This seminar will provide information and insight into the inner workings and interconnection of the American legal system, financing and trade in the current US economy. The focus will be on the structural aspects of the laws which enable commercial lending in the U.S.A.

We will look at how that system impacts business by following a small business through financing processes. These processes may take place at its inception, at important milestones in its growth, such as its transition to a larger public company, or at exit points like bankruptcy. We will also investigate bankruptcy in general; what it means to creditors, debtors and to the banking and legal systems.

You will benefit from this seminar if you are a practicing lawyer or involved in corporate or commercial law, financial institutions, commercial financing, lending portfolio management and international transactions.

This seminar will be interactive, will include group work and will allow participants to engage in simulations of the processes of financing a small business in the U.S. At the end of the seminar participants will be able to answer the following questions:

• What is the history of financing in the U.S. legal system?
• How does the system work and how do the laws promote trade?
• What terminology do I need to know to understand this aspect of the American legal system?
• How does bankruptcy work in the U.S. and how is it helpful to the U.S. economy?
• How does this information apply to a global economy and how instructive for Sri Lanka ?
• What can I gain from understanding this system and how does it impact me?

WHO: The seminar will be conducted by Mr. Joseph Alexander, Visiting Fulbright Scholar, Commercial Lawyer and Educator from the U.S.

WHEN: This will be a full day seminar conducted on 10 November 2005 from 9.00 a.m. onwards.

WHERE : The Seminar will be conducted at the TransAsia Hotel.

HOW MUCH: A Fee of Rs. 4,900 will cover all materials, lunch and tea/coffee breaks. Any remaining proceeds will benefit the Fulbright Alumni Association of Sri Lanka.

REGISTRATION: Hurry! Spaces limited. Call the US-SL Fulbright Commission at 7 Flower Terrace, Colombo 7. Tel: 256 4153/ 471-8744 to register by the 1 st of November 2005.

The United States-Sri Lanka Fulbright Commission will be conducting a two-day workshop on creative writing for writers of prose fiction. The workshop will consist of discussions of modern writing, in-class writing assignments drawn
from the narrative approaches of those stories and discussions of participants' work.

Workshop Coordinator:
Lori Reese, currently an American Fulbright scholar in Sri Lanka, received a Masters in Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of North Carolina. Before returning to university, she worked as a journalist for four years, first as a reporter for TIME Magazine's Asian edition in Hong Kong and later as a correspondent for Entertainment Weekly in New York. In North Carolina she has taught college-level English composition, literature and creative writing. In Hong Kong, her work on a TIME special issue, "China's Amazing Half-Century," helped win the Society of Asian Publisher's Award for Excellence in Magazines. She also won the 2004 Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award for the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. Lori is working on a book of creative non-fiction about Sri Lanka in the time of the tsunami.

The US-SL Fulbright Commission was founded in 1952 by an Agreement between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of Ceylon for the administration of educational exchange programmes in Sri Lanka. The programme aims to promote cultural understanding between the United States and Sri Lanka through mutual academic exchange.

Dates: 19th - 20th of May 2005
Time: 9 am - 4 pm
Venue: United States-Sri Lanka Fulbright Commission, 7 Flower Terrace (off Flower Road), Colombo 7.
Registration Deadline: 18th of May
Registration: Please bring a copy of a sample of writing
Registration Fee: Rs. 250/=

United States - Sri Lanka Fulbright Commission
7 Flower Terrace (off Flower Road)
Colombo 7
Tel: 011 256 4176
Email: fulbright@isplanka.lk
Web: www.fulbrightsrilanka.com

The areas of discussion would involve why the SATs are changing, what the changes are, time specifications, test content and question types, test scores, etc. and will include a video presentation created by the College Board.

Those who are interested, are welcome to participate in the subject workshop.

Please confirm your participation by phone (2564176) or fax (2564153) before
8 February, 2005.

Tod Bruning , an American Fulbright scholar with a background in IT networking projects, has been directly involved in developing a tsunami relief volunteer registration system to be set up at a help-desk at the airport. The system will get volunteers entering the country onto a skills database that will match their skills with those that might be required by NGOs. The initiative has been tentatively dubbed "VolunteerSriLanka.org".

Tod says, "In addition to the aid flowing in, there are a considerable number of people who are coming here to volunteer, and many of these people are specialists in disaster management or related fields. It has become clear that we have to come up with some way to match skills these people bring with them to NGOs that could really use them out in the devastated regions of the island. The airport seemed the most logical place to catch and register these people, but we are also setting up a website for registry as well."

