Experience Washington

Our House, in the Middle of DC

2011-12-05T19:01:00.000-08:00

I know I speak for a majority of my class when I say that finding housing is one of the more daunting aspects of coming to DC. While working in the most powerful city in the world and sharing office space with the most influential people in our country were indeed intimidating, the thought of not having the Dean of Housing place me in a suite north quad room (pun, obviously, intended) was down right terrifying. Three weeks before arriving, my roommates and I were fairly certain we’d be

a) living in a tent (Occupy DC?) or

b) snuggling with Alias, a middle aged man who agreed to rent us his apartment if we pretended to be his cousins, joined his start-up online social network, and let him sleep on the couch (yes, this offer was actually made to us).

However, as difficult as it seems, with just a few helpful hints you’ll find a two bed room (with walk in closest), two bath, full furnished apartment that includes maid service, a gym, a pool, and a printing computer lab all for just under the price of CMC housing… or at least we did. Here are some tips to remember and options to explore:

· Live in the NW quadrant, this is generally going to be the safest/most convenient place to live. A large majority of internships will be in this area, and you’re late-night commutes from class won’t take too long.

· Make sure you’re near a metro stop. If an advertiser says a place is “close” to the metro, make sure to check distance on googlemaps- there are different definitions for "close" for desperate renters and those trying to make it to work on time.

· Start looking on craigslist and rental sites early- you’re probably not going to find a place in late spring or early summer, however, you’ll get practice writing emails and looking at leases.

· Consider a corporate rental. That’s what we did and got a great deal (see the brag list above). Ours place is located in Foggy Bottom so there are a lot of GW students in the building creating a young atmosphere. There’s a dry cleaners on the first floor, a Trader Joe’s and CVS across the street and all the shopping and cupcakes of Georgetown right next door. Check out Bridgestreet for more information.

· Don’t be afraid to bug people for information. Advertisements will rarely tell the full story. Furthermore, accept the fact that people are going to laugh at you. A four month rental for a group of college students is a ridiculous request that few people will be willing to fill.

· Maker sure to ask past DCers or any advice, or see if they can put you in contact with a resource.

With all this being said, GOOD LUCK! And please, let me know if you have any questions.

Alum Event Extravaganza!

2011-11-16T17:58:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, one of the most loved CMC personalities, John Faranda, hosted an alumni event at the D.C. class room. In true Ath fashion, cheese, crackers and wine were served as current and past students had a chance to catch up, meet, and mingle. Though most of us lingered on past memories of CMC, Mr. Faranda showed us a slide show of the possible suture of our beloved school. I had a chance to chat with some alumni and hear their thoughts on the past, present and future of our school.

What do you miss most about the school?

"The professors! You never realize what a privilege it is to be surrounded by such an amazing faculty."

"Collins and the hub. I wish my parents still paid for my meals"

"Toga party.... am I allowed to say that?"

"The classes, definitely."

"Living next door to all of my friends."

What class do you regret not taking while at CMC?

"Pitney's Congress class. Everyone who took it still raves about how great it was to this day."

"I don't know about classes, but I know I wish I went to the Ath more often."

Do you think campus life has changed at CMC since your time there?

"As long as people still work hard and play hard... then no."

What should be CMC's top priority for the future?

"More events where they bring alumni back!... I miss campus."

"While I was there I always wanted them to let me bring my dog in the dorms.... that's not gonna happen is it?"

"The library NEEDS to be open 24/7! I mean seriously, who studies before 11pm?"

Do you miss the D.C. Program?

"YES. I miss all the people, the professors and my internship.What I would give to be back."

"Well I did initially... until I realized work is a lot easier when it's followed by happy hour instead of homework."

"Oh yes. And it prepared me well. Grad school and work would have seemed impossible to accomplish if it wasn't for my experience on the program."

Mt. Vernon, Party Buses and Creme Brulee

2011-11-13T14:13:00.000-08:00

What do Mt. Vernon, party buses and creme brulee have in common? They're all a part of the amazing field trip planned for the group by Dr. Elizabeth Spalding. It takes a great organizer to entertain a group of strictly-professional twenty-somethings... but the sing-a-long bus ride was proof that a good time was had by all. Can I get a toot, toot?

Students sit on George Washington's fence

The group in front of the Potomac

Fall leaves

Enjoying the party bus

In the Shadow of a Senator- A Day with Senator Merkley

2011-11-06T09:22:00.001-08:00

Here in D.C., and around the U.S. interns are used to being in the shadows. This is not to say we aren’t doing substantive or important work, but rather that we recognize our transient nature, and that for some, this means credit is not always given credit where credit is due.

Thus far I have had an absolutely wonderful internship experience at Senator Merkley’s office: I’ve fallen in love with a new policy area, my LC and LA have incorporated me into the team and make sure I have exciting project each week, and I’ve had lunches with the Senator and all the upper level staff. Furthermore, last Wednesday I had a chance to shadow the Senator for the whole day.

While most Americans are under the misconceptions that Senators are lazy, do-nothings who socialize all day, if you’ve taken Professor Pitney’s Congress class you know how busy they really are. On Wednesday, I began my day with the Senator at 8:30, because that is when I come into work. He however, had already been working for hours, going to meetings, researching legislation and taking phone calls. In my nine hours with the Senator, we attended seven meetings, were on the floor once for a speech and once to preside, gave a press conference, met with various staff members and attended committee hearings. We never even had time for lunch. I’d always seen the Senator running in and out of the office, but I never truly appreciated the rigors of his schedule until I spent the day running in my heels, trying to keep up with him.

The coolest parts of the day were getting to speak with the Senator about current issues, his time on the Hill and the work that he’s done in the past. Senator Merkley is unique in that he, as a college student, interned for Senator Hatfield, whose seat he now holds. Because of this he has a special appreciation and understanding of the work us interns do. Few get a chance to spend an entire day with their boss, nonetheless a Senator. It is an experience I will always cherish. As an intern in D.C. you’re going to work hard, toil over projects you love, run errands you hate, and stand in awe of the individuals in whose shadows you stand.

*Also, it was fun to have my name on CSPAN/ entered into the congressional record when the Senator asked for unanimous consent to allow me to have floor privileges for the day.

At the Hart of Excitment

2011-10-26T17:10:00.000-07:00

Around 11:30 am on October 11, 2011, I, and just about every other intern and staffer in my building, emerged from our offices, roused by the sounds of… an occupation. Over 100 members of Stop the Machine, Occupy D.C. and Code Pink took advantage of the Hart Senate Building’s 90-foot tall, echoing atrium chanting “we are the 99%” and “tax the rich, end the war. ” The protestors spread out from the top floor to the bottom, waving banners, blocking bathrooms and conveniently pressing all the buttons in the elevators.

As I observed the scene from the balcony, a protestor grabbed my arm yelling, “YOU are the 1%!” I can only conclude that he was jealous of my recent 100% salary increase. Life is great for unpaid interns.

Post-occupation, six protestors were arrested for unlawful conduct-demonstrating. Pete Morris, a representative of the Macpherson Square Occupy D.C. movement, clarified that his group did not support Hart protestors. He said his group always obtains permits before events.

Regardless of if you agree with the protestors or not, these kinds of events are part of the draw of living in D.C. Whether you’re stuck in traffic because of the President’s motorcade, or your lunch goes long because the South Korea President’s adviser decides to sit next to you on a bench, you always have a good excuse for being late to class!

Ya got lunch made when you work in trade!

2011-10-21T18:05:00.000-07:00

Lydia Li

Washington International Trade Association

Tell me about what the Washington International Trade Associate (WITA) does, and what your responsibilities are as an intern.

We are a nonprofit and nonpartisan trade policy oriented organization with over 2,000 members. We organize trade policy events where we invite speakers from the USTR and other organizations to talk with our members. Aside from that, we have e-publications on our website and we run a small career center to help young trade professional start their careers in the trade arena.

As an intern, I have two major responsibilities: the first are my daily duties. This means answering phone calls, replying to emails and keeping up our website. The second part is event related. I create fliers, other promotional material and I am in charge of registering guests.

How many events do you host each week? How dramatically do your hours fluctuate between event/non-event days?

We usually have one event per week. However, since most of our speakers are trade executives or government member there are some weeks where they are in extensive negotiations. This can mean no events one week and more than one the next.

On the day of the event, I have to be at work one hour before the event starts- this means getting up early. But I can usually leave early on Fridays if there is not too much to do.

On average, how many free meals would you say you get each week? And on a scale of 1-10 how would you rate these meals?

Wow… on average? Two or three…. Make it two-and-a-half free meals a week. We get good sandwiches, nothing too fancy, so I’d say they’re a 7. And sometimes it’s not a full meal, but coffee and snacks etc.

What other internships did you apply for?

I applied for Congresswoman Chu, CSIC and Brookings Institute.

Why did you choose WITA?

I guess because it’s more related to my econ major, and I didn’t want to do a pure politics internship. It also is much more fun than pure research at an institute.

Who’s the coolest person you’ve had a chance to meet through your organization?

Well, I get to meet Ambassador Ron Kirk, the U.S. Trade Representative next week. He’s cabinet level, and he is in charge of all trade policy and negotiations.

What has been the hardest thing and the best about the transition from Claremont to D.C.?

The hardest thing is that we have much less free time. The best thing is that you really get a chance to see the world. Really… the world is much bigger than Claremont!

What’s your #1 tip for living in D.C.?

Hmmm… I’d say enjoy working!!

Any final comments?

Oh yes! For any IR majors, the embassies in D.C. do hire interns, but they don’t post any information publically. So, if you want to work for any embassy you can contact them directly to apply for a position.

NO LABELS: An interview with Sean McQueen

2011-10-11T03:51:00.000-07:00

We start the internship interview series with a nonpartisan and unique (euphemism for coolest) internship. CMC junior Sean McQueen works as a graphic design intern at a non-profit 501(c)4, “No Labels.” With a purported purpose of pushing aside the petty political partisanship that has brought our nation to a standstill, No Labels aims to inspire a return politics that puts what is best for Americans first. Founded by veteran Democratic fundraiser Nancy Jacobson in 2010, the organizations mobilizes citizens to push for solutions to, rather than squabbles about, our nations toughest issues.

Can you tell me a little bit about No Labels and what you do as an intern?

