The Foreign Service Journal, June 2006

JUNE 2006 • AFSA NEWS 7 AFSA NEWS BRIEFS Awards and Plaque Committee Leadership Change Ambassador L. Bruce Laingen has resigned his post as chair of the AFSA Awards and Plaque Committee after many years of service. AFSA greatly appre- ciates the 20 years of service Amb. Laingen gave to the committee, which he joined in 1987. In March, the AFSA Governing Board appointed Gib Lanpher as the new AFSA Awards and Plaque Committee chair. He was already serving on the committee and thus is familiar with all the issues and challenges that it handles. Janice Bay, retired Foreign Service officer and current director of the AFSA Elderhostel program, was appointed to fill Mr. Lanpher’s seat as a regular member of the committee. AFSA Welcomes New Database/Web Associate Sheng Zhao joined AFSA in March as the new Database/Web Associate. He attended University of Maryland. Before starting at AFSA in March, he worked as a PC rental technician. He can be reached by e-mail: zhao@afsa.org ; or by phone: (202) 338-4045, ext. 523. Job Bulletin for FS Family Members The Department of State has purchased a department-wide subscription to a weekly bulletin of screened, home-based jobs, called “The Rat Race Rebellion.” The subscription, available to Foreign Service family members, is tied to a contract State has with the company Staffcentrix, LLC, to offer training to Foreign Service family members as “e-Entrepreneurs.” The bulletin is available at overseas posts through Local Employment Advisors and Community Liaison Office coordinators. Family members in theWashington, D.C., area may obtain their subscrip- tions directly online, at http://www.fse-entrepreneur.com/efmsub.htm . The “Rat Race Rebellion” is edited by former Foreign Service family member Michael Haaren, and contains approximately 65 home-based job leads per issue, as well as news and commentary on trends in virtual careers. According to Haaren—who notes that a 30-to-1 “scam ratio” prevails in home-based job ads found on the Internet — the leads range from administrative work to interpreting and translating to IT positions and management positions. Have “Real Post Reports” Helped You? During bidding season, have you taken advantage of the wealth of information on more than 250 cities worldwide provided by “Real Post Reports” on the Tales from a Small Planet Web site, at www.talesmag.com? Do you participate in the online discussions about Foreign Service and expat life? If you do, please lend a hand in keeping this small nonprofit alive by making a donation. If you’re not already a Tales reader, please check out the site, and consider submitting a Real Post Report yourself. To make a donation or find advertising rates, go to www.talesmag.com/ tales/usfiles/sponsorus.shtml . o Congratulations to AFSA Student Merit Scholarship Winners AFSA has selected the winners of the 2006 Academic and Art Merit Scholarships. This year, the 22 winners will receive a total of $26,500 in scholarships funded by the AFSA Scholarship Program. Winners receive $1,500 awards and honorable-mention winners receive $500 awards. Judges are individuals from the Foreign Service community. To see the list of winners, go to www.afsa.org/ scholar/index.cfm , or look for them in the July/August edition of AFSA News. AFSA received 42 applications for the Academic Merit Awards, and from these win- ners for Best Essay and Community Service were also selected. Nine students submitted Art Merit Award applications under one of the following categories: visual arts, musical arts, drama or creative writing. Six named academic merit scholarships have been established to date. These awards go to the highest scoring students. The named schol- arships are: • Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide Scholarship • John and Priscilla Becker Family Scholarship • John C. Leary Memorial Scholarship • Joanna and Robert Martin Scholarship (two awards) • Donald S. Spigler and Maria Giuseppa Spigler Scholarship The awards were presented to the students on May 5 during Foreign Affairs Day. For more information on the AFSA Scholarship Program, contact Lori Dec at AFSA, either by phone: (toll-free) 1 (800) 704-2372, ext. 504, or by e-mail: dec@afsa.org . Continued from page 2