Newsroom Archive for 07/19, 2010

High School Leaders Program Class of 2010
Day 7-Friday, July 16
Recorded by: Jacob Kaufman-Waldron, Charlottesville

My annoying doorbell alarm started my day today at 8:10-a few hours earlier than I would prefer but something I’m getting used to-and I began getting ready for class. My suite was, as always, among the last to get downstairs for the arduous walk to class. The route has gotten shorter though, through a few perfected shortcuts I think we have shaved as much time as possible.

We began the fast paced day right away with the presentation on the Dillon rule and a debate on whether the Dillon rule is fair for localities. As with all of our debates their was vigorous participation on either side and Mark was forced to cut off discussion before things became too heated and longwinded. We finished the morning with proposals to fix transportation, taxation, and education in the commonwealth. This of course only fostered more debate and discussion, but it spread to some new areas and intriguing concepts. Our minds were stocked full of questions for our speaker.

Sean Holihan, President of the Virginia Young Democrats, took us into the lunch break with an interactive discussion of general assembly and congressional elections and the trials of “carrying” a bill. He depicted the sprint which is the general assembly session and the tendency of the body to follow the path of least resistance simply because of how little time they have. He also touched on the difficulty of finding young leaders to rally support around for local chapters of the young democrats. Overall he was an interesting and enthusiastic speaker, he was admittedly liberal, but at the same time practical and descriptive in all his views. A funny part of the talk was when John found out he and Sean knew the same guy and John exclaimed, “That’s my Bro.”

Starving, Max, Locher, Ethan, Mac, John, Jeff, and I took our Mellow Mushroom Pizza and ate lunch in a tree outside the classroom to reconnect with nature and our childhood. Unfortunately the lunch also made me a little tired and after Connie Jorgensen’s breakdown of how to approach making a bill a law I needed a five minute power nap.

Rejuvenated, I enjoyed a look at the money that flows without restriction into Virginia’s political campaigns. We went to VPAP- the website tracking Virginia campaign contributions- and awed at the 26 million Bob McDonnell received and the 21 dollars donated to a campaign in the form of beverages. From the funding we moved to an interesting look at the ads that money bought in the 2009 gubernatorial campaign including Terry McAuliffe’s on boat production. Then it was our turn and we came up with catchy slogans and messages for the upcoming congressional races.

After reflecting on what we had learned so far Mark left us with a metaphor from the godfather of Virginia politics, Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson received chalices from his mentor that had been heavily used, so Jefferson melted them down into 8 cups, 4 with his initials and 4 with his mentor’s initials. Our democracy is strong and rests on principles we must respect, but it must be constantly updated, upgraded, and shared.

The night was fun, Max, Jeff, and I used the free trolley to get to the downtown mall where we walked, talked, and ate doughnuts from Max’s uncle’s stand. However, upon return we were greeted with a few trees worth of papers on the American and Virginian political structures due tomorrow. We are now officially half way done, I hope the second half will bring more fun and some baked goods, we have not received them and it is beginning to put a cramp in our time here, they will soon be moved into the need category of the shopping list.

High School Leaders Program Class of 2010
Day 7-Friday, July 16
Recorded by: Nicole Patterson, Newport News

As I wake up and roll over to one side, unsurprisingly, the first I see is my roommate Catherine knocked out with one hand over her face (because apparently she can only sleep with something on her face). Next, I see young Aquarius swimming frantically about in his bowl (details to come in later blog written by my roommate, Catherine). As we both hurried out of bed for another day in the Sorensen program, we couldn’t help but to turn on “The Mumble Song” by La Yanta and yell, “Friday, Friday!” until the song ceased.

