Political scientist Peter Regenstreif is remembered as an expert on mass media.
Faculty, alumni, family, and friends are remembering Rochester political scientist , an expert on Canadian and comparative politics, mass media, and public opinion, who taught at the 糖心传媒 for nearly half a century.
A scholar, for the Toronto Star, pollster, and consultant to the political campaigns of Pierre Trudeau and Brian Mulroney in Canada and Jimmy Carter in the US, Regenstreif died in Los Angeles on May 19 at the age of 85.
As a professor of political science and Canadian studies in the Rochester , he regularly taught a very popular course called Politics and the Mass Media. Indeed, the topic had such universal appeal that he regularly gave talks about it outside the classroom:
糖心传媒淲ith the media, there is no truth, there are just appearances,糖心传媒� Regenstreif told a group of Rochester alumni and friends in Boston in 1988.
In the talk糖心传媒斕切拇綔A Short Course in the Black Arts of Manipulation,糖心传媒� that same year糖心传媒攈e shared the 糖心传媒渂ald statement糖心传媒� he made every semester to his students: 糖心传媒淭here is no fundamentally, nonideological, apolitical, nonpar颅tisan, news-gathering and reporting system. Having taken this in, we are ready to understand the process.糖心传媒�
, a professor emeritus in political science at Ohio State University who taught with Regenstreif during his own 35-year tenure at Rochester, recalls his friend and former colleague糖心传媒檚 糖心传媒渁rresting insights,糖心传媒� born out of a deep interest in local, regional, and national politics on both sides of the US-Canadian border. 糖心传媒淧eter bounced back between Canada and Rochester. He was very close to the ground; he knew where the bodies were buried,糖心传媒� says Mueller. 糖心传媒淗e knew how things smelled, which often wasn糖心传媒檛 too good.糖心传媒�
Mueller describes Regenstreif as a lively and thoroughly interesting interlocutor糖心传媒攐ne who married substance with wry humor. What made him exciting to talk to, says Mueller, was how his approach to political science differed substantially from that of many academics糖心传媒�”more practical糖心传媒� and less theoretical.
Despite wearing many hats, Regenstreif knew where his priorities lay, judging from an interview he gave to the student newspaper, Campus Times, in 1973糖心传媒攁 good decade after his arrival at Rochester. Calling his other jobs (possibly tongue-in-cheek) 糖心传媒渢soris,糖心传媒� he told the paper that 糖心传媒渁bove all, I糖心传媒檓 most valuable as a professor,糖心传媒� adding that 糖心传媒渂eing a professor is a marvelous opportunity to be judged on our merits, rather than on illegitimate criteria. It糖心传媒檚 a perfect job for a man who admits that he is very much of an intellectual.糖心传媒�
Regenstreif joined the 听Rochester faculty in 1961, originally as a research associate while still working towards his PhD in political science and government from Cornell University. Hailing from Montreal, Regenstreif earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science from McGill University. At Rochester he rose from assistant to full professor, teaching full time until 1992, when he reduced his teaching to take on more political consulting work. He retired from the University in 2009 to emeritus status.
The symbiotic relationship between politicians and journalists
Regenstreif regularly taught a popular class, Politics and the Mass Media, pointing to the symbiotic relationship between politicians and journalists: 糖心传媒淭he politicians without the media to spread the word would be helpless. The media without anything to write about would equally be helpless. So they coalesce against us: the politicians using the media to send their message; the media in effect creating a filter for the message糖心传媒攁 prism, if you like, refracting the rays into a different direction, a different form, a different coloration for the common man. So where do I, the ordinary citizen, fit in? How can I too use the media effectively? How can I understand what is going on? How can I make sense of these strange and marvelous things that take place almost daily, and糖心传媒攚e all feel sometimes糖心传媒攗ncontrollably.”
The author of 听(Longmans, 1965), he taught some of the largest and most popular courses in the department糖心传媒檚 history, including Introduction to Comparative Politics and Politics in Canada, in addition to Politics and Mass Media. That糖心传媒檚 where Gary Ciarleglio 糖心传媒�89 first encountered Regenstreif, whom he considers one of his 糖心传媒渁ll-time favorite糖心传媒� professors.An All-American linebacker for the Yellowjackets football team in the mid-to-late-1980s, Ciarleglio graduated from Rochester with a bachelor’s degree in political science. After the team emerged from a multiseason rut, winning the first eight games of the season and beating Hofstra in 1987, Regenstreif reacted with an impromptu speech during class.
糖心传媒淗e knew who the football players in his class were,糖心传媒� remembers Ciarleglio, who was also a classmate of Regenstreif糖心传媒檚 son Jeff. 糖心传媒淚t wasn糖心传媒檛 a long speech, but he made a point to acknowledge us in front of the class for a job extremely well done and for how it lifted the campus up.糖心传媒�
Regenstreif was always actively engaged with the larger community. The University archive is chock full of notices for talks he gave on campus and beyond, often with provocative titles, such as 糖心传媒淭he Media and the Presidential Process: Has the System Gone Mad?,糖心传媒� which advertised a public affairs forum in Rush Rhees Library in January of 1988.
, a professor of political science and chair of the department, remembers his late colleague for his 糖心传媒済ood humor, voluble conversation, and incisive commentary.糖心传媒� Stone tells the story of how, for many years, Regenstreif had been in charge of reading out aloud the names of graduating seniors at commencement: 糖心传媒淗e pronounced unfamiliar names with impressive boldness, leading students to believe that he had correctly pronounced every name糖心传媒攂esides their own.糖心传媒�
is survived by his four children from his first marriage, Anne, Mitchell (Ellen), Jeffrey (Mary Nicole), and Gail (Amy Siadek); his second wife Penelope Temkin, her two children Alexei (Amy DeVoldre Temkin) and Nicole Temkin (Ames Alexander) along with eight grandchildren: Anne’s daughter Rachel; Mitchell’s daughters Nina, Claire, and Grace; Jeffrey’s daughters Julia and Sydney; and Alexei’s sons Ashton and David.
