Category: Kenna Caprio
Local Control Dominates Sex Education in New Hampshire
SEX EDUCATION
Keene Sentinel
Kenna Caprio
Boston University Washington News Service
May 1, 2008
WASHINGTON – Though the abstinence-only debate over sex education has flared up again in Washington, the controversy is having only a limited impact in New Hampshire, where sex ed programs and curricula remain under the jurisdiction of local school districts and communities.
Though there is increased concern about the rise in sexually transmitted diseases among young people—the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in March that one in four teenage girls in the United States has such a disease—critics of abstinence-only-until-marriage programs say they have not been effective.
New Hampshire, while it accepts federal abstinence-only grants, leaves it up to local school districts to decide what kinds of sex education programs, if any, to include in their curriculums. The state distributes the federal funds not to the schools themselves but to nonprofit organizations, which must match three of every four federal dollars received.
While the state mandates education about HIV and AIDS, it does not otherwise require sex education.
“The high schools make a determination themselves as far as what the curriculum can include,” said Lisa Bujno, a community health services director for the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services.
In Washington, meanwhile, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on April 23 conducted the first-ever hearing on the effectiveness of federal grants for state and local abstinence-only-until-marriage programs and whether they should be continued.
Rep. Paul W. Hodes, D-N.H, a member of the committee, described the rise in sexually transmitted diseases among the young as a “public health crisis.”
He added: “It certainly appears from the testimony at the hearing that abstinence-only programs are not effective in addressing the crisis that our teens and young people are facing in terms of the consequences of sexual activity.
“The testimony was clear that we now have scientific evidence showing that abstinence-only is not effective at preventing both disease and unwanted pregnancies. What is important, obviously, is to have comprehensive sexual education in which the importance of abstinence plays a significant role.”
Hodes favors an end to abstinence-only grants and instead supports grants for comprehensive sex education programs, according to Mark Bergman, his communications director.
Since 1982, the federal government has spent more than $1.5 billion on
abstinence-only-until-marriage programs, with more than $175 million allocated in the current fiscal year under a program created in 1996.
An increasing number of states have refused any federal grants for such programs.
New Hampshire, while it accepts such grants, received only $94,901 in federal funds last year for abstinence-only programs, with Catholic Medical Center in Manchester the lone grantee.
Area high schools, including ConVal Regional High School in Peterborough and Conant High School in Jaffrey, sometimes invite outside speakers to discuss abstinence with students, according to Bujno.
Jeanne Pride, who teaches independent living at Conant High School, invites Robin Ng, a speaker from W8NG: Because U’R Worth It! to come talk to her students. W8NG, an advocate of abstinence-only sex education, received $27,805 in federal abstinence-only funds in fiscal year 2006 but not in 2007.
“The kids know up front that this is an abstinence presentation,” Pride said, adding that Ng “does a good job of relating to the kids.”
In her course, Pride covers topics from basic anatomy and childbirth to sexually transmitted diseases, birth control, parenting and relationships.
Describing her job, Pride said, “I’m filling in, not taking the place of parents.”
Pride devotes more time to talking about sexually transmitted diseases than pregnancy, she said, because students are “much more likely to get STDs than to get pregnant.
At the House committee hearing, Shelby Knox, a 21-year-old youth speaker and blogger for the Huffington Post, spoke about her experience growing up in Lubbock, Texas. She said she took a virginity-until-marriage pledge at church, received abstinence-only-until-marriage sex ed, saw acquaintances become pregnant and realized that she believes in comprehensive sex education.
In her prepared statement, she said: “I believe in abstinence-only in a religious sense…. Even if we did wait until marriage, we still lacked a basic understanding of our bodies, reproduction and how to prevent pregnancy as well as a long list of sexually transmitted infections and the skills to navigate conversations about sex and protection.
Pro-abstinence organizations are quick to point out that abstinence education does more than just stress abstinence.
“I think one thing that is important to understand is abstinence education isn’t just telling kids to ‘say no to sex’; the programs are more comprehensive than that. They get into character building and goal setting,” said Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America, an organization that promotes public policy based on Biblical principles.
Valeria Huber, executive director of the National Abstinence Education Association, echoed that view: “[There’s] so much misinformation about what abstinence education is…it’s been reduced to a war of sound bites.”
A speaker from Catholic Medical Center, the single recipient of abstinence-only federal funds last year, was invited to discuss abstinence with Judy Heddy’s ConVal students this school year. Heddy also had a representative from Planned Parenthood speak to her students.
In her class, Heddy covers healthy relationships, sexually transmitted diseases, birth control and abstinence.
The speaker from Catholic Medical Center, Heddy said, covered “relationships, making choices, consequences of bad choices, benefits of waiting to have sex.”
According to the medical center’s Web site, it provides a “WAIT (Why Am I Tempted) Training – High school program for juniors and seniors on sexual abstinence in preparation for marriage.”
The hospital’s abstinence education program “has components that relate to healthy relationships, character formations, positive youth development, life skills and marriage preparation,” said the state Health Department’s Bujno.
Abstinence-only programs that receive federal funding must adhere to a strict eight point guideline.
Among the criteria: teaching “that abstinence from sexual activity is the only certain way to avoid out-of-wedlock pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and other associated health problems,” “that a mutually faithful monogamous relationship in the context of marriage is the expected standard of human sexual activity” and “that sexual activity outside the context of marriage is likely to have harmful psychological and physical effects.”
