Reginald Oduor, Kenyan Scholar and Human Rights Activist

Messiah College is pleased to offer two opportunities for students to learn and engage with Dr. Reginald Oduor, a Kenyan scholar and human rights activist.

Co-sponsored by Diversity Affairs, the Intercultural Office, the Center for Public Humanities, and the Departments of Biblical and Religious Studies, Philosophy, and Politics and International Relations, Dr. Oduor’s sessions will have something for everyone. As a philosopher and activist, Dr. Oduor is internationally known for his scholarship in political philosophy, ethics, and philosophy of religion. Blind since he was a baby, he is also one of Kenya’s leading voices for the rights and inclusion of people with disabilities.

On Monday, November 16th, from 7-8pm, he will be speaking in Hostetter Chapel, describing and analyzing “How Africa Can Help America.”

The next day, Tuesday the 17th, he will discuss “African Philosophy: Thought and Practice” from 4:15 to 5:30pm in Boyer 336.

We sincerely hope you will be able to join us!

 

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CultureConnect Lecture 2015

Please join the Department of Communication in welcoming Dr. Mark Sachleben for a lecture on International Broadcasting and National Identity on Monday, November 2nd at 7pm in Parmer Hall.

Dr. Sachleben’s political science expertise perfectly equips him for this discussion, which will weave together politics and media. Tickets are free, but are required, and can be picked up at the Ticket Office. This event is not to be missed!

 

Politics at the Movies: Selma and The Imitation Game

Tags

film, politics, selma, the imitation game

The following guest post was written by senior politics major Casey Daggett.

For as long as I can remember, I have loved stories. No small amount of my childhood was spent surrounded by piles of books borrowed from the local library. As I grew up, that love developed into an equal affection for film. Film is just as transformative, just as powerful a medium, as what we consider to be traditional narrative, and I’ve found it is often through film that I find myself moved, inspired and touched.

Last month, I spent two consecutive Sunday afternoons at the movie theatre in Camp Hill, first to see Selma and then The Imitation Game. Both were nothing short of masterful; each beautifully and poignantly portrayed their respective protagonists as well as the challenges and cultural nuances of their settings. As both ended, the last image on the screen was a title card explaining the fates of MLK Jr. and Alan Turing. Shortly after the events of Selma, MLK Jr. was assassinated, and less than a year after beginning hormone treatments, Alan Turing committed suicide.

After the end of both films, just as the lights began to rise, I heard someone behind me sigh wistfully, “What a shame.”

It is, of course, a shame. It is nothing short of a tragedy.

In both cases, the lives of two brave, brilliant men were ended far too early as a result of systematic injustice. For Turing, a government that actively dehumanized homosexuals and worked to ‘cure’ them through either jail or hormone imbalances; for King a government that for far too long had ignored the plight of its own citizens and turned a blind eye to rampant discrimination.

This led me to consider how many ‘shames’ I will sit down to watch in a theatre thirty or forty years from now. How many instances of injustice that now only warrant perhaps a sad sigh or casual interest will one day appear upon a movie screen and result in the disbelief of an audience? How was such a thing allowed to continue, to endure? Where was the outcry, the rage? Where was the justice?

This is the primary reason why I chose to study politics and why I believe my discipline, contrary to the opinions of many, is critically important. Politics is a study of constitutions, ideologies, and electoral systems, certainly, but the beating heart of the study examines how communities choose to live together and, most importantly, how those within can be given the best possible life. Political activism, an understanding of the nuances of difficult and often uncomfortable issues, works to combat these ‘shames’ and to see injustice defeated.

Viewing both Selma and The Imitation Game reminded me of the necessity of what I study, of the call not only to recognize injustice but to end it through political activism. It is a challenge, absolutely, and one that requires no small amount of determination and strength, but it is unquestionably deserving of the effort. Years down the road, when we’ve a free Sunday afternoon to spend at the movies, let’s work to see as few of these ‘shames’ as possible up on the big screen.

 

The Gospel of Lear

Tags

King Lear, Shakespeare

The following guest post was written by senior politics major Casey Daggett.

