Experiencing National Hispanic Conferences

Attending conferences hosted
by HACU and Excelencia in Education

One awesome aspect about getting placed in an internship that best matches your career interests is the effortless opportunity to further engage in that field. My interests are in Latino students in higher education and placement at the Hispanic-Serving Institutions Division at the U.S. Department of Education was not only incredible but very critical to engaging in this particular advocacy field. My division is engaged with other nonprofits in this field and I was able to learn about and go to national conferences by these organizations. I learned incredibly from HACU, Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, and Excelencia in Education conferences. It was here that I was able to speak with either researchers or institutional staffers and hear about their role and efforts to improve Latino higher education attainment. I also expanded my network incredibly with individuals across the country in various industries but all are concerned with improving Latino youth's upward mobility. 

Volunteering for
 National Hispanic Leadership Institute 

To future WAIP fellows, especially the ones who will be in the spring, I highly encourage you to volunteer at these large, national gatherings. I extended my stay in DC through the weekend so that I could volunteer at NHLI's, National Hispanic Leadership Institute, annual conference. While I couldn't get registered through work this was a great substitute to be engage and interact with nonprofit organizations that I admired. Sometimes it's hard to meet with members of an organization and volunteering for their events is a great initial way to start a relationship with the staff. Plus, I met a lot of amazing young Latina students who are also interested in policy and advocating on behalf of the Hispanic community. It's these types of connections and networks you can't replace. I strongly hope that the Spring 2013 fellows make a list of at least three organizations or advocacy groups they admire, find out if they are having large scale events, and ask to volunteer!

Amber Seira  |  @amber_seira

Falling in Love

Dear Future Fellows,

When you move to D.C. for this fellowship, they will try to prepare you the best they can for everything you might encounter.  They will warn you about longer commute times, safety issues, and general living-in-a-city problems, but they can't cover it all.  Some things will come up that you aren't prepared for, but you just cope the best you can.  One of the things they won't warn you about is falling in love.  

Somewhere between my daily commute, answering office phones, giving tours, meeting new people, weekly outings to Eastern Market, afternoons on the Mall, strolling through museums and monuments, I fell in love with Washington, D.C.  It is a city like no other, and provides so many great opportunities.  Every single day I lived here with the WAIP program I woke up, looked out the window at the Capitol building and felt blessed.  I had the chance to go to work every day in one of the most gorgeous buildings, have the nicest coworkers, and chat with the Justices.  After meeting incredible people after incredible people every single day at work, I got to come home to the other Fellows in the program and forge friendships with them.  I won't forget a single one of them and look forward to seeing them again in Columbus, as well as finding out about the amazing things each will be doing with their life.  

These past fifteen weeks, my life has been changed.  I have a clearer view of what I want to do, where I want to be, and who I want to be.  There will still be decisions to make and hurdles to jump, but because of D.C., I know where I'm going and have the resources to get there. Each and every person I've met this semester has helped shape this and I am grateful to every one of them.  

As I write this, I'm finishing packing, and I'd lie if I said that it wasn't a tearful occasion.  Saying goodbye is always the worst--both to my friends and this city. But, I know, like many of the other fellows, I will be back.  And when I do, I hope to see the rest of you doing great things, like I know you will.

To my current fellows--I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to spend the semester with.  You were all fantastic and interesting, and I loved all of our differences. WAIP reunions will be much anticipated. 

So, future fellows, when you get to D.C., don't be afraid to explore, to dream, and to fall in love.  

Love, 

Katie

Just an Average Day on Capitol Hill

Two weeks ago, I had the good fortune of attending two fantastic events on the same day! The first was the Wounded Warrior event at the Supreme Court.  The Wounded Warrior Project is a great group that helps injured veterans get the care that they need, as well as raise awareness for veterans’ needs.  I had heard of the WWP because of their various fundraisers, but I had never had the chance to actually see one of their programs for veterans until that day.  Around 15 veterans arrived in the morning and were treated to tours and lectures for them and their families, all capping off with a reception held in their honor.  Several of the Justices were in attendance and spent a lot of time meeting with veterans and talking about their experiences.  One family I became particularly fond of consisted of a veteran, his wife, and their two young daughters.  All were excited to meet and talk with the Justices, but the eldest girl was so excited to meet the female Justices.  She learned that she shared literary interests with a few of the female Justices and was encouraged in her studies.  The youngest daughter liked meeting the Justices, but was a little wary of the Chief Justice because “he’s the boss.” Once she gained the courage to actually meet him, they became fast friends and shared a picture together.  This event was incredible to me because I got to meet a great group of heroes, as well as meet more of the Justices I hadn’t previous met, and see the interactions between the two.  Events like these make me even more thankful for those who serve our country, as well as for my internship because it has afforded me incredibly opportunities like this one. 

The second event I attended (late, I might add—sorry!) was the lunch with Senator Glenn and his wife, Annie.  Both were articulate and funny, sharing stories of the Senator’s time in Congress and Space, as well as Mrs. Glenn superior skill on the flight simulator.  The Senator gave us Fellows tips on working in government and we were able to get all of our burning questions answered. 

