tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-168250442023-11-15T22:58:51.073-08:00Girl InternToo old to be an intern. To inexperienced to be anything else.JoAnnaJaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01685768623140733916noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16825044.post-2553817470177448472012-07-30T12:09:00.001-07:002012-07-30T12:09:11.123-07:00Where Do We Go From Here<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<em>This is the second piece I wrote about the Law Students for Reproductive Justice Leadership Institute I attended this weekend. The orginal post can be found at the <a href="http://reporepro.lsrj.org/2012/07/30/where-do-we-go-from-here/">Repossess Reproductive Justice Blog.</a></em><br />
<br />
The last session of the weekend, called “Where Do We Go From Here? The Future of Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice,” challenged all of us to think about the history of the reproductive justice community, to analyze our successes and, more importantly, the bad habits we have formed, and to think critically about how to move the conversation forward.<br /><br />One of the speakers was Ms. Sujatha Jesudason, the Director of CoreAlign Initiative. CoreAlign did a study to analyze what was working and what needed to be improved in the RJ community. They found that the movement was extremely well-funded, but that we lack cohesive messaging, inspiring leaders and goals, and actions that are proactive rather than reactive. Instead of looking at the issues of rights, justice, and health as separate issues to be addressed by different experts, we needed to find ways to make connections, share resources, and to focus on RJ heroes rather than victims.<br /><br />I thought back to an exercise we did the first day where we were asked to design a program around a reproductive justice topic. Many of us who were well-versed on abortion-bans, defunding of Planned Parenthood, and vaginal ultrasounds struggled with the assignment because we had never thought about some of the other RJ issues out there. Even those who had thought about them, had never before considered out to communicate them to a broader audience and in a way that included the voices of those RJ impacts the most.<br /><br />I also thought about the session I attended on chapter strategic planning. I attended but was skeptical that a campus club like mine would benefit much from a strategic plan; it seemed too formal for what we were. But after hearing Ms. Jesudason talk about how the RJ movement is doomed to stagnation and repetition of bad habits without close self-examination and a plan for success, I am a convert.<br /><br />I pledge (and I challenge you to pledge) to examine how my organization is doing RJ work. Do we sacrifice a broader message in the name of an easy event? Could we reach a more diverse group of people by spending more time coalition building on campus and in the community? Can we acknowledge the successes of those who came before us while doing something different, better, more successful?<br /><br />I am so excited to get back to campus this fall to get started on our strategic plan. I wish you good luck on yours!</div>JoAnnaJaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01685768623140733916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16825044.post-63657500050304049622012-07-29T21:27:00.004-07:002012-07-29T21:27:59.578-07:00Doula-ing the Movement Forward<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="entry">
<em>This is a piece I wrote about the Law Students for Reproductive Justice Leadership Institute I attended this weekend. The orginal post can be found at the <a href="http://reporepro.lsrj.org/2012/07/29/doula-ing-the-movement-forward/">Repossess Reproductive Justice Blog</a>.</em><br />
<br />
During the first day at the Leadership Institute, we discussed how
the reproductive justice model differs from other frameworks for
reproductive rights or social justice.<br />
<br />
It made me think back to when I was working as a labor doula before
law school. A labor doula is a trained and experienced professional who
provides continuous physical, emotional and informational support to a
woman before, during and just after birth. A doula learns that she is
there to help the woman have a safe and satisfying childbirth as the
woman defines it. It is not the role of the doula to discourage the
laboring woman from her choices, nor to project their own values and
goals onto her.<br />
<br />
As a doula, I was required to listen more than I talked. I learned
to encourage women to ask questions and get information rather than
doing it for her. I learned that I couldn’t possibly understand all the
circumstance of another woman’s life that drive her to make the
decisions she does, but that I should do everything in my power to hear
her and help her achieve those choices. I learned to work behind the
scenes, providing valuable skills and resources when needed, but never
taking the spotlight away from those who really mattered: the woman, her
family, and supporters. Outside of the birthing room, I advocated for
changes in a complex system of institutions, laws, and circumstances
that make it difficult for women to have the birth they knew was best
for them.<br />
<br />
What I heard during the RJ 101 session made me think hard about the
role of an RJ lawyer. In law school we learn how to be the interpreter
of the law and the one who gives advice. We are taught to stand up in
front and speak confidently. We are taught to be, or at least act like,
the experts our education prepares us to be.<br />
<br />
But the reproductive justice framework asks us to focus on the
intersections of race, class, sex, age, sexual orientation, gender
expression, immigration status, and ability and how they impact access,
agency, and autonomy in shaping one’s reproductive destiny. It shifts
our role from achieving a right or winning a case <strong>for </strong>someone to one that requires us to listen and to act only once we attempt to understand those we serve. It asks us to work <strong>with </strong>communities
as allies, strategists, and advisers to overcome the complex systems,
laws, and circumstances that make it difficult for people to have the
reproductive destiny they know is best for them.<br />
<br />
We must be doulas in the reproductive justice movement.<br />
<br />
I am incredibly honored to be at the L I with so many soon-to-be
lawyers who will continue to doula this movement, and those it affects,
forward with compassion, grace, and integrity.<br />
</div>
</div>JoAnnaJaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01685768623140733916noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16825044.post-62245086751336738542012-07-26T13:35:00.002-07:002012-07-26T13:35:36.555-07:00Sex Differences Matter<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The fight is to see people of all genders and sexes as socially, economically and politically equal. In the medical arena, however, there are major sex differences in bodily functions, prevalence of diseases and treatment effectiveness that must be recognized and addressed.<br />
<br /></div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/SDofpNiGGrQ" width="420"></iframe></div>JoAnnaJaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01685768623140733916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16825044.post-4007885231263155822012-07-08T18:00:00.000-07:002012-07-08T18:00:02.882-07:00BirthMarkings<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
One recurrent theme I heard when I was working as a doula was dismay about the changing body during pregnancy. Pregnant mommas put cocoa butter on their bellies to prevent stretch marks, discussed the breast-augmenting and weight-reducing properties of breast feeding, and lamented the loss of their girlish figures. The most astounding moment for me was when a woman, between contractions discussed with her mother the merits of plastic surgery to even out the different sized lips of her vagina, "since she would need a touch up after giving birth anyway."<br />
<br />
BirthMarkings, a 20 Minute film by Margaret Lazarus, the maker of <a href="http://www.mediarights.org/film/Beyond_Killing_Us_Softly_The_Strength_To_Resist">Killing Us Softly</a>, discusses the issues around body image after birth.<br />
<br />
