Kennesaw State University Leaders attend 2009 U.S. Presidential Inauguration Seminar Program

2009-01-19T21:49:00.004-05:00

This morning started off slightly different from the rest. Since today is our last day in Washington and we had a free day to enjoy the city before tomorrow's historical day, we celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on thin ice, literally! We spent 15-25 glorious minutes on the frozen over pond nestled in our backyard (see the video in Phillip's last post). We just so happened to catch some of our fun on film, so you should check out our short but uniquely talented performance.

After an exciting day well spent on the grounds of our national monuments, we dove into the heart of the culture in Washington again with a visit to the National Archives and last evening dinner in Chinatown. Upon waiting in line to enter the National Archives, with hundreds of thousands of people I must add, we were delighted and intrigued with the presence and conversation of a former FBI agent who served during some of the nations most infamous and even grand moments in American History (through the 1960s and 1970s). After nearly an hour and a half of waiting in line, we then engaged with U.S. history's most defining and pioneering documents, including: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Magna Carta. Our evening dinner was inspired by Presidential Leader's previous trip to Washington, D.C in February to a Chinese restaurant.

This would conclude our experience in Washington as tonight we are diligently working to finish up our memos to the president, packing, and cleaning before our 4:00am train ride to the airport in the morning. As you can tell this opportunity has led us to several immaculate realizations of the presidency and the influencing factors surrounding their noble dedications to our country and world. We are so thankful for the experience to be in Washington on behalf of Kennesaw State University and therefore we cannot be more grateful for the tremendous 9 days in our beautiful nation's capitol. Thanks to you for ensuring the success of our ride to academic, personal, and professional stimulation. We look forward to being home, but will always cherish the moments we've experienced in the climax of a treasured, historical age.

~Branden

Skating On Thin Ice... Literally

2009-01-19T20:22:00.005-05:00

Just a little goofing around on one of our days off in Washington D.C.! This was a gold medal winning performance by the way. We also went out to a few restaurants and socialized with the locals, and even saw one of our senators employees out! It was a great way to wind down the week before finishing our papers and journals and returning to Kennesaw, school work, and real life.

~Phillip

2009-01-18T00:06:00.009-05:00

Today we visited the amazing Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue. The Newseum is a tribute to media sources and the way they have influenced our lives. I believe this was one of the most eye opening experiences I have had while here in Washington, D.C. The Newseum had amazing assortment of media that gave a broad view of the impact media has made from as early as the 1400s to the present day.

The exhibits ranged from the first amendment gallery, the 9/11 gallery to the 4 dimensional (moving seats) film on inspiring journalists. The galleries did an amazing job of showing the almost inconceivable importance of journalism to our democracy and how it affects people around the world. Exhibits tell the history of the Berlin wall and how journalists played a role in bring it down. The events of 9/11 were shown in order of reporting and really created an emotional exhibit. I never realized how important journalism really was to our daily lives. I came out of the Newseum with a greater appreciation to journalists that gave their life to tell stories of war, corruption, to famine. One of the most interesting sections of the Newseum was the Ethics Center. The Ethics Center was an interactive center that allowed you to make tough decisions about stories that defined ethical boundaries in journalism.

Durring my visit I was even able to gain a better perspective on what it was like to be a news reporter. You had the opportunity to act as a news reporter and have yourself taped and broadcast. It was harder than I thought to read that teleprompter!

