Capitol Hill has been an anxious and exciting place to be since Sept. 11.
I do not believe it is so dangerous as Susana Schroeder claims in her Editorial Observer entitled “Advice from the Hill” from the Oct. 25 Campus Times.
Students that are interested in the Washington Semester internship should not be dissuaded by recent events. Congress will not shut down and the government will not cease to function. Interns will not stop coming to the Hill. To do so would be to give in to fear and to terrorism.
I also believe the postal service will resolve the mail problem in short order, and by spring, Washington will have certainly returned to normal. If there were to be an additional threat, the University would of course accommodate any student that decided to leave.
As an intern in DC last semester, I found the staffers well-informed, any situations requiring heightened security well-managed, and frankly, the experience far too rewarding to pass up over this fleeting concern.
I have instant messaged some of the staffers I worked with since the anthrax scare, and they are not overly troubled by the situation either.
Students interested in the Washington Semester internship program should contact Professor Fenno in Harkness 331 straightaway to set up an interview or simply to answer questions or concerns.
? Ryan Walters
Class of 2002
