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About the Center > Description|Participants|Staff|Alumni|Awards
Aoife Connors
Aoife Connors graduated in 2008 with a Bachelors Degree in Journalism from Dublin City University. She is currently completing a Masters in International Journalism at DCU and is enrolled in the BU Washington Journalism Program as an exchange student. The eldest of five children, she grew up in Waterford, Ireland, on a dairy and sheep farm and has studied agriculture and farm business. She has been a volunteer leader in her local community and was very involved in clubs and societies at Dublin City University. She will be reporting for The New Hampshire Union Leader while in Washington and will be interning two days a week for The Columbus Dispatch. Her aim is to learn as much as possible about the American political, economic and legal systems while she is here.
STORIES WRITTEN:
Shaheen, working on health care reform, sees challenges ahead
WASHINGTON, April 22 – Melinda Haney, a 46-year-old mother of two from Rochester, N.H., says she is the perfect poster person for the importance of Medicaid. “If I didn’t have Medicaid, I would be dead.” Haney said.
Medicaid is a system of health care provided for low-income families and people with disabilities. Before she became a Medicaid patient in March 2006, Haney said she could not afford to take all of her prescribed medications, which cost more than $1,000 a month.
Recovery director keeps watchful eye on stimulus expenditures
WASHINGTON, April 10 – Tracking the expenditure of $300 million in the Recovery and Reinvestment Act for your state is a demanding job. Try planning a wedding at the same time. That gives you a sense of the craziness that surrounds the life of Lisa Levine, newly appointed recovery director in the office of Rep. Paul Hodes (D-N.H.).
Hanover High School student awarded $2,500 in essay contest
WASHINGTON, March 31 – Libby Tolman, a Hanover High School sophomore, has been awarded $2,500 for winning second place in the “Being an American” essay contest.
Tolman was selected as one of three finalists from the New England region, winning an all-expenses trip with her U.S. history teacher, Pamela Miller, to Washington from March 29-31.
Plummeting stock market wrecks retirement plans
WASHINGTON, March 25 – New Hampshire families are still struggling with the economy, but Rep. Paul Hodes, D-N.H., says encouraging signs are already evident.
“We are seeing a positive response from equity and the bond markets,” Hodes said Wednesday. “If the stock market stays up and keeps rising, it will have a beneficial effect on 401(k)’s.” Gregg says GOP will propose amendments to Obama's budget
WASHINGTON, March 24 – President Obama’s $3.6 trillion budget for 2010 will change the course of the nation in a fundamental way over an extended period of time, Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H, said Tuesday, as he led a press conference held by the Republican members of the Senate Budget Committee.
Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in D.C.: Green ties, green fountains
WASHINGTON, March 17 – On St. Patrick’s Day “we’re all Irish,” Rep Paul Hodes (D- N.H.) said Tuesday. “My wife’s nickname is Peggo,” Hodes said. “Pegg O’Hodes sounds very Irish, so I always say she is from the Irish side of the family.”
Gregg wants earmarks removed while Shaheen votes to keep them
WASHINGTON, March 4 – New Hampshire Sens. Judd Gregg (R) and Jeanne Shaheen (D) voted in opposite directions Tuesday on the McCain amendment that would freeze all earmarks in the $410 billion spending bill for the 2009 fiscal year.
Hodes sets record for fundraising for U.S. House race in N.H.
WASHINGTON, March 4 – Rep. Paul Hodes (D-N.H.) during his 2008 campaign raised more than $2 million, according to year-end reports filed with the Federal Election Commission. This is a record for fundraising for a U.S. House race in New Hampshire, said Dante Scala, head of the Political Science Department at the University of New Hampshire. In 2006, when he raised $1.6 million, Hodes also set a record, Scala said.
Stock market dive devalues N.H. residents' retirement plans
WASHINGTON, March 3 – Plunging stock markets, down to the lowest level in 12 years, has caused a severe decline in the value of 401(k) retirement plans. “It feels more like a 101(k) at the moment,” Rep. Paul Hodes (D- N.H.) said Tuesday, lamenting that the value of his pension plan has been wiped out.
