One thing I have learned is that even when it is dark, cloudy, and raining, it can still be warm and humid. Unfortunately I did not take it to heart during my out-of-office assignment. I was to deliver campaign contributions for congressional candidate Joyce Elliot and Congressman Martin Heinrich to an address that was located south of Capitol Hill and required me to take the Metro. However, all the walking that was required on my round trip took longer than expected and I was dumb enough to wear my jacket the entire time. By the time I made it back to the office it felt as if I had spent the last 45 minutes working out at the YMCA. The one saving grace was that the Metro cars were air conditioned and were relatively cool compared to the temperature and humidity today.
Other than that I continued on with my project in compiling profiles of congressional candidates and their views on immigration. I plan on finishing that tomorrow and will look forward to my next big assignment. Around the office there were several presentations that occurred throughout the day and large gatherings of people around the office. During my lunch break some of the other employees were discussing the big story around DC, Rahm Emanuel leaving his position of Chief of Staff to run for Mayor of Chicago. Throughout the day I checked updates on the growing controversy in California about Meg Whitman and her former housekeeper being an illegal immigrant. Assuming that Whitman knew about her housekeeper's, status as an illegal immigrant, from my point-of-view I am not really surprised that someone as wealthy as Whitman had an illegal immigrant work for her in the past. I think we all know that for better or worse Californian's love to hire someone who is hard working and willing to take less money than most other people. When I spent last summer canvassing around East Bay suburbs, most of the people who I saw work on home improvement projects were Latino and typically spoke Spanish. That probably meant they were originally from another country and had a good chance of being illegal immigrants.
But enough about that, one final thing I wanted to mention. Yesterday I woke up at 6 AM to help out with a fundraiser for Congressman Martin Heinrich from New Mexico. It mostly went fine, with the exception of trying to find a non-dairy creamer in a nearby supermarket. I briefly talked with the Congressman for a minute and he seemed like a good guy. However, he spent most of his time with some bigwigs in another part of the House while myself and the other Raben Group employees hung back and made sure everything went without a hitch.
Side Note: Congressman Heinrich was declared Capitol Hill's most attractive person in a July edition of The Hill.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Back at the Office
The past two days at the office have consisted of mostly reviewing the backgrounds of selected candidates who are running for Congress this fall and find out what their positions on the issue of immigration. Their are several interesting things I have noticed when researching candidates. Many republicans have degrees in a business related field of study and usually had a large chunk of their career come from the private sector. Most democrats tend to have earned degrees in social science or humanities majors (political science, classics, history) and most likely had previous experience in public service jobs. The one commonality between most candidates is that about 70% of the candidates have a law degree.
The tone of all candidates from both political parties is decidedly more conservative. Several Democrats tend to emphasize that they are for 'securing the border' before anything else. However, most are not as hard-line against illegal immigrants as most Republicans appear to be. The candidates are certainly responding to the public being generally conservative on the issue of illegal immigration.
Today I helped setup a fundraiser held by Robert Raben at his house near Union Station for congressional candidate Joyce Elliot. In preparation for getting the fundraiser ready I finally learned how to make coffee. She is a Democrat, a former teacher, and currently a state senator and the majority leader in the Arkansas State Senate. Even though she is the underdog in the race she had a positive demeanor during her speech and I was very impressed with her story and attitude about running for Congress. When I told her that both of my parents are teachers and at one point used to be my teachers she was very surprised by that and gave props to my Dad for being a P.E. teacher, especially since many Arkansas schools do not have full-time P.E. teachers. The total amount of time it took I spent out of the office today was just under four hours.
The tone of all candidates from both political parties is decidedly more conservative. Several Democrats tend to emphasize that they are for 'securing the border' before anything else. However, most are not as hard-line against illegal immigrants as most Republicans appear to be. The candidates are certainly responding to the public being generally conservative on the issue of illegal immigration.
Today I helped setup a fundraiser held by Robert Raben at his house near Union Station for congressional candidate Joyce Elliot. In preparation for getting the fundraiser ready I finally learned how to make coffee. She is a Democrat, a former teacher, and currently a state senator and the majority leader in the Arkansas State Senate. Even though she is the underdog in the race she had a positive demeanor during her speech and I was very impressed with her story and attitude about running for Congress. When I told her that both of my parents are teachers and at one point used to be my teachers she was very surprised by that and gave props to my Dad for being a P.E. teacher, especially since many Arkansas schools do not have full-time P.E. teachers. The total amount of time it took I spent out of the office today was just under four hours.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
National Zoo
Today included a visit to the National Zoo, which like all Smithsonian Museum's was free. The zoo was divided into different sections. Sections were made for birds, mammals, invertebrates, wild cats (lions, tigers), apes, and reptiles. My personal favorite sections included the bird and ape sections were my favorite with the wide amount of birds that I saw and getting to see the apes as close as we did was very cool. Fortunately, the rain that blew though the DC area only lasted for a half hour while we were at the zoo and eventually the sun came out during the last hour of our visit.