ConVal also offers an “opt-out” choice for students and parents if they are not comfortable with the subject matter of the class. According to Heddy, no one opted out this year.
In New Hampshire, it is up to educators and communities to listen and discern the best way to educate and protect students and young adults from the potential health risks of sexual activity.
At Keene High School, the co-superintendent, William B. Gurney, said that though students cover sex ed in 9th grade, the school is considering an 11th-grade health class as well.
“A lot of things covered in the freshman class [we] may do very well to discuss again with11th graders as they get ready to go off to college and into the real world,” Gurney said.
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Monadnock High Student’s Art Work to Hang on Capitol Hill
ART
Keene Sentinel
Kenna Caprio
Boston University Washington News Service
April 17, 2008
WASHINGTON – In June a Swanzey high school student’s art work will join works by students from across the country in an art exhibition in the tunnel that leads from the Capitol to the House office buildings.
Alison Dreyfuss, a 17-year-old senior at Monadnock Regional High School, on Saturday won first place in the 2nd Congressional District Art Exhibition held at Plymouth State University and sponsored by Rep. Paul Hodes, D-N.H. Her “Casualties of Winter” was part of “a project that the whole class was doing,” Dreyfuss said.
Her art teacher, Debbra Crowder, “said it was really great and she was going to put it into the competition,” Dreyfuss said. “I just went along with what she suggested.”
Dreyfuss said her winning piece features a mailbox “that had been kind of battered, hit by a plow and rust,” with Mrs. Crowder’s name on it. She used charcoal and conte crayons, which are a mixture of graphite and clay, to create it.
“It’s very important to encourage young artists.… [There] aren’t that many national competitions for young artists to enter at this level,” Rep. Hodes said.
“The winning artwork is hung in the corridor that goes…right to the Capitol…so literally thousands and thousands and thousands every year get to see the artwork,” he said. “To have your work displayed in the Capitol is pretty high level.”
According to a information from Rep. Hodes’ office, the Monadnock region was well represented in the exhibition; of the 43 entries, nine came from Fall Mountain Regional High School, four from ConVal Regional High School and five from Monadnock Regional High School.
“There’s a lot of interest and terrific involvement from Mondanock region,” Hodes said.
Karen Lyle, owner of Creative Encounters, a custom framing store in Keene, was tapped to frame the winning artwork.
The competition is “one of those things that just makes you smile,” Lyle said.
The competition is a national event, started in 1982. Since then more than 650,000 high school students from across the country have been involved, according to a statement from Mark Bergman, communications director for Rep. Hodes.
The winning artwork hangs for 11 months, starting in June, in the Cannon Tunnel, which connects the Cannon House Office Building and the Capitol.
The winner in the 2nd District of New Hampshire receives three round-trip tickets courtesy of Southwest Airlines to visit Washington for the ribbon-cutting ceremony on June 25. Also, if the winner is interested in starting his or her post-secondary education, the Savannah College of Art and Design offers a $5,000 “artistic honors scholarship,” according to Rep. Hodes.
Dreyfuss said she is set to attend Keene State College in the fall and plans to become a teacher. She has no plans to pursue art, though she took classes throughout high school and has been in Mrs. Crowder’s advanced placement art class for two years.
“I think any competition in which a young artist can obtain recognition for their ability is important because it allows them to feel confident in pursuing art,” Dreyfuss said. “A lot of kids don’t realize that there are opportunities where you can get a job and actually make money making art.”
The second and third-place winners, Erik Warn, a senior at Plymouth Regional High School, and Kiera McTigue, a senior at Pembroke Academy, will have their work displayed in Rep. Hodes’ district offices.
Levy Smith, a junior at Monadnock Regional High School, received an honorable mention for his work.
“I think it’s very important to provide opportunities for young artists to practice…. Young artists today are mature artists of tomorrow,” Rep. Hodes said. “Ultimately society and the country are often judged by history more on the base of lasting works of art than by any other measure.”
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Keene High Senior Practices Diplomacy at National Youth Leadership Forum
FORUM
Keene Sentinel
Kenna Caprio
Boston University Washington News Service
April 10, 2008
WASHINGTON – TJ Ferguson came to the phone to talk about his time in Washington at the National Youth Leadership Forum on National Security, but only for a minute because he needed to go outside to help his parents with the maple sugaring.
A 17-year-old Keene High School senior from West Milan, Ferguson has a lot on his plate. Last October he took time away from classes, from baseball, from his parents’ businesses and from Interact, Rotary International’s youth club that does charity work, to attend the national security forum.
“They mailed me a letter that said ‘accepted’ and gave some information about the program…. I was interested in national security, and that’s exactly what this was on,” Ferguson said. “It just seemed like a fun thing to do…. I’ve always liked history.”
It was Ferguson’s mother, April Ferguson, who opened the letter from the forum. The Fergusons own Ferguson Roofing Co and Millbrook Farm Woodworks; Woodworks sells sheds and gazebos and taps for maple sugar.
