Issue 5 - The Boren Forum

December 2004
BOREN FORUM NEWSLETTER
Volume 1, Issue 5
By John-Marshall Klein (Fellow ’98), Stacia Falat (Scholar ’00) and contributing alumni
SNAPSHOT: World Heritage Site
Wall of Wonder – 2001 Scholar Priscilla Quintanilla admires the Great Wall of China, which
is more than 2,000 years old. The wall snakes along 4,163 miles of Chinese deserts,
grasslands, mountains and plateaus.
Dear Alumni,
If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to
work in the government, now is the time to
explore with the Boren Forum! We kicked
off the season with a speaker from the
Central Intelligence Agency, who gave an
overview of the agency and provided tips on
applying for jobs there. On November 30th
two long-time veterans of the U.S. Agency
for International Development enlightened
Boren alumni on different ways to work for
USAID (visit www.borenforum.org for
highlights from the speaker series).
Nearly 25 percent of Boren alumni do
their service at the Department of
State. Learn more about this popular
agency at our third installment of the Forum
Speaker Series on Tuesday, January 25, at
6 p.m. at the Institute of International
Education, 1400 K St. NW. Stay tuned for
more details online!
Get into the spirit of the season at the
upcoming Boren Forum Toys for Tots
Happy Hour on Wednesday, December 9,
at 6 p.m. at Continental, N. Moore St. and
Lee Hwy, in Arlington, VA (Rosslyn metro,
orange/blue line). Please bring a new
unwrapped toy or donation of $5 to support
needy families in the D.C. area. Share your
holiday wishes in cards for the
father of NSEP, former
Senator David L. Boren, and
the staff of NSEP.
Happy Holidays!
Meet the editors:
Stacia Falat and
John-Marshall Klein
- The Boren Forum Staff
IN HER OWN WORDS
1998 Fellow Carolyn Kissane recounts her
experience in Kazakhstan, her journey into
higher education, and the road in-between.
At some point every
semester a student will ask
me
how
I
became
interested in Kazakhstan
and how on earth did I find
my way there as a young
graduate student.
My
response
Fellow Carolyn Kissane
usually includes a
(Photo by Columbia U.)
short overview of
my early interest in Russia launched during
my junior year studying Soviet economics
and politics at Oxford University; my travels
across Siberia on the Trans Siberian
Railroad in 1992; a year of teaching in
Kaliningrad between 1993 and 1994; and
my keen fascination with the post-Soviet
transition and its impact on educational
policies and practices in schools.
After my year abroad I returned with a newfound excitement about my research and the
many possibilities I saw while living in
Kazakhstan. Because of NSEP, I developed
and designed my dissertation proposal
examining history education in Kazakhstan.
A year after returning home I was awarded a
Fulbright Hayes Doctoral Dissertation
Award to support 10 months of fieldwork in
Kazakhstan. This time I was equipped with
linguistic skills, which allowed me to take
my research into both Kazakh and Russian
mediums of instruction schools.
My trajectory into schools and educational
policy in Kazakhstan could not have
happened without the initial support from
NSEP. The ability to speak and understand
Kazakh proved to be a major benefit in my
research. I also developed a deeper
understanding of Kazakhstan’s history and
culture, which proved invaluable to both
inform and enrich my qualitative
comparative study.
They then probe me further to discuss my
particular interest in Kazakhstan. It is at that
point that I get to share the amazing
opportunity I had through my NSEP
fellowship in Russia and Kazakhstan.
I received notification of my award while
spending the summer managing a Bed and
Breakfast in a small coastal town in southern
Sweden.
From there, Kazakhstan felt
millions of miles away, and to be honest, a
challenging transition to make.
In
Kazakhstan I wasn’t sure what exactly to
expect.
I had a strong foundation in
Russian, but Kazakh was a new and
radically different language to study. I
studied one-on-one with a university teacher
who spoke no English, so I learned Kazakh
through Russian. I spent my fellowship
interviewing educators, visiting schools, and
learning about Kazakhstan’s educational
transition and its impact on pedagogy and
the teaching of history.
