Bob Graham Biography
After earning his bachelor’s degree from UF in 1959 and a law degree from Harvard in 1962, the Miami Lakes native served 12 years in the Florida Legislature while working in his family’s cattle business and community development businesses. In 1978, he was elected Governor of Florida and served two successful terms. His passion for education was apparent, and in 1986 the Council of Chief State School Officers recognized him for his national leadership in education.
Graham was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986, serving three consecutive terms. One of his most important contributions came during his last term, when he was named chairman on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. He co-sponsored the bill to create the Director of National Intelligence position and co-chaired the “Joint Inquiry into Intelligence Community Activities Before and After the Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001.” Graham later authored 2004’s Intelligence Matters, revealing serious faults in the U.S. national security system.
Since retiring from public office in early 2005, Graham spent the 2005-2006 academic year at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. He now plans to focus his efforts on training the next generation of public leaders by mobilizing the academic resources of the University of Florida to solve public policy challenges facing Florida, the nation, and the Americas.
If you wish to contact Former Senator Bob Graham, please write or call:
Senator Bob Graham
6843 Main Street
Miami Lakes, FL 33014
Office: (305) 817-4060
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Monday, November 26, 2007
TOMORROW, WED, NOV. 28, SUPER BOB GRAHAM AT UWF...
Wednesday, Nov 28, various appearances at UWF, Pensacola, Commons Conference Center.
*10-11:30am [Commons: Conference Center, Room C, World Affairs Club Forum Event --address the campus group, the campus community and the Pensacola community on national security, democracy around the world.
(Open to public)
*11:45-1:00pm Conference Center Room B--Lunch – Invitees only, including UWF student leaders, SLS class members, members of the local media, as well as campus media, including Voyager student newspaper and journalism students. [Open to public also, but only special guests invitees will have lunch provided]
*1:15- 1:45pm Press Conference, UC Conference Center, Faculty Lounge. (Open to public, students, including UWF journalism students]
*2:30—3:30pm Conference Center Room B--Speak to Chat Sue’s Freshman Seminar class. Besides the 27 class members, other members of the campus community are invited to attend and observe. (Anyone can attend, but the main goal of the seminar is for Senator Graham to interact with the students in this SLS 1109 class about how to get college students 18-21 involved in politics/civic affair}
Of course, Senator Graham will also discuss his favorite quotation on civic involvement in a democracy:
“The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference, and undernourishment.”
Robert Maynard Hutchens
*10-11:30am [Commons: Conference Center, Room C, World Affairs Club Forum Event --address the campus group, the campus community and the Pensacola community on national security, democracy around the world.
(Open to public)
*11:45-1:00pm Conference Center Room B--Lunch – Invitees only, including UWF student leaders, SLS class members, members of the local media, as well as campus media, including Voyager student newspaper and journalism students. [Open to public also, but only special guests invitees will have lunch provided]
*1:15- 1:45pm Press Conference, UC Conference Center, Faculty Lounge. (Open to public, students, including UWF journalism students]
*2:30—3:30pm Conference Center Room B--Speak to Chat Sue’s Freshman Seminar class. Besides the 27 class members, other members of the campus community are invited to attend and observe. (Anyone can attend, but the main goal of the seminar is for Senator Graham to interact with the students in this SLS 1109 class about how to get college students 18-21 involved in politics/civic affair}
Of course, Senator Graham will also discuss his favorite quotation on civic involvement in a democracy:
“The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference, and undernourishment.”
Robert Maynard Hutchens
Thursday, November 22, 2007
SLS 1109 Class Project---UWF Voter Drive/Forum Nov. 13
Editor's note: The SLS 1109 class, which is completing tasks for its Bob Graham Civics Education Project, sponsored a Voter Registration drive and Political forum Nov. 13 in the UWF Commons Auditorium.
UWF College Democrats' President Dave Robau, Goleft TV's news host Farron Cousins (Golefttv.tv), freshman Matt Wallett, SLS class leaders Sydney True and Nick Wilson,discussed what is at stake for youths 18-21 in the 2008 presidential election, and why college students need to discard their cynicism and get involved, rather than merely "waiting for the world to change."
Freshman class members formed committees, purchased food and beverages for guests, and generally did an excellent job in this prelube to the main, event, the appearance of Senator Graham in their class seminar discussion ON Wed, Nov. 28, from 2:30-3:30 in Conference Room B of the Commons.
