Brittany Hale wins annual PPPA paper prize

Posted on June 1, 2014 by pppauwt

Brittany Hale is the 2014 PPPA Paper Prize winner, an award won for her PP&E capstone paper on medical marijuana. Brittany wrote this paper while interning during the winter quarter for the Washington State Legislature. The annual award, given to the student with the best capstone paper for the year, was announced April 30th at the PPPA Internship/Paper Prize Event in William Philip Hall, and Brittany presented her paper during a lunchtime seminar May 15th in the Tacoma Room. Hale states, “My time in Olympia as a legislative intern piqued my interested in public policy. All of the proposed legislation around medical marijuana in this last session provided an important focus for my research paper. I am honored and excited to receive recognition from UWT, and I’d like to thank Professor Baird for helping me focus my research and perfect my paper.”

Lester Burkes’ paper, “Venice Submerged,” on the topic of nuclear power, was named runner up for the prize. Lester also wrote his paper while interning for the Washington State Legislature. Congratulations to both! You can read Brittany’s paper–and those of past PPPA prize winners–in UW Tacoma’s Digital Commons.

2014 graduate Chelsea Hagar

Posted on May 23, 2014 by pppauwt

2014 PP&E graduate Chelsea Hager recently landed a full time job working for Congressman Derek Kilmer in his Tacoma office. Hager welcomes the opportunity to expand her professional development, enhance her interpersonal skills, and have some fun before pursuing her post-graduate education.

Chelsea transferred to UWT from the University of Hawaii, Manoa. With her family and friends in Washington state—she is one of six daughters—she missed the Pacific Northwest, and was happy to come back home. Upon arriving she quickly choose to major in Politics, Philosophy & Economics as the major “encompasses all of my academic interests.”

In her senior year, Chelsea began to work in Rep. Kilmer’s Tacoma office as a way to gain experience and meet her capstone requirement. In March 2014, Hager was hired as the Staff Assistant and has taken on the coordination for the Tacoma District Office internship program. While the position is very challenging, it aligns with her interests in public service and her passion for politics. Earlier this year, Chelsea gained admission to seven law schools. However, but she has since decided to delay law school for one year. She will reapply next fall, and plans to practice public service law one day. For now, she enjoys running and has recently completed a 15k, with her sights set on finishing a half-marathon. Perhaps–someday–she’ll even run for office!

From Tacoma to Bishkek: PPPA students experience internships

Posted on March 10, 2014 by pppauwt

Lester Burkes, intern for Sen. Sheldon

This winter was a busy time for student internships. Eleven of our students won spots in the prestigious Washington State Legislative Internship program in Olympia – which meant once again UW Tacoma sent more students to participate in this program than did any other school in the state. Students interned with senators and representatives during the past legislative session. In addition to their office work, interns participated in weekly academic seminars and workshops, met with state officials, took part in a budget exercises, and participated in mock hearings and mock floor debates. Many also had opportunities to shadow an elected official or administrator of a state agency, and take a trip to Victoria, B.C. to compare law making in Canada with law making in the US. Seven other PPPA students interned for members of the US Congress here in Tacoma (Rep. Derek Kilmer) and Seattle (Sen. Patty Murray), while three went to Washington, DC to work for Rep. Kilmer, Rep. Adam Smith, and Sen. Maria Cantwell. One other intern worked at Joint Base Ft. Lewis-McChord, and a final was the ASUWT representative in Olympia.

Brandon Bannister debating on the Senate fl

Michael in Bishkek

: Global Studies major Kristie Weisert interned for Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles. While sitting at the Senator’s desk, she remarked that “my Senator makes me feel like I could actually be a Senator one day!”

My-Le Tang with Gov. Inslee

This quarter also saw one of our students, Michael Wotherspoon (a senior, majoring in Law and Policy) intern in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. He is still there studying Russian and writing for Spektator Magazine, a publication that reports on Central Asian affairs. Our man in Bishkek is writing articles about democratic reform and freedom of religion in the Kyrgyz Republic — a topic he’ll share with us during a May 29th seminar.

Annual internship and PPPA paper prize event

Posted on March 6, 2014 by pppauwt

Scheduled for April 30 during the lunch hour, our annual internship event offers a chance for faculty and students to hear about our students’ internship experiences over the year. This event is also coupled with the announcement of our annual paper prize competition winner. This award goes to the student chosen by faculty for having written the best capstone paper. Last year, the award went to Arianna Shorey (right) who last month presented her paper to faculty and students during a lunch hour seminar. Previous winners and their papers can be found in UW Tacoma’s Digital Commons collection.

Alumni writes wildfire law

Posted on March 5, 2014 by pppauwt

Last year, UW Tacoma alum Anna Freudenberg, a graduate of the Washington State Legislative Internship program and currently a Willamette Law School student, worked with other law students to write and then lobby a bill through the Oregon Legislature. The bill enacts measures to reduce wildfires, and last year it became law in Oregon. Anna remarked that “Without having gained all the experience I gained while interning with the Washington State Senate, I am not sure if this would have still been possible.” To her surprise, this year her and her colleagues’ bill was introduced into the Washington Legislature, and on January 17th it advanced to the House floor for discussion.