Sure, No Labels is an advocacy group that started up in December of last year. We’re a little different from most advocacy groups because while most groups campaign for a specific policy issues, we are campaigning for a political process. We are against the aggressive partisanship that has basically made it so nothing gets done in Washington. The end goal of the organization is to support candidates who are willing to work across the aisle, and publically renounce those politicians who impede the legislative process through petty partisan games.

Our office is pretty small; we have about 12 staff members, which is really fun. It’s more of a small Silicon Valley office feel than a big D.C. office. I work with the digital media team and we manage the online public image of the organization. This means our website, facebook, twitter, email etc. We have 150,000 people who have signed up for our news updates, and over 50,000 facebook “likes.” Our media team consists of a team-leader, web developer, a content writer and me; I’m the graphic designer. I make graphics for all our online media.

What is the coolest project you’ve work on so far?

Hmmm, I have to think, there are a few. Every Friday I make a graphic that we post on our facebook page for the weekend because more people have time to be on facebook on the Saturday and Sunday. One the coolest thing I did was I made a graphic that got over 1000 likes on facebook, which was pretty awesome.

We also have these giant, informative documents that we give to potential financial backers. A cool thing I did was I edited this enormous document, formatted it and added in the images and graphics. Then I got to send it to all these huge donors. It’s nice working here though, because I do cool things everyday.

How did you discover No Labels?

Actually, Caroline Nyce (another CMC student) worked here over the summer. I spoke to her a bunch and she could not stop raving about the organization. So I asked if they were taking fall interns and applied.

Were all the internships you looked into graphic design based?

This was actually the only graphic design internship I applied for. I’m mostly an econ major, so I applied to the SEC, the Counsel of Economic Advisors, my senator and a few others. I heard back from other places, but I was most excited about No Labels. One reason was because it’s a smaller organization and I knew I’d get to do a lot.

What is it like to work for a nonpartisan organization in such a politically driven city?

Well, every one who I work with has a political opinion and no one is hiding their political beliefs. I consider myself a Democrat, two guys are work with are Democrats as well, but two other consider themselves Republicans. The whole organization is full of people from both sides, but we are against the “red verses blue game.” We aren’t against different political beliefs; however, we are against demonizing each other because of these beliefs and not getting anything done. We’re about not hating each other because we are Republicans and Democrats and not sabotaging each other. We’re about starting a political discourse based on facts and publically advocating for people who are willing to do this.

So, does your office really feel like it has “no label”?

Yes, it definitely does. But its not like we aren’t politically aware. We are constantly reading what is happening, and discussing what position we are going to take on things.

Where do you live, where do you work and how do you commute?

I live a mile and a half north of the Capitol, in Noma. I bike to work everyday; unless it’s raining, then I take the bus, which takes longer. I work in Georgetown on Wisconsin, which means four-mile bike ride to work everyday. It’s takes like 20-25 minutes.

Will you stop biking when the weather gets cold?

I don’t think so. I’ll probably just wear sweaters, and gloves and scarves. When it gets unbearable maybe I’ll take the bus.

Are there any good lunch places around your office?

Yeah, I’m on Wisconsin, so a lot of good places to eat. We have a Starbucks right next-door, pizza places and a ton of good sandwich shops.

To find out more about No Labels, and to checkout more of Sean’s work go to:

http://nolabels.org/front
and
https://www.facebook.com/NoLabels?sk=wall

and

http://twitter.com/#!/NoLabelsOrg

D.C. Program- Fall 2011

2011-10-10T08:23:00.000-07:00

Hello fellow DCmcers!
Welcome to the Experience Washington blog. It's been over a year since anything has been posted, and the world is long over due for an update on our critically important lives. We're the few and the proud who are, day-in and day-out, sorting mail, answering phones and frantically writing memo after memo. Just try and function without us, Washington.... you can't.

Over the next few months I will be blogging about Program events, D.C. living and our classes. Additionally, there will be a weekly interview with current students about their internships-this week, we start with Sean McQueen who is a graphic design intern at No Labels).

I hope this blog can serve as a resource for future students when looking for internships, finding apartments or when trying to order some decent Thai takeout. If you have any questions, comments or story ideas let me know!
Happy Columbus Day!

Regrets

2010-06-21T16:16:00.001-07:00

Although I did get to do a lot here in Washington, there are some things I didn't get to do, and regret it. One thing that surprised me during orientation was the fact that it is fairly easy to go and watch live arguments at the Supreme Court. Essentially, all you have to do is go early to line up at the Supreme Court in the morning and you can go in and watch the live proceedings. Since photography is not allowed within the courtroom this really is a unique experience that you cannot do back in Claremont. Most employers seem as if they would be flexible enough to allow the interns to take off a day, or simply a morning to go to the Court. If you work on the Hill this is also particularly easy because it is directly across the street from the Capitol.

Another regret that I have is not going to the Kennedy Center, I didn't find out until about halfway through the semester, but apparently during the week there is free entertainment. I unfortunately did not get the chance to go. But if I had to do it over again, I would certainly tried to organize a group outing to the Kennedy Center.

Housing

2010-06-20T15:33:00.001-07:00

One of the differences between the DC program and living back on campus is that there are no dorms in DC. So instead of deciding whether to live in North Quad, Mid Quad, or South Quad, you instead have to decide where to live within Washington, DC (or possibly outside of Washington DC). I lived in an apartment with Carlos and Jenny. You can see a video of it here.

There are several different options you have to consider:

Is it furnished?
Are utilities included?
Is it close to the CMC Office (Corner of 17th and L Street NW)?
Is it close to your job?
Is it close to the Metro?
Is there a supermarket nearby?
Can it fit everybody you plan to live with?
Is it in a good part of town?

The apartment we lived in had been used the semester before by some CMC students while they were on the program. I highly recommend doing this. It is helpful to know from someone more trustworthy than a random landlord whether or not the apartment is any good.

In addition to our apartment, there were two more groups of three people, one living fairly close to us and the other living in Southeast near the Capitol. There were then two people living on their own, Ben F. lived in an apartment in Virginia and Mike Whatley lived in housing provided by the Heritage Foundation (although you don't have to actually work for Heritage to live there, as Mike did).

It is best to get a furnished apartment (as everybody this semester did) because you do not have to worry about buying or renting all the furnishings for the apartment. That can tend to get more expensive than you might think as me and my apartment mates discovered this summer. You have to remember plates, silverware, couches, tv, lamps, sheets, beds, etc..

Pros and Cons of Interning on the Hill

2010-06-20T15:01:00.000-07:00

As always you can go to the group's flickr page for more photos.

Kristen Mallory asked me to do a post about the benefits and drawbacks of interning on the Hill. I have to say that I loved my internship in Rep. Schakowsky’s office. Not only was it cool to intern in a small office like that, but an added bonus was the fact that she represents me in Congress. It was nice to know about the specifics of the district for the office in which I was working. With that said, I will say that from what I have heard from people I know that have interned in other Hill offices that it seems to be a mixed bag in terms of the quality of internships on the Hill.

I think that mine was great. In other offices, interns sometimes will only answer phones, sort mail, and write a couple of responses to constituent letters. At my internship I did not have to sort mail, and only had to do the phones for maybe one or two hours a week (which actually was surprisingly enjoyable). I also got to sit in on staff meetings. My office held two staff meetings a week, one was without Schakowsky, before she got into the office for the week, and the second one was to brief her on the upcoming hearings, legislation, and to get her feedback on how she wanted to proceed. Some other people that I know that I talked with were surprised that the office let interns in on staff meetings (and the office that I am in now does not let interns into staff meetings). I got to experience how the staff interacts with their boss, and how Members make decisions on various topics behind closed doors. It was a great “behind the scenes” experience to see how members act candidly when they are not interacting with the general public.

The people in my office were also great about making sure that I got to do substantive work as well as experience things I may not have been able to otherwise. The staff took me to the House floor, I got to be the only intern at a meeting of about twelve Members and Justice Sotomayor (which I blogged about earlier), got to sit in the gallery during the healthcare vote in the House late on a Sunday night (which I also blogged about earlier), and Rep. Schakowsky used my name and my “story” in the opening statements of a committee hearing. Of course, I had to do some typical Hill intern duties: organize a filing cabinet, take some flags to the flag office, and make copies. I did however get to do some pretty substantive work. During the Toyota scandal, the staffer who usually handles consumer protection had a lot on her agenda, so I got to help out and was the only intern at the briefings held by the Toyota lobbyists. I then got to write up notes and some potential questions for CEO Jim Lentz and the Secretary of Transportation. Of course, I was not the lead staffer or the one making decisions on what types of questions she would ask, but I did feel as if I got to have an impact on the process, and at the very least I got some good face time on C-SPAN and at least one news broadcast.

In addition to this, I got to be involved in the process for picking projects for appropriations requests for the district. Again, as an intern, I wasn’t picking which project would receive funding, but I did get to help review and summarize each project in order to help present it to my boss and to put on the website. The final main project of the semester was President’s Fiscal Commission to which the Speaker appointed Schakowsky. For the last month or so, I did research on various members of the commission and what their positions were in addition to various proposals to help lower the deficit and the national debt. This helped me develop a potential topic for my thesis.

Supreme Court

2010-06-14T16:58:00.001-07:00

As always you can go to the Flickr page for more photos.

We went to the Supreme Court during orientation, but on May 3, Angela and I made one more trip there. On that day the Supreme Court announced that the public would no longer be able to enter through the famous front doors of the Supreme Court that are usually depicted in movies and pictures. Since we hadn’t had the chance to do it when we went for a tour (they don’t allow people to enter when the court is actually hearing arguments), we decided we should enter through the doors at least once. We managed to get about an hour off from work (the Court is across the street from the Capitol) just to go through the doors. When we had gone on our tour, Dr. Spalding mentioned that this is one of the few buildings in DC where you can still walk directly up to “power.” The Capitol steps are no longer open to the public to walk into the Capitol and the White House has strict security procedures. Although it was rather anticlimactic to walk through the doors, it is nice to be able to say you walked through the famous doors, which are about 100 feet from the actual courtroom where the justices deliberate. People will still be able to exit out the door after they are done with tours, but they will now direct all traffic through one of the side entrances for a new visitors center.

