Thursday, July 2: SPS Goes Into the Tank (a Think Tank, Fortunately)

After touring the White House in the morning, this afternoon the 2009 St. Albans School of Public Service class visited the Cato Institute, a leading American private, non-profit public policy institute -- also known as a "think tank." Our host at Cato, Vice President of Research Brink Lindsey (see photo at left), is an expert in trade policy and the author of a number of books, including a well-regarded social history of America after World War II, The Age of Abundance: How Prosperity Transformed America's Politics and Culture. Mr. Lindsey has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, NPR, PBS, and the BBC, and, perhaps most impressively to our students, on Jon Stewart's The Daily Show.

Mr. Lindsey explained that Cato is known as a Libertarian think tank, and then spoke about what both those terms mean. He said that working at a think tank is a cross between being a professor with no students and a lobbyist with no clients. Think tanks such as the Cato Institute seek to influence changes in public policy through the promulgation and dissemination of ideas. The "Libertarian" label can be somewhat harder to define, but Mr. Lindsey explained it as, generally, a belief in the primacy of individual rights, and the conviction that a free market, smaller government, and fewer government regulations, whether social or economic, help lead to greater individual freedom. Libertarians of the variety found at Cato believe that small government and free market policies provide an institutional framework best designed to advance individual freedoms. Mr. Lindsey spoke wryly of the "freedom of powerlessness"--as a think tank seeking to influence through ideas, but not an institution exercising direct control over policy such as Congress or the Presidency, Cato can be free not to follow the agenda of either of the two major political parties in America. Consequently, its policies may line up with Republicans on some issues, such as economic and/or free trade policies, but then be more in line with the Democratic Party on certain social issues. Cato itself is resolutely non-partisan, and Mr. Lindsey said this integrity in terms of non-alignment with political parties has been a key to Cato's ability to be heard by those on all parts of the political spectrum.

Our group was interested in examples of public policies that Cato had influenced. Mr. Lindsey said that it can be a difficult task to trace the genesis of a public policy idea--perhaps a junior staffer reads a Cato paper, and 10 years later is a senior staffer to an important Congressperson, who then becomes interested in that idea--it would be hard to trace a link back to Cato. In some cases, however, the link is clear. One example is the proposed immigration reform bill in 2008, which can be traced back to Cato papers on immigration reform. Mr. Lindsey noted that the immigration legislation did not pass, and that sometimes it may take a generation for an idea to gain a foothold in actual policy terms.

Mr. Lindsey noted that think tanks such as Cato employ a range of people, including recent college graduates, and has a very strong internship program as well. Our students left with a better understanding of that peculiarly American institution, the think tank, and a recognition that this was another way to participate in the public discourse.

Wednesday July 1: Ken Silverstein and Undercover Reporting

Today marked a return to the St. Albans School of Public Service of one of the favorite speakers over the years, journalist Ken Silverstein. (See photo at left.) Mr. Silverstein is the Washington Editor for Harper's Magazine, and is the author of a blog, Washington Babylon, on Harper's website. (Click here for a link to Mr. Silverstein's blog.) Mr. Silverstein is also the author of a number of books, including The Radioactive Boy Scout: A True Story of a Boy and His Backyard Nuclear Reactor and, most recently, Turkmeniscam: How Washington Lobbyists Fought to Flack for a Stalinist Dictatorship. Knowing that the SPS students had discussed a case study that considered the ethics of undercover journalism in the context of the ABC v. Food Lion lawsuit, Mr. Silverstein discussed his own recent undercover project that had led to the Turkmeniscam book. Working for Harper's, Mr. Silverstein approached lobbyist firms in D.C., purporting to represent the Stalinist, repressive government of Turkmenistam (until recently controlled by an absolutist dictator who, among other things, had renamed the month of January after himself). As he discussed in the Harper's article, "Their Men In Washington," which gave rise to the full length book, two prestigious Washington lobby shops actively pursued the business, and in the process gave Mr. Silverstein an insight into some of the more dubious tactics used by some lobbyists on behalf of their clients. (Click here for a link to Mr. Silverstein's original Harper's article.) Mr. Silverstein discussed not only his pursuit of the story itself, but the varied and sometimes critical reaction he received, including from members of the media. His lively and candid discussion style, and willingness to field the toughest questions with aplomb, left the students buzzing at the conclusion of the Q&A session. (See photo below as students stay behind afterwards to talk more with Mr. Silverstein.)