An
elementary
school
in
Kazakhstan
I knew when I finished my Ph.D. that I
wanted to teach, but I also knew that it was
imperative for me to retain my scholarly
interests in Kazakhstan and beyond. I
completed my NSEP service requirement
teaching as an adjunct professor at Columbia
University, NYU, and at Queens College
(CUNY). I also spoke to school groups
about my experiences in Kazakhstan. After
two years of teaching part-time and
consulting, I added to my research repertoire
2
a two-year fellowship with the Carnegie
Council for Ethics and International Affairs.
Afterwards, I decided I was ready to devote
myself to a full-time university position.
I am currently a visiting professor in the
department of Educational Studies at
Colgate University. I love working with
undergraduates, and I find it especially
exciting to introduce them to Central Asia.
Of course, my time in Kazakhstan was not
entirely all serious and academic. I took
ballroom dancing lessons, learned to ride a
horse bareback, and attempted (without
success) to appreciate eating meat for
breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Through all of
my adventures and daily life encounters I
fell in love with the people of Kazakhstan
and their unique and wonderful traditions
and customs, and the hospitality that always
made me feel at home.
Students have told me that after I talk about
my experiences in Kazakhstan they feel
inspired to explore area and language
educational opportunities beyond the
borders of the United States, and it is then
that I am once again reminded of what an
amazing series of possibilities the NSEP
Fellowship opened up for me. I feel
incredibly fortunate to be able to
recommend and share the opportunity with
my students.
I am happy to share more stories and
insights for those interested. Feel free to
contact me at [email protected].
PHOTO ALBUM
The Boren Forum got its groove on at a
Salsa Dancing happy hour in June at La
Yuca, a Cuban club in D.C. More than 20
alumni showed off their dance moves and
learned a few new ones with guidance from
a dance instructor.
The men have got it: Led by the sultan of
smooth, Nicholas Miller, Bart Goldyn,
Justin Perkins and others learn salsa
It’s the ladies turn: Brooke Scheremeta,
Stacia Falat and other ladies are inspired
by the men’s moves
Bart, Stacia and Brooke discuss the finer
points of salsa dancing
3
BOREN BBQ
The Boren Forum bonded over an informal
and tasty Summer BBQ on Saturday, July 24
at the house of alumna Stacia Falat.
Boren alumni mingle at the 1st BBQ
The explosion of Krakatoa, an island
volcano along the Indonesian arc, may
contain key elements of the emergence of
the “Global Village,” or the modern global
communication network, according to
Simon Winchester’s book.
This might seem a tall order, but then we are
not talking about just any volcano. Krakatoa
was strategically located between the islands
of Java and Sumatra in one of the world’s
busiest shipping lanes. When the volcano
blew itself to smithereens in 1883, it
produced waves that killed some 30,000
Indonesians and an explosion that was
literally heard halfway around the world.
The cuisine was classic potluck, complete
with fine steaks, fruit salads, potato salad,
and pie. Alumni rounded out the afternoon
with rounds of badminton and bocce ball.
Grill masters Pervaze and Priscila Sheikh
If you missed the BBQ, you can look
forward to more events this winter including
an Ice Skating Outing. We will serve hot
cocoa to warm your freezing limbs! Stay
tuned for details at www.borenforum.org.
BOOK NOTES
Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded by
Simon Winchester (New York: HarperCollins, 2003, 416 pages).
A volcanic eruption a century ago may have
more to do with you than you thought.
This engaging and accessible (if eclectic)
book uncovers the milieu – cultural,
political, and geologic – in which the
eruption took place and makes a persuasive
argument for the event’s multiple and often
surprising consequences. For example,
Winchester shows how the tragedy led
directly to the rise of violent Islamic
fundamentalism in Indonesia.
As one would expect from the subject
matter, the author paints the eruption in
vivid detail, aided by the wealth of
eyewitness accounts from the period. The
explosion comes to life through the eyes of a
sea captain whose ship (carrying a cargo of
flammable paraffin) miraculously survived
intact despite a storm of burning rock, ash
lightning strikes, and monster waves.
