My work is interesting and my workplace is enjoyable. I'm interning at Rails-to-Trails, the main goal of which is to expand the wedge of the federal financial pie allotted to "transportation enhancements," i.e. greenways, bike trails, canals, etc. They've been relatively successful— alternative transportation wasn't part of the federal highway legislation until 1991; since then, in large part because of the lobbying of organizations like us, about $1.8 billion is earmarked for transportation enhancements. I'm presently making a map of the congressional districts modified by the 2000 census. Around campaign time, RTT engages in politician-schmoozing quid-pro-quos: we find out which candidates for the House will potentially support our agenda, and then we call them and arrange a public-relations get-together at a reconstructed trail in the representative's district. RTT orchestrates and pays for the event, so the representative gets a PR windfall. In return, RTT gets about a half-hour of the representative's t ime; they use this to make their case for why RTT should receive federal funding. Tomorrow I'm going to a hearing on the hill by the House subcommittee on transportation and infrastructure. I'm going as a proxy for my supervisor, who will be out of town.