A Brief Glimpse of the Marine Silent Drill Platoon

Click on the video below for a brief glimpse of the truly amazing Marine Silent Drill Platoon in action at the Marine Corps Sunset Parade:

Tuesday June 30: Arlington National Cemetery and the Silent Drill Platoon

Fittingly, after spending the first part of the day at the United States Naval Academy (which trains both Naval and Marine Officers), we ended the day’s activities by viewing the U.S. Marine Corps sunset parade at the Marine Corps Memorial. The Marine Corps Memorial is adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery, so first we walked through Arlington National Cemetery to view the graves of John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy. The walk gave us some time to think about all those whose service to the nation included the ultimate sacrifice. (Photo below: some of the group quietly observes the Eternal Flame burning at the grave site of President Kennedy.)
Those honored at Arlington included many killed in World War II. Nearby, the Marine Corps War Memorial reprises the famous photograph of the Marines raising the flag on Mount Suribachi after the Battle of Iwo Jima, and displays as its inscription the tribute of Admiral Nimitz to the Marines who fought on Iwo Jima: "Uncommon valor was a Common Virtue." (Photo below: The Marine Corps War Memorial)

The Marine Sunset Parade was held in front of the magnificent backdrop of the Marine Corps War Memorial. After an impressive performace by the Drum and Bugle Corps (also known as 'The Commandant's Own') we witnessed the truly amazing feats of the Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon, whose precision marching and maneuvers are conducted without any cadence or commands. (Photo above: The Commandant's Own--in their distinctive red coats--plays in front of the Marine Corps War Memorial; photo below, members of the Silent Drill Platoon practice before the Parade.)

Tuesday June 30: SPS at the Naval Academy

We ventured outside the Beltway today to visit the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Our host, Naval Academy Political Science Professor Stephen Wrage, gave us a tour around the Academy grounds. (Photo at left: Professor Wrage in front of a captured cannon that serves as a monument on the Yard.) Professor Wrage explained that the success of the Navy in the Spanish-American War, along with the energy and will-power of one Theodore Roosevelt, then Assistant Secretary of the Navy, helped transform the Naval Academy from a modest collection of wooden buildings to the impressive site of today. We were fortunate enough to have a representative of Navy's major "rival" service academy with us -- Ms. Lewis, a 1985 West Point graduate -- to give some additional perspective of the role the service academies play in the armed forces, and the experience of women at the academies and in the services.

After our tour of the grounds, Professor Wrage took our group through a case study, based on the experience of a Navy SEAL team in Afghanistan faced with a dilemma of what to do when three unarmed goatherds stumbled on their location. Let them go and risk exposure if they betrayed the position of the SEALS to the Taliban? Kill them and still risk exposure--and possibly violate the Rules of Engagement and laws of war? Or try to abort the mission immediately (made almost impossible by failed communications systems)? The discussion was lively and impassioned (and was only cut short by the need to eat lunch!). (Photo above right: Irene raises her hand during the case study discussion.)

Monday June 29: Books and The Board

After some time to relax on the weekend, Week Two at the St. Albans School of Public Service picked up with renewed intensity. We started off the day with a fantastic guided tour of the Library of Congress encompassing not only the building (a glorious construction completed for the mindboggling low cost of $6.8 million -- pretty good even for the 1930s!), but selections from the Library Rare Books collection. The rare books and manuscripts that we had a chance to examine up close included a letter from Queen Elizabeth I to Catherine de Medici promising good treatment for Mary Queen of Scots (and we all know how that turned out . . .); a first edition of Tolkien's The Hobbit, a biography of Frederick the Great of Prussia from the library of George Washington (our first President apparently invariably wrote his name in the flyleaf of his books -- perhaps he had some neighbors who did not return books they borrowed . . .); the first Bible printed in the New World; and a first edition of Leaves of Grass inscribed from Walt Whitman to Henry David Thoreau. Eclectic, to say the least -- and tremendously fun to examine up close with the guidance of our hosts at the Library of Congress. Back at St. Albans, after classes in economics and public speaking, the SPSers put on their fancy clothes for a reception with the School of Public Service Board. (See photo above of SPS student Antonio C. in conversation with one of the SPS Board members). As you can see from the photo below, the SPS students are a distinguished bunch!

