Discussion Series Honors Late Grad

In memory of their son, the parents of the late Michael Jurist (SFS ’07) recently established The Michael Jurist Distinguished Alumni Round Table Series, a discussion series that combines current students with alumni of the School of Foreign Service.

Paula Dobriansky (SFS ’77), the U.S. under secretary of state for democracy and global affairs, will be the first alumnus to speak in the discussion series.

Jurist died suddenly on July 30, 2007 when a bolt of lightning struck him while he was vacationing on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina.

ichael’s parents, Paul and Vesna, said they received numerous letters from Georgetown students in the wake of their son’s death telling them that Michael had been an appreciated source of advice and mentorship in their lives. The Jurists decided to create an informal series of mentoring conversations between current School of Foreign Service students and successful alumni to honor their son.

Paul Jurist explained that the series will bring two SFS alumni to campus each semester for “an informal, sandwiches-at-lunchtime-type talk about what they do.” Specifically targeting sophomores and juniors, the series is meant to be a relaxed forum of exchange to help SFS students determine the best steps toward their post-graduation goals.

Paul Jurist said the series will probably take on “a life of its own” but that “in the next few years [my wife and I] will be contacted” about speaker choices.

The SFS Academic Council and the SFS Deans will oversee the series’s execution at the most immediate level.

Paul Jurist said he and his wife will attend the inaugural event of MJDARTS, but not subsequent events.

“It’s really for the students,” he said. “We don’t want to get in the way.”

The specific date of Dobriansky’s speech has not yet been set.

On April 8, the Georgetown Lecture Fund will hold its George Stephanopoulos event in honor of Michael, who chaired the Lecture Fund last year, at 7 p.m. in the Bunn Intercultural Center Auditorium.

– Laura Brienza

Law Center Recognizes Former Attorney General

Former Attorney General Edwin Meese III was awarded the Georgetown Federalist Society’s fifth annual Lifetime Service Award Thursday night in the Philip A. Hart Auditorium at the Georgetown University Law Center.

Each year, the Federalist Society presents the Lifetime Service Award to an individual whom they feel has greatly contributed to the legal community and to legal thought as a whole.

eese, who served as the Attorney General from 1985 to 1988, is the Ronald Reagan Chair in Public Policy, is chairman of the Center for Legal and Judicial Studies and is a distinguished visiting fellow for the Hoover Institute at Stanford University.

After fondly reminiscing about his time working with former President Ronald Reagan, Meese explained in his speech, entitled “Would the Founding Fathers Recognize this Supreme Court,” that he thought the founding fathers would be shocked to see our current Supreme Court. Among the reasons he cited for this surprise was the reliance of justices on foreign laws and conventions in deciding cases.

“I think they would also be very surprised, almost shocked, at what is going on with some justices today – that is quoting foreign law as a means of interpreting the Constitution of the United States,” he said.

He also argued that the founding fathers would be surprised by the way in which Supreme Court Justices are appointed.

“I think a serious problem for the independence of the judiciary is senators try to pinpoint with questions what they’re going to rule on or how they are going to rule on various issues once they take the bench,” Meese added.

He explained that litmus tests and the politicization of the judicial appointments was a grave threat to the independence of the courts.

eese finished his speech on a lighter note saying that not everything was bad about our Supreme Court today.

“I think, despite the problems that have occurred. that they would be gratified that there are in fact many people in this country . who are seeking to have imposed on the court the kinds of principles, the kinds of doctrines, the kinds of protections of liberties that the founders themselves developed in the Constitution,” Meese said.

– Anastasia Webb

Coffee Owner Brews Fair Trade Awareness Among Students

Dean Cycon, owner of Dean’s Beans Organic Coffee and a leader of the American Fair Trade Coffee Movement spoke yesterday at the Mortara Center for International Studies at a discussion on free trade practices and socially conscious entrepreneurship.

This event marked the fourth event in a weeklong series run by the Georgetown Entrepreneurial Organization in an attempt to raise awareness on campus of the powerful potential of free enterprise.

Cycon began his coffee career in a rural farm in New Salem, Massachusetts. He roasted his own coffee beans and delivered them, in his Subaru, to local customers.

Cycon’s small coffee operation quickly exploded, and Dean’s Beans is now worth $3 million on the American market. HE said he runs his company on principles of human rights, labor rights, environmental responsibility and business ethics and Dean’s Beans serves as a beacon for morality in business.

Cycon brought a message of courage and social responsibility to an eager Georgetown audience. “Ask not who you want to work for, but ask who do you want to work for you,” said Cycon to those who are interested in pursuing a career in business. “Courage is the most important thing.”

any of the countries that Dean’s Beans buys from suffer from severe deforestation, health problems, human rights violations and conflict. His company tries to solve these problems by empowering able citizens through fair trade practices. He buys directly from marginal farmers and pays these farmers for their coffee at prices higher than the fair trade minimum.

Cycon said he talks directly to farmer co-ops and funds programs to help solve specific social needs. “It’s not about coffee for me. Coffee is just a vessel for me for making social change. And I love it.”

He also explained how most large corporations pay very little attention to the needs of the suppliers in third world countries.

“These companies justify themselves with false ideas concerning shareholder profit maximization and growth standards,” he said.

“You can do business as usual because it will lower the price. You can close your eyes to these problems. Or you can choose to engage these problems,” he added.

The panel was hosted by the Center for Social Justice, Research, Teaching & Service; Georgetown Entrepreneurial Organization; GU Students for Fair Trade; Kauffman Initiative in Social Entrepreneurship; MSFS Program; Our Moment; and the Mortara Center for International Studies.

– Jamie Holloman

Internship Database Connects Georgetown With Other Universities

Georgetown recently adopted a database shared by seven other universities that facilitates students’ searches for internship opportunities.

The iNet Internship Network connects students with internships across the country and is available to students at Georgetown, Northwestern, New York, Rice, Stanford and Yale Universities, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Students can search for internships for the fall, spring and summer semesters based on their major or by an industry of interest. The site, launched in January, lists more than 1,000 internships.

Companies and organizations, including Amnesty International, AOL, Bear Stearns & Co. and ESPN, all have listings through the site. At the date of publication, 1,248 employers have posted internships on the network.

“I have used iNet to research and apply for summer internships with many reputable firms in the financial industry, such as Merrill Lynch. It truly is a unique and valuable resource,” James LiVolsi (COL ’10) said.

embership in this consortium will enable students to find internships near their hometowns.

“The iNet Internship Network is a Web-based software program, part of the NACElink Network, owned and operated by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, in partnership with Symplicity and a consortium of the eight universities mentioned above for the purpose of sharing internship listings with their students,” the Career Services Web site of the University of Pennsylvania says.

The Georgetown Career Center could not be reached for comment.

– Mary McGuire

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