Super Bob is coming, minus his cape,Wed Nov 28 to UWF!
Editor's Note: Obviously, Senator Graham has a sense of humor! The many ambitious projects that he has undertaken since his retirement from public life and politics belie his commitment to his state and its citizens, and to the many "pet projects" that he is continually working on! If not
traveling the state and the world, he is busy directing the Graham Center for Public Service at UF/Gainesville, his alma mater:
Graham Center, located at the University of Florida, Gainesville:
Http://www.graham.centers.ufl.edu/
Thanks so much to talented graphic artist Oliver McKinney, from UWF's Student Activities office, for the Super Bob image, which is wonderful!
So that's why his many admirers, regardless of their political persuasion---be they conservative, liberal, or moderate---feel that he is the epitome of the political statesman, as active in retirement as he was as Florida governor and US Senator, a rare breed nowadays.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Senator Graham to speak to SLS Academic Foundations Seminar
On Wednesday, Nov. 28, UWF will host for the second time in three years an on-campus visit by former US Senator and Florida Governor
One highlight of Graham's visit will be his ideas on what young people, including those in Chat Sue's Academic Foundations seminar class, can do to be more actively involved in government, politics, and civic life in their communities.
The mostly freshmen students in the class, SLS 1109, who have discussed why their peers seem to eschew anything having to do with politics and government, say that many students are cynical and see these topics as being so unpleasant that they avoid them like the plague.
In preparing for this session with Senator Graham, the class has joined a American down-up youth movement, called Democracy 2.0, aimed at reinventing politics just as if it were a new version of a software program that needs upgrading, or reinvention, rather than be followed because it is the status quo.
The Democracy 2.0 movement is the brainchild of a national youth movement, started on line in early October, called Mobilize.org
The class discussion with Senator Graham will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 28, from 2:30 to 3:30 in Room B of the UWF Conference Center. Students, faculty, and staff are invited to observe and take part in the class discussion.
For further information, contact csue@uwf.edu, 850-474-3177,in the UWF Advising Center.
Select a Presidential Candidate whose Views are Most like yours!!
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/projects/ongoing/select_a_candidate/poll.php?race_id=13
This web site linked above, allows political minded students to find out which major candidate for US president in 2008 has views that are most like theirs!!
Take a few minutes, take the quiz,and find your perfect candidate for the Presidency!
Select a Candidate
By answering a series of questions at the site linked above, about major issues, you can quickly learn which candidates are most closely aligned with your views. You'll be able to learn more about each candidate, hear his/her positions on many issues, and find out how your results compare with those of others who take the survey.
This web site linked above, allows political minded students to find out which major candidate for US president in 2008 has views that are most like theirs!!
Take a few minutes, take the quiz,and find your perfect candidate for the Presidency!
Select a Candidate
By answering a series of questions at the site linked above, about major issues, you can quickly learn which candidates are most closely aligned with your views. You'll be able to learn more about each candidate, hear his/her positions on many issues, and find out how your results compare with those of others who take the survey.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Bob Graham to appear at UWF on November 28, 2007
Nov. 16, 2007
FORMER U.S. SENATOR BOB GRAHAM TO VISIT UWF NOVEMBER 28
PENSACOLA - The University of West Florida will host former United States Sen. Bob Graham Nov. 28. Graham will discuss issues including national security, civic education and effective ways for citizens to participate in democracy, at a World Affairs Club forum, media conference and to a freshmen seminar class. These events are open to the public.
{On Tuesday evening, Nov.27, at 5:30 pm, Senator Graham will be speaking on civic and political engagement as guest of the League of Women Voters of Pensacola. This event is being coordinated by Betty Enfinger of the LWV)
Then on Wednesday, Nov 28, Senator Graham will speak oat UWF at the World Affairs Club forum, 10 to 11:30 a.m. in the University Commons Center, Building 22, Room C. A press conference will be held from 1:15 to 1:45 p.m. in the University Commons Conference Center Lounge. Graham will conclude his visit with a freshmen seminar class from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. which will be held in the University Commons Conference Center, Room B.