I can say that I have never met so many interesting people in one day, and I’m sure that record won’t be broken anytime soon.  Between the Senator, the Justices, and the veterans, I spent the day in awe of their great accomplishments, as well as down-to-earth natures.  I can only hope that one day I will be able to inspire others, as they have inspired me. 

-Katie

Opportunity in Internship: Meeting the Secretary of Education!

Imagine after a long day researching in your fabulous gray cubicle, you hear the phone ring while you are excitedly packing up your things. Most people would probably let the call go to voicemail but since I'm the intern and nobody ever calls me, I curiously answered the phone. In that conversation with the front office, I found myself agreeing to be a speaker for an upcoming event where I will not only give a short speech but introduce the Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan. Meeting Arne and sharing my higher education story was hands down the most exciting and fulfilling event of my internship at the U.S. Department of Education (ED).

I love my experience with the intern program at ED this past semester. They had three staff members dedicated to our career development and government engagement. I learned so much about the federal government and the agency through office hours, intern outings, and weekly brown bag lunches. Even though my division is located not at headquarters but on K street, I still made sure to attend as many events as possible.

Sometimes structured activities can only provide so much and oftentimes I followed through with brown bag speakers, who best match my career aspirations, for informational interviews. This was where I found out about all of the rich fellowships and programs I could consider as post-graduation plans. This was very crucial insight to know of various feasible, best-matching options to return to DC.

Other times I had to be very assertive to engage and learn about ED. My personal experiences with federally funded educational programs directed my inquisitiveness to get to know the Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE) better. It is from this and other engagements I made to connect with several staff memebers that eventually led me to the incredible opportunity to speak in front of OPE and to introduce Arne.

Former WAIP fellows highly encouraged me to take advantage of all the resources and people available during my time in Washington and I'm so glad to have followed their advice. Future WAIP fellows should try extra hard to network and follow their curiosities. It provided me with such clear ideas of paths to pursue and removed some stress when seeking that next endeavor after graduation.

- Amber Seira | @amber_seira

The Mentor Program

One of the most rewarding aspects of my semester in Washington, D.C. has been the mentoring program.  The Washington Academic Internship Program sets up each Glenn Fellow with an Ohio State graduate who now works in D.C.

My mentor Kirstin works for FedEx and handles sales involving the Department of Defense.  She has worked for FedEx for years, and her ambition has paid off.  Kirstin works hard and travels often, and she loves her job.  Many of our lunches have ended with Kirstin letting me know she'd be in Dubai the following week...

-Maddie.

For the rest of this post and pictures of Maddie trying to dissect steamed crabs, continue to http://maddiefireman.typepad.com/maddie/2012/11/mentoring.html

Food=אוכל=Comida=DC

Big cities are expensive and before I came to Washington, D.C. I knew I would be "eating in" as much as possible.

My roommates and I get along really well.  I knew we would be peas in a pod when my most important roommate criterion was met: combining finances when it comes to food.  We love to cook, and we cook almost every night.

Our parameters and/or roadblocks:

A is a vegan.

L won't eat beets, cherries, or goat cheese.

Thanks to malaria pills I took during world travels in 2008 and 2009 I can't eat acidic foods like tomatoes, and eggplants trigger my migraines.  A and L love spicy foods, and I have a more sensitive palate.  

Our roadblocks:

Our "fully furnished" apartment contained no measuring spoons or cups and no sharp knives.  Some other pepole in our apartment building had no serrated knives, and others had no cutting boards while we had around five.  We've done some trading and sharing.

Our "fully furnished" apartment is also without a dishwasher.  This is a huge problem for us.  I often think of my grandfather, Papa Bee, when I cook.  He loved to cook and was very creative, but he hated to do the dishes and he often left my grandma's kitchen a mess.  The food was worth it.  Still, none of us like to clean our own dishes.  Our new fix: we've made friends with our next-door neighbors and we now use their dishwasher.

We live in a bit of a food desert.  There's a supermarket around the corner from our apartment where we can get produce at affordable prices, but things like chips, milk, and cereal are marked way up.  Apparently there is a Safeway supermarket near us.  I helped another intern in our building carry her groceries into the elevator, and asked her where she went for our food.  She told me there was a Safeway grocery store nearby in Southeast Washington.  "But," she told me, "It's in a bad neighborhood.  A really bad neighborhood.  I'm not kidding.  When you leave Safeway, run, don't walk."

I knew that wasn't going to work for us.

Still, we've made it work.

Where does our food come from?

Safeway delivery orders, Giant delivery orders, lugging grocieries from the Van Ness Giant, fresh produce from the Eastern Market, and the occasional haul from Trader Joe's near Foggy Bottom.

Now to the fun stuff.  What have we cooked?

One of our first meals.

...

-Maddie.

Read the full post at http://maddiefireman.typepad.com/maddie/2012/10/foodochelcomidadc.html

Grownups

Washington is a grown-up place.  We dress up, go to work every day, cook dinner every night...real life is hard, but we're adjusting.  Some of my favorite aspects of grown-up life:

Being unable to sleep in.

Maybe it's because I'm getting older and I'm ready to seize the day.  Or maybe it's because my bed is directly under a window.

Voting absentee.

I've voted in the local elections since I turned 18, but I've been out of Ohio for the last two presidential elections.  In 2008 I was in Israel and my voting experience was...