Once I made it back to the UC Center I read up on some of my homework and followed the Giants and Padres games and found out that Stanford has made it to the top ten in the AP Poll. I hope that the game between Stanford and Oregon will be broadcast on ABC here or else I cannot watch it in my room because we do not get ESPN2. Good to see the Giants in first place and to see Stanford not only win but dominate.
Once I made it back to the UC Center I read up on some of my homework and followed the Giants and Padres games and found out that Stanford has made it to the top ten in the AP Poll. I hope that the game between Stanford and Oregon will be broadcast on ABC here or else I cannot watch it in my room because we do not get ESPN2. Good to see the Giants in first place and to see Stanford not only win but dominate.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Air and Space Museum
Today I set my alarm for 8:30 put ended up going back to sleep and not getting up for another two hours. It was definitely worth it. After myself and my roommates Maurice and Daniel ready we headed for the Metro and arrived at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. As it was last time, this will probably be one of the the highlights of my weekend excursions.
To name a few things I saw were, John Glenn's spacesuit and Mercury Capsule, the Apollo 11 capsule and capsule hatch, a moon rock, the original Wright Brother's plane, World War 1 and 2 airplanes, bombs, and bullets, several replicas of Space Race rockets, and replicas of various Jet engine planes.
This visit was quicker than last time and since I already had an idea of what I saw last time I wanted to focus more of my time on the airplane exhibits because I was focused on the space section of the Museum. The Wright Brother's exhibit was very well done as was the World War 2 exhibit, the Apollo exhibit, and the main front entrance exhibit which included several rockets and places that dominate American aviation and space history. To try and explain all that I saw would take way to long so all the pictures I took during my time at the museum are on the link below.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2093456&id=1438410637&ref=mf
One last note, I don't know about the Cal v. Arizona or Oregon v. Arizona State games but Stanford looked great this week and next week should be interesting in Eugene.
To name a few things I saw were, John Glenn's spacesuit and Mercury Capsule, the Apollo 11 capsule and capsule hatch, a moon rock, the original Wright Brother's plane, World War 1 and 2 airplanes, bombs, and bullets, several replicas of Space Race rockets, and replicas of various Jet engine planes.
This visit was quicker than last time and since I already had an idea of what I saw last time I wanted to focus more of my time on the airplane exhibits because I was focused on the space section of the Museum. The Wright Brother's exhibit was very well done as was the World War 2 exhibit, the Apollo exhibit, and the main front entrance exhibit which included several rockets and places that dominate American aviation and space history. To try and explain all that I saw would take way to long so all the pictures I took during my time at the museum are on the link below.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2093456&id=1438410637&ref=mf
One last note, I don't know about the Cal v. Arizona or Oregon v. Arizona State games but Stanford looked great this week and next week should be interesting in Eugene.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Intern Duties
Today was a little less exciting than the first day but nonetheless I became more familiar with what an average day at The Raben Group is usually like. Most of my day was spent inputing congressional legislators who were members of particular committees and caucuses as it related to the issue of breast cancer. As most of you know October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and I have begun the process of putting together a list of targeted Congressmen and Senators that The Raben Group will eventually inform about an upcoming study regarding breast cancer and the potential environmental effects that can cause breast cancer in women who have no prior family history of breast cancer. The work was tedious and sometimes boring but I finished the long list before the day was over.
In addition to the previously mentioned task I also performed tasks that would usually be delegated to interns. During the planned fire drill I was sent to pick up a pre-ordered ice cream cake from a Ben and Jerry's near Dupont Circle (the same Ben and Jerry's the family visited during summer) and carry it back five blocks under 95 degree heat. Once I returned I was very flustered by the heat and needed a few minutes to cool off. Also, I had to re-file certain papers within folders and move heavy boxes from one part of the office to another section. Luckily, this is Friday and I have two days off and plan to use them well.
Later in the afternoon I went to dinner with two of my roommates, Daniel and Maurice, with two other girls from our floor, both of whom I went to dinner at the Thai food restaurant. Dinner was more generic, burger and fries, at a restaurant that had a little bit of everything. Once we made it back to the UC Center we spend the rest of the evening in their room playing various card games, laughing over random things, and enjoying each other's company while some drunk people nearly got into a fight outside the room.
