|
Diane E. Benson (born 1954) is an Alaskan politician, inspirational speaker, video production consultant, published writer and dramatist. In August 2010, she became the Democratic candidate for Lt. Governor for the state of Alaska, defeating three other opponents in the Democratic primary on August 24, 2010.〔Alaska Dispatch, August 24, 2010, available at http://www.alaskadispatch.com/dispatches/politics/6536-parnell-cruises-to-victory-in-alaska-primary〕 Benson's running mate for Governor was Ethan Berkowitz, who lost in the general election. Benson lost to her Republican opponent by 22% of the vote. In March 2007, Benson filed in the state of Alaska to make her second bid for the U.S. House of Representatives, but was defeated by Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee "Red to Blue" candidate Ethan Berkowitz in the August 2008 Democratic primary. Benson ran for Alaska governor in 2002 and for U.S. Congress in 2006. ==Life and education== According to Benson’s official biography from her website, unlike her older brothers, Diane was born outside of Alaska in Yakima, Washington in 1954, while her mother was being treated for tuberculosis. Of Norwegian ancesry on her father's side and Tlingit ancestry on her mother's side, her tribal identity is T'akdeintaan (Sea Tern crest of the Raven Moiety), and of the Tax’ Hit, (Snail House). Benson grew up in Southeastern Alaska in foster homes and boarding school as well as logging camps with her father and in Sitka with her grandparents. She began volunteer work with senior citizens at Ketchikan Hospital at the age of 12, and although often homeless, worked a variety of social-service–oriented jobs with the underprivileged and the elderly until she took a position with the Fairbanks Native Association. At the age of 18 she was the youngest person to ever serve on the FNA Executive Board, and was invited by then U.S. Senator Mike Gravel to work in Washington D.C. Diane was accepted to study at Stanford University but could not attend due to personal and family reasons. Thereafter, she acquired a job as one of the first women tractor-trailer truck drivers on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline in 1975. In 1977 after working on a gill-netter (fishing boat) in Bristol Bay, and after completion of the pipeline construction, she worked numerous jobs including as a researcher for Alaska Federation of Natives human resources department, layout artist and writer for the ''Tundra Times'', researcher for North Pacific Rim, and other contracts. She paid for two years of college by driving trucks in the early 1980s as Alaska’s first female union concrete-mixer driver. She did volunteer research work for the Berger Commission, and 1986-1988 was a paralegal for Alaska Legal Services. Through the 1990s Diane ran Northern Stars Talent Agency promoting Alaska’s talent in films and commercials nationally and internationally. In 2001 Benson made local and national news when she objected to her masters degree advisor’s use of her clan (Snail House) in a controversial sexual abuse poem, ''Indian Girls''(). Benson filed a grievance regarding disparate classroom treatment but the U.S. Department of Education found in favor of the professor. Benson completed her master’s in creative writing in 2002 at another campus and under the tutelage of Pulitzer Prize winner, N. Scott Momaday. She continues graduate studies on a masters in public policy at New England College. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Diane E. Benson」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|