The Journey
A newsletter for chapter advisors, chapter officers, and
regional officers.
November/
December 2000
Issue
Phi Theta Kappa Members Take U.S. Capital By Storm
For 18 Phi Theta Kappa members, this was no ordinary summer. There was no beach time, no long road trips, no lazy, hazy, crazy days. This was a summer of hard work, up-close-and-personal with the key policy decision makers in the heart of the nation.
These 18 outstanding community college students were selected for the 2000 Phi Theta Kappa Washington, D.C. Summer Internship Program. The students, chosen from among the nominees of the 2000 All-USA Academic Team, a scholarship competition co-sponsored by Phi Theta Kappa, USA TODAY and the American Association of Community Colleges, worked in the offices of 11 prestigious agencies in the United States capital.
For Ju Yuen Lee, 25, a graduate of DeAnza College in Cupertino, California, interning for the Environmental Protection Agency was quite a change from her life in Silicon Valley. “In Silicon Valley, congestion, smog and traffic is a way of life,” said Lee. “Clean air, farms, lakes and wetlands are getting scarcer every day. A good economy, plentiful jobs and progress is nice, but we must preserve our environment.”
Lee’s internship with the EPA gave her the opportunity to work in the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. Lee’s major focus included the implementation of President Clinton’s Executive Order requiring each Executive Branch Cabinet agency, under the leadership of the EPA, to incorporate environmental justice into their agency functions and policies. During the course of her internship, Lee worked closely with staff and directors from several federal agencies and an outside federal advisory committee to gather data and prepare documents for dissemination to a wide array of recipients. She also organized and conducted conference calls among members of the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council. Lee transferred to the University of California-Los Angeles this fall, and is majoring in economics and mathematics.
A graduate of Rock Valley College in Rockford, Illinois, intern Barbara Riverdahl, 51, brought a unique perspective to the D.C. Program. Legally blind, Riverdahl, assisted by her guide dog named Lyric, journeyed to the D.C. area to intern for the U.S. Department of Education/Special Education Department. There, she dealt with issues that mirrored her own experiences as a woman challenged by a world geared for its citizens without disabilities.
“At the beginning of the summer, I was involved with the Women 2000 Conference - Beijing+5 Conference at the United Nations World Conference on Women which took place in New York City,” said Riverdahl. “I interviewed young disabled women from across the world, and submitted a report with regard to the interviews.
“I was also involved in the planning of a training program on inclusive education for the State Director of Special Education of Brazil during the XIX World Congress of Rehabilitation International which took place in Brazil this past August,” Riverdahl continued. “I was also afforded the opportunity to attend and work with the Department of Agriculture’s TARGET Center and CAPTEC at the Pentagon, which are two of the largest assistive technology programs in the United States. An extra perk was attending the U.S. Department of Education’s Disability Access Workshop.”
Riverdahl has now returned to the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, where she is pursuing a double major in psychology and education and minoring in religious studies.
“I was a busy intern!” exclaimed Lana Rotellini, 50, a graduate of Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio. Rotellini, who interned with the U.S. Department of State in the Division of Cultural Affairs, primarily worked with the Fulbright Scholar Program.
“The Fulbright Program operates between the United States and 144 other countries,” said Rotellini. “The embassies of these countries were asked to compile a list of their 15 most prominent Fulbright alumni scholars. I helped the State Department set up a database of these scholars.”
Rotellini also assisted in writing a book, “The Legacy of Leadership,” highlighting the 500 most prominent American Fulbright Scholars. She also wrote a press kit on Ohio Fulbright Scholars, which will be used as a prototype for books on the other 49 states.
Rotellini, a resident of Miamisburg, Ohio, is now attending the McGregor School of Antioch University where her major is professional writing.
For more information on the 2001 Washington, D.C. Intern Program, contact Mike Watson, Phi Theta Kappa Associate Director, at mike.watson@ptk.org or ext. 521.
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