Tucker Foundation and Peace Corps sponsor new internships

Dartmouth students are the first to participate in a new Peace Corp internship program that grew out of a Tucker Foundation proposal to meet increased interest in international service. "The Peace Corps internships will enable students to explore postgraduate opportunities in the Third World development and to share their experiences when they return, " said Jan Tarjan, director of Tucker interns and community programs. The Peace Corps recruited Dartmouth students for projects such as training Peace Corps staffers located in Mali, Benin, and Zaire in the use of computer software, conducting economic surveys in Liberia and Cameroon, collecting and interpreting data for a program review in Botswana, and compiling a directory of funding sources for development work in Jamaica.

This year eight Dartmouth students will spend one term overseas supervised by Peace Corps country directors. Tucker Foundation stipends will cover travel and meals, while the Peace Corps provides for housing. Tarjan indicated because the Peace Corps internships were an unexpected budget item, insufficient funds kept more students from participating. In addition to the eight students going overseas, three were chosen as alternates. "If we had more money, we would have liked to send them," said Tarjan, referring to the alternates.

Tarjan said the Tucker Foundation received 60 pre-applications for the program. The finalists underwent extensive screening by representatives of the Tucker Foundation and the Peace Corps, and by faculty, staff, and a student with overseas experience. Those selected for the fall term and their placements are: Florence A. Burt '88, Quito, Ecuador; Mary Holozubiec '87, Kathmandu, Nepal; Mary Hoult '88, Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic; Jonathan Risch '88, Yaounde, Cameroon; India Wood '88, Gabarone, Botswana. Winter term interns are Elizabeth Bury '87, Monrovia, Liberia; Amy Kessel '88, Dakar, Senegal; and Michael Wilner '88, Belize.