From the International Museum of Women, <a href="http://mama.imow.org/">Motherhood Around the Globe</a> exhibit:<br />
<div class="views-field views-field-field-intro">
<div class="field-content">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="field-content">
Margaret Lazarus’ film “BirthMarkings” explores our post birth bodies—and how our self-image—change after giving birth. “BirthMarkings” reframes the concept of beauty and motherhood, raises important questions about body image, and reveals the incongruity of western standards of beauty with the natural process of pregnancy and childbirth. </div>
</blockquote>
You can see the film <a href="http://mama.imow.org/yourvoices/birthmarkings">HERE</a>.<br />
</div>
</div>
</div>JoAnnaJaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01685768623140733916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16825044.post-30252242109971439672012-07-05T06:44:00.001-07:002012-07-05T06:44:26.669-07:00Things I'm Reading<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="http://chronicle.com/article/Coming-Out-in-Class/132403/">Do You Job Better: Coming Out in Class</a>: On coming out transgender in an academic community. <br />
<a href="http://theweek.com/article/index/229808/the-atlantics-women-cant-have-it-all-manifesto-the-backlash">Responses to Slaughter's Article</a>: So much good discussion around workplace issues now.<br />
Lots of reviews of "50 Shades of Grey": <a href="http://www.hercircleezine.com/2012/05/02/anti-feminist-ideals-in-fifty-shades-of-grey/">http://www.hercircleezine.com/2012/05/02/anti-feminist-ideals-in-fifty-shades-of-grey/</a> The chapter-by-chapter, tongue-in-cheek synopsis at <a href="http://jenniferarmintrout.blogspot.ca/">http://jenniferarmintrout.blogspot.ca/</a> is by far the most in-depth, and most hilarious discussion. I am still trying to find someone who is willing to admit they own the trilogy so I can read them without having to support them with my dollars.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://crypto.stanford.edu/portia/papers/Zimmer_EIT.pdf">Surveillance, privacy and the ethics of vehicle safety communication technologies</a>: Yea this one seems strange, but I do work for a transportation organization. I am writing a paper on the ethical issues concerning vehicle-to-vehicle technologies.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/11-393c3a2.pdf">The Affordable Care Act Decision</a>: veeeeery interesting stuff. And <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/closeread/2012/06/ruth-bader-ginsburg-hero.html">why Ginsberg Should be given more credit than she was</a> by Amy Davidson the New Yorker.</div>JoAnnaJaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01685768623140733916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16825044.post-87285669606095783122012-06-26T10:10:00.000-07:002012-06-26T10:10:00.716-07:00Updates<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This blog started back in college when I was interning on the Hill. I had taken those posts down so I could work the campaign trail without reflecting badly on anyone I worked for. Now my past self will only reflect badly on me, so I have put most of the old posts up. <br />
<br />
Some are hilarious in their naivety. Some are awkward in their prose. Most of my opinions have benefited from a few years and so appear a little rough in their original forms. But most posts I have left unedited for your view pleasure. <br />
<br />
Enjoy.</div>JoAnnaJaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01685768623140733916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16825044.post-72613722696017243642012-06-25T09:48:00.000-07:002012-06-25T10:07:34.408-07:00Executive Intern<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Once I interned at a place so long that they were required to set up a 401(k) for me. I made so little that when I finally left, it had $107 in it.</div>JoAnnaJaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01685768623140733916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16825044.post-90903859869567398532012-06-22T13:57:00.003-07:002012-06-25T05:48:54.655-07:00Response to Slaughter's "Why Women Still Can't Have It All"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div>
The only thing I hate more than a career panel* is a career panel that focuses on work-life balance. I go to them looking for sage wisdom from the lawyers-with-lives who came before me. But, they are inevitably attended only by women and cater to women because women are supposedly the only ones who care about this topic. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Similarly, I really want to like Anne-Marie Slaughter's<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/07/why-women-still-can-8217-t-have-it-all/9020/1/"> "Why Women Still Can't Have it All." </a></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
I want to like it because I really hope to be one of those women who have to struggle with the oh-so-difficult problem of whether to stay in my awesome, time-consuming, high-powered job, or go back to my awesome, less time-consuming, professionally-satisfying job. I am glad she gives the nod to the fact that there are many factors to the problem. I heart that she realizes that her view is mostly a rich, white lady view of a much larger problem of having a life while paying the bills for people of all income levels, genders, stages of life, and in all industries. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
But I am so tired of this being structured as a women's issue.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<div>
I get it. The way society is set up means that most of the time women do end up the only ones that have to worry about this topic. Even when the topic of men's work-life balance is brought up, it is done is a poorly-executed way like the May 2012 Forbes article, <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeswomanfiles/2012/05/23/real-men-dont-need-work-life-balance/">"Real Men Don't Need Work Life Balance."</a> These articles aren't actually saying that women are they ones that have all the options and men are the ones who have it rough, but it certainly comes across that way.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
The solution that the career panels I attend and these articles profer run in two veins. The first is: change the work environment through hard work and perserverence. I will call this the Slaughter Approach. She advocates for talking a lot about your kids and about going home to dinner so it will normalize flexible schedules. But then she goes on to say that she works on nights and weekends in order to get stuff done, much like the "super women" she said are outside the realm of what is posible for most of us. She also implies that you have to be a woman in power to make changes, which does very little to help me now, as I am not (yet) a woman in power.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
The second vein is: have a supportive partner. That's great and all, but what if I don't want a partner? What if he or she wants to have a high powered job, too? Gloria Steinem is famous for saying that she didn't need a husband <a href="http://womenshistory.about.com/od/feministtexts/a/i_want_a_wife.htm">so much as she needed a wife</a>. A high powered job takes an army of support staff to make everything work. If you want that life, you either have to hire a nanny or ask your partner to take one for the (family) team. Doesn't that seem like throwing out the old chauvenism for the new feminist kind?</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
I would really like to see a new approach that writes articles for high-powered men titled, "Go Play with Your Kids and Stop Worrying About Putting Yet More Bacon on the Table." And articles for bosses called, "Require Employees to Leave at 5pm." And articles for society called, "Increase Social Benefits so Normal (not-so-rich) People Can Have Work-Life Balance, Too." Or even one called, "Family Planning and Better Daycare So I Can Be a Career Woman Without Kids If I Wanna Be."</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
This is a multi-faceted problem that is not going to be solved by women alone. I wish we could stop talking about it that way.<br />
<br />
------<br />
*I promise to rant more about career panels someday soon.</div>
</div>
