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John Brown aggregates all the most recent public diplomacy related news, including current issues in U.S. foreign policy, international broadcasting and media, propaganda, cultural diplomacy, educational exchanges, anti-Americanism, and the reception of American popular culture abroad.

JULY 13, 2005 EXCHANGES SUPPLEMENT
by Gordon Douglas

C) WEEKLY EXCHANGES SUPPLEMENT
The following articles are related to educational and cultural exchange programs. Specific topics in this supplement include USG-funded exchange programs (e.g., Fulbright scholarships, Ron Brown Fellowship, International Visitors) as well as issues relating to student visas, study abroad, and NGOs involved in exchanges. The articles are aggregated weekly by GORDON DOUGLAS, THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.

C.1) USG-FUNDED EXCHANGE PROGRAMS (SCROLL DOWN TO SECTION C.2 FOR OTHER TOPICS)

1. EKU’S BARNETT NAMED FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR—NEWS BRIEF (LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER, JULY 13, 2005):
Dr. Darryl Barnett, chair of Eastern Kentucky University’s Department of-Environmental Health Science and-Department of Clinical Laboratory-Science, has received a Fulbright Teaching Scholarship. He will arrive in Ukraine in September for a nine-month stay at Luhansk State Medical University, where he will work toward developing a-curriculum in environmental and public health and help teach various courses.
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2. PROFESSOR NAMED FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR—NEWS BRIEF (THE ARBITER [ID], JULY 13, 2005):
Marcy Newman, assistant professor of English at Boise State University, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to study outside of the United States during the 2005-06 academic year. Newman will lecture and conduct research at the University of Jordan in Amman, Jordan. Her research will focus on how Jewish and Palestinian children learn about one another in the United States and in Palestine and Israel.
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3. FULBRIGHT EXCHANGE TEACHER SHARING LESSONS IN HARBOR SPRINGS—KIRSTEN FREDRICKSON (PETOSKEY NEWS-REVIEW [MI], JULY 13, 2005):
Hugs were shared and a few tears were shed as Michelle Verrier, a Fulbright Exchange teacher from Wales, said goodbye to each of her Blackbird Elementary School students last Friday. The journey first began last year when she traded places with first-grade teacher Daniel Bower as part of the Fulbright Teacher Exchange program. Adapting to Northern Michigan life meant adjusting to a slower pace, seeing fewer people crowding the streets and coming to realize that everyone knows just about everyone else. Verrier also had to adjust to driving her car on the right side of the road, remembering that football was not soccer and realizing that most people had never seen a rugby match, her favorite sport.
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4. MCDILL PRINCIPAL REALIZES DIFFERENCE IN CULTURES—DENNIS RAABE (STEVENS POINT JOURNAL [WI], JULY 12, 2005):
First in a series of correspondence from a Wisconsin school principal participating in a Fulbright seminar to Southeast Asia, this installment detailing the journey to Tokyo and Bangkok.  “We will spend the next five weeks studying the culture, people, and education system of Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. Over the next month and a half I hope to share some of my experiences with my central Wisconsin brethren… My impressions of Tokyo were limited to what I experienced in the terminal. They had great high-resolution television. Everything was neat, clean, and efficient. The service people were polite, friendly, and even pleasant. To my surprise, babies cried in English!"…
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5. SOUTHEAST ASIA TRIP OFFERS EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE—YER T. YANG (SHEBOYGAN PRESS [WI], JULY 11, 2005):
First in a series of correspondence from a “Hmong American and English Language Learner teacher from North High School of the Sheboygan Area School District,” this installment serves as an introduction. “The goal for this educational seminar is to bring back documentation of Southeast Asian cultural heritages, history, educational strategies and perspectives, and geography to be shared with interested educators, educational institutions, and the community at large. In addition, I will be focusing on character education in comparison or in contrast to the United States.”
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6. NO SMOKE WITHOUT FIRE AT UHS (DAILY TIMES [PAKISTAN], JULY 10, 2005):
USAID and Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission (HEC) have agreed to increase contributions to the Fulbright scholarship programme to a total of $150 million over the next several years, the US Educational Foundation in Pakistan (USEFP) has announced. The expanded programme is expected to enable 400 Pakistanis to study for PhDs at US universities on fully funded Fulbright scholarships, announced Dr Grace Clark, USEFP executive director.
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7. A JOURNEY TOWARD LEARNING—NAOMI SMOOT-KIMBLE (BALTIMORE SUN, JULY 10, 2005):
Millersville Elementary School principal Diana Strohecker is on a continuous search for ways to improve the special education program at her school. Next spring, that quest will take her to Hampshire, England, where, as part of the Fulbright Scholars program, she will examine another administrator’s approach to educating autistic students to glean more ideas to bring back home.
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8. LIMERICK STUDENT’S SCHOLARSHIP TAKES HER TO NEW YORK—PRESS RELEASE (UNIVERSITY OF LIMERICK / ARRIVENET, JULY 7, 2005):
Beating off hundreds of entrants from third level colleges all over the country is no mean feat for University of Limerick student, Sharon Singleton. The marketing student who is a native of Ennis, will now go on to study for an associate degree in fashion marketing at Parsons, School of Design, a division of New School University in New York.  Sharon is the first undergraduate student in the history of the University of Limerick’s links with Fulbright to achieve this award.
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C.2) OTHER NEWS ON EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL EXCHANGE ISSUES