“It was addressed to ‘the parents of’ and I read it and thought ‘This sounds great,’ ” April Ferguson said. “I wasn’t sure if T would want to pursue the program…20 minutes later he was like, ‘I would love to participate in that.’ He had been indicating…a lot of kids graduate from college and have a tough time getting jobs. He said, ‘Look at all these jobs available with homeland security…. It’s never going to end.’ ”
The National Youth Leadership Forum, founded in 1992 by Richard Rossi and Barbara Harris, who also founded the Congressional Youth Leadership Council in 1985, aims to provide students with an introduction to various career paths, with forums on law, medicine and national security.
“Basically the goal is just to give high-achieving high school students the opportunity to explore a career field more in depth than even just a high school class that deals with it,” said Laura Stevenson, director of media relations for the forums.
“This particular program was developed in the wake of the first Gulf War,” Stevenson said. “Increased interest in careers in the military dissipated over time…. We introduced intelligence and diplomacy fields. The forum used to be called Forum on Defense, Intelligence and Diplomacy.”
The week-long forum, funded by student tuition, stresses speakers, site explorations, seminars and strategy exercises related to national security, according to a forum fact sheet.
“They [students] find out realistically what they can expect,” Stevenson said. “It informs them enough so they can make a more educated decision about what they want to pursue in college in terms of courses and majors.”
At the national security forum students hear from high-profile public officials in the defense, intelligence and diplomatic fields. Past speakers have included Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Richard L. Armitage, deputy secretary of State; and George Tenet, former director of the CIA.
One of the speakers who made an impact on Ferguson worked at the Pentagon and was there on Sept. 11, 2001.
“One of the guys talked about his experience…. He talked about what happened there and process of recovery,” Ferguson said. “He said things tightened up a lot.”
The culmination of the program is a three to four-hour simulation of a national security crisis. According to Stevenson, the program tries to create a situation that is relevant to national security issues of the time and could really happen. The theme for the session that Ferguson attended in October was “crisis or crossroads: East meets West in the Congo.’
“We all got assigned different roles,” Ferguson said. “I was an ambassador. There were a bunch of countries that I suggested group together and make a bigger territory and ward off the people that were invading.”
Students are often recommended and nominated to the program by a teacher. The nomination process is anonymous. A student’s grade-point average must be over 3.0, and the SAT score also factors into the equation. Students may also mark a field that they are interested in on their standardized tests and, if their scores are high enough, be recommended to the program.
Ferguson qualified not only because of his grades and SAT scores but also because of his leadership.
“He’s a real goal setter,” said Tom Fowler, the Keene High School baseball coach. “I think TJ’s leadership abilities extend into him being a future success in the real world. He cares about other people.”
The summer after Ferguson’s freshman year of high school, while pitching in the state tournament, he was hit in the head by a baseball. His skull was fractured.
“He had to recover from that and get back up on that mound,” April Ferguson said. She marveled at her son’s strength and called the accident a “turning point.”
“He doesn’t talk about it and just carries on. He never carries it as a crutch. Still waters run deep.... He has a deep strength that he exhibits to us,” she said.
April Ferguson sees that same strength in her husband, TJ’s father, Ted Ferguson, a former police chief in West Milan.
“He juggled that with his roofing business and he did a great job,” April Ferguson said. “And I remember it takes a certain presence…I remember T and I were talking about it one time and I said, ‘You have the same kind of presence that Dad has…. You stand back and look…. Diplomats are like that.’ ”
Security work at U.S. embassies appeals to Ferguson, but he is not sure what career path he wants to pursue yet.
For now, he is trying to decide between criminal justice and business as a major when he attends Franklin Pierce University in the fall, and he is hard at work trying to lead his baseball team to a top spot in the state.
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Sununu Introduces Tax Credit for Purchase of Energy Friendly Wood Pellet Stoves
WOOD
Keene Sentinel
Kenna Caprio
Boston University Washington News Service
April 3, 2008
WASHINGTON— In an effort to stimulate both the local and national economy and encourage cleaner energy sources, Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.) has developed an initiative that provides an income tax credit for the purchase of energy-efficient wood pellet stoves.
Sununu on Thursday joined Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and John Ensign (R-Nev.) in introducing the bipartisan Clean Energy Tax Stimulus Act of 2008.
A main initiative of the act is to extend the clean energy tax credits already existing under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which pertains to solar, wind, and hydropower resources. The other is to extend and include additional energy-efficient appliances in the energy efficiency tax credit.
Sununu’s provision adds wood pellet stoves to the energy-efficient group.
“In New Hampshire the sun doesn’t shine as much [as states where solar and wind power are prominent], but it has a great history of sustainable forestry,” Sununu said
Wood pellet stoves provide cleaner energy than other heat resources because wood pellets are usually made of recycled sawdust, bark and agricultural wastes
“In particular, we are grateful for Sen. Sununu’s dogged determination in securing a modest tax credit provision for high-efficiency, clean-burning biomass heating appliances,” Steve Walker, president and CEO of New England Wood Pellet in Jaffrey, said in a press release. “With oil heating costs going through the roof, this measure should help struggling New Hampshire families make the switch to locally produced biomass fuels such as wood pellets to heat their homes.”
The act also places emphasis on stimulating the economy because of the current price of oil and the economic struggle Americans are currently facing.