“I am in the same boat as many folks in New Hampshire,” he said. Sen. Gregg introduces bill to increase food safety standards
WASHINGTON, March 3 - Legislation calling for a significant increase in the safety procedures governing the U.S. food supply was introduced Tuesday by a bipartisan group of senators, including Judd Gregg (R-N.H.). Greater authority would be given to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to improve the protection and safety of the U.S. food supply.
New Hampshire delegation reacts to Obama's budget
WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 – New Hampshire lawmakers divided sharply Thursday over President Barack Obama’s budget proposals for next year and for the long term.
Bernanke says 2010 will be year of recovery; Hodes agrees
WASHINGTON, Feb. 25 - Ben S. Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, declared Wednesday that “2010 will be a year of recovery,” while testifying at House Committee on Financial Services hearing on monetary policy and the state of the economy.
President speaks to joint-session of Congress
WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 —President Obama expressed confidence Tuesday night that the nation will weather the current crisis and end up economically healthier than before. Speaking to a joint session of Congress, Obama said, “I want every American to know this: we will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before.”
Hodes, Shea-Porter call for additional home-energy assistance
WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 —New Hampshire Democratic Reps. Paul Hodes and Carol Shea-Porter joined other members of Congress Wednesday in a last-minute push to include $1 billion in the economic stimulus legislation for the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
Hodes supports Federal Reserve actions
WASHINGTON, Feb. 10 —Rep. Paul Hodes (D-N.H.) said Tuesday that the collapse of the housing market and the increasing foreclosure crisis were the triggers of the country’s financial problems and that he was pleased to see that Treasury and the Federal Reserve were moving to handle the problem.
What's in the stimulus bill for New Hampshire families?
WASHINGTON, Feb. 4 – New Hampshire families will do well under President Obama’s stimulus bill, National Economic Council director Lawrence H. Summers said Wednesday.
Gregg calls for stimulus to focus on increasing real estate value
WASHINGTON, Jan. 28 —The economic stimulus package “should be about keeping the value in people’s home,” Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H) said Wednesday, complaining that the Obama administration’s bill falls short of that goal.
Ledbetter bill: Gregg votes no, Shaheen votes yes
WASHINGTON, Jan. 27 – The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, passed Tuesday by the House and last week by the Senate, is the first legislation to be sent by Congress to the White House since President Obama was inaugurated.
New Hampshire, South Carolina party at Grits and Granite Ball
WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 – What do grits and granite have in common? An unofficial inaugural ball, it turns out.
The New Hampshire Democratic Party and the South Carolina Democratic Party partnered to throw the Grits and Granite Ball Tuesday night at the Officers' Club at Fort Myer, Va., celebrating the inauguration of President Barack Obama. Crowds converge on capital; some with tickets turned away
WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 – Among the almost 2 million people who packed the nation’s capital for the swearing-in of President Barack H. Obama, New Hampshire residents could be found in most corners of the city: they were on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol, on the grass of the National Mall, and on the congested city streets.
New Hampshire residents flock to the capital
WASHINGTON, Jan. 19 --When she was young, Nicole Fellian was overjoyed when she was allowed to stay up late to watch the results of the 1992 election between Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush. Now, 16 years later, the Hopkinton resident who stayed up late to watch the political process unfold will get to watch it firsthand at the presidential inauguration of Barack Obama.
Community service in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 19 – Alden Hall, a physician living in Lebanon, was working the night shift on election night. “I was dealing with a patient in the emergency room at the hospital on November 4, 2008.”
WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 – While walking from her office in the Dirksen Senate Office Building to the Capitol to cast a vote recently, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., got lost in the basement. Speaking at an EMILY’s List luncheon Sunday, the new senator received a resounding cheer when she declared “the building was clearly laid out by a group of men.”
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