Slideshow of Photos from Meet the Press

Below is a slideshow of photos from our visit to Meet the Press. Click on any photo to go to our online album with photos from many of the events and activities during the program.

Sunday June 28: St. Albans School of Public Service Meets the Press!

This morning we were lucky enough to be invited to NBC studios to watch Meet the Press in person (see photo above of some of the SPS 2009 women on the set; left to right: Sonya, Ali, Maura, Courtney, Caroline, and Zoe), and then stick around after the show for a question-and-answer session with host David Gregory. (See photo below of Mr. Gregory speaking to our group.) Guests on the show were former Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and presidential advisor David Axelrod. The main topics were the Mark Sanford situation in South Carolina, about which Governor Romney and Senator Graham were asked, and the administration's health care proposal, which David Axelrod addressed. The political roundtable group consisted of columnist David Brooks of the New York Times, former Clinton press secretary Dee Dee Myers, columnist E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post, and political strategist Mike Murphy. Click here for a link to David Brooks' blog about the show we saw.

Slideshow of St. Albans School of Public Service at the Newseum

Here is a photo slideshow of SPS 2009 at the Newseum. Click on any photo to go to the online SPS photo album with photos from many of our trips and activities.

Saturday June 27: SPS at the Newseum

This morning's big activity for the St. Albans School of Public Service was our trip to the Newseum, a museum dedicated to the history and celebration of newsgathering, the media, and the First Amendment. The Newseum has recently moved into a new downtown building and we all agreed that the location and space was fantastic. Exhibits included 8 sections from the actual Berlin Wall -- see photo below (from left to right: Christina, Zoe, Sonya, Ali, Courtney, Caroline, and Emily). The Newseum also has an original sign from Checkpoint Charlie, the divide between the American and East German zones of Berlin. (See photo above left -- as if we would let the opportunity go by without taking a photo of Charlie B. with the Checkpoint Charlie Sign!)

Another favorite was an interactive display allowing us to play the roles of newscasters and then putting the footage against a computer "green screen" backdrop -- as you can see, it looks like Dorothy and Russell have a future in the industry! (See the next post for a slideshow of all our photos from the Newseum trip.)

SPS Streak of Predicting Supreme Court Outcome Continues

Nearly simultaneously with the "St. Albans Supreme Court," the "real" Supreme Court -- yes, the one created by Article III of the United States Constitution -- issued its opinion in Safford Unified School District v. Redding. And like our SPS Court, the U.S. Supreme Court found the strip search of Savana Redding unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment. (Click here for a link to the U.S. Supreme Court's opinion.) This extends the SPS students' rather amazing streak of correctly predicting the outcome of the "real" case to four years in a row. The U.S. Supreme Court's opinion did differ in one respect from the ruling from the SPS Court, ruling that the unconstitutionality of the action was not so clearly obvious as to strip the school official who ordered the strip search of immunity against damages. (The Redding family can still sue the School District, as opposed to the individuals, for damages.) Our SPS Court found that the Fourth Amendment's prohibition on "unreasonable" searches, in combination with more limited prior precedents (e.g., involving a search of a student's purse), provided clear notice that a strip search was unconstitutional, and therefore that no immunity was available.

We heard that the U.S. Supreme Court had issued its opinion less than an hour before we arrived at the Court for our visit (see below for group photo on the Supreme Court steps). We were fortunate enough to be able to meet with the Clerk of the Court, General William Suter, in the historic East Conference Room. General Suter, who is the administrative head of the Court, gave us insight into the behind the scenes operation of the Court. For an institution of such importance in the American democratic system, it was interesting to hear that the Court has a modest budget (in this day and age, anyway!) of approximately $68 million. We also learned how remarkably self-sufficient the Supreme Court is -- as an institution it prints its own cases, makes its own furniture, and even keeps a seamstress on hand in case those black robes need repair! We then heard from Supreme Court curators about the history of the East Conference Room, including the portraits of the first eight Supreme Court Chief Justices who adorn the walls. We are now armed with the answer should we face the trivia question: "Which Chief Justice had the shortest tenure?" (Answer: Chief Justice Rutledge). (Click here for photos of the East Conference Room and our visit to the Supreme Court.)

