Civic Literacy Week events planned

Open forums, movies, registration all part of free programs to promote elections

U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore and congressional candidate Nancy Boyda are scheduled to appear today in an open forum at Kansas University as part of Civic Literacy Week.

The weeklong series of events will feature current and past members of Congress as well as congressional candidates. The events and programs are free and open to the public.

The week kicked off Sunday afternoon with “Rock the Park” in South Park.

Today’s open forum features Boyda, a Democrat challenging U.S. Rep. Jim Ryun for his 2nd District congressional seat, and Moore, the Democrat 3rd District Congressman, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Wescoe Beach, in front of Wescoe Hall.

Also today:

6 p.m.-10 p.m.: Monday Night Movie Marathon, showing “Dr. Strangelove” and “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” Alderson Auditorium, Kansas Union.

The rest of the schedule:

Tuesday

11 a.m.-1 p.m.: MTV’s Choose or Lose, which will bring its 2004 voter-registration campaign, “20 Million Loud,” to Wescoe Beach.

1 p.m.-2 p.m.: Debate between College Republicans and Young Democrats, Big 12 Room, Kansas Union.

4:30 p.m.-5 p.m.: “Inside Baseball: The Politics of Presidential Campaigns,” lecture with Bill Lacy, Dole Institute of Politics, KU’s west campus.

7 p.m.: “Student Involvement in Presidential Elections,” with guest speaker Ron Thornburgh, Kansas secretary of state, Dole Institute.

Wednesday

Noon-1 p.m.: Ryun, a Republican, will be featured in an open forum on Wescoe Beach.

Thursday

11 a.m.-noon: 3rd District congressional candidate Kris Kobach, a Republican, open forum, Wescoe Beach.

7 p.m.: Gary Hart, former Colorado senator and presidential candidate, will speak at the Lied Center on “Security in the New Age of the 21st Century,” as part of the Hall Center for the Humanities Lecture Series.

The first 2004 presidential debate will be shown at 8 p.m., and Hart will moderate an open discussion immediately afterward.

8 p.m.: Diana Carlin, dean of KU’s Graduate School and International Programs and a coordinator with the voter educator program Debate Watch, will moderate a discussion after the debate broadcast in the Jayhawk/Big 12 Room of the Kansas Union.

Saturday

9 a.m.-4 p.m.: Women’s Civic Leadership Conference at the Kansas Union. Pre-registration is required. E-mail stclair@ku.edu.