Here is May:
May 30 and beyond: My lease ended May 31st, the General Assembly adjourned with no real plan of when the Senate would pass pension borrowing, so the main course of the internship was over with. I spent the next couple months doing the Morning Shorts as the Blago Trial kicked off.
May 23-29: The GA came back to finish off the remaining legislative priorities. The big to-do was the Pension borrowing bill. This bill went up first in the House, and it was very contentious. Republican Bill Black pledged to vote for it, though no other Republican was willing to state so publicly. It needed to pass by a three-fifths vote, and Democrats are one vote shy of that threshold. On the first vote, Reps. David Miller and Jack Franks voted no from the Dems, and Reps. Black and Pritchard voted yes from the GOP, and it failed. Miller moved to reconsider, and it turned into a huge embarrassment for him, as he had no real excuse for his vote switch. Bob Biggins ended up voting in favor from Republicans after their caucus convinced Pritchard not to vote for it. It passed the House, and because two democrats were opposed in the Senate, President Cullerton never called it. I covered Brady’s presser after the chambers adjourned on Friday, and it was all done. Overall, it was quite an intense legislative session and I was very glad for it to be over with.
May 16-22: The General Assembly was off for another week, so once again my week consisted of doing the Morning Shorts and watching comments.
May 9-15: This week the General Assembly was off, but it was easily the best part of my entire internship. On Friday, after the Senate adjourned, GOP candidate Bill Brady held press availability where he took a range of questions about the budget. Brady’s major budget plan throughout the primary was to make “10% across-the-board cuts from every governmental agency,” but after getting whacked by former Gov. Jim Edgar for saying that, I noticed that he was trying to shy away from it and say he just wanted to cut “10% of the budget.” When he told a reporter that he could cut the budget without cutting personnel, I followed up and asked him how he could cut 10% across-the-board without cutting personnel. He told me that he “never said across-the-board.” I said “Yes, you have,” and he said “Well, you find it on tape.” So I did. And on Monday I posted a story to the blog with the video of Brady denying he had ever said ‘across-the-board’ to me, and also included video of him earlier on in the campaign saying he has called for “10% across the board cuts.” This came at exactly the time Brady was start getting coverage in Chicago and the suburbs, and it was the first question Carol Marin asked him on Chicago Tonight. He hemmed and hawed and said it was just a “matter of semantics.” The story got picked up by AP, the Tribune, the Sun-Times, and the Quinn campaign. On Tuesday, Rich made a post pointing out how the Mainstream Media failed to attribute any of this to my original story on the blog. After that my week consisted of just doing the Morning Shorts and watching comments.
May 2-8: For a couple weeks prior, Speaker Madigan had been saying the General Assembly would be out by May 7th. Despite the fact that a lot of very important legislation had yet to be taken care of, the Speaker and the Senate President geared up to get out by May 7th anyway, which made this a hugely busy and “productive” week, with major legislation passing in just one or two days. While some bills, like the Democrats amendment for redistricting, broke sharply along well-expected party lines, the School Voucher bill was a much more unpredictable bill. Because the bill endorses a Republican school reform idea—school vouchers—yet will be used to help the worst-performing 10% of Chicago Public Schools, and was sponsored originally by Rev. and Sen. James Meeks, it cut across party lines, racial lines, and geographic lines. Furthermore, Bill Brady was really trying to rally Republican support so it could put Pat Quinn in an uncomfortable position if it came across his desk. While it had narrowly passed in the Senate weeks earlier, it ultimately fell short after some incredibly intense debate in the House. Nonetheless, other bills sailed on by. The Telecom Reform Act, which essentially was a deregulation bill that gave AT&T more business, passed unanimously in both chambers. McPier reform passed. The budget passed. And the General Assembly adjourned without creating any new sources of revenue, be it a cigarette tax increase or even tax amnesty.
April 25-May 1: This week Deb Mell announced her engagement to her partner on the House floor. Several members of the legislature spoke in support, though all were Democrats except for one Republican. The House Judiciary Committee also followed up on their Constitutional Remap proposal which passed the Senate. They also went over the Fair Map Amendment which was put before them by Tom Cross. I filmed the whole thing, and it got heated at some points, particularly when the League of Women’s Voters Chris Butler said he took strong offense to Democrats “parading as defenders of minority rights.” As expected, the House committee held the Fair Map proposal, a measure financially-supported by Republicans, in committee and moved the Democratic-sponsored amendment forward to the floor. On Thursday, I covered a protest by the Civic Action Network that took place at a lobbyist’s office. It was very intense. The group arrived by bus and included Catholic ministers and community members. They were protesting the poor nursing home care received by people of color in Chicago and Illinois. One of the lobby firms leaders arrived and there was a very heated exchange, and the protesters sang spiritual songs on the sidewalk until the police arrived. Usually they just protest on the steps of the Capitol, but this time they took it to the lobbyists’ office. On Friday, the House debated the Democrats constitutional amendment for revising redistricting methods. The proposal failed to meet the required constitutional three-fifths majority by just 2 votes, as was expected. Sen. Kwame Raoul was very disgusted by it when I interviewed him the next day.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
April at Cap Fax
Here is April:
April 18-24: This week’s highly-anticipated event was a major rally by Teachers Unions and Public Employees at the Capitol on Wednesday for a big Save Our State Rally (S.O.S.). Press releases claimed that there would be 15,000 people there, and some reports claimed there might be violence. Early on union protesters started filling up Capitol Avenue and Second Street, and the crowd was quite large. However, most people didn’t think a full 15,000 showed up, and reports suggested it was more likely between 7,000 and 15,000 people. Also, the protesters were quite civil. No one was arrested, and the whole rally was extremely well-organized. The leaders of the major unions—IEA, IFT, AFSCME, and SEIU—all gave speeches denouncing the legislative inaction of the state on paying backlogged bills and increasing revenue. Afterwards, the groups marched around the block and then headed inside the Capitol building and chanted loudly in the Capitol rotunda. Despite the large-scale event and how organized it was, many media people reported it to not be very effective. Normally on big lobby days people will meet with legislators and actually go into their offices. Since the protesters stayed inside the rotunda and left afterwards, they didn’t get to meet directly with many of the lawmakers. Not much else happened until late Friday afternoon when Brady released his income tax returns for 3 hours to reporters in Springfield. I was there covering it, and many members of the press corps were furious that the campaign was not allowing reporters to make copies of the returns—only take notes. The story got buried for the most part since Alexi Giannoulias’s Bank was seized in Chicago that day, but the big story that broke that day and continued throughout that campaign was the fact that Brady paid no state or federal income taxes in 2008 and no federal income taxes in 2009 due to losses in capital gains. While Brady broke no rules by having no tax liability, he still got hammered by Quinn and the media, who believe he should pay taxes on his state senator salary no matter what.
April 11-17: It was a shortened week--the General Assembly was only in session Tuesday through Thursday. On Tax Day, April 15, GOP Gubernatorial nominee Bill Brady help a press conference where he launched his "Stop The Pat Quinn Tax Campaign." He took questions on a range of subjects that we videotaped to post to the blog. I asked what his response was to former Gov. Jim Edgar's criticisms of his budget proposal and 10% across-the-board cuts. Overall the biggest issue this week was definitely redistricting. On Monday the Senate Committee on Constitutional Redistricting Amendments (I think) heard over 4 hours of testimony and questions on the various redistricting proposals. Senate minority leader Christine Radogno proposed a constitutional amendment that mirrors the "Fair Map Amendment" proposal currently being worked on by the League of Women Voters. Sen. Kwame Raoul also had a proposal to amend the constitution to reform redistricting, with its greatest change to be the denesting of representative and senate districts. There is a great deal of minutiae to explain about the different merits of each proposal, but ultimately the democratic plan passed out of committee and passed the Senate on Tuesday. In order to pass the House it would need to gain at least one Republican supporter, as the House dems are one short of a supermajority, but that will be difficult as these proposals have very strictly partisan support.
April 4-10: The General Assembly had a two week Spring Break, so our work was focused on a project to analyze the vote totals of state representative elections over the past decade. Basically we added up the vote totals of each party in the primary and general elections of the 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2008 cycles. The goal was to use this data to show which party had higher turnout in elections and to quantify the margin. I did find the data limited in its value personally, as many of primary and general elections go uncontested, and thus the vote totals are skewed to the party that has the most candidates in contention. The final results showed that more Democrats vote in the house rep races total, but Democrats have also held a strong majority in most election years anyway, and thus the data is not the best representation of party turnout based on total votes.
March 28-April 3: Perhaps the biggest event that we covered in this time period happened on the Saturday the day before, when we covered the Democrats lt. gov. nomination process. Because of Scott Lee Cohen's withdrawal as the Democratic nominee for lt. governor, the Democratic State Central Committee had to select a new candidate to replace him on the ballot. This event was particularly charged as supporters for Art Turner, who was runner-up to Cohen, Sheila Simon, who Pat Quinn endorsed for the replacement, and Raja Krishnamoorthi all showed up with signs and loud voices of support. The committee ended up giving great deference to Pat Quinn's selection as Sheila Simon ended up capturing the nomination. We videotaped the finalists' speeches, interviewed the frontrunners, and posted it all to the blog. The week did not have very much activity otherwise, as this was the first week of the General Assembly being on spring vacation.
April 18-24: This week’s highly-anticipated event was a major rally by Teachers Unions and Public Employees at the Capitol on Wednesday for a big Save Our State Rally (S.O.S.). Press releases claimed that there would be 15,000 people there, and some reports claimed there might be violence. Early on union protesters started filling up Capitol Avenue and Second Street, and the crowd was quite large. However, most people didn’t think a full 15,000 showed up, and reports suggested it was more likely between 7,000 and 15,000 people. Also, the protesters were quite civil. No one was arrested, and the whole rally was extremely well-organized. The leaders of the major unions—IEA, IFT, AFSCME, and SEIU—all gave speeches denouncing the legislative inaction of the state on paying backlogged bills and increasing revenue. Afterwards, the groups marched around the block and then headed inside the Capitol building and chanted loudly in the Capitol rotunda. Despite the large-scale event and how organized it was, many media people reported it to not be very effective. Normally on big lobby days people will meet with legislators and actually go into their offices. Since the protesters stayed inside the rotunda and left afterwards, they didn’t get to meet directly with many of the lawmakers. Not much else happened until late Friday afternoon when Brady released his income tax returns for 3 hours to reporters in Springfield. I was there covering it, and many members of the press corps were furious that the campaign was not allowing reporters to make copies of the returns—only take notes. The story got buried for the most part since Alexi Giannoulias’s Bank was seized in Chicago that day, but the big story that broke that day and continued throughout that campaign was the fact that Brady paid no state or federal income taxes in 2008 and no federal income taxes in 2009 due to losses in capital gains. While Brady broke no rules by having no tax liability, he still got hammered by Quinn and the media, who believe he should pay taxes on his state senator salary no matter what.
April 11-17: It was a shortened week--the General Assembly was only in session Tuesday through Thursday. On Tax Day, April 15, GOP Gubernatorial nominee Bill Brady help a press conference where he launched his "Stop The Pat Quinn Tax Campaign." He took questions on a range of subjects that we videotaped to post to the blog. I asked what his response was to former Gov. Jim Edgar's criticisms of his budget proposal and 10% across-the-board cuts. Overall the biggest issue this week was definitely redistricting. On Monday the Senate Committee on Constitutional Redistricting Amendments (I think) heard over 4 hours of testimony and questions on the various redistricting proposals. Senate minority leader Christine Radogno proposed a constitutional amendment that mirrors the "Fair Map Amendment" proposal currently being worked on by the League of Women Voters. Sen. Kwame Raoul also had a proposal to amend the constitution to reform redistricting, with its greatest change to be the denesting of representative and senate districts. There is a great deal of minutiae to explain about the different merits of each proposal, but ultimately the democratic plan passed out of committee and passed the Senate on Tuesday. In order to pass the House it would need to gain at least one Republican supporter, as the House dems are one short of a supermajority, but that will be difficult as these proposals have very strictly partisan support.
April 4-10: The General Assembly had a two week Spring Break, so our work was focused on a project to analyze the vote totals of state representative elections over the past decade. Basically we added up the vote totals of each party in the primary and general elections of the 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2008 cycles. The goal was to use this data to show which party had higher turnout in elections and to quantify the margin. I did find the data limited in its value personally, as many of primary and general elections go uncontested, and thus the vote totals are skewed to the party that has the most candidates in contention. The final results showed that more Democrats vote in the house rep races total, but Democrats have also held a strong majority in most election years anyway, and thus the data is not the best representation of party turnout based on total votes.
March 28-April 3: Perhaps the biggest event that we covered in this time period happened on the Saturday the day before, when we covered the Democrats lt. gov. nomination process. Because of Scott Lee Cohen's withdrawal as the Democratic nominee for lt. governor, the Democratic State Central Committee had to select a new candidate to replace him on the ballot. This event was particularly charged as supporters for Art Turner, who was runner-up to Cohen, Sheila Simon, who Pat Quinn endorsed for the replacement, and Raja Krishnamoorthi all showed up with signs and loud voices of support. The committee ended up giving great deference to Pat Quinn's selection as Sheila Simon ended up capturing the nomination. We videotaped the finalists' speeches, interviewed the frontrunners, and posted it all to the blog. The week did not have very much activity otherwise, as this was the first week of the General Assembly being on spring vacation.
March at Cap Fax
Here is March:
March 21-27: The big political story that was buzzing about the capitol this week was the selection of a Democratic lieutenant governor candidate. Friday was a very interesting day for me. I interviewed/filmed Rep. Jay Hoffman, who is a member of the Democratic State Central Committee, Reps. Karen Yarbrough and Will Davis, who are members/leaders in the Congressional Black Caucus, and Rep. Art Turner, the runner-up in the primary. I also caught on tape part of Rep. Bill Black giving a speech in support of Art Turner, which received a standing ovation. The most intense story this week though was the General Assembly passing sweeping pension reform to three parts of the state pension system in just one day. From the first amendment introducing it to the House Executive Committee in the morning until its final passage at night in the State Senate, I covered and watched one of the quickest and largest legislative actions the General Assembly has ever done.
March 14-20: I covered a Senate committee hearing on Monday that really was entertaining. Sen. Dan Duffy had for quite a while ranted about red-light cameras, a means of enforcing traffic violations by using cameras to catch people who blow red lights. Duffy said he had been given two tickets when all he did was roll some right-hand turns by “a few inches.” Well, Senate President John Cullerton was able to FOIA video of Sen. Duffy’s red-light violations and showed them in committee, and Duffy barely slowed down on those turns. It was extremely embarrassing for a guy that has been campaigning against the cameras. After the hearing I joined the press pool asking Cullerton questions, and when asked at the end about the Thomson prison issue, he just ran away. The next big thing that happened in the week was Quinn, Madigan and Cullerton speaking to the IBEW, Illinois’ union of electrical workers, on St. Patrick’s Day. Madigan rarely gives speeches, so it was quite a treat. Afterwards I covered Quinn answering questions. Perhaps one of the more intriguing parts of the week though is when a bill came up in the Senate to require children under 18 to wear helmets while riding on motorcycles. It normally would seem like a non-controversial safety measure. Yet it was voted down 19-32. I learned the power of lobbies that day. The lobby of motorcycle riders crosses all demographics—age, race, class, everything. They are literally the most powerful lobby in the state, and even though Sen. Trotter has been introducing this bill year after year, it continually fails because of the power of that lobby.
