Coming To Campus - February 17 2004

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February 17, 2004

Coming to Campus is a section announcing visiting speakers of note.

Those who wish to submit items for this section should send a brief description (maximum 300 words) of the event, including the date, time, and place, and giving the name, title, outstanding accomplishments and, if available, a color photo of the speaker to: Visiting Speaker, Advance, 1266 Storrs Road, Storrs, CT 06269-4144 or by e-mail: advance@uconn.edu, with Visiting Speaker in the subject line.

The information must be received by 4 p.m. on Monday, a minimum of two weeks prior to the event.

Publication will depend on space available, and preference will be given to events of interest to a cross-section of the University community.

Author of Book on Providence Mayor To Speak February 25
Mike Stanton, Pulitzer-prize winning author of The Prince of Providence: The True Story of Buddy Cianci, America's Most Notorious Mayor, Some Wiseguys, and the Feds, will speak on campus on Wednesday, Feb. 25, and will sign books at the UConn Co-op.

Stanton will speak to journalism students in Monteith Building, Room 101, at 10 a.m., and in South Campus, Room 113, from 1 to 3 p.m. Both talks are open to the public but have limited seating. Those wishing to join the class should contact the Journalism Department at 860.486.4221 in advance.

The book signing is scheduled for 4 p.m. at the Co-op.

Stanton's book tells the story of Buddy Cianci who was viewed, on his election to mayor of Providence, as part urban visionary, part Tony Soprano. His lust for power cost him his marriage, his family, and close friendships. Yet he revitalized the city of Providence, which he dominated for a quarter of a century.

During Cianci's first administration as mayor, 22 political insiders were convicted of corruption. In 1984, Cianci resigned, after pleading guilty to felony assault, for assaulting a man he suspected of sleeping with his estranged wife. He was given a five year suspended sentence, and in 1990 again was elected mayor.

He went on to win national acclaim for transforming a dying industrial city into a trendy arts and tourism mecca. But in 2001, a federal corruption probe - dubbed Operation Plunder Dome - resulted in Cianci's conviction on corruption charges. He is now in federal prison.

Stanton has devoted his career to breaking stories on corruption and white-collar crime. He heads the investigative reporting team at The Providence Journal, Rhode Island's leading newspaper, and shared the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting, exposing widespread corruption at the Rhode Island Supreme Court. In 1997, he received the

Master Reporter Award for career achievement from the New England Society of Newspaper Editors. He has also won prizes from Investigative Reporters and Editors, the American Society of Newspaper Editors, and the Associated Press.

He is a graduate of Syracuse University and Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.