Week Three: Busy, Busy, and Busy!

Week Three Report:

BUSY, BUSY, and BUSY

Hello ladies and gentlemen, I already begin my first week of internship, I received the project that they made for me, which I cannot discuss, since they haven’t release the information yet but I have to do some research and do lot of thinking as IT professional since I am their IT internship for the United States Coast Guard, I wish I could have a job at United States Coast Guard because I love my internship so much, the people there were nice and friendly, and they were so cool. I learned a lot about military ranks and learning new things every day.

Also, I already attend to four meetings regarding to my project and I was very exhausted in the end but I learn a lot from it and how to deal with their point of the view, lot of disagreement but we all find a solution to our disagreement. I’m very happy that AAPD found me a good position with United States Coast Guard. I’m very ready to go back on Monday to learn more and discuss about my options on the project suggestions.

In conclusion, I am glad to be part of the AAPD organization and the United States Coast Guard, as well, I hope that other interns enjoyed their job and I’m looking forward to learn and improve the United States Coast Guard.

Take Care,

Kevin T.J. Whetstone

Week Two - The Second Adventure

My second adventure begins on Saturday and it ends today. At the earliest day I invited a friend to an Indian restaurant for lunch. Then it's Chinatown, I have invited my roommate out to dinner to eat Chinese Cuisine. It was supposedly good. Pork fried rice, Pepper Steak, Fried Noodles with Beef, and Steamed Pork Buns. Paying Sixty dollars for all of this was fantastic! I hope my mother doesn't read this blog because the bill is on her.

You know how much I love food, yet being in good health is more important. Your health is the most important in life, without your health you won't be alive. A good health means a healthy mind and a stable completion of work on time.

On Wednesday, I had an intern orientation on my job at the conference room. I have received Interpreters instead of closed captions (c-print). I was somewhat lost because I am just not fluent in sign language. Next time I will make sure there's a typist during meetings so I won't miss anything. Nothing big, we had to learn the background and civil rights information about the Department of Agriculture.

Thursday was "Records Management Awareness" event that took place in the back of the Cafeteria. I had to complete numerous records on SharePoint server. I used to work on databases such as Mysql and Oracle. It's nice to help employees with different type of work that I did not learn in school.

Most of my work during this week was Records Management. I expected to finish creating record files and folders by Friday. It didn't work that way I ended up working on .NET Programming project which does not have a due date. Projects take time and a due date would help but I am expected to take my time to be creative.

Today I was at the farmers market again, which happens every Friday. I had a Veggie Patty. The farmers market is quite small. Why are some of the farmers market food more expensive than "Trader Joes" Organic Supermarket? Maybe they are tastier?

Enough about food..

My stomach is growling now, I am supposed to go to Costco today. I will end this blog with adventure.

"If you want to be a good archeologist, you gotta get out of the library!" - Henry "Indiana Jones, Jr.

The Economy, Unemployment, and a little bit of Common Sense

On Thursday June 10th, I was able to take the knowledge that I had gained from the Bernanke hearing and expand upon it a bit more by attending a hearing on responding to long term unemployment held by the Ways and Means subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support. The opening statements were provided by Subcommittee Chairman Jim McDermott (D-WA) and Ranking Member John Linder (R-GA). The panel of witnesses was a compilation of economists from various universities and policy institutions such as, University of California at Berkeley and the Center for American Progress. In order of testimony, they were Dr. Lawrence Mishel, Dr. Heather Boushey, Dr. Michael Reich, Dr. Till Marco von Wachter, and Dr. Jason Taylor.
The first four witnesses provided very similar testimony although none of it was backed by conservative fiscal policy. One topic that was of great concern was the extension of unemployment benefits past 99 weeks. Mishel, Boushey, Reich, and von Wachter listed this extension as the #1 policy priority for Congress to enact. The only economist who disagreed with this was Dr. Taylor who insisted that deficit spending was actually counterproductive to helping the labor markets. He stated that “the multitrillion-dollar deficits to finance the stimulus as well as government bailout money from TARP have to be financed, and the possibility that the Federal Reserve would engage in inflationary financing of this new federal debt has clearly unnerved many investors”. Taylor’s viewpoint was clearly shared by Linder who, in his opening statements, stated “the evidence is mounting that so-called stimulus policies rammed through Congress are doing more harm than good”. The Republican Ranking Member elaborated saying “we need to stop doing what is not working…repeal the stimulus, stop the spending, force government to live within its means, and really help Americans get back to work.”
Other topics that would help Americans find and keep work were discussed. Boushey and von Wachter suggested implementing work sharing and unemployment services programs to help people retain jobs and help unemployed workers to find jobs. Mishel, Reich, and Boushey also expressed their support for Congress to pass the Local Jobs for America Act and extension of TANF funds. Because all of these measures would lead to deficit spending, Taylor disagreed with these proposals also. In his viewpoint, Dr. Taylor recommends stabilizing the markets to provide certainty to businesses so that they will produce more and hire more people. He also added that any more stimulus packages could send the message of government uncertainty which would again be counteractive to creating jobs. The last thing he suggested was for local governments to lower taxes. This in turn would reduce financial burden on individuals and companies to increase hiring rates.
In my viewpoint, I most agreed with Taylor and Linder’s philosophies. Common sense tells me that businessmen and women act when their markets are stable. To ask them to act with instability is the same as asking a doctor to perform surgery blindfolded. They cannot see where their companies are headed which creates anxiety and stress. Although I did not necessarily agree with every single witness’s ideas, I did genuinely admire their creative and academic thoughts on how to get our labor markets revitalized. It was very interesting for me as a pre-law student to see how economists think and solve problems. I feel like I understand a bit better the issues facing our economy and labor sectors now. Overall, this was a great learning experience for me, and I hope to have many more like it.