March 7-13: Governor Quinn’s budget address was this week. His plan revolved mostly around cuts to state police, human services, local government, and education, but that cut to education would be filled if the General Assembly passed a “1% surcharge for education.” The plan is to put the cuts on classrooms and teachers so as to get families and school districts mad enough at their legislators to pass a tax increase. I learned that the power does not lie with Quinn, but with Madigan. As soon as the presser was over and Speaker Madigan was in an interview, we learned that the tax increase would not be happening. Rich actually introduced me to Madigan just before his interview, which was exciting. Later on in the day I covered Brady’s response to the budget address, where he railed on the Governor’s proposed cuts. Later in the week, the General Assembly passed the bill to move the primary date back to March. The February 2 primary date is at least part of the reason why our nominees for Governor ended up being Pat Quinn and Bill Brady. Other than that, there was some speculation about the Lieutenant Governor decision that was yet to be made. Sheila Simon’s name was floated, though Mayor Daley came out in support of Art Turner saying that the second place winner should get to replace Scott Lee Cohen.
February 28-March 6: Because of Bill Brady’s plan to do 10% across-the-board budget cuts, the Senate Democrats decided to ask state agencies this week what would happen if their budget was cut 10%. Interim University of Illinois President Stanley Ikenberry and SIU President Glenn Poshard testified in front of the Senate Appropriations II Committee about the effects it would have on both schools. Perhaps what was more shocking to me was the fact that the University of Illinois had only received 18% of its fiscal year appropriation to date, despite being months away from the end of the year. Afterwards, I interviewed Appropriations II Chairman John Sullivan and asked what the Senate was planning to do to give the Universities its money, and he gave vague generalities at first. I followed up on the question asking for specifics, and he said borrowing was an option. It was pretty shocking to me how all these legislators talk about how much they care about higher education yet they just allow the universities to languish without the required state funding.
March 21-27: The big political story that was buzzing about the capitol this week was the selection of a Democratic lieutenant governor candidate. Friday was a very interesting day for me. I interviewed/filmed Rep. Jay Hoffman, who is a member of the Democratic State Central Committee, Reps. Karen Yarbrough and Will Davis, who are members/leaders in the Congressional Black Caucus, and Rep. Art Turner, the runner-up in the primary. I also caught on tape part of Rep. Bill Black giving a speech in support of Art Turner, which received a standing ovation. The most intense story this week though was the General Assembly passing sweeping pension reform to three parts of the state pension system in just one day. From the first amendment introducing it to the House Executive Committee in the morning until its final passage at night in the State Senate, I covered and watched one of the quickest and largest legislative actions the General Assembly has ever done.
March 14-20: I covered a Senate committee hearing on Monday that really was entertaining. Sen. Dan Duffy had for quite a while ranted about red-light cameras, a means of enforcing traffic violations by using cameras to catch people who blow red lights. Duffy said he had been given two tickets when all he did was roll some right-hand turns by “a few inches.” Well, Senate President John Cullerton was able to FOIA video of Sen. Duffy’s red-light violations and showed them in committee, and Duffy barely slowed down on those turns. It was extremely embarrassing for a guy that has been campaigning against the cameras. After the hearing I joined the press pool asking Cullerton questions, and when asked at the end about the Thomson prison issue, he just ran away. The next big thing that happened in the week was Quinn, Madigan and Cullerton speaking to the IBEW, Illinois’ union of electrical workers, on St. Patrick’s Day. Madigan rarely gives speeches, so it was quite a treat. Afterwards I covered Quinn answering questions. Perhaps one of the more intriguing parts of the week though is when a bill came up in the Senate to require children under 18 to wear helmets while riding on motorcycles. It normally would seem like a non-controversial safety measure. Yet it was voted down 19-32. I learned the power of lobbies that day. The lobby of motorcycle riders crosses all demographics—age, race, class, everything. They are literally the most powerful lobby in the state, and even though Sen. Trotter has been introducing this bill year after year, it continually fails because of the power of that lobby.
March 7-13: Governor Quinn’s budget address was this week. His plan revolved mostly around cuts to state police, human services, local government, and education, but that cut to education would be filled if the General Assembly passed a “1% surcharge for education.” The plan is to put the cuts on classrooms and teachers so as to get families and school districts mad enough at their legislators to pass a tax increase. I learned that the power does not lie with Quinn, but with Madigan. As soon as the presser was over and Speaker Madigan was in an interview, we learned that the tax increase would not be happening. Rich actually introduced me to Madigan just before his interview, which was exciting. Later on in the day I covered Brady’s response to the budget address, where he railed on the Governor’s proposed cuts. Later in the week, the General Assembly passed the bill to move the primary date back to March. The February 2 primary date is at least part of the reason why our nominees for Governor ended up being Pat Quinn and Bill Brady. Other than that, there was some speculation about the Lieutenant Governor decision that was yet to be made. Sheila Simon’s name was floated, though Mayor Daley came out in support of Art Turner saying that the second place winner should get to replace Scott Lee Cohen.
February 28-March 6: Because of Bill Brady’s plan to do 10% across-the-board budget cuts, the Senate Democrats decided to ask state agencies this week what would happen if their budget was cut 10%. Interim University of Illinois President Stanley Ikenberry and SIU President Glenn Poshard testified in front of the Senate Appropriations II Committee about the effects it would have on both schools. Perhaps what was more shocking to me was the fact that the University of Illinois had only received 18% of its fiscal year appropriation to date, despite being months away from the end of the year. Afterwards, I interviewed Appropriations II Chairman John Sullivan and asked what the Senate was planning to do to give the Universities its money, and he gave vague generalities at first. I followed up on the question asking for specifics, and he said borrowing was an option. It was pretty shocking to me how all these legislators talk about how much they care about higher education yet they just allow the universities to languish without the required state funding.
February at Cap Fax
Once the General Assembly came back in session in February, I was so swamped with work to do that I fell way behind on my posts. Here is catch up of my week-to-week coverage of the internship, starting with February:
February 21-27: This week the House debated a bill to end General Assembly scholarships. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Mark Walker, who represents a seat that is a big target for Republicans. The debate was very pointed and critical throughout. This is a particularly close issue for many black legislators, who see these scholarships used by the poor people in their district who could not otherwise afford to attend a state school. Nonetheless, these scholarships have been abused and given to political donors and friends, as was revealed during the U of I admissions scandal. Also, the scholarships are not really scholarships, just students who get tuition waivers and are a further unfunded liability for public universities. All told the General Assembly scholarships amount to $12 million dollars of unpaid tuition to state colleges and universities. For these scholarships to be truly fair, they would have to be paid for by the state and audited for abuse. The importance of these scholarships in helping provide opportunities to go to college for the poor people in their districts really has nothing to do with the GA Scholarship themselves, but rather they highlight the lack of access to higher education for those of lower and middle-incomes.
February 14-20: This week the House passed a bill that would require the General Assembly to approve sales of state assets that exceeded $1 million, which would include Thomson prison. This was an important issue to pay attention to because Thomson prison has been highly-politicized as the site to place Guantanamo detainees. Rich told me once to watch what the House and Senate were doing and to let him know if something important happens. I asked him how to know if something is important and he said he did not know. This is something important, and it helped me learn what it is he is looking for, and what the media is looking for.
February 21-27: This week the House debated a bill to end General Assembly scholarships. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Mark Walker, who represents a seat that is a big target for Republicans. The debate was very pointed and critical throughout. This is a particularly close issue for many black legislators, who see these scholarships used by the poor people in their district who could not otherwise afford to attend a state school. Nonetheless, these scholarships have been abused and given to political donors and friends, as was revealed during the U of I admissions scandal. Also, the scholarships are not really scholarships, just students who get tuition waivers and are a further unfunded liability for public universities. All told the General Assembly scholarships amount to $12 million dollars of unpaid tuition to state colleges and universities. For these scholarships to be truly fair, they would have to be paid for by the state and audited for abuse. The importance of these scholarships in helping provide opportunities to go to college for the poor people in their districts really has nothing to do with the GA Scholarship themselves, but rather they highlight the lack of access to higher education for those of lower and middle-incomes.
February 14-20: This week the House passed a bill that would require the General Assembly to approve sales of state assets that exceeded $1 million, which would include Thomson prison. This was an important issue to pay attention to because Thomson prison has been highly-politicized as the site to place Guantanamo detainees. Rich told me once to watch what the House and Senate were doing and to let him know if something important happens. I asked him how to know if something is important and he said he did not know. This is something important, and it helped me learn what it is he is looking for, and what the media is looking for.
Monday, June 21, 2010
IAEA Thus Far
Hi all,
Sorry it has been so long since I’ve had a chance to update on part two of my residency here in Vienna. The PACT office has been completely swamped with work, since, as the Director General has made his main focus Cancer Care and Control in the developing world, everyone wants to work with the IAEA’s umbrella programme for cancer.
This has left me with a lot to get done in my 4 month internship here. My first major accomplishment has been a PACT brochure that I authored and helped design on the IAEA/PACT in Africa. The 4 page document is on its way to the printers today and should be ready by the end of this week. That may not sound like a lot of work, but it took an entire month to get all the editing, designing and clearances for the document finished.
Outside of working on this publication I have started a second booklet on PACT in general. This document is going to be a complete overview of the Programme of Action for Cancer Therapy and will be used as the main PACT brochure for the next year or so. This is going to be a lot of work, however, and it might not be finished in the month and a half I have left. But, all of the text has been written, so one of the harder parts is finished.
Other things I have completed have been web articles both for the PACT website and the IAEA website. One of the Articles on the PACT/BHGI partnership was written by me, although I’m not credited, and is currently one of the major articles on the IAEA website and is available on the BHGI site as well. I have two more articles that will be up on the IAEA website this week, and another one slated to be up next week after I attend the AGaRT meeting on the increae of access to Radiotherapy Technologies in the developing world.
It has been great working with the PACT programme as, since they are so busy, I have been treated as a normal staff member with important tasks rather than just an intern. I was at a meeting for the Standing Advisory Group on Nuclear Applications and the director of my Department was introducing me as the communications officer, which makes you feel somewhat important!
Our main focus lately has been providing support for the Africa Day Celebration at the Vienna International Centre here this week. I have a meeting with the Ambassador of Zimbabwe tomorrow to get all the final preparations in place, and I just wrote a speech for the Director General Yukia Amano to be given at the commemoration.
That’s all for now.
Sorry it has been so long since I’ve had a chance to update on part two of my residency here in Vienna. The PACT office has been completely swamped with work, since, as the Director General has made his main focus Cancer Care and Control in the developing world, everyone wants to work with the IAEA’s umbrella programme for cancer.
This has left me with a lot to get done in my 4 month internship here. My first major accomplishment has been a PACT brochure that I authored and helped design on the IAEA/PACT in Africa. The 4 page document is on its way to the printers today and should be ready by the end of this week. That may not sound like a lot of work, but it took an entire month to get all the editing, designing and clearances for the document finished.
Outside of working on this publication I have started a second booklet on PACT in general. This document is going to be a complete overview of the Programme of Action for Cancer Therapy and will be used as the main PACT brochure for the next year or so. This is going to be a lot of work, however, and it might not be finished in the month and a half I have left. But, all of the text has been written, so one of the harder parts is finished.
Other things I have completed have been web articles both for the PACT website and the IAEA website. One of the Articles on the PACT/BHGI partnership was written by me, although I’m not credited, and is currently one of the major articles on the IAEA website and is available on the BHGI site as well. I have two more articles that will be up on the IAEA website this week, and another one slated to be up next week after I attend the AGaRT meeting on the increae of access to Radiotherapy Technologies in the developing world.
It has been great working with the PACT programme as, since they are so busy, I have been treated as a normal staff member with important tasks rather than just an intern. I was at a meeting for the Standing Advisory Group on Nuclear Applications and the director of my Department was introducing me as the communications officer, which makes you feel somewhat important!
Our main focus lately has been providing support for the Africa Day Celebration at the Vienna International Centre here this week. I have a meeting with the Ambassador of Zimbabwe tomorrow to get all the final preparations in place, and I just wrote a speech for the Director General Yukia Amano to be given at the commemoration.
That’s all for now.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Week Twenty One and Twenty Two-Medical Leave
June 7th, 2010-June 11th, 2010:
Medical Leave: Surgery (Northwestern Memorial) Dr. Kelikian
June 14th- June 18th, 2010:
Medical Leave: Surgery (Northwestern Memorial) Dr. Kelikian
Medical Leave: Surgery (Northwestern Memorial) Dr. Kelikian
June 14th- June 18th, 2010:
Medical Leave: Surgery (Northwestern Memorial) Dr. Kelikian
Friday, June 18, 2010
Last two weeks, au revoir Bruxelles!
And so it ends...today is in fact my last day at the AIA office, and thus far it has proven an anticlimactic end to a semester that was anything but calm. We have a new intern at the office, a law student from the US who will be here for the summer. I have spent most of the past week training her and trying to help her ease in to this extremely unorthodox working environment that I have grown so accustomed to.
Last week was spent primarily marketing. Because our mediation training program is just around the corner, it is important that in the final stretch we get as many late registration as possible. We called international law firms, bar associations in England (where the course is taking place), as well as mediation centers in the many countries recognizing our course. The easiest part is convincing them of the unique quality of the program, which incorporates the different mediation cultures and requirements in any jurisdictions into one two-week training scheme. Still, it is quite an expensive course and many people are turned off by this.
This is quite unfortunate given that we received a lot of inquiries by young law students or recent graduates. It seems that the young generation of legal professionals is increasingly intrigued by the field of alternative dispute resolution. This trend has actually been studied, and many law schools are trying to improve their programs to incorporate more mediation and conflict resolution classes that train students to not just be good litigators, but negotiators as well. I am inspired by this, for after having spent 6 months researching conflict analysis and mediation I really believe it can be a revolutionary field if applied in the right places.
While mediation is especially big today in commercial and civil matters (simply to avoid the high costs of court proceedings), the practical approach of mediation is transferable to conflicts across the board. I recall my interview with the head of the UN mediation office, and how he explained that he and his colleagues had succesfully trained a small group of childern (6-7 years old) to mediate disputes that took place amongst their classmates on the playground! It seems rather silly, but the implications are far reaching. If young children can learn techniques to handle conflicts in their surroundings, imagine how this can be multiplied in communities around the world.
Some mediation trainers devote themselves to establishing small community mediation centers in developing countries (in sub-saharan Africa, for example). By building a non-adversarial system of dealing with conflict--from family issues to land disputes--communities that lack the presence of a police force, proper access to justice and the rule of law can build a strong social fabric from the bottom-up. In this sense, neighborhoods look after themselves and become self-sustaining. The hope is that this will create sort of rippling out effect, where community mediation centers in places around the world can passify feelings of anger and mistrust before they build off one another and turn into civil unrest, and even violence.
This is just one of the many ways scholars of conflict analysis are trying to improve the global community with alternative dispute resolution. My point is, the ever-increasing interest in the field of conflict resolution is no longer limited to experienced lawyers seeking a career change. Students, even those in fields such as psychology, sociology, and anthropology, hold a unnique niche in this field and should not be excluded from the pool of future mediators simply because they have not passed the LSAT. Mediation is one party legal, but is more about promoting understanding, cooperation, and yes...civic leadership!
(I'm glad I was able to bring that full circle).
Aside from marketing the mediation program, I have also taken it upon myself to add some structure to the future of AIA by creating an "Internship Handbook." Before, interns were expected to learn everything from their predecessor and hit the ground running when suddenly they were on their own. Having been here the longest out of any previous intern, I know that this is simply not possible (especially with all that we are involved in now). Therefore, I created the handbook which essentially guides newcomers through all the little adminstrative tasks, as well as offers advice on how they can make the best of their internship experience here. It is the kind of environment where you get what you put into it, and I tried to communicate that in the handbook. I also made turnover forms which I have advised my boss to make interns fill out before they leave. These forms outline all the projects each intern has had to work on but could not finish in their allotted time, and therefore must pass down. My hope is that this will permit interns to show up and immediately start contributing to AIA in a way that will improve the organization and bring it closer to its goals.
