Today has just been another day at the office. I continued to work on the project of compiling the quotes of the Bowling Alone book. That is really all I have worked on today. I did get the letter sent off to get approval but I won't be able to get the survey off today -- most likely tomorrow morning. Tonight I will be going to a Rugby game. Scotland versus the Barbarians at Murrayfield statium -- that should be great fun. I am really looking forward to it.

Celebrity Viewing!!

It was good to be back at work today. I was able to accomplish much concerning the Cross Party Group. We finally got a conservative party member to agree to the debate the Financial future of Scotland. I worked on finishing the letter that I was assigned for all the economic professors of scotland. I finished that today and I emailed it to Jim for approval, he made some changes and them tomorrow I will send it over to be reviewed by the approval committee so we can get it sent out asap. I also compiled a mindgenius map today of all the MSP's that are participating in the cross party group and included in the concept map an action list of certain areas that need to be covered for the standard clerk to approve the proposed group. Jim was quite pleased with the completion of those two projects. I am hoping to get the survey out by tomorrow but I am not sure if that will happen. It was a very busy day. I had to stay late tonight to help another intern and because I did I say PRINCE CHARLES AND CAMILLA!!! crazy huh they were at the parliament getting a tour and so we waited to see them. too bad I didn't have my camera -- the one day I forget it.

Monday was off for the bank holiday -- when out to dinner for Geame's birthday

My eyes were opened today!!

Today we had off due to the bank holiday on monday. So I am going over to the west coast to see some friends. I will be taking the train over to Glasgow and then down to Ayr.... As I was on the train today I forgot really what scotland was like. My eyes were once again opened up to the economic situation that many residents are in. There is quite a bit of poverty here and as I traveled between Edinburgh which really is the financial center for Scotland and is quite a wealthy area over to Glasgow the industrial center. I saw loads of run down buildings and flats. It was shocking to remember and see it all again. I couldn't help but think about my mission and what i saw as a missionary.

Wow today has been a really busy day. I have been working on the readings that Jim gave me to read and then highlight. Then he wanted me to put together the quotes that i highlighted and include my comments with them. I did that with two articles today. That was really it but it kept me really busy. I heard today that montenagro gained its independence -- I find that really interesting for europe and the people of that nation. In total I think that Europe now has sixty something nations. Wow that is alot for such a small place.

I can't believe that another friday is here. today i caluclated that I only have 20 days left of the internship AWWWW. I can't believe I have already been here for 19 days. Well today i was able to get a lot done in regards to the book that jim gave me. I read a couple chapters and made some notes on it. I am going to be producing a survey for scottish economic porfessors and sending it off sometime next week. i worked out today what i need to be doing everyday to accomplish my work load here and for my classes at BYU. I am going to be busy busy. It will be good. Today is jamie's birthday, we have planned to go to dinner and then to see the Di Vinci Code. I am excited about.

This morning I did alot of clerical work. It took most of my morning to complete it all. Then I took the rest of the day to finish the scottish economic professors database. It has been a bit of a long day but I was able to get those things done and that is good. I need to spend some time really brainstorming what kind of survey I want to produce for all these economic professors. This could really promote the platform for the Scottish Nationalist Party. I watched a bit of the First Ministers Questions with Jack McConnell, it was really interesting to see that polititians are the same everywhere. They will never give you a straight answer from the fear of offending or losing approval. Nicola Stergent, the SNP, spokeswomen really cornered Mr. McConnell today and he still skated by the question. It really seems like the Labour and Lib-Dem Coalition is really hiding alot of the public. It will be interesting to see what happens in the elections next year. The papers are predicting that Labour will lose a lot of its seats to various parties. But that will be a good thing because it will help with the cause for Scottish independence.

Today was a bit of a slower day. I worked a lot on some homework for my classes. Specifically writing one of my cultural proofs and also doing some readings for my Geography class. I am compiling notes of what I am reading and discovering within two political geography books I checked out from the library. I also continued to compile the scottish economic professors database.

Today I continued to study and refresh my mind on the article written by Ronald McDonald. I also read a speach by a European Commissioner named Charlie McCreevy. I will finish the rest tomorrow. Then I took the rest of the day to begin to compile a data base of all the Scottish Economic professors -- that was really time consuming but will be worth it in the end as it will benefit them in the long run when they continue with research and studies.

Monday, with a new week ahead of me. Today I got an email from Jim my MSP and he really outlined somethings that he wanted me to accomplish while I am here. I am so greatful to have a bit more direction. He wants me to really familiarize myself with the 'Economic Case in Scotland' a article written by a economic professor at Glasgow univeristy and then I am to create a survey for scottish economic professors detailing their feeling of Scottish independence. Then I will gather the results and strive to publish them. I will also be updating his power point presentation on the Economic case and then reading a book called 'Bowling Alone' by Robert D. Putnam and then compiling a set of comprehensive notes on the book and my readings of it. There are many more duties that he wants me to attend to but they will be outlined in the following days. Today I began with reading Ronald McDonald's article 'The Economic Case in Scotland' it was really interesting. Although I have to be honest there were many words and phases that I was unfamilar with that I had to look up. I am learning alot though

Well today is friday and on friday's no one is in the Office -- it just ends up being me by my lonely self. It is nice though because I am able to do some things on my own. Today Jim has planned to give a presentation to all of us interns on the 'Economic Case in Scotland' it is so nice of him to take the time to do this as usually they aren't in on Fridays. The Presentation was amazing and it really opened my eyes to the situation that Scotland is in with always being piggybacked by England. He had alot of scholarly material to help him draw conclusions about pursuing scottish independence.

