Internships in nation's capital await 7 students

Initiated by the Office of the Dean of the College and Career & Placement Services, the internships are part of a larger effort to enhance the summer program of student internships in the Washington, D.C., area. In addition to a variety of internship opportunities, the summer program will include a series of speakers plus social and cultural activities sponsored by the University.

"Employers constantly stress the value of internships in their consideration of candidates for jobs," said Robert Riesman, Director of CAPS. "Thanks to the support of John Boyer, the Dean of the College, these new D.C. internships will offer terrific opportunities for students to explore interests, which will be helpful in obtaining future employment and that may develop into long-term career tracks."

Five of the students, selected by faculty members in the College, will work at paid internships through the University of Chicago Smithsonian Internship Program. Sarah Keller, a third-year student concentrating in biology, and Laura Fiorilli, a third-year concentrating in U.S. history, will work at the National Portrait Gallery. Keller will study portraiture of George Washington, and Fiorilli will do research on the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Flora Waples-Trefil, a first-year who plans to concentrate in biology/chemistry, will work with the Zimmer Laboratory Group, examining gene evolution in plants. Joan West, a second-year concentrating in biology, will study plant ecology of the coastal plain at the Environmental Research Center. Riva Khoshaba, a second-year concentrating in anthropology, will participate in the Native American Program at the Museum of Natural History in the field of material culture of non-Western cultures.

The two College students who will be working as Paul Douglas interns at the White House are Laura LoGerfo, a third-year student concentrating in psychology, and Andrea Wenzel, a second-year student concentrating in tutorial studies.

The College's newly established Paul Douglas Internship Program provides funding and paid internship opportunities for College students in various areas of federal government. The program will also offer one paid internship position in each of the offices of the Illinois senators, Dick Durbin and Carol Moseley-Braun. The recipients of the senatorial internships will be announced later this month. The Paul Douglas Internship Program honors Paul Douglas, former University faculty member and United States Senator from Illinois.

For more information on internship opportunities, call CAPS at 702-7040 or see the CAPS Web site (http://caps1.uchicago.edu/).