Professor analyzes political arena

The American Democracy Project wrapped up their "Don't Hate, Debate 2008" academic year with its final New York "Times Talk" of the semester on Tuesday in the University Union. The guest speaker, political science professor Martha Kumar, explained the presidential transition and discussed the role the media has in the process. More than 35 students and faculty members attended the event. "I wanted people to have a better understanding about what goes into the presidential election and transition, especially because we can get our information from someone who has been involved with it directly," Darcy Accardi, the special assistant to the vice president for civic engagement, said. Kumar heads the White House Transition Project, which provides information for people coming into the White House. She has been active with the project since the beginning of the Bush administration. "I try to give material to people. I work with both campaigns. I provide them with White House organization charts, updated books and reports, and basic political science information. I work directly with the people who are doing the transition work in the White House," Kumar said. The presidential transition is a difficult and time-consuming process. It can be argued that early transition for a president is a sign of good management. "When you are talking about presidential transition and White House organization, there are so many areas that you want to cover, appointments, executive orders, the first 100 days are important," Kumar said. Students found the talk to be both informative and helpful. "I found out exactly what the presidential transition was. I didn't really understand it until the talk today. It was interesting to hear from someone who had an insider's perspective of it," Matthew Cruz, senior mass communication major, said. Not only did Kumar explain what happened during the presidential transition but she also addressed how the media had an effect on the election and presidential transition. News organizations, like The New York Times, take record of what is happening but are not supposed to take sides. "Every candidate faces this issue. They think that they have a personal relationship with reporters but once they become a real candidate, everything they say is on the record," Kumar said. Kumar shared stories about several incidences she heard about or experienced between reporters and officials while working on the White House Transition Project. "You can say a lot of rosy things during the campaign but the public will remember and they will hold you to it," said Kumar. Several students and faculty learned new information and focused on a different perspective of the presidential transition after participating in the talk with Kumar. The New York "Times Talk" will resume in February, although a theme has not yet been decided on for the 2009 academic year. "We will be brainstorming throughout winter break but anything we choose will be based on current events," Accardi said. For more information visit Involved@TU on the University Web site or contact Darcy Accardi at daccardi@towson.edu

Comments

Be the first to comment on this article!

Add comment


I am not posting spam. I understand posting spam or other comments that are unrelated to this article will cause my comment to be flagged for deletion and possibly cause my IP address to be permanently banned from this server.

Enter the characters in the image above:

log out