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By Lara Hawthorne Journal-News Staff Can a person spend almost two weeks in Washington D.C. during the inauguration, at tend all of the inaugural events, and never see the presi dent? Sure! It happened to me. This month, 22 ey two faculty members and I were privileged enough to spend 12 days in Washington D.C., covering the events lead ing up to and including the in auguration of President George W. Bush. This trip was a part of Inter term (a three-week concentra tion on one class between the first and second semesters of the school year) class through Doane College in Crete. Prior to leaving, we were given a list of rules, such as we could only travel in groups of three or larger, and on days when no group activities were scheduled we had to be in the hotel by 11:00 p.m. The spon sors made sure to mention that this was not because they didn’t trust us, but only be cause we were small town kids in a big city during a busy time. The trip began Jan. 9th with a plane trip to D.C. After ar riving, the 25 of us were herded onto the Metro (Wash ington D.C.’s version of the subway), and then got lost try ing to find our hotel. After a bit of searching, our hotel was located and we settled in for our stay. By the time everyone was unpacked, it was time for din ner. Being the young tourists that we were, we decided to kick off the trip with a meal at Hard Rock Cafe. It was expen sive and the food was nothing special for a hamburger joint, but we were all thrilled to be away from home and in the nation’s capital. On Wednesday, we had our first of many tours on the trip: the FBI Training Academy in Quantico, Va. There we were given a tour by a Doane alumna, Kate Killham, and we learned what it takes to be come an FBI agent. Two stu dents were given the opportu nity to spare in a virtual reality-type exercise which ac tual agents use in their train. On Thursday, our group at tended the FBI headquarters in D.C. There we saw exhibits of the country’s 10 most wanted criminals, the gangster era and items confiscated from criminals, such as jewelry and guns. At the end of the tour we were given a gun firing demonstration by an FBI agent. Several of us toured Ford’s Theater where Abraham Lin coln was assassinated. We also looked through the museum at the theater, which gave the his tory of Lincoln's life and de tails about his death. Thursday night, a group of us walked to Georgetown, which was a short walk from our hotel. Georgetown is a his toric part of Washington D.C. Bill Clinton has a second home there, as do several other im portant figures. Georgetown was also a popular shopping spot for us and Starbuck’s Coffee became an addition for many of us who were worn out after only the third day of our trip. On Friday, our group toured the United States Capi tol. While there, we saw both the Senate and Congress sides of the building. Unfortunately, these bodies of government were out of session so we were unable to see them in action. Saturday, we toured the Newseum in Roslyn, Virginia. The Newseum is a museum of the history of news. The main exhibit at the Newseum cur rently is a display of Pulitzer Prize winning photographs. Those who attended the Newseum had a chance to ex perience what it is like to be a television reporter. The Newseum also has a section of the Berlin Wall available for viewing. From the Newseum, many of us traveled to the Arlington Cemetery in Arlington, Va. Some of the interesting points stories we were writing. We re ceived identification cards with our names on them that allow us to go to the library and do research whenever we are in D.C. Wednesday afternoon our group attended a taping of the “Jim Lehrer News Hour” for PBS at WETA/PBS in Arling ton. We were then able to speak with the director of the show, as well as some of the Conklin) and watched the pa rade from their balcony. Inter estingly enough, Bill Conklin is a Hubbell native. My group covered the pa rade route and interviewed people and protesters along the way. After warming up from be ing out in the freezing rain and wind, 10 of us attended an in augural ball which was put on by George Washington Uni on this tour were John F. Kennedy’s gravesite and also the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. From Arlington Cemetery, we walked to the statue of Iwo Jima. This statue is a replica of a picture taken during World War II of marines planting an American flag on the Japanese island. Sunday was a free day with no scheduled tours. Several of us attended a flea market with vendors from all origins who were peddling a variety of goods. We toured the Holocaust Museum on Monday. The tour took three hours and was very shocking and emotional for many of the people walking through. The museum in cluded picture stories and ar tifacts from the holocaust. One of the more memorable parts of the tour was a room that was full of shoes which had been taken off of victims of the con centration camps. Tuesday, our group was given a tour