4
Krakatoa is not, however, a disaster
narrative. The author’s true focus lies in
tracing interesting interactions between
humans and the natural environment.
Trained as a geologist, Winchester is
especially adept at explaining why the
eruption occurred and its lasting importance
for the development of new scientific
theories in areas such as evolutionary
biology, plate tectonics, and weather
forecasting.
rewards readers with fascinating asides such
as one about how Julius Reuters created his
media empire using special "Reuter
pigeons" to bridge gaps in the early
telegraph network. Even the footnotes
contain entertaining tidbits. One note
discusses the creation of international time
zones at a conference in 1884. Winchester
observes that the zones were the brainchild
of Charles Dowd, the principal of a
women’s college in Saratoga Springs "who
wore his beard and hair in perfect emulation
of his hero Abraham Lincoln."
Above all, the book looks at Krakatoa as a
cultural phenomenon. It was the first great
natural disaster to happen after telegraph
cables connected the globe, and Winchester
argues that what we now term the Global
Village was born "with the worldwide
apprehension of, and fascination with, the
events in Java."
Jonathan Van Loo, a 2002 Fellow to
Russia, discusses the Russia House, site of
the latest Boren Forum Happy Hour.
RUSSIAN RHAPSODY:
As a newcomer to the Washington area, my
interest was immediately piqued when I first
passed the Russia House on Connecticut
Avenue. Housed in what could otherwise be
a diplomatic residence, the Russia House
announces itself as a club and restaurant. I
immediately associated it with Moscow’s
exclusive boutique restaurants that cater to
the “New Russians.” When I learned that the
Boren Forum was planning to visit the
restaurant, I was grateful for an excuse to
satisfy my curiosity.
Krakatoa simmers in 1960
Despite this global emphasis, the author
does not overlook local matters. Indeed,
Krakatoa provides a fine overview of
Indonesian history under Dutch colonial
rule.
Winchester
notes
with
wry
understatement,
"Relations
between
colonizers and colonized in the East Indies
was less than perfect – indeed much less
than perfect." The book, moreover, suggests,
although it cannot prove, that the Krakatoa
eruption powerfully undermined Dutch rule
because of local cultural views about natural
disasters.
Winchester sometimes goes off on tangents,
but they usually prove worthwhile. He
The Russia House
We stayed in the first room of the lounge,
grabbing the couches next to the bar as soon
as they opened up, drinking Baltika beer,
and sampling traditional Russian dishes like
pirozhki and pilmeni. To the extent that the
Russia House is dissimilar to a real Russian
5
restaurant, it tends to work to the owner’s
advantage. It is just as well that customers
do not have the option of ordering Baltika 7
and instead are limited to Baltika 3, since
the numbers correspond to alcohol content
and more than one American has mistakenly
assumed that one can drink Baltika 7 as if it
were Miller Light.
From Left: Meagan Landry, Bindi Patel,
J-M Klein, Pervaze Sheikh, Jonathan
Van Loo and Tatiana Morgunova.
The interior is cozy and inviting and the
service is friendly, in contrast to the
arrogance and exclusivity one encounters in
Moscow’s more upscale establishments.
Although they claim to replicate an 18th
century Russian club, the decor is more
reminiscent of the early 20th century or
perhaps the 1930s. Indeed, the restaurant
could easily be taken from a scene from
Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita, which
takes place in Stalinist Moscow.
Priscila Sheikh, Mrs. Landry and Meagan
Landry relax on a plush Russian couch
Unfortunately, few such places remain in
Moscow today. If you are fortunate, you
might also find a “Russia House” in St.
Petersburg or in one of the handful of
regional cities that found themselves
relatively privileged under Soviet rule. All
in all, although not for the budget-minded,
the Russia House is an excellent chance to
have a glimpse at life as a member of the
Russian intelligentsia.
Bart Goldyn and Tonie DiGiulio discuss
jobs, networking, life in DC, and possibly,
Russian vodka
MESSAGE BOARD UPDATE
The waiting is over…the Boren Forum has
finally purchased a message board! Thanks
to generous donations by members and
Friends of the Boren Forum, we are now
connected online with the latest technology
with the cutting edge V Bulletin Board
(www.borenforum.org/meessageboard).
