Miscellany

Democrat Paul Clements attracts standing-room-only crowd at Kalamazoo rally writes the Kalamazoo Gazette Reporter Yvonne Zipp. KALAMAZOO, MI More than 50 people packed into the Kalamazoo County Democratic headquarters Saturday to hear Paul Clements formally announce his candidacy for the 2014 congressional race to a standing-room-only crowd. WMU professor Paul Clements, who is looking to unseat U.S. Rep. Fred Upton in 2014, speaks to a packed crowd at the Kalamazoo County Democratic headquarters Nov. 9. Clements, a Western Michigan University professor who is looking to unseat incumbent U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, was on his fourth stop of the day on an eight-city tour of Southwest Michigan. He began the day in Buchanan, with stops in Allegan, Benton Harbor, Cassopolis, South Haven, Three Rivers and Union Pier. Clements received a standing ovation when he entered the headquarters at 3254 S. Westnedge Ave. at 12:25 p.m. “I’m pretty happy as a professor . . .

[This comes from the New Yorker webpage] By Peter Hessler http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2013/11/scenes-from-the-first-day-of-mohamed-morsis-chaotic-trial-in-cairo.html= On my way to Monday’s trial of Mohamed Morsi, the first democratically elected President of Egypt, and the second former President to be tried on criminal charges during the past two years, I found myself walking next to one of Morsi’s lawyers. His name was Said Hamid, and he was sweating and breathing hard. We were still in the early stages of the security gauntlet that had been set up for the trial. Any journalist or lawyer had to carry a stamped statement of approval from the Cairo Court of Appeals, and then he had to pass through four armed checkpoints and three metal detectors. Nobody was allowed to carry a camera, voice recorder, or cell phone; the state seemed determined to control all digital recordings of this event. Each attendee also had to hike for more than half . . .

The U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Chaired by Senator Ed Markey, this Wednesday morning was a love feast for Carrie Hessler Radelet (Western Samoa 1981-83) at her Nomination Hearing. However, most of the hugs and kisses went to Harris Wofford, the former senator, and also a chief architect of the Peace Corps, one of the famous early Mad Men of the Peace Corps who in 1960 met with Shriver in the Mayflower Hotel and hatched out the idea of the agency. So much was the tribute to Wofford that at the close of the Hearing, Markey asked for a round of applause for Wofford, saying the Committee was ‘honored to have him there” to nominate Carrie for the job as Director of the Peace Corps. Harris even got a kiss from Carrie! Harris, for a man in his mid-80s, was sharp and articulate and, as always, rallying support for . . .

Anne has hit her Kickstarter goal of $15,000. She wrote me, “Lot’s of generous people – friends and strangers – are interested in my Peace Corps Mexico story.  NOW it’s time to shift attention back to the writing and get this book done! However, you can get on-board with this project by reserving an advance-copy of the book and getting an invite to the book launch party this coming year.  Your help will allow me to complete, professionally edit, layout the art and photos, and produce a quality finished product to add to the Peace Corps collection. Here’s the link to checkout our progress and the rewards:  http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2074468560/a-story-of-sustainability-from-south-of-the-border (I had to repost the http to make it work. Anne’s bio: As founder and president of SeeChange, Anne Pellicciotto has 15 years’ experience with systems-level change in diverse environments – from IT transformation to reorganization, new program launch to board alignment. In . . .

Nomination U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Presiding: Senator Menendez Date: Wednesday, November 06, 2013 Time: 10:30 AM Location: Senate Dirksen 419 Webcast: This hearing is scheduled to be live webcast. Please return to this page to view the hearing live at the specified date and time. The Honorable Carolyn Hessler Radelet of Virginia, to be Director of the Peace Corps http://www.foreign.senate.gov/hearings/nomination-11-6-2013

For those who missed this article in the New York Times (10/29/13), it is a must read story about the volunteer work of Bill Staab (Liberia 1963-65).  Thanks to Marnie Mueller ( Ecuador 1963-65) for a ‘heads up.’ Marnie is a runner, by the way, and married to the famous German runner, Fritz Mueller. Bill Staab is an old running friend of Fritz, and Marnie and Fritz have watched Bill over the years as he developed the NYC West Side Runners, a club of primarily working class, hard-laboring immigrants, who after arduous jobs, run long daily workouts in Central and Prospect Parks in preparation for the New York City Marathon. Be prepared to be incredibly moved by this story. Again, thanks to Marnie for letting me know about this article and about the work that Bill Staab has done. Marathon as Melting Pot By LINDSAY CROUSE On a recent foggy Sunday in Central Park, . . .

The Senate confirmation hearing for the nomination of Acting Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet to become the next Director has finally been scheduled. It will take place on Wednesday, November 6 at 10:30 am. It is a nomination that we fully support. Some background on Carrie. She and her husband Steve (they spent their honeymoon in Peace Corps Training, and can you believe it: they are STILL married!) were PCVs in Western Samoa from 1981-83. She taught high school and helped design a national public awareness campaign on disaster preparedness. . After her Peace Corps tour, the couple moved to Boston for graduate school where Carrie got a master’s degree from Harvard School of Public Health in health policy and management. (Her BA in political science is from Boston University.) During her “Boston years” she also worked for the Peace Corps as a Public Affairs Officer in the recruitment office and gave . . .