Camped Out at the Office

2010-06-14T16:53:00.001-07:00

One of the four classes on the Washington Program is Government 127. This is a program that is focused around a semester long research paper. Most of us wrote on a topic that was related to our internship. As college students, who were also interning full time, many of us naturally procrastinated a good deal until the last week or so. There were some notable exceptions, including Ben F., who was done a good week before it was due. But for most of us the paper meant many sleepless nights that last week. Many of us spent it at the office. We ate, slept, and worked there. We all ended up finishing our papers on time (although some of us got pretty close to the deadline). I thought that this picture captured the feelings of that last week pretty well.

Day on the Hill

2010-06-14T16:39:00.001-07:00

As always you can go to the Flickr page for more photos.

On April 27 at 1pm, we all headed to Capitol Hill to meet with Congressman David Drier, CMC alum from the class of 1975 and an alum of the Washington Program, and Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, my boss and representative. Mr. Drier has an office in the Capitol (something which only party leadership usually gets). Although some of us, including me, got there a little late, we all found our way into his office. His is the only office with a pinball machine in it (as you can see in the picture). As the former chairman and the current ranking member, he discussed with us the role of the House Rules Committee. He explained the difference between an open and closed rule, and his hopes that the open rule would be used more this year. He also explained the “read the bill” phenomenon, and how that originated due to a bill that was rushed through a couple of years ago. We then went around the room and explained where we were interning and what we were doing at each place. We also got to ask some questions. We then snapped a picture back in his private study.

We then went outside to the Capitol steps to wait for Ms. Schakowsky. It was a busy day with several different Members of Congress meeting various groups from their districts out on the steps. One prominent voice on the steps was a protestor who was in favor of the new immigration law that had passed in Arizona (this was only two or three days after it was signed into law). When we got to meet with Ms. Schakowsky, we went around the circle and explained where we were interning and then took a picture with her. At this point, most of the members had left and we were one of the only groups left. The protestor, possibly knowing Schakowsky’s liberal positions (she was named the most liberal member of the House), decided to focus on her. As we stood there taking the picture, he yelled at her non-stop, calling her “sweet lips” and “toots.” Although it was clear that we could hear him, we did our best to ignore him. Dr. Spalding then asked her to rate the heckler and she humorously said that he had some of the best pitch and consistency she had heard and that his performance is a testament to the first amendment. She went on to explain her opposition to the new Arizona law. We had a quick meeting because she was late for a meeting off of the Hill, but it will certainly be one of my most memorable experiences with a Member of Congress.

Mt. Vernon

2010-06-14T16:25:00.000-07:00

As always you can go to the Flickr page for more photos.

Every semester, Dr. Spalding organizes a group outing. There a couple of various locations that the group has gone in the past. This is usually a place a little bit outside of DC that we might not get to if we were going on our own. This year we went to Mount Vernon in Virginia. This is where George Washington used to live and is buried alongside his wife, Martha.

We met Dr. Spalding, her husband (also Dr. Spalding) and her two kids at the Pentagon City Metro stop bright and early. Carlos, Jenny, Isaac, Angela, Ben, and I climbed into her car and a brand new rented minivan to drive over to Virginia. It was about a half hour to forty-five minute drive, it was a very scenic drive down the George Washington Parkway. There had been some predictions of rain for the day, but it turned out to be a Once we got there, we watched an introductory movie that talked about George Washington’s life and the history of the grounds. Our first stop walking around was the house where George Washington and his family lived (in the picture above). There was quite a long line to get into the house, but some “contemporaries” of George Washington kept us occupied as we waited (pictured below).

We walked through the bedrooms of George Washington, peered into his kitchen, saw the view off of the back porch and went through the slaves’ quarters. Dr. Spalding’s husband, who has done some work with Mt. Vernon, explained to us that much of the furniture and the foundation was showing signs of aging, so a couple of years ago they decided to install air conditioning. There had been debate over whether or not to do this, because of concerns that the air conditioning might upset the “originalness” of the building. However, it was determined that the benefits of the air conditioning would outweigh the negatives.

After seeing his house, we decided to go grab some lunch before exploring the rest of the grounds. We were given two $10 vouchers. We had to spend exactly $20 or else we would not get change, so it was a challenge to make sure that we got exactly $20, and several of us ended up with food to take home. We then went and toured some of the other areas of the grounds. Washington, in addition to leading the Continental Army and the country, was a farmer, who came up with some innovative new farming techniques. There was an area dedicated to demonstrating some of those techniques and included animals and vegetation. Our last stop was at the museum. The museum was organized to go through Washington’s life from the time he was born to his death. It featured many wax depictions of him (pictured with Isaac above), some videos and interactive exhibits. Our exit out of the place was slightly delayed by a landing helicopter, but Dr. Spalding’s kids were very excited to see it. The group ended up getting dropped off in Old Town Alexandria. It turned out to be a great little place, with a small town feel (kind of like the Village in Claremont). We walked to the water and stumbled upon this guy. He played some Bach as well as the national anthem and God Bless America for us. Overall, it was a great trip, and probably one of the highlights of the semester.

Guest Speaker: Charles Krauthammer

2010-06-13T12:32:00.001-07:00

As always, you can go to the Flickr page for more pictures.

On April 26, we met up at about 2pm at the office of Charles Krauthammer, a columnist and frequent commentator on Fox News. He has his own personal office, not far from the CMC offices. We met with him for about an hour and he talked to us about his thoughts on the Obama administration. He criticized how they have handled the relationship with the British and with Israel. He explained how he thought Israel was our strongest ally in the Middle East and that a vast majority of Americans supported a strong relationship with Israel. He also explained that he thought the Obama administration was taking our relationship with England too casually. He said that in the early months of the administration, an Obama official explained that there was “no special relationship” between the two countries. Krauthammer called this ridiculous and said that there was indeed a special relationship between the two countries, and that we needed to be more aware of our standing in the world. Krauthammer then took questions from us (including Dr. Spalding). After we were done, we all went back to work until class again that night.

The Move Out

2010-05-13T17:40:00.000-07:00

With coming to D.C. for only four months, you do not realize how much stuff you can accumulate. Finals are over, the internship is over, and now it is time to move out! Cleaning out a dorm room seems a lot easier now that I realize how much harder it is to clean a whole house!

We are now officially Washington Program Alums, and are moving on to new internships and adventures in D.C., around the country, and around the world. Here is a quick snapshot for some of us on the program:

Our summer plans, enhanced by our D.C. experiences and networking contacts:

Carlos Rivas to the Chicago Public Schools Office of College and Career Preparation

Michael Kotler to the office of Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL)

Jenny Hou continues with a position at the Federal Communications Commission

Mike Whatley continues working for the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee

Ben Forster moves on to NATO in Belgium

The Washington Program has been a great experience, and we've made lifelong friends. I want to thank Professors Spalding, Haskell and Wolfson on behalf of the new program alumni for showing us a great semester in D.C. I also want to thank Kristen Mallory and the rest of the Off-Campus Study staff for their remote assistance as we continued throughout the semester.

Guest Speaker: John Judis

2010-05-02T14:54:00.000-07:00

On April 2, we all took a break from work to go to the CMC office to hear from John Judis, the editor of The New Republic. Dr. Spalding bought everyone lunch (some Italian food). We went around the room to tell him where we were interning, and then he started to discuss contemporary politics. He talked about how he thought the 2010 and 2012 elections would play out, the role of the Tea Party as well as the role of Sarah Palin. We were able to ask him questions about anything political that may have interested us at the time. He was very accommodating and was happy to answer all of our questions. After that we all went back work until our 6:30 class with Professor Haskell.

White House Garden Tour

2010-04-18T17:21:00.000-07:00

The White House was open today for a special garden and grounds tour. Angela, Meredith and I spent the afternoon on the White House grounds learning about the rich history of the South Lawn, Children's Garden, Rose Garden, and the Jaqueline Kennedy Garden (neither appeared to have roses in them.)

The White House Garden Tours have been a tradition since 1972 when Pat Nixon first opened the White House gardens to the public. Along with the excitement of being in at the President's house, the seat of the executive branch of our government, we experienced what the First Family experiences on their grounds. As a tourist looking onto the grounds from outside the gates, the majesty of looking at the people's house includes the glimmer of serene green lawns across to the pearly white walls, but you never expect the personal family experience. The South Lawn is the Obama family back yard, as it has been for first families since (back when President John Adams and his wife Abigail moved-in in 1800.) The South Lawn has a family feel, and somehow is free of the noise of the busy DC streets. The Children's Garden offers a serene escape with a pond and bronze hand and feet prints of the grandchildren of presidents (mostly Bush I and II), the kitchen garden provides organic vegetables for the first family, and the rushing fountain to the front provides the iconic back drop representing the White House, and the presidency.

Today's tour included the history of the many trees on the grounds. Each fist family has contributed a tree to the grounds, along with many renovations and style. The Obama's had a playground installed, and we found many basketball hoops for our president's favorite pastime.

The grounds are opened up twice a year for this garden tour, both offering unique views of the White House grounds. The event is open to the public (though you have to arrive early to receive a ticket). The event occurs yearly in April and October. If you work at a government agency or for a member of Congress, it is likely that they will receive tickets that might go to you!

Nuclear Summit

2010-04-17T17:51:00.000-07:00

As always you can go to the group's flickr site to see more pictures.

Last week, 47 heads of states met two blocks from our apartment for two days as President Obama hosted the first Nuclear Security Summit. You could say that during those two days our apartment was on the safest block in the country in terms of muggers, but it was the most dangerous in terms of a terrorist threat. Our block was blocked off to vehicular traffic but was open to pedestrian traffic. On our corner was a military humvee along with police and concrete barriers.
The first morning was actually easier to get to work, the roads were closed to cars, but it was open to pedestrians, so essentially I didn't have to wait for any cars or traffic signals on my way to work. The walk back was a much different story. I tried to walk up the side of the street I had come up and usually walk up, but wasn't able to. After about two blocks the police had blocked it off, and there were protesters standing on the corner, making it a little difficult to cross. Right as I was about to, they stopped all traffic in all directions. Two minutes later, what appeared to be the South African motorcade came through the intersection. After that, we were cleared to cross.

Cherry Blossoms

2010-04-17T16:59:00.001-07:00

As always, you can go to the group's flickr page for more photos.

