The Foreign Service Journal, September 2004

JUNE 2004 • AFSA NEWS 9 Personnel Care for Inventory BY JAMES YORKE, LABOR MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST Q: When I left my last post, the General Services Office charged me for damage to carpets and furniture inmy apartment. How can I avoid this at my new post? A: This is something that you need to pay attention to from the day you move into your new hous- ing. Obviously, you need to take care of everything in your apartment or house during your occupancy. But it is also very important tomake sure that all parties— you, the GSO and the Housing Office— are aware of what is provided to you and its conditionwhen it first comes into your possession. There are several ways of doing this: Inventory : Make sure that the inven- tory is accurate, that it shows all the items that you have in your house or apartment, and none that you do not have. List condition : Make sure that the condition of each item is noted on the inventory. If there are any stains, wear or damage on any furniture, carpets or fittings, then be precise about where the damage is located and its nature. Photographs : Take photographs of carpets and furniture. Make sure you note the date the photograph was taken and give copies to the Housing Office or GSO. TrackChanges : Make sure that any changes to the inventory during your occupancy are promptly and accurately documented, and take photographs if necessary. Next, throughout your occupancy, you should take care that the furniture and fittings are treated well. If any dam- age occurs, make a note of the extent of it and when and how it occurred. This will ensure that you are not taken by sur- prise when the check-out inspection turns up any damage, and will enable you to identify damage that was not caused by you or your family. ▫ Q & A trumpexperienceor imagination to trump reality.” Inthe finest traditionof courageous dissent, whileMines didnot agreewith the policy, he was nevertheless one of the first to volunteer for an Iraq assignment. Diplomatic Courier Elizabeth A. Orlando was honored with the F. Allen “Tex”HarrisAward for her efforts to inter- cede on behalf of coworkers facing unfair treatment. Orlandosaidherbelief that “you treat peoplewell” ledher to risk her career for the sake of others, and thatwinning the Harris Awardwas a “hugemorale boost.” The W. Averell Harriman Award for constructivedissent by a junior officerwent toStevenT.Weston. Weston, however,was in Ireland staffingPresident Bush’s visit and was unable to attend. His colleague at EmbassyLuxembourg,Mary JoFuhrer— herself the winner of the Nelson B. Delavan Award for extraordinary contri- butions by an officemanagement special- ist — accepted the award on his behalf. Fuhrer shared the Delavan Award with Jenny A. Jeras, OMS at Embassy Kabul, who joked that she was “thankful for the chance to get out of Kabul.” SusanneA. Turnerwas recognizedwith theM. JuanitaGuess Award for her efforts as community liaison officer at Embassy Bishkek. HeleneDejong andDawnSewell McKeever were awarded the Avis Bohlen Award for their assistance to underprivi- leged communities in Uganda, especially throughworkon literacyand libraryexpan- sion. Unable to attend the ceremony, they sent a message thanking AFSA for the honor but noting that “postmanagement has neither recognized our work nor acknowledged the award.” Amb. C. Edward Dillery was honored with the AFSA Member Achievement Award for his service as chair of the Scholarship Committee. David P. Jesser and Randy J. Kreft earned the AFSA Post Repof theYearAward for theirdetermined efforts on behalf of AFSA members in PretoriaandMoscow, respectively. (Articles on these winners begin on page 6.) Following the ceremony, severalmedia entities carried articles highlighting the accomplishments of the dissent honorees. On June 28, the WashingtonPost ranahalf- page story, with particular emphasis on Mines. TheAgence France-Presse and the Associated Press also carried stories about the event. BarrySchweid’sAParticle,which focused largely on Schlicher’s influential decisions on Near East policy, was picked up by dozens of newspapers around the world, including the New York Times , the Guardian , the Los Angeles Times , the MiamiHerald , the SanFranciscoChronicle and the Charlotte Observer . The ceremonywas followedby a recep- tion in which attendees could personally congratulate award recipients on their dis- tinguished service and spirited dissent. ▫ Awards • Continued from page 1 Deputy Assistant Secretary for Near East Affairs David Satterfield (left) presents the Herter Award to Ronald Schlicher. Jay Mallin AFSA Award winners during the June 24 awards ceremony. From left: KeithMines, BetsyOrlando, Mary Jo Fuhrer, Jenny Jeras andSusanne Turner. Jay Mallin