Graham, though retired from public office, is very active, particularly with the newly established Bob Graham Center for Public Service at the University of Florida:
http://www.graham.centers.ufl.edu/
He is the author of “Intelligence Matters,” released in 2004, as well as his soon-to-be published book, tentatively titled “What Every Citizen Needs to Know to Make Democracy Work for Them.” Graham received his bachelor’s degree in 1959 from the University of Florida and a law degree from Harvard in 1962. A Democrat, his political career began as a Florida State Representative from 1966 to 1971 and a Florida State Senator from 1970 to 1979. He then served as the Governor of Florida from 1979 to 1987 and then as U.S. Senator in Florida from 1987 to 2005.
For more information, contact Chat Sue, University Advising Center, at (850) 474-3177 or e-mail csue@uwf.edu.
FORMER U.S. SENATOR BOB GRAHAM TO VISIT UWF NOVEMBER 28
PENSACOLA - The University of West Florida will host former United States Sen. Bob Graham Nov. 28. Graham will discuss issues including national security, civic education and effective ways for citizens to participate in democracy, at a World Affairs Club forum, media conference and to a freshmen seminar class. These events are open to the public.
{On Tuesday evening, Nov.27, at 5:30 pm, Senator Graham will be speaking on civic and political engagement as guest of the League of Women Voters of Pensacola. This event is being coordinated by Betty Enfinger of the LWV)
Then on Wednesday, Nov 28, Senator Graham will speak oat UWF at the World Affairs Club forum, 10 to 11:30 a.m. in the University Commons Center, Building 22, Room C. A press conference will be held from 1:15 to 1:45 p.m. in the University Commons Conference Center Lounge. Graham will conclude his visit with a freshmen seminar class from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. which will be held in the University Commons Conference Center, Room B.
Graham, though retired from public office, is very active, particularly with the newly established Bob Graham Center for Public Service at the University of Florida:
http://www.graham.centers.ufl.edu/
He is the author of “Intelligence Matters,” released in 2004, as well as his soon-to-be published book, tentatively titled “What Every Citizen Needs to Know to Make Democracy Work for Them.” Graham received his bachelor’s degree in 1959 from the University of Florida and a law degree from Harvard in 1962. A Democrat, his political career began as a Florida State Representative from 1966 to 1971 and a Florida State Senator from 1970 to 1979. He then served as the Governor of Florida from 1979 to 1987 and then as U.S. Senator in Florida from 1987 to 2005.
For more information, contact Chat Sue, University Advising Center, at (850) 474-3177 or e-mail csue@uwf.edu.
Researchers Urge Colleges Promote Political Participation and Suggest Ways to Do It
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
from Chronicle of Higher Education
Researchers Urge College to Promote Political Participation and Suggest Neutral Ways of Doing So
By SARA LIPKA
Community service attracts record numbers of college students, but not so politics. Researchers at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching have been exploring how to change that.
"Young people are strikingly and troublingly ignorant about politics and political decision making," Thomas Ehrlich, a senior scholar at the Carnegie Foundation, said at a news conference on Tuesday. The conference marked the release of the book Educating for Democracy: Preparing Undergraduates for Responsible Political Engagement (Jossey-Bass, 2007), which presents the findings of the foundation's three-year Political Engagement Project and reads as a how-to manual for colleges to promote political learning.
Just a third of students think it is important to keep up with political issues and events, and colleges are largely responsible for that, said Mr. Ehrlich, who is one of the book's authors. "Many campuses across the country make individual volunteer work such as tutoring kids or cleaning up a park an institutional priority," he said. "We could not find a single campus that made political engagement a priority."
The Political Engagement Project did find, however, 21 courses and programs at a wide array of institutions designed to improve students' knowledge of political and public-policy issues. The project studied those models and interviewed students before and after they participated.
The students' experiences increased their political interest and understanding but did not influence their stances, the researchers found.
"Students' political-party affiliation and their political ideology did not change," said Anne Colby, who is also a senior scholar at the Carnegie Foundation and a co-author of the book.
The researchers adamantly denied the claim, popular among some culture warriors, that colleges' political-learning programs are inevitably doctrinaire. "Education for political learning has to be unbiased, and it has to be really deeply committed to political open-mindedness," said Ms. Colby, who called such neutrality "perfectly possible."
The book examines five educational strategies that expand students' political interest, understanding, and participation, drawing on examples from the model programs. The techniques are not just for political-science courses, the authors insist, but have been used in agriculture, engineering, and English. Those strategies are:
1*Discussion and deliberation. Promote face-to-face, Web-based discussions, simulations like the Model United Nations, and writing assignments in which students can argue opinions grounded in evidence.
