Sunday, July 16, 2023
By:
Hello and welcome to… Week 7??
Recess is officially over! I was back in on Monday with things in full swing, prepping for two hearings we had this week on Fire Weather and Commercial Space. Both of them ended up being really big hearings with lots of attendance from our members, which was great! It was nice to be back in the office with other people, and one of the other interns, Amber, and I quickly got started making the binders for both hearings and doing some research for the commercial space hearing that I’m still not allowed to tell you which is kind of crazy! I also got to stop by the House Creative Services to pick up some really cool print outs of space pictures we had made, and nothing makes you feel more official than carrying a giant envelope around Capitol Hill. After I made dinner on Monday, I hung out with Jenna – we went on a long walk and then sat and talked for a while on a picnic table which is also a swing (10/10, would recommend).
Tuesday was work from home day! I attended a Washington Post livestream event about the impacts of AI on the workforce. Sal Khan, of Khan Academy fame, was one of the panelists and his voice really just took me back to high school math. Overall, the discussion made it very clear to me that people really don’t know how generative AI is going to become part of our set of tools – Mr. Khan is trying to ensure that students only use AI for specific, allowed sections of their schoolwork, but realistically, there’s no way to make sure that’s the case. Another panelist talked about how the economic gain due to generative AI would be significant, but also discussed the amount of job displacement there would be. Where’s that economic gain going? Much of the discussion, however, centered around how we would still need to maintain and encourage our “human skills”. While it seems like the skills they’re referring to are creativity and critical thinking, it seems like those skills are critically undervalued! Because I didn’t have extra time commuting on Tuesday, I went shopping and made a really good dinner before heading out to the Potomac to watch the sunset with Brynn, Tiffany, and Eva. It was really nice to have company after a long day working in my room, and the sunset was absolutely gorgeous.
On Wednesday, I was back in the office and behind the front desk while other people staffed the hearing. I attended and took notes on two different events. The first was a Center for Strategic and International Studies discussion about mitigating methane emissions in the oil and gas sector, and the second was the Summer 2023 meeting for the Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee, or COMSTAC. Two of the witnesses for Thursday’s commercial space hearing were actually running the COMSTAC meeting, which was why I took notes on it, and it was very interesting to hear their perspectives and recommendations on the issues we’d be discussing the next day spoken in a less formal setting. I also got a more stakeholder perspective on the way that new legislation gets made, as they were largely reviewing their recommendations for the FAA regarding a new rule that got put out dealing with launch and re-entry. It was interesting to have that experience after reading Recoding America. During our lunch break, Amber and I walked over to Longworth to explore and also check out the House of Representatives merch store. The sweatshirts are exorbitantly expensive but I want one and will be going back. When I got back from work I went to the Foggy Bottom farmer’s market (LOVE OF MY LIFE) and ended up meeting Tiffany, Brynn, and Colin and we walked to Georgetown to find proper Barbie attire for the Cinematic Event this upcoming week. I didn’t end up getting anything Barbie themed, but it was fun to hang out with everyone and try on ridiculous outfits.
Thursday was the commercial space hearing! I wasn’t expecting to go, but the intern who’d done a lot of prep for it was out sick, and so I had to make the ten minute trek in the heat in my suit over to Rayburn and set up the room for the hearing. (Not that I’m really complaining.) Mr. Sorenson came a little early and I excitedly babbled to him about how much I appreciate the way he communicates science to his constituents in between tasks. I took some pictures to use for press (I wish I had them to share with you but they’re on the camera still!) and then made my way all the way back to Ford. I ended up in the elevator with a lost congressman and did my best to help him find his way back to his office, here’s hoping he made it. Thursday marked the moment when I started revisiting Albert Camus’ “The Stranger” as I do every summer when it gets disgustingly hot in the DC area. I’m about to completely destroy all of the philosophical meaning behind the work in this summary but the main character kills someone and all he talks about afterwards is how uncomfortably hot he was. I promise you – I’m not planning on committing any crimes because of how hot it is, but it definitely makes it more difficult to be a functioning human who goes outside and works and does things. We had our potluck after work on Thursday, and most people made foods that reminded them of home or their childhood cooking, which ranged from scallion pancakes to dino nuggets to Eva’s gorgeous dessert that I don’t know the name of. Though we didn’t necessarily have the ingredients or cooking implements to make everything the way we wanted, everything was delicious and it was fun to hear people talk about what their food meant to them.
Friday was another work from home day – I had to finish up taking notes on two senate hearings. One was a Commerce hearing about oversight of the Coast Guard, and a Judiciary hearing on AI and Intellectual Property, which I found fascinating. The conversation related in so well to current conversations that are also happening around the SAG-AFTRA strike which started this week – big production agencies wanted to pay actors for one day of work, record them, and use AI to use their voice and likeness for whatever they want, indefinitely. I know there won’t be legislation passed on this until long after I’m finished my internship, but I hope the Science Committee can be part of writing legislation that helps protect everyone from the use of this technology with ill intent. My roommate from UMD, Avital, spent the weekend with me, so I met up with her after I was done working for the day. After getting absolutely drenched in a wonderful summer rainstorm, we decided to spend the rest of the evening inside just hanging out.
We walked into Dupont on Saturday morning, and once we were done overheating, we spent most of the afternoon just reading and talking before people came over to prepare their characters for the one-shot RPG that MJ and Emily made that we were going to play on Sunday. After everyone had left, we all headed up to Devin’s apartment to have a Barbenheimer (read: Barbie and Openheimer) themed party. Everyone dressed accordingly and it was a great time. I got some late night ice cream with my UMD friends before promptly falling asleep.
I said goodbye to Avital before walking back to Dupont again on Sunday morning to check out the Dupont Farmer’s Market which was absolutely massive. I have honestly never seen one that big, and the produce was gorgeous. I got rained on a little bit but the rain felt nice and when I needed to I ducked into tents filled with peaches, flowers, or gluten free scones which I’m sure were all delicious. I worked on some projects for school before starting Lightspeed, MJ and Emily’s RPG! It was amazing and we all had such a good time. I’m playing a quick-tempered, anti-establishment investigative journalist who has no time for anyone else’s issues, and all the other characters are just as unique as mine. Also I literally get bonus points for being nosy which is fun.
Writing up this blog, the ‘choose your own adventure’ of games like this is making me think about what aspects of my life are actually ‘choose your own adventure’. One of my family friends wrote me an email this week about how when he was younger and started working in policy, he too was “as eager, awed, and hopeful” as I seem to be now. While I’m always growing consistently less awed at the people, buildings, and mechanisms I’m surrounded by, I hope to never stop being hopeful. I want to care immensely about seeing problems in this nation that need solving, continue to hope I can make a difference, and do my best to cause positive change. Even so, I think there’s a lot more complexity than simply that. I want to be frustrated when the work I’m doing isn’t making a difference, I want to question and unravel my experiences and feelings about the systems around me, I want to feel uncomfortable when faced with systemic issues and societal problems. As much as it’s nice to be excited about the work you’re doing, I think it’s much better to be passionate about what your work means. In Lightspeed, the “ragtag team of scientists, writers, and ne’er-do-wells” might be able to do what’s right and save the cows from becoming spherical and the government from stealing an inventor’s intellectual property in the space of two afternoons, but it’s a longer project in real life, and one that takes just a bit more tenacity. I hope I’m able to hold onto it for as long as possible. Here's to being a ne’er-do-well scientist who won't take no for an answer.
Ruthie Vogel