In addition to the previously mentioned task I also performed tasks that would usually be delegated to interns. During the planned fire drill I was sent to pick up a pre-ordered ice cream cake from a Ben and Jerry's near Dupont Circle (the same Ben and Jerry's the family visited during summer) and carry it back five blocks under 95 degree heat. Once I returned I was very flustered by the heat and needed a few minutes to cool off. Also, I had to re-file certain papers within folders and move heavy boxes from one part of the office to another section. Luckily, this is Friday and I have two days off and plan to use them well.
Later in the afternoon I went to dinner with two of my roommates, Daniel and Maurice, with two other girls from our floor, both of whom I went to dinner at the Thai food restaurant. Dinner was more generic, burger and fries, at a restaurant that had a little bit of everything. Once we made it back to the UC Center we spend the rest of the evening in their room playing various card games, laughing over random things, and enjoying each other's company while some drunk people nearly got into a fight outside the room.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
First Day of Work
First day of work is over and now I can relax. Left the suite at 8:50 and arrived at my desk at 8:55. Now that is a pretty nice commute to work. Unfortunately a small heat wave has hit DC and the weather was reminiscent of some of the summer days I spent in DC while on vacation. Fortunately I spent fewer than 5 minutes outside an air conditioned area all day.
For my first assignment I found six articles dealing with immigration from respectable news sources and copied them to a word document and had them sent to one of The Raben Group's Associate's Rosa. The stories I found mostly dealt with the DREAM Act and recent articles relating to Hispanic migrant workers.
For most of the day, I called a select list of congressional offices to contact particular congressional staffers. Whether I reached their voicemail or spoke to them directly, I called to inform them that a meeting would be held in the Cannon Office Building by Congressman Michael McMahon and dealt with his legislation HR 5564. Once the phone calls were done I took a cab with Associate Kevin Call and helped setup the room that would hold the meeting would take place in. Unfortunately with the room being so small I was essentially forced out of the room and stood outside of the room as the proverbial bouncer along with an intern from America Task Force Argentina. Once the meeting was done I hailed a cab and made my way back to the The Raben Group's offices and was was promptly reimbursed for the cab fare.
With nothing to do, I volunteered to help with The Raben Group's project related with its client The Breast Cancer Fund. My first duties will be to compile of list of Congressmen and Senators who are the members of particular caucuses and committees and list their office address and find out which legislative staffer deals with cancer/disease legislation.
However, before I could even start that I was e-mailed by my supervisor to watch C-SPAN and take notes on the live feed of speeches being given on the Senate floor. I do not know why I was supposed to do this but maybe it was a test for me in preparation of a future assignment I do not know about. We will just have to wait and see.
For my first assignment I found six articles dealing with immigration from respectable news sources and copied them to a word document and had them sent to one of The Raben Group's Associate's Rosa. The stories I found mostly dealt with the DREAM Act and recent articles relating to Hispanic migrant workers.
For most of the day, I called a select list of congressional offices to contact particular congressional staffers. Whether I reached their voicemail or spoke to them directly, I called to inform them that a meeting would be held in the Cannon Office Building by Congressman Michael McMahon and dealt with his legislation HR 5564. Once the phone calls were done I took a cab with Associate Kevin Call and helped setup the room that would hold the meeting would take place in. Unfortunately with the room being so small I was essentially forced out of the room and stood outside of the room as the proverbial bouncer along with an intern from America Task Force Argentina. Once the meeting was done I hailed a cab and made my way back to the The Raben Group's offices and was was promptly reimbursed for the cab fare.
With nothing to do, I volunteered to help with The Raben Group's project related with its client The Breast Cancer Fund. My first duties will be to compile of list of Congressmen and Senators who are the members of particular caucuses and committees and list their office address and find out which legislative staffer deals with cancer/disease legislation.
However, before I could even start that I was e-mailed by my supervisor to watch C-SPAN and take notes on the live feed of speeches being given on the Senate floor. I do not know why I was supposed to do this but maybe it was a test for me in preparation of a future assignment I do not know about. We will just have to wait and see.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Classes and Raben Group
Today was a success at getting up early as I got myself ready to visit The Raben Group and become acquainted with the people and the surroundings I will be working with for the next ten weeks. I finally met my supervisors Ellie and Amanda as well as one of my fellow interns, Nick from UC Santa Cruz. After going through an orientation that included meeting various employees and sorting through the more than 100 e-mails in my Raben Group e-mail account. Before I left I found out that my first day will include a major assignment on a particular task that I will discuss in detail tomorrow.