</div>JoAnnaJaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01685768623140733916noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16825044.post-22623197071823482022012-06-21T14:42:00.002-07:002012-06-25T09:49:02.975-07:00Some things I'm Reading<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
From CNN Health: <a href="http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/14/battle-over-housework-breeds-stress/?hpt=he_c2">The Battle Over Housework Breeds Stress</a>. With perception of inequality in the relationship seen as a major factor. Duh.<br />
<br />
From Time Healthland: <a href="http://healthland.time.com/2012/06/04/why-most-moms-cant-reach-their-own-breast-feeding-goals/?iid=hl-main-feature">Why Most Mothers Don't Meet Their Own Breast-Feeding Goals</a>. Interesting article on the barriers to mothers meeting their breast feeding goals. FYI: the <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/index.htm">CDC</a> and <a href="http://www.who.int/features/qa/21/en/index.html">WHO</a> encourage exclusive breastfeeding for six months and continued breastfeeding in addition to other foods for as long as possible.<br />
<br />
News coverage on new study from the University of Adelaide:<a href="http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/590266/?sc=dwhp"> Earlier Birth is Best for Twins</a>. This one scares the bejesus out of me. The study suggests that an elected birth at 37 weeks is best for twins. According to the <a href="http://summaries.cochrane.org/CD003582/elective-delivery-of-women-with-a-twin-pregnancy-from-37-weeks-gestation">Cochrane Summaries</a> (an organization that reviews medical procedures to see if their are evidence-based), the evidence is really inconclusive, but articles like this one make it sound like fact. Also, it is really hard to tell the actual gestational age. That means you could deliver a baby you think is 37 weeks but be off by a couple...and with babies' lungs the last thing to develop, there could be serious ramifications. I'm obviously concerned.</div>JoAnnaJaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01685768623140733916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16825044.post-36751734054544526552012-06-18T17:36:00.000-07:002012-06-18T17:36:37.139-07:0043 Thousand Emails<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
When presented with a seemingly Terrible Task, you know -- are just positively sure -- that there has to be a less terrible way of doing it. There is no way on Earth that you are the first person presented with this particular Terrible Task. <br />
<br />
More importantly that person who came before you OBVIOUSLY took the time to figure out an easier way of doing it and then kindly documented it online for the next poor soul presented with the Terrible Task.<br />
<br />
Right? Please? Somebody? No? Crap.<br />
<br />
For future generations of those asked to do Terrible Tasks, let me document this for you: HOW TO SORT THROUGH 43,000 EMAILS WITHOUT CRYING<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>Skip the panicking, the call to the help desk, the desperate reading of the Outlook Help Guide (which will be infuriatingly vague). Skip the Googling random email-related terms in hopes that someone else had figured out how to do this before you. I've done all that for you.</li>
<li>Go to www.x1.com and download the software (if you can't get your work to buy you the program, just use the trial version).</li>
<li>Read their three-page tutorial.</li>
<li>The tutorial doesn't mention that it is easier if you import the emails into your outlook first (instead of searching them as files). It will save you an hour. Just thought you should know. </li>
<li>Perform the search that you have been requested to do and narrow the emails down to a more manageable number.</li>
<li>You are now the master of all that is on your computer. You are basically magic.</li>
</ol>
<br />
Now you will have 1,300 emails. Which is way less than 43,000. Inevitably, you will want to dance a little at this point. You will be expecting someone to refer to you as "The Miracle Worker" and offer to buy you lunch at the food truck across the street. <br />
<br />
At this point, they will ask you to PDF all 1,300 emails. <br />
<br />
And so an added bonus: HOW TO PDF 1,300 EMAILS WITHOUT HAVING TO DO THEM ONE BY ONE*<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>Skip the hour-long phone call with the help desk. And the sinking feeling in your stomach when <a href="http://www.pchelps.com/">the experts</a> have to escalate it to their boss who has to escalate it to their boss who still is stumped at first. And the pleading that PDF isn't that cool of a format and who wants to read a PDF anyway? You can skip that, too. I did all that for you.</li>
<li>Create a .pst folder in your Outlook.</li>
<li>Drag all the emails into it that you want to pdf. </li>
<li>Right click on the folder and then click "create pdf."</li>
<li>Create portfolio. It is easier to read/manage than individual pdfs.</li>
<li>Pretend like you had to pdf them one by one, freeing yourself up for an afternoon of Words With Friends.**</li>
</ol>
<br />
You are welcome.<br />
<br />
-------<br />
*I'm sorry if this only works in Outlook 2010 and you don't have 2010. That would suck.<br />
**For the record, I've never played WWF in my life.</div>JoAnnaJaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01685768623140733916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16825044.post-86110991312839644142012-06-17T20:53:00.001-07:002012-06-17T20:53:14.349-07:00Plain Writing Act of 2010<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I was asked to put together a presentation for senior staff on the agency's obligations under the <a href="http://www.plainlanguage.gov/plLaw/index.cfm">Plain Writing Act of 2010</a>. It basically requires the government to write documents for public consumption that the public can actually consume. Emphasis is placed on short, easy-to-read sentences and friendly, what-up-girl phrasing.<br />
<br />
I enjoy this Act so much for its straight-faced irony. It uses ten (or fifty) words to say what could be said in five. It refers back to other paragraphs in the same document (forcing you to go back and reread) instead of just telling to what you need to know. In addition, there is a six page guidance from OMB referring to a <a href="http://www.plainlanguage.gov/howto/guidelines/FederalPLGuidelines/FederalPLGuidelines.pdf">118 page guidance</a> from the<a href="http://www.plainlanguage.gov/index.cfm"> PLAIN Committee</a> tasked with implementing this plan.<br />
<br />
Here is my favorite piece of guidance demonstrating the way to write more clearly (version 2 is supposed to be the correct version):<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM6nnshtousqBuTumC4p8mlvCQRBfFjvsT2Ijz-f9ezsyj26Akw3xBW9DU-WMJZilhmfepk6tt9h_i820zADEs4-Gp03vLhm12Ubn-0bVlg52VkZiCGFXQUnJgapMngyzXm52omw/s1600/IMAG0203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM6nnshtousqBuTumC4p8mlvCQRBfFjvsT2Ijz-f9ezsyj26Akw3xBW9DU-WMJZilhmfepk6tt9h_i820zADEs4-Gp03vLhm12Ubn-0bVlg52VkZiCGFXQUnJgapMngyzXm52omw/s400/IMAG0203.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Oh, sentences ending in a preposition. You just can't make this stuff up.*<br />
<br />
Anyhoo . . . In order to create my presentation for senior staff, I looked up my agency's point-person for implementing the Act. I drafted a nice email (making sure it was in plain language) asking for information I could use. Reread it for content. Ran spell check. Sent it off to the correct person.<br />
<br />
And as I hit send, my short little intern life flashed before my eyes. I had just committed a grievous error and I realized it too late.<br />
<br />
The point person for these types of things is usually a VERY high level person, but the actual work is usually handled by their staff. That's why there is often a <a href="mailto:PlainLanguage@dot.gov">general email address</a> associated with government actions like this one. So basically, an intern (read: me) sent a polite yet rather inappropriate email to a very high level individual. Whoops.<br />
<br />
I called her staffer: "Um, I'm an intern and I messed up"<br />
<br />
"How much did you mess up?"<br />
<br />
"Only a little bit."<br />
<br />
"Oh, do tell."<br />
<br />
"I sent and email to [the official]. Can you fix my mistake for me, dear sir?"<br />
<br />
