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Record Number of Cole Scholars Work in
Political Campaigns
By Mark
Graham
JUNE 16, 1999--A week into her summer internship at the consulting firm Greer, Margolis, Mitchell, Burns and Associates, Dana Adipietro, a junior from Fair Oaks, Pennsylvania, has talked with editors at The New York Times, producers at ABC News, and representatives for the National Security Agency.
Today, she is searching for video footage of Kosovo's refugees and the destruction caused by Hurricane Mitch. The internationally renowned consultants are producing a short video to entice musicians to play for Net-Aid, a benefit concert that will be broadcast over the Internet from Geneva, London, and New York simultaneously.
Dana is one of a record-high 11 students who have received Cole scholarships to work in political campaigns this summer.
The scholarships are one component of the Oberlin Initiative in Electoral Politics. A story describing the program appeared in the May 22, 1998 issue of The Observer.
Since the initiative began in 1993, between five and eight students participated each year. Eve Sandberg, associate professor of politics, says that the program was always intended to expand after a few years.
"Even though this is an off year for elections," she says, "we expanded the program in order to support those increasing numbers of students who think they might be running for office in the future."
"The Cole program has given me the freedom to pursue my interest in electoral politics, while also giving me the money I need to support myself during this summer education," Dana says. She says that her interest in campaign-finance reform and the influence of consulting firms led her to the program.
Dana will spend the rest of her summer helping the firm gear up for the 2000 elections and work on projects for the Nutrition Screening Initiative, National Safe Kids Campaign, Airbag and Seatbelt Safety Campaign, among others.
She chose to work for the firm after meeting Jim Margolis ’78, a partner in the firm, at a conference dealing with campaigns and elections on campus last April. She found that a consulting firm would be a place to see a wide variety of political activity.
"I wanted sort of the mish-mosh view of politics--with a little media, a dash of corporate reality, some issues, technology, people skills, and deadlines thrown in," she says. "I wanted to see the push. I'm not just seeing it, I'm feeling it.
The other Cole scholars are working for campaigns and political parties this summer.
- Kelsey Cowger, a sophomore from Omaha, Nebraska, is working in New Jersey for the Bill Bradley campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.
- Todd Daloz, a junior from St. Johnsbury, Vermont, and Margaret McFalls, a sophomore from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, are assistant precinct captains in the Reelect Willie L. Brown for Mayor Campaign in San Francisco.
- Sean Davis, a sophomore from Seattle, Washington, is a media director for the Willie Brown campaign.
- As the only full-time staff member of Kate Coyne McCoy's exploratory committee, Tamar Gubins, a sophomore from Los Altos, California, will get campaign field experience. McCoy, a progressive Democrat, is considering a run for an open Congressional seat in Rhode Island.
- Selena Hopkins, a junior from Fairbanks, Alaska, is working for the Alaska Democratic Party in Anchorage. Selena coordinates volunteers at the state fair and in voter-registration drives. She is also involved with fund raising and get-out-the message activities.
- Ingrid Huang, a junior from Baltimore, Maryland, is performing outreach to Asian-American communities in San Francisco for the California Democratic Party. She is asking them to participate in the National Democratic Party Convention to be held in Los Angeles in 2000.
- Bryce Runkle, a junior from Houston, Texas, is performing opposition and issue research for the Texas State Democratic Party.
- Micah Thorner, a sophomore from Olney, Maryland, is building a coalition to recruit possible candidates for the upcoming state representatives race for the Democratic Party's House Caucus Campaign in Florida. She is also working on projects related to the press, fund raising, and general state-organization work.
- After some training sessions, Leah Whitesel, a sophomore from Madison, Wisconsin, will be assigned to work with the New Party on behalf of their state representative and city council candidates in Missoula Montana. She will also be creating voter databases and citizen coalitions.
Please send comments, questions, and suggestions about Oberlin Online news and feature articles to Linda.Grashoff@oberlin.edu.
