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!
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