And the staffer thrice pounded his head on his desk and thought so loudly to himself that I could hear it resonate from his brain through the phone, "God, I hate intern season."**<br />
<br />
---<br />
*Actually, my dad and I get in fights over this grammar rule fairly frequently (yes, my family is strange). The <a href="http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/ending-prepositions.aspx">Grammar Girl clarifies when it is ok </a>to end a sentence with a preposition. I would argue that this is not one of those time.<br />
<br />
**And then he did, indeed, fix my mistake and send me some very informative materials. And was totally pleasant doing it. Thanks, dear sir!</div>JoAnnaJaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01685768623140733916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16825044.post-63876204598026529362012-06-05T13:33:00.000-07:002012-06-05T13:33:43.015-07:00Interning Again<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I am in the ridiculous position of being back in DC as an intern after several years of full-time employment. I am also back at the same agency I was at previously being paid a very handsome wage to do much of what I am now doing for an intern's stipend (not that I am complaining THAT loudly....many of my colleagues are not being remunerated for their efforts this summer).<br />
<br />
The real problem? I am 26, which in intern years is like inviting your mother to your kegger. Generally, I am pleased that I pass as an employee among my former co-workers, but among the interns, I become<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/campus-overload/post/thatintern-the-old-intern/2011/08/02/gIQAX8W3pI_blog.html"> THAT intern as described by the Washington Post</a>. I thinking owning a full contingency of suits/work-appropriate clothing really gives me away.<br />
<br />
Actually, the post did <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/04/AR2009080403258.html">another article about the phenomenon of older interns</a>. I think we are getting more respect (pity?) in this iffy economic climate.<br />
<br />
In any case, restarting this blog in order to talk about my experiences as the Girl Intern, Part Deux. Will still continue to blog about knitting over at <a href="http://www.ambitiousknits.com/">Ambitious Knits.</a></div>JoAnnaJaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01685768623140733916noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16825044.post-77268105040692500682008-07-28T20:31:00.000-07:002012-05-15T20:31:55.190-07:00"You Are NOT Normal"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Sitting in a classroom on a Sunday learning about targeting and media markets, working 18 hour work days and having fun doing it, getting excited about budgeting and fundraising. Not things the average American would get caught doing....the trainers keep trying to remind us this periodically: "You are NOT normal!" The average voter doesn't give a hoot about all this politics crap. And yet, I am immersed in it constantly, obsessively. And I am supposed to be the one able to talk to the voters....<br />
<br />
Tomorrow I have to make my decision about my top choices for campaigns. I am still unsure what I am qualified to do, so I am just going to make a few random choices (sorry, mom, except for a race in IA, I think I am going to avoid the Midwest...too much snow) and let fate take its course. We have been way too busy for me to do the level of research that I wanted to do. But I trust that EMILY's List did a great job of choosing these races.<br />
<br />
Today we met <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Malcolm">Ellen Malcolm</a>. She is the founder and current president of EMILY's List. Not sure if you are familiar with the history of EMILY's List, but basically, Ellen and her friends thought that it would be easier to elect women candidates if they could fundraise earlier. Early fundraising makes big money donaters like PACs see that they are viable candidates and makes them want to give more money to help them win. So Ellen and her friends asked their friends to make small donations to pro-choice women candidates. They bundled these checks together, sent them to candidates, and together raised more than $300,000 for two women candidates and electing the first democratic woman to the senate in her own right. Rdiculously cool. This group became EMILY's List.<br />
<br />
Today we also went to the EMILY's List headquarters for a reception with the staff. Good food. HUGE beautiful office. They certainly have plenty of money and it was exciting to see so many people dedicated to helping women in politics. It gives me much hope.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/EPH/8130%7EGeorge-W-Bush-Monkey-Posters.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/EPH/8130%7EGeorge-W-Bush-Monkey-Posters.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 200px;" /></a>I am getting along well with my campaign team. They are fantastic people (although mostly Obama supporters....oh Hillary....) and really fun to work with. We created a fantastic attack direct mail piece calling George Bush a monkey. If I can figure out how to post it to the web, I will show it to you.<br />
<br />
This is the first night in what seems like an eternity that I can get to bed before midnight so I should prolly take advantage of that. Write me an email or something. I need to talk about anything other than politics.</div>JoAnnaJaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01685768623140733916noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16825044.post-38960459408741837232008-07-27T14:41:00.000-07:002012-05-01T14:42:15.275-07:00What's $500 Anyway?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So I wrote my first campaign budget today. It is pretty ridiculously bad from a I-know-what-I'm-doing-so-don't-worry-that-you-put-me-in-charge standpoint, but at least I know enough about campaigning after today to be able to know that it is bad. Mostly it is fun to throw around a few hundred/thousand/hundred thousand dollars like nothing. Fake money is fun to spend. Earning it will be the difficult part, I guess.<br />
<br />
This morning, a lifetime ago, we started with campaign planning, followed by budgeting. Then we got to meet with our teams to staff our campaign. I have been designated communications director as well as the candidate whenever she is supposed to speak or be on posters. Not sure if voters would elect a girl with slightly pinkish-when-in-the-right-light hair as a state rep, but I guess we will find out. This afternoon we were introduced to fundraising, and then...DUN DUN DUUUUUNNNNN!!!!....<br />
<br />
We found out about the campaigns that we could be assigned to. There are only a few congressional races, mostly state legislative races. Some working for state Democratic committees. They are all women candidates. The states range from Iowa to Florida to Washington. I have my work cut out for me ranking them by Wednesday. Do I want to be one of only two staffers on a state legislative race? I would get to do amazingly cool things, but it would be on a small level. Or work on a US House race and have less power over the direction of the campaign, but do equally (and maybe more so) amazingly cool things? Ack!<br />
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In the meantime, I am sooooo hungry. TDR food is just not working for me, but I think that's because there is no protein containing foods that look edible. So it is peanut butter and scrambled eggs for breakfast tomorrow. Followed by fundraising. Lots and lots of fundraising.</div>JoAnnaJaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01685768623140733916noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16825044.post-87409084494688434932008-07-25T14:43:00.000-07:002012-05-01T14:43:50.820-07:00A Lime Green Suitcase and a Pack of Graham Crackers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So, I am off on my campaign adventure. You will notice that I am writing this at 11:30 at night. That's because we JUST finished our campaign simulation and I am supposed to be sleeping so I can get up tomorrow morning and do some more.<br />
<br />