The Congressional recess happened to coincide with the National Cherry Blossom Festival. It is centered around the Tidal Basin which is just off of the mall, near the Washington Monument and where the Jefferson Memorial is located. I went to the Tidal Basin during the first week of the recess to try and see the cherry blossoms. I walked there from the Capitol, but it was a very long, hot walk and when I got there it was packed, I was barely able to walk down the sidewalk because there were so many people there. I decided to leave pretty quick.
Because of the recess, I was given off Wednesday because we tend to have more desks than interns and with me the only full time day they decided to have me take the day off. With a lot of time, I took the Metro to the Smithsonian stop and made the short walk over to the Tidal Basin. Most of the cherry blossoms were past their prime. There wasn't as much pink as I had hoped for. There were still some trees that were in their prime, but unfortunately not as many as I had hoped.

As you can see from the pictures, I was able to get some good shots with the cherry blossoms, including the Tidal Basin which was filled with paddle boats. Although there were still all the stands, signs, posters, gift shops and porta pottys were still there, it simple wasn't the same as if all the trees had been in their prime. Either way, it was still a relaxing afternoon with some beautiful views.

Recess Part 2

2010-04-10T10:58:00.000-07:00

As always you can go to the group's flickr page for more pictures.

This past week was the second and final week of the Spring Congressional Recess. It was another week of a more laid back Capitol Hill. Not nearly as many lobbyists and interest groups visiting the office and many more constituents and tourists in town to see the second week of the cherry blossoms. With not as much to do in the office, one of the staffers took the other intern and myself around for a tour of the Capitol. I have walked around quite a bit so I've seen quite a lot, but I still hadn't had been able to walk to the Floor. You are required to go to the floor with a full-time staffer who has to be carrying a special card given to each congressional office. We go in through the Speaker's lobby. Even though the Capitol is decorated with tons of old statues, mirrors, columns, and marble floors, I was very impressed with how well decorated the Speaker's lobby was. It had what looked to be about 8 chandeliers, high ceilings, floor to ceiling windows and is guarded by Capitol police. We had to give up all our electronics and photography is prohibited on the floor (although when I was in the gallery for the healthcare vote, there were several Democratic members taking pictures). The floor looks pretty large on TV, but when you're standing in the middle of it, it actually looks very small. It feels like it wouldn't even hold all the members. For the State of the Union they have to bring in extra seats to put in the aisles. We hung out for about 10 minutes, sat in the chairs in the first row, but unfortunately, we were not allowed to go onto the Speaker's Podium where the President speaks from during the State of the Union.

After we left the Floor, the staffer took us through a couple of tunnels and a set of stairs that led out to best view I've seen so far in Washington. It was a view of the mall directly below where the President is sworn in. It was a gorgeous spring day, and another reason why Recess is so enjoyable.

The Commute

2010-04-07T10:12:00.001-07:00

As always you can go to the group's flickr page for more details.

Commuting every morning is one of the very different aspects from life at CMC. While I was able to wake up at 10:50 for an 11 o'clock class on campus, everyday here in DC I have to wake up at about 7:15. I'm supposed to be at work everyday at 9 (although with Congress in recess these past two weeks, I don't have to be in until 10) and that means I have to wake up much earlier to shower, put on a suit, and ride the metro to work.

Overall, from when I leave my apartment door until I step into Congresswoman Schakowsky's office, it takes approximately a half hour. I take about a 7 or 8 minute walk to the Metro Center Station. There I get on either the orange or blue line to ride to Capitol South. You can see the DC Metro map here. One of the key things to keep in mind is that on all the escalators at the station is that you should stand on the right and walk on the left. With so many tourists here lately for the cherry blossoms, this has been a little bit of an issue and has actually resulted in some heckling of the tourists who stand two wide on the Metro escalators, so keep this in mind when you're going to work. You can also check how much your commute is on the Metro website. There is also a Metrorail card that you can pick up. This means that if you lose your card, you can get a new card with your old balance on it. So if there were $50 on your card, and you then lose it, you can get a new card with $50 already on it. It also allows you to go quickly through the turnstile, you can simply scan your card instead of waiting for the paper card to slowly feed through the machine. It also makes you look less like a tourist.

Opening Day

2010-04-05T20:16:00.000-07:00

As always you can go to the group's flickr page for more pictures.

Today, Ben H., Jake and I went to Nationals Park for Opening day. The Nationals were playing the Philadelphia Phillies. We heard a couple of days ago that the Nationals were going to be releasing 400 five dollar tickets on the day of the game. In addition, President Obama would be throwing out the first pitch. The tickets were first come, first served. Although five of us got cleared to leave work on Friday, it eventually turned out only three of us could make it. I got there at about 7:15 to wait in line. At the time there were only about 70 people ahead of me, but the line quickly got very long. At 10:35, they opened the gates to let us in. During batting practice you're allowed to go to any section in the park, so we took in BP from the bleachers. It was a beautiful day with blue skies and green grass. One of the players even threw Jake a ball during batting practice.
After that, we tried to get the best view to see the President throw out the first pitch. As you can see from the picture below, we didn't get all that close, but it was still much better than the view we would have had from our seats.
Although the game was a blow out (Phillies won 11-1) it was still a great experience. It was my first time going to Opening Day, and I loved it. After the game we had to go straight to class, but not before we all got heckled by a couple of Phillies fans for being Dodger/Cubs fans.

Justice Sotomayor

2010-04-03T17:45:00.000-07:00

As always you can go to the group's flickr page for more pictures.

A while back, I think it was my second or third week on the job, I got the chance to meet and get my picture taken with Justice Sotomayor. She was on the Hill to meet with some members.

The overall day was pretty exciting. After doing the normal intern duties during the morning, I was told that there was a press conference that Congresswoman Schakowsky was going to speak at on the Senate side and that I should head over. It turned out to include Senators Kerry and Boxer in addition to some other Representatives. It was a press conference to re-introduce the International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA). If you're bored, see if you can spot me in this video (Hint: It's right at the end on the right side of the screen). After that, the communications director, who had come to the press conference asked me if I wanted to go try and catch a glimpse of Sotomayor. I wasn't sure exactly what he was talking about, but I figured my lunch could wait for a Supreme Court Justice. It turned out we were going to the Speaker's office where about 12-14 members were meeting the Justice. The Justice actually took me by surprise as she walked right past me off the elevator. Unfortunately, they were not letting staff into the meeting. So myself, the communications director and about 4 other staffers had to wait out in the hallway. After about 2o minutes, it turned out that the House was voting on PAYGO and the vote was getting a little close so all the members had to go vote. As they were filing out one of the members said that we were free to go in. In one of those things where you didn't have to tell me twice, I gladly went in.

Once we were in, it was only 4 other staffers, the communications director, the Justice, her security detail and myself. We weren't really sure what to do, and were just standing around for a little while. Justice Sotomayor was just sitting at the table, waiting for all the members to come back. I asked the communications director if it would be okay to go ask her for a picture. He liked the idea and started pushing me pretty hard, even after I started having second thoughts. I went to go ask, and a member from her security detail told me to wait until the end of the meeting. The communications director knew that this meant I probably wouldn't get a picture. So he told me to try again, so this time I just walked around the other end of the table and with nobody from her security detail on that side of the table, I was able to ask her for a picture.

I had a little talk with her, as she told me about how great an opportunity it was to be able to intern on the hill, and how she hopes her niece will one day get the opportunity.

After that we headed back to the office and the Congresswoman had to go to the floor for some more votes.

Recess

2010-04-03T17:03:00.000-07:00

This past week and next week has been "District Work Period" for Congress. This is also known as a "Congressional Recess." To me, it kind of seems like Spring Break on the Hill. The House Office Buildings are quiet, there are no hearings and much fewer lobbyists making the rounds. The cherry blossoms are also in full bloom which has brought in a lot more tourists on both the metro and at the Capitol Visitors Center.

There has been a lot less to do in the office this past week, a couple of times they even sent me home early. Most of the staffers use this opportunity to take some of their vacation days. After the push for healthcare, which included a weekend of being in the office, this has been a welcome break.

Most of the members are back home. Congresswoman Schakowsky came in for the bill signing on Tuesday, but has been back home ever since. The only other member I have seen so far is Henry Waxman. He was in the Rayburn cafeteria taking some pictures with one of the high school groups that is in town this week.

Next week should be a little more hectic though Speaker Pelosi named Rep. Schakowsky to the President's debt commission which will be meeting soon.

Here's a good article by Politico on the recess .

The Vote

2010-03-25T19:10:00.000-07:00

Sorry no pictures for this one.

This past Sunday, the House voted to pass the Senate's version of the healthcare bill, which Obama signed into law yesterday (They also passed a reconciliation bill to be sent to the Senate, which has, after some rewording, been sent to the President for his signature). Whether you supported healthcare or not, Sunday was clearly an historic day. The Hill was flooded with protesters. Apparently that weekend, the House Office Buildings were even filled with protesters as some of you may have seen from the news coverage.

On Sunday, I had hoped to go to Capitol Hill to see the vote, but with a research paper due on Tuesday and lots of reading due Monday, I decided to not go and head into the CMC office to get to work. I was joined there by Bukola, Angela and Jake. We were following the House debate on C-Span on the office TV as we worked on our papers. We ordered pizza and picked up snacks for a late night.

At about 8pm, I got a voicemail from my supervisor at work asking if I wanted to come in to watch the vote. At that point I was regretting my decision to not go(along with some badgering from Angela saying I should go), so I saw this as the perfect opportunity to correct that initial decision.

I hurried back home to get my staff ID and then grabbed a cab to the Capitol. When I arrived, there were still a lot of protesters. They were trying to get as close to the House chamber as possible. I was lucky, because with my staff ID, I got to go to the staff gallery, while people with gallery passes had to instead go wait in a longer line.

The staff line was still very long and I was fortunate enough to find one of the other staffers from my office who was also waiting. It turns out that they were sort of cycling staffers through the gallery, allowing groups to wait there for 10-15 minutes and then having them get in the back of the line. I first got in to the staff gallery with about 5 minutes left in debate for both sides. The gallery was packed and the floor was packed as well. As the people in my office said the next day, it seemed like any staffer with floor privileges was there that night. After about 10 minutes they cycled us out of the gallery. We got back into line, and we actually made the cut for being allowed to get back into line by about 10 people.

