REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK: Student trip to D.C. sheds light on policy

Not many Penn students woke up to see the sun rise last Friday. But more than 35 Wharton undergraduates and scattered Wharton graduate students ventured to Washington at 7 a.m. for a trip that gave students an opportunity to "meet policy makers on their own turf." Clad in business attire, the students boarded a bus for what seemed like a quick trip to the nation's capital. Taking care not to wrinkle their jackets and sweaters, the students' faces showed they took the trip quite seriously. Upon arrival in D.C., Public Policy and Management Professor Arie Schinnar and alumni Mary Ann Sturmfels and Matthew Burden led the group into the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Trudging along the Washington streets through heavy construction, the group resembled the policy makers and government officials they had visited. Inside HUD, Wharton graduate school alumnus Mark Engman, the department's assistant for congressional relations, introduced Assistant Secretary for Housing Nicholas Retsinas. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Development Jacquie Lawing also spoke, focusing his discussion on empowerment zones, one of which is located in Philadelphia, and the Enterprise Community Program that the city also takes part in. Despite the "dry" nature of the HUD talks, students took a heightened interest in the topic, showering the speakers with questions. Job training -- along with the central problems of creating those jobs and finding public and private investment -- were at the front of their minds. "The visit was a great experience for students to be exposed to a world of opportunities that a Wharton degree gives them," Wharton senior Sam Chandan said of the trip to HUD. Having disposed of the initial anxiety of participating in a field trip, relatively common at Penn, the group became much more relaxed. They soon found themselves back on the bus and on their way to the Brookings Institute. The Institute, Washington's oldest and most well-known "think tank," is home to research on public policy issues, and Brookings researchers frequently offer their opinions in the newspaper and on television. After a short break, the students reconvened to hear Deputy Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation Anthony Calhoun, a Wharton graduate, describe Wharton's Washington Alumni Club, which helps grads obtain jobs in the D.C. area. Joseph A. Pechman Fellow William Gale then gave students an in-depth description of alternate tax structures, calling tax reform a "hot topic" in the 1996 election. His lengthy speech ended on a humorous note when he defined politics as the combination of two words -- the Greek word "poly," meaning many and the American word "tics," meaning blood-sucking parasites. Amused and still enthusiastic, the group approached their final destination, the World Bank. This organization has 175 member countries and has awarded $300 billion in loans to developing countries. The last speaker of the afternoon, financial analyst Veronique Bishop, also a Wharton masters degree recipient, outlined the pros and cons of government involvement in infrastructure versus privatizing those enterprises. She worked against her audience's fatigue, but successfully engaged the students in an intense conversation. As a result, one Wharton student said he was surprised the topics he had learned in the classroom were actually put to use "in the real world." "I think Public Policy and Management tends to be theoretical," Engineering and Wharton junior Raj Ganguly said. "This trip was one of the ways I was able to see its application side." After an exhausting day, all complimented Schinnar on a well-organized and informative trip. "This is one of the reasons why we attend an Ivy League institution," Wharton senior Karen Krause said. This time, not caring about their dress, most students fell fast asleep minutes after the start of the film Get Shorty, which played on the overhead televisions in the bus. A few mumbling voices were heard discussing housing reform or the consumption tax, but the morning's enthusiasm for policy had all but vanished.