Newsroom Archive for 06/15, 2010

College Leaders Program Class of 2010
Day 14—Friday, June 11
Reported by: Nathan Dorfman, George Mason University

As I entered Thornton Hall at 9 a.m., I was still exhilarated by yesterday’s visit from Terry McAuliffe.  Little did I know that today would prove to be just as enlightening. Our first speaker was Sorensen’s own executive director Bob Gibson.  Gibson recounted his childhood experiences living in Arlington when it was a rural community, unlike the urban center it is today. Gibson also discussed attending the University of Virginia when it was an all-male institution and engaging in college radio there en route to a 31-year career in political journalism at Charlottesville’s Daily Progress.  He said that today, because of the declining news industry, it is rare for a reporter to stay with one newspaper for as long as he did.

Bob Gibson also explained how politics and journalism are interrelated and discussed how, when covering politics, contemporary news sources provide sound bites in lieu of balanced stories.  He also mentioned that bipartisanship and political news coverage are becoming less common in today’s society. Nevertheless, Gibson optimistically noted that freelance writers and non-profit organizations can reverse these trends. Lastly, Gibson discussed the possibility of incorporating political journalism into the Sorensen Institute’s programs and emphasized the importance of gaining as much writing experience as possible. As a rising George Mason University sophomore who seeks to integrate public policy and journalism in his career, I found Bob Gibson’s presentation to be informative and beneficial.

Our next speaker was Chelyen Davis, a political reporter from Fredericksburg’s Free Lance Star, whom I had the honor of introducing. In addition to reporting on political news, Davis, a native of mountainous Southwest Virginia, is an avid fiddle player. In her presentation, Davis reaffirmed the points which Bob Gibson addressed just an hour earlier, and discussed the three Virginia gubernatorial campaigns she covered in her ten-year career. Davis also addressed how her studies in English at the University of Virginia prepared her for her journalism career.

As we ate a hearty lunch of Mellow Mushroom pizza, former Lieutenant Governor and Sorensen's Board Chair John Hager addressed us. He discussed how his community service experiences inspired him to enter the political arena and explained his political views as a moderate Republican. Hager also mentioned his son’s marriage to Jenna Bush, as well as the wedding ceremony held in Crawford, Texas. Towards the end of his presentation, Hager advised us, “When we are down the farthest, something brings us back up, for life is full of surprises!” He also noted that “Politics is a good thing, for it is about ideas, the future, and serving people in the best way possible.” Before Lieutenant Governor Hager left, we all posed for a group photo with him.

And this was only the first half of the day!

In the afternoon, we had our first “Thoughtful Citizen” class with Dr. Steve Bragaw, a prominent government professor from Sweet Briar College. During the three-hour session, we discussed fiscal policy and civic engagement, as well as political ideology and its origins. I am very excited for more sessions with Dr. Bragaw in the upcoming weeks.

All in all, there is no doubt that today was a memorable day at Sorensen. More importantly, it provided the perfect close to an ever-memorable week!

College Leaders Program Class of 2010
Day 15—Friday, June 12
Reported by: Zachary Quinn, Radford University

Today the CLP met the PLP and listened to several speakers together. All of Room 201 decided to suit up to impress everyone. Kelli Palmer, assistant to the president of UVa, was the first speaker of the day. She spoke about the issues that are affecting higher education in the state and country. There are very serious financial issues facing higher education today, caused in part by the shortage of international students. Losing these students is making tuition prices rise, and many schools question the use of tenure for professors.

Coy Barefoot was our next speaker of the day. Coy was very interested in the ideas of Thomas Jefferson and applying them to everyday life. He believes that if a person is not participating in government by at least questioning the government, they are hurting our democracy.

After Coy, we broke for lunch which was our first chance to really mingle with the PLP. I spoke with many of the PLPers, but spent most of my time with Charlie Keller and Paul Miller. I sat next to Paul Miller, a lobbyist from Fairfax. He mentioned that he was more involved in lobbying for Federal issues than state or local issues. Charlie Keller is the communications director for Doc Hastings on the Hill. He gave me very good advice on where to look for jobs and internships to begin my career. I plan to follow through with his advice and help.

