The Gilmore Family and

their Government Document Needs

Lorelai’s In form at ion N eeds:

Lorelai is always getting in trouble. With a little

knowledge, she could use some government documents
to solve some of those problems.

Now, I’m sorry, Lorelai, but you need some straight

talk. You need to make that deadbeat dad of Rory’s
pay up! So, let’s start with some government
documents to help Christopher Hayden do his fatherly duty.

Helpf ul Information for Single Mo m’s

Connecticut’s Department of Social Services. Child Support Resources Center

http://www.ct.gov/dss/cwp/view.asp?a=2353%AD&Q=305184

Here is a great place to start. Living in Stars Hallow, Connecticut, Lorelai will have to
contact here local state government. Now if Christopher has ever been charged by the
court to pay child support, he should be paying it. If he isn’t paying it, Lorelai can fill
out a form that will alert the government about his negligence.

Connecticut’s Superior Court. “Application for Contempt Order, Income

Withholding and/or Other Relief.”
http://www.jud2.state.ct.us/webforms/forms/fm015.pdf
If Christopher has never had to make payments, Lorelai will have to look for other
options. For basic information on the topic, she can download this document or find it
at her local Federal Depository Library.

Office of Child Support Enforcement. Handbook on Child Support Enforcement:

Answers to Your Questions.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Administration for Children
and Families. Washington, D.C., 2005
Sudocs classification number: HE 24.8:C 43

Sending Ro ry to School

But Lorelai is independent, and she does not like accepting help from anyone! I can tell
already that she is not going to force Christopher to pay child support. However, she is
very proactive, so if she has a question on how to raise Rory, she won’t stop until she
has an answer. She especially wants Rory to have an excellent education. One of the
best places for her to look for that information for is the website below, Choices for
Parents. It talks about U.S. goals as outlined in the No Child Left Behind Act and
includes information concerning the achievements of public schools, charter schools, and
magnet schools. It also gives information on private education and home schooling.

U.S. Department of Education. Choices for Parents.

http://www.ed.gov/nclb/choice/index.html?src=ov

For Lorelai, the best option for Rory is to send her to Chilton Academy, a ritzy prep
school. If you can get in and pay the tuition, this school offers everything you could
ever want. However, if Rory needs specialized help for a learning disability, or if she
wants to attend a public school’s after-school-program, she can. She can read about the
benefits and rights of private school students and teachers in this document listed below.

U.S. Department of Education. Benefits to Private School Students and Teachers.

Office of Innovation and Improvement
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
www.ed.gov/nclb/choice/schools/privbenefits/benefitstops.pdf

If that isn’t enough, Lorelai and Rory can look at this next document for a good
general overview of resources offered by the U.S. Department of Education.
 U.S. Department of Education. No Child Left Behind: Help for Students and their
Families. Washington, D.C., 2007.
Sudocs classification number: ED 1.8:H 62/HELP/SPAN.-ENG.

Opening the Dragonfly Inn

Once Lorelai has provided for Rory’s needs, she can focus on her own goals for the
future, and Lorelai wants to start her own bed and breakfast. However, running your
own business requires a lot of skill. Lorelai can use government documents and
resources to get her inn off the ground.

Since her appointment, the Secretary of Labor, Elaine L. Chao, has sought to help
women become active in the business world. She is trying to encourage
entrepreneurships through training, grants, and E-Initiatives. If Lorelai wants to seek
special opportunities for herself as a businesswoman, she should read about Chao’s
accomplishments in the “Accomplishments Report” below.

21st Century Workforce Office. U.S. 21st Century Workforce Initiative:

Accomplishments Report. 2004.
U.S. Department of Labor
http://www.dol.gov/21cw/2004-accomplishments.htm

Then, Lorelai should visit the website for the Small Business Administration for advice
and education on how to start her inn. Their website has a number of interactive
programs for her to gauge her progress, including…
 U.S. Small Business Administration. Assessment Tool: Are you Ready to Start a
Small Business.
http://www.sba.gov/assessmenttool/index.html

U.S. Small Business Administration. Free Online Courses

http://www.sba.gov/services/training/onlinecourses/index.html

The online courses take only about 30 minutes apiece to complete, and they are on
everything: how to start, how to find funding, how to do the accounting, how to manage
credit, and how to understand business taxes. If there isn’t enough there on taxes, then
she can go to the library and check out this next source.

Internal Revenue Services. A Virtual Small Business Tax Workshop DVD.