To view the entire post, continue to http://maddiefireman.typepad.com/maddie/2012/11/grownups.html

-Maddie.

The National Geographic Museum

To celebrate Katie's completion of the LSAT on Saturday, Katie, Erin, Isaac, and I went to explore the National Geographic Museum on 17th and M Street. The National Geographic Museum is located one block from my office in Farragut Square, but I have never found the chance to check it out until now!

A $6 student admission ticket brought us first to a short film and an exhibit titled "1001 Inventions." This exhibit highlights a plethora of theories and inventions found in Muslim and Arabic areas of the world during the Dark Ages. Highlights of the exhibit included a flying game where you actually flapped your arms to fly through an obstacle course, a constellation matching game, building blocks, and tons of other interactive and informative displays on Muslim innovation. While the exhibit was clearly aimed at a younger audience, my group surprisingly had a lot of fun looking at the displays and fighting off small children for another turn at the flying game.

The second component of the museum was an exhibit on exotic birds of the world, focusing particularly in South America and New Guinea. Despite my paralyzing fear of being attacked by birds, I enjoyed seeing all of the unique (and stuffed) species stowed safely away behind glass cases. One of the most captivating components of the exhibit was a film on how National Geographic films these exotic species. The two men featured in the video discussed the months long process to just get one decent picture of a rare species. A beautiful bird photography display at the front of the exhibit was also worth spending time exploring.

Finally, if you are looking for a great gift shop the National Geographic Museum has one of the best I have ever seen.  My group spent easily as much time looking through all of the books, gifts, videos, and photography in the gift shop as we did looking at the exhibits!

Overall, if you are looking for an interesting way to spend an hour or two (especially if you are with younger children) I would definitely recommend visiting the National Geographic Museum.

-Marissa Cooper

My Internship Project- Complete!

This semester I have been working at the Pro Bono Institute, a nonprofit organization that provides resources to lawyers, in-house corporate legal departments, and law firms interested in completing more pro bono legal work. While pro bono work obviously has benefits to communities, law firms and companies are frequently interested in learning about the business benefits of participating in pro bono. After all, the time that firms spend completing pro bono work could easily be spent on billable hours for paying clients. Fortunately, a variety of research studies have been conducted on why employee volunteering still has big business payoffs, especially in light of the 2008 economic recession.

My major internship project for this semester was composing a research compendium titled Pro Bono and Recruitment, Retention, and Morale. This resource is available as a free download on the Pro Bono Institute's Clearinghouse website. My hope is that firms and businesses who seek validation for their volunteer work can use this resource as evidence that pro bono work is worth doing. More information about the Pro Bono Institute is available by clicking here.

-Marissa Cooper

3 Empire Worthy Restaurants in D.C.

Rome, Egypt, Persia: being called an empire means that your society has left an indelible mark on the future progress of humanity. No matter where you live or how many years separated you are; the feats of empire will impact your life. But, for better or for worse, the international community has rejected the notion of geo-political domination of the entire world by a single state so we will most likely never see a modern day political empire. That being said, our globalised economy has left the door open for several large corporations to leave a much more delicious cultural stamp on humanity. Franchised restaurants are popping up all over the world and unifying our diets under the flag of taste-bud awesomeness! During my time in D.C. I have noticed three small time restaurants that need to be expanded and become the next generation of food empires.


3) Nando’s Peri-Peri

Nando’s Peri-Peri is the best chicken I have ever had. Originating from a style of cooking pioneered by Portuguese settlers in Mozambique during the late fifteenth century and perfected during the gold rush in South Africa during the late nineteenth century, Peri-Peri (Swahili for peppers) style cooking combines the flame grilled chicken traditions of Latin Europe with the flavor and punch of African spices. Nando’s sells all the usual fare for a chicken restaurant; ¼’s ½’s, breasts, wraps, wings, etc. But what makes Nando’s special is that they put a secret dry rub on each piece of chicken a full day before it hits their custom and old fashioned open flame grill. The dry rub serves to flavor and dry the chicken skin making it one of the crispiest and most flavorful chars I have ever had on a piece of meat. Nando’s also has a variety special hot sauces that you can choose to have grilled directly onto your chicken. All this preparation combines to create a juicy piece of hearty fowl bursting at the seams with spicy flavor. Combined with extra sauces at the table (I recommend mixing the garlic and lemon pepper and herb sauces together) and unbelievable sides such as Portuguese seasoned saffron rice with bell peppers, French fries seasoned with the chicken rub, fresh grilled garlic bread, and creamy redskin mashed potatoes; Nando’s creates one of the most unique and THE best tasting grilled chicken experiences you can imagine. If nobody takes this place national soon: I WILL!