I have also been discussing with my boss how AIA may expand into the US. He and a partner of his have been talking a lot about opening up another office in NYC, and at the moment it is planned to happen next fall. During the discussion, I noticed I was giving many more suggestions that I imagined I would. It seems that I have developed a vested interest in the future of AIA and whether I mean to or not, I am concerned about the future of the organization. It was a great talk, and I felt as though my opinion really mattered. It even seems that there is a chance I will be involved in AIA in NYC sometime in the future, or rather it is an option should I choose to pursue it.
There is a variety of adminstrative tasks I've had to fulfill in my final days here, but that's neither here nor there. The truth is, the finale of my internship residency won't come until the beginning of August, when I fly out to the University of Warick in England to actually participate in the mediation course I have spent 6 months organizing. It is quite an amazing opportunity, as I will be taught by highly reputable mediators and my classmates will come from around the world. The course will not come easy however. This is first mediation training of it's kind. Most last 5 days and only deal with the practical aspects of mediation. This two-week intensive program covers theoretical conflict analysis, an overview of EU contract law, as well as new developments in mediation (such as online dispute resolution). I am very anxious, and a bit nervous. Having spend so much time in an office involved with research, I hope I can prove to myself that I can actually mediate. The course ends on August 14th and I fly home the 15th. Then, apparently my assistanship starts the 16th so I will fly to U of I directly the next day. (I will be a mess when I see you all next, and probably experiencing some uncomfortable reverse culture shock being back in the bubble of Champaign-Urbana).
I won't complain though. Tomorrow I leave for a mini-vacation: 3 days in Toulouse and 4 days in Barcelona. Then, I fly to Rio de Janeiro for the whole month of July where I will be the research assistant for one of my economics professors from U of I (I've spent the past month learning Portuguese to prepare).
And so with that, I thus conclude my final CLP residency blog entry. From here on out I will dedicate myself to supporting the Brazilian futbol team in the World Cup. If they win, I will be in Rio for the celebrations. Can you imagine?????
Ate logo!
Last week was spent primarily marketing. Because our mediation training program is just around the corner, it is important that in the final stretch we get as many late registration as possible. We called international law firms, bar associations in England (where the course is taking place), as well as mediation centers in the many countries recognizing our course. The easiest part is convincing them of the unique quality of the program, which incorporates the different mediation cultures and requirements in any jurisdictions into one two-week training scheme. Still, it is quite an expensive course and many people are turned off by this.
This is quite unfortunate given that we received a lot of inquiries by young law students or recent graduates. It seems that the young generation of legal professionals is increasingly intrigued by the field of alternative dispute resolution. This trend has actually been studied, and many law schools are trying to improve their programs to incorporate more mediation and conflict resolution classes that train students to not just be good litigators, but negotiators as well. I am inspired by this, for after having spent 6 months researching conflict analysis and mediation I really believe it can be a revolutionary field if applied in the right places.
While mediation is especially big today in commercial and civil matters (simply to avoid the high costs of court proceedings), the practical approach of mediation is transferable to conflicts across the board. I recall my interview with the head of the UN mediation office, and how he explained that he and his colleagues had succesfully trained a small group of childern (6-7 years old) to mediate disputes that took place amongst their classmates on the playground! It seems rather silly, but the implications are far reaching. If young children can learn techniques to handle conflicts in their surroundings, imagine how this can be multiplied in communities around the world.
Some mediation trainers devote themselves to establishing small community mediation centers in developing countries (in sub-saharan Africa, for example). By building a non-adversarial system of dealing with conflict--from family issues to land disputes--communities that lack the presence of a police force, proper access to justice and the rule of law can build a strong social fabric from the bottom-up. In this sense, neighborhoods look after themselves and become self-sustaining. The hope is that this will create sort of rippling out effect, where community mediation centers in places around the world can passify feelings of anger and mistrust before they build off one another and turn into civil unrest, and even violence.
This is just one of the many ways scholars of conflict analysis are trying to improve the global community with alternative dispute resolution. My point is, the ever-increasing interest in the field of conflict resolution is no longer limited to experienced lawyers seeking a career change. Students, even those in fields such as psychology, sociology, and anthropology, hold a unnique niche in this field and should not be excluded from the pool of future mediators simply because they have not passed the LSAT. Mediation is one party legal, but is more about promoting understanding, cooperation, and yes...civic leadership!
(I'm glad I was able to bring that full circle).
Aside from marketing the mediation program, I have also taken it upon myself to add some structure to the future of AIA by creating an "Internship Handbook." Before, interns were expected to learn everything from their predecessor and hit the ground running when suddenly they were on their own. Having been here the longest out of any previous intern, I know that this is simply not possible (especially with all that we are involved in now). Therefore, I created the handbook which essentially guides newcomers through all the little adminstrative tasks, as well as offers advice on how they can make the best of their internship experience here. It is the kind of environment where you get what you put into it, and I tried to communicate that in the handbook. I also made turnover forms which I have advised my boss to make interns fill out before they leave. These forms outline all the projects each intern has had to work on but could not finish in their allotted time, and therefore must pass down. My hope is that this will permit interns to show up and immediately start contributing to AIA in a way that will improve the organization and bring it closer to its goals.
I have also been discussing with my boss how AIA may expand into the US. He and a partner of his have been talking a lot about opening up another office in NYC, and at the moment it is planned to happen next fall. During the discussion, I noticed I was giving many more suggestions that I imagined I would. It seems that I have developed a vested interest in the future of AIA and whether I mean to or not, I am concerned about the future of the organization. It was a great talk, and I felt as though my opinion really mattered. It even seems that there is a chance I will be involved in AIA in NYC sometime in the future, or rather it is an option should I choose to pursue it.
There is a variety of adminstrative tasks I've had to fulfill in my final days here, but that's neither here nor there. The truth is, the finale of my internship residency won't come until the beginning of August, when I fly out to the University of Warick in England to actually participate in the mediation course I have spent 6 months organizing. It is quite an amazing opportunity, as I will be taught by highly reputable mediators and my classmates will come from around the world. The course will not come easy however. This is first mediation training of it's kind. Most last 5 days and only deal with the practical aspects of mediation. This two-week intensive program covers theoretical conflict analysis, an overview of EU contract law, as well as new developments in mediation (such as online dispute resolution). I am very anxious, and a bit nervous. Having spend so much time in an office involved with research, I hope I can prove to myself that I can actually mediate. The course ends on August 14th and I fly home the 15th. Then, apparently my assistanship starts the 16th so I will fly to U of I directly the next day. (I will be a mess when I see you all next, and probably experiencing some uncomfortable reverse culture shock being back in the bubble of Champaign-Urbana).
I won't complain though. Tomorrow I leave for a mini-vacation: 3 days in Toulouse and 4 days in Barcelona. Then, I fly to Rio de Janeiro for the whole month of July where I will be the research assistant for one of my economics professors from U of I (I've spent the past month learning Portuguese to prepare).
And so with that, I thus conclude my final CLP residency blog entry. From here on out I will dedicate myself to supporting the Brazilian futbol team in the World Cup. If they win, I will be in Rio for the celebrations. Can you imagine?????
Ate logo!
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Treasurer's Office- Late May and Early June
It is time for me to give my update about what has been going on the Treasurer's Office as of late. After the craziness of the first week of May (which was supposed to be the last weekend of session, but wasn't) the following couple of weeks were the exact opposite. The House adjourned on Friday the 7th until the call of the speaker because there were not enough votes to pass the biggest pieces of legislation remaining, those surrounding the budget. So everyone who works in some capacity with the Legislature had a two-week slowdown before the House returned the week of May 24th.
During those two weeks I remained semi-busy working on projects thrown my way by Colleen and John. (My boss and a legislative analyst in the office....It has been a while since I started blogging and I can't remember who I have all identified. And if I have before and I just don't remember, then consider this a refresher.) One of the things I was assigned was to write up an analysis on a propsed bill in the House that would allow the medical use of marijuana in the State. Regardless of one's feelings on the issue, it was an interesting bill to study. Because it is a bill with many components it took me a decent amount of time to initially go through it, write the analysis, and then revise the analysis after Colleen and John sent back thier comments and suggested changes.
I also created a spreadsheet tracking job numbers for all 50 states over various time periods. It was both interesting and a little scary at the same time. With few exceptions, states experienced a loss of jobs in all the time periods, some in the hundreds of thousands. For example, Illinois lost over 260,000 jobs in the period from January 2003 to March 2010 (The most current data available at the time). Not encouraging for someone who will be entering the job market in less than a year....
I also had to write another bill analysis, this time on a bill that has passed both chambers and is not just waiting for the Governor's signature to become law. The bill creates the African American Employment Plan which is designed to better facilitate the hiring and promotion of African Americans throughout state agencies. Another time consuming bill.
The House and Senate returned in the last week of May to attempt to finish a budget. The Capitol was busy once again after a quiet two weeks. The House came back first, on Monday, because they left with more unfinished business than the Senate. I spent the day going through various amendments that were being filed to the budget bills. One amendment cut the Treasurer's office for FY 2011 by 5% so I quickly sent the amendment for review to the rest of the legislative team to determine the best course of action. The Treasurer's office budget was already remaining the same as FY 2010 (which is viewed as taking a cut, as it is supposed to increase each year) and an additional 5% cut would be difficult.
On Tuesday I went to the House Revenue and Finance committee where all of the budget amendments were to be heard, including the one cutting the Treasurer's budget. I arrived in the hearing room very early, expecting a large crowd in what has to be the smallest hearing room in the building. Slowly representatives began to file in and right before the committee started, Illinois' Attorney General Lisa Madigan also walked in. It turned out she was there to testify in opposition to the same amendment I was there for as it also cut her office's budget (the one amendment cut all of the constitutional officers budget by 5%). Not long after the committee started, Speaker Madigan also walked in to the committee room. He rarely makes an appearance in committees, especially one where his daughter was about to testify. After the AG testified and the amendment died in the committee (it did not even recieve a motion to pass, so no vote was taken and it is considered dead) Secretary of State Jesse White walked into the room to testify about the same amendment. He was surprised to find that the amendment had already failed and then laughed and joked with the representatives, thanking them for their time even though he did not need to testify. One very star-studded (if you know Illinois politics) committee hearing!
Session finally began around 3:30 on Tuesday and went on for the next 6 hours. An extremely controversial bill that would allow the State to borrow up to $4 billion to may the payments to State pension systems took up a good amount of debate. Needing 71 votes to pass, it only recieved 70 on the first go around. The floor went quiet for some time until one of the two Democratic legislators voting no on the measure stood up to request a re-vote. The Republicans immediately went to caucus after this announcement for over an hour. After they returned, another long round of debate over the bill, the process that was occuring, etc, occured before another vote was taken. This time the required 71 votes were achieved and the bill passed. After that more pieces of budget legislation were brought up to be voted on but it was almost as if the Republicans had given up. Only a small amount of debate was held on each issue and everything passed. The House continued voting on bills until 9:30 that evening.
Wednesday turned out to be a very long day of listening to the House go through bill after bill. Listening to debate is usually interesting at first, but after 8-9 hours of it all I wanted was some quiet time. The Senate also returned to Springfield on Wednesday but did not take care of much, saving most for Thursday.
As had been rumored, Governor Quinn issued his amendatory veto of the bill to reform the McCormick Convention Center in Chicago. The House quickly over-rode this veto with the required vote and the Senate did the same not long after. The Senate then went through all of the other budget pieces the House had passed out (plus several other non-budget items) with the exception of the bill to allow borrowing for the pension systems, the one that caused so much trouble in the House on Wednesday. It was discovered that enough Democratic senators were opposed to the bill that it would not garner the required super-majority vote. Both the House and Senate adjourned until the call of the chair. For the House this likely means that they will not be back until veto session in November. The Senate may return at some point over the summer if enough Senators agree to vote for the borrowing bill.
It has been a very quiet beginning to June here. With the Legislature finished up (basically) for the summer, I have been helping out with a few end of session tasks like putting together binders that have all information pertinent to our office's bills. I also authored letters to the Governor asking for his signature on the bills our office worked on. There are several pieces of legislation that are in the works for possible action during veto session this fall so I have also written analyses of several bills in preparation for such action.
It is hard to believe that my residency will be over in a couple of weeks. The time I have spent here has gone by extremely quickly and it has been such an enjoyable experience. I will have one more post at the end of June to recap what my final weeks have been like.
During those two weeks I remained semi-busy working on projects thrown my way by Colleen and John. (My boss and a legislative analyst in the office....It has been a while since I started blogging and I can't remember who I have all identified. And if I have before and I just don't remember, then consider this a refresher.) One of the things I was assigned was to write up an analysis on a propsed bill in the House that would allow the medical use of marijuana in the State. Regardless of one's feelings on the issue, it was an interesting bill to study. Because it is a bill with many components it took me a decent amount of time to initially go through it, write the analysis, and then revise the analysis after Colleen and John sent back thier comments and suggested changes.
I also created a spreadsheet tracking job numbers for all 50 states over various time periods. It was both interesting and a little scary at the same time. With few exceptions, states experienced a loss of jobs in all the time periods, some in the hundreds of thousands. For example, Illinois lost over 260,000 jobs in the period from January 2003 to March 2010 (The most current data available at the time). Not encouraging for someone who will be entering the job market in less than a year....
I also had to write another bill analysis, this time on a bill that has passed both chambers and is not just waiting for the Governor's signature to become law. The bill creates the African American Employment Plan which is designed to better facilitate the hiring and promotion of African Americans throughout state agencies. Another time consuming bill.
The House and Senate returned in the last week of May to attempt to finish a budget. The Capitol was busy once again after a quiet two weeks. The House came back first, on Monday, because they left with more unfinished business than the Senate. I spent the day going through various amendments that were being filed to the budget bills. One amendment cut the Treasurer's office for FY 2011 by 5% so I quickly sent the amendment for review to the rest of the legislative team to determine the best course of action. The Treasurer's office budget was already remaining the same as FY 2010 (which is viewed as taking a cut, as it is supposed to increase each year) and an additional 5% cut would be difficult.
On Tuesday I went to the House Revenue and Finance committee where all of the budget amendments were to be heard, including the one cutting the Treasurer's budget. I arrived in the hearing room very early, expecting a large crowd in what has to be the smallest hearing room in the building. Slowly representatives began to file in and right before the committee started, Illinois' Attorney General Lisa Madigan also walked in. It turned out she was there to testify in opposition to the same amendment I was there for as it also cut her office's budget (the one amendment cut all of the constitutional officers budget by 5%). Not long after the committee started, Speaker Madigan also walked in to the committee room. He rarely makes an appearance in committees, especially one where his daughter was about to testify. After the AG testified and the amendment died in the committee (it did not even recieve a motion to pass, so no vote was taken and it is considered dead) Secretary of State Jesse White walked into the room to testify about the same amendment. He was surprised to find that the amendment had already failed and then laughed and joked with the representatives, thanking them for their time even though he did not need to testify. One very star-studded (if you know Illinois politics) committee hearing!
Session finally began around 3:30 on Tuesday and went on for the next 6 hours. An extremely controversial bill that would allow the State to borrow up to $4 billion to may the payments to State pension systems took up a good amount of debate. Needing 71 votes to pass, it only recieved 70 on the first go around. The floor went quiet for some time until one of the two Democratic legislators voting no on the measure stood up to request a re-vote. The Republicans immediately went to caucus after this announcement for over an hour. After they returned, another long round of debate over the bill, the process that was occuring, etc, occured before another vote was taken. This time the required 71 votes were achieved and the bill passed. After that more pieces of budget legislation were brought up to be voted on but it was almost as if the Republicans had given up. Only a small amount of debate was held on each issue and everything passed. The House continued voting on bills until 9:30 that evening.