“Rising energy prices place enormous financial pressure on families and business across New Hampshire and the nation,” Sununu said in a press release. “These renewable energy tax credits help lower this burden and represent smart policy for our environment. Most important, the bill makes good sense for New Hampshire, where our wood, biomass and wood pellet industries here have provided jobs across the state.”
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Less Pork Barrel Spending in 2008 for New Hampshire than in 2006
PORK KEENE
Keene Sentinel
Kenna Caprio
Boston University Washington News Service
April 2, 2008
WASHINGTON — The 2008 fiscal year saw New Hampshire ranked 28th on the “pork per capita” state list put out by a non-partisan, non-profit watchdog organization.
Citizens Against Government Waste released its 18th annual Congressional Pig Book, which examines and quantifies pork barrel spending.
The Pig Book classifies pork as spending that meets one if not more of seven criteria: requested by only one chamber of Congress; not specifically authorized; not competitively awarded; not requested by the president; greatly exceeds the president's budget request; not the subject of congressional hearings; and serves only a local or special interest.
This definition encompasses spending earmarks, the practice of designating money for local or special-interest projects.
“There are 11,610 projects, the second-largest total ever, worth $17.2 billion,” Thomas A. Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste, said at a press conference.
Rep. Paul W. Hodes (D-N.H.) was responsible for $35.5 million for 35 projects this year while Sens. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) and John Sununu (R-N.H.) brought in $93.8 million and $69.4 million for 63 and 36 projects respectively, according to the Pig Book.
“I will continue my work to bring greater transparency and accountability to the earmark process with further reform,” Hodes said in a statement. “The leadership has decided that we will not halt earmarks this year; therefore, I plan to move forward with my requests to make sure New Hampshire’s tax dollars are not sent to New York or Los Angeles but stay right here in the Granite State.”
Gregg, at a press conference last month, defended earmarks. “I think an outright abolition of earmarks is an abolition of the authority of the Congress,” he said. “And it basically passes to the executive branch massive amounts of authority, which I’m not sure you want to embed in a bureaucracy which is unaccountable. At least the members of Congress are accountable.”
In 2006 New Hampshire was ranked 11th on the “pork per capita” by state list and was the highest ranked state in New England that year. This year, New Hampshire is preceded by Vermont, Rhode Island and Connecticut on the list.
“I'll continue to stand out if I think that we’re wasting resources or spending money on programs that can’t be justified,” Sununu said in a statement. “I was one of 15 senators to vote against the ‘bridge to nowhere.’ Citizens of New Hampshire expect you to stand up for their interests as I do every day, but also to make sure that we spend money wisely.”
The cost of New Hampshire pork projects totaled $42.1 million, according to the Pig Book. And the pork per capita was $32.04. Alaska led the states with pork per capita spending of $555.54 and Arizona had the lowest per capita pork, $14.17.
The Senate voted last month on an amendment that would place a one-year moratorium on earmarks. It failed, 71-29, with Sununu voting for the moratorium and Gregg voting against it.
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Not All Congressional Web Sites are Created Equal
WEB SITES (with sidebar)
Keene Sentinel
Kenna Caprio
Boston University Washington News Service
March 27, 2008
WASHINGTON – As more Americans go online and become tech savvy, they are turning to congressional Web sites for information about their representatives and senators in Washington and how to contact them.
But not all congressional Web sites are created equal, it seems.
Having a Web site is “a good first step when people are just generally trying to figure out how to contact their congressman and find out what he stands for and what he’s working on in Washington,” said Mark Bergman, the communications director for Rep. Paul W. Hodes, D-N.H.
But according to studies by the Congressional Management Foundation, a non-profit, nonpartisan organization that provides administrative direction to congressional offices, and an informal review of House and Senate Web sites by Politico, a Washington-based political publication, not every site is worth bragging about.
The foundation last year reviewed all 618 House, Senate, committee and leadership Web sites and gave them grades.
Tim Hysom, the foundation’s director of technology and communications services, was the project manager and a contributing writer for the 2007 Gold Mouse Report.
“The most common letter grade was a D. The good Web sites are getting better and the bad Web sites are either getting worse or staying stagnant…. Those winning awards are looking at congressional Web sites as an additional satellite office,” Hysom said.
Hodes and Sens. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., and John Sununu, R-N.H., all tended to the middle of the road. The foundation did not present them with a gold, silver or bronze Mouse Award as one of the best, but neither did Politico single them out for Lead Mouse Awards for needing work.
“It has to provide users with an ability to find out what the congressman is working on, what he stands for and how to get in touch with the office,” Bergman said. “Obviously the Internet is a tool to reach out to constituents as well as to have constituents to come back and reach out to the office. It’s a focal point for the congressman.”
Alan Rosenblatt, associate director of online advocacy for the Center for American Progress Action Fund, which describes itself as “a progressive think tank,” cited four main things constituents look for.
“Number one, they probably want to contact them. Number two, they want to keep tabs on what they’re doing. Number three, some kind of constituent service beyond the issues. Number four, where they stand on issues,” he said.
Rosenblatt looked over Sen. Gregg’s and Sen. Sununu’s Web sites.
“Sununu’s Web site is terrible, but what it has that Gregg’s does not have is issue positions,” he said. “To learn how he’s voted, a link to Thomas [the Library of Congress’s official source of legislative information and votes], but it doesn’t go to his page; it just goes to search. It’s like, ‘Here’s where you can find it but I’m not going to help you.’ Doesn’t seem to talk to his philosophy…really focused on legislative and specifics without necessarily getting into the approach.”
