ISAAC CHAMBERS

URBANA — Senior Isaac Chambers has been selected as one of two Illinois delegates to the 47th annual United States Senate Youth Program.

The USSYP, established in 1962, is an all-expenses-paid program held in Washington, D.C., in which students spend a week in the nation’s capital and observe various aspects of the federal government. The 2009 program will take place March 7 to 14.

"After I found out I was one of the selected delegates, I went to the Web site and looked at last year's agenda," Chambers said. "The program looks like an incredible experience, and I'm excited to have the opportunity to go and meet the other delegates.

"The only disappointment is that I won't get my photo taken with Obama during the annual Senate reception. If the 2009 agenda is like last year's, though, I'll get to meet Obama as president."

In addition to the experience of watching the government in action, Chambers and the other delegates will each receive a $5,000 college scholarship.

The program is sponsored by the U.S. Senate and funded by the Hearst Foundations. Each state independently chooses two delegates.

So what will be on Chamber's agenda come March 7?

According to the program's Web site: "Student delegates will hear major policy addresses by senators, cabinet members, officials from the Departments of State and Defense and directors of other federal agencies, as well as participate in a meeting with a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court."

Selection is based on a student's demonstrated abilities and qualities of leadership in an elected or appointed high school student office for the 2008-09 school year. Chambers is Student Council executive president and has been involved in student government throughout his Uni career.

To be named an Illinois delegate, Chambers had to go through a two-tiered selection process. First he had to be named a regional semifinalist. Illinois is divided into six regions, with each region choosing two semifinalists, except for the Chicago area, which chooses eight.

Then the 18 semifinalists were interviewed in Springfield in mid-November.