Paul Domenic Senese, associate professor of political science at the University at Buffalo, died on June 20, 2006, after a long and courageous battle with illness. He left this world as he had spent the last several years of his life, surrounded by his loving wife, Tracy Jarvis, his parents, his two sisters, his brother, and many other relatives. At a time when social scientists are reporting weakening bonds of friendship among Americans, Paul was clearly an outlier. St Joseph's University Church could hardly contain the large number of close friends, professional colleagues, and former students who attended his funeral mass.

John N. Plank, professor emeritus of political science, died suddenly at his home in Storrs, Connecticut on April 30, 2005, at the age of 81.

Michael Wallerstein, the Charlotte Marion Saden Professor of Political Science at Yale University, died on January 7, 2006, at his home in New Haven. He was just short of his 55th birthday. The cause was glioblastoma multiforme, a brain cancer.

Ethnic differences based on national origin are often undistinguished within the Black community in the United States. The assumption of a singular Black ethnicity (or the notion that all Blacks in the U.S. identify their origins within the U.S.) defines the majority of scholarly work on Black political identity and political behavior. However, the growing visibility of Black immigrant communities in major metropolitan areas of the U.S. raises the following question for scholars of immigration and race politics: What are the political implications of ethnic diversity within the Black community?

Each year the executive director makes an annual report to the Council and membership, typically recounted in densely packed text in the fall issue of PS. It's always good reading to be sure, but rarely brings to life the vibrancy, breadth, and rich texture of APSA activities. This year we are trying something new, and have prepared a more tailored and graphical APSA Annual Report as a stand alone booklet. It is available to all members, and was first distributed at the APSA Annual Business Meeting in Philadelphia.

Once in a long while some of us are blessed to encounter a person whose character is so special that it deeply affects us for the rest of our lives. Such is the case for me—and for many alumni of the Brown University international relations program—with regard to Whitney T. Perkins, the faculty member who guided the program for decades and who died earlier this year. In an academic world filled with pomposity and pretense, he stood out as a beacon of humility. In an academic world filled with ideological polemics, he stood out as a beacon of balance. In an academic world filled with politically motivated jostling for power and control, he stood out as a beacon of integrity. In an academic world filled with self-promotion and hyperbole, he stood out as a beacon of restraint and understatement.

News and notes.

At age 93, William H. Young died at his home in Madison, Wisconsin, on March 3, 2006. His long career was distinguished for contributions not only to political science and to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, on whose faculty he served for 36 years, but also to Wisconsin state government, international educational development, particularly in Asia, and several Madison organizations on whose boards he remained an active member for more than two decades after his academic retirement in 1983. Bill was wise and prudent, and, as I well knew from our 35 years as faculty colleagues, his advice was judicious and generously provided.

Washington Insider

On February 4, 2006, after careful deliberation and consideration of the Association's Bylaws and the Council's charge as articulated by President Ira Katznelson, and after canvassing the membership for suggestions as articulated in the APSA Constitution, the 2005–2006 Nominating Committee submitted the following slate of elective Officers. In its deliberations, the Committee was mindful of giving due regard to diversity, geographical distribution, fields of professional interest, type of institution, academic/nonacademic employment status, as well as to the Council's guidance to take into account non-Ph.D.-granting institutions in the nomination of candidates, and to avoid selecting a nominee for president of the same gender for more than two consecutive years.

APSA is excited to invite its members to Philadelphia, PA, named the “Next Great City” by National Geographic Traveler. What better place to discuss “Power Reconsidered” than the birthplace of the American Republic? Hosted at the Philadelphia Marriott, the Loews Philadelphia, and the Pennsylvania Convention Center, the 2006 APSA Annual Meeting will be held from August 31 through September 3. Located in the heart of Philadelphia's Center City, both the Loews and the Marriott are within a short distance of the Convention Center, world-class dining, and major attractions.