Sununu’s Web site, said Barbara Riley, his communications director, “is one of a number of key communications tools he utilizes to provide New Hampshire residents with the best constituent service possible.”
Dennis W. Johnson, professor of political management at George Washington University who was part of the team that came up the idea of the foundation’s awards and helped conduct focus groups, said accountability is the most important thing people look for in congressional Web sites.
Constituents want to see how their members of Congress voted and they want to see what they’re doing all day, Johnson said.
“They want to see their schedules,” he said. “A lot of citizens out there are irritated with Congress. And they want accountability, they want to know where their taxpayer dollars are going.”
To track how congressional Web sites measure up, the foundation designated six “elements of a quality congressional Web site”: design and layout, legislative content, constituent services, press resources, state and/or district information and communication tools.
“To get an award you’d really have to do quite well in all the areas we’re looking at,” the foundation’s Hysom said.
The foundation also provides a personalized 12-page memorandum to each congressional office on what they are and are not doing well.
“We’re in the process of actually revamping our Web site and should be able to launch by April,” Bergman said of Hodes’ site. “Things that have been pointed out in this report are obviously going to factor into the redesign of the Web site.”
Still, some congressional offices that did not win a Mouse Award or were mentioned in the Politico Lead Mouse Award article are not updating or changing their Web sites.
“The unique thing is that each member of Congress is responsible for their own Web site,” Johnson said. “In state legislatures…they use a template…. but Congress is different; they can have no Web site or the fanciest one you ever saw. It’s completely up to the member of Congress.”
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Wilson sidebar with web sites
A Keene native who now represents a New Mexico constituency has won a silver Mouse Award for her House Web site from the nonpartisan Congressional Management Foundation.
The Web site of Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., won the silver award for its constituent services section.
The foundation, which regularly reviews every congressional Web site, said in its report for 2007 that Wilson’s Help With Federal Agencies section “highlights real casework problems and solutions and gives users a sense of the work the congresswoman’s office can do for constituents.”
According to Enrique Carlos Knell, Wilson’s communications director, two people on the communications staff manage the Web site, and the office also trains interns to help with routine maintenance on the site. The office also works with a vendor, DoveTech Solutions.
In 2002 Wilson’s office won a silver mouse award and in 2003 a bronze. During the time when the 2006 awards were being given out Rep. Wilson’s Web site was undergoing major renovations, according to Knell.
“It certainly means that we’re doing something right, and this organization really knows what goes into [a Web site],” he said. “It’s an honor that they’ve recognized her over so many years.”
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Top Donors Critical in Tight Sununu-Shaheen Senate Race
DONORS
Keene Sentinel
Kenna Caprio
Boston University Washington News Service
March 20, 2008
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.) out-raised former New Hampshire Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, his leading challenger, last year, with significant contributions coming from the Club for Growth, a group that promotes conservative fiscal policy.
“He’s had a great record on economic issues,” said Nachama Soloveichik, communications director for the Club for Growth, in endorsing the senator. Sununu, she said, supports less government spending and “smaller, limited government, giving people greater economic freedom.” The Club for Growth spent about $8,500 in both direct donations to Sununu or independently on behalf of his candidacy.
In 2007 Sununu raised $3.1 million and Shaheen $1.37 million for their campaigns, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission.
Despite Sununu’s fundraising success, however, Shaheen has the lead in early polls. The Granite State Poll, conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center and made public on Feb. 11, put her ahead, 55 to 37 percent. The poll, which surveyed 516 likely November voters, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.
“We have to wait and let the campaign play out; the candidates have been focused on raising money. He’s the most vulnerable incumbent in the country,” said Nathan L. Gonzales, political editor of the Rothenberg Political Report.
That publication, a nonpartisan newsletter that covers politics and the Hill, lists Sununu’s seat in the “toss-up” category.
“I think Sununu’s been focusing on fundraising, and that’s probably a part of the campaign that’s been going well for him,” Gonzales said. “Republicans talk about how little Shaheen has raised. I don’t think that this campaign will be won or lost on money. It’ll have to do with the candidates, the message and the environment.”
Kate Bedingfield, communications director for Shaheen’s campaign, seconded that sentiment and added, “We’ll have plenty of money to get our message out, plenty of resources…. All data of late shows that people are really excited about her candidacy and are looking for something new.”
The top donor to Shaheen’s campaign is ActBlue, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that tracks campaign funding. ActBlue is a progressive Democratic group, which contributors use as a conduit to donate funds to Democratic candidates of their choice.
“It [ActBlue] serves as a legitimator early in the race,” said Marissa Doran, the group’s director of strategy and communications.
Last year, individual donors donated $194,666 to Shaheen’s campaign through ActBlue.
People donating to Shaheen online “represent a ground swell of excitement about the campaign,” Bedingfield said.
“The people who have contributed to Senator Sununu share his commitment to low taxes, limited government, local control and limited responsibility,” said Paul Collins, Sununu’s chief of staff. “They appreciate the leadership that he’s shown in the United States Senate.”