Tod is only one of the many American Fulbright Scholars in Sri Lanka who has been personally involved in the relief and rehabilitation work since the disaster struck on the 26 th of December. Using their professional networks to locate relief organisations, many scholars have been working round-the-clock, donating time and energy to contribute to the massive relief and reconstruction effort that is facing the country. As one scholar told the Fulbright Commission, Fulbrighters have unique skills and flexi time so they are in an ideal position to help in the relief work.

Dr Yvonne Everett , a Professor of Natural Resource Planning from Humboldt State University in California , has been working with the Centre for Environment, Department of Geography and others at the University of Peradeniya to coordinate the university's GIS based mapping capability. She will also help and initiate a list serve/website for data sharing with government departments, universities, local and international NGOs working to gather spatial and other emergency response data in the aftermath of the disaster.  Once the locations of displaced persons' camps and the numbers of people and types of relief needed are in spatial data bases (mapped),
the relief will become easier to coordinate.  Then there will be the damage assessments - infrastructure like roads and buildings, water supplies, salinity, environmental impacts etc., to be done as the country rebuilds. University students will be active in this work. Yvonne is also working with NSRC, a local NGO coordinating  relief and restoration efforts in seven villages on the South and East coasts.

Rebecca Ennen, Jeremy Gantz and Malka Older have been working with Sarvodaya, the Rotary Club of Colombo - Regency and Sewa Lanka, sharing their web development skills or generously donating time and energy by working hands on in the field. Many other scholars have been lobbying for funds abroad or making donations.

"I was part of a very small web team at Sarvodaya in charge of maintaining and developing their blog at http://blogforsrilanka.com/ ." Says Jeremy. He adds, "I don't think web work is what many people think of when they imagine relief work, but the many thousands of dollars which we received through internet donations after people visited the site are a testament to the importance of web presence during crises like this. Two days ago (Thursday, 6/Jan/'05) I began assisting Rotary Club of Colombo Regency with their relief effort.  I am essentially their web and email administrative hub, in charge of cataloguing the hundreds of emails and donations they have received and continue to receive. In addition, I am maintaining their relief effort blog at http://www.reliefforsrilanka.blogspot.com/ ."

Malka Older , whose academic background is economics, has been working in Trincomalee and Galle, two of the worst hit regions, writing proposals, coordinating efforts and meeting with donors .

Samir Shah is an architect who has been researching, " Vernacular Architecture - how regional Sri Lankan modernism has responded effectively to the local climate and adapted traditional building methods to the realities of contemporary social conditions". He will be actively involved in assisting an American NGO called Architecture for Humanity in their reconstruction work. Samir says, "In the past week, as I emailed and called around to offer my architectural skills as a volunteer, I got a newsletter from an organization back home in New York (Hoboken, NJ actually). A group called Architecture for Humanity was putting together a tsunami reconstruction fund. They were also calling for architects and designers in the devastated areas to contact them. AFH wants to help fund an experienced Sri Lankan relief organization, working with a team of Sri Lankan architects, to build a village within what is, in effect, the Sri Lankan vernacular building tradition."

Given the research that Samir has done so far and the contacts he has with some of the architects best suited for AFH's goal, he hopes to help bring local architects the funding they need through AFH, and help take part in the practical application of all that he has learned so far on his Fulbright Grant.

The Fulbright Programme aims to promote mutual cultural understanding between the USA and Sri Lanka through academic exchanges. To date, since its inception in Sri Lankan in 1952, over 800 U.S. and S.L. scholars have received scholarships to study in each others' countries.

The willingness of the American scholars to work on the field at their own expense or lobby for funds abroad shows a willingness to be involved personally in the catastrophe of their host country with generosity and sensitivity. The words of Samir Shah captures a cultural sensitivity that does not proclaim to understand what the Sri Lankans are experiencing, but is yet willing to empathise and be sensitive to it:

"It has been just over one week since the events of 26 December, 2004 here in Sri Lanka. In that time, I have gone through much mental anguish for my friends here, the safety of their family members, and for my own personal safety. I have only been in Sri Lanka for three months, have no family here, lost no friends, and yet I feel such unutterable loss. My imagination is not boundless enough to understand the grief of the Sri Lankan people themselves who have lost villages, homes, friends, family."

The US-SLFC wishes to invite Sri Lankan families to host a US Fulbright Scholar during the scholar's stay in Sri Lanka. As the aim of the Fulbright programme is the promotion of mutual cultural understanding between people and nations, the host family will be encouraged to develop strong links with the scholar to give the scholar opportunities to be part of day-to-day events, celebrations and activities of the host-family. The host family will not be expected to provide board or lodging for the scholar.