Parliamentary Debate and First Minister's Questions

WOW!! Today was incredible! We went to the Parliamentary debate where the MSP's from various parties debate their points of view. I am sure most of you have seen it on TV from Westminster -- well it was exactly the same. MSP's can be very passionate yelling at one another and using cutting remarks to bring the other person down. They debated about pensioner poverty today and the economic situation in Scotland. Then after that we went to the First Minister's Questions with Jack McConnell. That was very intense. I have to be honest the Scottish Nationalist Party didn't do that great. Jack threw a lot of things in their face. After the qestions and answer period I came back up to my desk and continued with some of my research. I am really excited about tomorrow through because Jim my MSP has put together a powerpoint presentation for all the interns concerning the economic situation that Scotland is in. I am excited to go to it so that I can gain a greater understanding of what they are dealing with so that I can assist them in any way.

I am starting to get a bit of a routine down when I come into the office. First checking my emails and making any replies then reading the daily newspaper and bringing myself up to date with the current political affairs. After doing both those tasks today I went on to continue with my research of the trains system in the highlands of scotland. I reviewed some of the political views of the other MSP Rob Gibson whom I am also working with. He really liked my report from yesterday and had me email it so we could forward it onto some other MSP who would equally want the information to be able to forward this project. Then I continued forward with my immigration research and wrote down some ideas for my paper and where to take it. I finished out the day reading a book that Jim gave me entitled 'Bring Home the Revolution: the Case for a British Republic' by Jonathan Freedland. It is quite an interesting read. It gives alot of case studies from both America and Britain and compares the differences in procedure and constitution. It is really interesting to recognize how different the two countries really are.

a new opportunity

Today started off a bit slow. I was continuing to do some research pertaining to the migration in scotland. I finished my report for Rob Gibson yesterday and he was very grateful for it when I gave it to him. Later on I just did some readings -- out of some books and then rob was in his office and we really got a chance to work together over the transportation for the highlands and islands -- I am really excited about working with him. He gave me all this literature to bring me up to date on the issue and then we will be able to sit down and work together on something.

A New Week

Today has gone by really fast. I started off the day with researching about Ireland's Transport 21 rail proposal for the upcoming 10 years. The program will cost an incredible €34.4 billion. I was researching it for another MSP who I have been helping here and there. Rob is interested in the plan to be able to compare and contrast the the cost and benefit of the plans and analyze projections for a similar transportation system. It is interesting to recognize how often the MSP's here are contantly looking to surrounding regions to formulate ideas of development for Scotland. Considering the development of Scotland with its many rural areas it is quite similar to Ireland and could immensely benefit from a rail system like Transport 21 in the rural and highland area. After compiling a report of the various statistics and timeline for Transport 21 I then took some time to reply to emails and do some readings. My advisor Liz got all of us interns tickets to the Parliament Procedure for Thursday and the First Prime Minister's Questions later on that afternoon. I am really excited to see how the parliament runs here. Jim my MSP will be conducting the questions period directing his comments to the accountability of the Scottish Executive. I have also been invited to attend a lecture on Wednesday night. The energy saving trust will be evualuating renewable resources in Scotland. I will also take part in escorting people throughout the Parliament building. Hopefully I will be able to do some networking of my own.

I actually wrote my entry yesterday for Wednesday and so I am writing today for Thrusday and Friday.
Thursday -- I got to go to an opportunity to go to a renewable resource meeting. It was very interesting to note what types of resources Scotland has and also the renewable sources that they are developing and taping into. After the meeting I meet with Jim Mather and His asisstant Liz, we sat down for a meeting together and talked about the vision of the Scottish National Party. It was amazing to get an idea of where they are headed for the future. After lunch I was enjgaged in some research and clerical work.
Friday - Everyone is out of the office today. Jim is at his constituary locations and Liz is out for the weekend. I continued with some clerical work and then continued my research of demographic statistics in Scotland namely migration. I emailed a professor from the Univeristy of Strathclyde requesting some of his sources and data. Then I finished out the day with school work.
Pretty exciting. I would really like to sit down with Jim again and pin point the direction he would like me to take with the demographic statistics I am obtaining.

First Day at the Scottish Parliament

Well today was my first day at the Scottish Parliament. I meet my MSP Jim Mather, he is lovely and his assistant Liz Lloyd. I will be working side by side with Liz. First, Liz showed me around the parliament building. It is quite a unique building designed by an architect named Enrique Maralisse. Every element within the buidling has an artistic touch. After walking through the building we came back to our office and Liz farmilarized me with scottish political issues. I read the newspaper and various other business reports. During that time I mentioned to Liz that I was very interested in population geography. She gave me a task to research the various demographics for previous years and then to draw some conclusions about birth and death rates and construct some graphs depicting trends. I finished off the day writing the report and will finish it tomorrow. Jim came by my desk today and gave me 3 books he wants me to read to help me understand the political standing of Scotland. They are written by several theorists and economists, I am excited to read them. I have to be honest the day was quite long because of jet lag but I really feel that I am learning a lot. There is a whole unique jargon within politics that I am just begining to learn.