Look here for the latest announcements from
the Forum, including our calendar of events.
Want to find other alumni? Post a message
and connect online with fellow alums
around the country and across the globe.
6
Forums are open for job discussion, service
fulfillment, general chat, language hook-ups
and more. Choose a fun avatar to express
your personality online. We encourage you
to use the message board to communicate
your interests to the Forum. Have great
ideas? Let us know about them! Visit
www.borenforum.org and sign in at the
Members Only area. Need help networking
or adjusting to DC? Read on.
DESTINATION: D.C.
2001 Boren Scholar Ben Kong discusses his
transition to the nation’s capital.
Thoughts on Networking
The only people I knew when I moved to
D.C. were interns staying in the University
of California’s apartment building and
almost all of them left after they finished
their internships. I got to know some people
in the Boren Forum through monthly events,
and enjoyed sharing experiences about
studying in non-Western countries. Most of
us have not lived in DC for a long time,
which encouraged us to make new friends.
Moreover, I’ve seized on every opportunity
to meet new people, and by networking
through them, other interesting folk.
I moved to DC just a few days into January
2004 after graduating from University of
California, Los Angeles in December. You
might say I truly followed through on a New
Year’s resolution to try new things.
Admittedly, I’ve launched myself into the
unknown before, most notably the time I
spent in Beijing studying Chinese on a
Boren Scholarship.
To be honest, I didn’t really know what kind
of job I wanted, just that I wanted some
experience before deciding which postgraduate degree to pursue. I viewed my
NSEP service obligation as a great
opportunity to figure things out.
I secured an unpaid internship in one of the
Department of Commerce’s exportpromotion offices before I moved to D.C.
Unfortunately, it fell through at the last
minute because the Human Resources
department had a rule that only currently
enrolled students can be interns, and I’d
already graduated! However, I quickly
secured another internship in D.C.’s juvenile
justice system through UCLA’s career
center.
After the internship, I did temporary work
for a month and a half through a staffing
agency. Then, in early June, I finally found
my way into the Department of Commerce,
where I am currently employed as an
International Trade Compliance Analyst.
“Inside the Beltway” – learn the term
I don’t pretend to be adept at the
Washingtonian networking game by any
means.
My
imagination
associates
“networking” with people whose work is
tied to lobbying, Congress, or the
Administration. I’d like to think we civil
servants are above that.
Networking is nothing more than making
acquaintances or friends and hanging out
with them. Most of us Washingtonians do it
unless they’re from the area (a rare breed)
and don’t want to meet new people. I think
it’s natural for a person to pass along a tip to
help someone, whether she/he’s looking for
a restaurant recommendation, roommate, or
a job. Some people in D.C. are more goaloriented in the way they network, but I’m
happy meeting people through friends or
social events and keeping in touch if they
give me their cards or e-mails.
7
My Job
I found out about opportunities at
Commerce through a Boren Scholar who
worked at the International Trade
Administration, and applied online at
USAJobs (www.usajobs.opm.gov). I also
took advantage of services offered by the
NSEP office. When the office director called
me for an interview, he specifically noted
the NSEP office’s endorsement letter, which
I requested from Dr. Solomon.
As a Trade Compliance Analyst, I deal with
anti-dumping cases involving Mainland
China and other countries. The bulk of my
work involves analyzing a large volume of
documents submitted by trade lawyers.
Chinese documents are translated for us and
we have interpreters when we occasionally
travel to China, but knowing Chinese still
helps a lot for such things as verifying
translations and facilitating travel.
IT’S HISTORIC:
“Gritos de Dolores”
On September 15, 1910, President Porfirio
Díaz strode triumphantly onto the National
Palace’s balcony to ring Mexico’s ‘Liberty
Bell.’ This bell came from the parish church
where Father Hidalgo had issued the “Grito
de Dolores” 100 years before to launch
Mexican independence. In 1910, the regime
organized massive celebrations of this
centennial to drum up popular support for
the beleaguered administration.