Wednesday turned out to be a very long day of listening to the House go through bill after bill. Listening to debate is usually interesting at first, but after 8-9 hours of it all I wanted was some quiet time. The Senate also returned to Springfield on Wednesday but did not take care of much, saving most for Thursday.
As had been rumored, Governor Quinn issued his amendatory veto of the bill to reform the McCormick Convention Center in Chicago. The House quickly over-rode this veto with the required vote and the Senate did the same not long after. The Senate then went through all of the other budget pieces the House had passed out (plus several other non-budget items) with the exception of the bill to allow borrowing for the pension systems, the one that caused so much trouble in the House on Wednesday. It was discovered that enough Democratic senators were opposed to the bill that it would not garner the required super-majority vote. Both the House and Senate adjourned until the call of the chair. For the House this likely means that they will not be back until veto session in November. The Senate may return at some point over the summer if enough Senators agree to vote for the borrowing bill.
It has been a very quiet beginning to June here. With the Legislature finished up (basically) for the summer, I have been helping out with a few end of session tasks like putting together binders that have all information pertinent to our office's bills. I also authored letters to the Governor asking for his signature on the bills our office worked on. There are several pieces of legislation that are in the works for possible action during veto session this fall so I have also written analyses of several bills in preparation for such action.
It is hard to believe that my residency will be over in a couple of weeks. The time I have spent here has gone by extremely quickly and it has been such an enjoyable experience. I will have one more post at the end of June to recap what my final weeks have been like.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Brady in Brussels, two weeks left
The biggest event to report from my last two weeks at work is that our international conference on the UNCITRAL Model Law took place last Friday. I have spent my entire 6 months here gradually planning for this event. In the last couple weeks before the event it grew especially hectic, for I was responsible for every task, large or small. We had a list of 11 speakers and two moderators for the events. Each speaker then sent me their text, which I had to carefully edit and scrutinize for even the smallest mistakes. All in all, this was almost 200 pages of heavy, legal research papers. Then, I wrote the introduction for the conference and sent it to our editor. This took a lot of coordination, rapid fire emailing and follow ups, and most importantly patience. It was a long process because our speakers were corresponding with me from diverse time zones, from China to Ukraine to Florida. After the conference publication was made, I had to receive a power point organization from each speaker and organize it onto the AIA computer, formatting them all the same.
As for the conference attendees, I had to make sure they had certificates of participation (a requirement for legal professionals in Belgium), conference publications, as well as a list of all attendees to allow them to prepare for any potential networking. The conference, being a largely academic topic, was mostly used for this purpose. With coffee breaks throughout the day and a cocktail reception afterward, it essentially proved to be a networking opportunity for arbitrators, lawyers, and investors to meet wand learn about the different rules and regulations in varying jurisdictions so they can better advise their clients in the future where to conduct business. This is not to say that the panel discussions were dull. In fact, the discussions turned out to be quite interactive. The best part was how global our audience was, even if it was only 40 or 50 people. While I did not understand the topics all of the time, it was an fascinating conference nonetheless.
Having been running around all day preparing and seeing to the needs of anyone and everyone, by the end of the conference I had sweat completely though my suit. Still, I was pleased to see my boss and the conference moderators personally thank me in the closing speech of the conference. I think everyone was impressed with the result and it definitely improved AIA's name.
Since the end of the conference, I have spent the past week writing articles for our latest newsletter which I just sent today. I wrote an article on how lawyers can actually use mediation processes to their advantage. The article talked about several negotiation strategies, as well as how lawyers can better familiarize themselves with the unique procedural rules of a mediation process. The article was a great way to publicize our upcoming mediation training, because lawyers can use it as an opportunity to learn first hand how mediations are conducted so they can increase their bargaining power when engaged in a mediation on behalf of their future clients. I also wrote a report of the UNCITRAL conference.
We have received a new intern from the US also, so I have spent the past several days training her. Since I am the first intern to have been here for a period over 6 months, I really feel that I know the ropes of the organization's administration, of which I oversaw largely on my own. This makes it a little difficult to hand down all of the responsibilities, or perhaps I am just oddly attached to my job. I also wrote some notes for my boss on Investment Dispute Resolution because he will be acting as the head of a conference panel this Friday on Asian-European economic relations, called the ASEFUAN/IGIR Dialogues.
Finally, AIA has recently decided to try to expand to the US next Fall and open up an additional office in New York City. This branch of the association will be specifically targeted to alternative dispute resolution in the US. This is a great opportunity for AIA because the US is a hub for arbitration and mediation and there are many legal professionals interested in the subjects. We are in the process of discussing whether we should hold a conference there in October to help promote to new office and gain additional contacts from an early stage. It is weird to help set up an event when I will not be here for it, but it is nice to remain involved in the future of an organization I now know so well. My boss keeps telling me he wants me to "assist" him in NYC in the future. What this means exactly, is hard to say now.
My final post will likely show up at the end of June as a sort of end-all conclusion, in case you are interested!
As for the conference attendees, I had to make sure they had certificates of participation (a requirement for legal professionals in Belgium), conference publications, as well as a list of all attendees to allow them to prepare for any potential networking. The conference, being a largely academic topic, was mostly used for this purpose. With coffee breaks throughout the day and a cocktail reception afterward, it essentially proved to be a networking opportunity for arbitrators, lawyers, and investors to meet wand learn about the different rules and regulations in varying jurisdictions so they can better advise their clients in the future where to conduct business. This is not to say that the panel discussions were dull. In fact, the discussions turned out to be quite interactive. The best part was how global our audience was, even if it was only 40 or 50 people. While I did not understand the topics all of the time, it was an fascinating conference nonetheless.
Having been running around all day preparing and seeing to the needs of anyone and everyone, by the end of the conference I had sweat completely though my suit. Still, I was pleased to see my boss and the conference moderators personally thank me in the closing speech of the conference. I think everyone was impressed with the result and it definitely improved AIA's name.
Since the end of the conference, I have spent the past week writing articles for our latest newsletter which I just sent today. I wrote an article on how lawyers can actually use mediation processes to their advantage. The article talked about several negotiation strategies, as well as how lawyers can better familiarize themselves with the unique procedural rules of a mediation process. The article was a great way to publicize our upcoming mediation training, because lawyers can use it as an opportunity to learn first hand how mediations are conducted so they can increase their bargaining power when engaged in a mediation on behalf of their future clients. I also wrote a report of the UNCITRAL conference.
We have received a new intern from the US also, so I have spent the past several days training her. Since I am the first intern to have been here for a period over 6 months, I really feel that I know the ropes of the organization's administration, of which I oversaw largely on my own. This makes it a little difficult to hand down all of the responsibilities, or perhaps I am just oddly attached to my job. I also wrote some notes for my boss on Investment Dispute Resolution because he will be acting as the head of a conference panel this Friday on Asian-European economic relations, called the ASEFUAN/IGIR Dialogues.
Finally, AIA has recently decided to try to expand to the US next Fall and open up an additional office in New York City. This branch of the association will be specifically targeted to alternative dispute resolution in the US. This is a great opportunity for AIA because the US is a hub for arbitration and mediation and there are many legal professionals interested in the subjects. We are in the process of discussing whether we should hold a conference there in October to help promote to new office and gain additional contacts from an early stage. It is weird to help set up an event when I will not be here for it, but it is nice to remain involved in the future of an organization I now know so well. My boss keeps telling me he wants me to "assist" him in NYC in the future. What this means exactly, is hard to say now.
My final post will likely show up at the end of June as a sort of end-all conclusion, in case you are interested!
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Senator Michael Frerichs Office Week Twenty
Monday May 31st, 2010:
Office Closed: Observance of Memorial Day
Tuesday June 1st, 2010:
Today served as my last day in the office until June 21st. On Wednesday, June 3rd, I will undergo a minor surgery on my Achilles tendon of my left leg. I am cleared by the office to remain on medical leave until the 21st of June.
Last week, the office was environment was a bit hectic. Our new summer intern, Sarah, had to leave early in the week due to a death in the family. I finished my workweek on Tuesday as I was attending a charity event in Chicago for the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night. I returned to Champaign on Thursday evening with the belief that I would be working on Friday in the office. However, at 7:45 p.m. on Thursday night just shortly after I had arrived back in Champaign I received a text from our Chief of Staff Laurie that the office would be closed on Friday/Monday in observance of Memorial Day.
Since I knew I would be leaving the office early next week for medical leave I decided to go into the office briefly throughout the weekend to work on minimal projects: newspaper clippings, emails etc. to ensure that the office would not fall behind in my absence.
However, much work still remained upon return to the office on Tuesday morning. The majority of the day in the office was spent working tirelessly on newspaper clippings, emails, and constituent correspondence, which needed to be completed before I left. Although I had not completed all that needed to be done prior to my departure on Tuesday, I made sure that those in the office knew of the status of all of my open cases etc. that may receive correspondence during my absence.
June 1st, 2010- June 4th, 2010:
Medical Leave: Surgery (Northwestern Memorial) Dr. Kelikian
Office Closed: Observance of Memorial Day
Tuesday June 1st, 2010:
Today served as my last day in the office until June 21st. On Wednesday, June 3rd, I will undergo a minor surgery on my Achilles tendon of my left leg. I am cleared by the office to remain on medical leave until the 21st of June.
Last week, the office was environment was a bit hectic. Our new summer intern, Sarah, had to leave early in the week due to a death in the family. I finished my workweek on Tuesday as I was attending a charity event in Chicago for the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night. I returned to Champaign on Thursday evening with the belief that I would be working on Friday in the office. However, at 7:45 p.m. on Thursday night just shortly after I had arrived back in Champaign I received a text from our Chief of Staff Laurie that the office would be closed on Friday/Monday in observance of Memorial Day.
Since I knew I would be leaving the office early next week for medical leave I decided to go into the office briefly throughout the weekend to work on minimal projects: newspaper clippings, emails etc. to ensure that the office would not fall behind in my absence.
However, much work still remained upon return to the office on Tuesday morning. The majority of the day in the office was spent working tirelessly on newspaper clippings, emails, and constituent correspondence, which needed to be completed before I left. Although I had not completed all that needed to be done prior to my departure on Tuesday, I made sure that those in the office knew of the status of all of my open cases etc. that may receive correspondence during my absence.
June 1st, 2010- June 4th, 2010:
Medical Leave: Surgery (Northwestern Memorial) Dr. Kelikian
Friday, May 28, 2010
Senator Michael Frerichs Office Week Nineteen
Monday May 24th, 2010:
Upon heading into the office this morning I ran into our new summer intern, Sarah, on the CUMTD bus. I found out that Sarah’s grandfather had passed away over the weekend. She will be heading home early this afternoon, which will leave the office short staffed seeing as I will be out of the office (Wed-Thurs).
When Sarah and I arrived into the office we began to work on a variety of numerous tasks, which needed to be completed. Sarah began to work on newspaper clippings while I listened to the voicemails, which were left over the weekend. After, I took out the trash and recycling. Upon return to the office, I continued to work on newspaper clippings with Sarah.
Remainder of the day utilized to respond to a variety of constituent emails and continue work on constituent casework.
Tuesday May 25th, 2010:
Continued to work on newspaper clippings and constituent emails. Addressed necessary constituent casework files.
Wednesday May 26th, 2010:
PERSONAL DAY: CHICAGO CUBS CARE CHARITY EVENT
Thursday May 27th, 2010:
PERSONAL DAY: TRAVEL TO CHAMPAIGN
Friday May 28th, 2010:
OFFICE CLOSED: OBSERVANCE OF MEMORIAL DAY
Upon heading into the office this morning I ran into our new summer intern, Sarah, on the CUMTD bus. I found out that Sarah’s grandfather had passed away over the weekend. She will be heading home early this afternoon, which will leave the office short staffed seeing as I will be out of the office (Wed-Thurs).
When Sarah and I arrived into the office we began to work on a variety of numerous tasks, which needed to be completed. Sarah began to work on newspaper clippings while I listened to the voicemails, which were left over the weekend. After, I took out the trash and recycling. Upon return to the office, I continued to work on newspaper clippings with Sarah.
Remainder of the day utilized to respond to a variety of constituent emails and continue work on constituent casework.
Tuesday May 25th, 2010:
Continued to work on newspaper clippings and constituent emails. Addressed necessary constituent casework files.
Wednesday May 26th, 2010:
PERSONAL DAY: CHICAGO CUBS CARE CHARITY EVENT
Thursday May 27th, 2010:
PERSONAL DAY: TRAVEL TO CHAMPAIGN
Friday May 28th, 2010:
OFFICE CLOSED: OBSERVANCE OF MEMORIAL DAY
Friday, May 21, 2010
Senator Michael Frerichs Office Week Eighteen
Monday May 17th, 2010:
This past week due to an ongoing illness I had minimal opportunity to work within the district office. Honestly, I do not fall ill often; however, when I do fall ill it seems to be quite a fight in terms of recovery. I still do not feel 100% percent today but will forge ahead as much work needs to be completed in the office.
On a side note: Our new summer intern Sarah Tanaka begins her internship today. Laurie texted me this morning to let me know that she would be into the office late this morning; therefore I needed to be at the office by 9 a.m. sharp to unlock the office for Sarah.
This morning Sarah and I began to work on the numerous local newspapers which had begun to due to my absence. The task is not too exciting; however, it must be completed. As I was reminded late least week when Senator Frerichs asked questions concerning my blog, he is in an election year. The effort which myself and other interns put forth to clip all of these articles and prepare them for mailing is not for naught as it will certainly garner further recognition of Senator Frerichs and may lead to additional votes in November.
As I have mentioned before this process regarding “Saw You in the News” clippings is quite extensive and time consuming.
With the remainder of my office hours today, I began to work diligently on the series of constituent letters which were still in the box awaiting correspondence. The letters which needed to be responded to depicted concern related to diabetes treatment issues (schools), illegal immigration (AZ), telecommunications etc. A few letters too remained in the inbox from inmates which needed a call into the Department of Corrections in order to properly address their concerns.
Tuesday May 18th, 2010:
This morning Sarah and I finished the work which needed to be completed related to the “Saw You in the News” clippings. Due to the many steps which are involved to prepare these pieces for mailing oftentimes once one of the several tasks are completed I or one of the interns will put it off to the side for later completion. As this task is not too glamorous it can often become boring and exhaustive.
Work continued related to the constituent letters which I referred to yesterday. Our office has had some issues which I have expressed in earlier entries related to technology (computers) which often deters progress related to projects. My personal computer in the office will not allow me to save any type of Microsoft office project or print a document. Therefore, I have to ask either Laurie to do so or Sarah. Today, I waited for Sarah to leave at noon to continue work related to the constituent correspondence.
In the meantime, I worked to respond to a few emails which I knew I could send an appropriate response. The emails showed concern related to education funding. This is an issue which I am truly aware of and I myself have begun to feel the effects which the inability of the State to pay its bills has had upon the University and the State of Illinois as a whole.
Upon Sarah’s leave, I was able to respond to the remainder of the hard-copy letters and prepare them for mailing.
Wednesday May 19th, 2010:
Primary task of the morning completed: clip the morning newspaper as to prevent a considerate number of newspapers to begin to form a pile on the back counter.
With the office in great shape due to the hard work which I have put forth these past few days only a few tasks remain which I need to complete.
