A Life Less Ordinary

By Irene

Back in Berkeley I had favorite spots I liked to go to for all sorts of things - from coffee shops to art supplies and a favorite sushi place. They were mostly all within walking distance or easily accessible via bike/public transportation.

Back in the valley, I'm getting used to driving a lot and walking less. I can see how gyms came into existence. There's really no opportunity to walk around here, so you have to do SOMETHING to keep fit. Everything is far and it's really hot (I'm getting used to the different temperature too). I'm currently sitting at Coral Tree Cafe. There are lots of tables and free internet and big cupcakes (there's also lunch, looks good). There are business people and moms with kids and younger folks like me doing who knows what on computers. I'm drinking a vanilla latte. I know I'm getting unbearably old when I can't finish an ice cream and when a vanilla latte is too sweet (I can't finish this thing....).

I'm finishing up CACS work by sending all the contacts/information/summit/random stuff I've gathered throughout the year that should help the co-chairs next year. It's incredibly boring to organize what you've already done. But, it must be done!! I wish the co-chair before me did it for me, so I persevere.

I signed up to take my LEED exam to become an Accredited Professional in Existing Buildings. I'm speaking at a conference on June 21st about the custodial outreach project I dreamt up and is actually happening (of course, now that I'm leaving!) Also, you would get a kick out of this: I'll be writing on another blog about my summer Fellowship experience (i.e. the Energy Dashboard and other sustainability-related items in England) with another UC Berkeley student who will be writing from Tokyo. Suggestions for a blog spot welcome. I think we're looking into wordpress (I feel like I'm cheating on typepad by writing this here..........)

Lastly, the oil spill in the Gulf is intense, I should follow it more closely, really. I feel environmentalists are often really smug about something, I don't know what or why, but like they/we (I guess I'm one too though I like to think not the annoying type) walk around with some sort of holier-than-thou-I-know-something-you-don't air about them. I swear, if some huge man-caused disaster happens that causes a bunch of damage, I can just see environmentalists crossing their arms and saying "I told you so" in that extremely useless sort of way. Anyhow,  I started saying this because there are some striking pictures of the oil spill's affect on wild life. Check it out: http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/04/assignment-35/?hp

Leaving climate change (and its unwieldy baggage) out of the picture for a moment here, our dependence on oil should really sorta erm.....start to diminish. Not because there are pelicans that can't fly because their feathers are stuck together by oil clumps (although I'm sure it will be used as a  visual for years to come), but because there is something scary about having only ONE source of energy on which our entire economy relies on. Oil is like water -- imagine someone were to turn either of those resources "OFF." Where would you get your food? Ok, you'll be able to walk/drive to a grocery store, but where will Trader Joe's get its food from? It's unfortunate that decreasing dependence on oil is so closely tied to the Democratic party. It'd be really cool for there to be a Republican president who wants to address this issue and bridge the divide. More public transportation, fewer cars, energy efficient and smaller cars, new infrastructure. First we need to make it possible for people to move around without driving a car by themselves through new infrastructure and technology. Then we need to create incentives for people to use it, and then we need to tax or create other disincentives from driving. It IS a national security issue. And it's just not smart. It's risky to put all your eggs in one basket. I'm not saying we need to be fueled solely by nuclear or wind or solar..........but having a healthy mix of energy sources and thinking differently about how we use energy in the first place just AREN'T SUCH CRAZY IDEAS. I'm not saying our quality of life needs to diminish (hah! that'd be an impossible political message to sell), BUT we SHOULD make it a no-brainer to make what I think are the "right" decisions. Like..............it should be cheaper and more convenient to NOT drive by yourself to work everyday (again: you have to have alternative ways to do everything just as conveniently). It should be cheaper to buy normal food (a loaf of bread, meat, milk, vegetables) and NOT go to McDonald's everyday. Water should be cheaper than Coca Cola (I mean.....right?). It should be easier to recycle your aluminum can than to throw it away. We really shouldn't need gyms.............a "building" where you can walk.......

I'm not saying every person needs to think about protecting the environment (though that would be nice) -- there are people who get paid to do that over at the EPA. But it should just make more economic sense to do that sort of stuff........and only then will things change. Super markets got it right: start charging for paper/plastic bags. And MAGICALLY people start bringing their own bags. Guilt-tripping or making people make "moral" decisions isn't the right way to go. It should just be the easy, convenient, more economic thing to do. 

This concludes my out-of-the-blue rant.

