When Study Abroad goes bad

By CHARLES WILSON, Associated Press – 13 minutes ago

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A teenager who was one of three American college students arrested during massive protests in Cairo is an idealist who got caught up in the pro-democracy movement sweeping Egypt, his mother said Tuesday.

Derrik Sweeney, a 19-year-old Georgetown University student from Jefferson City, Mo., was arrested along with Luke Gates, a 21-year-old Indiana University student from Bloomington, Ind., and Gregory Porter, a 19-year-old Drexel University student from Glenside, Pa.

An Egyptian official said the students were arrested on the roof of a university building where they were throwing firebombs at security forces fighting with protesters near Tahrir Square....

...Sweeney's mother, Joy Sweeney, described him as a principled person who stands up for his beliefs. He attended previous protests but stopped after a demonstration where dozens were killed, she said. He had assured his family the violence wasn't near him and he was safe.

Still, Joy Sweeney said she wasn't surprised he went.

"He got caught up in the whole college-change-the-world mentality, and he believes in democracy strongly," she said.

But she also said her son was the family peacemaker when siblings fought and she couldn't see him acting violently.

"I don't believe that he would intentionally throw a bomb at anyone," she said. "I don't believe that."

Wed 11/30 CFR Conference Call: Female Entrepreneurship in Afghanistan

On Wednesday, November 30, Professor Seth Weinberger will be hosting the last Council on Foreign Relation’s conference call of the semester, from 9:00 – 10:00 AM in WY 226. The topic of this call is female entrepreneurship in Afghanistan, and the speaker will be Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, CFR's fellow and deputy director of the Women and Foreign Policy program.

Prior to joining CFR, Ms. Lemmon covered public policy and emerging markets for the global investment firm PIMCO, after working for nearly a decade as a journalist and producer with the ABC News political unit and "This Week with George Stephanopoulos." Her first book, "The Dressmaker of Khair Khana," a New York Times bestseller, tells the true story of a young Afghan entrepreneur whose business created jobs and hope for the women in her Kabul neighborhood during the Taliban years. Ms. Lemmon's work on women entrepreneurs in conflict and postconflict regions has appeared in the "Financial Times," "International Herald Tribune," and "Christian Science Monitor," as well as on multiple websites such as the "New York Times Global Edition," CNN.com, "Daily Beast," and "Huffington Post."

Please RSVP to Professor Weinberger (sweinberger@pugetsound.edu) if you would like to attend.

Congrats to Angela Fricilone '10: Georgetown Bound--

Congrats to Angela Fricilone '10 who was just accepted to Georgetown for their graduate program in Security Studies. Another success story--and another great alum that we look forward to hearing more from in future.

Tonight: Concert at Metronome

Hello Professors:

I'm writing to you with news of an event that might interest some of the students in your field.

The African Alliance on campus, along with members from VOX, B-GLAD, and BSU, are hosting a benefit concert to raise funds for an organization called Support for International Change. All the funds gathered at the event will go towards HIV/AIDS education and prevention in Musanze, Rwanda. The concert will be at Metronome Coffee on 6th and Union at 7pm on Friday, November 18th. The concert will feature student musicians, including guitarist, Minh Nguyen, and bands Fang Chia and Cuneiform. Pre-sale admission tickets for $3 will be available in the SUB tomorrow from 11-2pm, and the cover charge is $5.


We would really appreciate it if you would announce this benefit concert to your students and colleagues.

Thanks a lot!

SandraRosa Bryant
Black Student Union President

Summer Workshop for Slavic and Central Asian Languages

Intensive language training has been offered at the Bloomington campus of Indiana University since 1950. The Summer Workshop provides up to 200 participants in Slavic, East European, and Central Asian languages the opportunity to complete a full year of college language instruction during an eight-week summer session.

Utilizing the resources of Indiana University's own specialists as well as native speakers from other universities and abroad, the Summer Workshop has developed and maintained a national program of the highest quality. Allowing all participants to pay in-state tuition fees, the program has as its goal the enhancement of speaking, reading, listening and writing skills through classroom instruction and a full range of extra-curricular activities. Fellowships and funding are available.

Applications for Summer 2012 will be available by December 2011.

Click here for More Information

Global Institute for Leadership and Civic Development

Become a Global Leader and Study Abroad

The new millennium brings with it many opportunities and challenges. As a member of this ever changing world, the decisions you make today not only affect you, but others around you. What type of impact are you going to leave on our world? We invite you to join students from around the world and spend four weeks in Prague, Czech Republic for our 12th Annual Global Leadership Program in Prague, our 2nd Annual Women and Leadership Program, our newly expanded Global Leadership Program in Panama, or for one of our 2-week programs in Rome, Panama, or Prague training to become a global citizen, a future leader, and one of tomorrow's great social innovators. Final deadline is December 1^st, 2011

For more information, go to www.globalleaders.info

Occupy Wall Street Public Forum

Dear Tacoma colleagues,

I would like to announce an exciting public forum this Thursday at UW-Tacoma for local faculty, students and the wider Tacoma community.

Public Forum - What is the Occupy Wall Street Movement (and Where is it Going?) Thursday, November 17 William Philip Hall (University of Washington Tacoma) 7pm-9m

Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences (IAS) at UWT is proud to present this Community Engagement Forum event with representatives from local civil society organizations, including Occupy Tacoma and Jobs with Justice. The Occupy Wall Street movement is among the largest grassroots political movements of this generation. Across the country and in Tacoma, people are asking where this movement comes from and what it means for the future of our community. This event, which includes panel presentations followed by an open forum, will explore the goals of the current movement as well as its historical roots and potential political consequences.