2) Shophouse Asian Kitchen

Ok. Shophouse is technically owned by Chipotle so they can’t be an upstart food empire in their own right, maybe the Scotland in their parent company’s British Empire but I still can’t get it anywhere but DuPont Circle so it counts! From the national success of Chipotle and KFC famous bowls and the enormous local successes of Piada, (Italian Chipotle) J. Gumbos, (Cajun Chipotle) and Pera (Turkish Chipotle) in Columbus, it can be seen that the concept of ethnic meats, veggies, and sauces served on top of a starch bed is both easily exportable and extremely delicious. Shophouse takes this young concept, sends it on a study abroad semester, and sells one of the most authentic and unique fast foods in the city. Inspired by fast food noodle houses in Southeast Asia, Shophouse allows customers to choose a base of either jasmine rice, chilled rice noodles, or arugula salad and one of each of a variety of Asian meats, vegetables, slaws, curries, and crispy toppings. From the moment the seasoned meat hits your taste buds the explosion of pure ecstasy is only matched by the flavorful heat from the curry. Luckily, the noodles and rice do a create job of curbing the heat while blending with the veggies to create a flavor profile all their own. Since the moment I first tried Shophouse, I have been fighting the urge to go back for every other meal. It is truly a fantastic concept that needs to be given to the whole nation!

1) Devon and Blakely

According to legend, when Romulus drank the milk of the she-wolf, Rome was destined to become the greatest city the world would ever know. As I sunk my teeth into the freshly baked French bread made on site at D&B and took my first bite of the pressed rare roast beef sandwich with creamy melted Swiss cheese and cranberry coleslaw, the angelic choir and bright light that filled my senses could only have been Mars himself ordaining another empire for greatness! Devon and Blakely is the renaissance given to mankind to deliver us from the dark age of bland soup/sandwich cafes that have plagued our lunch hours for decades. With their freshly baked breads caressing gourmet sandwiches will all manner of high end ingredients from prosciutto to buffalo mozzarella, blackened chicken to BBQ pulled pork. The sandwiches at Devon and Blakely are THE ALL TIME BEST SANDWHICHES I HAVE EVER HAD! Accompanying the sandwiches are soups so delicious you need to be sitting down because your legs will literally give out from under you. The quality of their white bean turkey chili, Thai chicken, and tomato and feta soups are so fantastic that you would believe that the “Soup Nazi” episode of Seinfeld was just a humble and modest review of D&B. Devon and Blakely is already a chain with several restaurants in Washington and New York but for the good of mankind, this place needs to be sent to all corners of the globe!

Honorable Mentions:

Good Stuff Eatery: Great burgers, love the slight grilled crisp they include on the buttered buns but between Five Guys, Red Robin, Johnny Rockets, and other large gourmet fast food burger joints; there is nothing really new and different enough about good stuff warrant expansion. The two notable exceptions to this are the fries and shakes. The fries seasoned with thyme, sage, rosemary, and sea salt are unlike anything anyone else has and are illegal narcotics level addictive. But at $4.95 a pop, the market probably would reject the concept. The toasted marshmallow milkshake however is beyond tasty, recreating s’mores in one of the most delicious ways I have ever seen.

Burger Tap and Shake: Another burger place with the same issues as Good Stuff. While BTS doesn’t have special fries, they do have specialty milkshakes spiked with Kahlua, Malibu, Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey, and other desert liquors. The concept of alcoholic milkshakes literally blew my mind and needs to be expanded and sampled by everyone ASAP!

We the Pizza: The best pizza in D.C. the inventive toppings such as the “White Pie” with 5 kinds of gourmet cheese, the “Oktoberfest” with bratwurst, fennel, and sauerkraut on a pretzel crust, and the best buffalo chicken pizza I have ever had, We the Pizza is definitely worth a shot but doesn’t really do anything I have never seen before.

-Adam Kase

Shakespeare, Whales, and Coffee (sort of)

As the days remaining in D.C. dwindle down, I find myself frantically searching for time to do the things on my “DC bucket” list.  Last Sunday afternoon I took advantage of a few of those free hours and went to the Folger Shakespeare Library with Paige.  We weren’t exactly sure what to expect, but I had looked up the exhibit and thought it sounded interesting.  Besides, I still have a love of Shakespeare lingering from high school English, so I figured the visit could not be a bad idea.  Located right around the block and down the street from our accommodations at The Congressional, it was barely a five-minute walk.  Situated close to the Supreme Court and the Library of Congress, one might mistake it for another government building in Washington, D.C.  Later we found out that the similarity of the building structure could be attributed to being built around the same time and the desire of Washington officials to not have strange looking buildings (as they thought the original plans for the Library were) right next to the Supreme Court and Library of Congress.

The Folger Shakespeare Library was founded in 1932 by Henry Clay Folger, who was once president and chairman of Standard Oil, to hold his personal Shakespeare collection.  Today, the library lays claim to the largest collection of Shakespearean materials, as well as other Renaissance-era books and art, which is pretty good for a city that did not exist during Shakespeare’s life.  The Library also houses a theatre that has productions of various Shakespeare plays and other theatrical endeavors.

The exhibit space is the third function of the Library.  They host changing exhibits throughout the year that tie into Shakespeare and complement their permanent collection.  The exhibit Paige and I went to see was titled, “Very Like A Whale,” which is pulled from a line in Hamlet where Hamlet and Polonius discuss the morphing cloud shapes in the sky.  The exhibit featured works from artist Rosamond Purcell that were put together with passages from Shakespeare’s  and other similar artist’s plays.  It explores how Renaissance artists were able to take the real world and, through their works, change it into a magical, mystical place.  By placing the passages next to the art, it allows the visitor to imagine what can be seen in the painting beyond the obvious.  Overall, it was a nice place to spend an hour or so, and I would certainly urge the other fellows (and future fellows) to check it out. 

