Are You Here For Class?

Our few days as Democracy NC interns have definitely been active, to say the least. Neither of us expected to be so busy within the first few days of the internship, but there has barely been a free moment since we walked into the office on Tuesday. Of course the first few moments involved logistics, and trying to figure out just how we would go about achieving the goals for the summer. Handling logistics seems like a pretty simple task, but that wasn’t the case.  The first thing we had to do was figure out how we were going to have Internet access for the next two months. As guests on ECU’s campus we didn’t have set access to their network, so we needed a guest pass for the summer. This did not turn out to be a simple process. We were sent from office to office looking for anyone that could help get this elusive guest pass, only to find out that the pass would only allow access for a week. Clearly our internship would last longer than a week. Then, once we found a way to get Internet access, we found out that the computer in our office didn’t have a CPU unit. So it wasn’t even really a computer, just two fancy computer moniters. Shaunee had to run down to the administrative assistant’s office just to ask for one, which took another thirty minutes. By the time we got all of the logistics for our office done it was time to our main event for the day.

The City of Greenville is currently going through their redistricting process and we had the opportunity to attend a redistricting workshop at City Hall on Tuesday. The city decided to hold two public workshops after concerns were raised that the redistricting process was being rushed, that there were few alternatives given, and that people didn’t have the chance to voice their opinions. These workshops were meant to give the public a chance to see the proposed districts and offer any alternatives or changes they would like to see made. We were both pleased to see that the city took the time to offer these public meetings and workshops. It is important to get as much of the community as possible involved in the redistricting process, because it affects all of us. However, we were disappointed to see that not many people attended the workshop. We thought that the idea of a public workshop would attract lots of people since it affects so many. Shaunee later told us that it is typically the same group of people that attend all of these public meetings and workshops; new faces are rare. I think the mayor was even surprised to see new faces at Tuesday’s workshop. She came over and asked if we came as a requirement for a political science class. It is odd to hear that people don’t take advantage of these public hearings and workshops, since they are rare as well. Hopefully more people will attend the next public hearing that the city council has on redistricting.

Jasmine Johnson and Shaniqua Singleton

Greenville Team