It turns out we missed the Pelosi speech and the fiery "Hell no" speech from Boehner. We got back in right as they were starting the first vote. It turned out I got to sit about 7 or 8 seats from Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius. The gallery was also very rowdy, with the person next to me yelling out when the Speaker Pro-tem asked for the "yays and nays."

One of the more controversial moments was when the GOP side brought up a motion to recommit that included the Stupak amendment. Steny Hoyer was clearly caught by surprise and had aides running around frantically trying to understand what was in the motion. I was also in the gallery for the controversial "baby killer" comment during Rep. Stupak's speech.

After the Speaker announced the final tally and after sticking around to watch a couple more extensions (apparently I was the last staff member left in the gallery), I exited the Capitol to head back to the CMC office. It turned out I was taking the same exit as many of the members and got to sort of "walk the ropeline" past a group of cheering supporters. By coincidence, I also ran into Rep. Schakowsky, my boss, and got to talk to her for a little bit before heading back to the office.

After that, it was a cab ride back to 1101 17th Street for a late night working on my CMC homework.

The Office

2010-03-24T21:44:00.000-07:00

As always you can go to the group's flickr page for more photos.

On the Washington Program you will be spending lots of time at the program office. I will give you a little run through of what the office consists of. The office is located at 1101 L Street NW and as you can see from the above picture we are in suite 604.

Everybody is given a key to the office, and every housing group is given a fob, which you swipe in with to get 24/7 access to the building. You will need the fob to access the building and elevators after 6pm and on weekends. As Meredith and I found out, you can't cheat the elevators by taking the stairs up as those require a key which we don't have access to. Just a word of advice, if you find yourself locked in the stairwell, just bang on the door until someone comes and opens it.
As you know the program is open to students from all of the colleges, and it is clearly displayed as soon as you walk in on the left wall. Under the different college's signs are some couches and chairs.

As you walk in, immediately in front of you is the student lounge with two computers and a table to work at. You can see it in the first picture as well. This is a great place to get work done both before and after class. The computers are technically part of the CMC network and are serviced by the CMC IT crew, but unfortunately you can't use your own sign in or connect to the U Drive directly, but you can still connect to the U Drive via the internet as you can from any off campus computer. These computers also print to the office's copier/printer/scanner/faxer which I have more pictures of further down.

Right outside the student lounge and Dr. Spalding's office are some more couches and chairs and of course the CMC campus would not be complete without President Gann's photo on the wall.

If you keep walking past the couches and chairs and Dr. Spalding's office you will enter the main room where you will have classes. There are some extra tables in the back so when there are bigger groups, the rectangle of tables can be made larger. In addition to having class here, this is a great place to do work on the weekends and after work. I actually prefer it to the office. The only downside is that there is only one reacheable outlet to plug in your laptop from this set up of tables. The chairs are a tad bit squeaky, but are very comfortable and lean pretty far back.

On the other side of the classroom are the above couch/chairs. You might not be able to tell from the picture but those leather chairs are recliners and are quite comfortable. In this area is also a photo album with the pictures from past groups as well as a bookshelf full of magazines and other literature, mostly on international relations.

The final room houses the copier/printer/scanner/faxer, which has had some trouble this semester with paper jams, but now seems to be all better. If you turn left when you enter the room, you will see the fridge, sink, and water cooler as you an see below. It is a great place to store drinks and food for late nights working on papers or applications.

The CMC facilities in DC really are great. They are welcome place for class, schoolwork or even a nap to re-energize you.

P.S. Sorry I don't have a picture of the outside of the building, I will try to get one up soon.

Welcome Fall Semester Students

2010-03-22T09:43:00.000-07:00

Congrats Fall 2010 students. Enjoy the next couple of months as you find and internship and housing. Michael Kotler and I (Carlos Rivas) are here to help answer your questions relating to how we are getting the most of our DC experience. If you have an idea for a blog post that would benefit the whole group, email us and we will put it up the response on the blog. This can even be anonymous, just search for our names in the student email address book and we promise to have a response in a reasonable time.

-Carlos

Spring Break

2010-03-22T09:36:00.000-07:00

Something that you can appreciate while being on the East Coast for a semester is the accessibility of travel. Los Angeles to San Francisco takes 6 hours by car. DC to New York under 4 hours by bus and for $30 round trip. Had I been in LA the trip would have been longer and a lot more expensive. Not all students take spring break off when in DC, and now I have dozens of emails to get through now that I am back in the office. I spent three days in New York, getting to do all of the touristy stuff like visiting Central Park, the Met, Times Square and eating at great restaurants. It is truly a great city, and has a better transportation network than LA. But, I did get the bulk of the rain storm last weekend that hit the East Coast. While you are in DC you have to take advantage of your location, not just in the district, but on the East Coast. Next city to visit: Philly.

President's Day Part 2

2010-03-19T20:11:00.000-07:00

As always you can go to the group's flickr page for more photos.

Sorry I've been so slow with the posts lately, I'll try to keep more up to date.

After we finished at Fogo de Chao, Ben H., Isaac and I went to the National Archives to look around. It turned out we picked a good time because February was the last month they would allow photos in the rotunda where all the important documents were stored, Deceleration of Independence, Constitution, Articles of Confederation, etc. Apparently it has become too hard to enforce the rule banning flash photography.

So all the photos turned out a little dark, but I figure that dark photos are better than no photos. In addition to the documents I mentioned earlier, the archives also house the Bill of Rights, the UN Charter, the Emancipation proclamation and more.

It was a great way to unwind before I had to go back to work after 10 days in a row off.

President's Day Part 1

2010-02-27T19:58:00.000-08:00

As always you can go to the group's flickr page for more photos.

On February 15, most of us got the day off for Washington's Birthday (The official, government name for President's Day). All federal offices, but some people working in the private sector had to go in to work and were not able to join us. For me, it was my 10th day off from work in a row. With two weekends, the federal government shut down for snow, and my boss kind enough to give me Friday off as well, this acted as sort of a mid-winter/spring break.

Most CMC students know that one of the perks of the school is that if we get enough people to go to an activity together, we can get funding from Jim Nauls at the Dean of Student's office. Many people on campus use this for things such as tickets to an Angels game, a concert, or Universal Studios. One of the neat things about the DC program is that you are still eligible for money from Jim Nauls. With Monday off for Washington's birthday, we decided to try out Fogo de Chao.

For those of you who have never experienced Fogo de Chao, it can be a little overwhelming at first. It's pretty much an all-you-can eat steakhouse, with a massive salad bar. You have a coaster, with one side red and one side green. Red means stop, green means go. If you're ready for meat, there are servers assigned to each dish, and they will come to your table and see if you would like any. These range from filet mignon to chicken breast wrapped in bacon. They will pretty much come at you non-stop until you tell turn your card over. You can see one of them serving Isaac in the first picture. The best part was that instead of being the usual $40 for lunch, it turned out to be about $12 per person because of the generous support of CMC.

Orientation Day 4

2010-02-27T12:48:00.001-08:00

As always you can see more on the group's flickr page.
Sorry for the long delay between posts.

Our fourth and final day of orientation started bright and early with a 8:30 tour at the Pentagon. Getting off the Metro, you could tell that this wasn't a normal Metro Station. We were greeted at the top of the escalators by a Police Officer with a some sort of scary looking automatic rifle. After going through security, we met up with CMC and program alum TJ Devine (on the left in the picture below). In addition to setting us up with the tour, he helped Ben F. get set up with his internship at the Defense Department. We were split into two groups for the tour, which was given by members of various military branches. My tour was given by someone from the Air Force and one person from the Navy. We did quite a lot of walking. Although most of the time we spent was in the hallways (people do indeed work there), we learned a lot of fun facts about both the military and the Pentagon itself. For instance, the Soviets used to think that the building inside of the Pentagon rings, was some sort of nuclear bunker, when in truth it was a hot dog stand.

After the tour, we went to a local shopping mall and Costco to pick up some things for the various apartments before our lunch with CMC and program alum Andy Barr from the Politico. We needed to drop off the items before lunch, so we stopped by Ben's apartment and got a nice look around. We went to Cosi for lunch, which CMC was nice enough to pay for. We met up with Andy there and headed over to the offices of the Politico.It turns out Politico shares facilities with the local Washington ABC station. At the Politico, we got to meet in the executive meeting room. Andy talked to us about the always evolving news business and how Politico is adapting to it. He brought in a couple other writers. One was in charge of the new "Politico 44" which focuses on the Obama administration. He discussed how the project started, and how the focus of it has evolved since the beginning. He mentioned that they try to get Obama news up on the website within 2 to 3 minutes of it happening. We also talked with Anne Mullins who is the gossip columnist for the Politico. She told us how she got to her position and what it entails. She likes to know who is at what. Whether it is a congressman at a fundraiser or an important staffer at a cocktail party.

After our time at the Politico, our orientation was officially over. However, the CMC Alumni Association in Washington was nice enough to buy us tickets to the Wizards/Clippers basketball game on Sunday, the 24th. It was nice to talk with alumni working in Washington before we started our first days at work.

Orientation Day 3

2010-02-16T20:02:00.000-08:00

As always, you can go to the group's flickr page for more pictures. Also, sorry this blog post is a bit lengthy.

For the third day of orientation, we went to the Capitol for an 11:45 tour with program alum Tyler White (far left in the above picture). He currently works in Congressman Jerry Lewis' office. During the program he interned on Capitol Hill, but for a different Congressman. After asking us about our living arrangements and catching up with Dr. Spalding, we started the tour by going up to the House Gallery, where we could watch as Congressmen cast votes and simply chatted amongst themselves. Before we went in we had to surrender all our electronics, including Tyler who is a staffer. He explained to us some of the traditions of the room: no assigned seats, the rotating Speaker, the cloak rooms, etc. Next we went to the rotunda (which you can see in the picture above). On our way he explained the paintings, and the statues, including the new California statue of Ronald Reagan. As we were standing there, learning about the room, in walked a couple of Capitol policemen, a photographer and an entourage of people.

