The SPS Blog May Be Quiet, but Not the School of Public Service Class of 2014!

Don't let a couple of days of "blog silence" on the SPS 2014 Blog fool you into thinking the pace has slowed for the St. Albans School of Public Service Class of 2014.  Although the Blogging Elves took a couple of days off, the SPS '14 students have been as busy as ever.

On Friday, in between classes for Economics and Public Speaking, two more "Ted Trips" left campus.  In the morning, one SPS Ted Trip group visited the Woodrow Wilson Center for a panel called "In the Mainstream: Religious Extremism in the Middle East and North Africa."  (See below for the embedded Wilson Center YouTube video of the event.)



Later in the day, another Ted Trip went to the Center for Strategic and International Security ("CSIS") for the Statemen's Forum, to hear the Japanese Minister of Defense, his Excellency Itsunori Onodera, speak on the enduring nature of the U.S. - Japanese alliance.  CLICK HERE for more information about the CSIS event, including an audiocast of Mr. Onodera's speech.

Speaker Mary Kate Cary

As good as the Ted Trips have been, SPS '14 doesn't have to leave the St. Albans campus to hear great speakers: Friday afternoon brought two to us.

First, SPS '14 heard from Ms. Mary Kate Cary about her career spanning over two decades in Republican politics, including as a Presidential Speechwriter for President George H.W. Bush.   Most recently, Ms. Cary has served as Executive Producer of a new documentary, "41 on 41", that brought together 41 storytellers, ranging from Former First Lady Barbara Bush, to former Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush, to Duke basketball "Coach K," to tell the larger story of President George H.W. Bush's life through the mosaic of their stories.  The film has aired on CNN and will be re-broadcast on CNN in August 2014.  Click HERE for a link to the trailer of "41 on 41"  While at SPS, Ms. Cary was able to offer tips on everything from finding your voice as a speechwriter; how to avoid writer's block; to how to network in Washington D.C. to find your first political job; and her thoughts on the current political scene and upcoming Presidential Primaries.

To end the afternoon, SPS '14 hosted speaker Mr. Charles "Cully" Stimson from the Heritage Foundation.  Mr. Stimson is the Manager of the National Security Law Program and and Senior Legal Fellow at the Heritage Foundation.  A former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Mr. Stimson is an expert on issues concerning detainees in the War on Terror as well as broader issues of civil and criminal law.  By putting SPS '14 in the roles of prosecutors and juries, Mr. Stimson was able to give SPS '14 a closer look at the nuances of some of the perplexing legal issues in the criminal justice system today.