Monday, August 1, 2022
By:
This week, I pulled numbers from the giant legislation released: The Manchin-Schumer Reconciliation bill and the Appropriations bill. These two bills had a lot of relevant science policy budget figures. I not only enjoyed learning how much was allocated to each agency, but also reading the committee’s admonishments.
Some highlights:
"The committee notes that it has once again rejected NASA’s proposal to reduce the Heliophysics funding."
"The committee is disappointed in the execution of prior year Heliophysics fundingThe committee is disappointed in the execution of prior year Heliophysics funding"
"In spite of Congress providing the full request for this mission, NASA's fiscal year 2023 budget documents reveal that the mission is no longer aiming for the 2026 launch window, instead slipping into the 2028 launch window."
On Tuesday, I saw the Unofficial Bridgerton Musical at the Kennedy Center. The music was great, and the lyrics were okay. They are now being sued by Netflix, so that makes it even more exciting.
On Wednesday, we had another potluck. I brought zucchini chocolate chip bread. I really loved everyone’s food. Shoutout to Nicole’s potato pancakes and Taylor’s compote!
Thursday, I went for a long walk around the city, and saw the South Interior Building, which used to hold the Department of the Interior. It is the site of the seven-day 1972 takeover by the American Indian Movement [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureau_of_Indian_Affairs_building_takeover... as the culmination of the Trail of Broken Treaties protest.
We also met with Midhat Farooq at ACP, who taught us how to create skills-based resumes. I really like this resume style and hope to use it in the future.
Friday, I walked to get cheesecake and went to Duke’s Burgers with other interns. There were bees there that sat on Valeria’s food!
Saturday, Lucy and I went to the National Museum of the American Indian and saw the Hope Diamond at the natural history museum. There was also a giant elephant at the entrance that originally had tusks that weighed 900 pounds. Imagine carrying that around on your face!
I also experimented with making broccoli stew with no recipe and just throwing ingredients together, and it actually turned out to be tasty! I was both surprised and proud. I made tortillas, which did not turn out as well, and I eventually turned them into chips to salvage them.
Sunday, we went to a crepe restaurant and had a potluck. I brought my stew, and Valeria told me her perfect grilled cheese recipe. Overall this week was both adventurous and delicious.
Matangi Melpakkam