This morning Laurie assigned a project to Sarah to complete. Sarah will continue to work and follow-up with the individuals in the 52nd District who work in a non-profit who have an interest in a grant PDF which our office receives on a monthly basis. One of our previous interns, Ayesha, was not too computer savvy and thus the spreadsheets and contact information in the Gmail account needs to be looked over for errors. An email which Ayesha sent out to these individuals received a generous amount returned in the form of bounce backs. Therefore, if this task is to be successful and worthwhile for our office and the Senator’s constituency it must be completed correctly.
While Sarah began her work on this project, I began to work on the emails which have amassed the week prior in the inbox without my attention. The topic of emails show a wide variety: Budget FY11 concerns, cancer treatment accessibility, educational issues, telecommunications issues, etc.
When I began to write responses to these various emails the inbox contained near 130 emails. Upon the time which I had left the office at the end of the day the inbox had numbered around 17. It is a great feeling to see the office in such great shape which allows for all tasks to be completed in a timely manner.
Prior to leaving the office for the day, I too completed all of the filing which needed to be completed.
Thursday May 20th, 2010:
With the office in a great state, the stress related to the completion of tasks had been lifted. I clipped the morning newspaper and Sarah updated a few emails on the contact list of non-profits. Sarah left the office early after she completed the updates.
I continued to answer constituent phone calls and investigate constituent casework issues which had been brought to my attention via phone call. A few issues which I had the chance to look into and return today concerned the Human Services Department and Medicaid and Medicare.
An individual who was on Medicaid and Medicare called into the office and had state that she had been offered a life insurance policy by JcPenney. She contacted our office in an effort to seek out whether or not it would be in conflict with her Medicaid and Medicare if she opted into the plan. Upon contacting the Human Services Department I was told that if the plan was in excess of $2,000 it certainly would have an effect.
Another individual who had lost her Medicaid and Medicare card due to her son turning 19 contacted our office to see if we could be of any assistance in her obtaining a new card as she was a cancer patient and needed the card to obtain affordable treatment. Upon contacting the Department of Human Services I was told that she had submitted a form which needed to be approved which often takes up to 75 days.
After completing these few tasks, I used the remainder of my time in the office this afternoon to seek out available assistantships. Both Laurie and the Senator are in high hopes that I will come across an available position but the stress is honestly beginning to mount as every avenue I check ends in a dead end in some form.
Friday May 21st, 2010:
The office remains in top-shape. Therefore, I answered phone calls from constituents with concern to a variety of issues and answered a variety of emails. Otherwise, the office was quite calm this afternoon.
This past week due to an ongoing illness I had minimal opportunity to work within the district office. Honestly, I do not fall ill often; however, when I do fall ill it seems to be quite a fight in terms of recovery. I still do not feel 100% percent today but will forge ahead as much work needs to be completed in the office.
On a side note: Our new summer intern Sarah Tanaka begins her internship today. Laurie texted me this morning to let me know that she would be into the office late this morning; therefore I needed to be at the office by 9 a.m. sharp to unlock the office for Sarah.
This morning Sarah and I began to work on the numerous local newspapers which had begun to due to my absence. The task is not too exciting; however, it must be completed. As I was reminded late least week when Senator Frerichs asked questions concerning my blog, he is in an election year. The effort which myself and other interns put forth to clip all of these articles and prepare them for mailing is not for naught as it will certainly garner further recognition of Senator Frerichs and may lead to additional votes in November.
As I have mentioned before this process regarding “Saw You in the News” clippings is quite extensive and time consuming.
With the remainder of my office hours today, I began to work diligently on the series of constituent letters which were still in the box awaiting correspondence. The letters which needed to be responded to depicted concern related to diabetes treatment issues (schools), illegal immigration (AZ), telecommunications etc. A few letters too remained in the inbox from inmates which needed a call into the Department of Corrections in order to properly address their concerns.
Tuesday May 18th, 2010:
This morning Sarah and I finished the work which needed to be completed related to the “Saw You in the News” clippings. Due to the many steps which are involved to prepare these pieces for mailing oftentimes once one of the several tasks are completed I or one of the interns will put it off to the side for later completion. As this task is not too glamorous it can often become boring and exhaustive.
Work continued related to the constituent letters which I referred to yesterday. Our office has had some issues which I have expressed in earlier entries related to technology (computers) which often deters progress related to projects. My personal computer in the office will not allow me to save any type of Microsoft office project or print a document. Therefore, I have to ask either Laurie to do so or Sarah. Today, I waited for Sarah to leave at noon to continue work related to the constituent correspondence.
In the meantime, I worked to respond to a few emails which I knew I could send an appropriate response. The emails showed concern related to education funding. This is an issue which I am truly aware of and I myself have begun to feel the effects which the inability of the State to pay its bills has had upon the University and the State of Illinois as a whole.
Upon Sarah’s leave, I was able to respond to the remainder of the hard-copy letters and prepare them for mailing.
Wednesday May 19th, 2010:
Primary task of the morning completed: clip the morning newspaper as to prevent a considerate number of newspapers to begin to form a pile on the back counter.
With the office in great shape due to the hard work which I have put forth these past few days only a few tasks remain which I need to complete.
This morning Laurie assigned a project to Sarah to complete. Sarah will continue to work and follow-up with the individuals in the 52nd District who work in a non-profit who have an interest in a grant PDF which our office receives on a monthly basis. One of our previous interns, Ayesha, was not too computer savvy and thus the spreadsheets and contact information in the Gmail account needs to be looked over for errors. An email which Ayesha sent out to these individuals received a generous amount returned in the form of bounce backs. Therefore, if this task is to be successful and worthwhile for our office and the Senator’s constituency it must be completed correctly.
While Sarah began her work on this project, I began to work on the emails which have amassed the week prior in the inbox without my attention. The topic of emails show a wide variety: Budget FY11 concerns, cancer treatment accessibility, educational issues, telecommunications issues, etc.
When I began to write responses to these various emails the inbox contained near 130 emails. Upon the time which I had left the office at the end of the day the inbox had numbered around 17. It is a great feeling to see the office in such great shape which allows for all tasks to be completed in a timely manner.
Prior to leaving the office for the day, I too completed all of the filing which needed to be completed.
Thursday May 20th, 2010:
With the office in a great state, the stress related to the completion of tasks had been lifted. I clipped the morning newspaper and Sarah updated a few emails on the contact list of non-profits. Sarah left the office early after she completed the updates.
I continued to answer constituent phone calls and investigate constituent casework issues which had been brought to my attention via phone call. A few issues which I had the chance to look into and return today concerned the Human Services Department and Medicaid and Medicare.
An individual who was on Medicaid and Medicare called into the office and had state that she had been offered a life insurance policy by JcPenney. She contacted our office in an effort to seek out whether or not it would be in conflict with her Medicaid and Medicare if she opted into the plan. Upon contacting the Human Services Department I was told that if the plan was in excess of $2,000 it certainly would have an effect.
Another individual who had lost her Medicaid and Medicare card due to her son turning 19 contacted our office to see if we could be of any assistance in her obtaining a new card as she was a cancer patient and needed the card to obtain affordable treatment. Upon contacting the Department of Human Services I was told that she had submitted a form which needed to be approved which often takes up to 75 days.
After completing these few tasks, I used the remainder of my time in the office this afternoon to seek out available assistantships. Both Laurie and the Senator are in high hopes that I will come across an available position but the stress is honestly beginning to mount as every avenue I check ends in a dead end in some form.
Friday May 21st, 2010:
The office remains in top-shape. Therefore, I answered phone calls from constituents with concern to a variety of issues and answered a variety of emails. Otherwise, the office was quite calm this afternoon.
Brady in Brussels
Not much to report as of late, for most of our projects are long term and ongoing. The majority of my work these past weeks has been in preparation for our UNCITRAL conference in the first week of June. I had to edit all of the texts from our list of speakers which was a grueling task. They all utilize extremely “legal” language, which means very long sentences, excessive quotations, and a complete lack of human emotion. Some of them are not native English speakers either. Thus, it took a lot of patience, concentration, and coffee to read through the 150 or so pages of text. However, I was able to write the introduction to the conference, as well as assist my boss in writing his own text on the reform of Belgian arbitration law.
I have also been working painstakingly to market out upcoming mediation training course and our postgraduate program at in international business arbitration. However, I am very excited to report that I will in fact be able to participate in our mediation training this August. This means that I will be flying out to England to subject myself to an intensive two-week training course in cross-border civil and commercial mediation. It will be a tough task, for I will be alongside very experienced lawyers and arbitrators from around the EU. Nevertheless I am of the opinion that you the best mediators have no history in litigation because the aim is to facilitate cooperation and “expand the pie” instead of reap whatever rewards are available.
Upon completion of the course, and assuming I pass the final exam, I will be a certified mediator and can apply for accreditation a various mediation centers around the world! It’s hard to say what exactly I will do with this behind me. It will afford me various job opportunities, I’m sure, but only if I decide to dedicate the next 4-5 years of my life developing a mediation practice. A lot of this I will know once I have taken the course and experienced what it is like to be a real mediator. For now, I will simply prepare myself for two weeks of non-stop lectures on mediation theory and continual mediation mock trials.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Treasurer's Office- Late April and Early May
It has been quite a while since my last post and it is definitely time to give an update on what has been happening here in Springfield. The first week in May marked the scheduled end of session and as a new-comer to Springfield, I did not know exactly what this would all entail. But I knew I would be busy- and I was very right. So now that I am less busy I have some time to write what is sure to be a long post.
Monday, April 26th was an uneventual day in the Capitol. Everyone was gearing up for what would likely be a busy week as the General Assembly prepared for adjournment in the upcoming weeks. The House would be in session starting at noon on Tuesday, with a committee hearing scheduled for 9 am. It was a little unusual to have a committee hearing scheduled before session on the first day legislators were in town for the week, but regardless, I volunteered to go.
Therefore, on Tuesday I was sitting in the House Judiciary I committee bright and early at 9. Only one matter was before the committee and it was the possible constitutional amendment that would change the redistricting process that takes place within the state after every census. The amendment had already passed out of the Senate on a partisan vote and was now in the House. I knew this matter would likely take a while because it is a very controversial issue, but when I finally left the committee 4 hours later I felt I had learned enough about the redistricting process to be at least somewhat of an expert. Even though it was the longest committee I had ever sat through by far, it was interesting at least. Debate became very heated at times, both from legislators and witnesses. Although session was scheduled to start at 12, the hearing was no where near finished by that time and the start time was pushed back until 1:15. After the proposed amendment (which was a Democratic initiative, FYI) was debated for over three hours, the Republican House leader came to the committee to present the GOP's version of a redistricting amendment. The chances of the Republican initiative making it out of committee was essentially none, but I am assuming their idea was presented to be sure they at least had their voices heard and to vocalize their discontent with the Democratic idea. After the Republican initiative was debate for over an hour, the committee chairperson finally halted debate and took a role call. The Republican initiative failed and the Democratic initiative passed, both votes going according to party lines. Whew! Finally time to return to the office.
The rest of Tuesday involved more listening to debate from the House floor. When bills were being debate that were not central to the Treasurer's Office, I wrote up an extensive report on each of the redistricting proposals that had come before the committee. Again, I felt I could at least be somewhat of an expert now! When session ended at 5, several committees had hearings scheduled so I attended one of those and was out of the office relatively early that night.
Thankfully Wednesday did not start off with a four hour committee hearing. The House had several committees before session, but it was nothing exciting. Session then went from 11-3:45 which made for a somewhat long day sitting at my desk and listening to debate. I assumed committees would decide to hold hearings after session, but they did not and I left the office a little before 5. That was the earliest I have ever left on a day when the GA was in session for sure.
Session on Thursday, the 29th began a little earlier than expected, at 10. Bills were debated all day. The biggest one of note was the redistricting amendment that I had learned so much on in committee. After approximately 2 hours of debate, the amendment failed on the House floor, with some Democrats even voting against it. After all that debate, I was a little surprised to see it fail!!
Friday saw more debate in both the House and the Senate, but it wasn't anything terribly exciting. Both chambers wrapped up in the afternoon. There was a definite tone to the day that said "go home this weekend and prepare for a long weekend ahead".
Monday, May 3rd brought a lot of speculation as to what the coming week would bring. Would the GA finish by Friday? Or should we plan to be here over the weekend? And how late would we be staying every night? It was definitely a busy week and most of those questions would not be answered until late Friday.
Both chambers began session at noon. House committeess started at 3 so I attended the Financial Institutions committee (I learned a lot about how interest is calculated on loans made to businesses and corporations- probably more than I really wanted to know but oh well).
Tuesday morning started out pretty slowly. There were several committee hearings before the House began at noon but the items in the committees were nothing that our office cared about- at least we thought anyway. When the GA is attempting to adjourn, often things are done very quickly and without much notice. Ordinarily, when an amendment is filed to a bill, it cannot be heard before a committee for 24 hours. However, this type of deadline is waived when the GA is trying to finish for the summer. An amendment was filed Tuesday morning, heard in committee and passed out all before 10 AM. This type of action makes for very hectic days. Fortunately it was an amendment that our office definitely wanted to pay attention to, but it was not something that directly affected our office. I had even checked what amendments had been filed within 15 minutes of arriving at work that day (anticipating this sort of quick movement) and it was not on the computer system yet. I checked back 45 minutes later and it was there, but had already been passed by that time.
I listened to the House for the remainder of the day and they adjourned, somewhat to my surprise, around 4:45. The Senate had committee hearings and session until 7.
Wednesday morning proved to be somewhat of a repeat of Tuesday morning, as an amendment was filed, heard in committee, and passed all before 10. This one dealt with the state's payment to pension plans, which is a huge topic in Illinois government right now. The amendment (which erased the contents of the previous bill, or "shelled" it, and inserted completely new contents and became the bill once it was adopted) provided that the State borrow money to pay for the pension system payments the state is required to make. Because the State is in such a poor financial situation at the moment, the only two options for funding pensions is to either borrow to make the payments or skip making payments completely.
Amendments containing big pieces of legislation continued to come out all day and I felt like I was constantly sending out emails to alert our office of what legislation was moving. On the floor, one very controversial bill was discussed for well over 2 hours. The bill would have allowed parents of the children in the Chicago Public School system to use vouchers from the State to send their children to private schools. Listening to the debate was very interesting. This was easily the most divisive bill I have heard thus far. Legislators from Chicago were either wholly for it or extremely against it. Both Democrats and Republicans stood up and spoke in favor of and against the bill. In the end, the bill failed by almost 15 votes.
Thursday was the longest and busiest day of my internship thus far. I checked what amendments had been filed all day and it seemed there was always something new and of major substance happening. I was again sending out emails to get feedback on the amendments and to see if any impacted our office in a negative way. One the House floor, several big items related to the budget were discussed and surprisingly most of them failed.
The House recessed at 5 to go to committees and came back to the floor around 7. They then debated a bill to reform policies of the McCormick Convention Center in Chicago that had been recieving a lot of press lately. The debate lasted for a little whle, but surprisingly the bill passed out very easily. The House then adjourned for the evening around 9.
The Senate was a different story. An appropriations committee scheduled a hearing for 9 to discuss the amendments that would make up the State's budget for FY 2011. The Senators came back to the floor around 10:30, only to have the Republicans go into caucus immediately. Debate finally began on the bill around 11:30 and lasted until after 1. All of the amendments passed out on partisan lines (with a few exceptions) but the debate still lasted for a long while. I left the office around 1:15 AM after a very long day.
The start of the workday on Friday came much quicker than I would have liked after being at work so late on Thursday. The House went into session at 9:30 and passed out one bill but then went in caucus. Rumor was the Democrats did not have enough votes to pass the same budget that the Senate had passed out the night before. Governor Quinn even came into the Democratic caucus to try to get more members to vote for the bill. In the end, the bill was never called in the House. Speaker Madigan said that the GA will be returning at some indefinite point in the future to finish the budget and other things that were not finished prior to them leaving on Friday. I was shocked to find myself leaving the Capitol at 7 that night, when I had originally assumed that I would be there very late Friday and possibly Saturday.
