The Walk of Fame

Last week I went to California with my mock trial team. We participated in the Opening Round Championship Series hosted by University of California at Irvine. We won second place and qualified to go to Nationals in Minneapolis, MN. Here's a picture of our trophy.

But that's not the important part... I mean it's wonderful but not pertinent.

On our last day in LA, we were the ultimate tourists. We hit the beach, the Walk of Fame, the Kodak Theatre and the Chinese Theatre. It was amazing. It was one of those things where I didn't realize how cool it was until I was there. I took pictures of so many of my favorite TV icons. I was like a kid in a candy store. 

JULIE!!! I love Julie Andrews. I watch The Sound of Music regularly. I continue to faithfully support her films. 

Ms. Gabor, there are no words. None... I just... 

Thumbing Through: Summer Reading Challenge

So I started a new page that is completely devoted to my summer reading challenge. I want to read at least one book each week until the of end of summer. As I go I'll put up reviews of the ones I really like and the ones I don't. Hopefully, I won't get distracted and will actually make it through the whole summer. Come along with me, maybe try it too!

To get to the new page just click here. You can also click on Summer Reading Challenge 2011 in the column to the left.

The First Ladies at the Smithsonian

So Memorial Day weekend I took a trip to the National Mall and the National Museum of American History. I wanted to see an ongoing exhibit they have there called "The First Ladies at the Smithsonian." I took the metro, as usual. I figured out that this particular museum is closer to the stop federal triangle than it is to the actual Smithsonian stop. Anyway, the exhibit was FABULOUS! It has two rooms.
One is filled with all kinds of artifacts that belonged to the first ladies, dresses, shoes, dishes, portraits, all sorts of lovely things, as well as a timeline that included every first lady, from Martha to Michelle. Did you know that since every President wasn't married some of the first ladies have been their daughters, nieces, or sisters?

The second room is dedicated to the tradition of the first ladies donating their inaugural gowns to the Smithsonian for this exhibit. The gown of every first lady between Mamie Eisenhower and my Chi-town idol, Michelle Obama, is housed there. These gowns are gorgeous! I can't even describe how beautiful they all were. I felt like each of them was standing in the room with me. Next to the gowns are portraits of each first lady in their gown. My personal favorites were Mamie Eisenhower, Betty Ford, Laura Bush and Michelle Obama but you should go check them out and choose your own favorites. The museum is open everyday except Christmas and is free. It's a great summer trip for any group and family. Also at the museum right now is an exhibit called "Julia's Kitchen," which is the actual kitchen of Julia Child that was featured in the movie "Julie and Julia" and "Ain't Nothin' Like the Real Thing," an exhibit dedicated to the Apollo Theatre.

The picture is from the museum's Web site http://americanhistory.si.edu/exhibitions/exhibition.cfm?key=38&exkey=1239#gallery

Howard’s Mock Trial Team’s Season Brought to an End

In March, Howard University’s mock trial team competed in the American Mock Trial Association’s (AMTA) Opening Round Championship Series (ORCS) in Hamilton, Ohio. Twenty- four teams from three regions convened to compete for six openings to the National Championship in Nashville, Tenn. Unfortunately, Howard’s team was not successful in securing one of those openings and will not compete in the National Championship.

This year’s case is a criminal murder trial, involving three movie studio partners. One is the murder victim and the other two are on trial for his murder. In each trial, one team will argue as the prosecution and the other as the defense.

All mock trial competitions are arranged in the same way. Students create a pretend trial with opening statements, direct and cross examinations, and closing arguments. They are divided into groups of seven, three attorneys, three witnesses, and one timekeeper to set up the trial. Judges then score each team based on the presentation of each part of the case. The team that earns the most points wins the judges’ ballot or score sheet. The teams with the most ballots are the teams that win the competition.

Last month, Howard University won 4th place in the American Mock Trial Association (AMTA) 25th annual East Regional Qualifying Competition with a record of six wins, one loss and one tie. Two of Howard’s students, Manti Bean and Dilane Mitchell, also won individual outstanding attorney and witness awards respectively. This win earned Howard a place in the ORCS.

In addition to winning 4th place in their region, HUMTT won trophies in two other competitions this season. Throughout the early part of the school year teams compete in invitational competitions. These are not official AMTA competitions but are hosted by other universities and offer an opportunity for teams to compete with other teams as well as practice for regional and national competition. Howard took fifth in an invitational hosted by the University of Miami in Miami, Fla. and took 2nd in an invitational hosted by Harvard University in Boston, Mass.

Attorney Tianna Johnson, director of HUMTT was so proud of her team. She said that she expected the team to go into competition and win every time. It didn’t surprise her at all that the team was doing so well. She was excited to add all the new trophies to her collection in her office.

In the past, Howard’s team had a quite profound effect on some of their judges. Mr. Clifford J. Gannett judged on of Howard’s rounds, “It was really a lot of fun. I was very impressed with how prepared the team was. I would love to judge again” he said.

Another judge, Scott R. Apple, observed that the fact that the team was competing in one of the huge auditorium courtrooms was a sign of how well they were doing in the competition. He also thought the team was really effective and prepared.

The ORCS was the first time all year the team had lost.

After the winning teams were announced a cloud of melancholy settled over the team. Losing, a distant memory had been brought back to their attention in this competition.

Suddenly, their mock trial season was over.

One of the team members gave his thoughts on why the team had not been successful. “We have to learn to do our best all the time” Michael Roy said. “ We heard about the reputations of some of the teams here and thought that were weren’t going to have to work to beat them.”

Another team member, Victoria Miranda, thought, “Some of us have really been slacking. It doesn’t look good when some of us do the work and others don’t. It also creates bad chemistry among teammates.”

Now that competition is over the team members and their coach can get back to the other activities. “The god part is now we can go back to living our lives,” said Johnson.

True indeed, along with the end of the season comes the end of the endless hours of working on witness character, courtroom decorum, and rules of evidence among other things. No more late nights spent in the Powell building listening to a teammate practice their opening statement or a direct examination for the 80th time. The team members are now free to focus on schoolwork until the end of the academic year.

For now Howard’s team gets to put mock trial out of their minds but never for too long. Next year brings a new case, new team members, and new chances to bring back the win.