With the Shaky Status Of the Newspaper Business,I Think the Register's Political Columnist Will Fit In Well At Beautiful Downtown Carbondale, Ill.

My day started a little later than usual.

I slept until 8 a.m. after staying awake too long while watching and listening to the Gaither Brothers gospel music [left] on DirecTV channel 338 late last night and early this morning, I guess.

I began brewing my pot of coffee at 8:05 a.m. before checking the usual long e-mail list awaiting me.

One message that immediately caught my eye was from Scott Pierce, the basketball/football radio broadcaster from Des Moines.

"Did you know this?" Pierce asked me in an e-mail that linked to a story at thesouthern.com.

The story said that David Yepsen [right], who seemingly has been writing political columns at the Des Moines Register since Teddy Roosevelt was president, is one of three candidates for the director's job at the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute in Carbondale, Ill.

Indeed, Yepsen interviewed for the job yesterday.

In answer to Pierce's question, I wasn't aware that Yepsen was interviewing for jobs.

But, hey, a guy [or a girl] in the newspaper business these days needs to keep all options open.

There's another round of layoffs and/or buyouts approaching at the Register, so you never know who'll be called into editor Carolyn Washburn's office to get the bad news.

Folks with big salaries are prime candidates to go.

During the most recent buyouts, reporter/humor columnist Kenny Fuson and farm editor Jerry Perkins said adios to Washburn and everyone else in the fourth-floor newsroom.

So I guess it doesn't surprise me that Yepsen is looking.

But at a job in Carbondale, Ill.?

Listen, this is no time for laughing.

When I was traveling to Drake basketball and football games on the road, Carbondale was one of the stops.

And it was a place nobody wanted to stay very long.

"Well, they have a Holiday Inn there," I was always told.

"Yes, but do they have indoor toilets and a Greyhound bus station?" I asked.

Just kidding, Scott.

When he was Drake's basketball coach in the previous century, Maury John was famous for not wanting to stay at the site of a game the night before his teams played Missouri Valley Conference games.

If the Bulldogs played in Louisville, he'd put the players in an Indianapolis hotel the night before. If they played at North Texas State in Denton, the team stayed in Dallas.

Heck, if Maury had to go to Southern Illinois now, he and the players might stay in Keokuk, Ia., the night before.

It figured that Pierce would locate a story about something going on in Carbondale.

He's from that area, and even has the courage to admit it.

Just kidding, Scott.

"Actually, I'm from Murphysboro, which is Carbondale's arch-rival," Pierce told me. "We didn't keep track of who won the game, but who won the fight after the game."

"Going from Des Moines to Carbondale would be quite an adjustment. It would be like going to Cedar Falls with no Waterloo or Des Moines nearby. It's basically a college town."

As for Yepsen being a candidate for a job at the Paul Simon Policy Institute, Pierce said, "This should answer the question about Yepsen's political leanings. I'm from southern Illinois, and there is NO WAY a conservative would be interviewed for this job."

Whatever, thanks to Pierce, I think I scooped Biz Buzz [not to be confused with Bulldog Buzz] at the paper again with the news on Yepsen.

Come to think of it, Washburn may decide to lay off Biz Buzz, too -- and perhaps Bulldog Buzz.

Wikipedia says of the Simon Institute:

"Founded in 1997 by Paul Simon, a former two-term U.S. Senator from Illinois and one-time candidate for the Democratic Party nomination for president, the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute differentiates itself from similar organizations by working directly with elected officials and others to fashion and implement changes in public policy.

"Many of these organizations are considered 'think tanks,' which is not a title that aptly describes the Simon Institute. Paul Simon spoke of his institute as a 'do tank' because it seeks--and achieves--positive results and concrete actions based on its work.

"Simon established the bipartisan institute to maintain this fundamental difference from virtually all other organizations of its kind. It does so by asking two important questions:

"1. Can anything be accomplished by our taking on this project? and;
"2. Is our involvement differentiated from other organization's work on this subject?"

Candidates for the director's job in addition to Yepsen are William H. Freivogel, director of the Southern Illinois school of journalism, and state Rep. Arthur L. Turner, a Democrat from Chicago.

When he was in Carbondale, Yepsen said the institute "could be used as a means to explore national issues, like combating racial prejudice, studying women in politics, government spending and debt, health care in rural America and campaign finance reform," according to thesouthern.com.

"Yepsen said it's important to not lose sight of Simon's vision of the institute as a 'do-tank' rather than a 'think-tank.' It could be used as a way to educate the public, garner public opinion and even go so far as to draft legislation to send to lawmakers.

"I think it's important for the institute to always be doing what it can to take it to the next level," Yepsen said. "It's okay to do some things locally, but this is a state university, this is a nationally recognized institution.

"If you want an Illinois-oriented director, I'm not it. I think we need to be focused on something bigger," he added.

"While focusing on a national scope, it's also important to remember the institute's role in helping students. In that regard, Yepsen said he would like to use several ideas he learned while spending a semester teaching at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.

"He would like to create a 'pizza and politics' atmosphere during an informal study group that would teach students the foundations of becoming involved in politics. Yepsen also suggested starting a mentoring program with students that would help university faculty and others in the community trying to become U.S. citizens."

Good luck, Dave. If it's something you want, I hope you get it.