Newsroom Archive for 07/20, 2008

High School Leaders Program Class of 2008
Day 8, Saturday, July 19
Reported by: Colin Harris and Emma Yackso

     The day got a slow start; everyone got to sleep in for the first time.  Many of us awoke shortly after noon to the smell of warm pizza being delivered for lunch.  This meal was followed by a lot of meandering about the building and listening to 80’s music.  We wandered on over to the classroom around 2:30 to hear Dr. Shields discuss the definition of public policy, followed by a class discussion on race in politics.  Civil liberties, market versus polis, John Stuart (Mill), and other topics also made appearances.  We returned to Bice at 5:30 for a chicken and pasta dinner.  Everyone is looking forward to tubing tomorrow.
— Colin Harris of Orlean, Sidwell Friends School Class of 2009

     Today was a relatively low-key day, as far as political boot-camp goes. We were finally allowed to catch up on sleep after working hard all week long. Although our class was delayed today, it was well worth the wait. We attended our second session of The Thoughtful Citizen which is proving to be an extremely well-liked course. We began class by discussing the definition of public policy, focusing mostly on whether or not it had to include government. Although we never reached a consensus, the arguments put forth were very convincing. We then moved to discuss the issue of security vs. individual liberties in which we weighed the importance of both. We also discussed whether it was possible to return liberties after they were taken away in the name of security. Our class ended with a short but informative discussion of whether or not America was ready to elect an African-American man President. This discussion was based on one that Dr. Shields had had earlier that morning. Although our discussion was cut short by time, the main focus was on the role of stereotypes in the upcoming election. We then were allowed the rest of the night to work on our Cumulative Projects and explore the town a bit. Although the activities for the day were shorter than other days, today was just as informative and inspiring.
— Emma Yackso of Charlottesville, Charlottesville High School Class of 2009