David Shribman will be the first guest of the school year for the Pizza and Politics speaking events organized by the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute.

Tuesday, Shribman will speak in Ballroom B of the Student Center beginning at 7 p.m. On Wednesday, he will be in the Communications Building’s Dean’s Conference Room beginning at 11:30 a.m. for the Pizza and Politics lunch. Both events are free and open to the public.

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Shribman has been the executive editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette since 2003. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1995 while with the Boston Globe for a distinguished example of beat reporting while covering American politics.

He has several connections to SIU, including current staff members who are SIU graduates.

“I have a great fondness for all things Saluki and am looking forward to seeing the campus for the first time myself,” Shribman said.

Charles Leonard, a visiting professor teaching policy analysis, said having Shribman come to the campus was an opportunity for students and fans of politics alike.

“It should be very exciting for any students interested in politics, public policy, journalism and mass communication to meet someone who has brought experience as a Washington reporter and analyst, who runs a big city newspaper and can sort of give us some insight about the future of journalism and mass communication,” Leonard said. “It is particularly interesting for people who not only want to work in it, but who will be consuming it and will be using the mass media of the future to make informed decisions as citizens.”

The Pizza and Politics program affords students the opportunity to meet some of the nation’s top political minds in a casual setting, including previous speakers such as Cornel West, Lilly Ledbetter, Gov. Christine Todd Whitman and then State Senator Barack Obama.

The meetings typically are small in size, allowing students to interact with the speakers on a personal level. A free pizza lunch is also provided to induce a more casual atmosphere.

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Undergraduate Student Government President Adrian Miller, a junior from Carbondale studying political science, said he has attended since his freshman year of high school, and the meetings are an invaluable resource.

“Not only is it free food, it is an opportunity to listen and discuss issues that impact not just our nation or state, but issues that strike here at home,” he said. “It even gives us an opportunity to really allow students to understand the importance of getting involved in civic engagement and public policy.”

Bob Velez, a graduate student in political science from St. Paul, Minn., reiterated that the Pizza and Politics events are an incredibly useful tool for students.

“It is a good opportunity to see people who are on the front lines making decisions, people we look to as opinion leaders and to ask very direct questions,” he said. “They tend to not shy away from questions and getting to be within a couple of feet and engage with them one-on-one, (the students) value that sort of thing.”

David Yepsen, a former political reporter for the Des Moines Register and current director of the institute, said getting young people interested and involved in politics is important to the future of the country.

“To me politics is the only game for adults,” he said. “A lot of people are turned off by it, and that is understandable. It can be mean. It can be uncivil. But the stakes are so incredibly high. I have nothing wrong with football or baseball or entertainment news, but political games are played for big time stakes.”

Miller said that the institute’s work is pivotal to the SIU campus.

“I honestly can not say enough good things about the institute,” he said. “I know so many students that say it has changed their lives and provided them careers and opportunities that they would not have had without the institute.”

For more information on the Pizza and Politics event, visit the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute’s website at http://www.paulsimoninstitute.org/.