In recognition of their outstanding academic and personal achievements, APSA named five fellows with stipends and four without stipends for the 2002-2003 academic year. Awards are based on students' undergraduate course work, GPA, extracurricular activities, and recommendations from faculty. The program designated five fellows with stipends $4,000 fellowships that will be allocated in two $2,000 payments at the end of each academic year. The Association also recognized an additional four outstanding students who do not receive funding; these students were recommended for admission and financial support to every graduate political science program in the country. This year all fellows were accepted to graduate programs in political science.

In addition to commemorating the anniversary of America's independence from British rule, July 4th of this year also marked the conclusion of the 2002 Ralph Bunche Summer Institute (RBSI), an intensive fiveweek program for political science undergraduates from underrepresented minority groups.

Forty-nine senior and graduate student international scholars benefitted from the APSA's international travel grant program this year. Thirty-four grants to scholars representing sixteen countries were awarded for travel expeses or lodging in Boston. All award winners were involved in the 2002 Annual Meeting program. In the grant program's eight years of existence, 200 international scholars have benefitted.

In an effort to assist graduate students wishing to participate in the Annual Meeting, the Association awarded 40 Advanced Student Travel Grants for the 2002 meeting in Boston. The APSA has awarded nearly 300 travel grants since the program began in 1994. The names and affiliations of the 2002 winners follow.

Nominations for 2003 APSA Dissertation, Book, and Career Awards are now being accepted. Awards will be presented at the 2003 Annual Meeting in Philadelphia.

The APSA Small Research Grant Program, supports research in all fields of political science. The intent of these grants is to support the research of political scientists who are not employed at PhD granting institutions and to help further the careers of these scholars.

The APSA Congressional Fellowship Program's Advisory Committee held its 49th annual dinner meeting at the APSA office in Washington, DC on September 12, 2002.

At its meeting on November 13, 1997, the National Science Board of the National Science Foundation approved a Resolution Concerning Competition, Recompetition and Renewal of NSF Awards (NSB 97-224). In the Resolution, the Board:

· “(a)ffirms its strong support for the principle that expiring awards are to be recompeted unless it is judged to be in the best interest of U.S. science and engineering not to do so. This position is based on the conviction that peer-reviewed competition and recompetition is the process most likely to assure the best use of NSF funds for supporting research and education.

· And (r)equests that the Director, NSF, take such steps necessary to ensure that NSF practices embody this principle.”

The Romanian Society of Political Studies invites membership applicationsfrom international scholars with relevant interests. The Society was established in January 2000 to enhance and provide an institutional setting for efforts aimed at improving the standards of Romanian political science. It emerged as a response to the growing need for better communication and co-ordination between scholars based at established institutions and those working independently both within Romania and abroad. Its main goal is to improve the academic teaching and research environment in political science in Romania.

On September 19, Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-SC), chair of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, favorably reported bill S. 2817 to effectively double National Science Foundation the NSF budget from near $5 billion to near $10 billion by FY 2007. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee had reported the bill September 5. The House also passed a similar version of this legislation June 5, differing markedly only in that the Senate bill would make the Math and Science Partnership (MSP) Program a formula block, not a competitive grant program, in FY 2006. The House-Senate staff hopes to meet and resolve this difference before the bill comes to the Senate floor. The bill still faces staunch opposition from the Bush Administration, which may veto the bill.

50 years in 2002

50 plus years

At their respective meetings during APSA's 2002 Annual meeting in San Francisco, organized Sections distributed over 50 awards recognizing dissertations, books, papers and careers. Many of these Section awards are giving annually and nominations are sought at this time for net year's award. For further information be sure to visit www.apsanet.org/about/sections.

For the best doctoral dissertation completed and accepted in 2000 or 2001 in the field of comparative politics.