Washington, D.C., 2006
Sudocs classification number: T 22.69:V 81/2006

Ro ry’s Doc umen t fo r Life:

So what does Rory need documents for? She

might only be a young person, but you would be
surprised. The U.S. government wants young
people to access government documents on the web.
One of the best ways to start is to visit
Students.gov. It is a portal for all sorts of
information useful for teenagers. It has links to
career information, colleges, financial aid, and
military service. A student can even find consumer information especially for them,
and links for healthy living.

Students.gov: Student Gateway to the U.S. Government

http://www.students.gov/STUGOVWebApp/Public
 College

Rory goes to Yale, but she didn’t always know she was going to Yale. There are
number of government resources that could have helped her with find a college and the
money to go to college.

National Center for Education Statistics. College Navigator.

U.S. Department of Education
Institute of Education Sciences (IES)
http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/

This resource allows a student to research public and private institutions by state,
region, educational level, and ACT/SAT scores. Once the student decides on a college,
then they can decide how to pay for it. They can use the next three resources to find
out what they need to do.

U.S. Department of Education. FAFSA: Free Application for Federal

http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/

Federal Student Aid. Student Aid on the Web

U.S. Department of Education
http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/index.jsp

Federal Student Aid. Need Money for College? Go to www.studentaid.ed.gov.

Department of Education
http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS85922
Sudocs classification number: ED 1.2:M 74
 Information for Colleg e and Beyon d

Once Rory goes to college, there is an entire new world to explore. In the last season, she
has to decide whether to go to graduate school or get a job. Here are a few government
resources for college students who want to find educational and career-building
experiences…and the funds to pursue those experiences.

United States Office of Personnel Management. Studentjobs.gov: Building

America’s Future
http://www.studentjobs.gov/

Rory can find internships and jobs with the government at this website. The site
includes a Career Interests Center that helps students match their abilities and career
objectives to the perfect government job.

Now, I doubt that the National Security Agency would offer Rory the perfect job. She
may have some conflicting ethical beliefs with the agency, but she loves to travel and
learn language. If she signs up with the National Security Education Program, she
will be able to both travel and learn languages for free through scholarships like the
David L. Boren Graduate Fellowships and NSEP Graduate Fellowships. Their
reference information is listed directly below.

National Security Education Program. Worldstudy.gov: Learn without Borders

http://www.worldstudy.gov/

National Security Education Program. David L. Boren Graduate Fellowships:

Guidelines and Forms for Applications. Washington, D.C., May 8, 2003-.
http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS30970
Sudocs classification number: D 1.6/2-4:

Institute of International Education. NSEP Graduate Fellowships. New York,

N.Y., 2007
National Security Education Program
http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS78416
Sudocs classification number: D 1.6:2-4:

Since Rory probably does not want to work for the NSA, she will have to find other
options. Another popular program is the Fulbright Program. They accept the best
and the brightest and give them fellowships to follow their own plans of study.

Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Fulbright Program

U.S. Department of State
http://exchanges.state.gov/education/fulbright/

Now, Rory is on her way to making her name in the world.

Rory’ s Lov e Lif e

Now, Rory is a very smart girl, and later in the show, she is a very smart young
woman. But at the end of the fourth season, she makes some poor relationship choices.
These choices could have been a lot worse if she didn’t know her birth control options.
Here are two sources for teenagers about the sexual choices that they make.

MedlinePlus. Teen Sexual Health.

U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/teensexualhealth.html

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Especially for Teens: Birth

Control. March 2007
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/teensexualhealth.html
 Lorelai an d Rory’s Fun with Doc uments

Luckily, Rory is good about correcting bad decisions. She might occasionally go off the
deep end and steal a boat, but things always turns out okay. Most of the time, Lorelai
and Rory just get to set back and enjoy their favorite things together.

One thing that Rory loves is literature. She can find out which American authors to
read at this site.

Vanspanckeren, Kathryn. USA Literature in Brief. U.S. Department of State.

http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/literature-in-brief/

Lorelai can even find information to feed her love of fashion. It is surprising what you
might find on a government website. The Sir Francis Drake High School in San
Anselmo, California created a website that deals with the evolution of fashion in the
20th century.

Gallager, Jenny. Fashion through the Decades.. Sir Francis Drake High School.
http://drake.marin.k12.ca.us/students/gallaghj/fashion/fash_thru_decade.html

Conclusio n

So ends our search for government documents for Lorelai and Rory. They are two
accomplished women, who are fully self-sufficient, but they can increase their knowledge
and improve their lives through government documents. Moreover, they can go to
documents for entertainment. Government documents can open new worlds for any
person.

Government Documents for the People

By Jenny Rempel
December 9, 2007