The FHSU Convention Connection

Spending a few days in hot pursuit of the Kansas delegation in Denver during the Democratic Convention has given me a much fuller understanding of what makes the Kansas Democratic party tick. 

The personalities are wonderfully diverse. There are so many young people getting involved in the process. I enjoyed a quick visit with one of the country’s youngest delegates, Cori Allen of Lawrence, as we walked back from the delegates’ service project at C.U.R.E. 

Cori has worked for the Obama campaign during both her winter and spring breaks. She’ll be flying out of Denver immediately following the Invesco speech to start college in Boston, Mass. where she will be majoring in social entrepreneurship. 

 As a mom that just took one of my own daughters to college last week, I was reminded of the hopes we hold out for our kids as they step out of our doors to experience the world for themselves. I wish Cori all the best as she enters her new adventure.

I was absolutely touched by the compassion and determination of Len Schamber of Damar. We visited about his long history in the Democratic party, starting at the age of 10, during the Adlai Steveneson campaign. He told me that much of his political activism was influenced by the late Dan Rupp.

I, too, was influenced by Dan. He was my professor for three economics classes during my undergrad years. I attempted to take econ from other professors, but found that I couldn’t comprehend the concepts from anyone other than Dan. He was a great communicator. Beyond that, he understood the value of giving back to your community. 

That’s a common thread among our Kansas delegates… that, and a tremendous passion to influence social change in our state. 

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Wednesday-Mike Easley, the Governor of North Carolina, addressed the Kansas Delegation at the daily breakfast at the Double Tree Hotel.

Since the Kansas delegation was wearing their baby blue polo shirts, the governor joked that was the least they could do after the NCAA Tournament. Although Kansas and North Carolina will never be on a friendly basis when it comes to college basketball, Easley suggested to the delegates that it was time to agree on uniting the party. The speech to the delegates couldn’t have come at a better time either, with Hillary Clinton’s phenomenal job last night as the prime time speaker at the Pepsi Center conveying to her audience that it was time to let go of the rivalry between her and Obama; and it was time to unite the party as a whole.

Easley only hit on the key issues of the presidential election and mentioned the following: education, the economy, healthcare, and the Iraq War. He stated that McCain wants to keep in place the No Child Left Behind Act, which has failed the education system. Obama, on the other hand, would like to implement what he referred to as “drivers.” This means that class sizes would be smaller and teachers would get increased salaries. This is the alternative to the NCLB Act which focuses on accountability and closes schools which don’t perform according national standards.

Furthermore, Easley argued McCain’s position that the economy is strong. He stated that North Carolina’s economy has suffered tremendously under the Bush Administration’s “free trade” policies. He endorsed Obama because he will help the economy by providing knowledge, talent, and skill for the lower and working class to boost the economy. Furthermore, Easley commented on the current administration’s lack of keeping capital within the states, because so many low-skilled jobs are outsourced to other countries. As McCain has tied himself closely to the Bush Administration and received Bush’s endorsement, the McCain Administration will likely just be a continuation of the status quo.

Lastly, he spoke on behalf of Obama’s plan to have universal healthcare up and running by 2012 and also how he’d like to be out of Iraq within 16 months of being in office. Noted very importantly by the governor, Progress Energy and Duke Energy are both hard at work on lithium ion batteries for cars; and the hope is that within two years, most, if not all, cars will run in this cost efficient and environmentally safe manner. Easley states, “Not in one category I mentioned today is McCain the better choice.”

Although we’ll be rivals again when March Madness hits, August Madness proves that the two states’ Democratic Parties can agree on at least one thing and that is getting Barack Obama elected as president.

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If Barack Obama was the political surprise of the 2004 Democratic National Convention, Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer is filling his shoes this year.

Maybe it’s because I’ve heard him speak twice. Maybe it’s because he comes from a state with similar issues to Kansas. Or maybe it’s because he’s a “good ole boy.”

Schweitzer became governor of Montana in 2005. He ran with a Republican lieutenant governor so he could get things done in the state. He’s a prime example of not being a Democrat or Republican, but someone who wants to move forward and better the living conditions for the residents of his state.

