Contact: Joel Nossoff, 277-6518 or Frank D. Martinez, 277-1811

Dec. 9, 2002 UNM STUDENTS TO INTERVIEW GOV. JOHNSON Students in a University of New Mexico Freshman Learning Community (FLC) class will interview Gov. Gary Johnson via speakerphone on Wednesday, Dec. 11, beginning at 12:30 p.m. in room 234 of Dane Smith Hall. The students will also make a final presentation of the collaboratively written policy papers they will send to Governor-elect Bill Richardson. The papers address issues about how New Mexico can better prepare high school students for college and issues about street racing. The students are in the FLC class, "Making a Difference: Democracy and Participation," co-taught by UNM Assistant Professor of Communication and Journalism Glenda Balas and English Department Lecturer II Jacob R. Trujillo. Freshman Learning Communities are two or more classes that are taught together. A group of students takes the classes together. A team of faculty work together to coordinate their courses. One of the classes is a Freshman Seminar, a small-group class taught by faculty from across academic disciplines. Each course is focused on a specialized or interdisciplinary topic. Balas' and Trujillo's seminar is a service-learning project based in the Albuquerque area. Students work with local people who are involved in community service. They then bring their experiences back to class for reflection and discussion. This course encourages students to think about the reasons they participate in service projects and the results of their work. Students work in teams in service-related activities in Albuquerque and discuss their experiences in small groups. They also work together to produce materials for a class web site, as well as a media project--print, radio or video--that helps others understand the substance and importance of their projects. Students are required to complete at least thirty hours of community service during the semester. The FLC students will also break into groups to discuss readings they have been assigned for the class, including "Helping and Hating the Homeless," "On Growing Old Gracefully," "Poverty as a Living Death," and "The Invisible Poor." The UNM FLC will be joined for this session by about 40 students from Amy Biehl [charter] High School, and their teachers. The ABHS students will be participating in the discussion groups, and have also read the assigned reading in preparation for the discussion groups. The FLC will also show a video they produced as a class project. The video documents their participation in a Habitat for Humanity project. ###

The University of New Mexico
Public Affairs Department
Hodgin Hall, 2nd floor
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0011
Telephone: (505) 277-5813
Fax: (505) 277-1981