With jobs ranging from public health planning to booking guests for the Cable News Network, four recent Dartmouth alumnae spoke about their involvement in creating and implementing public policy in a panel discussion yesterday afternoon.
About 50 people attended the discussion which was part of a day-long symposium on women's health which took place in the Rockefeller Center.
The symposium was part of the Boehm Coster Program which was recently created by Frances and Robert Boehm '35 in memory of their daughter Nancy who encouraged women to pursue careers in public policy.
The panel consisted of Ashley Abbot '92, legislative assistant to John Elias Baldacci, D-Maine; Karen Bishop '87, a programmer for CNN; Susan Fink '84, attorney for the Department of Youth and Families, Rhode Island, and Carolyn Greene '79, public health planner at the Vermont Department of Health.
Bishop began the panel by discussing the media's role in shaping public policy and described her job at CNN booking the network's guests.
Bishop said she develops ideas for the interviews, locates guests and writes the anchors' questions for the guests.
Bishop said the media does not intend to shape public policy.
"In my six years at CNN, I have never seen my fellow journalists approach an issue with a certain agenda," she said. "Even though what we cover is determined by our own individual biases, no one individual decides -- it is based on consensus."
Abbot spoke about the creation of public policy. She said her job as a legislative assistant in Washington, D.C., is much like Bishop's, "except that instead of watching TV, I watch the House [of Representatives] floor."
Abbot closely monitors the floor, writes speeches, makes sure the Congressman's facts are accurate and makes sure Baldacci keeps in contact with his constituents.
Abbot said there are two main ways to create public policy.
"First, you have to be innovative and come up with creative and original solutions," she said. "Second, you must be constantly reacting to outside forces and deciding if issues are likely to be going anywhere."
As a child welfare lawyer, Fink spoke about implementing public policy, and said unlike the other two speakers, she is responsible for implementing policy in a "real non-profile" office.
She represents abused children and deals with issues like incest, cocaine and abuse.
Fink stressed the importance of confidentiality in her job but said while vitally important, it also served to hinder the system.
"We don't release children's names because we don't want any boy or girl to go to school with people knowing their situation," she said, "but when the system goes awry you get a lot of silence."
Greene discussed the development of health policy.
Greene said she initially did not think she had an impact on public policy, but realized, "that is what I do every day," by examining who and how many will be affected by certain health issues.
"I make sure that even people with low incomes are getting health services," Greene said. "One thing we do is say to the legislators, 'don't forget this part of the population even though they may not be loudest voice.'"
Other speeches at yesterday's symposium included "Compelled to Crime: Developing Effective Health Policies for Incarcerated Women" and a roundtable discussion titled "Women, Families and AIDS Policy."
