Pardee RANDites Converge on Denver for APPAM Fall Conference

November 14, 2019

Denver was the place to be in early November, especially for the nearly 40 Pardee RAND students, alumni, faculty, and staff who attended the annual APPAM Fall Research Conference, "Rising to the Challenge: Engaging Diverse Perspectives on Issues and Evidence."

It was also a great place to connect and reconnect, as 44 Pardee RANDites, RAND researchers, and "friends of Pardee RAND" attended the school's annual APPAM reception on November 8.

Several of the panels and discussions were also replete with students, alumni, and faculty.

For the panel Substance Abuse and Crime, alum Anne Boustead ('11) presented her paper, "The Impact of Marijuana Outlet Density on DUI Arrests and Substance-Related Fatal Accidents." Student Sujeong Park ('15) presented a paper she wrote with Prof. David Powell, "Growth of Illicit Drug Markets and Its Effects on Crime Rates." And alum Gabriel Weinberger ('13) presented his paper, "Does Community Supervision Lead to More Substance Use Treatment Engagement? a Case Study from Los Angeles."

Another Pardee RAND-filled event was a Super Session called Cannabis Policy: The Plot Thickens. Alum Greg Midgette ('09) presented his research, "Local Policy Influence on Recreational Cannabis Market Activity: Evidence from Oregon and Washington"; Prof. Beau Kilmer served as one of the session's moderators; and Prof. Rosalie Pacula also presented a paper, "The Development of New Measures of Cannabis Market Exposure: A Case Study in Colorado."

Pardee RAND associate dean Rachel Swanger and alum Michael Shires ('90) led the inaugural meeting of — and helped launch — Policy Analysts of the Coastal and Inter-Mountain West. (Swanger and Prof. Kilmer also served on the Program Committee for the conference.)

In additional to these events, several alumni, students, and faculty did double and even triple duty, participating in multiple panels.

• Student Rachel Perera ('16) was a moderator for two student resources panels, Navigating the Academy as a Student of Color and Confronting Structural Racism in Quantitative Research. Perera, a member of the APPAM Student Advisory Committee, also received an APPAM Equity and Inclusion Fellowship to attend the conference.
• Alum Erin Duffy ('15) authored two papers presented in the same panel, Surprise Medical Bills: Causes, Consequences, and Policy Solutions. She presented "Surprise Medical Bills in Ambulatory Surgical Centers: Prevalence, Magnitude, and Attributes of Providers and Health Plans" and her coauthor, Loren Adler, presented "Analyzing the Impact of New York's Surprise out-of-Network Billing Law."
• Alum Ashley Muchow ('13) presented two papers in two different sessions. She shared "Can Community-Based Policing Moderate the 'Chilling Effect' of Immigration Enforcement? Evidence from Los Angeles" at the panel Restrictive Immigration Policies, and "Global Perceptions of the United States and International Student Enrollments" at the panel Immigrants & Education.
• Prof. Matthew D. Baird also presented two papers. He shared "Successful Characteristics of Job Training Programs for Disadvantaged Workers: A Mixed-Methods Evaluation of Several Contemporaneous Training Programs in New Orleans" during the panel on Alternative Strategies to Promote Reemployment. And in the panel on Promising Approaches to Developing and Supporting Effective School Principals, he presented "Preparing School Leaders for Success: Evaluation of New Leaders’ Aspiring Principals Program 2012–2017," which he wrote with fellow professor Susan Gates and several other RAND colleagues.
• Alum Neeraj Sood ('99) organized and served as a moderator on the panel Rising to the Health Care Cost Challenge. He also organized the panel Improving Value in Healthcare, at which he also presented a paper, "Effects of Employer-Offered High-Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs) on Low-Value Spending in the Privately Insured Population." (RAND's Christopher Whaley also participated in that panel, presenting "Paying Patients to Switch: Impact of a Rewards Program on Choice of Providers, Prices, and Utilization." Prof. Mark Friedberg's paper "Nudging Specialists in Value-Based Systems" was presented by one of his coauthors.)
• Bradley D. Stein ('97) was a discussant for the panel on Tackling the Opioid Crisis through Buprenorphine Treatment. Additionally, a research paper by Stein and Prof. Rosalie Pacula, "Defining the Costs of Opioid Use Disorder for Family Members," was shared by their coauthor, Sierra Smucker, in a panel titled Costs of Crime.
• And Prof. Andrew McEachin was a discussant for the panel Building Human Capacity in Low-Performing Schools: Evidence from School Reform Models across the Country. Additionally, his paper "The Ups and Downs: The Outsized Role of Summers in Eighth Grade Achievement Disparities across the U.S." was presented by his coauthor, Allsion Atteberry, in the panel Summer Learning, Some Are Not: New Insights for an Old Question.

Many other Pardee RANDites also attended and participated in the conference.

• Student PhuongGiang Nguyen ('14) presented her paper "Death By a Thousand Cuts: How Do Hospitals Respond to Financial Constraints?" in the panel on Health Care Supply.
• Alum Eric Apaydin ('11) presented a poster paper, "Burnout and Intent to Remain in Practice Among VA Providers Experiencing Primary Care Transformation," at the Welcome Reception with Poster Session.
• Alum Marlon Graf ('12) was a discussant on the panel Innovation in Internet Technology and Policy to Further Social and Economic Inclusion.
• Alum Melody Harvey ('12) presented a paper, "Impacts of State Policies Mandating Financial Education in High School on Savings By Low-Income Households," at the panel Challenges and Opportunities in Building Financial Security in Economically Vulnerable Populations.
• Alum Russell Lundberg ('07) presented a paper, "Addressing Terror in Homeland Security Policy," as part of the panel Engaging the Public in Homeland Security & Disaster Response.
• Prof. Philip Armour presented a paper, "Does Student Loan Forgiveness Drive Disability Application?: The Effect of the 2013 Expansion of the Total and Permanent Disability Discharge Program on SSDI and SSI Participation," at the panel The Impact of Safety Net Programs on the Benefit Receipt and Labor Supply Decisions of Individuals with Disabilities and Their Families.
• Prof. Lynn Karoly was a discussant for the panel on Improving Child Care Quality? Insights into State and Federal ECE Accountability Systems.

And although they didn't present research, two other important Pardee RANDites in attendance were alum Alison Jacknowitz ('99) and Lauren Davis ('15). Both are APPAM leaders: Jacknowitz is chair of the Institutional Representatives Committee and member of the Policy Council, and Davis is the student representative on the Policy Council.

— Monica Hertzman