There was a lot left unfinished so it will be interesting to see what happens in the coming weeks!
Sorry for such a long post!
Monday, April 26th was an uneventual day in the Capitol. Everyone was gearing up for what would likely be a busy week as the General Assembly prepared for adjournment in the upcoming weeks. The House would be in session starting at noon on Tuesday, with a committee hearing scheduled for 9 am. It was a little unusual to have a committee hearing scheduled before session on the first day legislators were in town for the week, but regardless, I volunteered to go.
Therefore, on Tuesday I was sitting in the House Judiciary I committee bright and early at 9. Only one matter was before the committee and it was the possible constitutional amendment that would change the redistricting process that takes place within the state after every census. The amendment had already passed out of the Senate on a partisan vote and was now in the House. I knew this matter would likely take a while because it is a very controversial issue, but when I finally left the committee 4 hours later I felt I had learned enough about the redistricting process to be at least somewhat of an expert. Even though it was the longest committee I had ever sat through by far, it was interesting at least. Debate became very heated at times, both from legislators and witnesses. Although session was scheduled to start at 12, the hearing was no where near finished by that time and the start time was pushed back until 1:15. After the proposed amendment (which was a Democratic initiative, FYI) was debated for over three hours, the Republican House leader came to the committee to present the GOP's version of a redistricting amendment. The chances of the Republican initiative making it out of committee was essentially none, but I am assuming their idea was presented to be sure they at least had their voices heard and to vocalize their discontent with the Democratic idea. After the Republican initiative was debate for over an hour, the committee chairperson finally halted debate and took a role call. The Republican initiative failed and the Democratic initiative passed, both votes going according to party lines. Whew! Finally time to return to the office.
The rest of Tuesday involved more listening to debate from the House floor. When bills were being debate that were not central to the Treasurer's Office, I wrote up an extensive report on each of the redistricting proposals that had come before the committee. Again, I felt I could at least be somewhat of an expert now! When session ended at 5, several committees had hearings scheduled so I attended one of those and was out of the office relatively early that night.
Thankfully Wednesday did not start off with a four hour committee hearing. The House had several committees before session, but it was nothing exciting. Session then went from 11-3:45 which made for a somewhat long day sitting at my desk and listening to debate. I assumed committees would decide to hold hearings after session, but they did not and I left the office a little before 5. That was the earliest I have ever left on a day when the GA was in session for sure.
Session on Thursday, the 29th began a little earlier than expected, at 10. Bills were debated all day. The biggest one of note was the redistricting amendment that I had learned so much on in committee. After approximately 2 hours of debate, the amendment failed on the House floor, with some Democrats even voting against it. After all that debate, I was a little surprised to see it fail!!
Friday saw more debate in both the House and the Senate, but it wasn't anything terribly exciting. Both chambers wrapped up in the afternoon. There was a definite tone to the day that said "go home this weekend and prepare for a long weekend ahead".
Monday, May 3rd brought a lot of speculation as to what the coming week would bring. Would the GA finish by Friday? Or should we plan to be here over the weekend? And how late would we be staying every night? It was definitely a busy week and most of those questions would not be answered until late Friday.
Both chambers began session at noon. House committeess started at 3 so I attended the Financial Institutions committee (I learned a lot about how interest is calculated on loans made to businesses and corporations- probably more than I really wanted to know but oh well).
Tuesday morning started out pretty slowly. There were several committee hearings before the House began at noon but the items in the committees were nothing that our office cared about- at least we thought anyway. When the GA is attempting to adjourn, often things are done very quickly and without much notice. Ordinarily, when an amendment is filed to a bill, it cannot be heard before a committee for 24 hours. However, this type of deadline is waived when the GA is trying to finish for the summer. An amendment was filed Tuesday morning, heard in committee and passed out all before 10 AM. This type of action makes for very hectic days. Fortunately it was an amendment that our office definitely wanted to pay attention to, but it was not something that directly affected our office. I had even checked what amendments had been filed within 15 minutes of arriving at work that day (anticipating this sort of quick movement) and it was not on the computer system yet. I checked back 45 minutes later and it was there, but had already been passed by that time.
I listened to the House for the remainder of the day and they adjourned, somewhat to my surprise, around 4:45. The Senate had committee hearings and session until 7.
Wednesday morning proved to be somewhat of a repeat of Tuesday morning, as an amendment was filed, heard in committee, and passed all before 10. This one dealt with the state's payment to pension plans, which is a huge topic in Illinois government right now. The amendment (which erased the contents of the previous bill, or "shelled" it, and inserted completely new contents and became the bill once it was adopted) provided that the State borrow money to pay for the pension system payments the state is required to make. Because the State is in such a poor financial situation at the moment, the only two options for funding pensions is to either borrow to make the payments or skip making payments completely.
Amendments containing big pieces of legislation continued to come out all day and I felt like I was constantly sending out emails to alert our office of what legislation was moving. On the floor, one very controversial bill was discussed for well over 2 hours. The bill would have allowed parents of the children in the Chicago Public School system to use vouchers from the State to send their children to private schools. Listening to the debate was very interesting. This was easily the most divisive bill I have heard thus far. Legislators from Chicago were either wholly for it or extremely against it. Both Democrats and Republicans stood up and spoke in favor of and against the bill. In the end, the bill failed by almost 15 votes.
Thursday was the longest and busiest day of my internship thus far. I checked what amendments had been filed all day and it seemed there was always something new and of major substance happening. I was again sending out emails to get feedback on the amendments and to see if any impacted our office in a negative way. One the House floor, several big items related to the budget were discussed and surprisingly most of them failed.
The House recessed at 5 to go to committees and came back to the floor around 7. They then debated a bill to reform policies of the McCormick Convention Center in Chicago that had been recieving a lot of press lately. The debate lasted for a little whle, but surprisingly the bill passed out very easily. The House then adjourned for the evening around 9.
The Senate was a different story. An appropriations committee scheduled a hearing for 9 to discuss the amendments that would make up the State's budget for FY 2011. The Senators came back to the floor around 10:30, only to have the Republicans go into caucus immediately. Debate finally began on the bill around 11:30 and lasted until after 1. All of the amendments passed out on partisan lines (with a few exceptions) but the debate still lasted for a long while. I left the office around 1:15 AM after a very long day.
The start of the workday on Friday came much quicker than I would have liked after being at work so late on Thursday. The House went into session at 9:30 and passed out one bill but then went in caucus. Rumor was the Democrats did not have enough votes to pass the same budget that the Senate had passed out the night before. Governor Quinn even came into the Democratic caucus to try to get more members to vote for the bill. In the end, the bill was never called in the House. Speaker Madigan said that the GA will be returning at some indefinite point in the future to finish the budget and other things that were not finished prior to them leaving on Friday. I was shocked to find myself leaving the Capitol at 7 that night, when I had originally assumed that I would be there very late Friday and possibly Saturday.
There was a lot left unfinished so it will be interesting to see what happens in the coming weeks!
Sorry for such a long post!
Monday, May 17, 2010
First post from the International Atomic Energy Agency
So, I just realized that I have been neglecting the CLP blog this afternoon and will try to bring you up to date on my goings on in Europe.
I worked at the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy for around 3 months, and really enjoyed my time there. The Institute really did a phenomenal job of helping me to realize what it is exactly that I might want to do after school and gave me good insight into what it is like to work at an NGO, and I discovered that I really enjoy it. Living in Berlin was also just an amazing experience; I don’t think there are many cities out there that can compete with the German Capital.
But, despite all of this, I decided to try my hand at another internship in Vienna, Austria, working for the International Atomic Energy Agency in the UNO City. So I packed my bags and jumped on a train to Vienna, and will be living here until August.
I first realized just how different the two internships would be when I arrived at the Vienna International Centre and had to go through something similar to airport security, which I soon realized I would have to do everyday before going to work, which is quite obnoxious. Once through security I got my first real look at how large the centre is, with six different towers, some with around 28 floors (which doesn’t seem big for us Chicagoans, but over in Europe is pretty tall) and around 5000 total employees, the complex is pretty large.
After my orientation I found out the biggest difference between the internships, which was my workspace. In Berlin I shared a workspace with about 8 other people, which, needless to say, would get pretty tedious. In Vienna, I have my own office, that is in a room fairly close to the same size as the one I use to share. This sounds like it would be a nice change, but, after much comparison, I think that I preferred to work closely with other people, it was easy to communicate, and was generally fun. Although in Vienna I have a nice 24th floor view of the Danube to make up for the lack of fun.
What has surprised me most through the process of changing internships is how similar the work is at the IAEA and ICD. I thought that going from an NGO to an IGO would be a completely different experience; however, it seems that, for the most part, things run in a very similar way, with the same types of tasks in need of completion in both organizations. This being said, its easy to see how great of an effect that bureaucracy has on efficiency at an IGO. It seems that everything needs to be approved by several people before anything can be completed.
Within the IAEA I am working on the Programme of Action for Cancer Therapy (PACT), which currently is the major focus of the entire organization. As of now I have been working mostly as something of a press officer for the programme. I write information for the website, write correspondence for the office, construct and finalize official documents and write news stories. I just had my last story published on the front page of the IAEA website last week, which was exciting.
Our programme just launched a new project called the VUCCnet, which is a virtual university for cancer education in Africa. It’s meant to increase the number of medical practitioners dealing with cancer in the region, while keeping costs as low as possible. This form of education will also hopefully decrease the effects of brain drain in the area. I have been working almost exclusively for this project and have developed an increased interest in Africa. Its been a good experience so far and I hope that the interesting tasks keep coming.
I worked at the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy for around 3 months, and really enjoyed my time there. The Institute really did a phenomenal job of helping me to realize what it is exactly that I might want to do after school and gave me good insight into what it is like to work at an NGO, and I discovered that I really enjoy it. Living in Berlin was also just an amazing experience; I don’t think there are many cities out there that can compete with the German Capital.
But, despite all of this, I decided to try my hand at another internship in Vienna, Austria, working for the International Atomic Energy Agency in the UNO City. So I packed my bags and jumped on a train to Vienna, and will be living here until August.
I first realized just how different the two internships would be when I arrived at the Vienna International Centre and had to go through something similar to airport security, which I soon realized I would have to do everyday before going to work, which is quite obnoxious. Once through security I got my first real look at how large the centre is, with six different towers, some with around 28 floors (which doesn’t seem big for us Chicagoans, but over in Europe is pretty tall) and around 5000 total employees, the complex is pretty large.
After my orientation I found out the biggest difference between the internships, which was my workspace. In Berlin I shared a workspace with about 8 other people, which, needless to say, would get pretty tedious. In Vienna, I have my own office, that is in a room fairly close to the same size as the one I use to share. This sounds like it would be a nice change, but, after much comparison, I think that I preferred to work closely with other people, it was easy to communicate, and was generally fun. Although in Vienna I have a nice 24th floor view of the Danube to make up for the lack of fun.
What has surprised me most through the process of changing internships is how similar the work is at the IAEA and ICD. I thought that going from an NGO to an IGO would be a completely different experience; however, it seems that, for the most part, things run in a very similar way, with the same types of tasks in need of completion in both organizations. This being said, its easy to see how great of an effect that bureaucracy has on efficiency at an IGO. It seems that everything needs to be approved by several people before anything can be completed.
Within the IAEA I am working on the Programme of Action for Cancer Therapy (PACT), which currently is the major focus of the entire organization. As of now I have been working mostly as something of a press officer for the programme. I write information for the website, write correspondence for the office, construct and finalize official documents and write news stories. I just had my last story published on the front page of the IAEA website last week, which was exciting.
Our programme just launched a new project called the VUCCnet, which is a virtual university for cancer education in Africa. It’s meant to increase the number of medical practitioners dealing with cancer in the region, while keeping costs as low as possible. This form of education will also hopefully decrease the effects of brain drain in the area. I have been working almost exclusively for this project and have developed an increased interest in Africa. Its been a good experience so far and I hope that the interesting tasks keep coming.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Senator Michael Frerichs Office Week Seventeen
Week Seventeen:
Monday May 10th, 2010:
PERSONAL DAY: FIANCE’S GRANDFATHER FUNERAL- BELLEVUE, MICHIGAN
Tuesday May 11th, 2010:
SICK LEAVE: MCKINLEY HEALTH CENTER DIAGNOSIS: SINUS INFECTION
Wednesday May 12th, 2010:
SICK LEAVE: MCKINLEY HEALTH CENTER DIAGNOSIS: SINUS INFECTION
Thursday May 13th, 2010:
Due to a series of personal days accompanied by a short sick leave I have returned to the office to a firm list of tasks to complete.
The local newspapers which the office receives on a daily basis as should be expected began to form a considerable stack on the back counter due to my absence. As I still did not feel 100% this morning I began my time in the office clipping newspapers and preparing “Saw You in the News” clippings for later mailing.
The remainder of the day I had composed an appropriate response to the series of emails which littered the inbox with concern and opposition to “Pension Holidays”.
Intermittent constituent phone calls and daily mail sorting served as an effort to halt any and all progress which I was making on these tasks.
Friday May 14th, 2010:
I came into the office this morning and first logged onto my email account and saw a reply from Mardia Bishop of the Communications Department regarding the COMM 101 TA position. The email simply stated that although my resume depicts admirable accomplishments, others are better qualified to fill the position. The stress related to finding a TA or RA position continues to mount and this morning it exceeded my ability to cope. The uncertainty of my academic future which undoubtedly is spurred by the University of Illinois and State of Illinois budget crisis is overwhelming.
I decided to take an early lunch in an effort to calm myself. I organized a meeting with Dr. Greco at which we discussed the current situation at length and possible solutions. I asked Laurie thereafter if I could have the remainder of the afternoon off to call around to different departments to seek out any available positions and she obliged as she is certainly aware of the importance this issue holds with concern to my education.
State Senator Michael Frerichs Week 16
The slow pace which characterized the office the past week appears as if it will continue this week. The Illinois State legislature is in the final scheduled week of session. However, the budget process may delay the adjournment date of the legislature. Or, perhaps the Illinois legislature will adjourn as scheduled and decide to call a special session in the near future to work out a feasible State budget.
However, as all of us are aware the wheels of government tend to turn at a slow pace. The office has a few constituent letters which address a variety of issues which still need to see substantial action before a proper response can be authored. Or perhaps these various pieces of legislation will ultimately be held in either the House or the Senate and die. The pace of which the legislation conducts business basically decides the pace of business in district offices etc. The emails in the inbox which continue to mount with respect to these issues too cannot be responded too.
A few email topics which we were waiting a proper response for could be cleared this week: Emergency Budget Act, Education Funding related issues (SB2494), and HB4673
Therefore, all the work that remains in the office currently is the Saw You in the News newspaper clippings. Each morning this week I first clipped all the photos which were related to constituents of the 52nd District and processed them (laminated, sought address, placed in envelope). However, mailing of these is too delayed as our office has now run out of 2 and 4 cent stamps. The weight of mail dictates cost of mailing and in this fiscal crisis it would certainly be reckless to place an additional full stamp on an envelope when only a small fraction of that cost is necessary; therefore these mailings will once again continue to stack up until these stamps arrive.
Other than that, I worked diligently on a few constituent issues throughout the week. Unfortunately for the sake of the constituents are office could be of little to no assistance. An individual called in about standing water at the edge of her property (husband has a disease due to standing water) The property is in fact state property; however, due to a clause it is the duty of the residential property owner to conduct the proper repairs as it allows access to the highway (DOT).