2*Political research and action projects.
3*Encourage students to join a group like Young Democrats or Young Republicans or to conduct research on or for a political organization or community group.
4*Speakers and mentors. Connect students to people with substantial knowledge of and passion for a certain issue, setting expectations with both parties for the interaction.
5*Placements, internships, and service learning experiences.
*Structured reflection. Assign students reflective essays or journals to allow them to integrate their learning.
Despite common perceptions, today's college students are not apathetic, Mr. Ehrlich said, citing their involvement in Teach for America and AmeriCorps. "The notion that this is the 'me generation' is just not true. They really want to participate."
But many students veer toward projects with more visible impact because they do not believe they can influence broader systems, he said, and they need to be shown otherwise.
In long reflections on civics and democracy, the book urges colleges to commit to educating students for political participation.
"If you want to think about higher education as preparing students to understand the world and their place in it, certainly understanding the system that they live under ... has got to be part of what we mean," Ms. Colby said. "This is a responsibility and an opportunity for higher education."
Highlights from the book and information on how to order it are available on the foundation's Web site.
from Chronicle of Higher Education
Researchers Urge College to Promote Political Participation and Suggest Neutral Ways of Doing So
By SARA LIPKA
Community service attracts record numbers of college students, but not so politics. Researchers at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching have been exploring how to change that.
"Young people are strikingly and troublingly ignorant about politics and political decision making," Thomas Ehrlich, a senior scholar at the Carnegie Foundation, said at a news conference on Tuesday. The conference marked the release of the book Educating for Democracy: Preparing Undergraduates for Responsible Political Engagement (Jossey-Bass, 2007), which presents the findings of the foundation's three-year Political Engagement Project and reads as a how-to manual for colleges to promote political learning.
Just a third of students think it is important to keep up with political issues and events, and colleges are largely responsible for that, said Mr. Ehrlich, who is one of the book's authors. "Many campuses across the country make individual volunteer work such as tutoring kids or cleaning up a park an institutional priority," he said. "We could not find a single campus that made political engagement a priority."
The Political Engagement Project did find, however, 21 courses and programs at a wide array of institutions designed to improve students' knowledge of political and public-policy issues. The project studied those models and interviewed students before and after they participated.
The students' experiences increased their political interest and understanding but did not influence their stances, the researchers found.
"Students' political-party affiliation and their political ideology did not change," said Anne Colby, who is also a senior scholar at the Carnegie Foundation and a co-author of the book.
The researchers adamantly denied the claim, popular among some culture warriors, that colleges' political-learning programs are inevitably doctrinaire. "Education for political learning has to be unbiased, and it has to be really deeply committed to political open-mindedness," said Ms. Colby, who called such neutrality "perfectly possible."
The book examines five educational strategies that expand students' political interest, understanding, and participation, drawing on examples from the model programs. The techniques are not just for political-science courses, the authors insist, but have been used in agriculture, engineering, and English. Those strategies are:
1*Discussion and deliberation. Promote face-to-face, Web-based discussions, simulations like the Model United Nations, and writing assignments in which students can argue opinions grounded in evidence.
2*Political research and action projects.
3*Encourage students to join a group like Young Democrats or Young Republicans or to conduct research on or for a political organization or community group.
4*Speakers and mentors. Connect students to people with substantial knowledge of and passion for a certain issue, setting expectations with both parties for the interaction.
5*Placements, internships, and service learning experiences.
*Structured reflection. Assign students reflective essays or journals to allow them to integrate their learning.
Despite common perceptions, today's college students are not apathetic, Mr. Ehrlich said, citing their involvement in Teach for America and AmeriCorps. "The notion that this is the 'me generation' is just not true. They really want to participate."
But many students veer toward projects with more visible impact because they do not believe they can influence broader systems, he said, and they need to be shown otherwise.
In long reflections on civics and democracy, the book urges colleges to commit to educating students for political participation.
"If you want to think about higher education as preparing students to understand the world and their place in it, certainly understanding the system that they live under ... has got to be part of what we mean," Ms. Colby said. "This is a responsibility and an opportunity for higher education."
Highlights from the book and information on how to order it are available on the foundation's Web site.
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