PSU Magazine Spring 1990

Alumni sponsor interns inWashington, D.C. Working in the nation's capitol gave four students invaluable experience beyond the classroom. T he sight is invigorating - standing in the National Mall among the Smithsoni an and National Gallery of Art buildings, seeing the Washington Monument on one end and the U.S . Capitol on the other. This impress ive view never got old fo r the four PSU students who spent three months working in Washington, D .C. , thanks to an alumni-sponsored internship program last fall. Honor students Rebecca Nordby, Vandy Cook, Todd Walker, and Dav id Manning worked for (respectivel y) Common Cause , and the Smithsoni an's National Portrait Gallery, Woodrow Wil son International Center for Scholars, and National Museum of American Hi story. The students were sponsored by the PSU Alumni Board in conjunction with the Uni versity Honors Program . David Manning PSU 12 "We believe in giving something back ," said David Lomnicki , ('8 1 BS) alumni board member. "We benefited from our education at Portland State, and now have the ex perience and resources to give current undergraduates valuable training in the ir major fie ld of study." Not onl y did the Alumni Board suppl y funding fo r airfare , housing and a li ving stipend , but ind ividual PSU graduates located in Washington, D .C., helped in establishing the internships: Ed James (' 70 BA), partner in hi s own law fi rm , Richard Doty (' 64 BS), curator at the Mu seum of American Hi story, Michael Call (' 69 BA, '73 MA) manager of Mitsubi shi , and Kathryn Heinbuch ('74 BA), with Common Cause. The program turned out to be a great success, according to the students who went and the institutions that employed them. "David Manning is an ideal intern in every way irruiginable.... If he is representative of Portfilnd Stale students, you are a fortunate university indeed. " Vandy Cook has accepted a full-time pos ition with the National Portrait Gallery as ass istant to the curato r of pernianent co llections. As an intern she worked in that office handling odd jobs, loan requests and compiling an exhibit hi story fo r the Gallery. 'Tm majoring in history with a minor in art, with the intention of teaching art history or going into the museum fi eld ," said Cook . ''It looks at th is point as I'd prefer to go into the museum field ." Todd Walker also had a job offer as a result of his research work at the Wilson Institute for Scholars. According to Walker, the Wil son Institute is a combination fe llowship granting society and think tank . The institute brings scholars to its facilities from di ffe rent universities to work on their submitted projects. As an intern he helped some of these scholars gather bibliographic material. "This is an institute that brings the top researchers from the nation into one area, and I have weekly contacts with them ," said Walker. " It is fa irly rare for someone at the undergraduate level to see thi s kind of research." Walker is counting on these research skills to help him pursue an advanced degree in law, history or economics. He is keeping hi s options open. Rebecca Nordby, a business and hi story major, is deciding how the skills she ga ined at Common Cause , a citizens lobbying group , will influence her educational goals.