2009-01-16T21:44:00.002-05:00

The day started out with Sam Donaldson (of ABC News) giving his perspective on how Washington D.C. works. He was energetic and liked to add in bits of humor. This made his points a bit hard to follow however he was still fun to hear from. Following this was a panel of former congressmen from various states. They were all able to tell a bit about what they thought about their time as congressmen and about defining experiences from their service.
Students were able to ask questions of the congressmen that gave us some insight into the transition to Obama’s presidency as well as answering questions from budget deficits, congressional partisanship, and how media affects politics. I have now heard 2 different perspectives on C-SPAN being able to broadcast the house and senate rooms. I recall a reporter claiming that C-SPAN was great because it was able to hold congress accountable for being present and for representing legislation. The former congressmen however, made it clear that C-SPAN was a horrible idea because it hindered them from being able to represent themselves correctly to other members.Next, we had Dr. Bell finish his presentation on media and the campaign. He showed the Bias toward Obama and showed what media may have had a more liberal bias. He presented the topic of negative advertising and spoke on the abilities of the candidates. One of the most interesting points that he presented was that John McCain was really good at his town hall meetings. If you look back in the campaign, John McCain wanted Obama to join him in the town hall meetings where he was strong in giving the straight talk to the people. Obama declined knowing that he was better at giving speeches to the people and not participating in events where McCain was strongest. Unfortunately, McCain didn’t get much coverage on his ability to handle uncensored questions while Obama got coverage for making very inspiring speeches. This insight gave me a clearer picture of how campaigns use their strengths and restrain their weaknesses to try and come out on top.

TWC Inauguration Seminar - Day 5

2009-01-16T18:37:00.009-05:00

Hey Hey Hey!

January 15, 2009 was our 5th day of the TWC program and our 6th day in Washington D.C. The high temperature today did not break the mid-20' s and the winds were 10 to 20 miles per hour! Let' s just say it doesn' t get this cold in Atlanta. Burrrr!

Today started with a lecture from Dr. Ross Baker, a Professor of Political Science from Rutgers University in New Jersey. Dr. Baker provided a detailed lecture about the inter-workings of both congressional houses. His seven characteristics of the legislative bodies (localism, segmentalism, accountability, partisanship, individualism, process, and need to compromise) gave an interesting lens by which to consider the dynamics of congressional proceedings. Members of congress are in a position unique from the president as they are much more accessible (you can stole into their ofﬁce at almost anytime), have to keep in mind the interest of their local constituents and individual interests if they are concerned with re-election, but still must make compromises to serve the greater good of the nation as a whole.

Dr. Genovese followed Dr. Barker in the morning session. He continued his series of lectures on the power of the presidency, this time talking about how the presidency was born: the divine right of kings was transformed by our forefathers into the divine right of the people, the need for the consent of the governed, and the absolute necessity of the unalienable rights bestowed upon us by our creator. I am enjoying reading his book (Memo to a New President) that we received upon arriving here, although I feel slightly guilty as I should be reading more of the material for my bioethics and molecular biology courses.

The morning session continued with a lecture from Ambassador Hussein Haqqani of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. He quoted Senator and future Secretary of State Clinton, "The world can' t solve its problems without the United States and the United States can' t solve its problems without the world." I feel this was an extremely accurate statement and was a ﬁtting way to start his talk. The degree of globalization and internationalization the world has experience begs for a global approach to problem solving for all nations. One of the themes in his talk was that we must make sure that we are working with people and not trying to work for people. Ambassador Haqqani used an example of an old lady crossing the street: a young man tried to help an old lady across the street and she ended up beating him on the head with her hand bag because she did not want his help. While this example has a very obvious political message, I feel the example provides a truth: the story might have ended ended differently if the person had taken the time to see if the old lady actually wanted help, if he had attempted to understand the situation better.

However, I did object to some of Ambassador Haqqani' s comments. When asked about his and his country' s thoughts about Obama and whether they would have preferred to have John McCain in ofﬁce, he eloquently dodged the question. He said that he and the country had no preference about which candidate was elected. While I feel overall the world is excited about Obama becoming president, his remarks to the question did not seem sincere to me. I got a sense that he was just putting up a political front. Yes, this is his job to do so; however, I feel that his remarks may not have been completely representative of his personal opinion which is what I would have liked to hear.