Perspective

I assumed that at Berkeley I would get a better understanding of my world. And I have. It just happens to be an extremely tilted view of the world. To my disappointment, I was not taught to think critically between (truly) opposing arguments from academics absolutely on the opposite side of a spectrum. Yes, we had to refute why one type of academic was more right vs. another same type of academic – but we were swimming in the same pond, not comparing different ponds.

Big ideas I think I was taught throughout my stay at Berkeley include:

1.    Big Business is bad. Local is good. Organic.

2.    Globalization is bad

3.    Genetically Modified Organisms are bad (unless you work in the science department, in which case they’re good)

4.    America  is responsible for the destruction of everything and therefore it is our responsibility to help the developing/third/”south”/non-industrialized world.

5.    Climate change is real

6.    Everyone is biased (except us – we are giving you the whole picture!)

7.    Privately sponsored research is bad

8.    Republicans are evil (sorry Helen)

 

I think people in other departments might have learned different things: this is only a representation of my experiences (both in class and out).

 

And – here’s the thing. I agree and disagree to some degree with the claims above. Yes. Climate change is happening. Big businesses (like Ikea) push other types of producers out of markets they used to inhabit, small, high quality specialty stores more an exception rather than the norm. A lot of Berkeley students think that. But guess where we get our furniture? From Ikea. Because it’s cheap. And guess what we do after we move with that ridiculously cheap furniture? We dump it.

 

I’m more a democrat than I am a republican. I am also an environmentalist. I can’t help it – I get angry when people use plastic water bottles and then throw them away. How can you throw away a plastic bottle? What is that plastic bottle going to do in a landfill? Nothing. It’s a complete waste of resources that could have otherwise gone on to be made into something else (like carpet, fleeces, books, etc). Lots of people are environmentalists but don't proclaim to be.

 

But I also know that I don’t know the whole story of any of the stories 1-8 listed above. I know that there are valid points that people from all sides of the spectrum can bring up and I wouldn’t know how to counter most of them. The point is to get a holistic grasp of the issues. And, apparently, you can’t really get that at a university either. You have to do it on your own time, reading newspapers, and books, and listening to people on the radio with whom you totally disagree. And then formulate a well thought out argument articulating why you’re right and everyone else is wrong. But..neither side can simply disengage. Every view point our professors give us has a counter argument from someone somewhere. Why don’t we read those articles?

Most importantly, we Berkeley students need to be open minded and learn to think critically. Nothing makes me more upset than close minded self proclaimed open minded Berkeley students.

Political Memory 2

by Helen 

When I finished college, I had a fellowship lined up with the State Senate of California for the fall.  It wasn't going to start until last week of October. I fully planned to relax and sleep through my summer after graduation because I figured that's the last chance I'd ever get to do something like that (ironic that I am writing this entry now when I am doing exactly that). 

I called to touch base with my old boss from my first campaign (written in the post below this one) and we caught up.  I told her what my plan was and she basically hit me upside the head and said that I cannot possibly sit out the summer of a presidential year and I should get involved. I looked up the Bush campaign in the area and went and met with a woman named Debbie.  I asked if she had any employment opportunities and she said I can volunteer for the campaign if I so desired.  I told her I was looking for a paid position. She politely declined me saying that she had no budget. 

I was a little hurt and I called back my old boss who told me to do this and shared with her what happened.  She said I should find a state legislature race that will be a focus this fall and work there.  I had no idea how to find one that was going to be competitive (California districts are so jerrymandered that there are not many post primary competitions).  She suggested Assembly District 53 or 54. I called 54 first and left a message.  Then I called 53rd district.  A guy named Mike picked up the phone and scheduled an interview for the next day.

I drove to Redondo Beach and met with the candidate who has a laid back beach guy who did insurance.  He then sent me to meet with Mike later that day. I had the job by the end of the day for $200/week which I was very excited about.  I started the next day (July 4th) and worked every day except for half a day Sunday when I had a day off.

The campaign indeed did grow and expand.  I had a ridiculous amount of work and responsibilities, but I loved it all! 

PS A couple of years later, Debbie and I worked very closely together on other projects and we laughed about her turning me down, which was probably the best thing that ever happened to me in retrospect.

Series of Political Memoirs

by Helen

I am contemplating writing several blog posts on my various political moments for kicks.  If I ever write a book, I feel like I'd go back to these stories and use them. 

I'm sure lots of people will find it boring, but it will be a great closure to my political career as a consultant and staffer and I think it will help me prepare for school mentally.  I will probably take out candidate names and staff names to protect people.  Hopefully, the stories are colorful enough that they won't need names to be better.  

So without further ado, here is my first political memory. 

