inside - the School of Engineering - The Catholic University of America

Nick Berg’s Congressional Internship
As I became a senior at Morris Catholic High
School in Denville, N.J., my interest in government
and politics began to develop. I took time to
watch the news and read the newspaper. I often
read about Congress and different bills that were
being proposed or debated. Knowing I was coming
to CUA the following fall, I wondered what it
would be like to live in the same city
as the federal government. I thought I would
have opportunities to listen to some famous
people speak, see some interesting buildings,
and be in the heart of American politics. What
I have experienced, though, has been beyond
my expectations.
For the past 10 years, my congressman from
the 11th District of New Jersey has been Rodney
Frelinghuysen. Growing up, I heard his name but
did not know anything else about him. I have
become much more familiar with him, his job
and what he has done for my community over
the past few years. Out of my own general interest,
I decided to make an appointment to meet
the congressman in his office on Capitol Hill. Due
to an e-mail requesting a visit, I was put on his
schedule for an afternoon meeting. When I got
there, however, all the members were called to
vote on the floor of the House of Representatives.
I did not get to meet him; however, I did get to
spend 20 minutes in his office talking to one of
his full-time staff members. He explained some of
the basic workings of Congress and described
Congressman Frelinghuysen. As we were wrapping
up our informal meeting, the staffer asked
if I would be interested in working as an intern.
I did not hesitate in answering, and e-mailed
him a copy of my résumé soon after. A month
later, my cell phone rang. It was the staffer I had
previously met. He asked if I was still interested in
the internship and wanted me to start when I
returned from winter
break.
The coordination of
my class schedule and
the internship schedule
worked out perfectly. I
took the Metro to Union
Station after calculus
class, and I worked
from 2:30 to 5, three
days a week. As an
intern in the office, I
met Congressman
Frelinghuysen and even
sat in on a few meetings.
The congressman
encouraged me to attend
meetings and hearings
so that I would get a
better understanding
of the political system.
This included listening
to debates on the House
floor and attending hearings
with different committees
and meetings
held in our office. The
job consisted of a variety
of responsibilities.
Some tasks might
seem mundane, but they actually are pretty
important. The largest task I had was inputting
the addresses of everyone who sent the
Congressman a letter about any issue into
a system so that a return letter could be sent to
each correspondent. I also assisted in making
binders containing memos, reports and figures
that the congressman used whenever he went to
meetings, debates or hearings. One of my
Nick Berg
favorite parts of the job, though, was giving tours
of the Capitol. I enjoyed learning about the history
of the building, the architecture, the personalities,
the artwork and the famous events, and
then giving other people the same satisfaction.
This Congressional internship was an unpaid
experience, but one that was worth much more
than a simple paycheck.
Activities of Student Chapters of IEEE and ACM
The Catholic University of America’s Student Chapter branch of Institute of
Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) worked hard last year, the efforts
paid off with success at every turn, from holding multiple guest lectures
including that of the chair of the Washington section of IEEE, Ronald Ticker,
to laser printing on Ipods at Engineering Week.
In fact, the main IEEE activity for the year was preparing for the
IEEE/ACM event during Engineering Week (see related story, pg. 19).
The chapter also got a firsthand look at the Naval Research Laboratory
with a tour led by NRL scientist Dr. Lawrena Schuette. Students met Dr.
Richard Colton, director of the Institute for NanoScience, and Dr. Andrew
McGill, senior scientist for Chemical Detection Technology.
Newly elected officers for the 2006–2007 school year are President
Neil Smith, Vice President James Vezeris, Treasurer Dan Brosius and
Secretary Fikru Gennene.
Meanwhile the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), student
chapter organized a campus-wide programming competition on Oct. 15,
2005. Computer science students Stephen Matta, EriK Saulkalns, and
Mike Son emerged as winners, then formed the ‘CUA Cardinals’ for the
ACM Regional competition. In the regionals, held at Marymount
University on Nov. 12, 2005, ‘CUA Cardinals’ placed in the top third,
among 160 teams in the ACM Mid-Atlantic region.
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