Díaz
expected the bell ringing to serve as a
special highlight of the month-long
commemoration.
At 11 pm, Díaz pulled the bell cord while an
expectant crowd thronged below. However,
no sound emerged; an intrepid rebel had
removed the clapper, underscoring the
octogenarian dictator’s impotence. This was
at any rate the rumor spread by his political
foes, the Anti-Reeleccionistas (the story is
probably false; eyewitness accounts do not
back it up). Still, it is certainly true that the
Mexican Revolution began shortly after (in
November).
Father Hidalgo issues a Grito
Independence-related events and symbols
often serve political ends in Latin America.
For example, Venezuela’s current president,
Hugo Chavez, has repeatedly sought to
appropriate the mantle of the South
American “Liberator” Simon Bolívar;
Chavez’s propaganda efforts in this regard,
while unusually extensive, are nothing new
under the sun. “Grito” celebrations have
proven especially potent vehicles for
political activities of all kinds and
ideological flavors.
The literal English translation of “Grito” is
shout. However, in colonial Latin America
the capitalized word referred to declarations
of independence from Spain issued in
particular towns. In this regard, the
American Declaration of Independence from
Britain might be termed the “Grito de
Philadelphia.” Mexico produced one of the
first of these “Gritos” in 1810; Cuba
generated the last two: the 1868 “Grito de
Yara” (Oct. 10) which sparked the Ten
Year’s War, which was successful, and the
1895 Grito de Baire (Feb. 24) that began the
Cuban Independence War.
Ironically, the “Grito de Dolores” failed but
still became an important civic holiday after
8
independence. A priest, Father Hidalgo,
issued his cry for freedom shortly before
dawn on Sept. 16, 1810 in the small town of
Dolores (state of Queretaro). He gathered a
crowd of peasants by ringing the church bell
and exhorted them to rebel, crying, “Long
live Religion! Long live our Lady of
Guadalupe! Long live the Americas and
Death to Bad government!”
100,000 people crowd into the Zócalo of
Mexico City to hear President Vicente Fox
Quesada deliver "El Grito"
Father Hidalgo touched off an insurrection
supported largely by indigenous groups and
mestizos that quickly took on aspects of
class and racial warfare. The Hidalgo Revolt
targeted not just Spaniards but also Creole
elites. As a result, the latter helped crush the
revolt, despite their unhappiness with
colonial rule and political upheaval in Spain.
Mexico did not gain independence until
1821 when a much more socially
conservative uprising took place led by
Augustín de Iturbide. “Emperor” Iturbide’s
grand ambitions and personal foibles
undermined prospects for post-independence
“Iturbide Day” celebrations. Despite the
efforts of some conservatives, the “Grito de
Dolores” anniversary rapidly gained in
popularity in the nineteenth century. Today,
it remains one of the central patriotic
celebrations in Mexico. Each year, Mexico’s
president re-enacts the ritual begun by
Porfirio Díaz (without, of course,
acknowledging the dictator’s influence),
ringing Father Hidalgo’s bell and repeating
his Grito.
So You Want To Be A Secret
Agent? CIA visits the Forum
On a drizzly fall evening, NSEP alumni
gathered inside the AED building seem quite
happy to be devouring hot pizza from
Armand’s Pizzeria. The room is warmly lit
and cozy. Some alums chat comfortably in
Portuguese. Others discuss finding a federal
job or reminisce about their countries of
study.
Scholar Ben Kong starts the evening’s event
by introducing the speaker, a slender woman
with straight blonde hair and a pleasant face.
She finishes her pizza, quietly grabs a chair
in front of the group, and very
unassumingly, begins talking about the
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Chris ________, a 22-year veteran of the
CIA, volunteered to speak to the Forum
about her experiences at CIA, and to answer
questions about the agency and finding a job
there. Why, you may wonder, do we omit
her last name? Because of the diversity of
jobs one may have while working with CIA,
it is important to preserve your full identity,
and thus, your anonymity in a group. This is
one of the first things you learn: be selective
in who you inform that you are applying for
a job at CIA.