9. POLICE EXCHANGE PROGRAM OFFERS VALUABLE EDUCATION—EDITORIAL (ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR [IL], JULY 13, 2005):
Belvidere and Boone County law enforcement personnel have an extraordinary opportunity to improve policing through an exchange program with a friendly city in Mexico. Local Hispanic business owners are eager to help. In fact, in McHenry County, local business owners and Hispanic groups footed most of the bill for a model program. The business people have paid for police officers from Zacatecas, Mexico, to spend time here observing how police agencies operate. In addition, the business owners have paid for McHenry County officers to travel to Zacatecas to see how policing is done there.
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10. 18 EDUCATION OFFICIALS LEAVE FOR JAPAN ON STUDY TOUR—M. GHAZANFAR ALI KHAN (ARAB NEWS, JULY 13, 2005):
A group of 18 junior Saudi education officials left Riyadh for Tokyo yesterday in response to an invitation extended by Japanese government. They will exchange information and share experience with their Japanese counterparts in the fields of education, culture and technology. The study tour was organized within the framework of the Youth Friendship Program, launched jointly by Saudi and Japanese governments way back in 1998.
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11. TEACHERS TAKE PRIDE IN ‘OUTSTANDING’ OFSTED REPORT—LUCY WATERLOW (WATFORD OBSERVER [UK], JULY 13, 2005):
TWO schools in the Watford area have been named among the most outstanding in the country. As well as receiving the good news of the Ofsted report, this week has also been a special one for the school because it has had two teachers visiting from Novgorod, Russia. As reported recently in the Watford Observer, deputy headteacher, John Addison, visited Novgorod over Easter, as part of a school exchange organised by Watford Borough Council. As well as receiving the good news of the Ofsted report, this week has also been a special one for the school because it has had two teachers visiting from Novgorod, Russia. Mr Addison visited Novgorod over Easter, as part of a school exchange organised by Watford Borough Council. “It is about learning from each other and gaining a global perspective,” he said.
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12. STUDENTS HAVING HARDER TIME GETTING TO U.S. SCHOOLS—ERICA PIPPINS (MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER, JULY 13, 2005):
As Troy University’s dean of international programs, Curtis Porter has come in contact with hundreds of students from more than 60 countries who have come to the central Alabama university to earn post-secondary degrees. But one of the people he remembers most is someone who didn’t get to pursue her studies abroad. “I was in Brazil about two years ago and an 18 year-old-girl came up to me,” Porter said. “She said ‘All we have wanted to do is go to the U.S., but now...,’ and her voice trailed off.” “In some ways, we have been the hope of the world,” Porter said. “But the United States has begun to lose out academically and financially on some of the brightest students in the world because of its policies.”
LINK

13. LETTER: EXCHANGE PROGRAM BENEFITS BOTH SIDES—TAMMY BENFIELD (ROCKY MOUNT TELEGRAM [CO], JULY 11, 2005):
Opinion: “I have been involved with foreign exchange students now for several years, and I’ve learned that the world can be made better through this experience. Until you have had the experience, you cannot imagine how rewarding it is to bring the world into your own home and to see the bond being created between a host family and a teenager from another part of the world. Having these students in our homes does help us gain understanding, acquire knowledge and learn skills needed to live in our culturally diverse world.”
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14. TRANSLATION: A CRY FOR HELP—ZAID AL-ALAYA’A (YEMEN OBSERVER, JULY 9, 2005):
Translation has been marginalized in most Arab countries, and has not been given the attention it deserves for the essential role it plays in the wider education of Arab society.  Translation is a tool for communicating across linguistic and cultural boundaries. Interview with Dr.Abdul-Rahman Abd Rabu, Professor of Translation at Sana’a University. In 1978, he was nominated for a scholarship to pursue his MA studies, sponsored by the FulBright Foundation. In 1983 he finished his PhD at the University of Kansas with a scholarship from the United States Agency for International Development. Today, he advocates more courses, even after graduation, to help students become professional translaters.
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15. SCIENCE AND MATH STUDENTS FROM 16 COUNTRIES TO ATTEND WEEKLONG SUMMIT AT LUCENT TECHNOLOGIES—PR NEWSWIRE (TECHWEB, JULY 7, 2005):
56 students have been selected to receive the Lucent Global Science Scholars award for their excellence in science and math. This year’s students come from 16 countries and regions—Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Spain and the United Kingdom—as well as 17 U.S. states. The culmination of the program is the weeklong Global Science Scholars Summit, during which students shadow Bell Labs researchers, tour laboratories, participate in panel discussions, and work collaboratively with other scholars on a multinational team project.
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