27, 2020 by Leslie Wells

Cassie Popplewell stands with Indy skyline behind

Click here to donate to the O’Neill IUPUI Emergency Fund to help students facing unexpected crises.

Cassie Popplewell was well into one of the most impactful semesters of her life. The O’Neill public safety major was in Washington, D.C., with O’Neill’s Washington Leadership Program. She was thrilled to be working as an intern with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

But, once there, her excitement was soon interrupted by a family crisis. While she was 600 miles away, her mother had been placed on life support back home in Shelbyville, Indiana.

“When I received the phone call, I wasn’t sure what to do,” Popplewell recalls. “I was emotionally taxed from balancing my professional work and monitoring my mother’s health. I couldn’t focus and started struggling academically.”

Popplewell’s internship was unpaid and the flight home was expensive.

She reached out to her O’Neill advisors for advice. That’s when she learned she could apply for help from the IUPUI O’Neill School Student Emergency Fund.

The fund helps students cover the cost of unforeseen expenses such as health emergencies, sudden unemployment, unexpected housing costs or car repairs, and more. For Popplewell, it also covered the cost of a plane ticket to be by her mother’s side.

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The spark that turned into an Olympic flame

Posted on April 20, 2020 by Leslie Wells

Scott Teal stands in the middle of a desert, wearing a red shirt. With his back to the camera, he holds us the Olympic Torch he will carry during the Law Enforcement Torch Run. — O’Neill alum Scott Teal volunteers with the Special Olympics and was chosen to run in the Law Enforcement Torch Run in the 2020 Special Olympic World Games in Abu Dhabi.

It’s been one year since Scott Teal (MPA’96, BSPA’90) traveled 7,300 miles and a world away from his home in Central Indiana. At the time, he stood in a desert in the United Arab Emirates, holding the torch for the Special Olympics World Games. And there was nowhere else he’d rather be.

“It was just so incredible to be a part of something like this and to understand the power of its mission,” he says. “Words can’t describe that experience. It humbles you and teaches you about grace.”

On a normal day, Teal would be working as a senior special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). But for two weeks in March 2019, he represented the United States in the Law Enforcement Torch Run’s Final Leg. Teal joined hundreds of other law enforcement officers and athletes from around the globe to carry the Flame of Hope across the UAE to open the event in Abu Dhabi.

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IU mourns passing of Paul O’Neill, former Secretary of the U.S. Treasury

Posted on April 18, 2020 by Michael L. Jackson

Former Secretary of the U.S. Treasury and IU alumnus, Paul H. O’Neill, who demonstrated extraordinary leadership across the public, private and non-profit sectors, died Saturday (April 18) in Pittsburgh at the age of 84.

O’Neill was known for his unflinching integrity, his data-driven approach to decision making, and his strong commitment to public service. His distinguished career in government and industry represented a remarkable combination of business acumen and devotion to the greater good.

O’Neill came to Indiana University as part of the federal government program that sent promising mid-career federal employees to universities for advanced studies. (more…)