Candidates mainly rely on political action committees (PACs) and individual donors to fund their campaigns. Individuals may donate up to $4,600 per election cycle — $2,300 for the primary and $2,300 for the general election. PACS may give $10,000 per cycle — $5,000 each for the primary and general election. Individual donors may give up to $5,000 per calendar year to political action committees.
Incumbents usually collect more PAC money because they already are in Washington and have defined their positions on issues of interest to PACs.
“Depends on who the member is, are they moderate? Depends on what committees they sit on and what region of the country. A lot of factors come into play,” Gonzales said.
There are many reasons for contributing to a political campaign.
For Rich Ashooh, vice president of government relations for the electronics and integrated solutions branch of BAE Systems, a global aerospace and defense company, an old friendship, similar political positions and his own congressional background, all led him to donate funds to Sununu’s campaign.
Ashooh, who disclosed that he and Sununu have known one another for “going on 10 years now,” worked on Capitol Hill in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a legislative aide to former New Hampshire Sen. Gordon Humphrey and alongside New Hampshire Sen. Warren Rudman as a professional staff member for the Committee on Governmental Affairs.
In 2007 Ashooh donated $2,000 to Sununu’s campaign but expects to “max out” and contribute as much as he can to the campaign.
“Personally we’re friends but professionally he’s among the best I’ve ever seen,” Ashooh said. “What makes him stand out to me is I have not seen many senators in their first term have the impact that he’s had.”
Ashooh said believes in a government that allows individuals “the freedom to pursue their interests.” He added that he believes in a strong national defense and in efforts to fight worldwide poverty and the spread of AIDS.
“Good example of where Sen. Sununu and I agree: he’s been a huge advocate for global AIDS relief,” Ashooh said.
This is not the first time Ashooh has donated to a political campaign; he gave to Sununu’s 2002 campaign.
“We’re in a capitalist society; that applies to politics too,” Ashooh said. “And to make a difference you need to be engaged in as many levels as you can. I work for candidates that I support, I share my opinions, donate. If you’re going to support one of them you need to bring your A game.”
Individual donations like Ashoo’s last year totaled $1.9 million for Sununu, or about 60 percent of his total receipts, according the the filings with the Federal Election Commission. Shaheen, who lost in 2002 to Sununu, raised $1.1 million from individuals, or 82 percent of all contributions. According to the Shaheen campaign, the average individual contribution was $290.
Leading donors to Sununu’s reelection campaign include securities and investment, insurance and leadership PACs, which include members of Congress, politicians, candidates and other political or party figures. Challenger Shaheen’s top donors include Democratic/liberal groups, people who support women’s issues and retired persons, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
“I think in some regards it goes back to priorities,” said Sheehan aide Bedingfield. Sununu, she added, is “a Washington candidate; he went to Washington and has forgotten about New Hampshire.”
But Bedingfield acknowledged that a victory for Shaheen will not be easy to come by. “It’s going to be a close race,” she said. “Anybody who says anything else is lying. It’s going to be a tight race.”
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Franklin Pierce University has a Lobbyist in Washington
EDUCATION
Keene Sentinel
Kenna Caprio
Boston University Washington News Service
March 6, 2008
WASHINGTON — Joining a long list of higher education institutions, Franklin Pierce University has hired lobbyists to represent the school’s interests with Congress and help it acquire more federal funding.
“We decided that we needed to have a place at the table in D.C.,” said Brian Stuart, the university’s director of marketing and communications. It is smart strategy to have a voice “where policy is being formulated,” he said.
The small liberal arts university located in Rindge, N.H., hired lobbyists for the first time in February of 2007.
Eastpoint Strategies, a Manchester-based strategic consulting firm, was hired by Franklin Pierce to lobby on its behalf in Washington. The university paid Eastpoint $60,000 in 2007.
“The fact is they’re from New Hampshire,” George J. Hagerty, president of the university, said. “They know the state and the needs of the state. It was very easy for Franklin Pierce University to explain [to Eastpoint Strategies] who we are and the value we bring to the state.”
Eastpoint’s Darwin Cusack, chief of staff to former New Hampshire Congressman Charlie Bass and Andrew Emerson, Bass’ senior legislative assistant, work on behalf of Franklin Pierce. Neither would comment on the firm’s work for the university and said only that they do not discuss the company’s clients.
In hiring the firm, Franklin Pierce joins a long list of schools, ranging from Boston University to Wheaton College in Massachusetts, which employ lobbyists.
Boston University spent $480,000 on lobbying in 2007 while Yale spent $640,000. Wheaton College spent $60,000 according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan organization that tracks money in politics and lobbying.
In 2007 alone, universities and other higher education associations, such as the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, spent $66 million on lobbyists, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Higher education lobbyists are hired to do many things in Washington. They work on everything from helping schools acquire federal funds to collecting information about legislation that will affect higher education.
In October 2007 Franklin Pierce University received $143,000 in funding for its nursing program with the aid of Rep. Paul Hodes, D-N.H., in hopes of creating a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.
“I have a staff member who works on special projects with constituents,” Hodes said, and Franklin Pierce went through the application process.
“We try to prioritize particular merits of one kind or another with important public purpose. Issues around healthcare with nursing shortages are important. It ends up as a personal process,” Hodes said.
The university also received a $335,000 grant recently to help provide technology training to persons in the Monadnock region, Stuart said.
