CONWAY - The University of Central Arkansas campus will be the host site today for the first panel discussion organized by a national group that wants college students to participate in the 2008 presidential election and help rally candidates around issues such as extreme poverty and global disease.
The event, which will take place at 1:30 p.m. in the Brewer-Hegeman Conference Center on the UCA campus, is open to the public.
"The ONE Campaign," a Washington-D.C.-based, nonprofit group that describes itself as nonpartisan and says it wants to raise public awareness about the issues of global poverty, hunger, disease and efforts to fight such problems in developing countries, is putting together today's event with UCA's help.
John Harris, editor in chief of Politico.com - a Web site devoted solely to politics - will moderate the discussion at UCA. Harris is a former reporter for The Washington Post and author of a book on former President Clinton called The Survivor. Panel members include UCA President Lu Hardin, author and national security expert Jeffrey Laurenti of The Century Foundation, and UCA professors and students.
Other college students from across the nation will provide questions for the panel via text message.
"The event is part of ONE's ONE Vote '08 initiative and our effort to make sure the youngest and newest voters are engagedon these issues and holding candidates accountable," said a spokesman for the organization, via e-mail.
Other events scheduled by the national organization will be held at the University of Pennsylvania on Nov. 1 and the University of Washington on Nov. 8.
Arkansas, Pages 10 on 10/25/2007