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Kristina Kian Ball, a University of Oklahoma student majoring in political science, has been selected as the recipient of the 2008 Carl Albert Award, presented each year to the outstanding senior in the OU College of Arts and Sciences.

Ball was presented with the $2,500 Carl Albert Award recently in Beaird Lounge of the Oklahoma Memorial Union, 900 Asp Ave.?

Ball, who plans to pursue her master of science in comparative public policy at the University of Edinburgh, will graduate May 9 with a 3.97 grade-point average.

While at OU, Ball has received numerous honors and awards. During her junior year, she was a Cortez Ewing Public Service Fellow and a Robert Dean Bass Memorial Scholar. As a senior, she is a Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholar, and in the past has been recognized as a John Withrow Scholar and an Oklahoma Academic Scholar.

Also during her time at OU, Ball has served as a Carl Albert Center Civic Education Fellow, coordinating voter education and mobilization on the Norman campus. In addition, she is one of four students in the Honors College selected to assist other undergraduates as an Honors College peer mentor.

For the past several years, Ball has volunteered at the annual Memory Walk and fundraising ball for the Central Oklahoma Alzheimer's Association. She spent time rebuilding homes damaged by Hurricane Katrina in Biloxi, Miss., and is the creator of Voters With Vision, a program designed to encourage youths to vote.

In her winning Carl Albert Award essay, Ball recalls being fascinated by the political discussions of the coffee shop customers in her hometown of Okarche. She writes, "...coffee shop banter is the foundation for involvement within our communities, and an essential element within our democratic government."

Ball also remembers being dismayed to notice a distinct lack of young voters at the polls each time she went to vote. "What, I wonder, is the discrepancy between the young and the old, the constituent and the official?" she writes. These questions led Ball to conduct her own research into the voting habits of the public, particularly who votes, who doesn't and their motivations.

Armed with her research and determination, Ball founded Voters With Vision, "an initiative that will ensure all Oklahoma youth have the opportunity to register to vote and are informed of the various ways to become involved civically." The program recently received a $1,000 grant, which will be used to supply Oklahoma high schools with voter registration forms. In addition, OU students participating in Voters With Vision plan to travel to high schools around the state to communicate to teens the importance of civic activity.

Ball said that her time at OU has been instrumental in her achievements.

"While my studies at OU have changed my perspective on the world and opened tremendous doors in my future, my career plans return to what originally inspired me: my community," she said.

Ball said she intends to use her skills learned in the classroom "to engage my peers in the discourse of our nation. In doing so, I am further propelled toward a future in which I can better understand how the institutions of government function, and how the shape of these institutions affects citizen participation."

Ball plans to spend a year overseas, where she looks forward to gaining an outside perspective on the workings of our government.

The Carl Albert Award is based on academics, moral force of character and promise of future service to the state and nation. First presented in 1966, the award was established to honor Carl Albert, OU alumnus and former U.S. Speaker of the House, for his distinguished undergraduate career and national service. Julian Rothbaum, former state regent and longtime friend of Albert, endowed the award in 1965.