Someone said this week that George W. Bush wanted you to think he was the “Cowboy President.” He might have a ranch, but he’s done little to help the farmers and trade relations in this country.

I don’t know Schweitzer very well, but I have a feeling the whole country will be hearing about him in the next four years. I’ve heard nothing but positive things about him from Kansas delegates at the DNC this week.

I like his swagger, his ability to relate to the people and the fact that he can form a sentence without the help of a speech writer.

The country needs more politicians like Schweitzer who are actually serving the people, not the lobbyists and who can lead without an agenda.

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Once upon a time, I graduated from high school and dreamt of making my home in the big city.
Any big city, for that matter — I never really had a strong preference. I just absolutely did not want to stay in my native western Kansas.
It’s funny how things change as we grow up.
After only five days in Denver, I absolutely cannot wait to come back to Hays.
I think “Cheers” said it best — it’s where everybody knows my name.
I’ve discovered I’m not a big fan of public transportation. For a ride to and from the downtown region, I’ve spent almost $20 in the past three days.
That’s nearly a tank of gas, which would get my small car and I by for at least two weeks at home.
Vine Street is also looking pretty good right now. One of yesterday’s activities required a trek across town, and try though we did to avoid rush-hour traffic, we spent about three hours in a Fort Hays State University van.
When we finally returned to our home-away-from-home, I seriously considered kissing the ground. We were hungry, tired, and travel weary.
Not only that, but we’d wasted three hours of our day, which is simply not acceptable to busy collegiate journalists.
To make matters worse, our resident delegate Shala Mills was with us, and she ended up being late to Michelle Obama’s Monday night speech at the Pepsi Center.
The final straw, however, came yesterday evening after our traffic jam experience.
We were so tired, we decided to order a pizza for dinner. For starters, we had to call three Pizza Huts to find the right one for our little metropolitan corner.
Then, we were informed it would be an almost 2-hour wait to have our pizza delivered.
Two hours! In good old Hays, America, the maximum delivery time is 20 minutes.
But small town charm is not all about logistics, or even economics and pizza delivery.
While the people here have been very friendly and accommodating, minus the protesters, of course — it doesn’t compare to the Hays hospitality.
As for me, I’m happy to make my home in a small town.

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As the instructor of the Fort Hays State University class that is covering the Democratic National Convention for the Hays Daily News, I have received a number of questions from readers.  So I thought I would respond to some of the most-asked questions:

Q. Who came up with the idea of giving students college credit for covering one of the national political conventions?  And how much credit are they receiving?

A. I did.  I began planning the class about a year ago.  In addition to covering events, the students are also meeting with national editors and public relations people who daily deal with organizing volunteers, writing news releases and raising money.  I started working to set up appointments with these professional communicators about a year ago also.  All of these people are very busy this week working for their own organizations, so it has taken a lot of time on the phone and e-mailing back and forth to set up times they could meet with our students. I thank them all for doing that.  The students are receiving one hour of college credit.  Both graduate and undergraduate credit was available.

Q. Will the students be covering the Republican National Convention too? (This has been one of the most frequently asked questions.)

A. No.  The reason we were able to take the class to Denver is because of Denver’s proximity to Hays.  It is a fairly easy drive, which cut our costs significantly.  Flying from Denver to St. Paul-Minneapolis (where the Republican Convention is taking place next week) would have been too costly.  Also, because the conventions are back to back, students would have had to miss two weeks of class, instead of just one.

Q.  I didn’t know anything about the class.  Can I take it next year?

A. No.  The presidential election occurs only once every four years.  And our ability to offer the class in the future will depend upon where the conventions take place.  There were also pre-requisites for the class, and students had to apply to get in.  The course is dual listed under Political Science and Communication Studies.  As a pre-requisite, Political Science students had to take POLS 100, the basic American Government class.  Communication Studies students had to take Comm 240, the basic News Reporting class.  And they had to make fairly high grades in those classes to be considered.