A Pre-Law Student's View of An Economist's View on the View from Federal Reserve

A major topic of concern for the past year or so has been the current economic recession. Recently, I had the chance to attend an open Budget Committee Hearing on the “State of the Economy: View from the Federal Reserve”. The witness was Dr. Ben S. Bernanke, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve. To begin the hearing, Chairman of the House Budget Committee John Spratt (D-SC) and Ranking Member Paul Ryan (R-WI) presented their opening statements.
Bernanke then opened his testimony with a bit of good news, “The recovery in economic activity that began in the second half of last year has continued at a moderate pace so far this year.” He continued on, citing the recent projection of a 3.5% growth of the GDP over the course of 2010 by the Federal Reserve Governors and Reserve Bank presidents. Because of this rate, Bernanke claimed that inflation is likely to remain subdued. He also stated that a variety of markets have been recently boosted which shows continued strength in the second quarter. While this is good news, Bernanke asserted that there are still significant restraints on the pace of recovery. Although in the housing market, sales and construction have been temporarily boosted, the underlying housing market activity is not that strong. The Chairman then spoke about the hit that the labor market took after the recession; however, he did say that we have seen some modest improvement in employment. Bernanke summarized his testimony by saying that while the economy is showing some improvement, policy makers must make a commitment to stabilize it. The hearing then proceeded with questions from each of the representatives present directed to Bernanke.
Although I have never taken an economics class, everything he reported made a lot of sense to me. I feel this was because he put it in a language that was professional but that the common citizen could understand. Since there were a large number of other interns present, I am sure my appreciation was shared by the group as a whole. I found this hearing highly informative in both an economical and political sense. Bernanke’s figures and explanation of why the economy was performing in such a manner was very interesting to me. From a legal standpoint, it was also fascinating to hear how the members phrased their individual questions and concerns. As a pre-law student, I could definitely hear how each member took care to state their questions correctly. I think that this is a skill that many members of Congress must hone during their time in office so that not only their point of view is conveyed, but also to make sure the question elicits a response that they desire.
The opportunity to attend this congressional hearing was greatly appreciated. I feel that I walked away from the hearing with a much better understanding of how the Federal Reserve deals with the Hill’s leaders as well as a better grasp of where our economy is today. I feel confident that policy makers will enact the proper steps to ensure a commitment to the stabilization of the economy. I just hope that this can be reached quickly and in a bipartisan manner.

My First Post

Hi! My name is Ross Valore and I’m interning with AAPD this summer in their headquarters in DC. I’m working as the advocacy intern under Sarah Peterson and have been probably been doing everything she hasn’t wanted to do since I began – just kidding. Actually, I’ve been working on several different projects so far, but the one that has really struck my interest has been organizing and compiling all the different events surrounding the 25th anniversary of the ADA. This process has had many interesting aspects from cold calling different contacts AAPD has made and seeing if they knew of any events; to actually formatting all the events and creating a web page that can facilitate a information network for anyone looking for a local event or as a resource for someone trying to create their own. I won’t take all the credit for this project, or really any, as Sarah and the rest of the JFAN organizing group has done this in the past, and it seems to have gotten a great response and I hope for the same this time.