I started the day off with a crazy, bat-out-of-hell bus ride across town, shepherded by a haphazard new WMATA trainee bus driver back to my dorm room after having delivered all the belongings that don't fit into my tiny but deceptively heavy suitcases to a friend's house (these, incidentally, are the things you can win if you enter my contest to plan my life). I sat on and zipped my lime green suitcase, threw the graham crackers that were inexplicably on my bookshelf into my tote, turned in my keys and internet equipment (yes, GW, you live in the stone age, requiring me to have equipment in order to connect to the internet), and taxied it up to AU.<br />
<br />
Woah is it weird being back on campus. And woah I cannot believe my parents let me live in a place like this. AU has nicer dorms than, say, William Jewell College, but these are for real smaller than any apartment the DC government would let you house this many people in. If I was sad I was done with college before, this changed my mind.<br />
<br />
But yea, back on campus. We did icebreakers, were introduced to the program, and received our four inch (count it, four inch) binder of everything we need to know about campaigns. The schedule is ridiculously jam-packed and I am afraid that any hopes of AWOLing it from boot camp later this week have been dashed (unless anyone wants to meet me in the quad with some Ben and Jerry's Phish Food around midnight).<br />
<br />
The main attraction during this week is a campaign simulation. Basically, there are ten teams that are creating campaign plans for a candidate from the good state of Delusion. Tonight my team and I spent an awfully long time reading about the candidate and writing down general ideas about what it will take to win. Tomorrow we learn more about campaign planning.<br />
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More later.</div>JoAnnaJaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01685768623140733916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16825044.post-11815325862328444302008-07-17T11:10:00.000-07:002012-05-01T14:40:12.185-07:00Plan JoAnna's Life and Win a Cool Prize!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
So…I have this campaign job for three months. But coming up in November, I have no clue what I am going to do. So…..</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
I am hosting a competition called "Plan JoAnna's Life And Win a Cool Prize." All you have to do is come up with something (or a series of things) I can do for two years, starting in November when the election is over. No idea is too outrageous, but winning ideas will be those that are inexpensive/lucrative, would sound interesting in a blog/memoir/bar/children's book, and won't get me into a situation where death or maiming are the only possible outcomes. The winner will receive any of a number of cool prizes (mostly consisting of the things that don't fit into the two suitcases that the airline is going to charge me for taking on the plane with me).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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May the best idea win!<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>JoAnnaJaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01685768623140733916noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16825044.post-57611482609756661852008-07-14T10:03:00.000-07:002012-06-25T10:04:18.429-07:00Hitting the Trail<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: 100%;">As you may know, I am working as a campaign consultant for <a href="http://www.emilyslist.org/do/ccorps/">EMILY's List Camp</a></span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><a href="http://www.emilyslist.org/do/ccorps/">aign Corps</a>. I</span><span style="font-size: 100%;"> will go through a week of training from July 25-August 1st to learn to be the best </span><span style="font-size: 100%;">campaign staffer ever. Then Campaign Corps is going to ship me off to a campaign </span><span style="font-size: 100%;">som</span><span style="font-size: 100%;">ewhere i</span><span style="font-size: 100%;">n the country. I will be there until </span><span style="font-size: 100%;">Election Day. I am way more than a little e</span><span style="font-size: 100%;">xcited (and </span><span style="font-size: 100%;">nervous) about what this is going to be like, but it should be an incredible way to learn about</span><span style="font-size: 100%;"> politics and elections and to meet some really interesting people.</span> <span style="font-size: 100%;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 100%;">I will totally send you a post card from the trail if you are interested.</span><span style="font-size: 100%;"> Just send me your snail mail address. Alternatively, email is always nice and, while less exciting than getting real mail in your mailbox, kills fewer trees.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 100%;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 100%;">I hope to see everyone before I leave, but if not, come visit me on the trail.</span></div>JoAnnaJaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01685768623140733916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16825044.post-33687901556312686842008-07-10T20:34:00.000-07:002012-05-15T20:34:16.582-07:00Massachusetts State Senator Arrested for Sexually Harassing Four Women<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I read the headline for <a href="http://feminist.org/news/newsbyte/uswirestory.asp?id=11120">this </a>article and couldn't figure out whether to laugh or to cry. I can only imagine what this state senator had to do in order to get arrested for sexual harassment (something that is usually a civil offense, not a criminal one). It had to be pretty egregious. But what a joke it is that they would arrest some random state senator, but not the even more powerful people that do this kind of thing on a regular basis without the worry that anyone would ever dream of getting them in trouble.<br />
<br />
For example, my friend was interning in one of the Senate committees last year, and headed over to get some yummy popcorn from the Senate dining room. One of the committee staffers she worked with asked her to grab a bowl of ice cream, too. My friends was waiting for the elevator with popcorn in one hand and ice cream in the other, when the "Senators Only" elevator door opened, with a Senator standing there. As required by Hill etiquette (and the sign banning her from that elevator), my friend didn't get on the elevator with the Senator. The Senator motioned her into the elevator saying, "Come on in." As the door closed he followed up with, "But you'll owe me."<br />
<br />
My friend giggled uncomfortably, holding tighter to her ice cream and popcorn. The doors opened on the next floor and the Senator started to leave the now awkwardly small elevator. As he walked by my friend, he grabbed a handful of popcorn and (and here's the kicker) scooped a finger-full of ice cream out of the bowl she was holding and licked it off seductively. With a rakish grin, he walked off to, idunno, meet with constituents or write a bill or something that maybe creepy people shouldn't be doing.<br />
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Where is the press corps for these incidents?