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From healthcare to education to immigration, every citizen has concerns related to the government. In a large constituency, such as that of a Senate member, a single politician could not possibly respond to all these voices alone. For this reason, local Senate offices play a critical role in making citizens’ opinions heard. Dylan Wulderk ’13 is spending the summer in just this position, interning for Senator Frank Lautenberg’s office in Camden, N. J.

For students interested in public policy, a think tank offers an ideal environment to begin exploring a range of policies, methods of research, and potential solutions to current issues. Elizabeth “Betsy” Bilharz ’12, an economics major with a public policy minor, plans to take full advantage of a think-tank environment; she will spend her summer as an intern for the New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies in Concord, N. H.

Climate change is a major topic of discussion among economists, lawmakers, businesses and the general public. As climate change becomes an increasingly pressing issue, environmental law gains importance for society. Victoria Grieves ’12 will spend the summer contributing to environmental efforts by serving as an intern at the Environmental Law Institute in Washington, D.C.  Her internship is funded by the Levitt Center through its new Leadership Program.

The availability of basic human rights concerns everybody on the planet, and human rights violations are not only pertinent to the area where they take place, but to the global community. For this reason, human rights organizations garner great benefits from supporters around the world, and anybody who spends time with such an organization has the potential to provide critical aid. Roxanne Makoff ’12 will spend her summer as an intern with Amnesty International in New York City in support of the organization's goal of rectifying bhuman rights violations .

For students interested in public policy, the chance to spend a summer in Washington, D.C., means an opportunity to be involved in policy making and to observe government officials at work.  Fertaa Yieleh-Chireh ’12 sees the value in this opportunity, and will be traveling to the nation’s capital for a summer 2011 Public Service Internship at the Public Forum Institute.

In a weakened school system that faces continual budget cuts, co-curricular field trips are usually among the first programs that schools discontinue. In Washington, D.C., this rings especially true, as an increasing number of middle schools are deciding to drop field trips from their curriculum.

“The youth is a revolutionary demographic,” Benjamin Pena ’12 said at the presentation of a new Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center poll on May 12. The poll, titled “Immigration and Racial Change: Are All Generations On The Same Page?” was conducted by the James S. Sherman Professor of Government Philip Klinkner and the students of Government 333: Topics in Survey Research.

A new national survey of Americans’ attitudes on immigration, race, ethnicity and religion shows a large majority of Americans (60%) support allowing legal immigrants to vote in local elections, with the strongest support coming from young Americans and opposed only by a majority of those over age 60. The poll, funded by Hamilton's Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center, found that almost half of all young people feel the government should focus more on integrating illegal immigrants into American society.

The Levitt Center will screen the award-winning documentary, Moving to Mars, on Wednesday, April 27, at 7 p.m., in the Red Pit, K.J.  The film follows a group of Burmese refugees from their camps in Thailand to the town of Sheffield, England.  The screening is free and open to the public.  

In 2010, the federal government was placed under heavy public scrutiny after WikiLeaks, a nonprofit organization devoted to governmental transparency, released classified documents to American news media. Alasdair Roberts, author of Blacked Out  and an advocate of governmental transparency, spoke at Hamilton on April 7, offering his own assessment of the progression of the war on secrecy. He was a guest in the Levitt Center Security series.