Contact Cynthia Howson (chowson@uw.edu) for further details.

Thank you!
Cynthia
--
Cynthia Howson, Ph.D.
Lecturer, Politics, Philosophy and Economics University of Washington, Tacoma
Office: GWP 228
Website: http://sites.google.com/site/cynthiahowson

Friday 11/18 Info Session: Graduate School Options for PG Majors

Paid Congressional Internships, Tacoma and DC

From alum Rebecca Bryant, who works in Congressman Adam Smith's office in DC:

I wanted to make sure that the P&G blog had the updated information about internships in both our DC and Tacoma offices. Here in DC, we are still accepting applications for both the paid full-time position and the unpaid part-time position – as usual would love to have some UPS Students. Thttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhe link to the application is below – and please have anyone with questions feel free to give me a call or shoot me an email!

http://adamsmith.house.gov/Students/internships.htm


Cheers,

Rebecca Bryant
Scheduler
Office of Congressman Adam Smith (WA-09)
2402 Rayburn House Office Building
Rebecca.bryant@mail.house.gov
office: 202.225.8901
cell: 202.657.7374

Virtual Student Foreign Service "eInterns"

Virtual Student Foreign Service

Announced by Secretary Clinton at the 2009 New York University commencement speech, the Virtual Student Foreign Service is part of a growing effort by the State Department to harness technology and a commitment to global service among young people to facilitate new forms of diplomatic engagement. Working from college and university campuses in the United States and throughout the world, eInterns (American students working virtually) are partnered with our U.S. diplomatic posts overseas and State Department domestic offices to conduct digital diplomacy that reflects the realities of our networked world. This introductory video provides an overview of the VSFS program.

Program Details

VSFS eIntern duties and responsibilities will vary according to the location and needs of each diplomatic post overseas or State Department domestic office and VSFS projects identified. VSFS projects may be research based, contributing to reports on issues such as human rights, economics or the environment. They may also be more technology oriented, such as working on web pages, or helping produce electronic journals. Selected students are expected to work virtually on an average of 5-10 hours per week on VSFS eInternship projects. Students apply in the summer and if selected, begin the eInternship that fall lasting through spring. Most work and projects are internet-based and some have language requirements. Past projects asked students to:

• Develop and implement a public relations campaign using social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube, etc. to communicate and reach out to youth
• Conduct research on the economic situation, prepare graphic representations of economic data, and prepare informational material for the U.S. Embassy website
• Create a system to gather and analyze media coverage on a set of topics including environment, health, and trade
• Research IT-based interventions that have been successful in higher education, particularly in teacher training
• Write and contribute biweekly articles to the U.S. Embassy's Facebook page on topics such as internet, computer science/technology, history, and literature
• Develop a series of professional instructional video clips to be published by the U.S. Embassy
• Survey social media efforts of U.S. diplomatic posts, NGOs, and private companies around the world to help establish best practices in a U.S. Embassy’s social media outreach business plan.

Here are all of the projects for the 2011-2012 program to which students could apply.

To Apply

The application period for the 2011-2012 VSFS eInternship program has closed. Interested U.S. citizen undergraduate, graduate, or post-graduate students will be able to apply to the next round of VSFS eInternships in the summer of 2012 for positions to work virtually with State Department domestic offices and U.S. diplomatic posts overseas during the fall 2012 through spring 2013 academic year. As part of the application package, students must submit an official or unofficial transcript and a resume. Applicants will see all available positions and can select up to three projects to which to apply. U.S. citizen students studying abroad or attending foreign universities are welcome to apply.

For more information on VSFS, please visit the FAQ section and the 2011-2012 eIntern positions. Email VSFS@state.gov if you have questions that were not addressed on the FAQ site.

Funding for Post-Study Abroad Research: APPLY by November 15

Going on study abroad next spring or fall?

Apply to the Bill Campbell Fund of Phi Beta Kappa, the academic honor society for research funding or continued study

The Campbell Fund funds research for one or two Puget Sound students who are studying abroad. The purpose of the grant is to give students a chance to extend the period of their study abroad program in order to complete a special project or course of study. Awards typically range from $500-$1,500. In 2010 two students received scholarships totaling $2100 for research on young Japanese recluses and on open-air markets in France. The application form is attached. It requires a two-page description of the research project and the budget. Students should apply directly to Greta Austin, Chair, PBK Scholarship Committee, CMB 1028, ggaustin@pugetsound.edu, by November 15, 2011.

South Sound Environmental Issues Course

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

5:30 p.m. refreshments

6:00-8:30 p.m. panel presentation and discussion

Rasmussen Rotunda, Wheelock Student Center, University of Puget Sound

A panel of experts will introduce key pieces of legislation selected by the
Washington State Environmental Priorities Coalition
to be supported in the upcoming Washington State legislative session.

This event is FREE and open to all

For more information please contact Katharine Appleyard
Sound Policy Institute at the University of Puget Sound

253.879.3716

kappleyard@pugetsound.edu

The Sound Policy Institute is one of several initiatives at University of Puget Sound that harness the resources and expertise of the university and work in partnership with community partners to improve the lives of the people of Tacoma and the Puget Sound region. The Sound Policy Institute builds the capacity of individuals and groups, both on campus and in the regional community, to actively and effectively engage in environmental decision making.

For more about the Sound Policy Institute visit: www.pugetsound.edu/soundpolicy