The Foreign Service Journal, September 2011

FSYF Welcome-Back Picnic Don’t forget this year’s Foreign Service Youth Foundation Welcome- Back Picnic for FS families who have recently returned from overseas. The picnic will take place on Sun., Sept. 18, from 4 to 6:30 p.m., at Nottoway Park in Vienna, Va. Please join us even if you are not a recent returnee. FSYF will provide hot dogs and hamburgers (including a vegetarian option) and drinks. Please bring a salad, side dish or dessert to share. The picnic will have a carnival theme, with fun for children of all ages, including face painting, a magician and carnival games. RSVP to fsyf@fsyf.org by Wed., Sept. 14. AFSA BOOK NOTES: FARISHTA Our next Book Notes program will be on Tuesday, Sept. 27, at 3 p.m., when retired FSO Patricia McArdle discusses her new novel, Farishta , which won the 2010 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. The title of the book means “angel” in Dari. In the book, McArdle draws on her experience as a diplomat to tell the story of a woman who is posted to Afghanistan and disguises herself in a burka to pro- vide aid to refugees in the wartorn region. Books will be available for purchase and signing at the program, which will take place at AFSA headquarters (2101 E St. NW). Please RSVP to events@afsa.org. AFSA WELCOMES TWO NEW STAFF MEMBERS We are happy to welcome Clint Lohse as our new Legislative Assistant. Clint has a wealth of experience on legislative issues, and most recently worked for Wyoming Senator Mike Enzi. Clint will work with Director of Policy Ed Dickens to further strengthen our legislative efforts and Hill advocacy. You can reach Clint at lohse@afsa.org or (202) 944-5515. StefanGeyer has also joined AFSA our new USAID Staff Assistant. A recent graduate of the University of California Santa Barbara, Stefan was our legislative intern this past spring. He now joins our USAID office team to ensure continued service for our USAIDmembers. Stefan may be reached at sgeyer@usaid.gov or (202) 712-1941. 48 F OR E I GN S E R V I C E J OU R N A L / S E P T EMB E R 2 0 1 1 A F S A N E W S AFSA NEWS BRIEFS Staff: Executive Director Ian Houston: houston@afsa.org Business Department Director of Finance Femi Oshobukola: oshobukola@afsa.org Controller KalpnaSrimal: srimal@afsa.org Assistant Controller Cory Nishi: cnishi@afsa.org Labor Management General Counsel Sharon Papp: papps@state.gov Deputy General Counsel Zlatana Badrich: badrichz@state.gov Labor Management Specialist James Yorke: yorkej@state.gov Labor Management Counselor Janet Weber: weber@afsa.org Senior Staff Attorney Neera Parikh: parikhna@state.gov StaffAttorneyRaekaSafai: safair@state.gov StaffAttorneyAndrewLarge: largea@state.gov Office Manager Christine Warren: warrenc@state.gov USAIDSeniorLaborManagementAdviserDouglasBroome: dbroome@usaid.gov USAID Staff Assistant Stefan Geyer: sgeyer@usaid.gov Member Services Member Services Director Janet Hedrick: hedrick@afsa.org Member Services Representative Kristy Pomes: pomes@afsa.org Administrative Assistant and Office Manager Ana Lopez: lopez@afsa.org Communications, Marketing and Outreach Retiree Counseling & Legislation Coordinator Bonnie Brown: brown@afsa.org Director of Communications Thomas Switzer: switzer@afsa.org Director of Policy Edward Dickens: dickens@afsa.org LegislativeAssistantClintLohse : lohse@afsa.org Executive Assistant to the President Patrick Bradley: bradley@afsa.org Scholarship Director Lori Dec: dec@afsa.org Scholarship Program Assistant Jonathan Crawford: crawford@afsa.org Road Scholar Administrator Bernard Alter: alter@afsa.org Marketing & Outreach Manager Asgeir Sigfusson: sigfusson@afsa.org Special Awards & Outreach Coordinator Perri Green: green@afsa.org Web and IT Assistant Jeff Lau: lau@afsa.org AFSA HEADQUARTERS: (202) 338-4045; Fax: (202) 338-6820 STATE DEPARTMENT AFSA OFFICE: (202) 647-8160; Fax: (202) 647-0265 USAID AFSA OFFICE: (202) 712-1941; Fax: (202) 216-3710 FCS AFSA OFFICE: (202) 482-9088; Fax: (202) 482-9087 PRESIDENT: johnson@afsa.org STATE VP: hirschdm@state.gov RETIREE VP: rghoudek@aol.com USAID VP: fzamora@usaid.gov FAS VP: david.mergen@fas.usda.gov FCS VP: keith.curtis@mail.doc.gov AFSA News Editor Donna Ayerst: ayerst@afsa.org (202) 944-5516; Fax: (202) 338-6820 Foreign Service Journal FSJ: journal@afsa.org Editor Steven Alan Honley: honley@afsa.org Senior Editor Susan Maitra: maitra@afsa.org Associate Editor Shawn Dorman: dorman@afsa.org Ad & Circulation Manager Ed Miltenberger: miltenberger@afsa.org Art Director Caryn Suko Smith: journaldesign@comcast.net On the Web AFSA WEB SITE: www.afsa.org FSJ: www.afsa.org/fsj How to Contact Us: Governing Board: PRESIDENT: Susan R. Johnson STATE VP: Daniel Hirsch USAID VP: Francisco Zamora FCS VP: Keith Curtis FAS VP: David Mergen RETIREE VP: Robert Houdek SECRETARY: Susan Shultz TREASURER: Andrew Winter STATE REPS: Matthew Asada William Bent Grace Choi Mary Glantz Les Hickman Kenneth Kero-Mentz Kimberly Krhounek Elise Mellinger Joyce Namde David Zwach USAID REPS: Michael Henning VACANT FCS REP: Steve Morrison FAS REP: Andrew Burst IBB REP: Andre De Nesnera RETIREE REPS: Mary Ellen Gilroy Edward Marks Hugh Neighbour Molly Williamson AFSA SCHOLARSHIPS BESTOWED AFSA is proud to announce that 68 children of Foreign Service employees will receive need-based AFSA financial aid scholarships total- ing $181,850, to help them attend college during the 2011-2012 school year. This is the largest amount of scholarship money AFSA has ever bestowed! Thanks to all of the organizations and individuals who have given donations, and to the AFSA Committee on Education: Amb. C. Edward Dillery, chairman, and Carolyn Connell, Evelyn Colbert, Joyce Namde, Deborah Odell, Kate Snipes, Carol Sutherland and AndrewWinter for their tireless service. Half of the above funds were disbursed to colleges in August, with the remaining support to be sent in December. Applications for the 2012-2013 high school senior academic and art merit awards and the 2012-2013 financial aid scholarships will be available beginning Nov. 15 at www.afsa.org. Fo r details, please contact Lori Dec, AFSA Scholarship director, at dec@afsa.org or (202) 944-5504. WRITE FOR US! AFSA seeks submissions from talented writers in the Foreign Service community for AFSA News . We want to hear from our members and their families, so please send us content for any of the following departments: Post Rep Corner, From Our Members, Retiree Concerns, Family Life Matters, Memo of the Month and Eligible Family Member/Member of Household Issues. Articles should be no more than 500- 600 words long, and should be sent to AFSA News Editor Donna Ayerst at ayerst@afsa.org. Ca rtoons are also welcomed. We can’t promise that every submission will be published, but we will do our best! All submissions are subject to editing prior to publication.