The Alumnae and Alumni of Vassar College (AAVC) hosted a volunteer leadership conference In Poughkeepsie, N.Y. over the weekend. As one of the new co-chairs of the San Francisco Vassar Club, the College provided me with an all-expenses-paid trip back to my alma mater. The weekend was filled with alum workshops, idea exchanging, and networking opportunities. And, as one of the most recent graduates to attend the conference, it was also a chance for me to spend time with friends still at Vassar.

This was the first time I've been treated to a cross-country trip. And it was the first I've realized the respect Vassar pays its alums. I suppose the AAVC officials figure that a weekend trip now is worth a lifetime of financial contributions from me.

They're probably right.

-Gabe

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Reapportionment is not a sexy issue to the public, but among politicians it represents perhaps their most partisan and bitter political activity. That's because as district boundaries are redrawn, the political registration of the voters in the districts may change. What was once a conservative Republican district may become a moderate GOP district, or even a district with a new majority of Democrats.

In theory, reapportionment is valuable and necessary. It is intended to assure that each politician represents roughly the same number of people. In part, it is intended to avoid the kind of disparity that existed in the state Senate years ago, when a rural lawmaker might represent relatively few constituents, while a senator representing an urban area might represent hundreds of thousands people.

The constitution says the Legislature is responsible for redrawing the districts. The maps are contained in a bill that is sent to the governor.

But in reality, the maps are drawn by the Legislature's majority party. That means that the ruling party can draw boundaries that maximize its own influence and minimize that of the opposition. Currently, Democrats control both houses of the Legislature, and the governor is a Democrat.

Assuming these majorities hold through next year, the new reapportionment is all but certain to be a delight for Democrats, and the damage it potentially can inflict on Republicans could last through the decade.

A similar Democrat-controlled reapportionment nearly 20 years ago is credited with perpetuating the clout of Democrats far beyond their registration numbers. It was not until a Republican governor, Pete Wilson, was in office to veto the Democrats' 1990 reapportionment plan that the Democratic surge was somewhat blunted. Wilson, in fact, ran for governor in the first place after Republicans drafted him for the job, saying they needed a GOP governor to thwart the reapportionment hopes of the Democratic rulers. Wilson did exactly that when he vetoed the Democrats' maps, and it was one of his major actions during the eight years of his governorship.

With Gray Davis in the governor's office and both houses of the Legislature in Democratic hands, the stage is set for a new reapportionment that is all but certain to cripple Republicans. The maps will be drawn up next year after the 2000 census figures are released and, once approved, they will take effect for the first time in the 2002 elections.

But experts in both parties using sophisticated computers already are crafting districts based on numbers provided by the state Department of Finance, which has a populations and demographics unit far superior to the U.S. Census Bureau's.

Republicans expect a major political battle next year over the new districts. And that's what they're going to get.

As long as you were doing a bio on Tom Campbell, it would have been relevant to mention that he started in the House of Representatives and served two terms while holding his Professorship at Stanford, teaching one class a semester. He ran for the U.S. Senate in the year that Barbara Boxer was first elected. He lost the Republican primary by two percentage points to Bruce Hershenson, primarily because the conservatives in the White House kept Sonny Bono in to divide the anti-Hershenson vote. They were right in their thinking, because Sonny got 17 percent, primarily from the part of the party that would have supported Campbell. Having lost the primary, Campbell had to give up his seat and go back to Stanford. He did so, was happy there, but the State Senator in his district resigned suddenly, without any indication that she would do so. In a special election, Tom was overwhelmingly elected.

Tom was happy in the State Senate (and teaching) again, but the incumbent Congressman, Norman Minetta, suddenly resigned to go to work for an aerospace company, and a special election took place. Campbell ran and was overwhelmingly elected back to the House, regaining seniority over the huge freshman class that had been elected while he was gone due to his prior service. And this time he was in the majority, obtaining much better housing, parking, and most of all, good committees. And there he sits, a great candidate for the U.S. Senate. Will he run for it this time? Or wait until he has a softer touch with Boxer? Good question. Let's keep tuned.

Sheldon Sloan

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