IP: At front of class, it's Rep. Weldon

[David Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

> Date: Sun, 19 Sep 1999 09:17:07 -0400
> From: Da Hsuan Feng <DA.HSUAN.FENG () saic com>
> To: farber () cis upenn edu
> Subject: At front of class, it's Rep. Weldon
>
> http://www.phillynews.com/inquirer/99/Sep/14/pa_west/WCURT14.htm
>
>
> At front of class, it's Rep. Weldon
>
> The Republican congressman is teaching a course on national security 
> at Widener University this semester.
>
> By Anne Barnard
> INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
>
> CHESTER -- A sometime firefighter, teacher and mayor of Marcus Hook, 
> Rep. Curt Weldon (R., Pa.) is borrowing another title this fall: 
> professor.
> Last week at Widener University, he led his first class of a 
> three-hour seminar, "Issues in American National Security," that he 
> is teaching with Martin E. Goldstein, a government professor.
> Weldon has focused on relations with Russia and China during his 12 
> years in Congress. He said he planned to draw on that experience in 
> the course, which will focus on a different topic in global security 
> each week.
> "Using my contacts from working Russia and China issues, I think I 
> can create a model that some of my fellow members can follow if they 
> want to teach in their districts," Weldon said yesterday.
> Widener spokeswoman Karen Toth said the plan grew out of Weldon's 
> longstanding relationship with the university. He gave the 
> commencement address for his daughter's graduating class there in 
> 1997. Weldon said that tossing around ideas with the 20 
> undergraduates in the 200-level class -- mainly political and 
> economics students -- will help him "not be locked in by the 
> Beltway."
> Inside-the-Beltway concerns are holding up his decision on whether 
> to accept payment for teaching the class, he said.
> The House Ethics Committee has yet to rule on whether Weldon can be 
> paid under the rules his fellow Republican, former Speaker Newt 
> Gingrich, famously violated during his own campus sojourn.
> An Ethics Committee investigation found that a course Gingrich 
> taught at two Georgia colleges was funded by tax-exempt charities 
> "motivated by partisan, political goals." Weldon said he did not 
> expect any problem -- his salary would be paid directly by Widener, 
> he said, and his class is nonpartisan.
> "This isn't about reinventing America or any social agenda," he said.
> Just to make sure, he has invited New Jersey Rep. Rob Andrews, a 
> Democrat, to speak.
> Sounding like a student excited about the first day of school, 
> Weldon talked about the syllabus of his course, covering topics from 
> the one-China policy to Russia's strategic position and new global 
> threats such as cyberterrorism.
> He has lectured at universities from China to Hungary, he said, but 
> this son of parents who never attended high school is most excited 
> to be teaching in his own backyard.
> "Teaching at Widener is nothing new" for political figures, he said, 
> pointing out that Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D., Del.) has taught at 
> the university's law school in Delaware.
> "I guess I'm the Republican," he said.