The Foreign Service Journal, October 2004

received a check for $1,750. The third- place winner, Shannon Guy of Phoenix, Ariz., was unable to attend the ceremony, but did receive a check for $750. Kid Vid Contest Following the recognition of the essay contest winners, Director General W. Robert Pearsonhonored thewinners of the KidVidAwards. The awards are given to Foreign Service children who produce exceptional videos that depict life at their home posts in an interesting and unique way. The Kid Vid contest, dating from 1995, is sponsored by the Foreign Service Youth Foundation and the Overseas Briefing Center. The first-place award recipients were Jake andKayleen Fulton for their video of Guangzhou. Second place went to Andrew Johnson for his depiction of life in Prague. There were two third-place award winners: Pablo Alaves, BradDunn Jr., and Sean and Stephanie Skinner for their group video of Mexico City, and Thomas andNicholas Keen for their view of life inArmenia at their post inYerevan. Community Service Awards After the Kid Vid Awards, Foreign Service Youth Foundation President PamelaWard presented the FSYFAwards forCommunity Service. These awards rec- ognize teenagers for exceptional volunteer efforts either through community service or in service to their peers, all while fac- ing the challenges of growing up in an international mobile lifestyle. The first-place winners were Elaine Tousignant in Johannesburg, and Erin Duffy inKuala Lumpur, thoughbothwere unable to attend the ceremony. “Highly commendable” awards went to Abigail O’Connor for her community service inLisbonand toMatthewEverhart, who worked to provide more than 7,000 toys for children in the Afghan-Pakistani border region, all fromhis home in Silver Spring, Md. Honorable mentions were given toMatthewandMarcusHershey in Sao Paolo, Andrew Telles in La Paz, and Tanya Sievert in Asuncion. Certificates of appreciation were given toDavidGoodspeed, BrianandAliciaScott, Matthew Seidel and Marni Zaideman, all of Amman; Alexandra Blakenship of Alexandria, Va.; Guy Leichty of Buenos Aires; and Monica Maher and Naomi Trego of Athens. OCTOBER 2004 • AFSA NEWS 5 2. The AFSA bylaws provide that, shouldcandidateswishtomail supplemen- tarystatementstothemembership,theasso- ciation will make available to them on request, and at their expense, themember- ship mailing list or address labels. Further informationonthisandothercampaignpro- cedureswill be included inthe“Instructions to Candidates” mentioned above. D. Voting Ballots will be distributed on or about Jan. 3, 2005, to each person who is a reg- ular AFSA member as of Dec. 1, 2004. Candidates or their representatives may observe theballotdistributionprocess if they sodesire. Eachmembermay cast one vote for president, secretary, treasurer, and, in addition, one vote for a constituency vice president and each representative position in themember’s constituency. Votesmay be cast by voting for candidates listed on the official ballot, or by writing in the name(s) of member(s) eligible as of Nov. 16, 2004, or by doing both. To be valid, a ballot must be received by Monday, Feb. 28, 2005, at the address indicated on the envelope accompanying the ballot. More detailedballoting instructionswill accom- pany the ballots. E. Vote Counting and Announcement of Results On or about March 1, 2005, the ElectionsCommitteewill count the ballots anddeclare elected the candidate receiving the greatest number of votes for eachposi- tion. Candidates or their representatives may be present during the tally and may challenge the validity of any vote or the eli- gibility of any voter. The committee will informcandidates individually of the elec- tion results by the swiftest possible means andwill publishthenamesof all electedcan- didates in the Foreign Service Journal. The elected candidates will take office on July 15, 2005, as provided in the bylaws. F. Questions, Suggestions, Complaints or Challenges Any member may file a written ques- tion, suggestion or complaint concerning the conduct of the 2005 election. Such questions, suggestions or complaints should be addressed to: “Chair, AFSA Elections Committee,” and mailed or delivered to AFSA, Room 1251, Department of State, Washington, DC 20520, or to AFSA, 2101 E Street NW, Washington, DC20037, byMay 31, 2005. Members may also file a written chal- lenge to the outcome of the election. Such challenge must be filed by April 18, 2005, and should be addressed to: “Chair, AFSA Elections Committee,” andmailed or delivered to either address stated above. The AFSA Elections Committee will respond in writing to the challenge within threemonths of receipt of the chal- lenge. If the member is not satisfied with the response, he/she may file a written complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Labor-Management Standards. The complaint must be filed within one month of receipt of the Elections Committee’s response. ▫ ELECTIONS COMMITTEE MEMBERS Robert J. Wozniak, Chair Rjwozniak@aol.com (202) 686-0996 Grant Pettrie grant.pettrie@fas.usda.gov Keith Silver keith.silver@mail.doc.gov Richard Thompson RISATH@aol.com (301) 229-6442 Charles Uphaus cuphaus@usaid.gov (202) 712-4632 Richard Walsh walshjr@state.gov (202) 647-8759 STAFF Susan Reardon reardon@afsa.org (202) 944-5505 Barbara Berger berger@afsa.org (202) 338-4045, ext. 521 Essay Contest • Continued from page 3