Slide Show of Mock Supreme Court Argument

Newsflash: St. Albans Supreme Court Finds Strip-Search of Students Unconstitutional!

Both panels of the "St. Albans Supreme Court" have ruled that the strip search of 13-year-old Savana Redding by school officials searching for ibuprofen was unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment. Both panels also ruled that the search was sufficiently unreasonable under existing law to deny the school official who ordered the search immunity.

The "St. Albans Supreme Court" is Now In Session!

The "St. Albans Supreme Court" is currently in session, hearing the case of Safford Unified School District v. Redding (aka the "school strip search" case). Attorneys for the School District and for the student, Savana Redding, are doing battle in front of a well-prepared and aggressive panel of Justices on two issues: (1) whether the strip-search of Savana Redding violated her Fourth Amendment right to be protected from unreasonable searches; and (2) whether, if the search is found to be unconstitutional, the right violated was sufficiently clear to justify denying immunity to the school official who ordered that Redding be subjected to a strip search.

So far the arguments on both sides are well-supported and impassioned, and the St. Albans Supreme Court is asking tough questions of both sides and not tipping its hand which way it will decide. (It is no wonder that this is one of the last 2009 cases for the "real" Supreme Court to decide.)

Interpreting the Constitution and Arguing Before the Supreme Court

The St. Albans School of Public Service 2009 Class continues to focus during Week 1 on the intersection of the judicial system with governmental and public policy issues. Today, the class heard from speaker Stuart Gerson, former Assistant Attorney General and Acting Attorney General of the United States. Mr. Gerson conducted a wide-ranging inquiry into the nature of the Supreme Court's role and major strains in constitutional interpretation. The class discussed the idea of looking to the Constitution's "original meaning" as a judicial philosophy as opposed to Constitutional scholars and justices who take a view of the Constitution sometimes described as the "living Constitution" theory (more open to looking to current conditions and norms in interpreting Constitutional provisions).

Mr. Gerson's discussion of practice in front of the Supreme Court, and his insights into the Court's decision-making process, came in handy later in the afternoon, when the SPS 2009 class began preparing for the mock Supreme Court argument scheduled for tomorrow. The "St. Albans Supreme Court" will be hearing an actual case from the 2009 calendar of the United States Supreme Court: Safford Unified School District v. Redding. (Click here for a link to a leading Supreme Court blog's discussion of the case.)

The Redding case is also known as the "school strip-search case," as it arose out of the strip-searching of a 13-year-old girl by public school officials upon suspicion that the girl had provided ibuprofen to a classmate. After school officials were told by another student that 13-year-old Savana Redding had provided prescription-strength ibuprofen to classmates, they searched her belongings and then conducted a strip search of Savana herself. No drugs were found. Savana's mother subsequently filed a lawsuit against the school district and the Vice-Principal who had ordered the strip-search, alleging that the search violated Savana's constitutional right, under the Fourth Amendment, to be protected from unreasonable searches. The appellate court below, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, found that Savana Redding's constitutional rights were violated by the search, which was deemed to be excessively intrusive, and that those rights were sufficiently clear that the Vice-Principal was not entitled to immunity and could be held personally liable to the Reddings. The U.S. Supreme Court heard the case in April of this year, but has not yet issued its ruling.

In tomorrow's mock argument, some St. Albans School of Public Service students will serve as teams of attorneys for the School District and Redding on both the constitutional issue and the immunity issue, and their classmates will serve as the Supreme Court Justices deciding the case. Stay tuned for the results from the "St. Albans Supreme Court"!

Laying Down the Law At the St. Albans School of Public Service

Today was the start of a three-day focus on law and the judiciary at the St. Albans School of Public Service. We got an early start and by 9 am were in the courtroom of United States District Court Judge Thomas Hogan. Judge Hogan spoke to us about the role of the judiciary, both federal and state, and took the time to answer all our questions. One of his law clerks, Arjun Garg, arranged for our group to observe not just one but two federal criminal trials this morning. The first trial brought into play a little-known element of federal jurisdiction -- the ability of U.S. Courts under certain circumstances to hear criminal cases where a crime was committed against a U.S. Citizen overseas. In the case we observed, seven defendants from Trinidad and Tobago were accused of kidnapping a U.S. citizen. The second case involved a more common area of federal criminal law: fraud, but the circumstances were unusual: an American military officer in the Pentagon on September 11 was accused of submitting false claims for injuries suffered.

