Welcome to The Dirksen Congressional
Center's Communicator – a web-based e-newsletter
providing educators with news and ideas to enhance civic education
and improve the understanding of Congress -- http://www.webcommunicator.org
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NEWS FROM THE DIRKSEN CENTER
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FINAL REMINDER -- Congressional Research Awards Announcement
DEADLINE: Proposals must be postmarked no later than
February 1, 2003
The Dirksen Congressional Center invites applications for grants
totaling $35,000 in 2003 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, journalists, and research teams of two or more
individuals 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 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. All application materials must
be postmarked on or before February 1, 2003. Awards
will be announced in March 2003. Complete information
about eligibility and application procedures may be found at
The Center’s Web site: http://www.dirksencenter.org/grantcongresearchaward.htm Frank
Mackaman is the program officer fmackaman@dirksencenter.org
Congress for Kids News!
Congress for Kids – http://www.congressforkids.net – has
been selected for inclusion in the American Library Association’s "Great
Web Sites for Kids" – http://www.ala.org/parentspage/greatsites/amazing.html Great
Web Sites for Kids are those considered the best Web sites
for ages birth to 14, outstanding in both content and conception.
As applied to Web sites for young people, “great” should
be thought to includes sites of especially commendable quality;
sites that reflect and encourage young people’s interests
in exemplary ways. The selection criteria can be found at: http://www.ala.org/parentspage/greatsites/criteria.html
Communicator is Contagious!
Communicator – http://www.webcommunicator.org – surpassed
9,000 subscribers in December 2002. Thank you for your interest.
Ev and Jerry” Shows Make a Comeback
The Dirksen Center provided C-SPAN with copies of the audio
tapes of the “Ev and Charlie” and “Ev and Jerry” shows,
as they were popularly called. Senator Dirksen earned his reputation
as a master of the media by his performances in the press conferences
that followed meetings of the Republican congressional leadership
in 1960s.
The audio tapes began playing in early December 2002 on “American
Political Archive,” C-SPAN Radio – 90.1 in the D.C.
area and also via satellite radio.
CONGRESS: The 108th Congress
The 108th Congress convened on January 7. Visit The Dirksen
Center’s Web suite – http://www.dirksencongressionalcenter.org – to
help your students learn more about the new 108th Congress.
Search The Dirksen Center’s Congressional Information
Center to find your U.S. Representative and Senators, learn tips
about contacting them, track legislation, stay current with committee
and floor schedules, follow campaigns, and much more. Find this
comprehensive, daily-updated guide to Congress at:
http://www.congresslink.org/informationcenter.html
Our CongressLink featured lesson plan this month will
acquaint students with their senators and representatives and
the positions they hold in Congress by using a variety of Web
sites. Find Communicating with Your Members of Congress at: http://www.congresslink.org/lessonplans/communicating.html
Every Friday, you can read a news article from Congressional
Quarterly and watch a web-exclusive interview with a CQ reporter
previewing the next week’s Congressional action or legislation.
Also, following key Congressional votes or actions, you can read
an exclusive follow-up story and view a vote tally. AboutGovernment includes
this weekly feature from C-Span and Congressional Quarterly.
Find Capitol Spotlight at: http://www.aboutgovernment.org/legislativebranch.htm
A new Congress often means new leaders. In CongressLink’s featured
WebQuest, Congressional Leadership, students are asked
to identify the traits that make success in congressional leadership
positions most likely. Their analysis will provide a guide to
members of Congress as they evaluate their colleagues who seek
leadership positions. Find this WebQuest at: http://www.congresslink.org/WebQuests/TraxlerLeadership.htm
By the way, the leadership roster for the 108th Congress is posted
on CongressLink. Find Congressional Leadership, 108th
Congress, (2003-2004) at: http://www.congresslink.org/leadershiproster.htm
Some of you may recall the press conferences which followed
meetings of the Republican congressional leadership in the 1960s.
They are the “Ev and Charlie” and “Ev and Jerry” shows.
This feature includes nearly 300 press releases issued at the
beginning of these press conferences, providing a succinct look
at the Republican Party’s position on issues during the
1960s. Find Joint Senate-House Republican Leadership Press
Statements at: http://www.dirksencenter.org/republicanleadership.htm
Featured Project
Our featured project this month is a $3,000 Michel Civic Education
Grant awarded to Yvonne Powell of Jeremiah E. Burke High School,
Dorchester, Massachusetts entitled Congressional Firsts.
This project is designed to create an Internet-based teaching
unit. About, for example, the first woman to serve in Congress,
or the first Hispanic to be elected to the House. Learn more
about this project and others at: http://www.dirksencenter.org/grantmichelciviced.htm#Michelwinners
If you want to sound like a political insider, you have to learn
the lingo. Find Congressional Lingo at: http://www.congressforkids.net/games/houseofrep/2_legislativebranch.htm
Congress, Congress, Congress
1. True or False: Congress pays a chaplain
to pray before everyday sessions?
2. At the time of George W. Bush’s election as President,
who was the senior member of the Senate (who had been there the
longest) and who was the senior member of the House of Representatives
(who had been there the longest)?
3. The House and Senate Majority and Minority Whips’ main
task is to garner support for their own party’s priority
legislation. This is called what?
Answers to December's issue of Fun, Facts, and Trivia link
here: http://www.webcommunicator.org/funfactstrivia1202ans.htm
Happy New Year! Encourage your colleagues to subscribe to the
Communicator. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions,
contact Cindy Koeppel at ckoeppel@dirksencenter.org Your
feedback makes a difference! |
