Ukrainians Learn from Indiana Farmers

A Purdue Extension educator in Fulton County has made it possible for two graduate students from Ukraine to stay with Indiana farmers to work and learn this summer, reports the Purdue News Bureau.

Mark Kepler came up with the work-study idea after he visited the Poltava State Agrarian Academy in Ukraine three years ago.

Kepler last winter found two farmers in Fulton County interested in hiring students from Poltava to work on their farms this summer. The farms are family operations with more than 1,000 acres and exemplify farming life in Indiana.

Two graduate students - Ol'Ha Reva and Sergii Panchenk - arrived in Indiana in May to begin their work.

As part of the program, Reva came to Purdue University for three days in August to learn more about DNA extraction in plants. Working in a laboratory for the first time, she studied plants and genotypes with agronomy professor Herb Ohm. (The photo shows Reva working with Dr. Ohm. It's a Purdue Agricultural Communication photo by Tom Campbell.)

After finishing her studies in the lab, Reva returned to Rochester to continue working on the farm with her host family, Tom and Jill Weaver.

Panchenk is staying with Alan and Nancy Gohn in Rochester, working in the fields and helping around the farm. Both Ukrainians will fly back to Poltava in September.

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US Ambassador-Designate to Serbia Speaks at Valpo

The United States Ambassador-designate to the Republic of Serbia will present the commencement address at Valparaiso University's ceremonies honoring mid-year graduates, reports the Valpo news bureau.

Ceremonies for students expected to complete requirements for undergraduate, graduate and law degrees begin at 2:30 p.m. 13 December in the Chapel of the Resurrection.

Mary Burce Warlick (pictured), a Valpo alumna and a career member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service, was nominated to the ambassador post by President Barack Obama in September. Her experience at the U.S. Department of State began in 1983 and she has served in several posts at U.S. embassies in Asia and Europe and as minister-counselor for economic affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. During that assignment, she traveled extensively in Russia and worked on a wide range of trade, investment and energy issues, including Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization and the protection of intellectual property rights.

Warlick's assignments in Washington, D.C., include serving most recently as acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia policy. Prior to that, Warlick served as acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for European and NATO policy, special assistant to the president and senior director for Russia at the National Security Council, director of the State Department's Office of Russian Affairs and as director of the Office of Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus Affairs.

Warlick graduated from Valpo in 1979 with a degree in political science and humanities, and was a Christ College (honors college) scholar. She later earned a master's degree in international relations from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. In 2006, she received the Secretary of State's Award for Public Outreach and she has received eight Superior Honor Awards from the State Department.

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Three Women "On a Mission"

Jayne During, Donna Thomas and Molly Lawton were profiled in December's issue of Indianapolis Woman by managing editor Rebecca R. Bibbs.

During, a native of Ghana, has created Kuaba Humanitarian Foundation to benefit the people of Zimbabwe. Thomas has helped build churches through Christian Vision Ministries of Carmel in Mexico, China and India, and has visited 75 countries. Lawton works with Carmel-based Mission to Ukraine Crisis Pregnancy Ministry.

Media in the Former Soviet Bloc

Ken Jaques, president of Global Communication Strategies, will speak on “The Evolution of Media and Media Relations in the Former Soviet Bloc” at 4 p.m. 14 October in the Oak Room of the Indiana Memorial Union on the campus of Indiana University Bloomington.

An overview of the problems of transition that confronted media, business, and governments on the territory of the former Warsaw Pact in the last two decades, his talk will also address the recent conflict between Georgia and Russia in the context of the "media war" which it generated.

Mr. Jaques has worked extensively as a communications and business consultant to the U.S. government and the governments of Georgia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Croatia, and Russia. He also served as press secretary to US Senator Frank Lautenberg for many years and as a reporter for leading news organizations including CNN and the Congressional Quarterly magazine.

Bloomington Connects with Ukraine

Bloomington's Herald-Times and Kafa, a thrice-weekly in Ukraine, are in the fifth year of a partnership that benefits both small newspapers (the Herald-Times has a circulation of 28,000, and Kafa, published in the Crimea, has a circulation of 35,000). The two were paired by the Ukraine Media Partnership Program operated by the non-profit International Research and Exchanges Board.