It turned out it was California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. He had come to take a picture with the new Reagan statue. The room was divided in the middle with a roped off walkway. We happened to be the only group on the Governator's side. As the groups in the room pressed up against the ropes, we got a closer look, and presumably got into many people's pictures. After that we walked to the "Center of Washington". In the middle of the room, there was a compass built into the ground. It was the original center of Washington, DC when the City was first designed. The picture below is us standing around it, and some with our feet on it.
After that it was time for lunch in the House Member's Dining Room. The next week when I handed the "CMC Washington Packet" to my supervisor with the orientation schedule she remarked that she had only eaten there once or twice in her ten years, so this was quite the experience. On our way there we saw Dennis Kucinich hurry past us and as we were waiting to be seated, out walked Secretary of Veteran Affairs Eric Shinseki. Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures. But we were joined by a CMC and Washington Program alum whose name escapes me at the moment. She also worked in Mr. Lewis' office and had interned there during the program. We talked about how CMC had changed since they had been there, Claremont Hall, the Kravis Center, and even the Pomona construction blocking our walk to Frary. We talked about the long-term plans for CMC renovations as well as their suggestions for the future of the program. Not only did we get great food, but it was covered by CMC (always a plus).

After lunch, they took us to Congressman Lewis' private meeting room (I think I got the name of the room right) (Picture above). It had an amazing view of The National Mall. After we were done, we went to the steps of the Capitol to take a couple of group pictures. I already posted the picture before, but I figured it's a pretty good picture, so I would post it once again.

After that we had a little break before we went back to the office for our first class with Professor Haskell, who works at Georgetown during the day. He handed out the syllabus, gave us free copies of our textbook (which he wrote), and showed off his impressive random knowledge of all of our hometowns. After class was over, we all headed home for some rest before our early 8:30 am start time the next day.

Snow Week

2010-02-12T16:27:00.000-08:00

I've written all week about the closing of the Federal Government. The government finally opened today. Although the start was delayed, so I got a call from my boss saying that with the delayed start I should just enjoy another day off. So I ended up getting a snow week, a late winter/early spring break. With the streets a little clearer, I was able to go out to lunch and do a little shopping. It was nice to have a break, and with Monday's President's Day holiday, I will ultimately get 10 days off between work days.

Orientation Day 2

2010-02-11T14:17:00.003-08:00

As always, you can see more pictures at the group's flickr site.

The second day of orientation, we met at 12:45 inside the Supreme Court. Myself, Jenny, Carlos, and Angela got there a little early and apparently the court was still in session and the Great Hall was closed off, so we had to go in through the side handicapped accessible entrance and didn't get to go up the steps that you see in all the movies. We were then escorted to one of the conference rooms by a member of the Supreme Court's police force. We waited there to meet with Elizabeth Papez, a law clerk for Clarence Thomas. She came with a couple of her colleagues and we talked about the types of cases that come before The Supreme Court and the thought process that goes into making the decisions.

We then got a tour of the building by the Curator of the Supreme Court. She showed us the courtroom where they argue cases. It was surprisingly small and the lawyers stand very close to the the justices. The curator gave us a rundown of what all the pictures meant and details such as where the President sits when he visits, and the seats that are designated for guests of the Justices. After that we went to the the Meeting Room for the Supreme Court. In the past it used to be used for meetings with the Justices, but recently it is just used for press conferences, photo ops, and meetings for outside groups. Our last stop was the chambers of Justice Clarence Thomas. It was cool to see go behind the scenes of the Supreme Court and see where the Justices work. We saw that his office was decorated with various college football paraphernalia. Before leaving we got a picture on those famous steps which you can see above.

I was surprised that you don't need a pass or anything to get into a Supreme Court case, instead you just have to be one of the first people in line. For the big cases some people camp out the night before, but for others you can just show up at about 8:30am (They start hearing cases at 9 am).

We then had a little break, a couple of us went to a little deli near the Capitol and Supreme Court to grab a late lunch before we headed back to the CMC office for a "Panel on professionalism and working in Washington."

Giving the presentation were Vanessa Carter and Nick Piatek who were both on the program in the Spring of 2006. Joel Malina from Wexler and Walker was also there. Although Joel didn't go to CMC, he has supervised a Washington Program participant every semester for the last 9 or so years. This semester Meredith is working there. The panel told us what to expect as an intern. We are indeed at the bottom of the totem pole. We were told good strategies for making sure we did substantive work while we were at the office. We were also told the proper way to interact with our bosses. We were also given tips on how to handle our internships along with our classes. It was good to get the perspective of both program alumni and bosses of people who have been on the program.

Orientation Day 1

2010-02-10T22:36:00.000-08:00

I think I covered everything I can think of in terms of what you do in Claremont in preparation for the Washington Program. I'll add anything if I can think of it, but I figure I should tell people some things that they will encounter once they are in DC on the program.

Orientation is a 4 day program, and instead of trying to guess what goes on at a generic orientation (the events change slightly every year), I'll just give you a rundown of what happened at our orientation.

Although most of orientation was filled with trips to various sites around Washington, the first day was spent entirely at the CMC office. It started at 10:30 in the morning with Dr. Spalding welcoming us all. She handed out packets, we went over the schedule for the week, and got a little tour of the office (I'll have a post about the office later).

We then got Potbelly sandwiches, paid for by CMC (One of several lunches picked up by CMC during the week). Professor Haskell joined us for lunch. We went around the room and introduced ourselves for him, he displayed his impressive knowledge of our hometowns as well as his knowledge of local eateries.

Then was one of the more interesting parts of any orientation to which I have ever been. We got a "Session on safety and security in Washington, DC." We weren't really sure what to expect, we got a 6 foot 4 inch ex-marine by the name of Ken Barksdale. We learned about a CMC safe house that we were supposed to go to if the city of DC was evacuated. We learned how to react if someone grabs us, tries to use a knife, tries to use a gun, and grabs us from behind. He had us stand up in a circle, and practice the self-defense moves on him. So, we should pretty much be able to handle everything. Before he left, he gave us a CMC emergency packet, with a map to the safe house and what to do in the case of pretty much every different situation possible. He was one of the more interesting characters we encountered. As CMC Celeb Isaac Goldberg put in his recent Forum interview about his favorite unknown CMC tidbit:

"That the CMC Washington D.C. Program has an ex-Navy Seal in charge of student safety. He once told me, 'If you use the pepper spray, empty the can.'"

At the end of the security presentation, we got bright red emergency bags, which had boxed water, hand crank radio and flashlight, light stick, mask, goggles and more.

We ended the day by having our first class, Government 125 on Liberal Internationalism. We went over the syllabus and the expectations for the semester. We were each assigned a day to lead class discussion. The first presentation should be coming up next week from Carlos and Isaac.

Snowmageddon

2010-02-10T22:18:00.000-08:00

As always you can go to the group's Flickr page to see even more pictures. Ben H. was kind enough to let me post some of his pictures on the site (including the one above).

You have probably seen on the news that snow has been hitting the DC area pretty badly, in a blizzard (blizzards?) called snowmageddon. The federal government closed early on Friday, and has been closed completely the last three days, and will be again today (Thursday). If you're curious, you can always check on the status of the federal government here.

On Super Bowl Sunday (before the second wave of snow), I was going to the CMC office to do some work, and decided to go to the National Mall to take some pictures.
The scene was beautiful with people playing on the mall, building snowmen, and even some people literally sledding down Capitol Hill.

The Super Bowl

2010-02-08T15:29:00.001-08:00

As always, you can go to the group's Flickr page to see more photos.

Six of us gathered to watch the Super Bowl yesterday. With all the snow the Metro's service was cut way down so Mike, Jake, and Ben H. couldn't make the trek over. Luckily, with Meredith and Bukola's apartment so close, they were able to walk. We had a pretty good spread of food, with veggies, chips/pretzels, hummus, stuffed jalapenos, brats and hot dogs, and Carlos even made some homemade Guacamole. Although some people were more interested in the game than others, it was a good time for everyone. It turned out even better when we learned that the federal government would be closed today so (almost) everyone didn't have to worry about getting to work the next day.

Snow Day

2010-02-08T09:04:00.000-08:00

Today the Federal Government is officially CLOSED. Today class was canceled. Today there is no bus service. Today the Metro is running slow. Today the streets are clogged with snow. Today is a SNOW DAY. As a native Chicagoan, I have had some snow days in my life (funny enough never while Secretary Duncan was the CEO of the Chicago Public Schools,) but never have I seen a city buckle with 24 inches of SNOW. When you come to Washington this website will become your best friend, OPM, this is the Office of Personnel Management, the federal agency that among other things declares the operating status of the federal government.

And although I would normally enjoy the snow day off, the responsibilities at the office pile up. All of today's meetings have been rescheduled for tomorrow. All of today's to do list gets added to tomorrow's list. But, I will stop thinking about the long to do list and enjoy the cable TV, going out for lunch, and perhaps taking a nap.

For our classmates in Claremont, our class tonight has been canceled (but has been rescheduled.) Georgetown, American, and George Washington University are all closed today. The public libraries and public schools are closed. The DC Government is open, whats with that?

Snowy Weekends

2010-02-05T19:48:00.000-08:00

To see more pictures, simply go to the Flickr stream for this semester's group which is on the right side of the page, or click here.

In addition to this weekend's snow, it snowed last weekend as well. With nobody else willing to brave the cold, Ben, Carlos, and I decided to go on a tour of the monuments.

Beforehand Carlos cooked us a nice dinner.

With all the snow there was pretty much nobody else there. It was cool to be able to see all the monuments so deserted. Here are a couple pictures, go to the semester's flickr stream for more.

The Motorcade

2010-02-05T19:19:00.000-08:00

On Thursday, I was on my way to class walking from the Farragut West stop. I noticed that there were a lot of cops around, trying to direct traffic. I couldn't figure out what was going on, but I realized they were trying to block off a couple of streets. I went up to the CMC office and noticed at that point that the streets were completely empty except for DC police cars. Jake and I were the only ones in the office, as it was still a good half hour until class. We couldn't figure out what was going on and then as we were looking out the windows, we saw the Presidential motorcade pass by the office. There must have been about 16-17 cars pass by including the Presidential Limo.

As I wrote in the earlier blog post, it really is like Disneyland.

Finding Housing

2010-02-05T18:25:00.001-08:00

Besides the internship, the other major thing to find is housing. Here is the official description from the Washington Program about the housing situation. Professor Pitney also has a webpage on housing. On it he posts some great links to websites that will help you find housing. It's a great resource, and I wish I had been aware of it when I was looking for housing. This semester, Mike is staying at housing provided by the Heritage Foundation. To stay there, they make sure that you agree with their political opinions. Here's another website that I used to help find housing. It provides links to furnished housing.