A topic I did want to address in this first blog is why I’m here at AAPD this summer. Coming into this internship I really had no idea what the disability community was or why I was chosen to be an intern here. I still remember during my phone interview for this position asking why I would be the right person for this job if I didn’t have a disability myself. So each day that I’m here at AAPD I continue to ponder this question, and each day I’m here it seems I find a new answer. I won’t use up all my future blog life lessons yet, but what has become abundantly clear is that if you are unable to identify with the disabled community after two weeks of being here, you must not have a heart – or a brain. Though, the one single thing that has undoubtedly amazed me the most is that people with disabilities are much more PEOPLE than they are disabilities. What I mean by that poor analogy is that, from what I’ve picked up in my first two weeks, those with disabilities just want to be treated like any other person, with dignity and respect.

The last thing I wanted to mention in this first blog post is the opportunity I have had to work on the interfaith innovative program. This program deals with the same types of disability rights issues as all the other programs at AAPD, but is directed at implementation in a very broad range of religious institutions. I’ve really enjoyed reading and becoming educated on this program as I have a deep interest in religion, and the creator and director of the program, Ginny Thornburgh, has been so gracious and accommodating it’s impossible for me not to want to become more involved.

Have a good weekend and root for Italy in the World Cup!!!

The Past Two Weeks

The past two weeks at AAPD have been extremely busy. Currently, I have been working on researching and analyzing information concerning two main topics; the Elena Kagan nomination to the Supreme Court and the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act (GINA). AAPD staff will either develop a position or remain neutral on these issues based on the research and analysis I have complied.

First, I have been research Elena Kagan and her nomination to the Supreme Court. This has been a difficult topic to research. As most people are probably aware, Elena Kagan has worked in many positions throughout her life, including Solicitor General of the United States, Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy and Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Council. However, she has never been a judge nor issued opinions on disability related issues. Therefore, it is difficult to attain information on her policy positions. Since organizations have little information on Kagan’s positions, they have requested that the Clinton library provide documents from when Kagan worked at the White House. By providing these documents, organizations can view them to learn if Kagan provided opinions on certain issues. If she did, organizations can develop positions on whether they support or oppose the Elena Kagan nomination. Organizations can also remain neutral if they feel that the information ascertained from these documents is unrevealing as to Kagan’s positions. Currently, AAPD is reviewing the documents provided by the Clinton library and will soon made a decision as to whether it should support, oppose or remain neutral on the Elena Kagan nomination.

The second issue I have been researching is the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act (GINA) and its potential Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) regulations. GINA protects employee privacy by limiting employer’s access to their employee’s genetic information. GINA prohibits employers from requesting, requiring or purchasing their employee’s genetic information and from inquiring into the medical conditions of their employees’ family members. However, GINA provides an exception to employers who engage in wellness programs where the employee provides the genetic information voluntarily. I have been researching the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act, along with GINA, to help establish AAPD’s position on the act and on the potential EEOC regulations.

A Lesson from the Master

Botticelli, Velazquez, Turner, Raphael, Goya, Da Vinci, Matisse, Monet, Durer, Degas, David, Picasso, Alberti and Jan van Eyck. One would expect to encounter these artistic masters of the Renaissance, Fauves, Realist, and Impressionist periods in an Art History survey course at the collegiate level. However, the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC presents viewers with the opportunity to view multiple works by these renowned artists during a single visit to the Museum’s West Gallery. I intentionally started this blog post with a long and formidable list of master artists. What you may or may not be aware of is that one of the artists I mentioned lost his hearing following a bout with cholera and struggled to accept his condition. That artist went on to produce paintings that scholars, critics, and students’ today acclaim for their innovative use of lighting techniques, candidness, and symbolism. Yet, when I look at Goya’s masterpiece I reflect on the remarkable accomplishments made by an individual, who struggled to accept his own disability, upon the art world. Though I’m not an artist, from Goya’s work I’ve learned a valuable lesson that I would like to share with you. We must not let the stigma of having a disability interfere with our dreams or our belief in what we can achieve. Goya used his own personal struggle in accepting disabilities as an opportunity to enrich his understanding of himself and the world and as Goya discovered, disabilities are a source of strength and diversity that make the world a better place.