CIA is one of 15 agencies in the Intelligence
Community, each with a different task in
providing intelligence to the federal
government. CIA monitors developments
around the world affecting U.S. interests. It
is “the eyes and ears of the nation and at
times its hidden hand,” according to their
web page, www.cia.gov. They accomplish
this by collecting intelligence, providing
analysis, and conducting covert action at the
President’s request to prevent threats to the
U.S. or to achieve U.S. policy objectives.
9
Contrary to Hollywood’s depiction of CIA,
exemplified in flicks such as Conspiracy
Theory, Big Brother is not watching you, at
least not at CIA. CIA’s field of operations is
overseas.
CIA
collects,
assimilates,
analyzes, and reports information that is
necessary to support policy decisions. They
don’t make foreign policy, and they don’t
carry guns for law enforcement like FBI
agents. But they still go undercover.
CIA Operations Officers are the clandestine
service responsible for gathering human
intelligence throughout the world. As an
Operations Officer you have a secret identity
that must always be protected. This applies
to Scholars and Fellows studying overseas,
too – never communicate with Intelligence
agencies until you return to the U.S. You
could blow your (future) cover. It’s also
against NSEP policy.
To get involved, join the Clandestine
Service Trainee (CST) Program and work
with operations professionals. You probably
qualify for this program as an NSEP
awardee. You must have a bachelor’s degree
with a strong academic record, strong
interpersonal skills, the ability to write
clearly and accurately, and a strong interest
in foreign affairs. NSEP Fellows, listen up.
A graduate degree in science, international
business, law, telecommunications or
computer technology will make you more
competitive. All applicants with foreign
language skills, international residency or
military experience are also highly desired.
The clock is ticking – maximum age for
entry into the CST is 35 years.
If you decide to apply, be prepared to
undergo several personal interviews,
medical and psychiatric exams, aptitude
testing, a polygraph interview, and an
extensive background investigation. And get
packing – you must relocate to Washington
D.C. to train, and if selected, anywhere in
the world.
Afraid of commitment? Apply for the
Student Intern Program as a junior during
undergrad or anytime as a grad student, and
work in one of the Directorate of
Operation’s regional and transnational issues
divisions. You will support intelligence
reporting and CIA operations in overseas
offices, and find out if this intelligence thing
is really for you. If you successfully
complete the program, you’re eligible to be
considered for the CST Program. Individuals
with backgrounds in computer science,
engineering, economics, math, science,
foreign
area
studies,
non-romance
languages, history, geography, human
resources, graphic design, cartography or
business are especially in demand.
For those who prefer a less risky profession,
but still want some intrigue in their lives, the
job of intelligence analyst could be for you.
Chris, who spent time as an analyst at CIA,
explains that this is the core function of the
agency.
As an intelligence analyst your job is to
assemble relevant information coming in
from a variety of sources, such as satellite
surveillance, foreign newspapers and
broadcasts and human intelligence, some of
which is conflicting or incomplete. You will
assess what is happening, why it is
happening, what might occur next, and what
it means for U.S. interests. Your knowledge,
experience, research skills, and initiative are
vital to make assessments and write a report.
Some of what you write will be read by
important people, including the #1 customer,
the President.
10
Chris reveals that each morning the CIA
delivers
a
classified
intelligence
document, the President’s Daily Brief, to
President Bush. The report contains short
intelligence assessments on worldwide
developments and anticipated events that
need the President’s attention. Your
analysis could be delivered in this report.
CIA hires analysts from a multitude of fields
with backgrounds in nearly everything.
Some examples are: political analysts,
leadership analysts, economic analysts,
collection analysts, analytic methodologists,
military analysts, and science, technology
and weapons analysts. If that’s all Greek to
you, visit www.cia.gov for an analysis of
what each analyst does. (Ha!) A Master’s
degree or PHD in a related field will help
your application.
For Scholars without a Master’s degree, you
can still apply to be an analyst at CIA.
However, you must demonstrate that you are
a skilled subject-matter expert – for
example, on the political leaders of India.
Not sure you have the know-how? Try
writing a one-page paper on a topic you
think you know well. This is an exercise
CIA will ask you for, anyway.