Also, in case you were wondering (as I was), Henry Clay Folger was the nephew of J.A. Folger who founded Folger Coffee.   

-Katie

Secret Agent Subway

While recovering from the negative effects of fellow WAIP intern Isaac Choi’s 21^st birthday party last night, I turned to my old main stay of recovering sobriety: the gyro. However, since our program’s meeting with the Chief Economist of the European Union a few weeks ago,  the proliferation of Grecian food in American cuisine only serves to remind me of what a horrible state our own economy is in, making me feel worse than any amount of gin and tonics ever could.   Deprived of my usual hangover cure, I turned to my obsession du jour, James Bond. While looking at photos from the set of the new film Skyfall, I came across a production still of Daniel Craig filming a scene in the London Underground.  Looking at the tiled and vaulted ceiling in “the Tube” I couldn't help but notice how similar it looked to the ceilings of the D.C. Metro System.

Underground, London Underground

DC Metro

  

Upon further research, I learned that this method of constructing subway tunnels was widespread throughout the world with similar designs in New York, St. Petersburg, and Moscow

New York

St. Petersburg

Moscow

Although the Washington Metro is one of the foremost examples of “Brutalist” architecture designed by Harry Weese in the 1970’s, the vaulted-ceiling design found in many subways and metros around the globe is a tribute to the architect Rafael Gustavino. In 1885, Gustavino patented an arch support structure based around the mosaic like “Gusatavino Tile.” This method of construction became so prolific in the first metro systems; it has since been copied or paid homage to in many modern subway stations, including those of the D.C. Metro.

Looking at the broader implications of this commonality, it seems that although they might not be on the red line, many of the world’s premier transportation hubs are connected to each other in a way that Washingtonians often see multiple times a day. However, this charge raises one supreme question: If the D.C. Metro is connected to the London and Moscow undergrounds, why does it still take 2 hours to get to Georgetown?!

-Adam Kase

Meet and Greets

One of the perks of this program is having the opportunity to meet a variety of important and significant people. While being in DC I have had lunch with OSU President Gordon Gee and Senator and Mrs. John Glenn and I am hoping for a meet and greet with Speaker John Boehner before I leave. Of course every time I am walking back to work after these lunches I call my father to tell him who I just spoke with to make him feel jealous (it works every time). I also, along with the other students in the program, go on a Facebook picture posting frenzy to show all of my friends. My dad is always baffled as to how I am able to meet these important people. I have to reiterate to him that the Washington Academic Internship Program is a relatively new and important one to Ohio State University especially within the John Glenn School of Public Affairs, so the supporters such as Dr. Gee and Senator Glenn want to see how the program is doing.

These men are not the only prominent figures our class has met. I love catching up with everyone on Friday mornings to hear about what their weeks have been like and who they have had the honor of meeting. It ranges from ambassadors to the Supreme Court Justices to heads of distinguished agencies and even sometimes celebrity advocates! Sometimes it feels like DC is its own kind of Hollywood (scandal included). You may not know who is everyone is at first, but after spending some time here you start to realize the important jobs these people have. And then after speaking with them you realize they are normal people who never really planned on being in their position. Almost all of them are very down to earth and willing to spend a few minutes to talk with you despite their busy schedules. If it’s one thing I’ve learned in DC it is take full advantage of these meetings because some may be once in a lifetime. On the other hand it could lead you to a job offer down the road. You just never know who you’re going to meet and where it can take you.

Working during the Holiday

This past long-weekend in DC was full of celebrations and memorials of the immeasurable service and sacrifice that veteran's have given this country.  I tried to take as much of it in as possible during the weekend, though, because I didn't get a long weekend. I had work on Monday morning (no complaints though, because I love my job!)

Even getting into the office was crazy--because it was a federal holiday, the Metro was only running on weekend hours. The problem was that most offices downtown were still open. After waiting 20 minutes for a train at Union Station, just to have a train approach that was too full to get on, I gave up on the idea of taking my usual red line route to work, paid my exit fare, and got on a bus.  Traffic, of course, was nuts, so despite leaving the Congressional at 8:30, I didn't get to work until around 9:45. I had a quick meeting with a supervisor, followed by our weekly staff meeting, held teleconference style with our writer, PR firm, and New York Headquarters. The meeting took longer than usual because we're about to enter what we here at NCJW refer to as the "post-election" session, but is more widely known as the "lame duck" session of the 112th Congress. With the fiscal slope (or cliff, as you may have heard) approaching, we had a lot to talk about on our call. We're a multi-issue organization so we have a lot of issues important to us at stake in sequestration.  Programs that do so much good like Medicare, WIC, SNAP, housing subsidies, and school lunches, could be on the chopping block, sadly.

I helped draft this email which was sent to our 90,000 member network

Even beyond the budget, there are a lot of bills that need our attention in the post-election session.  I've gotten to work a bit with our coalition partners this week on advocacy relating to the NDAA and in particular the Shaheen Amendment, which would open the full range of pregnancy related coverage to servicewomen and their families. This week I also drafted an Action Alert, asking our to contact their representatives in Washington in favor of reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).

Monday, wasn't all work though. At NCJW, we LOVE celebrating holidays (see my post about pumpkin carving) so we had to start planning our annual Kwa-nnukah-mas party! After 20 minutes of discussion we finally have a date, a location, and our Secret Hannah (NCJW was founded by Hannah G. Solomon) all organized!

