Welcome to The Dirksen Congressional Center's Communicator - a web-based e-newsletter providing educators with news and ideas to improve the understanding of Congress -- http://www.webcommunicator.org

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. Monthly Feature -- Setting Course for the 109th Congress
2. Monthly Theme -- Selecting Congressional Leaders
3. Featured Grant-funded Project
4. News and Views from The Center
5. Trivia - Good-bye 108th, Hello 109th
6. Postscript Information

1. SETTING COURSE FOR THE 109TH CONGRESS

The November election set in motion what will become the 109th Congress in January. In the next several issues of Communicator, we will introduce you to the new Congress. This month we begin with the Senate. The biggest story coming out of the congressional election was the defeat of Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD). How the nine new members perform, though, has more significant long-term consequences.

Five of the freshmen are relatively young, in their forties - Barack Obama (D-IL), Richard Burr (R-NC), John Thune (R-SD), David Vitter (R-LA), and Ken Salazar (D-CO). It's a diverse group, too, with Obama serving as the first black in six years and Salazar and Mel Martinez (R-FL) the first two Hispanics since 1976. No women were added to the ranks, though.

All of the newly minted senators have public service experience. Six of the nine served in the House of Representatives. The other three came from state government or federal service. The most common occupation, as you might guess, is attorney.

Here's the roster of new senators together with their campaign Web sites - do any of them represent you?

Ken Salazar (D-CO) -- http://www.salazarforcolorado.com/
Mel Martinez (R-FL) -- http://www.melforsenate.org/
Johnny Isakson (R-GE) -- http://isakson.net/
Barack Obama (D-IL) -- http://www.obamaforillinois.com/index
David Vitter (R-LA) -- http://www.vitter2004.com/
Richard Burr (R-NC) -- http://www.burr2004.com/
Tom Coburn (R-OK) -- http://www.coburnforsenate.com/
Jim DeMint (R_SC) -- http://jimdemint.com/
John Thune (R-SD) -- http://www.johnthune.com/

2. SELECTING CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS

One of the first acts in setting up a new Congress is for the two political parties to select their leaders, a process that takes place behind closed doors in separate party caucuses. The Republicans, who increased their majority to 55 in the Senate, and the Democrats, who remain in the minority, have selected their respective leaders. Find out who they are at: http://www.congresslink.org/print_basics_currentleaders.htm.

Each congressional leader brings his or her own style to the job. We have posted a lesson plan on CongressLink, Making Congress Work Through Leadership -- http://www.congresslink.org/print_lp_congleadership.htm -- that introduces students to the contrasting leadership styles practiced by different elected party leaders in Congress. This will help them understand such concepts as majority and minority roles in legislatures; the nature of deliberation, negotiation, and compromise; the context that shapes legislative leadership; and, the work of Congress more generally.

Visit http://www.congresslink.org/print_basics_leadershippositions.htm to learn about the roles and responsibilities of congressional leaders.

The Senate Historical Office provides complete information about the leadership positions there at http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Majority_Minority_Leaders.htm.

The Dirksen Center houses the papers of two congressional leaders: Everett Dirksen, Minority Leader of the Senate, 1959-69, and Robert H. Michel, Minority Leader of the House, 1980-94. We have just posted the guide to Mr. Michel's Papers at: http://www.dirksencenter.org/findingaids/index.htm. We plan to post the Dirksen Papers guide in 2005.

3. FEATURED GRANT-FUNDED PROJECT

**Congressional Research Awards Announcement**

DEADLINE: Proposals must be postmarked no later than February 1, 2005

The Dirksen Congressional Center invites applications for grants totaling $35,000 in 2005 to fund research on congressional leadership and the U.S. Congress. The competition is open to individuals with a serious interest in studying Congress. Political scientists, historians, biographers, scholars of public administration or American studies, and journalists are among those eligible. The Center encourages graduate students to apply and awards a significant portion of the funds for dissertation research. Undergraduate or pre-Ph.D. study, research teams of two or more individuals, and organizations are not eligible.

There is no standard application form. Applicants are responsible for showing the relationship between their work and the awards program guidelines. Applications are accepted at any time. Incomplete applications will NOT be forwarded to the screening committee for consideration.

All application materials must be postmarked on or before February 1, 2005. Awards will be announced in March 2005. Complete information about eligibility and application procedures may be found at The Center's Web site: http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_grants_CRAs.htm. Frank Mackaman is the program officer -- fmackaman@dirksencenter.org.

The Center, named for the late Senate Minority Leader Everett M. Dirksen, is a private, nonpartisan, nonprofit research and educational organization devoted to the study of Congress and its leaders. Since 1978, the Congressional Research Awards (formerly the Congressional Research Grants) program has paid out $620,000 to support 325 projects.

4. NEWS AND VIEWS FROM THE CENTER

** Interest Increases in The Dirksen Center's FREE Professional Development Opportunity **

Do you teach social studies, American government, American history, or civics? Are your lessons about the U.S. Congress out of date? Is it hard to engage your students in learning about the House and Senate?

Congress in the Classroom Online -- http://www.congressclass.org -- will help you understand today's Congress and suggest ways to teach about it. The self-paced workshop is organized around the twin responsibilities of Congress members: representation and lawmaking. There are more than a dozen individual units on such topics as "What Makes for Effective Members of Congress?" "How Representative is the Membership of Congress?" and "Lawmaking: Understanding the Basics." All the information you need to complete the online workshop is available with just a few mouse clicks.

A variety of congressional scholars have authored the workshop resources, and their qualifications are listed with their content pieces. Visit our Faculty Information page to find out more -- http://www.congressclass.org/facultyinformation.htm.

This professional development opportunity has no scheduled class times -- you participate at your convenience, day or night, no matter what time zone you're in. We want to make it easy -- get a professional development opportunity without ever leaving your own home!

For more information, visit -- http://www.congressclass.org/courseinformation_contents.htm -- for a complete workshop program overview.

We invite you to register to participate in Congress in the Classroom Online to help you understand today's Congress and discover ways to teach about it -- with all the convenience and speed of the Internet.

The Center received 33 new registrants in November. We look forward to your participation in December!

Register soon! -- http://www.congressclass.org/print_registration.htm

5. GOOD-BYE 108TH, HELLO 109TH

How much do you know about the 108th Congress, its personalities, and its districts?

1. What Congressional district has the youngest (lowest) median age in the 108th Congress?

A) California
B) Utah
C) Arizona
D) Florida

2. Which state has never been represented in Congress by either an African American or a woman?

A) Delaware
B) Utah
C) Minnesota
D) Oregon

3. Which member of the 108th has served 62% of his life in Congress?

A) John Dingell, D-MI
B) Edward Kennedy, D-MA
C) Robert Byrd, D-WV
D) Daniel Inouye, D-HI

Answers to the November's issue of Fun, Facts, and Trivia: http://www.webcommunicator.org/funfactstrivia1104ans.htm.

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