Our first speaker today was Sean Holihan, the President of the Virginia Young Democrats. While he immediately admitted to being “pretty freaking liberal” he was surprisingly down to earth and honest about his views stating, “Obviously I don’t agree…with every little thing,” and admitting that the Democrats could lose their majority in the House during the next election. His political priorities lie in helping as many Democrats get elected as possible, working on campaigns, and focusing on policies. I completely agreed with his statement about Virginia saying that our state is a follower, not a trendsetter, when it comes to change in policies and structure. His engaging personality kept us on our toes and constantly asking questions; when he could only take one more question his suggestion was, “You guys can thumb wrestle for it.” Even John, who was too sick to barely stand, had the energy to shout out, “That dude and I are bros!” after Sean Holihan mentioned the name of a mutual friend. His insight on the world of policy and politics was refreshing.

We broke for lunch where we sat in our usual spot outside on the picnic tables, while the boys occupied their favorite new spot – the tree. Immediately after lunch, Connie Jorgensen joined us to teach us more about the legislative process. While she knows we have all learned the basics about how a bill becomes a law, her goal was to show us that it is much more complicated than simply following the steps. Using an example of employing a law about a 5 cent cigarette tax, she showed us that before a bill is even written, it is essential to understand who the supporters and opponents of the bill will be. It was helpful hearing from a woman that has seen first-hand how difficult the passing of a bill can really be.

After Connie Jorgensen spoke, Catherine and I began to fantasize about blithely frolicking through the town of Charlottesville without a care in the world. But first, it was essential for us to pack in a little more information during our Informed Citizen class about how to run an efficacious campaign. We studied the styles of both Creigh Deeds and Bob McDonnell’s through their advertisements, pointing out what each candidate’s themes were – Deeds’s being mainly education, and McDonnell’s of course being the economy and job creation.

After an informative day in class, the clan meandered back to Bice House to cool off and enjoy a wonderful soup and salad dinner. Catherine, myself, and our friend Cari wandered around grounds for an hour, walking up and down Chancellor Street enjoying the gorgeous sorority houses. We soon met up with others to watch them play a competitive game of Ultimate Frisbee. Catherine and I separated from the group to visit our “Special Spot” on grounds (no need to be jealous, there is not much special about it other than the fact that only Catherine and I go there). We wrapped up another day at UVa with a cupcake and a movie on my laptop. And with this, I will leave you all with the wise words from Connie Jorgensen, “Go forth and be nice.”

High School Leaders Program Class of 2010
Day 8-Saturday, July 17
Recorded by: Ethan Pompeo, Charlottesville

Today was an easy day, with only three and a half hours in the classroom. I chose to sleep through breakfast today and wake up to lunch (it was served in my room today) and proceeded to head to class directly afterward. Today was the start of the second half of our session here at Sorensen, and I was happy to find that our new professor, Dr. Bragaw, was energetic and had very interesting material to offer us.

Dr. Bragaw started out the class today by calling on students and asking them what they thought about last night's reading. The reading mainly consisted of editorials from Newspapers like the Washington Post and The Examiner. One explored the differences between Montgomery County and Fairfax County, while another discussed why the Fortune's 500 company Northrop Grumman chose to place their headquarters in Virginia rather than D.C. or Maryland- "because it costs less to run a business in Virginia".

After class we all returned to Bice where we enjoyed a delicious lasagna dinner. Afterwards, some other students and I ventured to Arch's Ice Cream Parlor and CVS to get some dessert and some drinks. We sat on the lawn, enjoyed our edible investments, and fervently discussed politics and our personal views. I resolved that it was a good thing that Sorensen ran for two weeks, because if it were over today we would not have had a chance to hear the logical -and in one case radical- viewpoints of our peers.

Many of us chose to use today as our "laundry day", taking advantage of the large amount of free time that was available to us. While we were astounded that the machines sucked up three dollars in an instant to wash and dry our clothes, we were ultimately relieved that the stink in our rooms were taken care of. Finally, several of us decided to go on a long night-run tonight. We started off in one large group, however half way through the run we had unconsciously divided up into three groups. We ran a total of approximately five miles.

Overall, today was a fun day. We learned a lot from our new teacher and learned a little bit about what it feels like to be a college student. We're all learning a lot and having a great time as well.