</div>JoAnnaJaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01685768623140733916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16825044.post-3482133418365023312008-07-01T20:25:00.001-07:002008-07-01T20:30:21.338-07:00<span style="font-weight: bold;">Notable Truman Scholars</span><br /><br />Because my mother wanted to know which famous people (besides George Stephenopolis of course) have won the Truman Scholarship. Enjoy! (All stolen from wiki, obviously)<br /><h3><span class="mw-headline">1970s</span></h3> <ul><li>Ernest Calderon (1977), Member of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona" title="Arizona">Arizona</a> Board of Regents</li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_Napolitano" title="Janet Napolitano">Janet Napolitano</a> (1977), <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governor" title="Governor">Governor</a> of the State of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona" title="Arizona">Arizona</a>, 2003-</li><li>Frederick G. Slabach (1977), Executive Secretary of the Truman Scholarship Foundation</li><li>Dwight Diveley (1978), Director of Finance for the City of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle%2C_Washington" title="Seattle, Washington">Seattle</a></li><li>Awilda R. Marquez (1978), Director of the Department of Excise and Licenses, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denver%2C_CO" class="mw-redirect" title="Denver, CO">Denver</a></li><li>Keith B. Richburg (1978), Author and correspondent for the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Post" class="mw-redirect" title="Washington Post">Washington Post</a></li><li>Robert J. Van Der Velde (1979), candidate for Judge, Lake County (OH) Court of Common Pleas</li></ul> <p><a name="1980s"></a></p> <h3><span class="editsection"></span><span class="mw-headline">1980s</span></h3> <ul><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Toobin" title="Jeffrey Toobin">Jeffrey Toobin</a> (1980), senior legal analyst for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CNN" title="CNN">CNN</a> and staff writer at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Yorker" title="The New Yorker">The New Yorker</a></li><li>David Adkins (1981), Vice-Chancellor of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Kansas" title="University of Kansas">University of Kansas</a> Medical Center</li><li>Linda Epperly (1981), Assistant <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Attorney" title="United States Attorney">United States Attorney</a> for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma" title="Oklahoma">Oklahoma</a></li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Halter" title="Bill Halter">Bill Halter</a> (1981), Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas</li><li>Dan Sichel (1981), Deputy Associate Director, Division of Research and Statistics, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Reserve" class="mw-redirect" title="Federal Reserve">Federal Reserve</a></li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Stephanopoulos" title="George Stephanopoulos">George Stephanopoulos</a> (1981), broadcaster and political advisor</li><li>David Cooley (1982), Deputy Governor of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee" title="Tennessee">Tennessee</a></li><li>Matt Crowl (1982), Deputy Chief of Staff to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_M._Daley" title="Richard M. Daley">Mayor of Chicago</a></li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russ_Dallen" title="Russ Dallen">Russ Dallen</a> (1982), Editor-in-chief of The <a href="http://www.thedailyjournalonline.com/" class="external text" title="http://www.thedailyjournalonline.com" rel="nofollow">Daily Journal</a></li><li>Leslie Koch (1982), President of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governors_Island" title="Governors Island">Governors Island</a> Preservation and Education Corporation</li><li>Laurel McFarland (1982), Executive Director, National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration</li><li>Andra Samoa (1982), CEO of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Samoa" title="American Samoa">American Samoa</a> Power Authority</li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Sugrue" title="Thomas Sugrue">Thomas Sugrue</a> (1982), professor of history and sociology at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Pennsylvania" title="University of Pennsylvania">University of Pennsylvania</a></li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roosevelt_Thompson" title="Roosevelt Thompson">Roosevelt Thompson</a> (1982), community leader, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Rock%2C_Arkansas" title="Little Rock, Arkansas">Little Rock, Arkansas</a></li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_A._Coons" title="Christopher A. Coons">Chris Coons</a> (1983), County Executive, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Castle_County%2C_Delaware" title="New Castle County, Delaware">New Castle County</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delaware" title="Delaware">Delaware</a></li><li>Todd F. Gaziano (1983), Director of the Center for Legal & Judicial Studies at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heritage_Foundation" title="Heritage Foundation">Heritage Foundation</a> <sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truman_scholarship#cite_note-18" title="">[19]</a></sup></li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Luis_A._Ubi%C3%B1as&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Luis A. Ubiñas (page does not exist)">Luis A. Ubiñas</a> (1983), President of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Foundation" title="Ford Foundation">Ford Foundation</a></li><li>William Mercer (1984), <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Attorney" title="United States Attorney">United States Attorney</a> for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montana" title="Montana">Montana</a></li><li>William E. Thro (1984), Solicitor General for the Commonwealth of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia" title="Virginia">Virginia</a></li><li>Autumn Fiester (1986), Senior Fellow at the Center for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioethics" title="Bioethics">Bioethics</a> at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Pennsylvania" title="University of Pennsylvania">University of Pennsylvania</a></li><li>Michael W. Welch (1986), Director, National Association of Air Traffic Specialists, Mayor Pro Tempore, North Pole, Alaska</li><li>Maryam Banikarim (1987), Chief Marketing Officer at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Univision" title="Univision">Univision</a></li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Gorsuch" title="Neil Gorsuch">Neil Gorsuch</a> (1987), Circuit Judge for the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Court_of_Appeals_for_the_Tenth_Circuit" title="United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit">United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit</a></li><li>Catherine Sheehan (1989), Deputy Assistant Inspector General at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Justice" title="United States Department of Justice">Department of Justice</a></li></ul> <p><a name="1990s"></a></p> <h3><span class="editsection"></span><span class="mw-headline">1990s</span></h3> <ul><li>Maj. John Carr (1993), former <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Air_Force" title="United States Air Force">United States Air Force</a> prosecutor at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_detainment_camp" class="mw-redirect" title="Guantanamo Bay detainment camp">Guantanamo Bay detainment camp</a></li><li>Rodney Martin (1993), National Chairman of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reform_Party_of_the_United_States_of_America" title="Reform Party of the United States of America">Reform Party USA</a> and former member of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona" title="Arizona">Arizona</a> Commission of Indian Affairs</li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Paulose" title="Rachel Paulose">Rachel Paulose</a> (1993), <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Attorney" title="United States Attorney">United States Attorney</a> for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota" title="Minnesota">Minnesota</a></li><li>Stacey Abrams (1994), <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_%28U.S._state%29" title="Georgia (U.S. state)">Georgia</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_House_of_Representatives" title="Georgia House of Representatives">State Representative</a>, 84th District</li><li>Glenn O. Brown (1995), former Executive Director of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Commons" title="Creative Commons">Creative Commons</a></li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cranley" title="John Cranley">John Cranley</a> (1995), <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincinnati" class="mw-redirect" title="Cincinnati">Cincinnati</a> City Councilmember</li><li>Daniel S. Fridman (1995), Senior Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General</li><li>Michele Gavin (1995), International Affairs Fellow at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_on_Foreign_Relations" title="Council on Foreign Relations">Council on Foreign Relations</a></li><li>Tiffany Graham (1995), Assistant Professor of Law at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villanova_University" title="Villanova University">Villanova University</a> School of