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Roussel brings experience to political science class

by Ashleigh Simmons
The Daily Cougar

A new course this semester is exploring the relationship between the press and the presidency.

"The question we will try to answer in this course is, 'Can the modern presidency survive the modern media?'" professor Peter Roussel said.

Roussel, an alumnus and the instructor for the political science course, brings more than 35 years of experience in government, business and media to the course. He served as a staff assistant to President Ford, a special assistant and deputy press secretary to President Reagan and press secretary to President George Bush. He is also the author of the novel Ruffled Flourishes, an television commentator for Houston's KTRK-TV, a speaker and a public relations consultant.

"It's nice to have a person with experience and a different perspective," Vicky Salinas, a political science senior, said.

In the course, students participate, question, analyze and even criticize Roussel's experiences in a discussion format.

"I am trying to make this class as much of a democracy as possible," Roussel said. "I am trying to make this a format where everybody participates in the class, and hopefully by doing that, I am teaching, and they are learning."

Textbooks aren't an issue for the course. The only material Roussel requires is what he calls the "school of doing."

"We all need to learn from textbooks -- that is important," Roussel said. "But I also think equally important is learning from experiences in the real world from actually going out and doing it."

Pre-law junior Bethany Everett said the class is one of her favorites.

"It's interesting," Everett said. "It's like on-the-job training. Where else do you get the best of the best teaching you?"

The class meets from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays in Room 121, Science and Research I. Anyone is welcome to attend and participate.
 

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