The morning session ended with Dr, Bell and more of his discussion on media and the campaign. We watched clips from SNL and also the interview of Sarah Palin by Katie Couric. It was nice to end the day' s lectures on a humorous note.

Our Capitol tour in the afternoon was a disappointment compared to the one we went on last time we were in Washington with the Presidential Leaders, although we did get to see the newly completed visitor center.

Our day concluded with a concert from satirist Mark Russell at the George Washington University Concert Hall. His political humor was as witty as it was true in many cases.

The anticipation for the inauguration is continuing to build up and we can see the excitement escalating around the town!

This experience is also making me feel more optimistic about President-Elect Obama. The general consensus of most of the experts and speakers we have hear from, both republicans and democrats, is that Obama is working towards the center and not making his bed with partisan politics of either side thus far. They feel that he is trying to bring people together and has honest intentions to better America. Regardless of our political party, he is now our president and his leadership in this time is going to be key to the continued prosperity of our nation. As I mentioned in my last personal post, President-Elect Obama has been dealt pocket aces in the poker game of the presidency. I am starting to feel hopeful that he will play a good hand and make sensible wagers.

As always, I' ll leave you with some pictures.

Phillip

2009-01-14T23:11:00.018-05:00

Have you ever felt as though early morning commitments seem earlier each new day even though the itinerary reads the same starting time? I often do and maybe it's because I'm just having that much fun! Fortunately Wednesday's rise was no exception. Our buttoned up shoes, jackets and tightly wrapped scarfs enabled us to sprint to the University of the District of Columbia for an enticing conversation concerning mainstream media.

The evening before, Bob Schieffer informed us of his daunting experiences with Generation Y's choices for adequate media sources (we just so happen to belong in Generation Y), suggesting Saturday Night Live and South Park were slightly uninformative and somewhat limited in their approaches. Dr. Steve Bell of Ball State University picked up right where Mr. Schieffer's indictments left off, yet this morning he focused on the power of media coverage and its inherent biases, especially in the context of individuals with painstakingly limited news consumption. He proposed we, as in the youth of the nation, develop a sense of "media literacy" to weed through all the biased forms of news; a challenge to encourage our generation to become active, serial readers digesting information from a complex of media sources.

C-SPAN aired its final of a two-part series of live interviews from the auditorium stage where current White House Press Secretary Dana Perino responded to tough questions submitted by fellow peers assembled at the University and from public viewers via telephone. She faced questions such as: "What was one of the most frustrating things you experienced working under the Bush Administration?" and "Are dangerous buzz words such as 'terrorism' and 'national threats' an attempt by the media to thwart the public's sense of security?" As you can imagine, it was fascinating to witness first hand how the press secretary responds in real time.

Ted Koppel of NPR and BBC uniquely assessed our opinions on whether or not journalists should first consider the consequences of their reports prior to publishing. He would go on later to submit, "Although journalists must be held responsible for the accuracy depicted in their postings, rarely ever should they be held responsible for the outcome of a story.” Interesting!

Concluding our morning session, Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribune spoke of the Obama Administration transition into the White House and humorously illustrated how the Obama Administration has succinctly dealt with the changing times through the use of technology to foster communication ("I told Barack that Blackberry's are modern day shackles or sorts, I mean I own two!"). One of the most entertaining topics Mr. Page touched on was the danger looming if the Internet were ever to be "corporatized". Page asserted, "I believe the Internet is precisely what this nation's founding fathers had in mind when they hammered the freedom of speech and freedom of press into the first amendment." Pure genius!

And last but certainly not least came our captivating and inspirational site visit to the Embassy of Kuwait. The notable speakers addressed the long standing and supportive relationship between the United States and Kuwait through the common values of openness, strength, and respect.

2009-01-14T19:58:00.005-05:00

Here are several moments of our great times from Yesterday's events (January 13th, 2009).

Juan Williams and Bret Baier spoke to President-Elect Barack Obama's presidential transition. On the live C-SPAN feed they responded to telephone calls and questions from our fellow peers assembled at the university.

