What a week.
I am SO exhausted! This has been a very long and tiring week, but it hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be for the most part.
So this week was that government program thing at the capitol that I was telling y'all about earlier. I've been having to wake up at 6 am every morning and I've been getting to bed later than I should have (which is usually about the time I go to bed anyway—11). The classes have lasted from 8:45 to 3 pm, and they've been really exhausting. I'm glad I did them, though. I learned a WHOLE lot about government, and I acquired somewhat of an interest in politics. Which is still not very much (grr... I've NEVER liked politics), but I do appreciate it more now. The first day was not very great, but each day got better. Today was actually a lot of fun. We also had our little "graduation" ceremony. It was held in the Senate chambers. We got to sit at the senators' desks and have our own mock senate, like we have been doing all week, just not in the actual Senate room! Then all the elected officers gave speeches and we received certificates. It was really nice.
We've had some HILARIOUS bills in our mock senate. One person stole Sara's cat-extermination bill, and that one got passed with flying colors. However, someone else's bill to make pink the state color and make every person wear pink one day a month got voted down. Today in my committee we came up with our own bill. It was for us all, staffers and students, to go out to Starbucks after graduation. What's more, since one of the staffers detests coffee, we made it mandatory for all staffers to get a coffee drink, especially if they have curly, dark brown hair and they're from Texas. :D We had so much fun with that one. All the other committees at their own tables were wondering why we were laughing so hard, I think. They found out at one of the mock legislature sessions we had that day. It was very well received, and since the director of the class was out of the room, we made an amendment so that he would have to pay for everyone's drinks. It passed unanimously.
Practically all our bills that we wrote had to be serious, though, unless you were an alumni. That stank. I wanted to write something funny. I ended up with an amendment to a real state law, changing that only front passengers had to wear seat belts to ALL passengers have to wear seatbelts. However, something came up that really bugged me at the class. Apparently, all of the staffers believed that it was not the role of the government to protect the people from themselves! So everyone not only voted down the bill, they made a new bill (that got passed) to eliminate seatbelt laws altogether. I'm not upset over what happened with my bill at all, but I AM upset with how they throughout the week tried to push their opinions on everyone and argued that those opinions were from the Bible without giving any solid proof. My Dad and I talked a lot about this after the first night, and he could run circles around all their arguments. To tell you the truth, their logic does not make sense to me. They said that because a person deciding to wear a seatbelt won't hurt anyone else but himself, that that would not be the role of the government as an upholder of justice. What!?! I totally disagree. That's sounds eerily like those that talk about a women's "right to choose!" You CAN'T SAY that a person's decision will only effect themselves. EVERYTHING someone does effects someone else. You can't get around it. For instance, if a mother or father decides to not wear a seat belt, gets in a car accident and dies, that would have a DRASTIC effect on their family. And what about an even more immediate effect: What if the person that dies because of not wearing a seatbelt is a pregnant mother? I actually asked this to one of the staffers and she couldn't give an answer. Wow, I'm glad I have Dad around. But sigh... not this weekend. He took Eric and my car up to Missouri, and he won't be back until Monday.
Well, I need to go! I need to get good sleep tonight. Tomorrow is one of the most dreaded parts of the week: the speech class. AAAAAUUUGGGGHHHH!!!!!
So this week was that government program thing at the capitol that I was telling y'all about earlier. I've been having to wake up at 6 am every morning and I've been getting to bed later than I should have (which is usually about the time I go to bed anyway—11). The classes have lasted from 8:45 to 3 pm, and they've been really exhausting. I'm glad I did them, though. I learned a WHOLE lot about government, and I acquired somewhat of an interest in politics. Which is still not very much (grr... I've NEVER liked politics), but I do appreciate it more now. The first day was not very great, but each day got better. Today was actually a lot of fun. We also had our little "graduation" ceremony. It was held in the Senate chambers. We got to sit at the senators' desks and have our own mock senate, like we have been doing all week, just not in the actual Senate room! Then all the elected officers gave speeches and we received certificates. It was really nice.
We've had some HILARIOUS bills in our mock senate. One person stole Sara's cat-extermination bill, and that one got passed with flying colors. However, someone else's bill to make pink the state color and make every person wear pink one day a month got voted down. Today in my committee we came up with our own bill. It was for us all, staffers and students, to go out to Starbucks after graduation. What's more, since one of the staffers detests coffee, we made it mandatory for all staffers to get a coffee drink, especially if they have curly, dark brown hair and they're from Texas. :D We had so much fun with that one. All the other committees at their own tables were wondering why we were laughing so hard, I think. They found out at one of the mock legislature sessions we had that day. It was very well received, and since the director of the class was out of the room, we made an amendment so that he would have to pay for everyone's drinks. It passed unanimously.
Practically all our bills that we wrote had to be serious, though, unless you were an alumni. That stank. I wanted to write something funny. I ended up with an amendment to a real state law, changing that only front passengers had to wear seat belts to ALL passengers have to wear seatbelts. However, something came up that really bugged me at the class. Apparently, all of the staffers believed that it was not the role of the government to protect the people from themselves! So everyone not only voted down the bill, they made a new bill (that got passed) to eliminate seatbelt laws altogether. I'm not upset over what happened with my bill at all, but I AM upset with how they throughout the week tried to push their opinions on everyone and argued that those opinions were from the Bible without giving any solid proof. My Dad and I talked a lot about this after the first night, and he could run circles around all their arguments. To tell you the truth, their logic does not make sense to me. They said that because a person deciding to wear a seatbelt won't hurt anyone else but himself, that that would not be the role of the government as an upholder of justice. What!?! I totally disagree. That's sounds eerily like those that talk about a women's "right to choose!" You CAN'T SAY that a person's decision will only effect themselves. EVERYTHING someone does effects someone else. You can't get around it. For instance, if a mother or father decides to not wear a seat belt, gets in a car accident and dies, that would have a DRASTIC effect on their family. And what about an even more immediate effect: What if the person that dies because of not wearing a seatbelt is a pregnant mother? I actually asked this to one of the staffers and she couldn't give an answer. Wow, I'm glad I have Dad around. But sigh... not this weekend. He took Eric and my car up to Missouri, and he won't be back until Monday.
Well, I need to go! I need to get good sleep tonight. Tomorrow is one of the most dreaded parts of the week: the speech class. AAAAAUUUGGGGHHHH!!!!!
posted by Rachel @ 9:40 PM
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