Amanda Merrill Gr '79 announced her candidacy for the State Senate seat currently held by Sen. Iris Estabrook, D-Durham on Wednesday. Estabrook announced last Friday that she will not seek reelection after serving 12 years in the legislature, according to the Foster's Daily Democrat. Estabrook has endorsed Merrill, who received a Ph.D. in psychology from the College, to replace her. Merrill has worked in state politics since the 1980s and served as a New Hampshire state representative between 1989 and 1998, ending her stint in the state House of Representatives as Deputy Democratic Leader. She has served on the House Majority Office policy staff for the last two years. Senate District 21 represents the towns of Dover, Durham, Epping, Lee and Rollinsford.
The federal government will significantly increase funding for education and scientific research in its 2009 fiscal year budget resolution, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported yesterday. The resolution sets broad funding totals that legislators will allocate to specific programs when the budget is drawn up for the coming fiscal year. The resolution includes $84.3 billion in discretionary funding for the Department of Education, 5.6 percent above current spending; $59.7 billion for the National Institute of Health, 12.2 percent above current spending; and $30.5 billion for other science programs, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Science Foundation. The budget resolution passed the House on Wednesday and the Senate on Thursday, but may face a veto threat as President Bush has vowed to block any bill that exceeds his funding requests.
Billionaire energy magnate T. Boone Pickens donated $100 million Wednesday to his alma mater, Oklahoma State University, in the largest donation of its kind so far this year, the Associated Press reported Wednesday. Since Pickens donated the money for endowed chairs at the university, the state of Oklahoma is required by law to match his donation, dollar for dollar. Pickens, who graduated from Oklahoma State in 1951 with a major in geology, has donated over $300 million to the university through the years, and said Wednesday that he will continue his donations in the future.