Law</li><li>Jenifer J Harr (1995), Senior Research Scientist, American Institutes for Research</li><li>Maya Kulycky (1995), <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABC_News" title="ABC News">ABC News</a> correspondent</li><li>Edward Miguel (1995), Associate Professor of Economics at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_California%2C_Berkeley" title="University of California, Berkeley">UC-Berkeley</a></li><li>Heidi A Ramirez (1995), Director, Urban Education Collaborative at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_University" title="Temple University">Temple University</a> College of Education</li><li>Darci L Vetter (1995), Director for Agricultural Affairs, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_the_U.S._Trade_Representative" class="mw-redirect" title="Office of the U.S. Trade Representative">Office of the U.S. Trade Representative</a></li><li>Jake Zimmerman (1995), <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri" title="Missouri">Missouri</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri_House_of_Representatives" title="Missouri House of Representatives">State Representative</a>, 83rd District</li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jedediah_Purdy" title="Jedediah Purdy">Jedediah Purdy</a> (1996), Author and Professor, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_University" title="Duke University">Duke University</a> School of Law</li><li>Justin Phillips (1997), Assistant Professor of Political Science at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbia_University" title="Columbia University">Columbia University</a></li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Noam_Scheiber&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Noam Scheiber (page does not exist)">Noam Scheiber</a> (1997), Senior Editor of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Republic" title="The New Republic">The New Republic</a></li></ul> <p><a name="2000s"></a></p> <h3><span class="editsection"></span> <span class="mw-headline">2000s</span></h3> <ul><li>David Haskell (2000), Editor of Topic Magazine</li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Delligatti" title="Matt Delligatti">Matt Delligatti</a> (2007), Councilman <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairmont%2C_West_Virginia" title="Fairmont, West Virginia">Fairmont, West Virginia</a></li></ul>JoAnnaJaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01685768623140733916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16825044.post-69166581487491286762008-07-01T18:59:00.000-07:002008-07-01T19:02:53.701-07:00<span style="font-weight: bold;"> Primer on Our 33rd President<br /><br /></span> So you hear me referring to the "Truman Foundation," to my "fellow Trumans," and to "Truman Summer Institute." You are thinking "this girl hangs out with a bunch of people who are obsessed with Truman." It's true. We have a little bit of a fondness for the 33<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Harry-truman.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Harry-truman.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>rd President,<br />since he helped us get our hands on the biggest chunk of money that any of us future public servants are likely to ever see in our lifetimes. So here are some fun facts (stolen from various websites) that will help you learn to appreciate my presidential benefactor almost as much as we do:<br />• His parents chose "S" as his middle name, in attempt to please both of Harry's grandfathers, Anderson Shippe Truman and Solomon Young; the initial did not actually stand for anything.<br />• With the onset of American participation in World War I, Truman rejoined the National Guard. At his physical in 1905, his eyesight had been an unacceptable 20/50 in the right eye and 20/400 in the left. Reportedly he passed by secretly memorizing the eye chart.<br />• When, in late 1999, C-Span asked 90 historians to rate all 41 U.S. Presidents, Truman ranked number 5.<br />• Truman's Vice-Presidential acceptance speech was less than a minute long (one of the shortest ever).<br />• In 1950, President Harry Truman threw out the first ball twice at the opening day Washington DC baseball game; once right handed and once left handed.JoAnnaJaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01685768623140733916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16825044.post-86050191102354682082008-06-04T10:06:00.000-07:002012-06-25T10:06:53.081-07:00Highest Court in the Land (and the People that Play Basketball There)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Today we went to visit the Supreme Court for a personal visit with some of the nation's coolest folks. After a walk from Capitol South that made my haven't-worn-heels-in-awhile feet cringe and making it through security, we headed up the marble stair case, past the oral argument room, into a back hallway and were stationed in a beautiful room with the seats crammed together to accommodate all forty-plus of us.<br />
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First on the agenda was Major General William K Suter (not related to the Supreme Court Justice...it's spelled differently), the Clerk of the Court. Not the kind of clerk that writes opinions for the justices, but the guy who receives lawyer's applications for admission to the Supreme Court bar and supervises the management of the about 150 cases accepted for Supreme Court review each year. Mr. Suter was cool, not only because he was an Appellate Judge, Deputy Staff Judge Advocate of the US Army, Staff Judge Advocate of the 101st Airborne Division, Commandant of the JAG School and Assistant Judge Advocate Gender of the Army, but also because he has been clerk of the Supreme Court since 1991. That means, in a court that has only had 17 Chief Justices (or 18 if you count William Cushing, who may or may not have actually been a justice), Suter has seen a solid tenth of all the Chief Justices in action. The guy has been around.<br />
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Because of this career longevity, he was able to speak about the differences between the Chief Justices and how the different courts are influenced by the politics and legal reasoning of different justices. Infuriatingly, though, he refused to admit any ideological differences saying that "The truth is the truth" and that by careful examination of the facts, any justice would come up with the same answer. Tell that to Al Gore, my friend. He also provided insight into the occasional silliness of the Court, describing the basketball games played on the "highest court in the land" (the basketball court upstairs).<br />
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Next up was the venerable Justice Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.<br />
Later in the day, Stacey Abrams, State House Representative for the 84th District in the Georgia General Assembly (and 1994 Truman Scholar), spoke to us about her experiences in public service.</div>JoAnnaJaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01685768623140733916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16825044.post-34917696668881317022008-06-03T19:07:00.000-07:002008-12-09T01:18:40.821-08:00<span style="font-weight: bold;">I Am Surrounded By Crazy People</span><br /><br />Good crazy, but crazy all the same. Every person I talk to is INCREDIBLY smart and has a cause or policy interest they care about so much that they amaze you with their level of knowledge every time they open their mouths. They are starting schools in India and Kenya, running for office, writing agricultural and economic policy and clocking more volunteer hours than is reasonably possible. Downright crazy, and I am one of them. Welcome to the Truman Summer Institute Class of 2008! (To know just how crazy we are, please see <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=9iX-u2zUptM&feature=related">this amazing youtube </a>video written, directed, and acted by my Truman class outlining the scholarship application process. Make sure you catch all the parts).<br /><br />Summer Institute (SI) kicks off with a week of activities designed to give us a look into different public service options and to encourage us to get the most out of our summer of DC internships. These activities are meant to be thought provoking, insightful, deep and inspiring. So, of course, the first thing we do is go on a dinner cruise.