Political Science major analyzes health care as issue for 2008 presidential race

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Kavan Peterson
Office: 410-455-1896
kavan@umbc.edu

Shane Spencer
Sophomore, Political Science

BALTIMORE – The University of Maryland, Baltimore County's (UMBC) Department of Political Science is pleased to announce that sophomore Shane Spencer won first place in the national KaiserEDU.org 2007 Student Essay Contest in the undergraduate category.

Spencer, a Sondheim Public Affairs Scholars majoring in political science and media and communications studies, tied for first place out of a field of more than 60 undergraduate student entries in the health policy essay competition sponsored by the nonprofit Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. KaiserEDU.org is a project of the foundation designed to provide students and faculty interested online access to data, research, analysis and developments in health policy.

Click here to read Spencer’s essay “The Dark Horse’s Preventative Approach,” which outlines a health care policy platform for a hypothetical presidential candidate. The first place prize is $1,000.

“We received essays from students enrolled in a broad range of disciplines from universities across the United States,” said Drew E. Altman, president of the Kaiser Family Foundation. “Within this competitive pool (Spencer’s) essay detailing the Dark Horse’s Plan stood out as exceptionally insightful, thorough, and well-researched.”

More than 250 undergraduate and graduate students submitted essays to the 2007 KaiserEDU.org essay contest. Essays were judged by a panel of professionals, including Michael McCurry and Scott McClellan, former White House press secretaries, Judy Feder, dean of the Georgetown Public Policy Institute and Diane Rowland, executive vice president of the Kaiser Family Foundation.

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Shane Spencer
As part of the Sondheim Scholars program Shane volunteered weekly during her freshman year at My Sister's Place, a women's day shelter in Baltimore City. Shane also ran in the 2006 Baltimore and 2007 Virginia Beach marathons. Shane will be interning with a federal agency this summer and then will study abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark in the fall of 2007. After graduation in May 2009, Shane plans to go to law or graduate school and work in administration or urban planning.

Sondheim Public Affairs Scholars Program at UMBC
The Sondheim Public Affairs Scholars Program supports a diverse pool of talented undergraduates to become effective leaders in government, non-profits, corporations and the community.