Even though I didn't get to have Veteran's Day off, I got a lot of work done!

Leah Apothaker
Legislative Intern, National Council of Jewish Women

Election 2012

At times living in DC this semester instead of Columbus left a sour taste in my mouth. Facebook newsfeeds constantly remind me of the free concerts and presidential rallies I'm missing back in Ohio but  at the end of the day I wouldn't trade these events for my experience in WAIP. My time spent in Washington has confirmed my enthusiasm for public service and desires to stay engaged in DC. Working at a federal agency, I feel incredibly lucky getting to meet many individuals passionate for civil service and it made me feel extra involved in this election. Granted it was my first presidential election I could vote so I might have been overly excited to participate anyway. It was a little weird voting absentee and I missed not getting my hard-earned sticker. 

I wish I could stay another semester here and experience the start of a new presidential term, something I'm jealous for the Spring 2013 WAIP fellows. There is something unique about following politics at your nation's capitol and interacting with political appointees at the agency during election season. The focus of forums, events, and general activity of this city truly revolves around decision makers. Greatest aspects of being the Autumn 2012 WAIP fellow would be an unforgettable time celebrating at the White House this past Tuesday night. Never have I felt more important to be an Ohio voter and I was very pleased that it didn't take too long to find fellow buckeyes among the throngs of the celebratory crowds. O-H! 

- Amber Seira

Silver Spring Downtown

Last week I spent a day in Silver Spring, Maryland. My girlfriend and I wanted to get a way from busy DC area to somewhere much quieter, but (fortunately) we ended up in somewhere completely opposite from what I wanted. Getting there was easy: we took red line metro for 10 minutes, arrived at Silver Spring metro stop and walked two blocks uphill, then we saw a giant sign that reads Downtown Silver Spring. As a delicious aroma of diverse restaurants greeted us and made us busy looking around different food, next thing we know, we felt like you somehow transported yourself to Easton shopping mall in Columbus. The downtown was full of shops, restaurants, and full of fun things to do. From CVS to New York and Companies, there were enough variety of stores to satisfy my fickle taste. Also we saw diverse people in the town, from babies playing in the street fountain to "cool" teenagers on a double date in Starbucks to elder couples fancily dining together in Red Lobsters.
Silver Spring downtown is full of dynamic energy that resembled Easton in Columbus. While the town may seem small compare to Easton, it is just big enough to spend your whole day (for girls, maybe two days...) and get yourself something that's just right for you. The ice link in the town definitely makes up its smaller size. Loud music and bright dancing lights make you want to put on a pair of ice skates and make a fool of yourself on ice. After a long day of shopping you can wind down by either going to a movie theater or go to a concert hall that features local indie bands. Also there is a giant stage in the town, so I wouldn't be surprised if big bands have their concerts there. So when you want to get a way from the heart of DC, to emerge yourself in materialism or to feel like you are at Easton, or just to want to have different kind of fun, you should go to Silver Spring.

Hard at Work Carving Pumpkins

Last week was an unusual one for me here in DC. Hurricane Sandy paid us a visit, and my office was closed both Monday and Tuesday.  I was out of the building in off-site meetings for most of Wednesday and Thursday, so, very few tasks were checked off my to-do list.

The other staff here at NCJW were basically in the same boat. We’re a 501c3, which means that we are non-partisan and don’t endorse candidates in elections, but we do plenty of voter engagement and empowerment work.  Missing two crucial days before the election set us back a bit, and for the most part we were working independently and furiously to get back on schedule. There was one thing, though, that the whole office joined together to get done this week. It was a task of vast importance. Our office building puts on an annual pumpkin-carving contest and we had to work quickly to submit our pumpkin because of the office closings.

Every year NCJW submits a pumpkin we lose.  We try to be relevant and political (only on issues we endorse, never on candidates or parties!) but a little cute and clever too.  First we’d settled on carving a sequestration pumpkin—here in DC it’s almost all anyone talks about—but we couldn’t figure out how to clearly represent it jack-o-lantern-style.  Instead we picked a topic close to NCJW’s heart and the hearts of our sections, particularly in now in Maryland, Maine, Minnesota, and Washington: Marriage Equality.

My supervisor, Amy, crafted a cute design, two jack-o-lantern hearts, with big block letters spelling out marriage equality across the top. Jodi, the deputy director of the office and an expert pumpkin carver, brought in tools for excavating the pumpkin and carving our design to perfection. But, of course, first we had to gut the pumpkin. I arrived back to the office from my first meeting just in time. The office director, never one afraid to get her hands dirty, had gotten a nice start, but I soon took over, cleaning out the pumpkin so it would be ready to carve. We, of course, saved the seeds, so we could snack on those, rather than all of the leftover Halloween candy we have sitting in the kitchen.

I then ran to another meeting, and by the time I was back the pumpkin was all carved and just needed to be cleaned up and submitted for judgment. When we brought it down we scoped out the competition—it was fierce. The architecture firm in the building carved a haunted house, the Health Care company made a Mister Potato Head style pumpkin, and the magazine made a ballot box. But we felt confident our design may take home a prize.

