The Foreign Service Journal, December 2003

CALL FOR 2004 AFSA AWARD NOMINATIONS Honor the Dissenters Among Us H elpAFSAcontinue the traditionof recognizing and rewarding con- structive dissent and risk-taking in the Foreign Service. AFSA wants to rec- ognizeandhonor those colleagueswhopos- sess the intellectual courage to • Challenge the system • Question the status quo • Take an unpopular stand • Go out on a limb • Stand up for their convictions • Dispute conventional wisdom We want to publicly recognize and reward those individuals who have pro- motedcritical andconstructive solutions to foreign policy problems, management issues, consular policies, or any other area which affects the work of the Foreign Service. Constructive dissent awards are offered in the following categories: • The TexHarris Award—for Foreign Service Specialists Editor’s Note: Foreign Service specialists make upabout 40percent of AFSAmember- ship,andwe’vedecidedit’stimetocreateavehi- cle for publicizing issues of special concern to them. Weareproud tobring you the first edi- tion of this new AFSA News feature , “Of Special(ist)Concern.” We inviteandencour- agespecialiststosendsubmissionsforfutureedi- tions of this series. Send us your 400- to 500- word articles/columns on any topic that you believe has an impact on specialists. If you’re highlightingaproblem,feelfreetosuggestasolu- tion. E-mail your submission or questions to dorman@afsa.org. SD F or years AFSA has batted its head against a bureaucratic brick wall to right a seriouswrong. We have asked the department nicely, we have begged the department, we have tried to shame the department, we have pleaded, petitioned, prayed and arguedwith the department to do the right thing. The right thing to do is topay per diemto all specialist newhires while they go throughbasicorientationand training. Thedepartment’s persistent and imper- vious-to-reasonpractice is to tell somenew American Foreign Service Association • December 2003 In Brief: NEWS BRIEFS .........................................2 AFSA CALLING PRINCETON! ...............4 A LOT ON THE TABLE ..........................5 FIFTEEN YEARS AT AFSA ......................6 JO SALARY GRIEVANCE ........................7 NEW EER FORM......................................9 DACOR ON TERRORISM.......................9 Continued on page 3 AFSA NEWS OF SPECIAL(IST) CONCERN ISO Beds for DS Agents in NYC BY LOUISE CRANE, STATE AFSA VP Continued on page 5 “SURE IT’S DISSENT, BUT IS IT CONSTRUCTIVE?” BRIAN AGGELER