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U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder coming to UMaine

Visit follows political forums on TABOR II happening this week

By Dylan Riley

Posted on Monday, October 19th, 2009, 2:06 am

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The week is full of political events and appearances. Among other noteworthy political events, the U.S. attorney general, Eric Holder, will be coming to the University of Maine on Friday. As the guest speaker of the William S. Cohen lecture series.

The event — sponsored by the William S. Cohen Center for International Policy and Commerce, the UMaine School of Law, the Easton Peabody Law Firm, the Bangor Daily News — has not yet been titled, and it is unknown what Holder will talk about. The Maine Campus will live stream the event on its Web site.

Students will be allowed to ask questions of Holder in written form during the event. Director of University Relations Joe Carr said he estimates the event will be about 90 minutes long, and will be held in the Collins Center for the Arts at 11 a.m. He said approximately 900 tickets have been claimed for the event; about 400 are left. The tickets are free and given on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The Cohen Lecture Series, established by Sen. Cohen in 1997, has brought significant political personalities to UMaine including astronaut John Glenn, former CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather and former Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward.

“These have been some of the most notable events in the past 12 years,” Carr said.

Cohen, a Bangor native, served in Congress for 24 years before becoming secretary of defense under the Clinton administration.

Two political events concerning the November ballot are also happening.

The Orono Town Council will hold a public information session today at 7:30 p.m. as part of its regular meeting. The session will be about the effect TABOR II and the excise tax initiative will have on Orono. Town Manager Catherine Conlow said she and Jim Martin, D-Orono, will present information on both initiatives. The public is invited to the meeting and will be allowed to ask questions.

A third event will be held at UMaine, also concerning TABOR II. The event will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. in Donald P. Corbett Business Building room 100 and will include five speakers and one moderator. Unlike the Orono public session, this event is clearly defined in opposition of TABOR II.

“It’s definitely in opposition to TABOR [II],” said Joe Nabozny, one of the contacts for the event.

The five speakers will be Christopher St. John, the executive director for the Maine Center for Economic Policy; Geoff Gratwick, a member of the Bangor City Council; Michelle Beal, the Ellsworth town manager; John Hanson, executive director of the Maine State Building and Construction Trades Council; and Sandy Butler, a professor from the UMaine School of Social Work.

The Maine Campus will live-stream this event on its Web site. A Twitter feed for the event will be available, and students will be allowed to ask questions of the speakers via the Web.

Students will be able to ask questions at the event as well.