…We’re still waiting to hear back.

UPDATE (11/5/12 2:46PM) We won most creative pumpkin that came with a cupcake delivery for the entire office!

 

Leah Apothaker

Legislative Intern at the National Council of Jewish Women

Even Sandy can't keep a good Court down! (At least for one day)

Last week an unwelcome visitor came to pay us a visit: Hurricane Sandy.  Luckily, she did give us a few days notice and we were able to stock up on the necessary supplies and she was little more than a nuisance to the Fellows of the program.  Our power did not go out, there was no flood damage, and we can all count our lucky stars that D.C. was not hit as hard as some had predicted.  Unfortunately other areas of the East Coast were not as lucky and we keep them in our thoughts as they work to rebuild.

Having a hurricane come to town gave us Fellows an experience I'm sure most of us thought we would not have: weekdays off work.  Instead of "snow days" as we Ohioans have become accustomed to having once or twice a winter, we all had atleast one "hurricane day" with most fellows having two.  Because of the threat of storm and subsequent storm, a large majority of the federal government shut down Monday and Tuesday. However, my internship did not close fully for both days.  On Monday, employees who could get to work did, and the court schedule proceeded normally.  All nine Justices made it to the bench, as well as the attorneys arguing the cases, so while the winds and rain continued outside, Justice continued inside the marble walls of the Supreme Court. 

Because I was one of the few employees--and only intern--able to make it into work, I was able to attend oral argument (thank you prime location!) and view the proceedings of a case I have been looking forward to all term.  The case was Clapper v. Amnesty International et al. and dealt with details of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.  I've spoken about the case to a few people and have seen the interest drain from their face seconds into my analysis, so I'll spare all of you--but trust me when I say that I was captivated.

After oral arguments on Monday, very few others activities were still scheduled and the court closed early.  On Tuesday, not even the Court could withstand the storm and closed along with the rest of the government.  It was a pretty uneventful day since the Metro was closed and the weather was poor, but it did give me a chance to study for the LSAT and work on my paper for class.  It made for a short, but productive week, and certainly a new experience for all of us. 

-Katie

There’s so much room for activities!

When applying for this program a warning should be issued about how many people will want to come visit you and your roommates. It seems that our apartment has a revolving door, which I don’t mind considering I grew up with one during my childhood. But it seems that there are always friends, family, or significant others swinging by for the weekend. This of course gives us a great excuse to do all of the touristy things in DC like visiting the monuments and strolling around the mall seeing different Smithsonian museums. I can’t help but be grateful for these visits because it gives me the opportunity to meet other people and have adventures all over the city, two things of which I enjoy. Of course we tend to bring our guests along during our usual weekend activities which include going to the Ohio State bar called Rhino in Georgetown for the games and spending at least one morning in Eastern Market. While having guests here I have had the opportunity to see the Lincoln, Jefferson, Korean War, and WWII memorials. Then there were tours of the White House Gardens and Capital (working in a Congressional office can have its perks) with a short visit to the new exhibits in the Library of Congress.

One advantage to having friends visit is having access to a car, which is nice and allows you to go places in the city that are not metro accessible. I was lucky enough to go to Annapolis with my friend and cousin for a Livingston Taylor show (he’s James Taylor’s brother for those who don’t know him, and if you don’t know who James Taylor is shame on you.) It was about a 45 minute drive and while I did not explore the Naval Academy, I’ve heard it’s worth the trip. I would encourage anyone coming to dc for the spring semester to urge your friends to visit and make yourselves explore all the different things to do in DC. On any given weekend there is an event or festival of some sort. The possibilities are endless!

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month in the District

There were multiple events around the district celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. Many of these events are long standing traditions in DC and I was very excited to be able to participate in them. I went to art galleries and other smaller events hosted by the Smithsonian, something I have always wanted to do in DC. My favorite events overall were festivals I went to at the National Zoo and another one downtown on Pennsylvania Avenue. It was really refreshing to be surrounded by Spanish speakers again and I found a lot of my favorite treats that I miss from home. Although the crowd make up was overwhelmingly of El Salvadorans, I definitely found significant representation of Mexican food, vendors, live music, and traditional dance performances. 

Photo from Washington Hispanic, "Más de 100 mil en Fiesta DC." 

The second festival I went to was Fiesta DC. It was very well attended, with reports of over 100,000 people at the festival. It was a huge one-day event that hosted three large stages, many vendors, a lot of local nonprofits and community organizations, and of course a large parade representing the multitudes of cultures from all over Latin America. I was wonderfully surprised to find a solo performance from Pee Wee, member of former boy band Kumbia Kings and my middle school crush.

This year Hispanic Heritage Month was also a bit more interesting as President Obama signed a proclamation in recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month in September and established the Cesar E. Chaves National Monument in October. Even when WAIP went on a tour of the White House there were paintings displayed from Latino artists. It’s always refreshing to experience your heritage history acknowledged and celebrated in mainstream venues.

Written by Amber Seira  | @amber_seira

The Newseum

This past weekend, I had the chance to explore the Newseum. While admission is not free, I highly recommend paying for tickets since this is one of the best museums that I have ever been to. The Newseum is a museum of newspapers, television, the internet, social media, and every type of communication that has ever existed to share current events and news stories. If you are planning on visiting, make sure to give yourself a few hours to walk through the six floors of exhibits, theaters, and interactive displays that make up the Newseum.