Back on campus at St. Albans, we hosted former District of Columbia United States Attorney Roscoe C. Howard (see photo top left). Mr. Howard, who was the top federal prosecutor in D.C. from 2001 to 2004, presided over a candid and lively discussion ranging from the proper exercise of prosecutorial discretion, to the intersection of the state and federal criminal systems, to the current Supreme Court nomination process for Judge Sotomayor. (Below right: photo of Ben, Ross, and Zoe during Mr. Howard's presentation.)

Late in the afternoon we met in our three class sections (unimaginatively named the Red, Blue, and Green groups) for our second case study -- The Case of the Jailhouse Lawyer -- a close examination of the 1963 U.S. Supreme Court case of Gideon v. Wainwright, in which the Supreme Court held that criminal defendants who cannot afford a lawyer must, under the Constitution, be provided with one by the government. After our trip to the U.S. District Court and visit from Mr. Howard, the SPSers were primed for great discussions of the constitutional, procedural, and policy issues in Gideon and with respect to the Supreme Court's role in general. There's more to come tomorrow, as we will hear from Supreme Court practitioner Stuart Gerson, former Acting Solicitor General of the United States, and begin work for Thursday's mock oral argument of a current 2009 California case.

SPS 2009 is on the Case . . . (5:00 - 6:15 pm)

After a day of exercising muscles out on the ropes course, the SPS 2009 class got its first chance to exercise those intellectual muscles (all formidable, of course, they are geniuses!) in our first case study of the 2009 SPS session.

The "case method" of teaching is familiar to graduate students in fields such as law, business, and public policy. A "teaching case" is written in narrative-style, and describes a specific situation or conflict (perhaps a complicated policy decision for a government official) with the goal of, as Harvard's Kennedy School of Government states, "put[ting] students in the shoes of real-life decision-makers in order to prepare them for their own lives of decision-making." Instructors act as facilitators of discussions with an eye toward helping the students identify the problem, analyze the causes, and formulate solutions.

Our first case of the session is a Harvard Kennedy School of Government case, "Ethical Problems in Public Careers: Lying." The case presents the reader with a series of vignettes, or "mini-cases," some fictional and others drawn from real-life situations, that all focus in on one particular issue: whether it is ever ethical or "right" for a government official to be dishonest in the quest of a greater good. Some of the scenarios? A reporter lies to his confidential source to persuade the source that the reporter is already aware of secret information and just needs confirmation; a mayoral candidate does not tell the press, when asked, that he plans to make cut-backs on popular city programs if elected; a Speaker of the House misleads his colleagues to break a deadlock and get a crucial appropriations bill through Congress. The vignettes are designed to present students with dilemmas that require nuanced thought and discussion, and highlight some of the common excuses or rationalizations for a lack of candor in public life: "that's how the game is played"; "I'm just doing my job"; and "it's for a good cause." (The word is that all three of the sections had lively and animated discussions -- see photo below as Adam and Stefan continue their discussion after dinner.)


Hopefully after all this exercise -- muscular and intellectual -- everyone will turn in (relatively)early tonight, because tomorrow is a big day: in the morning, a tour of the United States District Court and the chance to observe a criminal trial; in the afternoon, a speaker (former U.S. Attorney Roscoe Howard), a case study (The Case of the Jailhouse Lawyer -- an examination of the famous Gideon v. Wainwright Supreme Court in preparation for the Supreme Court moot court later this week), and a discussion of Dana Priest's Pulitzer Prize winning series on Walter Reed Military Hospital in advance of this Wednesday's visit to the Post for a question-and-answer-session with Ms. Priest. (See photo below as some of the students enjoy the good weather and get in a little of their reading out in front of St. Albans School.)

Slideshow of SPS at the Ropes Course!

See below for a slideshow of SPS's day at the ropes course. (Click on the green arrow on the photos to activate the slide show, and click on any photo to go to the online album.) The day included plenty of team-building activities on the ground (this would explain the many photos of kids with blindfolds!)