Too, I worked on a series of constituent requests which involve incarcerated individuals around the state. Unfortunately, many of these requests need to be redirected to their counselor.
The week ended early as I had to leave Thursday after work to attend the funeral of my fiance's grandfather who resided in Michigan.
However, as all of us are aware the wheels of government tend to turn at a slow pace. The office has a few constituent letters which address a variety of issues which still need to see substantial action before a proper response can be authored. Or perhaps these various pieces of legislation will ultimately be held in either the House or the Senate and die. The pace of which the legislation conducts business basically decides the pace of business in district offices etc. The emails in the inbox which continue to mount with respect to these issues too cannot be responded too.
A few email topics which we were waiting a proper response for could be cleared this week: Emergency Budget Act, Education Funding related issues (SB2494), and HB4673
Therefore, all the work that remains in the office currently is the Saw You in the News newspaper clippings. Each morning this week I first clipped all the photos which were related to constituents of the 52nd District and processed them (laminated, sought address, placed in envelope). However, mailing of these is too delayed as our office has now run out of 2 and 4 cent stamps. The weight of mail dictates cost of mailing and in this fiscal crisis it would certainly be reckless to place an additional full stamp on an envelope when only a small fraction of that cost is necessary; therefore these mailings will once again continue to stack up until these stamps arrive.
Other than that, I worked diligently on a few constituent issues throughout the week. Unfortunately for the sake of the constituents are office could be of little to no assistance. An individual called in about standing water at the edge of her property (husband has a disease due to standing water) The property is in fact state property; however, due to a clause it is the duty of the residential property owner to conduct the proper repairs as it allows access to the highway (DOT).
Too, I worked on a series of constituent requests which involve incarcerated individuals around the state. Unfortunately, many of these requests need to be redirected to their counselor.
The week ended early as I had to leave Thursday after work to attend the funeral of my fiance's grandfather who resided in Michigan.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
State Intern Continued
I really can't believe that it is already May. I have seen other interns in my bureau come and go and I am still here. A lot has been going on, meetings with State and USAID, attending hearings for House Foreign Affairs, Senate Foreign Relations etc. It has been a great experience and since my last post I have done a lot, much of which I can't really discuss in detail, explaining the frequency of my posts. There was a nuclear summit here, causing panic on the metro system, and there was also a volcano in Iceland that grounded a lot of diplomatic flights that had been planned. I finally got to see Lizzy and Sara too!
At State, I have been doing lots of research as usual, I helped my bureaus Green Team organize a park clean-up to improve the neighborhood, and make their offices more green. Also as an intern you pretty much get volunteered for everything..so I helped with a Model UN Conference that was being held at State. It was really interesting, there were high schoolers, and even middle schoolers pretending to represent countries in UNGA. They even had remarks from the A/S of my bureau which covers all the international organizations. I realize how great it is to have the government immediately around, I wish that I would have been introduced to diplomacy at such a young age. I did meet some students though, that had lived in Washington their whole lives and have never been the U.S. Capitol building which is hard to believe.
Speaking of the Capitol, I am going to add a new chapter to my residency starting next week, I'll be working for a Senator on the hill. Hopefully I will be working with her senior foreign affairs staffer, but I am interested in seeing how politics works on that side of town. State doesn't report to any sort of constituency, so the actions of the employees are much different in a personal office of a senator. I also do not know my way around the Capitol building, and the Senate office buildings, so that will be interesting to learn. I was told there will be up to 30 interns in the office which is a little weird to me who has been in this office with two interns. But we will see how it goes, I will report back on that later.
At State, I have been doing lots of research as usual, I helped my bureaus Green Team organize a park clean-up to improve the neighborhood, and make their offices more green. Also as an intern you pretty much get volunteered for everything..so I helped with a Model UN Conference that was being held at State. It was really interesting, there were high schoolers, and even middle schoolers pretending to represent countries in UNGA. They even had remarks from the A/S of my bureau which covers all the international organizations. I realize how great it is to have the government immediately around, I wish that I would have been introduced to diplomacy at such a young age. I did meet some students though, that had lived in Washington their whole lives and have never been the U.S. Capitol building which is hard to believe.
Speaking of the Capitol, I am going to add a new chapter to my residency starting next week, I'll be working for a Senator on the hill. Hopefully I will be working with her senior foreign affairs staffer, but I am interested in seeing how politics works on that side of town. State doesn't report to any sort of constituency, so the actions of the employees are much different in a personal office of a senator. I also do not know my way around the Capitol building, and the Senate office buildings, so that will be interesting to learn. I was told there will be up to 30 interns in the office which is a little weird to me who has been in this office with two interns. But we will see how it goes, I will report back on that later.
Friday, May 7, 2010
State Senator Michael Frerichs Week 15
Although I had anticipated a busy week in the office it appears once again it will be a slow week in the district office. This week has been another short week in the office as I had to travel to Chicago Wednesday evening in order to attend a doctor's appointment on Thursday afternoon in downtown Chicago. As expected, I will have a repeat of a surgery which I had at the age of 10 which will help to correct the effects CP has had with my walking stride. Ultimately, it is best as it will prevent any major issues later in life. Therefore, expect a two week sabbatical from all blog posts June 3rd-June 21st as I recover and rehabilitate.
The week in the district office has been absolutely dead. Many of our interns finished their open projects. Our Chief of Staff Laurie was out of the office most of the week ill. Therefore, I made the executive decision to send many of the interns home early to allow them further time to prepare for finals as our office was in great shape with no constituent letters which we could respond to in the box, emails were down, and newspapers clippings were complete.
The week in the district office has been absolutely dead. Many of our interns finished their open projects. Our Chief of Staff Laurie was out of the office most of the week ill. Therefore, I made the executive decision to send many of the interns home early to allow them further time to prepare for finals as our office was in great shape with no constituent letters which we could respond to in the box, emails were down, and newspapers clippings were complete.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Brady in Brussels
These couple weeks were exceptionally stressful. It was suddenly decided that we needed to make and distribute brochures for two of our biggest upcoming events and with little background in marketing, this proved to be a very difficult task. Not only was it painstakingly difficult to create a proper brochure layout on Microsoft Word (the only accessible program on my computer), but I had to constantly corresponded with the lecturers of our training courses to make sure their pictures and bios met their “professionally expectations,” so to speak. This meant I had to constantly revise the slightest of issues at a moment’s notice. Needless to say, the environment in the office was chaotic. Luckily we managed to piece it all together on time and are very happy with the results. I have emerged from the experience with a new threshold of patience.
Other than the brochures I have begun editing the texts we are receiving from the speakers at our upcoming conference. I am a bit worried because we do not have has many registered attendees as we would like at the moment, but my boss seems fairly confident that many people will register in the final two weeks when they are certain of their availability, which is understandable (you cannot imagine how busy some of these international lawyers are). I have also had the opportunity to read several books on mediation and negotiation that were sent to us by a major international law publisher. I wrote several reviews for our newsletter.
I was very happy to hear that we were nominated for international firm of the year by Corp. International, the UK based business magazine that I wrote an article and bio for. I submitted our nomination form and am hoping to receive some very good news in the next month. Having been responsible for this project myself it will feel great if we win. The magazine has indeed taken quite a liking to our organization, and will include an interview with our President in the upcoming edition as well.
Finally, I have been working on putting together our grant proposal for the EU Commission. We have received confirmed acceptances from two partners (one of which is coincidentally an NGO I applied to for my residency) and will begin working with them to come up with a project outline and financial breakdown. This will be very time consuming and technical. However, after the conference in the beginning of June we will have several other interns at the office that may assist us.
As for this week, my parents are using me as an excuse for vacation and are staying in Belgium for ten days which means I am temporarily changing jobs from intern to tour guide.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Sara Cline- May 4, 2010
Hi Everyone. Sorry this post is coming a few days late.. I finished at Patton Boggs last week- so didn't have time to post with all the packing (woof), tying up loose ends, and traveling. Anyway, I finished up last week doing wrap up on the Greek visits. There are currently 210 co-sponsors for CHIA in the house, which is extremely close to our goal of 218 (to achieve a majority).
Although I have left PB, I'm going to try to stay involved as much as possible. I'm currently back in Champaign and will be through graduation. This summer I'll be continuing my residency with a public policy internship at Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council- a group that represents all of Chicago's hospitals. I don't start until June, so won't have any posts until then. Hope everyone else is enjoying their internships.
Although I have left PB, I'm going to try to stay involved as much as possible. I'm currently back in Champaign and will be through graduation. This summer I'll be continuing my residency with a public policy internship at Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council- a group that represents all of Chicago's hospitals. I don't start until June, so won't have any posts until then. Hope everyone else is enjoying their internships.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Treasurer's Office- April 12-23
April 12th was the first day back from the General Assembly spring break, but as it was a Monday, it was relatively uneventful. I had Thursday and Friday of the previous week off, but seeing as it was still spring break I didn't think I would miss much. I proved to be incorrect in my assumption, as I remained very busy Monday morning catching up on anything I had missed while I was off. Also, John (our legislative analyst in the office- can't remember if I've mentioned him before) asked me to deliver one page summaries of two pieces of legislation that would be heard in committee that week to all of the members of the committees. Certainly not hard and I like getting out of the office, but it did involve a lot of running around to all the different offices. After I returned from delivering summaries I continued to sort through emails from the previous week. That afternoon the staff divided up committee members to lobby on pieces of legislation.
Tuesday involved more running around to legislators' offices in an attempt to speak with them about one of our bills. Fortunately, the two bills I was lobbying were non-controversial and all the legislators I met were very supportive of the legislation. I also met with the legislator of my home district to ask him to sign on as a sponsor of one of our bills. He is not a member of the committee it will be in, but the bill stemmed from a sitution in his district so it seemed fitting to have him as a sponsor. He readily agreed, and because I had previously spoke with a Senator about signing onto the bill I successfully added both a House and Senate sponsor to the bill. I spoke with Representatives right up until 11 o'clock when they went into session. The House was in Senate almost all afternoon so the rest of my day was spent listening to debate.
I had two more legislators left to speak with Wednesday about bills but they successfully eluded me again. Both their secretaries informed me however that they had taken a look at the sheet I dropped off on Monday and neither had a problem with their respective bill. Again, the House was in session so I listened to that for several hours. The first of our two bills was heard in committee after session was over and it passed out extremely easily.
Thursday morning started early with a committee hearing for the other bill I was lobbying. It passed out of the committee very easily as well and was sent to the floor. I attended another committee hearing as well and then the House went into session at 12. The House was only in session until 1:30 though, something that seemed to upset some of the legislators who felt that they had wasted their time by staying in Springfield for Thursday while not accomplishing much while they were in session. I understand that legislators want to head home but they are nearing the end of session and there is still so much to do. I spent the rest of the day going through committee hearings for the next week and determining what hearings would be of interest to the office. Friday was another quiet day in the Capitol.
Monday the 19th started off with a staff meeting to discuss what the week would look like for the office. Our debt settlement legislation that passed out of the House several weeks ago had now moved into the Senate and the committee hearing for the bill was on Thursday morning. Also, the Treasurer was going to be in Springfield to testify on Wednesday in front of the Senate appropriations committee. After the staff meeting, John met with Brittany and myself about lobbying members of the appropriations committee prior to Wednesday's hearing. It probably shouldn't be called lobbying, as we were not asking the legislators to vote for something but rather we wanted to see if legislators had any questions we could answer prior to the hearing and to make sure that some really unexpected question would come up during the hearing. Brittany and I divided up the members of the committee to speak with.
Tuesday started with me running by all of the Senators' offices who were on my list to speak with about the appropriations hearing. I dropped off a fact sheet with all of the secretaries and left instructions for them to get a hold of me should the legislator want to meet with questions. Some of the secretaries told me up front that the Senator does not hold meetings prior to appropriations hearings, which was something I was expecting. Appropriations hearings are significantly different that regular committee hearings. The House and Senate both went into session around noon, but the House did not stay in long and began committees at 2. I went to the House agriculture committee and then chose to attend a Senate education hearing later that afternoon because it had multiple controversial bills scheduled to be heard. After hearing debate on several bills I left the office around 5:30.
Wednesday was a very busy day in the Capitol. All employees within the building had recieved emails earlier in the week warning of the expected delays/road closures that would accompany a lobby day being held. 12,00-15,000 union workers were expected to be in and around the Capitol to encourage lawmakers to institute a tax increase. I planned for the worse, getting to work over 30 minutes early to avoid any road closures, but the whole day wasn't as crazy as I had expected. While there was a definite increase in the number of people around the area, inside the Capitol only became congested for about half and hour around 1:00. Protesters marched around the building and then as many as could fit came inside the building, but left after a brief time. If I had really needed to get somewhere in the building during that time it would have been extremely difficult, but the House was in session so I was in my office listening anyway. It became extremely noisy during that time as well, but it wasn't anything that wasn't manageable for a short period of time. Wednesday also happened to be Cheesecake Day in the Treasurer's office. From what I am told, this is a much anticipated yearly tradition that started while Judy Baar Topinka held the office and the current treasurer carried it over as well. All legislators and staff members are invited to come get a piece of cake in the Treasurer's main office. The 1,200 pieces of cheesecake are donated (though I'm not sure from where) and served by the Treasurer's office staff. Because the legislative division has it's own separate office, we did not see how many people came to get cheesecake in the main office, but there was very little left after the day was over. After all of the excitement of cheesecake day (and people really do get excited about it- I've heard people saying they always look forward to this day of the year) the Treasurer still had to testify in front of the appropriations committee. Because I did not get to hear his testimony in front of the House committee, I wanted to attend the Senate hearing. Besides it starting 30 minutes late, it went very smoothly. One Senator asked a lot of questions about one particular program but the Treasurer finished everything in 20 minutes.
Thursday morning was spent in the Senate Financial Institutions committee, which would hear the Debt Settlement bill. The committee started before 10 and lasted until 11:30. The Senators had a lot of questions about the tricky issue to both the propents and the lobbyists against the bill. A citizen also testified about her horrible experience while using a debt settlement company. Fortunately, it passed out by a vote of 9-1-1. It will likely be coming back to the committee with an amendment to change a few minor things, but it is a good sign that it came out of the committee by such a wide margin. The House started at 12 so then it was time to listen to debate again. Both the Senate and the House worked until about 5:30 and then it was time to quit for the night.
The Senate and the House were back on Friday for session at 10. The House stayed until about 1:30 and passed a lot of bills, but most of them were non-controversial. After the House left I went through committees scheduled for the following week, my normal Friday chore.
Tuesday involved more running around to legislators' offices in an attempt to speak with them about one of our bills. Fortunately, the two bills I was lobbying were non-controversial and all the legislators I met were very supportive of the legislation. I also met with the legislator of my home district to ask him to sign on as a sponsor of one of our bills. He is not a member of the committee it will be in, but the bill stemmed from a sitution in his district so it seemed fitting to have him as a sponsor. He readily agreed, and because I had previously spoke with a Senator about signing onto the bill I successfully added both a House and Senate sponsor to the bill. I spoke with Representatives right up until 11 o'clock when they went into session. The House was in Senate almost all afternoon so the rest of my day was spent listening to debate.
I had two more legislators left to speak with Wednesday about bills but they successfully eluded me again. Both their secretaries informed me however that they had taken a look at the sheet I dropped off on Monday and neither had a problem with their respective bill. Again, the House was in session so I listened to that for several hours. The first of our two bills was heard in committee after session was over and it passed out extremely easily.
Thursday morning started early with a committee hearing for the other bill I was lobbying. It passed out of the committee very easily as well and was sent to the floor. I attended another committee hearing as well and then the House went into session at 12. The House was only in session until 1:30 though, something that seemed to upset some of the legislators who felt that they had wasted their time by staying in Springfield for Thursday while not accomplishing much while they were in session. I understand that legislators want to head home but they are nearing the end of session and there is still so much to do. I spent the rest of the day going through committee hearings for the next week and determining what hearings would be of interest to the office. Friday was another quiet day in the Capitol.