My favorite exhibit was more or less a history of U.S. and world events through hundreds of newspaper front pages. One thing that I enjoyed about this exhibit was that the newspapers were not limited to major national publications. In addition to some international and foreign language headlines, I was surprised to find a copy of the now defunct “Cleveland Press” headlining the Kent State shooting. Other highlights included a September 11th memorial through news, an outline of the media coverage of the 2012 and 2008 Presidential elections (which is consistently updated) and an exhibit on the Cold War with an actual piece of the Berlin wall. There is also an interactive display that allows you to make your own commercials, headlines, and social media pages for a fake news story.

I could have easily stayed at the museum for four or five hours and not seen everything, so in my opinion the Newseum is one of the highlights of D.C. that is absolutely worth the time and the money.

-Marissa Cooper

Affirming Affirmative Action

This post is by Leah Apothaker, legislative intern at the National Council of Jewish Women.

Last year, when the professor of my black politics class informed us that affirmative action might be in jeopardy, I didn’t believe him. Who knew that only a few months later, I’d be rallying with NCJW and our coalition partners outside the US Supreme Court in favor of affirmative action the morning of the Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin oral arguments? The plaintiff in the case, Abigail Fisher, is a white student who believes she was denied admission at UT because of her race.  Should the court rule in her favor, they would overturn their 2003 decision in Grutter v. Bollinger, which allowed race to be one of many factors considered during in the college admissions process. This outcome would be damaging—not only for students of color, but also for the white students who benefit so greatly from a diverse student body and the civil right of equal opportunity.

At the rally, an organizer handed me a sign that read, “Diversity equals success.” Many speakers told personal stories, quoted think tank studies, cited admissions statistics, and repeated the message of the sign I held. As a student I couldn’t help but wonder, is diversity really the key to my success?

When applying to colleges, I knew I wanted to attend a university that championed promulgated diversity as a priority. In high school, my peers and I were all the same—white, upper-middle class, third and fourth generation Americans.  While we may have each had different academic strengths and interests, I had little to learn from their life experiences because we had such similar roots. I believed then, as I do now, that a vital component of education is discussion and disbursement of ideas among students and professors both in and out of the classroom. When diversity doesn’t exist in a student body, the range of perspective represented diminishes. When diversity doesn’t exist within a student body, students are denied opportunities to learn and grow from one another. When diversity doesn’t exist in a student body, we are allowed to remain ignorant.

College shouldn’t be a bubble where students aren’t challenged to alter our perspectives or ways of thinking. It should prepare us to understand others and learn to work together to achieve great things. Diversity works for students. By preparing us for reality, it sets us up to succeed. Diversity equals success.

Now a senior at The Ohio State University, I’m the beneficiary of a student community beautifully impacted by multiculturalism and ethnic and racial diversity. I value the additional admissions consideration my university provides to first generation college students and students who bring “cultural, economic, racial, or geographic diversity” to the student population.  Why? Because I, like the students at UT, know these considerations have helped enrich and further my education.

Originally posted here on October 12th, 2012

Oral Arguments: Surprisingly Never a Dull Moment

October 1st is not a particularly special day for many people, but this year it was for me.  It was the first Monday in October, which made it the beginning of the 2012-2013 term of the Supreme Court.  By some stroke of luck, I was able to get a seat in the courtroom to witness it.  Well before 10AM, I headed to the courtroom to be seated, finding myself impressed by how full the courtroom was.  At exactly 10 o’clock, the Justices made their entrance into the courtroom and took their places.  The Chief Justice announced the opening of the term, admitted new members to the Supreme Court Bar, and then started on the first case.  Kiobel v. Dutch Royal Petroleum as a strange case to hear because the question of why it was even being heard in the United States was repeated several times.  A little used Alien Tort Statute, established by the Judiciary Act of 1789 served as the purpose for the Supreme Court hearing the case, as well as the diplomatic issues that could arise from different rulings.  Still, many Justices weren’t convinced and displayed that during the time each side is given.  The attorneys only have thirty minutes each to argue their case, and the Justices can ask questions at any time, so it becomes a large question-and-answer session to help the Justices clarify and make decisions.  When the first hour was finished, the second case began.

Lozman v. City of Riviera Beach, Fl. Provided some comic relief.  While the underlying issue—what exactly is a vessel ?—is very serious and could have some pretty far reaching consequences, the case itself was  hilarious.  A Florida millionaire, described as eccentric, owned a floating home and was connected to the dock by a rope and extension cord.  In determining if this was a vessel or not, the Justices considered whether inner tubes or styrofoam couches that floated along the river could also be vessels, too.  At times, I found myself laughing out loud at the comments made by the Justices, but never forgetting that the case at hand as far more serious than one man’s desire to have his home float on the river.

Overall, I was incredibly pleased by my ability to hear the arguments.  It was not until I received this internship that I even entertained the idea that I might get to view oral arguments, and I never thought I would get to see such exciting cases.

If you would like to read more about the cases, this website has really great information : www.SCOTUSblog.com

            If you would like to listen to the cases I heard, they will be online on Friday here : http://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_audio.aspx

-Katie