Miscellany

Thierry “Rambo” Ntoutoume Nzue was convicted for the 1998 murder of 37-year-old Karen Phillips. A Gabonese criminal court sentenced Ntoutoume Nzue to life in prison. Phillips served in Oyem, an agricultural city of about 40,000 in the coastal African nation of Gabon. She worked as an agro-forestry volunteer, helping local farmers market their agricultural products. “She just loved helping people,” said Richard Phillips, Karen’s father. “That’s the type of person she was. Karen was a doer and a giver.” Prior to joining the Peace Corps, Phillips worked in Atlanta as a fundraiser for the international development organization, CARE. A native of Delaware County, Pa., Karen received her bachelor’s degree in accounting from Villanova University in 1982, and a master’s degree in business administration from Fordham University in 1989. “There is nothing harder for this agency than losing a volunteer, and after many years, I wholeheartedly hope the Phillips family can . . .

The Peace Corps Announces Top Volunteer-Producing States and Metropolitan Areas for 2013 Vermont reclaims top spot among states with the most volunteers per capita, also ranks among top metro areas per capita WASHINGTON, D.C., Dec. 11, 2013 – The Peace Corps today released the 2013 rankings of the top volunteer-producing states and metropolitan areas across the country. Vermont reclaimed the No. 1 spot among states with the most Peace Corps volunteers per capita with 7.8 volunteers for every 100,000 residents, a position it last held in 2010. Vermont also ranked among the top metro areas per capita. The Burlington-South Burlington metro area ranked second behind Ithaca, N.Y., where volunteers accounted for 11.7 of every 100,000 residents. California, New York and Texas continue to be the Peace Corps’ top states, and New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana held their positions as Peace Corps’ top metro areas. “Americans from all across . . .

• Bhutan: Going to the Dogs Trek and Festival Be assured, this new 2014 trip is not all trek. Between our arrival in Bhutan on March 29 and departure on April 12, there is a total of 6 days on a moderate mountain trek (highest elevation is something around 13,500 feet, over and down in one day). the trek is scheduled for early in the trip, in Tashigang District, in the far Northeast corner of the country. The rest of the trip is an eco-tour of Bhutan, through the hills and mountains on the “Royal Road” from east Bhutan west to the capital, Thimphu, and ending at Paro (the airport town). It includes a drive through some amazing forests, high and low; a brief visit to beautiful Bumthang and Punakha valleys, sight-seeing in Thimphu, a day-long hiking excursion to “The Tiger’s Nest” — the amazing cliffside Taktsang Monastery (near Paro), . . .

Dec 4, 2013 Press Release Washington, DC – Congressman Joe Kennedy applauded today’s passage of the Peace Corps Commemoration Act (H.R. 915) by the House Committee on Natural Resources. Kennedy introduced this cost-free legislation in February to authorize the non-profit Peace Corps Commemorative Foundation to establish a commemorative work on federal land in Washington, D.C. The Foundation is responsible for any costs associated with the commemorative work. Last month, Congressman Kennedy testified before the Committee on Natural Resources in support of the bill, which passed today by unanimous consent. “At a time when the international community was fractured by the Cold War, the founding of the Peace Corps reminded America of the best it had to offer: service to others for the common cause of global peace, mutual understanding, prosperity, and progress,” said Congressman Kennedy.  “Commemoratives in our nation’s capital celebrate the seminal moments in American history, and it is . . .

[Thanks to Joanne Roll (Colombia 1963-65) for the ‘heads up’ on this item.] by Jason Miller Federal News Radio The Peace Corps is moving toward a lightweight, agile technology environment. And one way it’s doing that is by working differently with the business side of the house. “It used to be that people didn’t like working with us so at the very last minute they’d call us and say, ‘we need technology.’ That’s changed,” said Dorine Andrews, the Peace Corps chief information officer. “Now we are leading the sessions to redesign the business so that it allows the business people to make the decisions. I’m really excited about our role in front end business process reengineering.” The effort to empower the business folks isn’t new. Andrews started it when she became the Peace Corps CIO in 2010. But more than three years later, she said the priorities reflect just how . . .

[Thanks to Joanne Roll (Colombia 1963-65) for the ‘heads up’ on this item.] April 28, 2011 — The Peace Corps is modernizing the last of its global infrastructure networks this year and then it’s time for a break…sort of. Dorine Andrews says the 50-year-old agency will take a step back and reassess the status and health of its IT infrastructure and systems. Andrews, who’s been CIO at the agency for about nine months, said her staff of about 70 federal employees at the headquarters in Washington will start looking at back end administrative systems and changing the agency’s overall strategic approach to IT. Andrews said the Peace Corps is starting a pilot with Microsoft’s SharePoint software to move paper processes to electronic-something she said should have been done years ago. The end goal, she said, is to move the agency’s email system into the cloud and reduce the amount of . . .

Barcelona is worth a visit just to see the works of Catalonia’s Modernist architect Antoni Gaudí   (1852-1926). Gaudí was born close to Barcelona and was sent there at seventeen to study  architecture. His teachers found him ‘difficult’ because of his ‘strange’ ways of treating structural shapes. That didn’t stop him. Gaudí is noted for his reflection of nature in his designs, from curved construction stones, twisted iron sculptures, and brightly colored tiles arranged in mosaic patterns. Among the 14 keys works of Gaudí in Barcelona, the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia, is the most famous. It is, in fact, the No.1 most visited attraction in Barcelona. This giant Basilica that has been under construction since 1883 and it’s not expected to be completed for another 30 to 80 years. Consecrated by Pope Benedict XVI in November 2010, it is a synthesis of Gaudí’s architectural theory and practice. Gaudí worked . . .

