Today, as a tribute to the historic signing of the U.S. Constitution on Sept. 17, 1787, USF will honor Constitution Day for thesecond consecutive year. Faculty, staff, students and alumni will have the opportunity to attend numerous events, including guest lectures, art and photo exhibitions and political student organization showcases. The School of Mass Communications will host the event in celebration of one of the world’s oldest law-establishing documents still in use.

“This is the second year the School of Mass Comm. will be hosting the event, and we plan on doing it better than we did last year,” said Dr. Jay Friedlander, director of the School of Mass Communications. “We are

looking forward to

raising our performance to a higher level on next year’s

Constitution Day.”

A variety of activities will be held around campus in celebration of the 220th

anniversary of the signing of the country’s

charter. From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. the NAACP will run a voter

registration drive in the MLK Plaza. Simultaneously, a political student organization showcase will introduce students to the various political

parties at USF.

The guest speaker schedule kicks off in Chester H. Ferguson Hall (BSN) 1101 with a luncheon from noon to 1 p.m.

featuring JoAnn Carrin, the director of Open Government of the Florida governor’s office.

At 2 p.m. in the Communication and Information Sciences building (CIS), a video projection of former Secretary of State Colin Powell reading the Preamble to the United States Constitution will be shown.

Rounding out the day at 6 p.m., at On Top of The Palms on the fourth floor of the Phyllis P. Marshall Center, St. Petersburg Times attorney and first amendment expert George Rahdert will lecture on first amendment rights.

“I think his lecture should hit home with a lot of students because (the) first amendment is a big part of everyone’s life,” said Mike Dolinger, coordinator of Student Programs.

All week, photo and art exhibits will be available for public viewing. The CIS lobby will host photo exhibits of different amendments and the Freedom Rider photo display by the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Center for Civic Engagement and Volunteerism. The Marshall Center’s Centre Gallery will feature the Your Bill … Our Rights art exhibition all week from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Quotes and interesting facts regarding the Constitution:

• “I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal

hostility against every form of

tyranny over the mind of man.” – Thomas Jefferson

• “I confess that there are several parts of this Constitution which I do not at present approve, but I am not sure I shall never approve them. For having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged by better information, or

fuller consideration, to change opinions even on important subjects, which I once thought right, but found to be otherwise.” – Benjamin Franklin

• Above the signers’ names, Pennsylvania is misspelled on the Constitution.

• The population of the United States is now more than 300 million. At the time of the signing of the Constitution, it was about 4 million.