Newsroom Archive for 06/3, 2010
Jun 3 2010 - 10:26am
College Leaders Program Class of 2010
Day 1—Saturday, May 29, 2010
Day 2–Sunday, May 30, 2010
Reported by: Hassan Abdelhalim, Mary Washington College
"Have any of you guys ever been to a dairy farm or a prison?" exclaimed Bob Gibson, Sorensen Executive Director, during the first orientation session of the 2010 Sorensen Institute's College Leaders Program. It was at that moment that I realized this was going to be a unique experience. It took me 20 minutes to drive the 10 miles down 29 North to the Grounds at UVa. I was excited to be immersed in a program based on ideals I was striving to improve and discover within myself. The College Leaders Program was in the all too familiar setting of my hometown. I grew up in Charlottesville and went to high school right down the road at Albemarle High School. I'm proud of Bodo's, the Downtown Mall, The Daily Progress coverage of local sports, Monticello, and everything that in my opinion that makes Charlottesville the best place to live in Virginia. I arrived yesterday ready to explore UVa grounds and meet the 26 other college leaders assembled from across this state and ready to grow. I quickly realized that it only took the same 20-minute, 10-mile drive I've taken down 29 North to get leaps and bounds outside of my comfort zone.
We all trailed into Bice between noon and 2 p.m. I begin the familiar tradition of checking in and meeting my new suitemates and other program members who had previously only existed as names in the Newsroom website or popup chat windows in Facebook. We made our claims to sides of the rooms, unloaded our cars, and shuffled around Bice going through introductions and knowing that each of us possessed special qualities that made us members of this year's College Leaders Program. Then orientation began in the basement, and we were offered the first glimpse of what we could become as graduates of Sorensen. We met all of our program coordinators all of which were graduates of the College Leaders Program and the Sorensen staff. Everyone was amazingly friendly, confident, professional and excited. It was my first indication that it would be a good month.
After lunch we welcomed our first speaker, Jay Kessler. The pace was set–the Sorensen College Leaders Program had begun, and we weren't going to waste any time. Mr. Kessler, a native of Charlottesville, shared with us his experiences as an active fundraiser and successful businessman in the community. Mr. Kessler's message was simple and appropriate, "In my life I've realized that the individuals I trust the most are those willing to admit they don't know it all. Even if they are 90% sure of whatever the area of expertise might be, that final 10% is where the potential for sustainable dialogue is realized." We spent that afternoon defining civic engagement and community service and how the two can foster a culture of civility, trust, and pillars of leadership taught through Sorensen. That will help us to become thoughtful, informed, and active citizens in the Commonwealth.
After a night of moving beyond introductions, the group began to bond. I met other college leaders from schools all over Virginia–from Liberty, to George Mason, to UVa at Wise. We had only just gotten to break the surface and develop relationships before we all turned in for the night. We had an 8 a.m. wakeup for a full day of teambuilding at the ropes course. I proposed a toast to the uncertainty of what lay ahead, hoping for one thing, "May our best todays be our worst tomorrows!" and we all went to bed.
The next day was full of ups and downs, highs and lows, and everything in between. People pushed their boundaries by swinging from 40-foot heights and solving complicated team puzzles on both high and low ropes courses. For me the day culminated in a high ropes course with teammate Chelsea. We reached the top and Chelsea started to have second thoughts. I wouldn't let her quit, and we made it through. I learned about my level of patience and my ability to coach someone through an unfamiliar situation when I myself had never gone through such an experience.
After the first two days of Sorensen, I find myself in a state of eager anticipation. I could not have envisioned the diversity of my fellow leaders, the dorm, or any of the experiences of the first two days here. Something special is beginning to build. Even though all 27 accomplished leaders, volunteers and citizens in my class are used to living above the status quo and do not know how this experience will play out, I can sense that we are all on course to discover something deep within ourselves about our passion for civic engagement. Frankly, the first two days have played out like a hyper-condensed version of the second half of the camp scene in Remember the Titans. Personalities have emerged, bonding occurred quickly, and a considerate approach to new viewpoints has flourished. The difference between our group and the Titan team however, is that we can already envision the possibilities at the finish line and beyond. We'll make it to the end accomplished and succeed together as we ride out this wildly fun journey. It's destined to be a legendary month.