Back at the UC Center I it was time for me to go to my first seminar and elective class. The seminar is taught by Marc Sandalow. His name might be familiar because he used to be a full-time writer with the SF Chronicle and he gives brief reviews of what is going on in Washington, DC for KCBS at 6:20 and 7:30 in the morning. The seminar was good and included us watching clips of news coverage that range from being entirely informational (PBS) to being primarily meant for entertainment (Fox News). Our first assignment will be to draft leads for various political stories that occur between now and Wednesday.
The lobbying class is setup much like a seminar. For over an hour we discussed whether lobbyists really had as much impact on the government as they are perceived to have, whether giving money to a legislator will actually buy their vote, and various other topics that got us started on lobbying in DC. There will be more to discuss on this class next week but that's all I got right now.
Back at the UC Center I it was time for me to go to my first seminar and elective class. The seminar is taught by Marc Sandalow. His name might be familiar because he used to be a full-time writer with the SF Chronicle and he gives brief reviews of what is going on in Washington, DC for KCBS at 6:20 and 7:30 in the morning. The seminar was good and included us watching clips of news coverage that range from being entirely informational (PBS) to being primarily meant for entertainment (Fox News). Our first assignment will be to draft leads for various political stories that occur between now and Wednesday.
The lobbying class is setup much like a seminar. For over an hour we discussed whether lobbyists really had as much impact on the government as they are perceived to have, whether giving money to a legislator will actually buy their vote, and various other topics that got us started on lobbying in DC. There will be more to discuss on this class next week but that's all I got right now.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
White House and Stuff
Tuesday was the last weekday for me that would include no class or time at my internship. In the morning all UC Davis students met on the top floor, which had a very nice view, to meet with our counselor and go over a few more things regarding our time at the UC Washington Center.
In the afternoon UC Davis students met on the back of the White House and took the class picture with the White House behind us. About 25 students showed up and some guy who had "Dangerwalker" tattooed on his back wanted to get in on of our pictures and no one really seemed to care so we just let him sit on a few pictures. I have yet to see the prints of the pictures but I hope to find them soon.
After that I make a run to Safeway with my roommates and a few other girls we met from the 6th floor and ended up stocking the fridge and freezer with food that should last me a while. I really love my tote bag because it may look small at first but it can carry a ton of food and then some without me having bring my backpack or using plastic bags.
Several hours of rest later it was time to take a 3 hour night tour of various monuments and memorials around DC. First we stopped by the White House, followed by the Washington Monument which luckily had fewer bugs and mosquitoes flying around compared to when I was there on that hot June night. After that we visited the World War 2 Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial which were fantastic as always. I can only imagine how the duo rallies held by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert will look next month around the Reflecting Pool and near the Lincoln Memorial.
On our way back to the UC Washington Center myself and my roommate Maurice took our own path to the Center and made it back before anyone else did. Nice thing to know that you know your way around DC more than most other people from a UC.
In the afternoon UC Davis students met on the back of the White House and took the class picture with the White House behind us. About 25 students showed up and some guy who had "Dangerwalker" tattooed on his back wanted to get in on of our pictures and no one really seemed to care so we just let him sit on a few pictures. I have yet to see the prints of the pictures but I hope to find them soon.
After that I make a run to Safeway with my roommates and a few other girls we met from the 6th floor and ended up stocking the fridge and freezer with food that should last me a while. I really love my tote bag because it may look small at first but it can carry a ton of food and then some without me having bring my backpack or using plastic bags.
Several hours of rest later it was time to take a 3 hour night tour of various monuments and memorials around DC. First we stopped by the White House, followed by the Washington Monument which luckily had fewer bugs and mosquitoes flying around compared to when I was there on that hot June night. After that we visited the World War 2 Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial which were fantastic as always. I can only imagine how the duo rallies held by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert will look next month around the Reflecting Pool and near the Lincoln Memorial.
On our way back to the UC Washington Center myself and my roommate Maurice took our own path to the Center and made it back before anyone else did. Nice thing to know that you know your way around DC more than most other people from a UC.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Monday
Today it took me forever to get out of bed so I guess I still have some time adjustments to deal with. Also, my fourth roommate Maurice made it to the apartment late last night and began to settle in this morning. I can already tell he is looking forward to cooking up some meals while we are here. After getting out of the building I made one final run to Safeway and loaded up on as much food as I could fit in my backpack and tote bag. There should be enough food to last me well into next week.
Later in the day Maurice and I walked to the Metro Center to get SmarTrip cards for ourselves and will be put to good use in the coming months. After that we decided to walk by the White House and stayed in nearby Lafayette Park for a little bit. Security was tight due to a small demonstration dealing with disabled people that was taking place near the gates surrounding the White House. After that we headed on back to the UCDC Center and eventually headed to our first round of orientations.