Whether or not you decide to choose furnished housing is another issue that you have to face. "Furnished" can mean a lot of different things. This is something that they will address at on-campus orientation. It could mean anything from providing a table and chairs to our situation which had pretty much everything we needed from sheets for the beds to paper towels and dish soap. The other option is to get an unfurnished apartment in which case you would have to rent furniture. Nobody on this semester's program decided to go that route, and it would be significantly more difficult because you would have to worry about getting it all moved in.

Another consideration is location. This semester everybody but Ben is staying within the actual District. You can usually find cheaper housing in Virginia, but it is a little further from the CMC classroom and the Capitol/White House if you're thinking about working there. However, for people who are working at the Pentagon (Like Ben) it is more convenient.

You also have to consider how close your housing is to the metro in terms for getting to work. As Dr. Spalding articulated, you generally don't want to have to catch a bus to get to a subway station. When you're rushing in the morning that can be a little bit of a hassle. Our apartment is about 4-5 minutes from one subway station, and about 7-8 minutes from another one which has the line which goes to the Capitol. You should make sure your apartment is close to a metro station, and with the wonders of Google Maps, it is pretty easy to do that. You should also see how easy it is to get to the CMC office. In addition to classes, the CMC office is a nice place to go to when you need to do work for your research paper, do reading or work on any other applications you may have for the summer. The closest Metro stops for the office are Farragut West or Farragut North. The CMC office address is:

1101 17th Street NW
Suite 604
Washington, DC
20036

I'll put up a post about our apartment with some pictures in the future, and I'll try and convince the people living at other apartments to post something as well.

Anytime Mr. Secretary

2010-02-05T13:15:00.001-08:00

With the "imminent snow storm" coming several people were absent from the office, there also seems to be some type of flu going around, and the intern had to step in for some staffers. I filled in for the receptionist responsible for all of Secretary Duncan's appointments, his conference room, and the general Department of Education phone number. I have never been so nervous answering a phone, with the possibility that they could ask for anything! During the day Secretary Duncan passed by, offering is thanks for filling in. As the Secretary of Education he has many visitors throughout the day. It's difficult to reform our nation's education system, and he needs the support of governors, school districts, and education departments across the country. Yesterday included visits from Governor Bob Riley of Alabama, and Governor Ted Strickland of Ohio (and of course all of their security details and staff.) So far, this has been the most exciting day at the office, not everyone gets to chat with two governors in one day!

Snow Day!

2010-02-05T12:31:00.001-08:00

I thought snow days was something I wouldn't get to experience after I finished high school. But today, with the District expecting somewhere around 24 inches of snow, the federal government shut down four hours early. After work, I came home and went to Whole Foods with Jenny and Carlos. It was jam packed.

Dr. Spalding had warned us that DC isn't the greatest at handling snow and recommended that we stock up on milk, toilet paper, and bread should the snow come. Being from Chicago, I'm used to a city that is good at handling snow. They keep the roads pretty clear and there's never a rush to the grocery store. With word that snow was coming our way, I heard some of the people in my office talking about trying to go to the grocery store. On my way to lunch, I heard one guy describe the grocery store as looking like "Soviet Russia" with long lines and bare shelves. I didn't quite believe it until I went to the store today.

When I got to Whole Foods, it seemed a little crowded, but not too bad, but as we continued shopping it was brutal. It really was empty shelves and the lines for the checkout wrapped around the back of the store. It was hard to move in the store, even harder when trying to maneuver a shopping cart at the same time. I wished I had brought my camera, because I had never experienced anything like that. It took about 15-20 minutes to get through the checkout line, and when we left, we realized they were even out of shopping carts.

"It's Like Disneyland"

2010-02-04T19:45:00.000-08:00

A couple days ago, one of the other interns put the Washington experience a good way, saying "It's like Disneyland." For political junkies, we get to see people everyday that we are only used to seeing on TV. Today I got to go to a press conference for my congresswoman. There, I got to see John Kerry and Barbara Boxer. After that we went to a meeting with Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. At one point the congressmen/women had to go vote, leaving the Justice in the room with just a couple of staffers. After some prodding from our communications director, I was able to ask her for a photo and talk to her for a little bit. I'll try and post the photo and some more about today in a later post.

Over the last two weeks, I've also been able to see Elizabeth Kucinich (the wife of Dennis Kucinich) along with Steny Hoyer, John Conyers, Secretary of Defense Gates, Admiral Mullen, and many more who I can't think of right now. During orientation, we saw Dennis Kucinich, Secretary of Veteran Affairs Shinseki, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Earlier this week, there wasn't much going on in the morning, so I was allowed to go to a hearing of the Senate Budget Committee. It didn't sound all that exciting, but I then realized the only witness was going to be OMB Director Peter Orzag, who Jon Stewart highlighted on The Daily Show. He was going to be presenting the President's budget proposals for FY 2011. I wasn't expecting too much. It ultimately ended up very interesting with Senator Judd Gregg yelling at Orzag, and then Senator Bernie Sanders firing back at Gregg to defend Orzag. Later, during Sanders' time he went after Gregg for helping to increase the deficit despite claiming that he is a deficit hawk. They then had a back and forth, which apparently they're not supposed to have. I realize it doesn't sound that interesting, but it was good enough for Sanders to feature on his youtube channel. You can also watch it on the Senate's official website, it starts at about 52 minutes and then Sanders going after Gregg is at about 80 minutes.

Finding an Internship Part 2

2010-02-04T18:52:00.000-08:00

After letting the last blog post sit for a day, I realized I missed some important components of the internship search process.

First off, the career center is always available to look at your resume and give you tips about a cover letter. For the DC Program, you're supposed to include information about the program as well as contact information for Dr. Spalding.

The off-campus study office also has you submit the cover letters you sent to the potential internships, along with a resume. This helps you keep on the right schedule for finding an internship and makes sure that you are sending out enough applications. This is really helpful if you need deadlines in order to make sure you get things done.

One internship location that I should have mentioned is Wexler and Walker, where Meredith is interning this semester. This consulting firm has hosted a Washington Program student every semester for quite some time (I've heard 9 years?). So, they are an option that is known for providing substantive work for students and work well with the program. They are aware of the schedule and the demands of CMC students, so would be an easy transition to move into.

Dr. Spalding and the Washington program likes to make sure that all people are doing substantive work rather than just running to get coffee and grabbing people's lunches. They usually have pretty good direction on how to make sure that you can get this. They can tell you what places have good reputations and bad.

Also, at on-campus orientation you will receive this which tells you what NOT to do.

Finding an Internship

2010-02-03T19:16:00.000-08:00

After the on-campus orientation, it's time to start looking for an internship. One of the parts of the conditions you agree to by going on the program is to sit down and have a meeting with Professor Pitney. There are a bunch of great resources available on campus, but one that always comes up is Professor Pitney's website. On there he has listed what seems like a couple hundred different places to find internships. He's even organized them for you. He has broken it up into different sections, including liberal/conservative. If you aren't able to find something from the long list of internships he has provided, Professor Pitney also adds all the participants to his listserv of internships. Everyday, he sends out listings and offers that have come his way. Professor Pitney has also done a great job of keeping up with alumni of CMC and alumni of the Washington Program. He will be able to point you to alumni working in various areas in Washington.

In addition, you can also find alumni connections via the career center's page. Also, pretty much ever Representative and Senator has an internship program (There aren't any that I know that don't). They are usually unpaid (I think I saw one that was paid for this semester). In addition, you can also work on some of the committee staffs. This semester, Mike Whatley is working on the minority side of the House Oversight committee. I'm working for my Congresswoman, Jan Schakowsky. It's cool to be able to work for my congresswoman, where the issues are relating to my hometown and have some knowledge of the district.

As I said, the congressional internships are mostly unpaid. However, in the private sector, it is more than possible to find a paid internship. While you won't be getting millions, the stipend will help cover the costs of living in a more expensive city than Claremont. For instance, as I said in an earlier post, Isaac has been able to get paid, get a free gym membership and get free lunches all semester. Also, with the recent Supreme Court ruling, things are looking up for lobbyists!

Whatever your interest may be, you should be able to find an internship that suits you.

Bowling at the White House

2010-01-30T08:44:00.000-08:00

In 1947 President Harry S. Truman received a very special birthday present, a bowling alley. Truman did not care for bowling himself, but allowed his staff to start a league. The two lane bowling alley was located in what is the present day situation room. In 1955 the two lane bowling alley was moved to the Old Executive Office Building to make room for a mimeograph room. Yesterday, I had the honor of bowling at the White House with the Deputy Secretary of Education and his staff, the office I work for. This was a great end to the first week on the job, bowling with the staff (a nice bonding experience,) eating pizza, and drinking Coke. I personally am not a bowler, and my score proved it, I was 12 out of 12. Although I do believe I beat President Obama's 37. The president was scheduled to visit us in the bowling alley, but unfortunately something else came up. As you know, there isn't usually down time when you are leading the free world. As far as my supervisor's score, the Deputy Secretary responded, "you beat the intern."

On-Campus Orientation

2010-01-28T18:45:00.000-08:00

After being accepted and deciding that you will go on the program, you have to tell the Office of Off-Campus Study that you are going go to go. It is not simply a box that you check off on a form, but instead you have to sign a contract. In addition to maintaining a minimum GPA, taking the right amount of classes etc. You also have to commit to get to know everyone else going on the program by attending all of the pre-departure meetings.

The first part happens the week after you are informed, that starts with a lunch meeting at Collins (In one of those private back rooms people don't usually use). Kristen Mallory and Professor Pitney start to give some basic information about Washington and helps get conversation going amongst all the participants. Professor Pitney even gives out a little Washington DC/Current events quiz. After you finish your Collins you walk over to Bauer Center. There you go over many topics, with both Professor Pitney as well as program alumni. They tell you the good places to live, help explain the DC public transit system as well as how to find good internships. Fid Castro even came and helped explain the process of finding housing and played some ice breaker games (You know, the one's you do during Freshman orientation, that you thought you'd never have to do again) so that everybody can get to know each other.