<br /><br />According to their <a href="http://www.odysseycruises.com/dc/index.cfm">website</a>, the Odyssey Cruise Ship DC is "the only vessel designed specifically to travel beneath the Potomac's historic bridges."<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Da_RJBAy9fRYcSluL2Ou9RQCPn7lfKztIGJmaOuTim4OIfXmUB2gQ0X40fWjCC_gGPUylXAAYqoW08oA722xsd7QCq2U9VdtgzzVqqApWaayJbpBd7dLCuJcOcrQH96xfyUwOQ/s1600-h/n15600325_34625785_299.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5Da_RJBAy9fRYcSluL2Ou9RQCPn7lfKztIGJmaOuTim4OIfXmUB2gQ0X40fWjCC_gGPUylXAAYqoW08oA722xsd7QCq2U9VdtgzzVqqApWaayJbpBd7dLCuJcOcrQH96xfyUwOQ/s320/n15600325_34625785_299.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5214896854516917266" border="0" /></a> The dining area, where they serve you a ridiculously luscious four course meal) is completely enclosed in glass. You can (when it isn't raining) see the monuments slide by as you eat dinner and dance on the dance floor to the live band playing the <span style="font-style: italic;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Cha</span>-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Cha</span> Slide</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">YMCA</span>.<br /><br />The majority of the patrons seemed to be couples celebrating their anniversaries. I don't think they found it at all amusing to have forty recent college grads being rowdy on the dance floor, interrupting their dinners. The band loved us because we actually cheered for them.<br /><br />A good time was had by all.JoAnnaJaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01685768623140733916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16825044.post-1131028007588047632005-11-03T09:57:00.000-08:002012-06-25T09:58:16.886-07:00The Petition Game<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The senate interns have come up with two new games to make the office a little bit more fun. The first involves counting petitions. We get literally thousands of petitions about hundreds of subjects every day. We throw them in a big box until the end of the week. On Fridays we get all the interns together, and make piles of all the like petitions (e.g. all the anti-abortion petitions in one pile, all the pro-physical therapy funding petitions in another). The goal is to make piles of 50 like petitions as fast as you can. The person with the most piles at the end of petition-sorting wins. Yea, studpid game, right? You try sorting and counting all those tiny pieces of paper.</div>JoAnnaJaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01685768623140733916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16825044.post-1130457209227694802005-10-28T09:55:00.000-07:002012-06-25T09:56:40.601-07:00Fire and Brimstone<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Today the interns got to meet the Senator. Today JoAnna got to skip Spanish class to meet the Senator. Can life be any better (?Puede ser viva mejor?)?<br />
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The problem with meeting an important person is that I have to physically prepare myself for the event. I have calmed way down since my Senate Feaux Pas on the tram, but I still get butterflies and red-faced when I am around important people. Additionally, I get crazy nightmares about the Senator asking me to make copies of an important speech. I go to press the copy button and the machine not only jams but explodes into a gigantic pile of confetti right on the reception room floor. Right then, a large group of tourists stroll by with another senate intern pointing out my embarrassment as yet another cool capital hill attraction.<br />
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What this means, Richard, is that I should never be an important person myself. I would be in a continual state of distress knowing that I would have to talk to other important people every day.<br />
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But the day ended up going really well (and I didn't have to make copies for anyone). We took group pictures on one of the Russell Building marble stairways, took a picture one on one with the Senator (who greeted us by name, proving that the briefing book works pretty well....or that the intern coordinator was standing behind us mouthing our names), and then got to crowd around the tiny conference room table to ask the senator any questions we wanted to.<br />
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You ever watch C-SPAN? I will admit that I am as addicted to it as my roommate is addicted to Gilmore Girls. But when you watch the senators on the floor, they seem bored, restless, and simply annoyed to have to take time out of their busy schedules to participate in a roll call vote. On occasion they will have a bizarrely heated discussion about sometime weird (like the argument that broke out last week over naming a federal building after Rosa Parks) but generally I am the only person in the world that gets a kick out of C-SPAN.<br />
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Talking to a senator (my senator at least) in person is an entirely different experience. It may be that we were a captive audience who would have been please with anything, or that there were no cameras in the room, but the Senator was so excited about all of our questions and answered with so much enthusiasm and passion. Every now and then I am reminded why I like DC and politics and all that: the senators, even the ones I disagree with, got to the senate because they are really smart people with an incredible passion for what they do. My senator is a little unique (aka: a stone cold genius), but speaking about the most mundane topics like poverty and civil rights, the senator's voice started soaring and the speech got more eloquent. By the end of a tirade about the Bush administration's actions concerning Katrina, the Senator was invoking the fire and brimstone that only one of our time's greatest political and oratorical minds can put forth. I truly believe that I am working for the right person and that I am working for the right ideals.</div>JoAnnaJaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01685768623140733916noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16825044.post-1130455690220857762005-10-18T09:54:00.000-07:002012-06-25T09:54:42.742-07:00Energy!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Today I was assigned to work on a couple of projects. This is the fun part of interning: you get to work with the staffers on specific issues. Today I was assigned to the legislative assistant in charge of environmental and energy issues. It was my job to compile a bunch of information into a spread sheet that would be used throughout the winter. The best part of this was the comments I received once I emailed it to him: "Thanks, JoAnna! This will provide the basis for several fantastic press releases over the winter." When the senator gives a speech about energy over the next few weeks and months, chances are that some of my work went in to making it possible. Cool, huh?<br />
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Project number two: putting together briefing books. Each night we put together a binder that includes a detailed schedule, the names of all the people (names, what they do, why they are visiting, all of the stuff the senator needs to know to sound smart...Sometimes we even include pictures of people) that the senator will have appointments with the following day, all of the speeches that will be given, and all the policy to be announced. If you see a senator in the hallway, chances are that they or their aid tagging along behind them has one of these books.<br />
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The interesting part about this book was that I both made it and was in it...The following day all of the interns were meeting for lunch with the senator. We took pictures of all the interns and added brief descriptions of how we all got to be here. The theory is that the Senator, after looking at our pictures and reading the bios, should be able to greet us by name in the hallway. I don't know how effective it is, but I like that my face made it into an important binder.</div>JoAnnaJaehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01685768623140733916noreply@blogger.com1