Christmas in Paris? Well, if not . . . what about a calendar of Paris so you can live the City of Lights everyday? That’s what Mike McCaskey (Ethiopia 1965-67) decided to do. Mike, who has his PhD from Case Western Reserve, and has taught at UCLA and Harvard Business Schools, never played for the Chicago Bears, but he was the Chairmen of the organization and now has produced a beautiful Paris calendar for 2014 called “My Paris.” I asked Mike how all this came about and he emailed me that, “The calendar was a way to use some of my favorite photos of Paris. I love walking around the city and taking pictures, often of places or moments that are out-of-the-way. Looking at other calendars I couldn’t find one that exactly worked the way I wanted it to. “My calendar should fit easily into a briefcase or folder (so . . .

I have been returning to Barcelona since I first visited the capital of Catalonia in the fall of 1967. It is a city that has change as much, more so, than I have. It continues to change, and all for the better. When I first arrived, Barcelona was a sleepy city on the Mediterranean, a place where one passed through to change planes, catch a boat, take a train to a final destination. There was history here, of course. Antoni Gaudi’s amazing architecture, the Gothic Quarter, and Las Ramblas, a long tree-lined promenade that draws visitors from around the world to shop, for an evening strolls, a drink at a sidewalk café and where to watch the world walk by. Las Rambles stretches from Placa de Catalonia to the monument to Christopher Columbus. This towering statue overlooks the harbor and the Columbus figure gestures, not to America, but in error . . .

THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 22, 2013 Readout of the President’s Meeting with the Peace Corps In 1961, President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps to promote peace and increase international understanding by encouraging Americans to serve in developing countries.  This afternoon, on the 50th anniversary of President Kennedy’s assassination, President Obama met with longtime supporters of the Peace Corps, its leadership, and volunteers currently serving in Tanzania.  Together, they paid tribute to President Kennedy’s legacy and reaffirmed the importance of serving others at home and abroad.  Since the Peace Corps’ creation, more than 215,000 Americans have committed their lives and talents serving others in 139 countries, and have returned home to give back to their own communities. President Obama opened the meeting by observing a moment of silence at 2:00 p.m. EST to honor President Kennedy’s memory.  He expressed his appreciation for the commitment . . .

[I want to end this series of remembrances of JFK’s death today, November 22nd, 2013, with the recollection by one of the key people who launched the agency, Al Guskin. On the 50th anniversary celebration of the founding of the Peace Corps Al spoke to a gathering of 1500 people at the exact time (2:00am) on the exact spot (the steps of the Michigan Union) where JFK challenged the students to serve. He talked about what the students did 50 years earlier. Later that same day Al was honored to receive the University of Michigan Distinguished Alumni Service Award based on his involvement in the founding of the Peace Corps and his leadership career in higher education. Here is what Al remembers.] Like everyone else I remember exactly where I was when I heard that Kennedy was assassinated. I was in Bangkok Thailand teaching as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the . . .

I was in Freetown, Sierra Leone ( where I was the deputy director of the Peace Corps) and my wife and I were celebrating the first birthday first birthday of our third son, Matthew…he was born in Freetown. Some local boys, good friends, came into the house to give us the shocking news….our celebration came to an end whole the young boys told us how sad they were about our President. The next day I was in the PC office in downtown Freetown (it was on the second floor of an obscure building) and I went out on a small landing to view the high hill on which Fourah Bay College (founded in 1829) was situated. Down the winding path came the entire student body in their black robes, led by the Principal of the College, Davidson Nicol, They were going to the American Embassy to pay their respects and . . .

Dwight Morrow High School, Englewood, New Jersey. Tenth grade biology class. There was the usual buzz of adolescent chatter as we straggled in from gym the previous period and shuffled to our seats. Restless teens, we were looking past biology to the end of the school day and the long Thanksgiving holiday. I took my seat in the back of the classroom just in front of Martin Levine. Our biology teacher, Dr. Hill, radiated a fierce intelligence and seriousness of purpose that kept you on your toes and made you want to up your game. He wore those generic, no-nonsense black-framed glasses that bestowed an added, if superfluous, sense of gravitas. The moment Dr, Hill walked into class, we all sensed something serious had happened. One of two African-American teachers at Dwight Morrow back then–both of them PhDs, unlike their majority white peers–Dr. Hill carried himself with quiet dignity and . . .

[Recently, I was surprised to find the following diary entry. I had not remembered that I’d composed it in my dorm room at Indiana University in the fall of my sophomore year:] November 22, 1963 3:33 P.M. It is hard to describe my feelings at this hour – shock, disbelief, fear. I was waiting in the hallway in Ballantine Hall here at Indiana University to see Mr. Solt, a history teacher, about my schedule. Reading the bulletin board outside of the philosophy office, I overheard one of the secretaries in that office telling that she had heard on her radio that President Kennedy and Vice-President Lyndon Johnson, along with the Texas Governor (Connally) had been shot in Dallas, Texas, and had been taken to the hospital. Walking in the history department I told those secretaries what I had heard. One had just been talking on the phone to her mother . . .

The phone rang in early afternoon that awful day.  It was my wife giving the handful of us in our small office the news that Kennedy had been shot in Dallas. A short time later we learned that he had died from his wounds. Most of us had never had to deal with tragedy; we were young, ambitious, highly paid, sure of our destinies, and totally unprepared for an assassination, an event we thought happened in other times. Instinctively, we gathered in the office of an older guy, a decorated combat veteran from WWII who we hoped could explain it all. Of course, he couldn’t. We closed up shop and went home. I was convinced that some right wing conspiracy was at work, that the ‘John Birchers’ had been involved, that an ugly sub-strata of America had risen up to destroy ‘my president.’ I could not bring myself to watch the funeral and spent the day sitting . . .