“Its purpose is to serve Franklin Pierce and broader benefit the region,” Stuart said. Being a very rural area, access to technology is critical, he said. “We’re a mission driven private liberal arts university. We believe we serve a broad public region and they deserve a local return on their tax dollars,” Stuart said. “The benefit goes beyond the walls of this campus.”
In addition to helping acquire funding, Eastpoint also alerted Franklin Pierce to the changes in the Higher Education Act, information that would have been harder to come by without a presence in Washington, he said.
“From what we understand the Higher Education Act has almost 200 new requirements,” Stuart said.
“In general there would be significant and burdensome info that we would need to collect, find, and report back,” Stuart said, “Much of this data is hard to quantify. And we’re all for improving higher education but we believe it’d be of dubious value.… A lobbyist gives us a heads up so that we can prepare to collect this data to abide by the provisions of the Higher Education Act or we can let our concerns be known, and let our voices be heard in Washington.”
In addition to affecting public policy and seeking funds through the formal federal budgeting process, universities also use lobbyists to try to gain additional funding through earmarks.
Earmarks are attached to pieces of legislation by members of Congress for the benefit of a project or an organization in their districts and are controversial because they circumvent the normal budgetary process.
“Academic earmarks are quite a scourge,” said Leslie Paige, media director of Citizens Against Government Waste, a non-partisan taxpayer watchdog group.
According to Paige, in 1980 the total cost of earmarks was $16 million and in 2000 it was $1 billion.
“Originally earmarking was done by research universities and now it’s spread to a whole other group that has nothing to do with researching,” said James D. Savage, politics professor at the University of Virginia and author of “Funding Science in America: Congress, Universities, and the Politics of the Academic Pork Barrel.”
Peer review is a screening process that forces universities to compete for federal grant funds. Proposals are reviewed by persons from peer institutions who have no interest in the proposal. The process highlights the advantages and disadvantages of a specific proposal and allows for decisions to be made based on merit. This system is favored by fiscal conservatives and groups like Citizens Against Government Waste because of the ability to track the money through the entire process.
“Federal dollars should have national merit,” Paige said, but it is impossible to judge the merit of earmarked funds.
When universities compete with other universities for funds it is easier to track the trail of what the money is actually being spent on, as opposed to what it merely was marked for, and whether the funds have had some effect, Paige said.
Ellin J. Nolan, president of Washington Partners, a firm that specializes in lobbying for educational institutions, disagrees. Even with earmarks, she said, universities fill out an application, deal with the agency that oversees that program and file end of year reports. “It is not free money in most instances,” she said.
Smaller universities argue that when it comes to pursuing funding through academic peer review that they are not on a level playing field because larger universities are better known and are able to hire entire departments dedicated to government relations while seeking earmarks from their congressional representatives gives them more access.
“I suppose to the extent, coming to a congressman’s office, it could be viewed as a less cumbersome and expeditious process,” Hodes said. “There may be some leveling of the playing field.”
Nolan said some universities “want lobbyists and that some do not. Institutions receive earmarks without them.”
But for Franklin Pierce having a lobbyist has been a help.
“We need an ear to the ground and place at the table in Washington,” Stuart said. “What’s the best way to do that? What’s the best strategy? That choice for us was to hire a lobbyist.”
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Fall Mountain Student Saw Government Firsthand as a U.S. Senate Page
PAGE
Keene Sentinel
Kenna Caprio
Boston University Washington News Service
February 13, 2008
WASHINGTON – Firefighter class…. YMCA Youth and Government…. Play practice. William Carmody, of Walpole, New Hampshire, is very busy but in a different way from when he would have to wake up at 5 a.m. anticipating a long day at the United States Senate.
Last semester Carmody, a junior at Fall Mountain Regional High School, was part of an elite group of high school juniors, aged 16 or 17, serving as pages in the Senate.
“I didn’t get to see the finer fighting and deal making behind the scenes but I did get to see firsthand the end result,” said Carmody, who was appointed a page by Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H. “I saw a 2 hour and 45 minute debate on how global warming didn’t exist and the rebuttal was 2 hours and 30 minutes about how it did exist.”
To become a page Carmody filled out “a lot” of paperwork, sent in an essay on why he wanted to be in the program (he borrowed the “hope” theme from the book and movie “The Shawshank Redemption”), a copy of his transcript and two letters of recommendation. Then he was off to Concord along with four other candidates for interviews with Carol Carpenter, Gregg’s state director.
“Sen. Gregg’s office looks for enthusiastic and well-rounded candidates and Will fit the mold perfectly,” said Laena Fallon, Gregg’s press secretary. “Will has a keen interest in government and a strong desire to learn more about how it functions.” The program, which only accepts 30 pages each semester, is extremely competitive. Fallon said that Carmody’s academic, athletic and community experience “really set him apart from other applicants.”
Active in politics at home, Carmody is gearing up for a campaign. Last year when Carmody participated in Youth and Government, a mock legislative and executive program, he was a senator. This year he is running for governor.
The program includes students from all over the state who write legislation, then meet in Concord to discuss and debate it. The governor will be elected at the preliminary session March 15 and the mock legislative session runs April 4 and 5.
“The campaign hasn’t quite gotten off the ground yet,” Carmody said, “but I’m hoping to start sending out emails, put something on YouTube.”