King Lear, undoubtedly one of Shakespeare’s greatest masterpieces, if not his crowning achievement, reveals the profound complexities of human nature. While it presents a troubling picture of the human condition, the text wrought with violence, selfishness and suffering, its difficult lessons cannot be ignored and remain just as relevant to our society as they did in Elizabethan England.  Shakespeare’s tale of an aging, maddened king has the capacity to reflect our modern political environment.

King Lear is one of Shakespeare’s most complex figures. From first introduction, we learn that he is proud and that this hubris will be the undoing of both him and the innocent Cordelia. Lear is obsessed with his status as King and furious with Regan and Goneril for denying his requests to house both him and his men in an attempt to diminish his power. He then flees into a great tempest alongside the disguised Kent, his fool, and Edgar, walking through the countryside naked and raving.

However, it is in this moment, when King Lear has been robbed of everything that has designated him as a king—his power, prestige, and even the garb which would signify him as royalty—that he sees beyond the pride that has doomed him. For the first time in the play, King Lear sees beyond himself, crying out, “Poor naked wretches, wheresoe’er you are / that bide the pelting of this pitiless storm / how shall your houseless heads and unfed sides / your loopt and window’d raggedness defend / you from such seasons as this?” (III.IV) When Lear has lost everything, only then does he think of those beneath him: the homeless and the hungry. He wonders how the marginalized people of his kingdom will survive such a wild storm as the one raging around him, those whom he has never before felt any commonality with.

“King Lear and the Fool in the Storm” by William Dyce

Lear continues, shouting above the tempest that “O, I have ta’en / too little care of this! Take physic, pomp; / explore thyself to feel what wretches feel, / that thou mayest shake the superflux to them / and show the heavens more just” (III.IV). He realizes, naked and exposed to the fury of nature, that he has shown too little care towards the poorest and the neediest of his kingdom, that in his great pride he has overlooked those that needed him most. Lear goes on to advise the powerful to go out and truly understand what sorrow and poverty the poor experience in order to serve them better, to make the world a better place through empathy, generosity, and kindness. Only when Lear is stripped of all that has made him powerful, all that has designated him as king and given him wealth, can he understand the needs and fears of the poor.

Lear’s warning and regret serve as a powerful message to our own society, where the gap between the poor and the wealthy grows increasingly larger. Amidst the despair and darkness of King Lear, one brief moment of hope flickers, and that hope calls for the wealthy and privileged to aid the marginalized and the needy. Are we not also called to help those around us and to hold our political leaders to the same standard?

In a culture where fame and fortune is glamorized, what does it take for us to remember poverty and inequality? Must we first hit our absolute lows, be stripped of our status and our prestige to empathize with the marginalized and the downtrodden? Does it take an economic recession, low unemployment rates, business closings, and a downgrade in credit for not only our political leaders, but ourselves to help the poor? Will we then be able to empathize with those we previously overlooked?

Lear’s desperate cries into the storm serve not only as a warning, but as a message of hope. We are called to consider “the least of these,” to aid and serve them as our equals and peers, and to help them before political and economic tempests. As the ever-increasing gap between the wealthy and the poor grows, the message of social justice within King Lear is as relevant to our own society as it was to Shakespeare’s. The privileged and powerful have a duty to serve and aid those beneath them, to embrace them without disdain before a political or economic crisis strikes.

However, does our political culture reflect this calling?

Practical Experience in Politics: Matt Wagner Interview

Tags

Internships, Pennsylvania, politics, Research Methods, Spring 2013

We sat down this semester with Matthew Wagner  to talk about his spring internship in Harrisburg with the Commonwealth Foundation, a policy-research think tank. Because of Messiah College’s proximity to Harrisburg, Matt decided to look for something in the city and close to the capitol. He is now almost three months in to his Spring internship with the Common Wealth Foundation of Harrisburg.

Matt was kind to sit with us and answer a few questions about his experience.

How have you been able to balance course-work and internship work?