Even though the orientations were boring for the most part. There were two decent sections. One was a powerpoint that included pre-recorded voiceovers from the speaker that had witty commentary and good selections of images that college students could relate to. The other good part was listening to the professors talk about the classes and seminars they would teach and it makes me wish that I was taking more classes here. But since I'll be busy enough as it is I will just stick to what I've got. Also, the verbal jabs some of the professors were funny.
To round out the day myself and the other three roommates watched The Daily Show and The Colbert Report along with a side of MNF. This was a much better showing compared to last week and hopefully the performance carries over for the rest of the season.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
End of the First Day
Lots to talk about. First, the flight on the way to DC was fairly uneventful. I sat next to a nice elderly couple that plans on taking a short five-day trip to DC and other historical sites nearby. However, when the plane flew over Missouri and Illinois at around 3 AM California time I woke and saw in the distance hundreds of lightning flashes over half an hour. It was almost as if hundreds of bombs were set off dozens of miles away. It was quite a tremendous site to see.
Once I arrived at Dulles. It was a quick pickup of my luggage and finding my transportation. However, it took over an hour to reach the UC Washington Center after driving though Virginia suburbs and Georgetown. Finally I made it to my suite and after several attempts to setup the internet access I was finally successful and finished unpacking around 11:30 Washington time.
The rest of the day consisted of me walking around the nearby area and finding a place for groceries. Even though its only 5 blocks away, Safeway seems so much further without the use of a bike or car. Finally, I finished my grocery shopping and went to find the nearest Bed, Bath, and Beyond which was harder to find than I initially thought. By the time I finished all my shopping for the day I was dead tired, but I managed to meet some new people.
I ended up havin Thai food with my roommate and three other women from our floor, two from UC Davis and one from UC Santa Cruz. The chicken was good but a little to spicy at times, but all in all a good dinner and night with fellow UCDC'ers.
Once I arrived at Dulles. It was a quick pickup of my luggage and finding my transportation. However, it took over an hour to reach the UC Washington Center after driving though Virginia suburbs and Georgetown. Finally I made it to my suite and after several attempts to setup the internet access I was finally successful and finished unpacking around 11:30 Washington time.
The rest of the day consisted of me walking around the nearby area and finding a place for groceries. Even though its only 5 blocks away, Safeway seems so much further without the use of a bike or car. Finally, I finished my grocery shopping and went to find the nearest Bed, Bath, and Beyond which was harder to find than I initially thought. By the time I finished all my shopping for the day I was dead tired, but I managed to meet some new people.
I ended up havin Thai food with my roommate and three other women from our floor, two from UC Davis and one from UC Santa Cruz. The chicken was good but a little to spicy at times, but all in all a good dinner and night with fellow UCDC'ers.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
At The Airport
Waiting for the plane to arrive and eventually take off at 11:57. Trying to get used to the fact that its already past 2 AM in Washington. The other flight that appears to be a red eye is a 12:50 flight headed to Guadalajara making the terminal filled with more Spanish speakers than English speakers.
Good to see that Stanford took care of business this weekend. Unfortunately I cannot say the same for Cal. Speaking of football, it would be kinda cool to watch the Redskins-Texans game at a nearby sports bar.
Until next time, this is Kevin saying Adios
Good to see that Stanford took care of business this weekend. Unfortunately I cannot say the same for Cal. Speaking of football, it would be kinda cool to watch the Redskins-Texans game at a nearby sports bar.
Until next time, this is Kevin saying Adios
Departure Day
My name is Kevin and I leave California tonight for Washington, DC for ten weeks as I intern for a political consulting firm called The Raben Group http://www.rabengroup.com/ as part of the UC Washington Program. In addition, I will take two classes, one of which will help me write a 25 page research paper and I get to take trips to Pennsylvania and Virginia throughout my stay.
Its past 2 PM California time and I have finished most of my packing. Now, all I gotta worry about is figuring how to fall asleep on my red-eye flight from Oakland to Dulles Airport (Hopefully there are no crying babies on the flight)
Before heading off to Oakland I will probably drive the Bronco and take a trip down memory lane and visit some places that I have not visited in a while. Always nice to have those nostalgic moments right before you take another big step in life.
Its past 2 PM California time and I have finished most of my packing. Now, all I gotta worry about is figuring how to fall asleep on my red-eye flight from Oakland to Dulles Airport (Hopefully there are no crying babies on the flight)
Before heading off to Oakland I will probably drive the Bronco and take a trip down memory lane and visit some places that I have not visited in a while. Always nice to have those nostalgic moments right before you take another big step in life.
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