US scholars reside in Sri Lanka for time periods ranging from 3 - 9 months. The scholars usually arrive in Sri Lanka during the last quarter of the year.

Suggested activities with the scholar:

• Assist the scholar settle into the country - help the scholar get to know the City, introduce scholar to places of interest and practical use such as shops.
  
• Invite the scholar to family events such as get-togethers, family meals, traditional New Year celebrations, weddings, cultural events or religious ceremonies.
  
• Invite the scholar to join the family on social outings - concerts, trips etc.

While special social events and outings with the host family will be much appreciated by the scholar, it will be the day to day gatherings and activities that will be of immense value in giving the scholar opportunities to understand Sri Lankan culture and life. Therefore it is hoped that you will provide the scholar an opportunity to be part of a variety of family and social events.

Sri Lankan academic institutions and organisations in need of specific academic and specialist input within their organisation can now make a request for an American academic or specialist. Application forms for the next academic year need to be submitted to the Fulbright Commission by August each year.

Several events were held at the United States - Sri Lanka Fulbright Commission (US-SLFC) to mark "International Education Week (IEW)" from 15 th November onwards, the details of which are given below.

The panel consisted of the Executive Director US-SLFC, Mr. Tissa Jayatilaka, Principal, Asian International School , Mrs. Goolbai Gunasekara and the Student Adviser, US-SLFC, Mrs. Nelum Senadira.

Principals and 2 staff members each from 60 secondary schools across the country were invited.

This was the cornerstone of the US-SLFC's activities with IEW and it also proved to be the star attraction amongst them. We were able to directly reach out to a large number of personnel in charge of helping students with their applications to U.S. Colleges.

The Executive Director, Mr. Jayatilaka, introduced the concept of IEW. He then spoke about the US education system and its importance in the global setting, with special emphasis on undergraduate study. He explained the need to pay close attention to the selection of the right university, keeping the particular needs of each individual student in mind. The inter-disciplinary approach to higher education, the flexibility and diversity of American education, variety of opportunities within it and the joy of cross-cultural experience of university life were showcased. He also underscored the fact that the college application essay should be the student's own creation.

The Principal, Asian International School , Mrs. Gunasekera, spoke on the need to correctly guide the students early, on their future aspirations. This, she said, was the only way to avoid the student being subjected to contradictory, incomplete, confusing and often "off beam" information, by people who didn't know much or anything at all about the U.S. education system and the application process. Quality, flexibility, open-mindedness and the diversity of the American system were highlighted by Mrs. Gunasekera.

The Student Adviser, Nelum Senadira, focused on letters of recommendation and the school transcript. She explained the need to be aware of what U.S. admission officers look for and to target the recommendations accordingly. She then went on to explain the significance of extra -curricular activities of a student in the application process. Using a PowerPoint presentation, she successfully demonstrated the ways of writing an effective letter of recommendation.

The programme was conducted in an informal manner which led to much discussion and an exchange of views. All participants were given handouts as follow up to the topics discussed.

Another significant event after the above workshop was the presentation of books to the Kotalawela Defense Academy (KDA). A number of cadet officers at KDA are preparing to take the TOEFL and SAT examinations prior to applying to U.S. institutions. A combination of test preparatory books was donated by the US-SLFC for use by these officer cadets.

The Guest Speaker at this event was Marc Williams, Senior Consular Officer, U.S. Embassy, Colombo . Mr. Williams explained to a capacity crowd assembled at the US-SLFC auditorium what he looks for when an applicant for an F1 visa comes in for an interview. He also discussed the issue of the Student and Exchange Visitor Information Service (SEVIS) fee and the need to be truthful at the visa interview. He answered many questions from the participants both during the seminar and afterwards over tea and snacks.

At the invitation of the Principal of the Elizabeth Moir International School , the Student Adviser held an orientation on U.S. higher education for the London G.C.E. Advanced Level students of the school. This school has hitherto encouraged aspiring undergraduates to look primarily towards Britain for higher education and the Student Adviser made use of the opportunity given her to focus on the manifold benefits of U.S. higher education to those interested in the subject. The US-SLFC donated some useful reference material to the school library.

The participants were introduced to basic information on graduate study pogrammes, the supplementary tests and other issues of the applications. A video presentation on Inside Graduate Applications was also presented. The participants received a handout on graduate studies.