High School Leaders Program Class of 2010
Day 8-Thursday, July 17
Recorded by: Cari Lutkins, Potomac Falls

Wow! Halfway through this two weeks here at UVa! It seems like we've all known each other forever, because we have been with each other nonstop for seven days now! It's bittersweet to think that we only have a week left here, and the program is just rushing through, so we barely notice each day passing. Even today just flew by, and I'm amazed that I'm sitting here writing this blog about my day.

I woke up today, and was relieved to see the clock saying 10:09 a.m. Three extra hours of sleep is really what we need, because we have been just been working nonstop, from policy group meetings at 7 a.m., to reading group meetings from 11 p.m. to 12 a.m. Catherine, Nicole, and I decided to go out in Charlottesville and just enjoy the beautiful morning. We went to a little shop called Duo, which is part boutique, part secondhand shop. We had an awesome time there, spending an hour of just pure shopping! When we told the boys, we got the normal response: "I just don't get it. How can you spend an hour trying things on and looking at the same clothes over and over?" Well, somehow Nicole, Catherine, and I manage!

For our 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. class today, we were introduced to Dr. Bragaw, our new professor for the upcoming week. Dr. Bragaw is a professor at Sweet Briar College, teaching Political Science. It was a treat for all of us to meet and get acquainted with Dr. Bragaw, but he wasted no time with chit-chat! We dove right into the material and were soon challenged by discussion with our classmates about one of the articles we read as homework, "Tale of Two Counties", from the Washington Post. We were asked to discuss the article's presentation of the great divide between Fairfax and Montgomery county. Currently, Fairfax is thriving, while Montgomery is an economic crisis, and we were confronted with the facts and statistics about both counties.

Soon after class, I met with my policy group, and we quickly got to quietly tapping away at our laptops, busy and working hard in order to meet our deadline on Tuesday. It was amazing how we all sat around one table, but barely any words were exchanged, and all you could hear were people tapping on their keyboards, and Mac's occasional Miley Cyrus playing from his headphones (Sorry, Mac!). The group started out this week with a lot of heated discussions, but now we are really working together and are all in it for the task at hand.

I was really in for a treat when my grandparents came to visit me here, and we went out to dinner with my closest three friends here! Mac, Mary Gray, and Locher all accompanied me to the Mellow Mushroom with my grandparents for some of the best pizza in Charlottesville. There wasn't a silent minute at the table, with talks about the program, politics, and everything embarrassing about me that you could possibly bring up! (Just kidding, I'm very lucky that I persuaded them not to bring out the baby pictures!!) Dinner was the highlight of my day- getting to see my grandparents and being in the company of great friends.

Although the minutes and hours can sometimes go by slowly, the days are speeding by like crazy. I cannot wait for the upcoming week, and to see what Dr. Bragaw has in store for us, and spending another week here at UVa, my favorite place in Virginia.

High School Leaders Program Class of 2010
Day 9-Sunday, July 18
Recorded by: Maxwell Potter, Charlottesville

As a bright and glorious Sunday Sun rose on Bice House, I was roused from my slumber. Ahhh I thought to my self, it is Sunday, it is omelet day. After a journey to the lavatory to freshen up after my magnificent sleep, I was almost ready to begin my day. To complete my morning ritual, I threw on my iPod and the customary morning track, "Things Done Changed" by Biggie Smalls, began to pump through my headphones. I was ready to face the day.

Fifteen minutes later, my roommate, Jacob, was also up and we were ready to cook some omelets. Some other pals were quick to join the eggy, cheesy fun and before we knew it, we had ourselves a bonified bomblette party. After a glorious breakfast, sans my badly badly burned bagels, it was off to policy group.
Policy group has been exceedingly stressful as of late. At the final hour, it was discovered that our proposed legislation, a bill that would subsidize farmers using environmentally friendly methods, is already in the Virginia Code. It has been an all out sprint to come up with new ideas and create a new proposal ever
since. We have settled on a tax on plastic bags, in the model of similar legislation in effect in Washington D.C. The law would protect countless animals in the Chesapeake Bay watershed and be a great boon to the commonwealth's environment.

