By Kim Ramsey
College Topics Staff Writer

For Cavalier Daily news editor Mandy Biles, the highlight so far in her summer internship has been the chance to shadow ABC News' legal correspondent Tim O'Brien as he covered the controversial Supreme Court decisions on the right to die and the separation of church and state.

An aspiring lawyer and legal correspondent herself, Biles is the recipient of this year's Herring Internship Scholarship. The $1,000 award is given annually to a current Cavalier Daily staff member participating in either an unpaid or low-paid summer internship in a media-related field.

"I'm seeing a lot of everything," said Biles, a rising third-year government and foreign affairs major, of her three-month internship with ABC News' Washington bureau. "I definitely appreciate this opportunity."

While Biles is spending most of her time working with the producers of "Good Morning America," the experience is not what most would expect from a morning show.

"When most people think of 'Good Morning America,' they think of the cooking or fashion or entertainment segments," Biles said. "In Washington, it's all hard news."

In addition to working with O'Brien on the Supreme Court stories, Biles has also served as production assistant for a segment on the changes in welfare laws that went into effect July 1.

She participated in all aspects of the story's development, from sitting in on interviews with Virginia Governor George Allen and welfare recipients to deciding which shots to cut and which to keep during the final stages of film editing.

It is just this type of experience that Biles was seeking in her internship. "If there's anything I want to learn this summer, it is how to assemble a complete, well-balanced, factual, focused, unbiased news story," she wrote in her application for the scholarship.

"As both a future journalist and editor of the news department, I hope to take anything and everything I learn and use it to develop my own skills as well as teach the individuals I work with on a daily basis."

"When reviewing Mandy's application, we saw that she was going to be spending a lot of time following producers around and picking their brains," recalls Cavalier Daily Alumni Association Vice President Greg Trevor, who is the chairman of the Herring Internship Selection Committee.

"We knew she would then be able to come back to the CD and share her insights and the skills she learned with the staff.

"Because she'll be working in broadcast media, she'll bring back new ideas and approaches to newsgathering that will broaden the knowledge of the staff."

Not all the assignments Biles has been given during her internship have been glamorous, however.

Like all interns, she's also been relegated to making copies and answering phones occasionally.

There was even one day when she was given $40 and told to take taxi cabs around the District to scout out the best places for reporters to stand during shoots, "something the producers didn't want to pay anyone to do," she said.

But, all in all, she's "really enjoying the experience" and is thankful to the CDAA for making it possible.

"I don't think my dad would have let me do this without the scholarship," Biles said. "This summer he wanted me to make some money, at least for the symbolism of it, so the scholarship has really helped."

Because ABC News requires it, Biles is also receiving independent study credit for her work this summer from the University, which must make Dad more comfortable with the arrangement as well.

Biles is the third recipient of the Herring scholarship, which was made possible through the generosity of John Herring, a long-time supporter of The Cavalier Daily and former director of Newcomb Hall.

Herring donates $500 towards the scholarship each year and the CDAA matches his donation.

While pleased with the outcome of the program thus far, Trevor hopes for increased future involvement in the Herring scholarship from both The Cavalier Daily staff and its alumni.

Contributions made to The Cavalier Daily can be earmarked specifically for the internship fund; comments on and suggestions for improving the program should be directed to Greg Trevor.

He can be reached by calling 908-843-6803 or via e-mail at trevor@app.com.

Kim Ramsey graduated from the University in 1992 and is a former Lifestyles Editor.