My good friend, college classmate, and debate teammate, Judd Legum, is running for State delegate in Maryland’s 30th district.  The election is next year (2010) but it’s very important for candidates to show strong fund-raising early, to demonstrate that they are serious contenders, and Judd is definitely that.

Of course, you might wonder why I would ask you to support a politician who is running for a race that is probably not even in your State, much less your district.  Well, there are a couple of reasons.  First of all, I think that Judd is exactly the kind of candidate that we should want to see in office, anywhere in America.  He is extremely smart, hard-working, progressive, articulate, and ethical.  Perhaps more importantly, I believe that this is just the firs step on what will be a long and successful career of public service for Judd, and I want to do everything I can to help him get started.

For these reasons, I have already donated to Judd’s campaign, and I encourage you to consider doing the same.  Donations don’t need to be large in order to be helpful, even $20 can make a difference in a race like this.   To donate, just follow this link:

Thanks very much for your time and consideration.  Here’s a little bit more about Judd, in his own words:

Who is Judd Legum?

• Annapolis native. Born and raised in the district.
• Pomona College alum, class of 2000.
• Lawyer. Cum laude graduate of Georgetown University. Currently in private practice in Annapolis.
• Policy wonk. Three years at a the nation’s premiere progressive think tank, the Center for American Progress, as research director.
• Political expert. National research director for Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign. Helped prepare Senator Clinton for 20+ debates.
• Blogger. Created one of the most highly trafficked progressive political blogs, ThinkProgress. Currently blogs on Maryland policy and politics.

What is Judd running for?

• State delegate in Maryland’s 30th district. The election is in 2010. Map here: http://tinyurl.com/d30map
• There are three delegates for District 30: Speaker Mike Busch (D), Virginia Claggett (D) and Ron George (R). George is in his first term and won in 2006 by just a few dozen votes. He is one of the most conservative delegates in the General Assembly.

What’s Judd’s agenda?

• Clean Bay. The 25-year, multi-billion dollar effort to restore the Bay has been a failure. If we don’t act quickly, the Bay will soon pass the point of no return. This means standing up to powerful special interests such as agribusiness, which remains the number one source of pollution in the Bay. This is more than an environmental issue, it’s an economic issue. Much of Maryland’s economy is dependent upon the health of the Bay.
• Clean Energy. Maryland faces an energy crisis. Absent policy changes the state will face rolling blackouts starting in 2011. Marylanders have also seen their energy bills skyrocket. We need to move aggressively on three fronts: 1) energy efficiency programs, which can reduce the need for new generation and reduce costs for consumers,  2) investment in transmission which will allow more power to flow into the state at reduced costs. 3) new sources of clean energy including wind, solar and biofuels.
• Clean Government. He’s not accepting money from lobbyists or PACs. Will crack down on lavish parties for legislators financed by special interests. In a recent 90 day session, lobbyists spent $1 million wining and dining members of the General Assembly.

Satire.  It’s one of the most powerful tools/weapons in politics and public discourse.  Modern masters of this art form include Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, pretty much everyone who’s ever been on SNL.

The mark of great satire is, of course, when it succeeds in shining the harsh light of truth on a behavior, belief, of institution in such a way that there is no effective response.  To laugh it off is to deny the truth in the joke.  To respond to it seriously only serves to validate it.  In this way, satire can can take a subtle, unacknowledged reality, and in a few moments of humor turn it into widely-accepted matter-of-fact. 

Of course, the best satire hits a little close to home.   As much as we want to be laughing with everyone else, we are also the ones being laughed at.  This is, perhaps, the most useful aspect of satire; its ability to highlight our foibles in a way that doesn’t make us feel defensive, but still gives us a little something to think about the next time we find ourselves in a certain situation.

Why am I writing about this now?  Well, I happened to be on the receiving end of a brutally effective (and therefore funny) piece of satire yesterday, thanks to one of my favorite sites: Stuff White People Like.  Enjoy.

I recently received an email from my alma mater, Pomona College, regarding a proposed “Spirit of Prometheus” fundraising campaign. The email asked me to read this prospectus and then complete a survey, which I did.

In summary, the prospectus proposes that the college raise $450 million over the next 5-7 years, to be spent in the following ways:

1. “Fostering Creativity Through the Arts” ($144.5 million) – This primarily consists of a major ($130 million) investment in new arts facilities, as well as a cool “Distinguished Visiting Artists” program to bring 3 high-profile artists to campus each year as visiting faculty.
2. “Building Bridges, Locally and Globally” ($66 million) – This investment is primarily intended to tear down the existing Oldenborg International Center and replace it with 2 buildings that basically serve the same purpose (except “better”).
3. “Enhancing Affordability and the Student Experience” ($156.5 million) – $100 million of this money is intended for “New Scholarships for Domestic and International Students, $25 million is for 2 new Residence Halls, and $25 million is for an upgrade to the Rains athletic center. There is also an interesting $4 million set-aside to fund a program to bring high-profile speakers to the college.
4. “Expanding Faculty Resources and Student Learning” ($83 million) – This money is spread out pretty evenly between new professorships, a “Summer Experience Program” to allow students to do paid work over the summer, and improvements to the library system for the 21st-century.

Overall, I was pleased with the goals and impressed by the ambition that the proposal represents. I am excited about many of the proposed improvements to the campus and I think that most of them make a lot of sense. I’m particularly enthusiastic about the Distinguished Visiting Artist program, the Pomona College Speakers Program, improvements to the Rains center, the addition of underground parking, and new/improved residence halls.

However, I was disappointed that, despite a $144.5 million investment in the Arts, the Prospectus didn’t make any mention of increasing Pomona’s focus on or leadership in the area of interactive media. With the remarkable growth that this industry has been experiencing in recent years and the convergence between it and traditional media such as film, it seems clear to me that this new medium will play an increasingly significant role in shaping culture both in America and internationally.

Pomona is already behind institutions such as USC, Carnegie Mellon, MIT, and others in providing courses that explore the this emerging artform as well as its cultural impact. Any major financial focus on education in the Arts during the 21st century should include discourse on subjects such as machinima, serious games, commercial video games, and more.

How are serious games being used to make powerful statements about war, poverty, immigration, and how could they be even more effective in addressing these issues? How are video games influencing the creation of film and television? What psychological impacts are violent and mature games having on the people that play them? How have interactive media evolved as tools for story-telling, and where are they likely to go in the future? What level, if any, of government regulation/oversight/censorship of interactive media is appropriate? All of these are questions that I think deserve the attention of Pomona’s students.

For obvious reasons, I would like to see Pomona do a better job of recognizing not only the artistic validity interactive media but also its increasing social, economic, and cultural importance. Hopefully, one or two of the 10+ new faculty positions that the Spirit of Prometheus campaign proposes will be able to be focused on this important area.