Six Ex-Politicos Named Spring IOP Fellows

Gore's former campaign manager, President Bush's former campaign media consultant and a Washington Post reporter are among this semester's spring residential fellows at the Institute of Politics (IOP).

Addressing a diverse range of pressing issues including minority education and campaign finance reform, the six political experts will spend the semester working with students in weekly study groups.

Donna Brazile, former manager of the Gore-Lieberman 2000 campaign, plans to discuss the multi-faceted problems of last fall's presidential election.

Developing strategies that brought over 50 million Americans to

vote last November, Brazile was named Campaign Manager of the Year by Campaign and Elections Magazine.

Brazile, a veteran campaign strategist and political consultant, has also lectured at University of Marlyland/College Park and worked political talk shows.

Washington Post reporter Ceci Connolly, who covers national political issues including the 2000 election, will lead a political journalism workshop. Connolly, a native of Pennsylvania, contributes regularly to

Washingtonpost.com and was named, by Washingtonian Magazine, as one of the top 100 Rising Stars of 1999.

Bob Franks, who has served four terms as a New Jersey congressional representative will discuss his experience in Congress, focusing on finance issues.

In the 2000 race, Franks lost to Jon Corzine, who spent a record $63 million on the campaign. Franks will talk about campaign finance reform and his experience on the House Budget Committe, which produced the first balanced budget in a generation.

Politics Online President Phil Noble will discuss democracy in the age of the Internet, and will work with students on an interactive web-based project. Noble, who has written several articles and two books on the effect of the Internet on politics, works to help public affairs and non-profit enterprises use the Internet for its fundraising and communication capacities.

Pedro Russello just finished his second term as Governor of Peurto Rico. He will discuss public policy and community service while working with the Institute-affiliated Project H.E.A.L.T.H. Rusello has worked as a pediatric surgeon and professor of medicine at Harvard University before addressing issues in Latin-American politics and assuming the seat of Governor in 1992.

Lionel Sosa served as a media consultant for the Bush-Cheney 2000 Campaign. Having focused in the past on Hispanic media relations and education, Sosa will lead a group devoted to studying minority student groups and their achievement.

Sosa, who plans to return to Texas at the end of the semester, views his fellowship here as more than a simple discussion. Texas has the biggest challenge in terms of minority education, since the state will be two-thirds minority by 2020, and the drop-out rate for Hispanic high school students continues to climb up above 50 percent.

"We plan to discuss this to see what is being done, what can be done, and what challenges lie ahead," Sosa said. "We will come up with some solutions, and when we get back to Texas, will be putting into effect many of the ideas we have from the discussions this semester."

The opportunity to work with students who drive the fellows toward really meaningful dialogue is one of the factors that led Sosa to accept this fellowship, which grants fellows a monthly stipend.

"I'm very confident that there will be some incredible solutions discussed that can be implemented, not only in Texas but all over the country," Sosa said.

Jennifer Phillips, IOP coordinator of Fellows and Study Groups, spoke about the wide range of political issues that the semesters study groups will offer.

"We have an outstanding group of fellows representing diverse interests, perspectives and experiences," she said.

Political experts in their respective fields, each of the fellows were invited because of their active participation in national political affairs and their qualifications to discuss topics of interest to the undergraduate population.

A Study Group Open House will be held on Thursday at 6 p.m. in Loker Commons.