White House evening photo.

Bob Schieffer of CBS News providing commentary on the historic election of our 44th president. He opened the floor up for questions as we chowed down on fine reception dining.

Bob Schieffer and Us!

Video's and Pictures from Jan. 13-14

2009-01-14T18:23:00.007-05:00

This was taken at the Embassy of Kuwait. Dr. Fatima Nazar was one of our hosts, as well as Kuwait's diplomat who unfortunately could not stay with us long.
We were also live on C-SPAN again this morning, this time with White House Press Secretary Dana Perino.
Will and I saw Senator Hillary Clinton's Secretary of State conformation hearings. This picture, the following pictures, and the videos were all taken in one of the Senate Committee Rooms in the Hart Senate Office Building.

In this video, you can hear Senator Kerry address the panel and restart the hearing, see Chelsea Clinton walking in, and hear Senator Isakson make his opening remarks.

In this video, you can hear Senator Isakson propose a question and part of Senator's Clinton's response.

~Phillip

TWC Inauguration Seminar - Day 3

2009-01-13T22:16:00.005-05:00

The day started out with CSPAN broadcasting live with interviews of a Tom and Carol Wheeler who are involved in the Obama campaign. Tom and Carol Wheeler told about their decision to join the campaigning (even in their late 60’s) and become civically involved. They were able to compare their experience with being involved in the 1960’s with other political movements. It was great to see how excited they were to be a part of the change in Washington even after being lobbyists for years prior.
The students were able to ask questions and were questioned back by the host Brian Lamb (president/CEO of CSPAN). It was really interesting to hear the perspectives, concerns, and opinions of the students who were attending the seminar. Brian Lamb did a great job of asking the students about the issues involved with the questions that were being asked. He was able to really get to the heart of some of the questions and address the true concerns that the students had for the new administration. After the CSPAN question and answer we went to visit Oceana. Oceana advocates for the protection of the worlds oceans. They were started in 2001 because they saw the need for funding, policy change and advocacy for Oceans. We spoke to the Simon Mayhan, the Campaigns Project Manager. He was incredibly intelligent and passionate about the issues Oceana supported. They advocate for change with “dirty fishing”, destructive bottom trawling, seafood contamination and even climate change issues dealing with the use of oil and wind power. The organization employed experts in the area of biology, to legal experts. The experience has really opened my eyes to some of the influence that these types of organizations can have here in Washington, and how they can make changes that we see in our hometowns.

TWC Inauguration Seminar - Day 2

2009-01-12T21:58:00.004-05:00

Hello Everyone!

Monday, January 12, 2009 marked the second day of our participation in the TWC Presidential Inauguration Seminar.

This morning’s festivities started with a continuation of Dr. Michael Genovese’s lecture on the transition of power. After reminding us that the presidency is historically meant to be a weak position (the writers of our constitution did this to prevent creating another king or tyrant), Dr. Genovese used playing poker as an example of the continuum of power that a new president can inherit. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was dealt a powerful hand because of the Great Depression and President Obama shall be dealt a similar hand on Inauguration Day: the people of this nation are expecting him to lead us in a time when we are engaged in two wars and have a failing economy with soaring unemployment. It is what President Obama makes of his power and how he deals with the astronomical expectations placed on him that will ultimately define his presidency even though it is still in its embryonic stage for a week longer.

Next we heard from Special Agent David O’Connor from the Secret Service. Agent O’Connor’s presentation was interesting: once I came to terms with his Boston accent, I found a surprisingly engaging speaker who simultaneously had the swagger of a comedian and rigidity of law enforcement officer. Agent O’Connor gave us a background of the Secret Service, provided some of his personal experiences (he has literally been almost EVERYWHERE in the world and has meet the Pope and Queen Elizabeth just to name a few), and then fielded questions from the group. Some people turned up missing after he answered their questions about confidential material... just kidding.

