Today I attended a luncheon sponsored by the World Trade Center Tacoma. The event was WTC Association Day, and representatives from the various businesses that belong were on hand, with a roundtable talk from academic heads or vice heads from UPS (Dean Bartanen), PLU, St. Martin's and UW Tacoma. The talk was quite interesting, with each participant talking about issues related to the topic "Different Pathways to Global Education". This included discussion of foreign students, of study abroad, and of integrating more of an international component into courses on campus. There was also an awards ceremony for student work (written and artistic) dealing with globalization. I was pleased that Dean Bartanen mentioned the department during her presentation, with a Powerpoint slide that featured several of Irene Lim's incredible department event posters.
Everywhere I turned there was someone connected to Politics and Government. En route I parked by the Tacoma Dome station, where Mayor Baarsma (PG alum from '64) was holding a press conference to announce that the Spirit of Washington dinner train, originally based in Renton, will now depart from Tacoma. Among the onlookers was Derek Young '96, who was covering the event for his ever-expanding Exit133 empire. More than a blog these days, they now sponsor KPLU radio and are hosting a candidate forum for the upcoming city council race.
When I arrived at the WTC talk, I was greeted at the door by Garrett Heilman '08, who had just started an internship there. Also present was Colleen (Woodrow) Gause '06 who is Communications and Membership Coordinator for the World Trade Center. We talked about colonizing the internship opportunities, which to date have been dominated by PLU students (shame, shame). So students, if want a good internship opportunity for the fall, keep the World Trade Center in mind.
