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Welcome, dear readers, to the Fall 2012 issue of SquareTwo! The full table of contents can be found on our archives page here.

Our feature article this issue is by former Governor Olene Walker about her attempts to implement tax reform in Utah in the early 2000's. The task was challenging, to say the least, and in the end political forces focused on the short-term, and not the long-term, undermined Utah's fiscal footing as it headed, unknowingly, into the Great Recession of 2008. Walker's insights are a must-read primer for those interested in political change.

Next, John Mark Mattox announces the Call for Papers of the third decennial conference of the LDS National Security Society, which will be held in April 2013 in Washington, DC. How is it possible for LDS national security scholars and professionals to "wield the sword while proclaiming peace"? We re-publish one of the articles from the proceedings of the second symposium to give our readers a sense of the type of discussion at these events, by Valerie M. Hudson on "power's reality and power's illusion."

Janille Shumway Stearmer reflects upon the election season we have all just survived, and concludes, sadly, that the Mormon moment did not necessarily bring out the best in the Mormon community. What went wrong? And what's the antidote?

Steve Cranney takes on the most recent research concerning same-sex parenting, which calls into question earlier studies that find no difference in outcomes for children. Despite this new and better quality research, Cranney asks whether any social science findings are now capable of informing the debate, or whether that moment has passed from the political scene.

Rachel F. Zirkle reviews the book Sex and World Peace, by Valerie M. Hudson, Bonnie Ballif-Spanvill, Mary Caprioli, and Chad F. Emmett, published by Columbia University Press earlier this year. Zirkle approaches the book from an LDS perspective, finding that the thesis that the situation of women in a society is a barometer of its peacefulness and security is one that is upheld by the teachings of the LDS Church.

Finally, in concernt with Olene Walker's piece, we offer our Readers' Puzzle for the new issue: every adult that has wrestled with their 1040 form has come up with ideas of how to make the US tax code better. Share those ideas with us, and we'll publish them!



Full Citation for this Article: Editorial Board (2012) "Editors' Introduction to the Fall 2012 Issue," SquareTwo, Vol. 5 No. 3 (Fall), http://squaretwo.org/EditorsIntroFall2012.html, [give access date]

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