by Xochitl Campos
Daily Lobo
Former Sen. Fred Harris said the key to a happy life is setting goals and accomplishing them.
Whether those goals are biking across Italy or teaching about the political world, Harris is happy to have achieved it.
"I've pretty much lived all of my fantasies and gone about everywhere I want to go and met everyone I'd want to meet and lived a good life," he said.
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Harris is a former senator from Oklahoma and ran for the presidency in 1972. He was a UNM professor.
An internship program named for Harris aims to give UNM students the opportunity to learn about policy making in action.
The UNM Fred Harris Congressional Internship Program began three years ago.
It places a student with one of New Mexico's five congressional delegations.
Applications for the spring internship are due Oct. 23.
Reed Dasenbrock, former provost and the state's secretary of higher education, named the program after Harris.
"We wanted to have a Washington program," Dasenbrock said. "The idea was to have one UNM student for each
delegation."
Dasenbrock said Harris was chosen to promote the scholarship because of his experience in politics.
"He is certainly the only person by far that has the largest connection with politics in Washington, D.C., from UNM," he said.
Harris said he wants students to learn about politics and get involved.
He said the interns attend committee hearings and see the government in action.
"The goal is to see how policy is made," he said. "I certainly hope that they'll be active in public affairs or politics."
Student Joey Dworak is interning this semester for Rep. Steve Pearce.
He said the internship allowed him to see how the government works from the inside.
"Working there has given me the opportunity to see things firsthand without having to look through the lens of the media, and that has been refreshing," he said.
Dworak said he respects Harris for what he did as a politician, and he is a role model for students interested in politics.
"He has really lived his life the way he wanted to, especially when he got out of politics," he said. "It is hard not to admire someone who has done so much and been so
successful."
