C-SPAN's 'Road to the White House' bus makes campus stop

August 20, 2007

C-SPAN's 'Road to the White House' bus makes campus stop

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue University students can learn how C-SPAN is covering the congressional elections when the C-SPAN Campaign 2008 bus visits Wednesday (Aug. 22) as part of its "Road to the White House" tour.

The bus will be parked west of Stewart Center (Memorial Mall side) from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Students from political science professor Robert Browning's U.S. Congress class will visit the bus from 11:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., and students from communication instructor Scott Schroeder's Advanced Digital Video Production class will be there from 1:30-2:30 p.m.

The 45-foot mobile production studio is on the campaign trail to promote and enhance C-SPAN's political coverage by traveling to major political events such as candidate debates and speeches in early primary states; touring state capitols; and conducting educational programs. The Campaign 2008 bus, which is an updated version of C-SPAN's original award-winning school bus, sports a new exterior design wrap in election themes, along with interior modifications that include the latest in television production equipment.

Since the bus tour's January launch, it has made stops at 22 state capitals, 38 universities and colleges, and 47 middle and high schools. More than 12,000 students, 1,740 teachers and 199 elected officials have been aboard.

C-SPAN, the political network of record, records daily congressional proceedings and other public affairs activities for public viewing on cable or Internet. C-SPAN maintains the archive of all of its programming in the Purdue Research Park in West Lafayette. Browning is an associate professor of political science and also serves as the director of the C-SPAN archives.

Brian Lamb, chairman and chief executive officer of C-SPAN, created this virtual learning course. Lamb is a 1963 Purdue communication graduate. In 2005, Lamb was inducted into the Indiana Broadcast Pioneers Hall of Fame and named one of the country's best 25 leaders by U.S.News and World Report.

The departments of political science and communication are housed in the College of Liberal Arts.

Writer: Amy Patterson Neubert, (765) 494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu

Source: Robert Browning, (765) 494-4178, rxb@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

Note to Journalists: Contact Maggie Morris, Purdue News Service, (765) 494-2432, maggiemorris@purdue.edu

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