Well, if you do an internship for credit you have to take an internship class. This internship I’m doing is 6 credits, so I have to do a weekly class. And so there are some assignments for the class (i.e. reflection papers). You also have to do a master work portfolio and turn that it. But as far as balancing out other coursework. . . my internship is only 2 full days a week and I don’t have any homework for it. But, I’ve realized that it did make my semester busier than I thought because it made me realize how much time my internship did take away from time I could be doing other work. I’m also double majoring in Music which takes up a lot of time.

Tell us a bit about what you do every day?

Well I work for a policy institution, they will take the current issues and the current bills being discussed (in PA legislature) and they’ll analyze them and post articles and blogs on their website. I go into my office every day and I’m at the computer pretty much most of the time and I’m doing research to help with the articles that the professional policy analysts post. So, they’ll give me little tasks with a due date. I also do typical office stuff like bringing stuff up from the storage room and dropping mail off etc. But I do get to visit the Capitol for hearings too! I really enjoy doing that. Some people might find it boring. I think it’s really interesting to see the interactions when the actual legislatures make their proposals to committees.

It is hard for prospective students and even current students who have not done an internship to picture what it will look like. Of course it depends on the placement, but in general internships offer a great way to get one’s feet wet in a professional environment. What has been your experience being in a professional environment?

It is my first job when I’m going into an office for a full day, so you do all the typical professional things. You have to wear a suit and formal clothing and you do have to worry about being on time and getting things done on time. It’s really not too scary or tough. The people I work with are really nice and pretty laid back. But yeah, you definitely have to worry about your presentation in front of other people.

If you could give advice to a future student (think of this as giving yourself advice 3 years ago) what would you tell them about making the most of their internship experience?

Observe how you feel the whole time. That’s something I’ve been doing (e.g. what tires you or energized you). You learn a lot about yourself in an office environment and you’ll find out what works for you. And I didn’t expect to learn about those things, but it’s interesting how much I’ve learned about myself from just spending time in an office. But also I would say be confident for sure. Whenever you’re meeting people, give them a nice firm hand shake and look them in the eye. I think first impressions really are everything to your job, especially when you’re not going to be seeing certain people a lot.

What have been the most helpful classes you have taken at Messiah College which prepared you for the internship?

I think all the politics classes in general were probably the most helpful. With my job in particular, since I am doing political research, Research Methods has been helpful because it familiarized me with the concepts in political research which I come across all the time. Learning what kinds of sources work and don’t work, what sources are appropriate for certain research, knowing how to interpret different sources and whether you have to do more digging in your research.

And then even the politics classes about other countries, like say Politics in the UK, are the same. You’re using a bunch of different sources and learning how to use them, and this is definitely something I’m doing in this internship.

 

What are you up to next year, you last year at Messiah College?

I’d like to do another internship over the summer. I don’t think I’m going to do one senior year because I’ll be doing SAB again (Student Activities Board) because I had booked our B-Sides bands my sophomore year and will be doing that again next year. I’ll also be preparing for my senior recital (Music Department) and applying to grad schools maybe, and preparing for politics senior seminar (Politics department) which will have quite a lot of work. I can definitely see myself working in politics while I’m doing grad school in music. I think that’s probably what I’d like to end up doing. I see both majors as ways to explore things I’m strongly interested in. So that is another reason why internships are important to me because I do want to get a job and support myself through grad school.

Some students may not know where to start when looking for an internship, and many can be overwhelmed by the process. Matt knew he wanted an internship his junior year, and since he had up to 9 credits of an internship to fill he decided to make the most of that opportunity. Searching for an internship may be a long process, but the Internship Center and faculty are happy to help direct students to the right placement for them. Hopefully students will take advantage of this and and continue their education outside of the classroom and inside the workplace.

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More information about searching and applying for internships can be found at the Messiah College Internship Center.

And for more information about the Commonwealth foundation, go to their website and their staff blog.

Hear from the 3rd Annual “Opportunities in Politics” Chapel!

The Department of Politics was proud to host our 3^rd annual “Opportunities in Politics” chapel on Tuesday, September 11^th, and it was encouraging to see a large number of non-majors attend the event this year! During Opportunities in Politics, students are given a first-hand account relating to what our department’s alumni and current students are doing, and how a Politics major has benefited them.

