Mark Pappas and Family Interviewed for ABC News Segment on Social Security Sarah R. Buchholz CAMPUS CHRONICLE June 16, 2000 I f you're watching "Good Morning America" next week, you might see Mark Pappas, personal computing administrator for Development and Alumni Systems, and members of his family being interviewed in their Amherst home by ABC News analyst George Stephanopoulos. Pappas, with his wife, Pat, their son and daughter, and his father, spent 21/2 hours in their living room with Stephanopoulos on May 30, taping a family conversation about Social Security and the presidential candidates' proposals for its future. A crew of four and a producer set up three cameras and lighting equipment in the room and "tried to make themselves invisible" during the taping, Mark said. ABC told the Pappases that the finished segment would be 3 to 31/2 minutes long. "They're doing a series on the presidential race and the issues around it," Mark said. "They wanted a family that had someone who is retired, someone who's in the work force, and someone who is just entering the work force." ABC found a suitable family in the Pappases. The children are in their 20s, just beginning careers. Daughter Emily graduated from Connecticut College last month, and son Max, who has a master's degree from the London School of Economics, works for the Cato Institute in Washington. Of the mid-career adults, Max works for the University and Pat has her own business running a home daycare. At 78, Mark's father, Gus, is a retiree. "We were supposed to talk about it based on what we know now," Mark said, "how we feel about it, what we think about the different presidential candidates' proposals. Before the interview, several members of the family had purchased Stephanopoulos' book, "All Too Human: A Political Education." "After the interview, we had him autograph everything," Mark said. "He was very gracious, very unassuming. It was a pleasure to have him there." In addition to the interview, ABC got videotape of each member of the family individually. "They went to my father's house and helped him get the lawnmower started," Mark said. "The crew pulled up just as Pat was going out with her daycare kids, so they jumped out and started taping. They videotaped me in the basement playing my guitar." The crew also filmed Emily and Max using a computer, in Emily's case to look for jobs, he said. The crew also taped Pat and Mark walking together outdoors. "Good Morning America" airs on WGGB, Channel 40, in Springfield, Monday through Friday from 7 to 9 a.m. The segment is scheduled to air next week, some time from June 19-23, according to Pat Pappas. The couple believe that the segment is likely to air late in the show, between 8:30 and 9 a.m.