By Lori Tarbett

Twenty-one-year-old Alysia Garmulewicz is still feeling a little overwhelmed after learning she was awarded a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship on Nov. 22, 2008.

“I was absolutely thrilled, and it’s still sinking in . . . it honestly was like a dream, and the transition to it becoming reality is completely overwhelming,” beams Garmulewicz.

She was inspired to apply for the scholarship after a trip to Oxford caused her to fall in love with the university. After being selected by the Carleton nomination committee, her application was sent to British Columbia, her home province, where she was shortlisted for an interview. She found out later that evening she had been chosen.

Garmulewicz will attend the University of Oxford in the fall of 2009 to pursue a Master’s of Philosophy in geography and the environment with a concentration on environmental policy. Garmulewicz, who comes from a family very dedicated to the environment, is committed to environmental issues and became passionate about climate change during an expedition to Antarctica in 2002 when she was 15.

For now Garmulewicz will focus on completing her Carleton University degree: “I really feel so lucky to have gone to Carleton over these past years – particularly in my department, directed interdisciplinary studies, which has given me the ability to design my own degree around what I am passionate about, relating various courses from different faculties.” She has created a degree combining geography, economics, history, and politics.

The Rhodes Scholarships are the best known of international scholarships and are financed and administered by the Oxford-based Rhodes Trust established under the will of Cecil Rhodes. Up to 11 of these Scholarships are awarded annually in Canada. The Scholarships are tenable for studies at the University of Oxford in England for two or three years, beginning in October 2009.

Garmulewicz thanks her family, friends, those who supported her application and the Carleton community for helping her reach this incredible achievement. “I feel so very lucky and honoured to have the opportunity to learn in such a magical and incredible environment. It will be an amazing community to be part of,” says Garmulewicz.

By Nicole Findlay

Not only does he have to contend with the NDP, Liberals and Green Party nipping at his heels, Steven Harper faces a more youthful challenge to his position. FASS students Alysia Garmulewicz and Patrick Rogers have also set their sights on Canada’s top job.

Garmulewicz, a second-year interdisciplinary studies student, was selected from over 300 Canadian applicants to compete in the second annual Next Great Prime Minister contest.

On Sunday, March 18, Garmulewicz and three other finalists had their visions for Canada and their political savvy thoroughly tested in front of four former Prime Ministers (Brian Mulroney, John Turner, Kim Campbell and Joe Clarke). Garmulewicz placed third in the competition.

Garmulewicz’ platform outlined her belief that the climate change we appear to be experiencing can be used to galvanize Canadian politicians to reconsider our future. “The best way to predict the future, is to create it,” she said. This focus on sustainable practices was a common thread linking her position on foreign policy, economics, education and healthcare.

Last year, Garmulewicz was one of 10 Canadian students to receive Environment Canada’s Cambio Merit scholarship at the Montreal Conference on Climate Change. She won the $500 scholarship for a conference she organized and ran this past July at the age of 17. “I first became passionate about climate change on an expedition to Antarctic in 2002, when I was 15,” said Garmulewicz. “Growing up with a very supportive environmental family, this was a catalyst that led me to organize the Canadian Youth Climate Change Conference (YC3).”

Rogers, an honours student in his fourth-year of History and Political Science, was selected as one of 20 finalists, before the final four candidates were chosen. His platform emphasized the importance of public service prior to entering political life. He said politicians should set their sites on the future, rather than engaging in fiery rhetoric over the past.

Can an election be too far off?

By Nicole Findlay

A commitment to children and their development consumes Andre Betim. The fourth-year student in the Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies’ Child Studies program has dedicated himself to the field – as a student, a child-care worker and a teacher.

Having obtained a diploma in Early Childhood Education, Betim chose to supplement his practical experience with an academic approach to the study of childhood. Carleton’s program was one of few undergraduate programs available that takes an interdisciplinary approach in examining children and childhood.

“We can’t only study about children from a psycho-developmental perspective without taking into consideration the home environment and its impact on a child,” said Betim. “Furthermore, to understand home environment, we need to understand how society, the economy, history, education, geography, technology, religion and many other facets of our world will affect the child and family directly and indirectly.”

