Spring 2010 Glenn Fellows

Front row, left to right: Jared Blevins, Michael Pawlows, Kristen Ryan, Elise Greene, Laura Moses. Back row: Davide Cugini, Scott Flenniken, Andrew Moore, Andrew Childers, Catherin Lee, Liz Berlan

National Statuary Hall

The Spring 2010 class of Glenn Fellows will be matriculating one week from today. They number 11 in all, of whom five will be interning in Congressional offices. It is likely that most of the Fellows will be taking a tour of the Capitol building and its many sights, including National Statuary Hall, where each of the fifty states is represented by two statues of prominent statesmen.

Or not. In fact, Ohio is one of a number of states that has settled for less. One of the Ohio honorees is James A. Garfield, a personal hero of mine. But the other is William “Fog Horn” Allen, a 19th-century politician (pictured above) who came by his posthumous obscurity the old-fashioned way: he earned it by defending slavery.

As former New York Times reporter Adam Clymer explains in a recent issue of Roll Call, the state legislature is considering “recalling” Allen so that he might be replaced by a more worthy Ohioan. Readers may already have heard that OSU’s Jesse Owens, the “Buckeye Bullet,” is one of the ten finalists. Clymer makes a powerful case for another of the candidates, a twentieth-century Republican Congressman named Bill McCulloch.

The Embassy and the Sauna

Several weeks ago, the winter 2010 class of Glenn Fellows spent an afternoon at the Embassy of Finland, a certified "green" building on Embassy Row, directly across Massachusetts Avenue from the residence of the Vice President of the United States on the grounds of the Naval Observatory. Our hosts had arranged a conversation with two staff members about diplomatic careers in the Finnish foreign service, followed by a tour of the building. I asked to see the sauna in the basement. I suspect the Fellows wondered why. I explained as best I could.

There is a much better answer in today’s Post—an article by Jason Horowitz called “A Hot Spot for Diplomacy.” Horowitz pretty much nails it, including a reference to löyly, the word for steam generated in a sauna, about which the Finns can get quite misty-eyed. The only thing Horowitz missed was the way that the Finns like to cook sausage in the sauna. They call it makkara.

Terra Cotta Soldiers

Years ago I found myself in Cairo with a little time on my hands. Naturally, I made a beeline to the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, where I did my best to take the measure of a civilization that remains mysterious in many ways, despite the key role it played in the history of Western Civilization. Cozying up to the ancient Egyptians wasn't easy. I spent most of my time staring at the small-scale models--of a working farm and a brewery, among many other profane subjects--constructed to ensure that the pharaohs would enjoy all the comforts of home in the afterlife.

Much the same spirit as that conveyed in the Egyptian miniatures informs the terra cotta soldiers currently on exhibit at the National Geographical Society (but unfortunately sold out through the end of the show on March 31). The soldiers--there appear to have been some 8,000 of them, altogether--were crafted, along with horses, chariots, musicians, and acrobats, to serve Qin Shi Huang, who declared himself the first Chinese emperor in 221 B.C.E.

I found these objects, like the miniatures in Cairo, most affecting. And while the modern West owes nothing to the Qin Dynasty, I found it extremely easy to relate to these objects, which convey a sense of the diversity and complexity of human nature. The early Chinese emperors were obsessed--for good reason, it turns out--with security issues. Political intrigue in the ancient Qin capital seems to have been every bit as vicious as the plots and sub-plots of Renaissance Florence or 21st-century Washington, D.C. The ancients of East Asia, it turns out, are a lot like us.

Except perhaps in one respect. As my wife had to point out to me, there are no women in this show. One trusts that there are some terra cotta women yet to be disinterred at the archaeological site near Xi'an. I mean, what good is an afterlife without the ladies?

House Republicans Ban Earmarks. For Now.

In an attempt to one-up Democrats, who have sworn off earmarks to private firms but retain the right to deliver the goods to universities and other non-profit institutions, House Republicans this morning voted to eschew earmarks of all kinds, at least until after the November elections. Here's the story in Roll Call.

March 12 update: Interesting story in today's Post featuring a "good" earmark directed by Congressman Steven LaTourette to Cleveland businessman Benson Lee.

March 15 update: It turns out, as R. Jeffrey Smith reports in today's Post, that the recent efforts to rein in earmarking are likely to have almost no effect whatever. Pass the bacon!

April 20 update: Today's issue of The Hill reports on the attempts of several lawmakers (including Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and Rep. Paul Hodes (D-NH) to impose real controls over earmarks. Their colleagues have thus far been unimpressed.

Ohio Birthday Party at Library of Congress

A fine time was had by all in the Montpelier Room of the Madison Building on Wednesday evening as transplanted Ohioans celebrated statehood. Clockwise above, OSU alumni Amy Petz and Andrea Boron talk to Glenn Fellow Jalpa Patel, Dr. Gee chats with Glenn Fellows Susan Mainwaring and Clare Gravens, and Dr. Gee shares the dais with numerous members of the Ohio Congressional delegation.

OSU President Gordon Gee visits with Glenn Fellows

President Gee was in town to testify before the House Science and Technology Committee, with many of the Glenn Fellows in attendance. Here's the story from OSUToday:

OSU President E. Gordon Gee and Battelle president Jeff Wadsworth were among the leaders who testified Thursday (3/4) on the importance of STEM education to the nation’s prosperity and economic competitiveness. Speaking before the House Science & Technology Committee, Gee highlighted the collaboration with Battelle that created Metro High School with its emphasis on math, science and technology. He noted that 100 percent of its first graduating class has been accepted into college, and praised the partnerships that made this possible.
Gee also recommended that STEM education be approached from a P-20 perspective; that there be support for early college STEM schools with proven records; and that the nation's approach to STEM education be viewed as a strategic, long-term investment. He concluded by urging the committee to “move boldly and seek first-order change."

Obama calls for adding GOP ideas to health plan

That's the headline in the Washington Post's coverage of this breaking story, which reports that the President has sent a letter to Congressional leaders assuring them that he is "open to increasing Medicaid reimbursements for doctors, stepping up efforts to combat fraud in the health-care system, and ensuring that people who buy insurance on so-called insurance exchanges could participate in Health Savings Accounts."

When I first saw the headline, I immediately assumed that the President was finally standing up to the American Trial Lawyers Association by acknowledging that every American could be covered by health insurance if we could simply recover even 50% of the waste associated with "defensive medicine" as it is currently practiced by U.S. physicians living in fear of malpractice suits. Silly me.

The case for tort reform is well argued by Anne Kim and David Kendall in today's Roll Call.