Q. Does FHSU offer this class every time there is a presidential election?

A. I have been the director of journalism at FHSU for 18 years, and this is the first time we have offered such a class since I have been here—again largely because of the location of the national conventions and the cost to get there.  To the best of my knowledge, no such class was offered before my arrival at FHSU in 1990.

Q. How was the trip financed?

A. The Communication Studies and Political Science Departments, under the leadership of Dr. Scott Robson and Dr. Shala Mills, respectively, are splitting the cost of the university van and gasoline.  The Journalism Area within Communication Studies is paying for the students’ lodging.  Students are paying for their food, mass transit fares, and other miscellaneous expenses.

Q. Where are the students staying in Denver?

A. We are camping out inside a church in Englewood, near the Kansas delegation’s hotel.  The students brought their own air mattresses, sheets, towels, etc.

Q. Are the students actually getting onto the convention floor?

A. No.  Applications for floor credentials must be made by the news organization itself.  The Hays Daily News, owned by Harris Newspapers, applied for floor credentials for the students and several of their own staff members.  But the Democratic National Committee, which is in charge of awarding press credentials, did not give any to the HDN.  Considering the small news organizations in Kansas that DID get credentials, the students and I are somewhat mystified as to what criteria the national committee used.

Q.  So what are the students covering?

A. Our job is to cover the members of the Kansas delegation, specifically delegates from the First Congressional District in which Hays is located.  Each class member has been assigned to cover specific delegates and write stories about their delegates’ experiences at the convention.  In addition, students are blogging, taking photos, and posting podcasts and videocasts.  This gives the students experience in media convergence, which is using various media platforms to convey information.

Q. Are you, the instructor, getting a lot of extra money for doing this?  (Interestingly enough, this is the question I have been asked the most).

A.  No.  I am doing this as an unpaid overload.  Why?  It’s pretty simple actually.  I think democracy is very important.  I think education is very important.  People can’t make intelligent choices in the voting booth unless they receive accurate information about candidates and their positions.  The best way for students to learn how to provide that kind of information is to actually do it. I have always viewed journalists as people who record history as it happens.  Regardless of your party affiliation, you must agree this is a historic convention.  This week my students are watching history as it is being made, and they are recording it for you.  As a journalism educator, it just doesn’t get any better than this.

None of the students nor I have ever been to a national convention before, although I did visit with a number of journalism instructors who have taken classes to national conventions in the past.  To all of them, I extend a hearty thank you.  Your advice was very, very helpful.

If you have additional questions, please respond to this blog, and I will try to answer them.

Linn Ann Huntington

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Monday we attended the “Unconventional Women” event featuring the theme “On the Campaign Trail.”  Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, was the key speaker at the event. 

The event started off with a few words from Ilana Goldman, the head of the Women’s Campaign Forum foundation.  She conveyed the message that more women should and can run for office; they even came up with a catchy slogan called “Women Can Do It.” 

Following her speech Pelosi entered the stage; however, not even 10 seconds into it protestors aligned in front of the stage with a banner reading “STOP THE WAR.”  The banner to follow read “STOP THE TORTURE.”  While these angry female protestors moved in front of the stage, they were yelling at Pelosi as if it was within her power to stop the War in Iraq. 

The protestors were kindly escorted out of the building by police, and Pelosi was finally allowed to speak to her audience, or so we thought.  However, every few minutes another protestor would shout something out at Pelosi.  Some of the shouts included, “Stop our sons from dying in Iraq” also as Pelosi mentioned the power that we as women have another protestor shouted at her to use her power to stop the war.

Being the respectful leader Pelosi is, she kept cool throughout the entire demonstration and simply replied, “If you want the war to stop, then vote for Barack Obama.”  This showed extreme character on behalf of our Speaker, and I believe many members of the audience respected her for her professional manner of handling such rude and obscene behavior.

I believe that every citizen has the right to protest, if they believe something unjust is occurring.  However, in this case I believe the protest was completely irrelevant.  First and foremost, Pelosi voted against going to war with Iraq.  Secondly, she is not the president; therefore she does not have the power herself to pull the troops out of Iraq.  Lastly, she has endorsed Barack Obama who intends to pull the troops out of Iraq and end this war, which has now lasted two years longer than World War II. 

