IU alumnus Rod Paige to address delegates tonight

NEW YORK -- U.S. Secretary of Education and IU alumnus Rod Paige will address the Republican National Convention tonight, making the case for four more years of President Bush to the convention delegates as well as discussing the president's No Child Left Behind Act.\nEarly Monday morning, Secretary Paige addressed about 200 people in the New York Marriott East Side Hotel, including Minnesota's 41 delegates and their alternates. Following his speech, Paige discussed rising tuition costs across the nation, which include IU. Last year marked the first time in IU's history that freshmen were required to pay a $1,000 academic fee. This year, all students must pay a new $30 athletic fee. \n"We're a great nation," Paige said. "We're falling back to the middle of the pack (on higher education costs). That's a bad place for us to be."\nBut Paige said the president must be re-elected to continue work on the controversial act.\n"The No Child Left Behind Act is gaining roots," he said.\nAccording to the www.georgewbush.com, the act creates strong standards in each state for children in grades 3 through 8, especially in reading and math.\nThe Kerry-Edwards campaign has criticized the act for not doing enough for elementary and middle school students.\nBefore he became the seventh U.S. Secretary of Education, Paige attended IU, where he earned his master's and doctoral degree in education. \nBorn in 1933 in segregated Monticello, Miss., Paige earned his bachelor's degree from Jackson State University in Mississippi, according to the Bush-Cheney campaign.\nAfter attending IU, Paige began working with students as a teacher and coach, eventually serving for 10 years as a dean of the College of Education at Texas Southern University. Paige left TSU in 1994 to become the superintendent of the Houston Independent School District, the nation's seventh largest school district, according to the campaign.\nPaige became the secretary of education on Jan. 21, 2001. According to the Bush-Cheney campaign, Paige supports the president on affirmative action across the nation's universities and colleges.\nIn Monday morning's address to the Minnesota delegates, Paige spoke for about five minutes about why Minnesota and the rest of the country should support the president. Steve Schmidt, a Bush-Cheney campaign spokesman, also spoke for a few minutes following Secretary Paige.\n"With your hope, we're going to put Minnesota back in the red column," he said.\nMichael Krueger, executive director of the College Republican National Committee, also attended the event, saying the president is leading the country in the right direction.\nKrueger said he believes the two critical issues this election year will be security and jobs, and Bush is more steadfast on fighting terrorism.\n"You're never going to hear the president say we need a more sensitive war on terror," Krueger said, referring to Democratic Presidential Candidate John Kerry's recent comment about fighting al Qaeda. He also said Bush is concerned about creating more jobs, something every college student searches for following graduation.\nSecretary Paige is scheduled as a featured speaker tonight in a convention that has focused on the theme "A Nation of Courage." He will address the Republican delegation during the evening session. The secretary will precede first lady Laura Bush and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.\nAlthough tuition has been rising in the country's colleges and universities, Paige said Monday that with the president asking so much through the No Child Left Behind Act, there will inevitably be roadblocks. He said an act like this one has been attempted eight times before.\n"The nation is calling on (professors and teachers) to meet that challenge," Paige said. "It's not easy.\n"But in general, we're doing great."\n-- Contact staff writer Josh Sanburn at jsanburn@indiana.edu