Dr. Paul Rego, our department chair, kicked off the event, and began by talking about how flexible Politics is as a major. He emphasized how easily Politics can be added as a minor or paired with another major, and he talked about how diverse our department majors’ careers have been. According to data provided by 2004-2010 alumni, it is estimated that 72% of our majors go into a major-related field directly after school here (another large percentage of alums attend either graduate school or law school), and that 72% includes professional internships, education, service-related work, law, government, for-profit companies or organizations, and non-profit organizations. Politics is a major that opens so many more doors than it closes, and there are an immense amount of opportunities after school for someone studying this discipline. As Dr. Rego put it, the reading, writing, and critical thinking skills learned in the major are “transferrable to all walks of life”.

Next, we heard from Alejandro Garcia, a senior who is double-majoring in Politics and Economics. He talked about all of the opportunities he received while studying Politics here at Messiah, such as the opportunity to attend a 3 day conference, entitled “Values and Capitalism” (which was organized by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a leading think-tank in Washington, DC). He also had the opportunity to eat dinner with the participants in a Messiah-sponsored debate: “Is Capitalism Moral?” While he expected this to be a crowded dinner full of students from all disciplines, he walked into the room to find President of AEI Arthur Brooks, prominent author and founder/editor of Sojourner’s Magazine Jim Wallis, founder of Forgotten Voices Ryan Keith, President of HOPE International Peter Greer, and PA State Representative Steven Bloom. Alejandro also stressed that the Politics professors here are open to dialogue and to new ideas, and that all ideas are welcome in the classroom. He has also completed internships for the Commonwealth Foundation and HOPE International. After school, he would like to attend graduate school for either Public Policy or Public Administration. Using Alejandro as an example, we can see that opportunities in politics are virtually unlimited!

Alejandro Garcia at Opportunities in Politics

Finally, we heard from Nick Kratz, a 2012 graduate of Messiah. One of his major emphases included how much he enjoyed the Messiah professors, and the professors in the Politics department, in particular. He talked about how they helped him to realize his potential, and he also emphasized that building relationships with professors is necessary, especially relationships with our Politics professors, because they can open up many doors for you later in your academic or professional career. One thing that Nick realized, in particular, was the importance of completing an internship. During his internship, Nick learned from his supervisors that, while many of his fellow interns had higher GPA’s, Nick’s work was of higher quality.  Nick also highlighted the diversity of jobs that you can get with a Politics degree. He now works in Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett’s Office of Legislative Affairs, where he coordinates meetings with the Governor for constituents and businesses. He loves his job and says that “it is never the same day twice.”

Nick Kratz at Opportunities in Politics

For more information about the B.A. in Politics program at Messiah College, check out our website at https://www.messiah.edu/departments/politics/ ! Any questions about the major and how it can apply to you can be directed to Dr. Paul Rego, Department Chair, at prego@messiah.edu.

Playing Ball: Five Fundamentals for Success on and off the Court

At this semester’s Career Conversations event hosted by the Career Center and Politics Department, Politics alumni discussed their careers in business. Alumnus Nathan Shive offered some great advice for current students on how to succeed in any career through the application of five “fundamentals.” Watch the video below from the event or read the post below for how you can apply these key concepts to your career path.

In the fall of 2008 I was asked, out of sheer desperation, to coach my daughter’s youth basketball team. Anybody who has been involved with youth sports knows that among the many challenges is the vast disparity of talent found on any given roster. Some kids are the “jocks” and take a more visible role, others show potential, others try as hard as they can, others want to learn, and others simply don’t care.

Assigned a roster of 5th and 6th-grade girls that reflected this diversity, I adopted the strategy of simplifying the game to the lowest common denominator. First, I taught them the five positions, each numbered 1 through 5 – point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward, center. They were taught (with varying degrees of success) the role of each position, with the hope being that if I sent one of them into the game with instructions to “be the ‘three’,” they would know what that meant.

