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Fourth- and fifth-graders from Howard Elementary School write letters to themselves describing their hopes for the future.
News brief
Building Blocks helps children
iearn the value of college
Nearly 300 Eugene elementary
school students got a head start on
their college search last week.
The fourth- and fifth-graders
toured the University campus Fri
day as part of their involvement
with Building Blocks, a program
aimed at educating children on the
benefits of higher education.
About 20 University students
are involved with Building Blocks
this term. The program offers col
lege credit through the Communi
ty Internship Program.
As part of the program, Univer
sity students lead educational ses
sions in local classrooms on vari
ous aspects of college — including
financial aid options, academic
majors and housing, Building
Blocks graduate teaching fellow
Khela Singer-Adams said.
The culmination of these ses
sions is the campus field trip, in
which the elementary school stu
dents have the chance to see for
themselves what college is really
like, Singer-Adams said.
Eating at the Carson Hall dining
center, touring the residence halls
and greek houses, and meeting the
school mascot were among the
highlights of Friday’s visit for
many of the children, she said.
During the day, the group also
visited the College of Education,
where the children sat down to
write a letter to themselves about
what they learned through the
Building Blocks program, and
what they would like to major in.
In a few years, when these stu
dents enter high school, these let
ters will be mailed back to them,
Singer-Adams said.
While the program is open to
anyone, the main focus is on
reaching at-risk youth who may
have fewer opportunities to learn
about higher education, she said.
— Kara Cogswell
Bush persists with agenda
By Brigitte Greenberg
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President
Bush’s top staff aide took the
blame for the defection of Sen.
James Jeffords from the Republican
Party to become an independent, a
move that shifted control of the
Senate from the GOP to the De
mocrats.
“I think I’ve got to do a better job
of communicating with people on
Capitol Hill, but the president has
done nothing wrong,” White
House chief of staff Andrew Card
said Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Na
tion.” He added that Bush has no
plans to retaliate against Jeffords,
saying: “He is not about political
retribution or paybacks.”
While pledging to work with the
White House, incoming Senate
Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D
S.D., said some items on Bush’s
wish list, including drilling for oil
in Alaska’s Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge, are “dead.” He
also told NBC’s “Meet the Press”
he could not envision building
more nuclear power plants, as
Bush’s energy task force recom
mended, before figuring out how
to dispose of nuclear waste.
Card responded: “It sounds to
me like he (Daschle) doesn’t have
an agenda other than an agenda of
‘no.’ ... This should not be about
just saying no to any agenda that
the president puts forward.”
Losing control of the Senate to
1 Denrocrats - wiH - not tleter Bush
from pressing ahead with his agen
da, Card said.
“We’ll be able to get the presi
dent’s agenda put forward because
it’s an agenda for America,” he
said. “This president wants to
work toward future changes for
America that are important to him.
He campaigned on them, and he’s
going to deliver them.”
Card said the president bears no
responsibility for Jeffords’ defec
tion, which the senator said was
prompted by his inability to recon
cile his moderate positions with
the conservative agenda set by
Bush and other GOP leaders.
Daschle said Bush has “shut us
out” of major decisions. He re
counted a telephone conversation
he had with the president after Jef
fords’ announcement last week: “I
said, ‘Look, if there’s ever been a
time for us to begin working to
gether, this is it. Now we’ve got to
find a way with which to talk more
effectively.’”
Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., the out
going Senate majority leader, said
on ABC’s “This Week” that he be
lieves some Senate Democrats may
try to “ram their agenda” through
Congress and stymie Bush’s agen
da with unwarranted investiga
tions.
Other Republicans said Jeffords’
switch was a wake-up call. Some
in the GOP “have become a bit ar
rogant,” said Sen. Chuck Hagel, R
Neb.
“You become arrogant, you get
sloppy,-you disconnect. Politics is
about people; elections are about
governance, and you can’t discon
nect the two,” Hagel told CBS.
“This is not catastrophic for us, but
we should learn here.”
Hagel said Bush, who likes to
delegate details to subordinates,
must take a more active role in leg
islative affairs: “That means he’s
going to have to understand issues
better, more deeply, get himself im
mersed in this.”
Lott’s deputy, Sen. Don Nickles, R
Okla., said Republicans must do a
better job making sure that GOP mod
erates, especially from the Northeast,
feel comfortable in the party.
“Maybe we haven’t brought
everyone in to make them feel a
part of our team and our effort.
We’re going to do better,” Sen. Kay
Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, added
on CNN’s “Late Edition.”
Although there has been some
speculation that Hagel might chal
lenge Lott in a Republican leader
ship fight, Hagel said he and his
colleagues would stand by the in
cumbent.
Lott defended his leadership,
saying Senate Republicans have al
ready taken a personal inventory
and have “come out unified.” They
also came out with a plan to ex
pand or rotate leadership “to make
sure that we’re hearing every
thought,” he said.
“Senator Lott’s in good shape,”
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said
on “Fox News Sunday.” “I don’t
think there was any lack of effort
on the part of the leadership to
keep him (Jeffords) in the fold.”
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