{"84831":{"#nid":"84831","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tech Student Wins Elite Harry S. Truman Scholarship","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETo Nate Watson, politics isn\u0027t a dirty word, it\u0027s a calling.  A double major in Public Policy and Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Watson is preparing himself for a life in public service. So far, he\u0027s off to a good start.  He\u0027s spent the past two years as the executive vice president of Tech\u0027s Student Government Association and now he\u0027s won both the prestigious Harry S. Truman Scholarship and the presidency of Tech\u0027s Student Government Association.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI believe in getting involved in the leadership of your community, wherever you are,\u0022 said Watson.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhile at Tech, the 21-year-old junior has done his best to get as much experience as he can in public life.  In addition to his work on the SGA, Watson has interned for U.S. Congressman John Linder, Georgia State Senator Steve Thompson and the Georgia General Assembly. That\u0027s time well spent, given his career choice: U.S. congressman and environmental policymaker.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I feel a lot of the time that politics has a dirty name,\u0022 said Watson.  \u0022I want to do my best to restore people\u0027s faith in politics.  If we can focus on the issues, I believe we can do that.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAccording to Watson, he\u0027s \u0022definitely not a liberal.\u0022  \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I support smaller government, however, I believe individuals need to take leadership of their communities.  There is a lot they can do of their own free will,\u0022 he explained.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFree will, the power of markets and environmental protection are three things Watson said he\u0027s passionate about.  \u0022I first became interested in protecting the environment while I was a Boy Scout.  Then, in 1999 I went to Honduras as part of a mission trip.  I saw the tremendous water problems they had there and then came back to Georgia to see the water problems we\u0027re having here,\u0022 he said.  But, rather than have government issue strict environmental controls on industry that could have dire consequences for the economy, the power of the market can be used to give incentives to industries to control pollution, Watson said. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Protecting our environmental and economic resources go together,\u0022 he said.  \u0022I believe we can use market-based ideas to improve the environment.\u0022  These ideas include emissions trading, in which companies are given credits representing the amount of pollution they are allowed to emit.  Companies, that don\u0027t use all of their credits can sell them to other companies.  This keeps the net amount of pollution the same, but because polluting has a cost associated with it, the idea is that some companies will have incentives to reduce their output.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWatson is full of ideas, which should serve him well during a life in politics.  One of his major goals for the SGA is getting the Board of Regents to approve an academic bill of rights in May.  The bill, which has been several years in the making, would guarantee rights to students such as the right to get a syllabus, the right to see professors during office hours and the right to have class only during scheduled times.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nWatson is one of 76 Scholars selected from 635 national candidates nominated for the Truman award. Each scholarship provides $30,000 - $3,000 for the senior year and $27,000 for two or three years of graduate study.   The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation was established by Congress in 1975 as the federal memorial to the 33rd president of the United States. The foundation awards scholarships for college students to attend graduate school in preparation for careers in government or elsewhere in public service.  Scholars are selected for outstanding leadership potential, communication skills, academic achievement, and a commitment to public service.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe scholarship isn\u0027t the first honor Watson has won at Tech.  As an incoming freshman, he won the President\u0027s Scholarship, the Institute\u0027s most prestigious scholarship, which is given to freshman who demonstrate leadership in their community and academic excellence.\n\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"To Nate Watson, politics isn\u0027t a dirty word, it\u0027s a calling.  A double major in Public Policy and Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Watson is preparing himself for a life in public service. So far, he\u0027s off to a good start.  He\u0027s spent the past two years as the executive vice president of Tech\u0027s Student Government Association and now he\u0027s won both the prestigious Harry S. Truman Scholarship and the presidency of Tech\u0027s Student Government Association.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2003-04-15 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:02:10","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2003-04-15T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2003-04-15T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"84841":{"id":"84841","type":"image","title":"Nate Watson won the prestigius Truman Scholarship","body":null,"created":"1449178102","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:28:22","changed":"1475894706","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:45:06"}},"media_ids":["84841"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.truman.gov\/","title":"Truman Scholarship"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["david.terraso@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}