As for the play itself, and recognizing that young and inexperienced players may be overwhelmed and perhaps intimidated by the apparent complexity of the game, I emphasized that there were also five “fundamentals” that anyone could master, regardless of their age, height or ability.

• Hustle – they were expected to hard on every play, regardless of the score, the match-ups, or their perceived probability of success. “Nobody,” I shouted repeatedly, “will beat our team down the floor!”

• Motion – they were asked to keep moving on every play, particularly on offense. Don’t stand around waiting for someone to pass you the ball – move and get open, not only to help your teammates, but to make the player guarding you work that much harder.

• Learn – you don’t know everything, and you will make mistakes. Learn from them, as well as from your teammates, your opponents, and your coaches. Amateurs practice until they can do it right; professionals practice until they can’t do it wrong.

• Teamwork – You were either on the court or on the bench, but everyone was in the game. The players on the floor had to work together; the players on the bench were to encourage their teammates and pay attention to what was happening, so they knew what to do when I put them in the game.

• Defense – Admittedly, perhaps more of a learned skill, but we played mostly man-to-man defense, and in that system your job is to stay with your opponent. Anybody can make that effort.

As young adults preparing to embark on what will hopefully be a long-term career, you can apply these same fundamentals to whatever path you choose, particularly if you want to rise above mediocrity and make a difference in your life and the lives of others. As has been said before, successful people do what unsuccessful people won’t do.

♦ Hustle – Work harder than everybody else. Hopefully, you can find a career that rewards you for this and doesn’t place artificial time constraints on your success.

♦ Motion – Keep moving, don’t stand still. If you remain in the same place, others will pass you. Look to take on new challenges and opportunities.

♦ Learn – From everything around you. Every event in your life, work-related or not, provides learning opportunities. You want to repeat successes, and avoid future failures, to take the time to learn from both.

♦ Teamwork – Use all the resources available. Develop alliances with your colleagues and professionals in other fields. Build a network of contacts; don’t try to know (or do) everything yourself.

♦ Defense – Protect what you have built. Years of work can be wiped out in a moment’s misjudgment. Your first responsibility should be to strengthen and reinforce your foundation before you build onto it.

A career built on these five fundamentals is well on its way to long-term success. The final piece, however, may be the most important – find something bigger than yourself. Whether a church, a charity, a service organization or a community endeavor, become a part of something that is certain to last longer than you. The more you give of yourself, the more you will receive, and having this element as a central portion of your life will provide the proper balance to your career endeavors.

Written by Nathan P. Shive, Agency Sales Director and Investment Adviser Representative with PennWood Financial Group

The Fall 2011 Semester

Tags

Alejandro Garcia Davalos, Guest, Jean Cho, Josephine Bellon, Joshua Beers, Robin Lauermann, Seniors, Sophomores, Videos

It’s the end of the semester! Finals are pretty much completed, faculty have exams to grade, students have packing to do, and we all have Christmas break to look forward to. We hope you enjoyed out first semester of this blog. The following are the guest writers who wrote for the blog. . .

Alejandro Garcia Davalos is a junior. He will be returning to his home country, Bolivia, in January. He will return for the spring to take some more politics courses and participate in an internship. He co-wrote “An Inside Scoop” with Jean Cho.

Jean Cho,  a member of the Messiah swim team, will be finishing up the swimming season in the Spring and I will be continuing her internship as Representative Stephen Bloom’s Legislative intern.

Nicholas Kratz is a senior who contributed his op-ed on the Frances Fox Piven event in October. In the Spring, Nick will be a full-time intern with the House of Representatives in Harrisburg. He will be working as a staff member on a committee of the House drafting legislation.

Solveig Parsons wrote our Studying Abroad reflection and is in her third year of studying Politics and French at Messiah. She plans on returning to Strasbourg in the Spring to continue working on her French (and eating baguettes).

Ben Hemphill is a Sophomore Politics major, Secretary of the MC Republicans, and a member of Student Government Forum. He will be pursing an internship with the Republican Party of Pennsylvania in the Spring. He wrote the response to the debate between Jim Wallis and Arthur Brooks.