As the semester goes on, there are two more events, a dinner at the Ath and a final lunch at Collins. One of the ways that this gets you ready for DC is that there are no reminders sent out about the events, this is to help you keep to a schedule that you will have to face in DC, where they will not constantly remind you of upcoming events, similar to a semester in Washington.

Our Connections

2010-01-26T18:47:00.000-08:00

Have you ever heard professors on campus and perhaps Career Services and your advisers talk about contacting alumni to tap into their connections? The Washington Program is the place where I have seen these contacts be beneficial while in school (aside from the occasional internship, summer and here in DC.) Our alums were able to secure for us exclusive tours at many buildings, to areas that DC tourists are not allowed to see. Orientation week included tours of Politico, the Pentagon, U.S. Capitol Building and the Supreme Court. It was beneficial to see what alums are doing, and how their CMC education (and the Washington Program) gave them the tools, and sometimes the connections to begin high level careers. Reminds me of the CMC motto, Leaders in the Making, and the Washington Program can help you get there.

First Two Days

2010-01-26T17:24:00.000-08:00

We have now had two days on the job (Mike Whatley actually started working January 4 and has been working through orientation as well as weekends). As of tonight we have also now had all 3 of our other classes. They are all seminars. In Dr. Spalding's class on liberal internationalism, we went over reading, which looked at the evolution of liberal internationalism. We then had a discussion/debate over trying to come up with a definition for liberal internationalism (It's a lot harder than you would think). Before Dr. Spalding's class on Monday we had the first day of our internships. We all shared stories of our first days as we waited for class to start. We also collectively complained of exhaustion. The DC program will certainly not be easy, we can't take those mid-day naps that we all value. Today we got further settled into our internships. I got my badge today and I know some other people finally got finished with their security clearances. Tonight's class was with Adam Wolfson who will be the instructor as we write our research papers for Government 126. He has a wide array of topics to handle as we suggested topics from campaign finance to nuclear energy. We will have our second class with Professor Haskell on Thursday. His class deals with the Congress and the federal budget. We use a book he wrote for class, reading one or two chapters a week. I have to be at work at 8 am tomorrow so I have to go catch up on some sleep.

The Application Process (Pt. II)

2010-01-26T16:53:00.000-08:00

So after you turn in the application, it's time for the interview. One thing to keep in mind is that they expect you to wear a suit or at least a jacket with tie and khakis. This is something that Kristen Mallory stressed at the info session. If you're like me, you will have to borrow a lot of this stuff and maybe improvise a little (Ben Salzman's dress shoes, Kyle Shipley's tie, black baseball socks in order to have dark dressy looking socks and if anyone needs a lucky jacket contact Jason Rehhaut). But make sure you have all of this stuff ready to go for the interview.

At the interview will be members of the selection committee. For me it was Kristen Mallory, Beth Ricca, and Professor Pitney and Miller. With Beth Ricca no longer at the career services office, I'm not sure who will be taking her spot on the committee. In addition, there is also a student in the interview who has been on the program before. Different program alumni do different batches of interviews (I have heard of at least two different students sitting in on the interviews for this current semesters group of students). They will all ask you questions to expand on your application as well as completely new questions.

Once all the interviews are over, they are very good at quickly sending out the results to your campus mailbox. You will get an email when they have put the letters in your mailbox so that you know to go and check. In those letters they will also inform you if you were awarded either The Margaret Martin Brock Internship Award or the Claremont McKenna Internship Award. These are stipends that you will receive a check for once you arrive in Washington.

After that it is just up to you do decide whether or not to accept the offer.

The Application Process (Pt. I)

2010-01-25T19:54:00.001-08:00

Dr. Spalding, the director of the program will be coming to CMC the week of February 1 and will hold an information session where she will be able to answer more questions about the application process and the program.

If you don't feel like reading the entire post (it's a little lengthy) here are some tips:
Although the statements may seem short, make sure you put a lot of thought into them as the entire selection committee will be reading the application.
If you're a person who ends up turning things in right before the deadline (turned in my CMC application with 7 minutes to spare) you want to make sure that you have enough time to get the passport-type photos. This can be an easy thing to forget and if you find yourself printing off your application with an hour to spare and realize that the only thing that you are missing are the photos, it can be nerve-wracking.
It is handy to have your recommendation writer provide a recommendation that you can not only use for the application but can also use it for internship applications.
Be sure to check out Professor Pitney's page on how to ask for a letter of recommendation.

The Application:
The application process for the Washington Program is pretty straightforward. It can be found online at the "Applicants" section of the official Washington Program website. The application for the Fall 2010 semester is due February 5 so anyone who's interested should get started. It's an 8 page application which may seem a little daunting, but it's definitely worth it. The program mostly consists of government majors, but there are certainly people from different departments. For example, this semester Jenny is an Econ-accounting major and is working at the accounting office of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). Ben Harris is also working for the SEC. I had contemplated working for the national office of the Japan-America Society, so it is certainly possible to come to Washington even if you are not interested in American politics and if you are interested you should apply.

The first two parts of the application are fairly simple, just general personal information as well as the times when you would be free for an interview. After that, you have to put a little more thought into it.

Part III requires that you show that you have planned out your credits for graduation. Even if you don't end up applying, this is probably a good thing to do.

Part IV is a resume which career services will work with you to ensure that it will help you land an internship you want while you are in the district.

Part V has two statements that have you write about why you want to go on the program and describe the internships you want to do. You should begin to suggest a few internships that you find interesting. The other statement asks you to describe why you are prepared to handle the rigorous demands of the program.

Part VI is a couple of passport-type photos that you can get at a bunch of places.

Part VII is a transcript that CMC students do not have to worry about making arrangements (simply put your signature on the application). Students from the other 4Cs have to make arrangements to have their transcript provided to the selection committee.

Part VIII is a letter of recommendation. Pretty straightforward, but make sure you give your writer plenty of time to write the recommendation and submit it to the committee.

One other part of the application that you have to submit but doesn't have its own "part" is the "Dean of Students Clearance". This has to be submitted to the Dean of Students office and has the same deadline as the rest of the application.

Good Luck!

The Group

2010-01-25T19:32:00.000-08:00

There are eleven of us here in Washington. Three sophomores and eight juniors. One from Pomona, one from Pitzer and the rest from CMC. We have all different types of internships in both the public and private sector and some even get paid. Isaac even gets $30 a plate lunches for free through his gig. People also have some other benefits such as a gym or just Ben's ability to bypass the visitor line at the Pentagon. I put a list of all the internships below:

Meredith Doyle - Wexler & Walker Public Policy Associates
Angela Estrella-Lemus - Department of Education (Office of the Undersecretary)
Benjamin Forster - Department of Defense
Benjamin Harris (Pitzer) - SEC (Division of Investment Management)
Jenny Hou - Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
Bukola Jimoh - Department of Justice (Environmental & Natural Resources Division)
Isaac Kastama (Pomona) - Terry Turner and Associates
Michael Kotler - Office of Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)
Jake Petzold - West Wing Writers
Carlos Rivas - Department of Education (Office of the Deputy Secretary dealing with stimulus money)
John Michael Whatley - House Oversight and Government Reform Committee

Introduction

2010-01-25T19:26:00.001-08:00

My name is Michael Kotler and I will be the other main guy posting on here. I hope to be able to tell people about certain aspects/advantages of the Washington Program (Orientation and alumni connections) as well as specific activities that we are doing (such as guest speakers, topics we are discussing in class etc.). I am a junior government and economics dual major from CMC. I transferred to CMC after my freshmen year which I spent at the University of Rochester in New York state. If any of you have any questions about going on the program as a transfer, feel free to ask me.

Blogging

2010-01-16T05:54:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone! My name is Carlos Rivas and I will be a contributor to this blog for the Spring 2010 semester. I want to give you a little bio and what I will be doing in DC before we get to the nitty gritty of the DC experience. I am from Chicago Illinois (meaning it's a great time to be in DC) and have interests in Chicago politics, public education reform, and many other legislative issues. I am a sophomore at CMC, dual majoring in Government and Spanish. Next semester, I plan to study abroad in Buenos Aires Argentina. This semester I will be interning at the Department of Education. I hope to be able to provide you with a clear understanding of what you'll be facing in DC if you decide to apply and are admitted to the program. Other students will also be contributing to this blog, and we'll add plenty of pictures!

A Typical Day in Washington

2009-02-05T10:58:00.000-08:00

My name is Helena Bottemiller; I’m a senior Gov major at CMC. I did the Washington Program last spring and had a great experience. I worked at a bipartisan lobbying firm and lived downtown, just two blocks from the White House.

Many interested students have asked me what it's like to live, work, and study in DC. Here is what a typical day looked like:

7:35-7:45 am—Hit snooze, a couple times, and ask myself why I didn't go to bed earlier.

7:55-8:45 am—Get up, check email, check weather, peruse WaPo, NYT, HuffPost, and Politico, get dressed, help my roommate iron his shirt, eat breakfast over the remaining reading for class.

8:45 am—Bundle up (its 18 degrees out). Walk exactly five blocks to work as fast as humanly possible to stay alive--my NW blood is not accustomed to such severe weather!

8:57 am—Discreetly change from comfy walking shoes to less-comfy work shoes.

9 am—Arrive at the office, head straight for the coffee machine. Watch as coffee magically appears (while calculating that I save $70/month by not going to Starbucks every morning). Pick up CQ Today and CongressDaily from my box.

9:10-10 am—Read both publications cover to cover, paying special attention to client issues. Read daily press clippings.

10 am- 12 pm—Catch a cab to Capitol Hill to cover an Energy and Commerce hearing on the DTV Transition.

12-12:20 pm—Write report on hearing.

12:20-1:20 pm—Run home for lunch.

1:30-3 pm—Meeting with client team.

3-6 pm—Work on a New Zealand-US Trade briefing for my colleagues.

6 pm—Walk home (narrowly avoid getting hit by the president’s motorcade), grab books for class and a quick bite to-go.

6:30- 8:30 pm—Seminar

9 – 10:30 pm—Grab a burger and beverage with roommates (FYI: $5 burgers on Mondays at Sign of the Whale: 1825 M St, near the classroom). Walk home.

11 pm-12:30 am—Relax with my three hilarious roommates (no class tomorrow, reading can wait).

1 am—Sleep