Monday the 19th started off with a staff meeting to discuss what the week would look like for the office. Our debt settlement legislation that passed out of the House several weeks ago had now moved into the Senate and the committee hearing for the bill was on Thursday morning. Also, the Treasurer was going to be in Springfield to testify on Wednesday in front of the Senate appropriations committee. After the staff meeting, John met with Brittany and myself about lobbying members of the appropriations committee prior to Wednesday's hearing. It probably shouldn't be called lobbying, as we were not asking the legislators to vote for something but rather we wanted to see if legislators had any questions we could answer prior to the hearing and to make sure that some really unexpected question would come up during the hearing. Brittany and I divided up the members of the committee to speak with.
Tuesday started with me running by all of the Senators' offices who were on my list to speak with about the appropriations hearing. I dropped off a fact sheet with all of the secretaries and left instructions for them to get a hold of me should the legislator want to meet with questions. Some of the secretaries told me up front that the Senator does not hold meetings prior to appropriations hearings, which was something I was expecting. Appropriations hearings are significantly different that regular committee hearings. The House and Senate both went into session around noon, but the House did not stay in long and began committees at 2. I went to the House agriculture committee and then chose to attend a Senate education hearing later that afternoon because it had multiple controversial bills scheduled to be heard. After hearing debate on several bills I left the office around 5:30.
Wednesday was a very busy day in the Capitol. All employees within the building had recieved emails earlier in the week warning of the expected delays/road closures that would accompany a lobby day being held. 12,00-15,000 union workers were expected to be in and around the Capitol to encourage lawmakers to institute a tax increase. I planned for the worse, getting to work over 30 minutes early to avoid any road closures, but the whole day wasn't as crazy as I had expected. While there was a definite increase in the number of people around the area, inside the Capitol only became congested for about half and hour around 1:00. Protesters marched around the building and then as many as could fit came inside the building, but left after a brief time. If I had really needed to get somewhere in the building during that time it would have been extremely difficult, but the House was in session so I was in my office listening anyway. It became extremely noisy during that time as well, but it wasn't anything that wasn't manageable for a short period of time. Wednesday also happened to be Cheesecake Day in the Treasurer's office. From what I am told, this is a much anticipated yearly tradition that started while Judy Baar Topinka held the office and the current treasurer carried it over as well. All legislators and staff members are invited to come get a piece of cake in the Treasurer's main office. The 1,200 pieces of cheesecake are donated (though I'm not sure from where) and served by the Treasurer's office staff. Because the legislative division has it's own separate office, we did not see how many people came to get cheesecake in the main office, but there was very little left after the day was over. After all of the excitement of cheesecake day (and people really do get excited about it- I've heard people saying they always look forward to this day of the year) the Treasurer still had to testify in front of the appropriations committee. Because I did not get to hear his testimony in front of the House committee, I wanted to attend the Senate hearing. Besides it starting 30 minutes late, it went very smoothly. One Senator asked a lot of questions about one particular program but the Treasurer finished everything in 20 minutes.
Thursday morning was spent in the Senate Financial Institutions committee, which would hear the Debt Settlement bill. The committee started before 10 and lasted until 11:30. The Senators had a lot of questions about the tricky issue to both the propents and the lobbyists against the bill. A citizen also testified about her horrible experience while using a debt settlement company. Fortunately, it passed out by a vote of 9-1-1. It will likely be coming back to the committee with an amendment to change a few minor things, but it is a good sign that it came out of the committee by such a wide margin. The House started at 12 so then it was time to listen to debate again. Both the Senate and the House worked until about 5:30 and then it was time to quit for the night.
The Senate and the House were back on Friday for session at 10. The House stayed until about 1:30 and passed a lot of bills, but most of them were non-controversial. After the House left I went through committees scheduled for the following week, my normal Friday chore.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Sara Cline- April 24, 2010
I forgot to blog last week, so sorry this update is coming late. I don't have much to report on from the last week, however, because I was only in the office Monday-Wednesday (I went back to Champaign for one last undergraduate moms' weekend!) During that time, I worked a lot on the schedule for the Greek visits.. we ended up getting about 430+ meetings, which is great!
I got back into town on Sunday evening, and started working bright and early on Monday. I started Monday at a hotel in VA (the hotel the 100 Greek students were staying at) where I helped with the student training. In case you haven't read my previous posts, I'll briefly describe the purpose of the Greek visits before going into the details from this past week. My boss represents the NIC and NPC (umbrella organizations for many fraternities and sororities), and organizes a Greek lobbying day each spring where Greek students as well as members of fraternity and sorority executive boards come to DC to lobby Congress on Greek issues. Apparently Greeks have needed representation in DC for awhile- starting with making sure that they were able to stay single-sex organizations (something that was threatened Title IX). The main concern of Greeks right now is trying to get Congress to pass the Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act, legislation which would make donations to not-for-profit non-University housing (fraternities, sororities, Hillel, Newman, Evans Scholars, etc.) tax-deductible (which it isn't now because of a tax code glitch).
Going back to the activities of this week, the Greeks came to DC on Saturday and started training on Sunday. Since I was out of town, I was not there, but know they spent the majority of the day learning about the legislation and how to lobby effectively. When I met up with the group on Monday, we continued with training and I worked on scheduling more meetings for the group.
On Tuesday, the students went around to Congressional offices to speak with members and staff about the issue, and try to gain co-sponsors. Before the visits started, we were at 185 co-sponsors in the House and 29 in the Senate. On Tuesday I went to ten different offices to discuss CHIA (and was lucky enough to talk to a few actual members- Jesse Jackson Jr, Danny Davis and Kathy Castor). In the meeting with Congressman Jackson, we talked about the legislation, and he saw our point of view immediately and said he would be on the bill by the end of the day. We had a meeting with a number of former sponsors (the bill has been around since 2003, and each time a new session of Congress begins, the bill has to be reintroduced and everything starts from scratch with 0 co-sponsors). Based on my meetings, I think that two or three former members I met with will sign back on. As of today, we unofficially have (not all of these have been reported on the Thomas website yet) 205 co-sponsors in the house. We are trying to get up to 218 in the House, so that we have a majority of the members as co-sponsors.
After the meetings on Tuesday, we had a reception for all of the students and alums who participated in the visits, followed by a dinner event for the Fraternity and Sorority Political Action Committee. The PAC funds a bipartisan slate of candidates who are either Greek, support Greek legislation, or have influential positions on the House Ways and Means Committee or the Senate Finance Committee (the bill sits in those two committees in the respective chambers). The PAC dinner was amazing! There were 28 members of Congress (14 Republicans, 14 Democrats) at the dinner. From talking with other people in DC I have found out that this is one of the only times so many members from both parties are at a fundraising event together. Almost all of the members who attended spoke to the group on their positions in Congress as well as their Greek experiences. Unlike meeting with members in their offices, things were very relaxed at this event. At one point the Sigma Chi members of Congress (accompanied by their undergraduate brothers) got up on stage to sing the Sigma Chi sweetheart song. I am so lucky that I was able to help organize and attend this event. Kevin, my boss, was the man who came up with the idea for the Fraternity and Sorority PAC (which is as large as many Fortune 500 PACs) and the reason that so many members of Congress attend the dinner. He is an amazing boss who has accomplished so much, and someone I am very lucky to be working for and learning from.
On Wednesday, I attended the PAC board meeting, where the members of the board decided which candidates they would fund for this election cycle (based on a memo I wrote for the group, but largely orchestrated by Kevin). The group talked about each candidate listed, and decided how much to authorize Kevin to give (on behalf of the group) for the various candidates. They discussed how much support candidates had given to the Greek cause in the past, as well as other factors including which committees they are on and whether or not they would have a "real race." It was extremely fascinating to watch because Kevin seems to know everything about every single candidate and can give important information on most members at the blink of an eye. I feel that without his leadership, the group would be picking candidates "willy-nilly" based on "well I like him or I like her" but without any real guidelines.
Wednesday afternoon I attended a meeting that was supposed to by with my member, Pete Roskam, but he had to go to a meeting so I met with staff. Pete is already a co-sponsor of CHIA, so I talked with his staffer (fellow U of I grad) about options for moving the bill forward and how the Congressman can become a "champion".
Thursday and Friday were spent doing follow up on the visits, and catching up on all of the emails I had missed because I was out of the office for so long. An interesting project I am working on right now is showing how CHIA will stimulate the economy. Senator Landreiu is one of our CHIA champions, and she suggested coming up with a way to demonstrate the jobs that will be created. We already have a list of projects at universities that are ready to go once the funding is there (which we are assuming will come once CHIA is passed), so I am in the process of making a map of the United States that marks off each city (about 140 cities total) where jobs will be created once the projects begin.
Next Wednesday will be my last day, and I have very mixed feelings about leaving. I am getting a little home-sick and want to see my family and friends, however am having a hard time with the idea of leaving. I think CHIA will have 218 co-sponsors in the House very soon, but most likely not while I am in DC (in the last Congress CHIA got to 210 co-sponsors). I feel weird about leaving with work that seems unfinished. However, a new group of interns are about to come in, and I know will do a great job following up with offices and getting CHIA to 218 in the House. Clearly I want CHIA to get to 218, become attached to another piece of legislation and get through the House and Senate and become law, but I wish it were going to happen while I were still in DC actively working on the project.
Next week will be a whirlwind of trying to get as much accomplished as possible before I leave. Hopefully I'll be able to report even more co-sponsors for CHIA, and what will be happening with the project after I leave as well as give everyone a general summary of this internship experience.
After that point, I'll be taking a month off of blogging. I'm going back to campus and will stay there until graduation (unlike the rest of the CLPers, I have yet to graduate). I won't start my next internship (with the Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council- a group that represents the hospitals of Chicago) until June, so will not be blogging until then. Hope everyone else is enjoying their internship as much as I am!
I got back into town on Sunday evening, and started working bright and early on Monday. I started Monday at a hotel in VA (the hotel the 100 Greek students were staying at) where I helped with the student training. In case you haven't read my previous posts, I'll briefly describe the purpose of the Greek visits before going into the details from this past week. My boss represents the NIC and NPC (umbrella organizations for many fraternities and sororities), and organizes a Greek lobbying day each spring where Greek students as well as members of fraternity and sorority executive boards come to DC to lobby Congress on Greek issues. Apparently Greeks have needed representation in DC for awhile- starting with making sure that they were able to stay single-sex organizations (something that was threatened Title IX). The main concern of Greeks right now is trying to get Congress to pass the Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act, legislation which would make donations to not-for-profit non-University housing (fraternities, sororities, Hillel, Newman, Evans Scholars, etc.) tax-deductible (which it isn't now because of a tax code glitch).
Going back to the activities of this week, the Greeks came to DC on Saturday and started training on Sunday. Since I was out of town, I was not there, but know they spent the majority of the day learning about the legislation and how to lobby effectively. When I met up with the group on Monday, we continued with training and I worked on scheduling more meetings for the group.
On Tuesday, the students went around to Congressional offices to speak with members and staff about the issue, and try to gain co-sponsors. Before the visits started, we were at 185 co-sponsors in the House and 29 in the Senate. On Tuesday I went to ten different offices to discuss CHIA (and was lucky enough to talk to a few actual members- Jesse Jackson Jr, Danny Davis and Kathy Castor). In the meeting with Congressman Jackson, we talked about the legislation, and he saw our point of view immediately and said he would be on the bill by the end of the day. We had a meeting with a number of former sponsors (the bill has been around since 2003, and each time a new session of Congress begins, the bill has to be reintroduced and everything starts from scratch with 0 co-sponsors). Based on my meetings, I think that two or three former members I met with will sign back on. As of today, we unofficially have (not all of these have been reported on the Thomas website yet) 205 co-sponsors in the house. We are trying to get up to 218 in the House, so that we have a majority of the members as co-sponsors.
After the meetings on Tuesday, we had a reception for all of the students and alums who participated in the visits, followed by a dinner event for the Fraternity and Sorority Political Action Committee. The PAC funds a bipartisan slate of candidates who are either Greek, support Greek legislation, or have influential positions on the House Ways and Means Committee or the Senate Finance Committee (the bill sits in those two committees in the respective chambers). The PAC dinner was amazing! There were 28 members of Congress (14 Republicans, 14 Democrats) at the dinner. From talking with other people in DC I have found out that this is one of the only times so many members from both parties are at a fundraising event together. Almost all of the members who attended spoke to the group on their positions in Congress as well as their Greek experiences. Unlike meeting with members in their offices, things were very relaxed at this event. At one point the Sigma Chi members of Congress (accompanied by their undergraduate brothers) got up on stage to sing the Sigma Chi sweetheart song. I am so lucky that I was able to help organize and attend this event. Kevin, my boss, was the man who came up with the idea for the Fraternity and Sorority PAC (which is as large as many Fortune 500 PACs) and the reason that so many members of Congress attend the dinner. He is an amazing boss who has accomplished so much, and someone I am very lucky to be working for and learning from.
On Wednesday, I attended the PAC board meeting, where the members of the board decided which candidates they would fund for this election cycle (based on a memo I wrote for the group, but largely orchestrated by Kevin). The group talked about each candidate listed, and decided how much to authorize Kevin to give (on behalf of the group) for the various candidates. They discussed how much support candidates had given to the Greek cause in the past, as well as other factors including which committees they are on and whether or not they would have a "real race." It was extremely fascinating to watch because Kevin seems to know everything about every single candidate and can give important information on most members at the blink of an eye. I feel that without his leadership, the group would be picking candidates "willy-nilly" based on "well I like him or I like her" but without any real guidelines.
Wednesday afternoon I attended a meeting that was supposed to by with my member, Pete Roskam, but he had to go to a meeting so I met with staff. Pete is already a co-sponsor of CHIA, so I talked with his staffer (fellow U of I grad) about options for moving the bill forward and how the Congressman can become a "champion".
Thursday and Friday were spent doing follow up on the visits, and catching up on all of the emails I had missed because I was out of the office for so long. An interesting project I am working on right now is showing how CHIA will stimulate the economy. Senator Landreiu is one of our CHIA champions, and she suggested coming up with a way to demonstrate the jobs that will be created. We already have a list of projects at universities that are ready to go once the funding is there (which we are assuming will come once CHIA is passed), so I am in the process of making a map of the United States that marks off each city (about 140 cities total) where jobs will be created once the projects begin.
Next Wednesday will be my last day, and I have very mixed feelings about leaving. I am getting a little home-sick and want to see my family and friends, however am having a hard time with the idea of leaving. I think CHIA will have 218 co-sponsors in the House very soon, but most likely not while I am in DC (in the last Congress CHIA got to 210 co-sponsors). I feel weird about leaving with work that seems unfinished. However, a new group of interns are about to come in, and I know will do a great job following up with offices and getting CHIA to 218 in the House. Clearly I want CHIA to get to 218, become attached to another piece of legislation and get through the House and Senate and become law, but I wish it were going to happen while I were still in DC actively working on the project.
Next week will be a whirlwind of trying to get as much accomplished as possible before I leave. Hopefully I'll be able to report even more co-sponsors for CHIA, and what will be happening with the project after I leave as well as give everyone a general summary of this internship experience.
After that point, I'll be taking a month off of blogging. I'm going back to campus and will stay there until graduation (unlike the rest of the CLPers, I have yet to graduate). I won't start my next internship (with the Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council- a group that represents the hospitals of Chicago) until June, so will not be blogging until then. Hope everyone else is enjoying their internship as much as I am!
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