Jun 3 2010 - 11:16am
College Leaders Program Class of 2010
Day 3—Monday, May 31
Reported by: Liz Young, Old Dominion University
Day 3—Monday, May 31
Reported by: Liz Young, Old Dominion University
This morning the CLP had its first day of class after a long, exciting day on the ropes course. We all gathered in the lobby to make the lengthy trek to Thornton Hall, and then promptly got lost in an attempt to locate Room D222. There were some issues with the room. We had been previously informed that we would not in fact be able to have coffee, etc. available to us during lecture. I braced myself for the lack of caffeine, but I did not anticipate that the air conditioning would be out of commission.
Marc Johnson kicked off the presentations in the classroom with a discussion on ethics. He had some practical tests for ethical questions and a good method to approach ethical dilemmas. It was interesting to see that the general concepts of morality were so consistent across not only our group, but the entire population. The exercises gave a good perspective on how difficult it is to nail down the difference between what is desirable in a leader and what is really a question of ethics. Ultimately, we all came down to five core concepts that were consistent with national surveys, which I think speaks volumes.
During our working lunch, I worked with the Hampton Roads group, consisting of Ramon, Heather, Chelsea and Brittany G. We had a lot of different perceptions of the government in our area, but we were able to narrow down our major concerns and compliments for the region. Since I am mostly associated with James City County and the Williamsburg area, it was interesting to get the perspective of Ramon and Heather who are from Virginia Beach. One difference we had was our perspective of tourism for the region. In my area, tourism is a main tax revenue generator, so tourism is fostered and facilitated to protect the interests of our constituents and alleviate tax pressures. In Virginia Beach, tourism seems to be a hassle that is crowding out the interests of the citizens. From my discussion with Heather and Ramon, political leaders are more concerned to catering to hoteliers than the people they represent. As a result, we listed tourism as good and bad in our final assessment.
One of the main concerns that ultimately made the list of topic categories was transportation. That was listed as our number one concern for Hampton Roads as well as for Virginia. Hampton Roads is an urban center with many more people than some other areas of Virginia, causing traffic congestion. There is also a physical barrier of water between the two major sections of the region with only three crossings, which creates tremendous backups and maintenance issues on the roadways. Several other groups also identified traffic as a major issue and concern for Virginia.
After lunch and our group project discussion with April, Dr. Quentin Kidd spent some time with us discussing basic historical, geographical, economic, and political issues around the Commonwealth. This discussion built heavily upon my background with the Board of Supervisors and some of the basic issues local governments face, so I was very engaged in the lecture. Dr. Kidd managed to keep a room full of sleepy participants awake in a cozy 85-degree classroom for three hours with his analysis of Virginia's demographics and explanation of how we ended up with our current state of affairs.
Following our first classroom experience, we returned to a nice, air-conditioned dorm for dinner, and malice began to surface in our game of "Assassins." There were duels, betrayals, denials and concessions in our free time this evening, along with our first reading assignment. I am looking forward to tomorrow for an interesting discussion, as well as a functioning air-conditioning unit, as we review Virginia's Constitution with Dr. Kidd.
Jun 3 2010 - 11:24am
College Leaders Program Class of 2010
Day 4—Tuesday, June 1
Reported by: Brittany Anderson, Virginia Tech
Today started out like any other except a little earlier. It was Picture Day, so we all needed to be in our finest attire. I know that before coming to Sorensen I must have looked at all the former CLP class photos a dozen times to see what people looked like, what they wore, and if I knew anyone, so I needed to make sure my picture was good.
The first half of the day was spent with Dr. Kidd in the Informed Citizen class. We finished our class lecture that was started the day before on familiarizing ourselves with Virginia and its different regions. Dr. Kidd discussed recent developments in the Virginia economy and key indicators of the economy in the Commonwealth. We learned that the state of the national economy largely determines what Virginia’s economy is like, unlike a larger state like California that can affect the national economy. Dr. Kidd indicated that he thought the public policy problem in Virginia lies in the tax structure and how it is dependent on a manufacturing economy. Since we are moving away from a manufacturing economy, our tax base doesn’t reflect it.