Chris is frank when discussing the variety of
jobs she’s had within the agency since 1982.
During her career she analyzed a range of
political, foreign policy, and weaponsproliferation developments in the Former
Soviet Union and Europe. She managed a
team of political analysts during the war in
Bosnia who analyzed the course and impact
of the conflict and supported the negotiation
of the Dayton Peace Accords.
Chris also managed a team of East Africa
analysts during the bombings of U.S.
Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, the
Eritrea-Ethiopia conflict, and the escalation
of the regional conflict in Congo and related
genocide concerns. She was also a
speechwriter for the former Director of
Central Intelligence, William H. Webster.
If this sounds like the kind of career you’d
like to have, look into it more at
www.cia.gov. If you have specific questions
post them online on the Boren Forum
Message Board. There are Scholars and
Fellows working at CIA who may respond.
The Forum can also organize mock
interviews for you with CIA representatives,
or have an insider review your information
before you officially apply. We can also
organize more speakers from various
departments within CIA. Let us know how
we can help, or what you’d like to learn
more about, by sending an email to
[email protected]. The truth is out there;
now go for it.
Response to the Speaker:
2002 Fellow Billie Jo Garcia
I drove up from central North Carolina to
meet the Boren Forum's first speaker, Chris
from the CIA. My desire to see Chris
stemmed from the fact that I applied for a
CIA analytical position, and I was really
curious to hear what she had to say. I wanted
to ask her specific questions about a career
with the organization. Chris was very
approachable, encouraging us to ask
questions both during the Q & A and
afterward, in person. She was surprisingly
candid and straightforward about the CIA,
answering all of our questions as completely
and honestly as possible.
I believe that speakers like Chris offer a
window into a professional environment that
is rarely possible outside of an internship or
employment. This can be invaluable to those
of us NSEP graduates who are trying to sort
through the wide world of government
opportunities. I know Chris' view of the CIA
and her advice concerning application
procedures has been extremely helpful to me
and others like me who are interested in
working with the CIA. I will definitely
attend any future Boren Forum events to
learn about other employment options.
11
CULTURE CORNER:
Chopsticks
Visit an Asian country and you most likely
must learn how to use chopsticks. These
elongated eating tools date to the Shang
Dynasty (1766 BC), and were likely inspired
by people using twigs to spear meat over a
fire. As the population grew and resources
became scarce, people would cut food into
smaller pieces to save fuel because they
cooked faster – chopsticks were born.
If you eat at an Asian restaurant you
probably will use Chinese chopsticks, which
are blunt on the eating end (and probably
safer). The Japanese prefer those with
pointed tips. Chopsticks are made with most
anything durable, though bamboo is the
most common material. Other types are
made of wood, plastic, porcelain, animal
bone, tusks, ivory, metal, coral, agate and
jade. During the Middle Ages, aristocrats
used silver chopsticks as it was thought that
silver would turn black if it touched
poisoned food. It is now known that silver
has no reaction to arsenic or cyanide, but
rotten eggs, garlic or onion (and the
hydrogen sulfide they release) may cause the
color change.
China was Priscilla’s dream. She now works
at the Peace Corps regional office in Los
Angeles, where she is completing her service
requirement.
Friends shape our experiences abroad
Some chopsticks etiquette: never wave them
in the air when talking. In some countries it
is considered bad luck to hand food with
one’s chopsticks to another person’s
chopsticks. If you find an uneven pair at
your table seating, it is believed that you
will miss the next train, boat or plane you
are trying to catch. Also, hang on to your
chopsticks: dropping them is a sign of bad
luck to come.
ALUMNI PHOTO ALBUM
Scholar Priscilla Quintanilla studied in
Beijing in the summer of 2001 through the
University of Southern California, where she
earned a BA in International Affairs. Raised
in a multicultural household with both
Latino and Chinese cultures, traveling to
Priscilla snaps a shot of a colorful market
SUBMISSIONS
Do you have something to say to the Boren
Forum? Let us know! Send an email to
[email protected] with your request.
We’d love to know what you’re up to.
12