How I Entered and Stayed in Republican Politics 

It was Spring 2008, I was a senior in college and was interning on my first campaign.  I drove from UCLA to Orange County and then back to Porter Ranch (home) three times a week to work for a candidate who was competing in a Primary for a CA State Senate seat.  Based on his website, he was a fiscal conservative and was well educated as well.  Those were all positives in my book and they agreed to let me help, which I thought was really nice of them.  At UCLA's Career Center, they forgot to tell me that free labor is always welcome, so I felt honored to be given a chance to staple signs three times a week and answer phones. 

Anyway, one day I was answering phones and a very nice lady called and asked if the candidate was pro-life or pro-choice.  I put her on hold and asked the campaign manager (who was maybe 23 and seemed very experienced and wise to me).  She looked at me like I was an idiot and said "he is pro-life of course." So I politely answered the question and hung up the phone.

I went to pack my bag and the campaign manager asked me what I thought I was doing.  I said that I am pro-choice and it is against my morals to work for a pro-life candidate.  She asked me to give her a second to go find the candidate's policy director (the candidate was already in the State Assembly).  So the policy director sat down with me for a good 15-20 minutes and discussed with me what issues were important to me and why I defined myself as a Republican.  So I talked about affirmative action, fiscal responsibility, effective programs for those in need and not wasteful ones, etc. He then went over how many bills come up for consideration in CA legislature every year and how many become law.  The number is staggering - something like 1000 bills are introduced every session and 400 become laws. And of those, there are usually 2-3 bills every year come up that deal with the issue of life and even those are usually done for posturing by one or the other party for the sake of scoring political points. 

He reminded me that California is a heavily pro-choice state and perhaps if my issues were fiscal, I was still in the right camp. 

I will never forget that day. The time the policy guy took out of his day to talk me through this and make me understand that I am not a single issue voter and mind. 

I stayed.  The candidate won.  Now he is actually a Congressman. 

Seriously!

by Helen

I so rarely blog about politics because...well...I work in it.  But I got quite frustrated and angry today. It was bad enough that an esteemed Nevada US Senator admitted to an affair last week, but now a Governor??? First he decided to disappear then it turns out he's been crying in Argentina for 6 days over cheating on his wife? Seriously? 

Everyone is human, I have no issue with people messing up. But when you hold an elected office, you don't get the same pass and it's not a private matter. More so, when you come from the party of "family values" whatever that means, and you consider yourself a conservative, you don't get to run off to Argentina with a dear, dear friend who became more! 

I feel like the world is having such serious issues right now - Iran, North Korea, the economy - this is a great time to show leadership and lay out a plan. But how can the Republican Party do that if we can't get out of the headlines about affairs?  

It's not that I think that having an affair makes you less of a policy leader or less of a thinker - it's just distracting and it prevents an elected official from doing his job. 

Should we have a pledge? "If elected I will not cheat on my spouse?"

Political T-Shirts

I was going through my dresser yesterday in attempts to consolidate and get rid of clothes I don't wear anymore. In the process, I came across way too many t-shirts that I have accumulated over the years.  They all brought back some crazy memories of past elections. 

Here is a nostalgic look of what I've been addicted to since 2002 in T-Shirt Memories: 

SURE 2002 

First UCLA election I ever participated in.  This was our "dream team" when David Dahle won by less than 50 votes. 

SURE 2003

Adam ran for President this year.  We became better friends as a result.

Doug Ludlow for President 

Just when I thought I was completely jaded and over UCLA politics, Doug infused some much needed optimism.  I also met Kristina on that race.  We are still friends. 

Greg Hill for State Assembly

Summer 2004 was consumed by this race. I lived and breathed politics and absolutely loved every moment of it.  This is when I met my future boss, Matt and one of my favorite quirky people, Mike. 

Dave Heineman for Governor

I actually went to Nebraska for 2 weeks to campaign for the sitting appointed Governor who was campaigning against Tom Osborne, a former football coach and a legend in Nebraska.  We won by 4 points and it was a great come from behind victory. 

Lingle/Aiona for Governor

Linda Lingle is a Republican Governor of Hawaii.  She is an amazing, strong, thoughtful woman. It was exciting to work on her race and watch an organized strategy be executed well.  I also got to know the Aloha state and some great people there who I still stay in touch with.

George Allen for US Senate

I had absolutely nothing to do with this race. My friend Ilya deployed there as part of the legal team in 2006 and shipped me this tshirt afterwards.

Keoki W for President 

My boss worked for the RNC before he was my boss and had a bunch of Hawaii Bush tshirts left over after the 2004 race so he gave me one. I love that it says Keoki on it. 

Community College Yes

After my brief fundraising stunt, I came back to political work in 2007 and worked on funding a community college in Idaho.  This was a measure supported by a Republican Governor and the Democrat leaders. 