As one of the Department work study students, Havilah Mendez has overseen the blog this semester and written the following posts:  A Window into the Classroom Experience, Our Students on Internships & Studying Abroad, American Government, and “Where Do I Go From Here?” She will be studying at the American Studies Program in Washington D.C. in the Spring to finish up her junior year.

Dr. Robin Lauermann, is chair of the Department of Politics and Assistant Dean of General Education and Common Learning. She wrote the post “A Republic or a Democracy?”

We also want to thank Josephine Bellon, Joshua Beers for appearing in our Student Video. A special thanks to Film major, Matthew Elton for filming the video. Thanks to Professors Paul Rego and John Harles for their contributions to the core curriculum posts.

Is Capitalism Moral?

Tags

American Enterprise Institute, Arthur Brooks, Ben Hemphill, Capitalism, Fall 2011, Jim Wallis, Sojourners

Student Response by Benjamin Hemphill, ’14

November 11, 2011 

 

Last Wednesday evening, Messiah College had the distinct privilege of playing host to two prominent members of the political community, Dr. Arthur Brooks and Mr. Jim Wallis, as they debated the issue of the morality of capitalism. The speech was moderated by Messiah alum, Peter Greer, who characterized the subject matter as, “a timely issue of the utmost importance and relevance”. In many ways, Peter Greer was correct in his assertion that capitalism is a pertinent topic that demands the attention of the scholarly world; but for me, casting it in the light of morality was an intriguing concept to grapple with. Both of the debaters suggested that capitalism should be characterized as a moral issue because it is a mechanism of people, and people by nature are either moral or immoral beings. Where the speakers disagreed, was on what the best, most effective means of achieving economic parody and spreading economic opportunity.

  

Dr. Arthur Brooks, President of The American Enterprise Institute, suggested in his opening remarks that rather than spreading wealth through government distribution, the economically moral action is to make opportunities for prosperity readily available. Describing what he calls the “Moral Promise of the Pursuit of Happiness”, Brooks asserts that wealth, in and of itself, does not make people happy; but rather, wealth that an individual feels that they have earned is what will truly make them happy. He went on to argue that the government, through programs of federal subsidy and economic stimulus, cannot be the sole avenue to accomplish this goal. “If this is the case”, Brooks said, “we will end up an envy nation, and not an aspiration nation.”

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Mr. Jim Wallis, who among other notable accomplishments is the founder of SojournersMagazine and spiritual advisor to President Obama, had a significantly different perspective on the issue. He began by discussing the concept of Adam Smith’s “Invisible Hand”, which is the idea that the market, left to its own devises, will correct itself; but then went on to suggest that sometimes the “Invisible Hand” might let go. In instances such as these, Mr. Wallis believes that government intervention is essential to protect the interest of people that he calls the “poor and powerless”. Mr. Wallis proceeded to characterize himself as a “Matthew 25” Christian, sighting the popular passage of scripture that commands Christians to lend aid to the poor and helpless. In his opinion, he seemed to suggest that the government might be the most appropriate entity for the accomplishment of this goal.

As I was sat listening to “debate”, the thing that was striking to me, was the lack of an actual debate. Both sides of the argument were extremely receptive to what the other side had to say; and throughout, effectively executed a dialog of true civil discourse. In an increasingly partisan time in our country, I found it to be both refreshing and encouraging to see two people from opposite sides of the political spectrum communicate in such a way. No, it was not the heated, controversial debate that I am sure much of the student body was looking for; but perhaps, it is the kind of dialog that we need more of in the United States today.

An Inside Scoop

Tags

Alejandro Garcia Davalos, Fall 2011, Guest, Internships, Jean Cho, Pennsylvania, Rep. Stephen Bloom, Research Methods, Robin Lauermann

An Inside Scoop on: A Pennsylvania Policy Forum Symposium

By: Jean Cho and Alejandro Garcia Davalos

Endless Opportunities. That is what Messiah has offered to us during our time here. An illustration of such providence occurred just one week ago to two junior politics majors who were offered the eye-opening opportunity to observe an exclusive lawmaking process symposium as the guests of our Department Chair, Doctor Robin Lauermann, only offered to members of the Pennsylvania Policy Forum, such as herself, on Tuesday – October 25, 2011.

