Panetta Institute intern Daniela Parker with California Congressman Sam Farr

Whatever Daniela Parker expected when she was selected as one of 25 college students in the 2009 Panetta Institute for Public Policy’s Congressional Internship Program, the thrill of watching political history unfold surpassed it.

“I was in the House Gallery when the health care legislation passed after seven different attempts,” said the Cal State Northridge junior. “It was one of the most exciting experiences that I… had in Washington, D.C. A group of my friends and I sat together watching and waiting from 6 p.m. until 11 p.m. There was a 15-minute period when the representatives cast their votes. They had been debating since early morning, and in the final two minutes the tally board showed it had received the 218 votes it needed to pass. Everyone was elated, hugging Speaker Pelosi and applauding.”

Parker had applied to the Panetta program, a semester-long Capitol Hill experience for students handpicked mostly by California State University presidents, because of her strong interest in health and education policy. Her interest had been fueled by her work as a board member of Adelante Mujer Latina, a non-profit dedicated to encouraging Latinas to pursue higher education.

“I wanted to understand the nuances involved in legislation,” said Parker. “In other words, I wanted to personally witness and understand the process by which something that starts as an idea becomes policy and ultimately is legislated into law.”

As she observed the machinery of political change in Washington, Parker used as a reference point Thomas Kuhn’s landmark “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions,” which popularized the term “paradigm shift.” The young history major is certain that as bodies of thought and intellect change, paradigm shifts will emerge to help thinkers formulate new concepts and theories.

Established by former White House chief of staff and current Central Intelligence Agency Director Leon Panetta and his wife Sylvia, the Panetta Institute provided a two-week orientation to prepare Parker and her colleagues for their Congressional assignments.

Assigned to Congressman Sam Farr of California’s 17th Congressional District, Parker got to see the inner workings of Hill business at briefings and hearings. One of her duties was to take constituents from Farr’s Northern California district on special tours of the Capitol Visitor’s Center and around the Capitol.

“I never ceased to be amazed by the level of decorum required by the House of Representatives,” said Parker. “Only members on the floor are allowed to cheer, boo and express their sentiments, but they must never interrupt another speaker.”

Back at CSUN, Parker will complete her degree and pursue a career in public policy.

For more on CSUN’s College of Science and Mathematics, see http://www.csun.edu/csm/

— Julia Venkateswaran