The Iowa Stater

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The Iowa Stater
February, 1997

Kassebaum on campus

f just one topic was whirling around Nancy Kassebaum's head after a two-day visit to Iowa State it was most certainly the Internet.

The former Republican senator from Kansas was on campus for two days in October in her role as the first holder of the Mary Louise Smith Endowed Chair in the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics. She plans to make a second campus visit at the end of March.

While lunching with a group of women students involved with the Catt Center, Kassebaum got an earful of musings on potential uses of the Internet. The young cyberspacers pondered use of the Internet for voter registration, voting and issue debates.

"You always hope when you talk to students that you leave them with some food for thought ... but, in many instances, I get far more from them," Kassebaum said. "I was quite challenged by the discussion about the Internet and how the next generation is using it. It is changing the political process dramatically, even more than I had envisioned, based on what I heard from those students."Kassebaum, one of only 23 women ever elected to the U.S. Senate, met with nearly 600 students in courses focusing on such issues as women and politics, women and health care, foreign policy and political campaigns. First elected in 1978, Kassebaum retired this year.

As the daughter of 1936 presidential nominee and Kansas governor Alfred Landon, Kassebaum was introduced to politics at an early age. In 1975, she accepted a position in Washington, D.C., as aide to Republican Sen. James Pearson of Kansas. When Pearson retired in 1978, Kassebaum successfully vied against eight other candidates for the vacant seat.

Kassebaum focused much of her career on improving education and health care reform, and served as chairperson of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee and a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Near the end of her third term, Kassebaum scored a victory with the passage of health reform legislation, which she and Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy co-sponsored.

Kassebaum was one of several senators with the "moderate" label who left Congress this year. While the Republican Party's hard push to the right may have driven centrists away, Kassebaum is convinced more are on the way.

"There will be a gap for a while because it takes time for new coalitions and alliances to form. That didn't mean we always voted the same way, but I think we were thought of as people who crossed party lines and, when necessary, pulled together a consensus of support for various issues," Kassebaum said. "It will happen again, but it takes time to figure out who will be working across party lines."

-- Steve Sullivan, News Service

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