After Agent O’Connor, Marc Pachter, the Director Emeritus of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery and National Museum of American History, took us on a visual tour of presidential portraits and some of the symbolism within them. Often, portraits displayed past president as history wanted or needed to remember them. He asserted that our current ideal of what is consider presidential comes from the famous portrait George Washington as well as the events of his presidency and that, “What it is that makes a great person is not always what makes a great president.” Absolutely true.

The final presentation of the day was a discussion from Cal Thomas and Bob Beckel, two friends with completely different political ideologies yet they have managed to find common ground (the title of their book, go figure). Their discussion was extremely funny and entertaining while still being information. Their message stated that if everyone in Washington (republicans, democrats, and everyone outside and in between) could find common ground as they have, real progress could come from our government on a regular basis.

After lunch, the day concluded with a visit to the Center for American Progress and a presentation by David Halperin, the Director of their Campus Progress initiative and Senior Vice President for the Center. A former speech writer for President Clinton, David explained to us what the think-tank does and fielded our questions.
On an over all note, I am having a great time (even tho catching up on reading for my classes back at KSU is looming in the back of my mind). We have meet new people (including lots of fellow University of Florida fans!) from the time we set foot in the Atlanta Airport and that has continued here. We constantly have intelligent discussions - one is going on in the living room of our apartment as I type - and learning new things.

Tomorrow, the Seminar will be featured live on C-SPAN and we have a reception at the US Chamber of Commerce hosted by Bob Schieffer of CBS News!

I’ll leave you with my pictures from the first day!

~ Phillip

2009-01-11T20:28:00.000-05:00

Introduction to the Inauguration Seminar Program

Today marked the beginning of our week-long Academic Inauguration Seminar hosted by The Washington Center at the University of The District of Columbia in downtown D.C. We opened with a fun Ice-Breaker, (center for student leadership participants know all about ice-breakers), introductions of staff, student life, seminar and program overviews, and a hefty line-up of prestigious and well known speakers. Steve Bell, Professor of Telecommunications and Endowed Chair Emeritus from Ball State University, was featured and spoke specifically on the media and the presidency. His shortened lecture consisted of topics ranging from the expansive flow of "uncontrollable" information due to Internet accessibility and manageability to Hillary Clinton's role in the media's focus on sexism and media biases. Next, Dana Bash, Senior Congressional Correspondent of CNN, detailed her perspectives from the campaign trail to the newsroom throughout the entire election process, start to finish. Proceeding her unique vantage points on the campaigns, we then heard from Michael Genovese, Loyola Chair of Leadership at Loyola Marymount University. He touched on the peaceful transitions of power historically and presently. Amongst his insights, he suggested we deeply reflect on the legacies of our former slavery-laden country and culture to now and the grave opportunities that have changed over our history. After being released for lunch and small group meetings we parted with the 750 attendees to tour the memorials around the nation's capitol. Our bus tour included stops at: United States Marine Corps ("Iwo Jima") Memorial, Abraham Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam and Korean War Memorials, The World War II Memorial, and the Jefferson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorials. So now we are working on readings to prepare ourselves for a busy Monday. Tomorrow's fun includes more enlightening and renown speakers, a trip to the American Center for Progress, and much more! Make sure to catch some of our pictures and uploaded videos that include funny impersonations of some of our favorite politicians. :)

Branden

2009-01-11T20:16:00.000-05:00

The morning was started by an early morning Metro ride to the University of the District of Colombia.

We started out the day with some students impersonations of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sarah Palin, and George Bush.

2009-01-10T17:45:00.000-05:00

2009-01-09T12:08:00.001-05:00

We just completed the preparation before our flight to Washington D.C. tomorrow! Branden, Phillip, and I (Joe) are really excited about the seminar program and we look forward to keeping you updated on our trip.
For now we will get back to our assigned readings and finish packing!

Joe