Students get chance to meet Nobel winner

Eight Iowa students will be able to have dinner with a Nobel Peace Prizewinner next month. Former South African President F-W de Klerk will be speaking as part of the North Iowa Area Community College Leadership Series on September 19th, with a dinner reception being held at the college. NIACC cultural events director Liz Gales says organizers of the event came up with the idea. She says people enjoy the opportunity to meet on a relaxed basis.Gales says the essay rules are simple, they need to write in 200 words or less why they would like to have dinner with de Klerk.Gales says it’s a great honor to have de Klerk come to NIACC, as she says he changed the face of South Africa — and our planet.De Klerk was influential in ending apartheid in South Africa, freeing Nelson Mandela and lifting the ban on organizations like the African National Congress. The entry deadline is September 11th. Send in entries to: F-W de Klerk Contest, 300 North Washington, Mason City, 50401.