After lunch we had our first speaker, Barbara Kessler, from Career Services at the University of Virginia. Ms. Kessler reviewed resume tips with us and answered important questions about how to formulate our resumes to reflect our skills and qualities. Since a lot of the CLP participants are recent college graduates going out into the workforce after Sorensen, the workshop to work on our resumes was extremely helpful.
Our next speaker was Connie Jorgensen from UVa. Connie used to be a legislative aide in the Virginia General Assembly and came to share her experiences working in politics and talk to us about how a bill is passed. She went through the bill-making process from sponsorship to how to get it through committee. This speaker was very enlightening and inspiring because she shared personal stories about being a legislative aide and the bill-making process, and because she allowed us to see how complex the process is, yet broke it down into a step-by-step process.
Our last speaker of the day was Mary Loose Deviney. Mary Loose is a Sorensen alum who presented to us her culminating project from the Political Leaders Program. She demonstrated how to implement our ideas to enact real legislation and talked about how she was able to use real life experience with a curse and abuse case to make real change in policy. This showed our class how to research and execute change for an issue that is relevant in the Commonwealth.
Our speakers for the day provided us with very relevant information and advice for our future here at Sorensen and in the careers we hope to embark on. It was a great start to the program, and we finished the day out with a class photo and some delicious Moroccan food.
Jun 3 2010 - 12:57pm
College Leaders Program Class of 2010
Day 5—Wednesday, June 2
Reported by: Sarah Ulmer, University of Virginia
The day began for us almost with the rising sun. We woke up early this morning in order to meet in the lobby of Bice at 7 a.m. Luckily, everyone was on time for our first field trip!
Our field trip this week did not concentrate on a single city. The first stop of the day was at Cub Run Dairy Farm in the Valley. The dairy’s owner Gerald Heatwole toured us around his facilities. First, he explained to us how much work goes into making the food for the cows. Using his special, vitamin-rich blend, the cows at Cub Run are able to produce ten gallons of milk a day! Some of this milk is transported to local stores, while another percentage is exported to places such as Orlando, Florida. Mr. Heatwole showed us his various barns while telling us how agriculture is one of the most important economic resources for the state. He also clarified that while his dairy farm is not a certified organic farm, they use very little pesticides compared to the amount that would have been applied a decade ago. A most memorable part of the day was when we watched the veterinarian conduct a rectal exam to see if a cow was pregnant! Finally, Mr. Heatwole clarified the various federal and state programs established to help farmers pay for sustainable structures that will reduce the amount of runoff entering the Chesapeake Bay.
After our tour, we returned to the bus and drove to Staunton. Our first activity in Staunton was lunch at a restaurant right down the street from City Hall. From the restaurant we walked to City Hall where we would meet our two afternoon speakers.
The first speaker was David Ledbetter, an Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney for Waynesboro. Even more exciting, I was given the opportunity to meet and introduce Mr. Ledbetter! I think that I can speak for the class in saying that Mr. Ledbetter was a very engaging speaker. He spoke about how the current economic situation has affected the courts. For example, he explained that the General Assembly has decided not to appoint any vacant judge seats in order to reduce spending. Additionally, Mr. Ledbetter discussed the high proportion of repeat offenders and what it was like to be an attorney in a small town where he is likely to see people he meets in the court room when he is out about town.
Directly afterwards, Senator Emmett Hanger (R) from the 24th District gave our class insight into his extensive political experience, which extends beyond his fifteen years as a State Senator. He told us many interesting stories to help keep us awake in the hot City Hall room where the air conditioning would not work. One piece of legislation that he has recently pushed in the Senate involves creating an internet sales tax. He believes that people who purchase items online should have to pay the Virginia sales tax they would pay if they shopped in physical stores; otherwise, it is unfair to traditional retailers. Senator Hanger also works on a conservation easement initiative, which has protected 600,000 acres over the past 10 years.
After Senator Hanger’s insightful speech, we boarded the bus to head back to Charlottesville and dinner! And to complete the reading for tomorrow morning!
