Cal Day explores election issues |
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09 April 2008 ATTENTION: Political writers and editors |
Contact:
Kathleen Maclay, Media Relations
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WHAT
"Election 2008: Prepping on the Issues," a series of informative panel discussions and lectures on the upcoming presidential election and related campaign issues. The series will be held at Cal Day, the University of California, Berkeley's upcoming annual open house.
Leading off will be a panel discussion on campaign finance, the impacts of early primaries and the potential need for election reform. Experts also will look at what political science research says about presidential campaigns, separate fact from fiction in the immigration debate, discuss what's new with campaign finance, explore coverage of the “digital campaign” and more.
Aspiring future presidents in the anticipated Cal Day crowd of 35,000 adults and children can sit in on a special physics lesson outlining what a well-informed U.S. commander in chief should know about global warming, nuclear weapons, dirty bombs and even the theory of relativity.
WHEN
Saturday, April 12. Cal Day's Election 2008 program runs from 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.. Cal Day itself runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
DETAILS
Election 2008 events will include:
"Choosing the President in 2008," a 10 a.m.-noon discussion in the Lipman Room on the eighth floor of Barrows Hall. Panelists will be UC Berkeley School of Law Dean Christopher Edley Jr., National Review White House correspondent Byron York, UCLA political science professor John Zaller, and Ken Khachigian, a former speech writer for presidents Nixon and Reagan.
"Physics for Future Presidents," an 11 a.m.-noon lecture in Room 1 of Pimentel Hall by Richard Muller, a UC Berkeley physics professor, who teaches a popular course by the same name.
"Aliens, Immigrants and Citizens: Fact and Fiction of Immigration in the U.S." From 12:30-1:30 p.m. in Room 402 of Barrows Hall. Irene Bloemraad, a UC Berkeley professor of sociology and author of the book "Becoming a Citizen" (2008), will explore this topic through political cartoons and the media's conventional wisdom.
"Political Science and the 2008 Presidential Election." From 1:30-3 p.m., in Room 105 of Stanley Hall. Eric Schickler, a UC Berkeley professor of political science and co-author of the book "Partisan Hearts and Minds: Political Parties and the Social Identities of Voters" (2002), will deconstruct the dynamics of the Republican and Democratic parties' presidential nominations.
Additional Cal Day events relating to the presidential election will focus on school finance, energy and climate change, economics and international development. More details are online at: http://calday.berkeley.edu/2008/elex.shtml. Information about Cal Day's approximately 300 activities is online at: http://www.berkeley.edu/calday/.