Bailout affects WHIP semester
Juliana D'Amico
Issue date: 11/6/08 Section: Beyond
Currently enrolled in the Washington Hillsdale Internship Program, junior Cassie Nielsen, along with the other Hillsdale students, lives in the Johnson Intern Housing Building adjoining the Heritage Foundation. Her room has a balcony that overlooks Capitol Hill and provides a much closer view of Union Pub.
Union Pub hosts cocktail hours or an occasional football game. But Nov. 4, election night, it was flooded until the early hours of the morning.
"It was deafening," Nielsen said. "Union Pub was filled with Obama supporters, and as soon as they sealed the deal, there was a roar."
But the excitement has simmered, and while many expected this election cycle to be central this semester's WHIP, students say it has played a small role in comparison to the bailout.
The WHIP students said they did see a security increase in Washington, D.C., the week of the election, but the number of protesters and demonstrators was moderate in relation to those of the economic bailout.
"We did hear several helicopters flying by during our national security class, appropriately enough," said WHIP student junior Elizabeth Thatcher. "Other than that, we hear sirens all the time these days, but that isn't exactly out of the ordinary in D.C."
Nielsen is interning for Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., who is not up for election this year. She said that the election has been fairly quiet, especially in light of the recent bailout.
"It was the bailout that people were out in the street," Nielsen said. "I felt like it was way more confusing, way more crazy and way more stressful than the election, but that was because every person on Capitol Hill and off the hill was involved in the bailout."
Nielsen said the election was not the biggest event of her semester. But even though the bailout has been stressful, with up to 3,000 constituent mailings coming into her office a day, she is excited to be on Capitol Hill during this time.
"I'm enjoying everything that's happened," Nielsen said. "I can say, 'I was there; I attended the [bailout] hearings.'"
Nielsen said that while the election was exciting, it did not take swallow her semester as an intern. The unexpected economic troubles and the consequent bailout promised an eventful semester for all WHIP students, guaranteeing that their semester was not consumed by election throes.
Union Pub hosts cocktail hours or an occasional football game. But Nov. 4, election night, it was flooded until the early hours of the morning.
"It was deafening," Nielsen said. "Union Pub was filled with Obama supporters, and as soon as they sealed the deal, there was a roar."
But the excitement has simmered, and while many expected this election cycle to be central this semester's WHIP, students say it has played a small role in comparison to the bailout.
The WHIP students said they did see a security increase in Washington, D.C., the week of the election, but the number of protesters and demonstrators was moderate in relation to those of the economic bailout.
"We did hear several helicopters flying by during our national security class, appropriately enough," said WHIP student junior Elizabeth Thatcher. "Other than that, we hear sirens all the time these days, but that isn't exactly out of the ordinary in D.C."
Nielsen is interning for Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., who is not up for election this year. She said that the election has been fairly quiet, especially in light of the recent bailout.
"It was the bailout that people were out in the street," Nielsen said. "I felt like it was way more confusing, way more crazy and way more stressful than the election, but that was because every person on Capitol Hill and off the hill was involved in the bailout."
Nielsen said the election was not the biggest event of her semester. But even though the bailout has been stressful, with up to 3,000 constituent mailings coming into her office a day, she is excited to be on Capitol Hill during this time.
"I'm enjoying everything that's happened," Nielsen said. "I can say, 'I was there; I attended the [bailout] hearings.'"
Nielsen said that while the election was exciting, it did not take swallow her semester as an intern. The unexpected economic troubles and the consequent bailout promised an eventful semester for all WHIP students, guaranteeing that their semester was not consumed by election throes.
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