California for John McCain

I ran the grassroots race for JSM in California during the primary and ended up being a delegate for John McCain.  This was the most unbelievable political experience and the largest rollercoaster of my political career.  I wouldn't trade it for the world, but it was this race that made me decide to apply to business school and exit the political scene. 

Steve Litzow for State Assembly

I poured my heart and soul into this race in 2008 and lost by less than 700 votes.  I trained a great campaign manager and wrote a lot about this race in my business school applications. 

Mike Erickson for Congress

This was a tough race in OR-5. We won a bruising primary and lost in the general.

ONE Campaign

We did some work for the One Campaign with Western delegations attending the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis. 

Harvard vs. Stanford in California Politics

by Helen

As the 2010 Gubernatorial Primary in California is hitting full swing, the main two contenders for the Republican nomination are Steve Poizner, California Insurance Commissioner and Meg Whitman, Former Chairman of EBAY.

As it turns out, Poizner graduated Stanford's GSB program in 1980 and Whitman finished HBS in 1979. There definitely seems to be a healthy amount of competition between the two schools and even more of it between these two well qualified candidates. 

The question is - how does graduating from a smaller school in California compare to a larger school in Massachussets in terms of alumni network support?

Here is a look at where California's past winning Governors came from:

Governor Gray Davis, one of the most unpopular Governor's of California, graduated from Stanford undergrad and Columbia law. 

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, one of the most popular elected officials in California (according to the public anyway) received his B.A. via correspondence from University of Wisconsin-Superior. 

Governor Pete Wilson attended Yale for undergrad and Berkeley for his law degree.

Governor George Deukmejian got his BA in Sociology from Siena College and his law degree from St. John's University.

Lastly, Governor Jerry Brown went to Berkeley and Yale for his education (with a quick stint at University of Santa Clara).

So, Stanford vs. Harvard - bring it on, California is ready for it. 

(Hopefully, tomorrow, I will figure out where the opponents of these Governor's came from so we can establish a pattern of whether or not higher education even matters in winning Governorship of California).

Post Elections Thoughts

by Helen

This is a message that I received less than a week after the election from a childhood friend on Facebook in a response to a status update that said that I am still proud of being a Republican after I lost 4 out of 4 races this November (not counting John McCain's race):

Subject line: unbelievable

You are proud to be a Republican?? For what exactly? For putting our economy in the toilet, an illegal war and consequent occupation (including destruction of Iraqi infrastructure, the murder of 100,000 innocent Iraqi civilians and thousands of US troops, etc.), for lying and manipulating the country for years on countless issues? Aren't you guys the party of personal responsibility? How about taking some for once?

---------------------

I received this email as I was landing in Hawaii and did not think it was necessary to reply to it seeing as I was beginning to feel the warm air and the aloha spirit. 

I lost all four races this cycle - my worst political record to date.

3 of the races came as no surprise in a year like this one

And the last one, the race for State Rep in Washington State I was pretty bummed about. I worked really hard and had the better candidate who walked 19,000 homes in the last year.  We ran the better program, the better campaign, etc.  And while the candidate has closed the gap and is now only down 500 votes, he will not pull it off.

That's the hard one for me - when you clearly have the better candidate who would do a better job, but when you get caught up in the tide, all politics is not local and sometimes it's quite national.   But I do take responsibility by not only working in politics, but also volunteering for candidates I believe in.  For those who I think will make our country a better place. I wonder if every critic out there, can say the same thing.

Of course Teddy Roosevelt's quote comes to mind,

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

So my status update was there to encourage all of my friends and colleagues who have sacrificed months of their lives for the candidates they believed in, who lost sleep, impacted their relationships with their loved ones, took pay cuts and are all job hunting right now.  The campaign path is not an easy one and I respect those who take it and hope that everyone gets up after wins and most importantly after losses.

I do take the questioning of my judgment for supporting John McCain and the Republican ticket very personally and very seriously. After all, I think in a democracy, we have a right to have different opinions of what is best for this country and how to get there.  I think the beauty of it all is that we have elections every two years so when and if the American people are unhappy, they have an opportunity and an obligation to change the course that the country is on.  Nothing in America is permanent.  And I have seen nothing but class and respect from President Bush and the First Lady to the President-Elect and his wife during this transition period. 

So yes, I continue to stand tall and be proud of being a Republican at a time when having that label is as unpopular as it was after Watergate.  And I do appreciate all the people in my life who have reached out and asked me how I'm doing after the election and all the kind emails and good articles I have gotten from friends who don't agree with me politically but respect me for what I do.