SPS On the Ropes! (9 am - 3:30 pm)

Although there will be plenty of time spent indoors during the 2009 School of Public Service Session, we started off the session with a classic outdoor education event: a day at a ropes course in nearby McLean, Virginia. In addition to some on-the-ground activities designed to get the group acquainted with each other and break the ice, the class took to the air and enjoyed a zipline through the treetops.

(Top Right Photo: Emily on the zip line; Above Left Photo: Andrew gets some help unhooking after coming in for a landing on the zip line.)

As you can see from the photo below, the students really got into the spirit of the activities! (From R. to L.: Courtney (in blindfold!), Koby, and Gustavo as they worked to move "radioactive material" that looked suspiciously like a worn tennis ball.)









Above left, a masked man (yes, an SPS 2009 student) takes part in a communication building exercise in which his teammates tried to give him instructions so that he can play blindfolded dodgeball.) As the photo at right demonstrates, whether or not a higher level of communication was achieved is up for debate, but the exercise definitely contributed to some fine comedy moments for all. See the posts above for a slideshow of additional photos from SPS's outdoor adventure day!

SPS Kicks Off the 2009 Session at the Opening Cookout

Not to tempt fate, but the St. Albans School of Public Service opening day weather luck held out once again. The skies were a bit cloudy, but it only made it a little bit cooler for moving in. The rain held off and we were able to have our kick-off cookout in Gregory Court at St. Albans School. St. Albans Faculty member John Stephany (pictured at left), who is an honest-to-goodness member of a barbecue competition TEAM back in Memphis, Tennessee (the team is known as Magically Piglicious), manned the grills for SPS and did his usual great job. St. Albans faculty member Tom Dews gave a virtuoso post-modern acoustical blues performance, and the SPS Class of 2009 took a little bit of time to eat, chat and get to know each other. Check out the slideshow below of photos from the SPS 2009 opening cookout (click on the green arrow on the photo to begin the slideshow, and click on any photo to go to our online photo album from the session).

Meet the SPS 2009 Reception Team!

SPS Residential Faculty and Staff man the reception table at SPS 2009. (From left: Program Manager Amelia Thompson; Summer Program Manager Steffi Renninger; Residential Faculty Member Hilary Marshall; and SPS Intern Diane Floyd.)

Update: Student No. 1 Back from Coffee, and Memorialized for SPS 2009 History

We are proud to report that SPS 2009 Student No. 1 -- also known as Sonya K., from Memphis -- is back from coffee and in the house (and stylishly attired in the SPS 2009 T-shirt). Below, Sonya and some of the other SPS 2009 women (from right to left: Sonya, Alex S., Courtney V., and Lane B.) model the 2009 SPS T-shirt.

SPS 2009 Underway: First Posed Photo Taken!

Sunday, June 21, 12:05 p.m.: SPS is now officially underway, with the arrival of Student Number Two (remember, Student Number One is out getting coffee) -- Caroline T. from Memphis Tennessee. The School of Public Service has chosen to mark the occasion with our first totally posed photo of the 2009 session (see photo at left) as Caroline (standing, right) shakes hands with SPS Residential Faculty member Kaitlin Tierney (seated at left). Before this afternoon's cookout at 5:30 pm, activities will include a tour of the Cathedral Close, group walks to Starbucks and Max's Ice Cream in Georgetown, and (if the weather cooperates) a little badminton action.

SPS 2009 Officially Opens in 23 minutes!

Sunday, June 21, 11:37 a.m.: SPS 2009 officially begins in 23 minutes! (Well, we've already had one student arrive, but she just dropped off her luggage and headed out for coffee.) Preparations are underway for the opening cookout -- we are hoping the weather cooperates so that we can eat outdoors! -- and the SPS staff are taking care of those last minute details (see photo of SPS Program Manager Amelia Thompson, below.)

SPS Gears Up for the 2009 Session!

We are only days away from the beginning of the 2009 session of the St. Albans School of Public Service. This is the eighth summer for SPS, and this year's class promises to be every bit as good as the first seven! Thirty-eight students will be joining us from thirteen states ranging from Massachusetts to Montana and Connecticut to California. Check back here starting June 21, 2009, for in-session posts following the SPS class of 2009 through four exciting weeks in Washington, D.C. as they explore government, public policy, and public service.