In recognition of their outstanding academic and personal achievements, APSA is pleased to announce the APSA Minority Fellows for the 2006–2007 academic year. Awards are based on the students' undergraduate course work, GPA, GRE scores, extracurricular activities, and recommendations from political science faculty. A selection committee designated six Fellows who receive financial support from the Association. Due to the high quality of applicants in this year's pool, the committee also selected one non-funded Fellow. Members of the selection committee for this year's Fellows included Jessica Perez Montfori, University of Texas, Pan American; Diane-Michele Prindeville, New Mexico State University; and Sherri L. Wallace, University of Louisville.

This completes my fourth year as editor of the APSR. The main theme of last year's annual report was continuity from the previous year in the flow, processing, and variety of the papers that we received and the articles that we published. That theme dominates this year's report as well, for only a glance at the tabular data reported below will be needed to establish the incremental character of the year-to-year changes that we experienced in the number and diversity of the papers that we received, the time it took to process them, and the outcomes of our review process. Having said that, I hasten to add that this year we have devoted extensive time and energy to an exciting new project, which I will discuss at the end of this report.

APSA is excited to once again return to the wonderful city of Philadelphia for the 102nd Annual Meeting, which will be held from August 31–September 3, 2006. There is no place more fitting than the birthplace of our nation to embark on a discussion centered on the meeting's theme, “Power Reconsidered.”

Here's a preview of some of the articles that will be published in the January issue of PS: Political Science and Politics.

On November 7, 2005, APSA Executive Director Michael Brintnall welcomed the 2005–2006 class of APSA Congressional Fellowship Program (CFP) Fellows. In his opening remarks to 31 Fellows, Brintnall articulated three primary roles of the APSA congressional Fellows. First, he noted that following the five-week intensive orientation, APSA Fellows would become full-time Capitol Hill staff members. In this capacity Fellows are typically expected to demonstrate loyalty and dedication to advancing the issues of importance of the Senator or Representative in whose office they serve. The second role involves joining the distinguished fraternity of approximately 2,000 others in the program's history. This role requires current Fellows to recognize the program's rich and storied history and to take steps to advance the interests of the program. Third, APSA fellows are to be active learners. The CFP is an experiential fellowship, based on the participant-observer model. Now that the midpoint of the fellowship year is approaching, it seems appropriate to use the remainder of this essay to briefly reflect on these three roles. In doing so, I am reminded of the ancient Chinese proverb—”I hear and I forget; I see and I remember; I do and I understand.” Undoubtedly, the CFP provides a firsthand opportunity to learn about the first branch of government by doing.

When I first learned that I would be spending most of my final year in graduate school working on Capitol Hill as an APSA Congressional Fellow, I really did not know what to expect—other than that I needed to hurry up and finish my dissertation! Since most of my training was empirical in nature, with a smattering of formal theory here and there, the one thing I knew for certain was that I was in for a novel experience. After all, there are few substitutes for acting as a participant observer to uncover a different perspective on a subject.I want to thank Charles Bullock, Jeff Jenkins and especially Dave Rohde for helping me get into the Fellowship Program.

Recent census estimates place the percentage of Americans who are of Latino/Hispanic origin at more than 14%, up from 12.5% in the 2000 census. Despite comprising this large and increasing proportion of the population, Latinos continue to be severely underrepresented in the discipline. Today Latinos comprise fewer than 2% of all political scientists in the United States. This significant under-representation reflects the many barriers that continue to exist in terms of educational attainment among Latinos. In turn, our discipline is impacted by this trend as our ability to adequately assess the political incorporation and impact of this increasingly important minority population is seriously limited.

The APSA Council met April 22, 2006 at the Midwest Political Science Association's Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois. The following are highlights from the meeting.

As of December 2005, Perspectives on Politics will have published three complete volumes of four issues each. As former editor of the journal (until June, 2005), I have published two previous reports (see PS, January 2004, 143–149; PS, January 2005, 141–144) this one covers the period from August 1, 2004 through July 31, 2005.