The Foreign Service Journal, November 2008

ever and wherever the situation calls for it. Rick Polney Office Management Specialist Consulate General Toronto Texas Tuition I was shocked to find that after a career serving the federal govern- ment abroad with the State Depart- ment, my children would not be eli- gible for in-state tuition anywhere in the U.S. Although I’m domiciled in Texas, the Texas residency laws only extended to dependents of the Department of Defense and Public Health Service whose parents are serving outside the state. That didn’t seem fair. With three children all scheduled to start college within a three-year period, having no in-state tuition could wipe out our savings. So I decided to try and get the law changed. I used to run some pro- grams at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, so I lobbied my former colleagues to propose chang- ing the law in the Texas legislature. After several years of waiting for the drawn-out legislative and rules-mak- ing process — voila! Here’s how it now reads: “The temporary absence of a per- son or a dependent’s parent from the state for the purpose of service in the U.S. Armed Forces, Public Health Service, Department of Defense or U.S. Department of State, as a result of an employment assignment, or for educational purposes, shall not affect a person’s ability to continue to claim that he or she is a domiciliary of this state. The person or the dependent’s parent shall provide documentation of the reason for the temporary ab- sence.” (Find it at www.thecb.state . tx.us/Rules/tac3.cfm?Chapter_I D=21&Subchapter=X) It is heartening to see lobbying and the democratic process work for my benefit for once. I had originally re- quested the wording be changed to “federal employees” to cover all for- eign affairs agencies, but the final wording only extended the benefit to State Department employees. I suggest that AFSA publish a list of states that grant in-state tuition to dependents of serving foreign affairs employees so other states can be lob- bied to grant the same benefit. Bob Kirk Information Management Specialist Embassy Berlin A Last Request Granted I was very moved by Lawrence Cohen’s June article, “A Lagos Diary: Dying Request for a Kosher Burial.” It brought back fond memories of Nina Mba, a dear friend and col- league whom I met during my tour as cultural affairs officer in Lagos from 1984 to 1988. Her voracious love of books often brought her to the USIS library on Broad Street, and I would also run into her on Saturday morn- ings at the small community library on the Shell Oil compound. Nina was a distinguished professor of history at the University of Lagos and a pioneer in the field of women’s studies in Nigeria. Her two books on Nigerian women will be her impor- tant and lasting legacy to a country and people she loved. I’m so pleased that a fellow officer reached out to her family and fulfilled her dying wish for a kosher burial. Such kindness makes me proud to be in the Foreign Service. Claudia E. Anyaso FSO Director for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, Africa Bureau Washington, D.C. 8 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 8 L E T T E R S