In the new issue of Foreign Affairs Magazine, the notice that the Council on Foreign Relations is “seeking talented individuals for the Franklin Williams Internship” AGAIN overlooks the fact that Franklin Williams began his international career at the Peace Corps. Williams with Sarge While it does say that Ambassador Williams had a long career of public service, including serving at the American Ambassador to Ghana, as well as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Lincoln University. He was also, they say, a Director of the Council on Foreign Relations. What it doesn’t say is that Franklin Williams began his ‘international’ career at the Peace Corps in 1961, and was at HQ as Chief of the Division of Private Organizations, and then head of the African Region. In 1965 LBJ appointed Williams the first black representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Council, from this position he would . . .

When all is said and done, perhaps what will be most important and lasting about the Peace Corps will be what the PCVs did AFTER their tour of service. One such example is the RPCV Legacy Program of Ethiopia & Eritrea RPCVs (E&E RPCVs) that has been designated by the I.R.S. as a 501 (c)(3) non-profit tax-exempt organization. The program, organized in 2003 by the group under the leadership of Marian Haley Beil (Ethiopia 1962-64), for the purpose of sponsoring education and healthcare projects that will assist the neediest in-country, and are “championed” – that is designed, administered and fundraised for – by RPCVs and former staff members on a volunteer basis. To date 8 projects have been launched; five have met their goals and three are continuing. The projects are supported by donations primarily from the group’s RPCVs and to date more than $180,000 has been distributed. Of the . . .

[Here is what one enterprising PCV is doing now with her computer skills in Tanzania. Another example of a Secondary Project paying off. This press release comes from Peace Corps Hq Press Office.] WASHINGTON, D.C., Oct. 18, 2013 – Peace Corps volunteer Elizabeth Crompton of Woodstock, Ga., is opening doors to job opportunities for university students and local community members in Tanzania. Together with local faculty, Crompton recently led a seminar on how to operate, navigate and program computer systems using a free, open source computer operating system that is accessible in developing countries like Tanzania, where computer software can be expensive and prohibitive to computer learning. “The kind of thinking that computing and programming teaches encourages self-reliance and problem-solving,” said Crompton, who has been working as an information and communications technology volunteer since 2011. “I want my students to become comfortable with not having all the answers and looking . . .

In my email a week or so ago, I received this note: Good afternoon: Sorry to bother you.  My name is Ray Blakney and I am a RPCV from Mexico.  I am working on a 3rd Goal project with the PC regional offices and the main office in DC to try to create a directory to keep the language training material made all over the world from getting lost. I have created a sub-section on my website with all the information I have been able to get to date (from over the web and sent to me directly by Peace Corps staff and PCV’s).  I currently have close to 100 languages with ebooks, audios and even some videos. The next step for this project is that I am trying to get the word out about this resource so that it can not only be used by PCV’s or those accepted . . .

There is a new book out from Angus Deaton, the Eisenhower Professor of Economics and International Affairs at Princeton, entitled The Great Escape: Health, Wealth and the Origins of Inequality published by Princeton University Press. Before Deaton got to Princeton, he was with the World Bank, and with the Gallop Organization creating survey-based measures of well-being. In his book, Deaton states that global poverty today is no longer a result of lack of resources or opportunity, but of poor institutions, poor government and toxic politics. He blames both the giver and the receiver for this! He cites as an example Mauritania that several years ago was in danger of losing its international aid. So, the country’s president hatched the idea of becoming one of the few Arab countries to recognize Israel. The aid taps, Deaton said, were turned back on and the money flowed to Mauritania. Deaton goes onto say . . .

The New Peace Corps–With Technology By Christopher Hedrick (Senegal 1988-90) [This article by Chris Hedrick appeared in the Yale Journal of International Affairs in February 2013. Chris Hedrick (Senegal 1988-90) coordinates special initiatives for the Peace Corps Africa region and from 2007- 2012 was the Country Director for Peace Corps Senegal. Previously, he was CEO of Intrepid Learning, a Seattle-based corporate learning services firm, served as a science and technology advisor to the Governor of Washington state, and worked for the Gates Foundation and Microsoft. He also was a Rhodes Scholar. Chris, who is a friend, recently sent me an article that states that one in every five people in the world own a smartphone, one in every seventeen own a tablet. I believe this is true as the little girl down the street in my suburban town appears to have 3 smartphones, as she keeps losing and breaking the . . .

Dear Volunteers: As many of you are aware, annual funding for the US government expired on September 30, 2013. This has affected Peace Corps operations, as it has all federal government activities. I want you to know that we have made a conscious decision to prioritize continuous operations in our host countries over headquarters activities.  In fact, over 90 percent of Peace Corps’ US-based staff – both in Washington and in our regional recruiting offices – have been furloughed. This action, combined with good financial planning, has allowed us to keep Volunteers in the field throughout the government shutdown. I am very hopeful that Congress will come to a resolution shortly and all of our staff can return to work. Please be assured that all activities necessary to ensure your ongoing health, safety and security will continue without interruption, as your well-being is our highest priority.  Volunteers should see no . . .

When Will The Peace Corps Do Something New? Here’s an idea! If you read the NYTIMES Sunday Reviews on October 13, 2013, you might have read how a high school in Detroit is flipping the classroom. They started three years ago with one class and now the whole high school has flipped. What in the world is a Flipped Classroom, you ask. It is this: students watch videos of teachers’ lectures at home, or on their smartphones or computers, or if they lack the technology, at school in the tech lab. Then the next day in class they do what we would call “homework”–projects, worksheets or exercises in small groups, while the teacher is a resource in the room. Online education is sweeping the country, mostly at the college level, via MOOCs. If you haven’t heard, MOOC stands for Massive Open Online Courses education, available to anyone with Web access. . . .