Some background about the nature of the Pennsylvania Policy Forum is as follows: this collective group of various faculty members and academic leaders from public and private Pennsylvania colleges and universities collaborate in order to generate ideas, analyses, and set up symposiums that could be used to provide citizens, elected officials, and civic leaders in addressing major issues that are involving the Commonwealth and its local governments.

Alejandro Garcia Davalos, Robin Lauermann, and Jean Cho

On that crisp autumn afternoon we, got to take a break from regular classes and the reality of upcoming mid-term exams, extracurricular activities, and just life in general and headed for the first time to the State Museum of Pennsylvania. We dressed for success and drove into Harrisburg, following Doctor Lauermann’s steady lead. We were so unsure of what to expect. The entire commute to Harrisburg consisted of conversations anticipating what would occur during the event, the speakers, possible networking opportunities, what we would learn, and in general how lucky we were to go.

The Constitutional Foundations of the Lawmaking Process was the title for the afternoon’s symposium meant to be one of a series of professional development events for the General Assembly. The format of the event was a Mock Trial where the three main speakers acted as the key players in the ordeal. The case at hand was as follows: Did the General Assembly Violate the Constitution in Enacting Senate Bill 1 of 2015? Procedural history was reviewed and various Articles within the PA Constitution were referenced. The Four main questions were presented, argued, and then voted on by the legislators in the audience. This interactive voting was very interesting to observe. Each electronic vote was automatically tallied and then displayed on the jumbo screen. It was amazing to apply concepts that we have learned about in the classroom setting and see the procedures in action. Throughout the lifelike trial, our trio from Messiah whispered back and forth, after close observation of each scenario and furiously wrote notes while questioning our own consciences deciding how we would vote in the matter. Engrossed in this new atmosphere, we excitedly soaked in each passing second.
Now if this afternoon could not possibly be getting any more fulfilling and exciting, to our pleasant surprise, we spotted Representative Stephen L. Bloom from the 199^th District of PA across the aisle and to our left. Doctor Lauermann predicted that he would be in attendance, as often members of the House are, but it did not strike us until we saw him in the flesh. Jean currently is Representative Bloom’s legislative intern and was able to text him during the meeting asking questions on what was occurring and which way he was going to vote with his electronic buzzer. We both had Representative Bloom as our Economics professor back during first semester of our freshman year. He remembered that Alejandro was from Bolivia and asked if he had ever had a tour of the PA state Capitol building. After stuffing our famished selves with some delicious hors d’oeuvres, networking and mingling amongst the crowd of students and prestigious people we headed past the Occupy Harrisburg protestors to Representative Bloom’s home turf, the Capitol. We were given the most intimate of tours throughout some of Representative Bloom’s favorite parts of the Capitol, fun facts and all. It was amazing to see the places that the general public tours will not go to. The inside scoop on what is arguably the most beautiful Capitol building in the United States was an unforeseen treat indeed!

Representative Stephen Bloom, 119th District

The PA Policy Forum members’ mission as educators to train students for citizenship and public policy careers, by giving them a glimpse of “a day in the life,” along with providing opportunities to civic sector leaders to improve their knowledge and application on issues was clearly a success on both levels that momentous Tuesday. Events like these are the ones that, amidst all the papers and hard work, remind us of why we chose to study politics and encourage us to continue working hard so that, one day, we may be the ones presenting to these legislator or even go on to become an elected official.   A very special thanks to Doctor Lauermann, who not only is shaping our minds into reaching our potential as political researching machines in POLI243 but, who so generously brought us along to the Symposium. It truly was the most intriguing and thought probing educational experiences of our junior year to date!

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This reflection post is one of many student blog contributions this semester. Many thanks to all of our students for their energetic and thoughtful contributions! We hope our readers enjoyed. We would love to hear your comments below. . .