After toiling for a few hours and enjoying a delicious ham bagel from the world famous Charlottesville eatery, Bodo’s Bagels, it was off to the lawn for an activity. As Sorenson quidditch kicked off on UVA’s lawn, it was clear that just as in the Harry Potter novels, the Gilbradore and the other Potter boy would reign supreme. We were outpaced by a slim margin in throwing-a-ball-through-a-hoop-while-blindfoldeding by the house of Van Der Claw but we came roaring back in the Virginia history competition. We could not answer a question wrong if our lives depended on it. It was an epic performance by many members of Gilbradore. As we entered into the third and final challenge, it was clear just how much we were going to dominate.

The third challenge was an all out sprint to find as many lemons as we could which had been hidden by the YPC’s around the lawn. Gilbradore, being the most intelligent of the houses as evidenced by our domination of the Virginia history challenge, employed a brilliant strategy. We employed the young family’s sitting around the lawn to help us search. After all, what child does not excel at egg hunts. This proved to be a brilliant decision as child after child approached us with lemons which they had found. We returned to Bice Hall victorious as the “Rocky” theme song played in our hearts. As the brutally hot day combined with sprinting for lemons had heated us so, Jacob, Catherine, Nicole and I decided to cool off with a refreshing journey to Fry’s Spring Beach Club. We luxuriated under the giant oak trees and in the cool water as we
enjoyed a game of pool shoot ( a.k.a. pool basketball, there are massive debates on what the appropriate title is.)

After returning to Bice we were attacked by a copious amount of reading courtesy of Dr. Bragaw. As I have been mired in the scholarly texts since, I am fully drained and ready for sleep. It shall be another glorious day tomorrow I’m sure, just so long as I have my boy Biggie with me to start things off.

High School Leaders Program Class of 2010
Day 9-Sunday, July 18
Recorded by: Ashleigh Lanza, Woodbridge

After getting use to waking up at 7am every morning, I was sweetly surprised when I woke up at 10am and realized that I did not have to be ready for activities until 1pm. After falling asleep for a couple of hours, I woke up and was ready for a new tradition of Sorensen’s, THE SORENSEN CUP! Our class assembled in the lobby of Bice at 1pm, and then headed to “the lawn” for secret activities that were planned for the day.

When we arrived, we were split up into our respective groups: Gilberdore, Heatherin, Van Der Claw, and Howardpuff. That is when we learned that we were playing not only for pride of our houses, but for Sorensen points! The first activity we played in was a simulated quidditch game. In this game, the objective was to shoot a quaffle through our respected goal posts. However, playing in Sorensen honor, we used large, bouncy balls and threw them through our hula hoops. However, games played at Sorensen are never that easy. In this
game, the person throwing the ball, as well as the person holding the hula hoop, were both blind-folded. The other “wizards” in the group were in charge of directing the two blind-folded players, as well as running to get the ball when it inevitably flew in all directions besides the hoop. The final outcome of the game was Van Der Claw: 20, Gilberdore: 15, Howardpuff:10, Heatherin:5

Next, we played in an academic showdown as the houses competed to answer the most amount of questions in the round correctly. In this game, I was surprised to learn how much I did not know about Virginia history and politics. However, I was very relieved at the fact that my other teammates were very informed of even the most detailed facts. All in all, the best question was, “What Virginia college had the most enrolled undergraduate students?” Of course, the answer was Virginia Tech, go hokies! After the game, the houses were ranked: Gilberdore:121, Van Der Claw:105, Heatherin:101, Howardpuff:80

The final stage of the Sorensen Cup was the chase to find the most golden snitches, or in our case, lemons! Lauren, aka Gilberdore herself, hid “lemon” snitches around “the lawn”, where at the sound of “GO!”, or maybe a little before, our teams ran around looking for the 24 lemons that were placed in fairly obvious places the morning before. In about five minutes, all 24 were found and we all headed back to Bice to find out who had won the cup. After counting, Gilberdore and Van Der Claw both found 8 snitches, Heatherin found 5, and Howardpuff found 3. In the end, Gilberdore might have won the cup, but we all still had fun!