Carmody also is working to become a volunteer firefighter like his father, Bill Carmody, owner of Benchmark Custom Products Inc., which produces “custom labeled beverages,” soft drinks and carbonated waters. Because of funding cuts, Carmody cannot continue his training this spring to join the force as a firefighter, but he still is helping out around the fire station and in the community.
When he is not hard at work on his potential firefighting or political careers, Carmody is at play practice or thinking about colleges.
“I’m looking at the Coast Guard Academy,” Carmody said. “They have a wonderful program including theater and arts, which I’m very interested in.”
He also would like to learn to fly helicopters. “Flying in general has been a goal of mine for a job,” Carmody said. “I figure that’s a pretty good way to start off life and then I think I’d probably take a close look at a political career.”
Carmody’s fascination with politics and history can be traced back to the 5th grade and his teacher Mr. Hollis.
“Mr. Hollis was one of those wonderful people that really sort of inspired kids,” Carmody’s mother, Trina Carmody, said. “Right around there, Will started talking about…government and politics, how things work and how decisions were made.”
Trina Carmody, a guidance counselor at Will’s high school, happened upon the page program information while sorting through some papers that had been left behind by a previous counselor when she worked at ConVal Regional High School.
“It’s funny, I remember when I was a kid I heard about the pages that ran around the government and thought, ‘Wow, that’s so interesting,’” Trina Carmody said.
When Will expressed some interest in the program, she “filed” the idea away. As time passed they would occasionally mention the opportunity. When Carmody was a sophomore, and his interests tilted firmly toward politics and history, he decided to apply.
The Senate Page Program has a rich tradition, beginning in 1829 when Daniel Webster appointed the first page. The first mention of pages in the records of the House of Representatives was about the same time. According to the Web site of the clerk of the House, there were three pages working in the House in the 20th Congress, which served from 1827 to 1829.
Despite both programs’ reputation of excellence, the House Page Program has been involved in scandals in recent years. The latest was the exchange of explicit messages between Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., and a 16-year-old male page in 2006.
“What I would really love to be accentuated about the page program is that there are the House pages and then there are the Senate pages,” Carmody said. “So far the Senate pages, to my knowledge: no scandals.”
Carmody said that there is not interaction between the Senate and House pages because they go to separate schools and work on opposite sides of the Capitol.
Though Trina Carmody was aware of the scandals and negative press, she had little reservations about sending her son off by himself.
“The people I communicated with, when I was asking questions through the application process, I was just so impressed,” she said. “And believe me, that’s a tight ship down there.”
Will Carmody focused on the opportunity ahead instead, a challenging political program that also functioned as a trial-run for college.
“It [the Senate Page Program] enhances opportunities to be involved and understand,” said Kathryn Weeden, principal of the United States Senate Page School, which the pages attend every morning before reporting to the Senate. “It affirms what they can do as individuals and how they can contribute.”
Senate pages serve mainly as messengers, running bills, notes and other documents to senators on the floor.
“We’d set up water and all the papers and things on senators’ desks and we’d run errands for the cloakroom,” Carmody said, explaining that each party has a cloakroom, a room off the Senate floor where members can relax and staffers “pretty much track who is going on the floor when and it’s their job to make sure the senators are there to vote on bills that are important.”
Senate pages work long days. At the Capitol, after morning classes, pages split along party lines, Democratic and Republican, and then further into two groups. One group from each party serves until 6 p.m. and then heads home. The “late group” stays until the Senate adjourns, which sometimes is late into the night. The next day the groups switch shifts.
“You get used to sleeping … five hours,” Carmody said. “We usually got less because, of course, we have to study. There’d be kids hiding in closets with their flashlights studying for the test tomorrow.”
As an integral part of the Senate dealings, pages are privy to a variety of proceedings and activity on the floor.
“It’s very neat, especially for someone who wants to have a career in politics,” Carmody said. “I saw a lot of speeches…I saw Bono, I saw President Bush, I saw the Dalai Lama. Bono and the Dalai Lama were probably two huge highlights.”
Carmody also got the chance to talk and interact with Gregg a few times. “Will is an extraordinary young man and was an excellent page.” Gregg said. “He did a terrific job balancing the academic demands of the page school with his duties and responsibilities on the Senate floor. Will always came to work with a great attitude and he was respectful and enthusiastic with anything asked of him.”
After working in Washington D.C. and at home on Youth and Government Carmody, who turns 18 in July, is ready for the next step: voting.
“My dad always valued voting no matter what it was: town meetings or voting for the next president,” Carmody said.
Bill Carmody said he learned the value of voting from his father, a businessman and policeman in Waltham, Mass.
“This country is really a great country, but a lot of people complain but don’t vote,” Bill Carmody said. “I harassed my wife [about voting] and encouraged Will.”
As for the 2008 presidential race, Will Carmody has mixed emotions.
“I am a very strong independent. I’m a very, very big fan of Obama. I’m praying that he gets the Democratic nomination,” Carmody said. “If he doesn’t, and McCain gets the Republican nomination, I might vote for McCain.”
He is also thinking about third party candidates. “I’ve always felt that the dual party system…doesn’t represent the people effectively. I’ve always thought that there should be more parties like many European countries,” Carmody said.
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