With less than one week to go and millions of campaign dollars spent ahead of the Nov. 4 mid-term election, the political stakes in Arkansas couldn’t be higher.

So it is no surprise that journalists from across the state and even across the globe are giving the political science department at UALR a stringent workout this season.

Two current UALR political science professors, Drs. Joseph Giammo and Greg Shufeldt, have been especially busy, providing scores of interviews with radio, television, and print reporters about the importance of the senate race to Arkansas and background on other key ballot initiatives.

Recently, Giammo made time for two journalists from the Kyodo News Washington Bureau, on the heels of meeting with Atsushi Kaifu, the Minister of Congressional Affairs at the Japanese Embassy, who wanted to learn more about the senate race.

“The circumstances of this election have really raised Arkansas’ profile nationally and internationally,” Giammo said.

“People around the world are interested in learning about how the place they only knew as the home of Bill Clinton could potentially become a key part of Republicans winning control of the Senate,” he added.

Shufeldt, in the meantime, has interviewed with a BBC reporter based in London and contributed to a blog at the request of the London School of Economics Public Policy Group, ranked as the second most influential university-based think tank worldwide by the University of Pennsylvania.

He also received national coverage when PBS Newshour aired a segment focused on the minimum wage by local journalist Jacob Kaufmann.

All of these national and international contributions must be squeezed in on top of fulfilling the requests of many local journalists, requests which are coming in at a furious pace as the election draws nearer.

By providing their insights, experts raise UALR’s profile in the process, according to Dr. Lisa Bond-Maupin, dean of the College of Social Sciences and Communication.

“We strongly encourage our faculty to engage and represent the university,” she said.

“The willingness to provide interviews and their expert opinions, even when it isn’t convenient, raises the awareness of the department, college, and UALR. They have fully answered the call, and we are gratified their expertise is valued and in demand.”

“It’s interesting to have this many people contact us,” Shufeldt said.

“I imagine once the Nov. 4 voting is over and all the post-election analysis is complete, we might finally be able to rest a little,” he quipped.

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