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To be quite honest, I’ve never been “active” in politics.

Sure, I know who the candidates are and generally what they stand for on the important issues to me, but I’ve never gotten involved in a campaign.

I’ve also never been active in political issues, such as abortion. I’ve always thought my view on abortion was mine, and no one else really needed to know.

However, two men at the African-American Caucus Monday don’t think like I do.

They chose to voice their pro-life agendas before hundreds of Democrats. For it, they were escorted by police from the caucus and likely from the Colorado Convention Center.

While their pro-life sentiments were drowned out by chants of “Obama” from the crowd, I was struck by their rebellious attitudes.

“Barack Obama supports Black genocide,” the first protestor shouted. The other was subdued before I could make out what his abortion protest was exactly about.

I will never be politically active because the profession I have chosen won’t allow me to be; however, I also choose not to be vocal about my political beliefs because, as witnessed today, vocal displays of political allegiance won’t sway those who are committed to their own beliefs.

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Sitting in the lobby of the Doubletree Hotel, the home of the Kansas Democratic delegation this week, it’s almost impossible to escape rumblings of the name Roy Williams.

Five years and a national championship removed from his tenure as the University of Kansas men’s basketball coach, you would think people would have forgotten about the man who left for his alma mater of North Carolina.

And most people probably do until they run into someone from North Carolina. But this week, Roy, Dean Smith and basketball will likely remain the hot topic in the lobby of the Doubletree as the North Carolina delegation shares the hotel with the Kansas delegation throughout the convention.

While Roy Williams is no longer a curse word in Kansas, it is still a sore subject among some dedicated fans.

At least for this convention, Kansas can have the last laugh at the basketball gods, who must have had a hand in the reservations for the convention.

We have the national champs. North Carolina doesn’t. And after the Tar Heels win it next year, which they should, their state delegation will have three years to get it off their chests before the next Democratic National Convention.

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Getting people registered to vote is always the first step to getting your candidate elected.

And while that is important for the Democrats this year, the way those voters vote is even more important, according to Democratic National Convention Chairman Howard Dean.

Dean encouraged those attending the African-American Caucus Monday to participate in the neighbor-to-neighbor program. Each person knocks on 40 doors four times to encourage people to register to vote, but also to vote early in the upcoming election.

Dean believes the more advanced and absentee votes the Democrats can have on file before Nov. 4 election the better.

There is less risk of intimidation by people trying to prevent voters from casting their ballots. There is less risk that voters will succumb to sometimes faulty October surprises. There is less risk that voters will have to wait in hours-long lines on Election Day.

Dean believes the voters are in control of this election. Though I don’t agree and think politics will determine the outcome of this election, I do believe that the sooner we can all vote for change the better the country will be.

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Saturday we met with Keith White, Executive Editor of “Congress Daily,” and discussed certain components of the Convention.  White, who is no novice to conventions as this will be his 13^th, had plenty of insider’s information for us about what exactly happens at these extravagant events. 

Conventions no longer serve their original purpose, he said.  Long before they occur, the public is well aware of whom the presidential nominee is going to be.  Furthermore, what happens on the floor is not of much importance since much of it is scripted.  Democratic delegates from across the nation are here to discuss and decide upon the Party’s platform.  However, no president is bound by its party’s platform anyway. 

Since we are here to cover the Kansas Delegation, White suggested that we focus on issues important to our delegates.  He also suggested that we not lose sight of state politics. 

White, on the other hand, along with his 100 staff members for the “National Journal” which owns “Congress Daily” is only reporting on the delegates from the 10 most “important” states.  In political terms they are important because they are more populous; therefore, they have more electoral votes, and during the general election they will play the most vital role for the presidential candidates to win the election. 

Until we get personal experience of all these events for ourselves, it’s hard to tell what will actually be going on.  White’s advice will definitely be taken into account as we embark on our adventure of covering a historical event in the making. 

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