UNH hosts presidential hopeful John Edwards

MTV partnered with MySpace.com to present a live “presidential dialogue” with former Sen. John Edwards in UNH’s Field House on Thursday, Sept. 27. Using risers, elaborate lighting, wooden platforms and graphics of pixilated mouths sporting the MTV slogan “Choose or Lose,” MTV held a forum with approximately 300 UNH students. The program is currently featured on www.thinkmtv.com and was re-broadcast nationally on MTV and MTVU at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Students who signed up with MTV promotional staff got a chance to ask Senator John Edwards political questions on topics such as education, foreign policy, the war in Iraq and environmental concerns. The event is the kick-off Choose or Lose forum that features this election’s presidential candidates in a collegiate setting, aimed at informing and giving a voice to younger generations. MTV hopes to air many more presidential dialogues with other candidates in the future.

The forum started 20 minutes late, but students remained in their seats, awaiting the cue to applaud the former senator’s arrival. Soon after John Edwards arrived on the set, he was ready to discuss current issues with students.

The first question came from a female student who wanted to know how Edwards planned to promote diversity in schools—not just colleges—that are often overwhelmingly Eurocentric. He responded by declaring that diversity was important for all schools. He later proposed a “college is for everybody” program, explaining that if a student worked while in school, all his or her books and tuition would be paid for since they “work to earn it.”

Another student posed a question about health care reform. Edwards said he was proud to be the first candidate to propose a universal health care program that is badly needed in the United States. Drug companies have been making billions of dollars leaving nothing for citizens, according to Edwards.

“I’m an advocate for quality health care for everyone,” he said.

In order to fund many of these ideas, Edwards is looking to reduce tax cuts for “rich” people or those who make more than $250,000 a year. “A wealthy Wall Street investor’s secretary is paying a higher tax rate. I think that’s wrong and it needs to change,” said Edwards.

The former senator is also an advocate for the end of combat missions in Iraq, which he says separates him from some of his Democratic rivals. He stressed the need to engage in the war on AIDS and end the genocide in Darfur. He also proposes gradually reducing the country’s carbon dioxide emissions by 80 percent over time. 

UNH professor wins book prize

The Letitia Woods Brown Memorial Book Prize for best anthology in 2007 was recently awarded to UNH assistant professor Carol Conaway. Conaway received the prize for the anthology “Black Women’s Intellectual Traditions: Speaking Their Minds.” Conaway co-edited the anthology with Kristin Waters. The Association of Black Women Historians gives out the prestigious award every year.

Conaway, an assistant professor of communication and women’s studies, is on leave in Boston, her current stomping ground. As Conaway spoke over the phone, she had an appreciative tone.

“Previous winners are extremely distinguished people,” Conaway said. “It is a humbling experience to be in the same breath.”
Conaway, who is originally from Ardmore, Penn., went to college at Bryn Mawr and received a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“The purpose of the anthology is to expose the long buried tradition of black women’s intellectual progress in the 19th century,” said Conaway.

The book includes content that black theorists wrote and spoke, expressing their ideas about slavery, abolition, family and overall morality. It took about three years and 19 different authors to complete and publish the collaborative work, Conaway said. About 850 copies have been sold, and she “looks forward to a second printing.”

Conaway credited her students of spring semester 2007 for being very supportive of her work, when she would commonly bring up the anthology during her classes.

The award will be presented at the annual meeting of the Association of African American History and Life in Charlotte, N.C., on Saturday, Oct. 6.

N.H. Seacoast Alumni Chapter

By re-establishing itself, the UNH Seacoast Alumni Chapter is ensuring that graduates don’t lose a vital connection with the university.  “We are revitalizing the UNH Seacoast Chapter and hope to educate alumni about what we’re doing,” said Lynn Smith, coordinator of alumni programs.

The group is a social networking organization that plans various events throughout the year to keep a diverse group of alumni in contact. Members presently range from class of 1957 to as recent as 2001. In the past year alone the organization has grown from 35 to more than 80 members.

In order to be considered an alumnus, a student has to have completed only one semester at the university. With more than 115,000 alumni living all over the world, the Seacoast Chapter is one of many around the country keeping people in touch. The organization sends out emails to a massive mailing list of more than 16,000 alumni throughout the Seacoast area.

Most recently, the organization could be seen at the UNH football game on Saturday, Sept. 22, tailgating near the parking lot under a hospitality tent. The party is one of many functions the group hosts to keep alumni coming back to Durham.
“People like to come back to the campus, and football has a very broad appeal,” said Paula Dempsey, co-chair of the N.H. Seacoast Alumni Chapter Steering Committee.

The group maintains a strong sense of family values, hosting family events, such as a concert by the sea at Odiorne State Park in Rye. Annually, the group hosts 12 cocktail events and three seminars.

With a continually expanding chapter, the group plans to schedule four to six family-oriented events this year. Members plan to host a cocktail hour at hockey games this upcoming season, as well as an event at Patty’s Bar and Grill in Portsmouth to watch UNH take on UMASS in football on Nov. 10.