After lunch, David Poole, the founder of VPAP.org, walked us through the intricacies of his website. He created VPAP so the public could see where politicians were getting their money and why they were getting donations from certain people. Lastly Billy Cannaday, Dean of UVa's School of Continuing Professional Studies, spoke about bettering the quality of schooling in public schools in Virginia.

So far the CLP has been a great experience for me to learn about the inner working of Virginia politics and government. I have also gotten the chance to meet many people with different ideas and beliefs than I have and have had to learn to work with them. Hopefully, this will be very helpful to me in the future. 

College Leaders Program Class of 2010
Day 15—Sunday, June 13
Reported by: Elizabeth Eckert, Lynchburg College

After a week of early mornings, we were given the gift of sleep today. Our only activity for the day was an outdoor trip to Mint Springs Park in Crozet at 1 p.m.. We all used the free morning in different ways. Personally, I slept in a little and used the rest of the time to read before lunch and our lake outing.

We all grabbed a sandwich (and some also grabbed a salad) before all meeting in the lobby of Bice to carpool over to the lake at 12:45 p.m. The drive to Crozet was very scenic, and the lake was packed when we arrived. Some of us laid our towels and blankets right on the beach, and others found shade under a tree with a book. Several people went into the water and people started to jump off the dock further out into the lake. There were even lifeguards and a break time for “adult swim” just like when I was younger at my local pool. Afterwards we had some snacks, and had “uncooked” s’mores. The chocolate was melted because it was about 90 degrees outside. It was just a bit hot for s’mores; however, we all still really enjoyed them!

As the fun ended and we packed up our stuff, we all knew that we were headed back to the UVa campus to work on revising our preliminary reports and finalize out literature review for our policy proposals. Both are due tomorrow morning before our speakers and classes start. Hope it won’t be a late night for anyone!

Time for dinner at Bice. I wonder what the caterer is bringing us tonight!

College Leaders Program Class of 2010
Day 16—Monday, June 14
Reported by: Chelsea Person, Virginia Commonwealth University

Today I woke up feeling a little groggy.  However, after deciding to wait for some of fellow CLPer’s and taking the “short cut” to class (which involved running up a hill), I felt quite invigorated and ready for the day.

We began with a talk from Dan Lavista from the State Council of Higher Education in Virginia. He explained the functions and goals of SHEV and explained how higher education is governed in Virginia. His talk sparked many great questions about funding for higher education and how the budget dollars are allocated. He gave us great insight into how universities and colleges work with the legislature to request funds.

Next the class became much more interactive as we provided each other constructive criticism on body language and staying within time constraints when dealing with the media. April Auger, the Director of Programs here at the Sorensen Institute, was a great last-minute facilitator of our “Media 101” session. She gave us the “Do’s and “Don’ts” when interacting with media. Such tips included “Do Prepare” and “Keep your Cool”. We continued to critique each other as April interviewed us on her “talk show”. This exercise gave us an opportunity to see how we perform under pressure and find ways to improve. The lesson of the day is "Use short and concise statements, stay on point, and don't go over the time allocated."

Lunch followed, and we each engaged ourselves in conversations concerning the progress of our culminating projects, as our literature reviews were due today. We have approached the halfway mark and our projects are coming along great. It's crazy to think we only have two weeks left!

The last part of day ended with Professor Bragaw’s session “The Thoughtful Citizen”. He engaged us in classical political philosophy as we discussed the writings from Aristotle, what it means to be a citizen, and how the definition of citizen is dependent upon the state in which one lives.  The quote, “Justice is rooted in empathy,” caught my attention because it implies that injustice is the teacher of justice, which is pretty deep once you let it sink in. We contemplated the fatal problem in all governments, which, according to Aristotle, is the difficulty in ensuring that rulers act justly.  He advocated education as the key to ensuring just leaders and just citizens. I feel Sorensen has taken on this challenge as they teach us how to lead.