Othello Involvement - A Look Into the Tragedy of the Moor of Venice

As a way to connect with the community and show my support of the arts, I had enlisted to become a part of an acting company to put on a scene with our own unique interpretation of Shakespeare's Othello, a tragedy and tale of betrayal and jealousy. The acting group I was sorted into and I wrote out a contract in a rather professional manner to make sure that all terms were held and all work would be fairly distributed and down with the penalty of being removed from the group upon going against any of the agreements. Our group was charged to select a scene that had vital importance in the piece which we could interpret into any context that would make sense as according to the characters and their roles. The fourth scene in the third act of the play was selected, and with some detailed preparation and serious memorization of lines we performed on the 18th for an audience and pannel. The experience was rather fascinating and educating, to say the very least, and never failed to hold my attention throughout. Memorizing the many lines proved to be a challenge, but with assistance from group members and instructors the task became managable. Though fun and educational, I am thankful that the project concluded, as it allows me to return to my government work here in the Senate, and on my reelection campaign.

Congress Conclusion

The session of our 111th Senate has drawn to a close, and I find that I am faced with reelection by the people of the great state of New Jersey. I have rather enjoyed my time as a Democratic Senator and hope that the people of my home state will see me fit to serve another term. These sessions spent covered a wide array of topics ranging from the rights of man-made mechanisms that possess artificial intelligence to the abolishment of the electoral college and everything in between, provoking much debate among our senators. I have supported the views of Democrats in New Jersey, supporting bills and topics of concern that my party have deemed necesary to address such as affordable secondary education and a more smooth path for illegal immigrants to become legal. This experience is one that I shall never forget, as I have learned so much more of the entire system from being a part of it, and I hope that upon being reelected that I may continue to learn ever more.

Monday, November 15th - Session 1.09

The bill from the last session that was meant to be further ammended and passed was not further developed today due to the lacking of correct paperwork which we would have needed to refer to. Instead, we worked as a senate to pass a bill concerning the electoral college, a measure that was passed with little opposition or debate. Next, we passed a bill aiming to make it so that artificially intelligent and sentient beings, when they are developed in our United States, will not be given equal rights as are already available to humans. We began to debate on a bill passed onto us by the House of Representatives that would limit the distribution of guns to other countries and would thus promote the advancement of green development in the militart, though no consensus was made. This matter will be debated in the next congregation tommorow.

Wednesday, November 10th - Session 1.08

The session today was based around the amendment process of the bill "Interest Free Student Loans," though it seems as if the title will soon no longer be appropriate. As I mentioned, the ammendments proposed to the bill seem to embody a new desire to simply lower interest on student loans rather than abolish interest altogether. The maximum amount of money available to be loaned for tuition was raised from $25,000 to $30,000, while other proposed amendments were shot down, such as the motion to create a cap on 5% interest as well as one that would place a 2% penalty for each drop of the grade point average of the borrower student. We are taking crucial steps towards passing our first bill thus far.

Tuesday, November 9th - Session 1.07

Such orders of the day including the addition of bills to be discussed were added to the agenda before the session concluded. The bill was entitled "Interest Free Student Loans," which proposed to change the policy of financial aid and provide financial aid without interest to students of grade point averages higher than 2.5. The bill was read aloud by the Senator Pro-Tempore. Debate ensued over the bill, with varying views on the issue coming forth. The Democratic Party was the main supporter of the bill, while the majority of Republicans were opposed to the motion. The debate was limited in time so that the debate did not run over its time and have to continue into the next session. The bill was postponed to be discussed in the next session.

Monday, November 8th - Committee Meeting

This session of congress was designated entirely to meeting with committees. As I am a part of the Foreign Affairs committee, I met with the other members of the predominately Democratic committee. I as well as my fellow senators began to discuss the terms of a potential bill to create an easier, smoother process for illegal immigrants to become American citizens. It was clear that there is a need to create a path for these people to become citizens, since the current process is lengthy, costly, and not available to everyone in the United States. We hammered out the new guidelines we would like to see in our bill, claiming that the citizenship process should be cheaper, easier to access, and shorter in time required to complete it. With a clear understanding of our bill and what we will have within it upon completion, we concluded the session with the intention to finish the bill on our own time.

Friday, November 5th - Session 1.06

The previous day's issue of passing a bill named as "Tax Reform Act of 2010" was addressed today. There was much debate, and a motion to end the debate failed several times in succession. A motion to table the entire bill rose as well, which passed. Therefore, the bill was tabled and would no longer be discussed. Recess was requested to happen early so that committees may meet, though there was objection and a motion to postpone the recess for a few moments. This turned into a debacle discussing when to recess, and finally concluded in recessing at the usual time of closing.