His decision to further his education paid off. Last fall he competed successfully for two positions – one of these, involved data collection and analysis at Statistics Canada. While seemly unrelated to Child Studies, Betim contends his experience with empirical research gained through his thesis work gave him an edge.

Ultimately, Betim accepted an offer from a community health centre as a team leader. The job requires interaction not only with children and their families, but a variety of professionals associated with the health care field.

“That’s where my interdisciplinary training came in handy,” said Betim. “I would have to use my knowledge of psychology, sociology, child development, computer training, writing, decision making, and leadership – all of which I gained while studying at Carleton University.”

Betim’s commitment to child studies does not end with his new job or the completion of his degree. Next winter he intends to pursue his MA. He also shares this passion for learning with his own students. Betim is teaches two courses, Development of Play and Child Profile at Algonquin College.

By Nicole Findlay

Tina Langdon is putting theory into practice in her fight to end the use of security certificates in Canada. Langdon has been working on behalf of one of the men affected by the certificates to raise awareness of his situation.

Langdon, a fourth-year major in the Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies’ Human Rights program became aware of Canada’s use of security certificates when she saw a documentary about Mohammed Harket’s case in November 2005.

Harket is one of five men currently incarcerated under a security certificate issued under Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Security certificates are used to indefinitely detain non-Canadian residents and foreign nationals in the interest of national security

Harket immigrated to Canada from Malaysia in 1995 and was granted refugee status in 1997. While in Canada he met and married Sophie Lamarche. Detained since December 2002, the Algerian-born man is accused of suspected terrorist links. Other than a summary of the evidence against him, neither he nor his lawyers have been given access to the key witnesses or full evidence upon which the case for his defense hinges. If the security certificate is upheld, Harket will be deported to Algeria, where it is feared he will be tortured.

In July 2005, Langdon met Sophie Harket at a fundraising event for her husband. This encounter had a profound impact on Langdon and she began to take a more active role in the case. Since then, she has been to the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre to meet Harket himself and has become a member of the Mohammed Harket Committee, a group that advocates on his behalf. Through the committee and Amnesty International Carleton, Langdon has helped organize events, vigils and a post card campaign. She is now setting her sights on lobbying the Federal Government.

“We would like to see the end of the security certificate process,” said Langdon. “We would also like to see the men in detention either charged and presumed innocent until proven guilty of a specific crime under the Criminal Code and within the normal bounds of the law or be set free to live their lives.”

Security Certificates were legislated under Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) in 1978. Of the 27 certificates issued since 1991, five of these were employed after September 11, 2001. In 2004, the Federal Court of Appeal ruled the use of the certificates were constitutional as “non-citizens and permanent residents can be subjected to a different standard of legal treatment than citizens.”

By Nicole Findlay

April Hiderman is tapping into both her career and educational experiences to coach a new generation of students.

Each year, the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies’ Early Childhood Education program selects one outstanding student as its TA. Hiderman, a fourth-year student has been working with the second-year Child Studies students.

Shelley Parlow, professor, Department of Psychology, and Tina Daniels the program coordinator identified potential in Hiderman that she herself did not recognize.

Although she is working on her honours thesis, she was concerned that she did not have the experience or knowledge necessary to assist other students. She had overlooked the additional experiences she had gained through the years she spent working in the field.

Prior to enrolling at Carleton, she had been a supervisor at the school when she realized that neither the pay nor the job itself lived up to her expectations. What she really did enjoy was programming and working with children, but in climbing the administrative ladder she had become distanced from the children she’d set out to work with.

While a diploma in Early Childhood Education provided a good foundation, she felt she needed something more. Carleton’s Child Studies program appealed to her because it is the only program offered specifically to Early Childhood Educators in Canada. Its interdisciplinary approach combines the psychological and sociological perspectives on children’s issues, she’d need to progress in her field.

Her decision to pursue Child Studies was reaffirmed when she was chosen for the TA position.

“Dr. Parlow has been a great mentor in this whole experience and has taught me much of what I need to know about being a good TA,” said Hiderman. The work has taught her about course planning, assignment marking, and class instruction.

Her experience as a TA has led her to consider teaching on a permanent basis.

“My first step will be to apply to teachers’ college in Ottawa, North Bay and the Toronto area,” she says. “Until then, I will keep my doors open for the next challenge or adventure that comes my way.”