of the White House. Several people were very disappoonted with this tour because we were only shown six rooms in the entire building. The wait in line was around 45 minutes, but the tour itself took only 25 min utes. Later that morning our group toured the Pentagon. The tour was given by a ma rine and a Navy sailor. We were shown corridors of the different branches of the mili tary and learned interesting facts about the Pentagon itself. The next day, our group went to the Library of Con gress. Here we did research for guest political analysts on the show. Thursday was another free day filled with shopping and catching up on sleep. Several of us were given the opportunity to meet the Oak Ridge Boys on Friday. This was a highlight of the trip for some of us who had never met anyone as famous as they have been. Many of us had to call varsity. It was huge compared to Doane dances, and It was across the street from the main inaugural ball which the presi dent was attending. There was a certain time during the ball that none of us could leave the hotel that our dance was be ing held at because the presi dent was outside at the other ball. Sunday morning, four of us dragged ourselves out of bed to attend a brunch sponsored by the Nebraska Society of Washington D.C. This society is composed of Nebraska na tives who are currently living in D.C. All of the Nebraska delegates were in attendance at this brunch and they all got up to give small speeches about how excited they were about serving their upcoming terms. PECKIN’ PIGEONS --- On my trip some students learned that pi geons are prettier than they ex pected them to be. In fact, sev eral attempts were made to cap ture one of the birds, but they all failed.. (Journal-News Photo by Lara Hawthorne) The last day of our trip we packed up and got ready to go. After packing, which was more difficult for some of us than others, our group took a tour of The Washington Post. This gave us “would-be” journalists a glimpse of what it is like to work at a huge daily paper. As much as I enjoyed the experience, I do have to say that I have never been so glad in my 20 years to set foot back in Nebraska as I was on Mon day. I don’t want to leave again for a long, long time. _ And even though I didn’t get to see the president, I am still happy and feel privileged to have been there, our parents right away and brag about our encounter. Friday evening, four of us playing cards were interviewed to be on a morning radio talk show which was broadcast in New England. On this broad cast we told about our trip and also talked about our political views. The next day was January 20th, the inauguration. This was the main point of our trip. The 25 of us split into five groups to cover different parts of the ceremonies. One group received press passes to go into the inaugu ration itself and take pictures and listen to George W. Bush’s inaugural address. Another covered the protests that were taking place because of the controversial election. A third group roamed the streets of DC. and interviewed aple about where they were rorn and what made them come to the inauguration. The fourth group went to the con dominium of another Doane alumnus (Bill and Barbara CAPITOL VIEW --- One of the sights visited was the United States Capitol. We were given a tour of the building. The capitol was the setting of the inauguration ceremonies for George W. Bush on Jan. 20th. (Journal-News Photo by Lara Hawthorne) NEBRASKA BRUNCH --- At the Nebraska Society of Washington D.C. brunch, two students were lucky enough to snag a picture with the legendary Tom Osborne. From left, Lara Hawthorne, Nancy Osborne, Doane student Aaron Hall of Manhattan, Kan., and Tom Osborne. (Journal-News Photo by Lara Hawthorne) ARLINGTON CEMETERY-- During the visit to Arlington Cemetery, many of the graves were still decorated with wreaths for the holidays. Interesting points along the tour of the cemetery were the gravesite of John F. Kennedy and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. (Journal-News Photo by Lara Hawthorne) HARD ROCK CAFE --- The first tourist attraction visited was the Hard Rock Cafe. Here students had dinner and purchased their first pieces of memorabilia from the trip. From left, Doane students Nancy Fanta, Dannenbrog, Jessica Underwood, Crete, Sarah Abrahamson, Denver, Colo., Jenny Venditte, Omaha, and Annette Wadas, Ord. (Journal-News Photo by Lara Hawthorne) IWO JIMA --- The statue of Iwo Jima was one of my favorite monu ments that I saw on the trip. The statue is a replica of a picture taken during World War II of Marines planting an American flag on the Japa nese island of Iwo Jima. (Journal-News Photo by Lara Hawthorne)
Newspaper Details
Fairbury Journal News
Fairbury, Nebraska, US
Fri, Jan 26, 2001
Page 9
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 23 Jul 2026
Other Publications Near Fairbury, Nebraska
Jefferson County Journal
The Fairbury News and The Fairbury Gazette
The Fairbury Daily News
The Fairbury Journal
Fairbury Journal News
