Katie Schmitt
Assistant Editor

The Physical Therapist Assistant Club had its annual fund-raiser selling taco meals and giving free mini massages October 19.

Susan Callanan, event coordinator and NIACC instructor, has helped the club for five years but said this tradition has been happening long before she got there. The event was an open house and proceeds will help fund opportunities for club members.

Some of the opportunities available for members include the Opportunity Village, continued education conferences and the Iowa Physical Therapist Assistant Fall Conference on October 30.

The fundraiser also worked to help promote the club and inform the public. There are currently 25 members but anyone interested can join.

"We don't turn anybody away," Sara Truax, club president, said.

Anyone interested in joining can contact Callanan at (641) 422-4339 or Carol Patnode, coordinator, at (641) 422-4162 or stop in to talk to students in McAllister Hall Room 103.

Linda Hartmann, a native of Germany, began a semester of study at North lowa Area Community College as the first part of a one-year exchange program through the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals.

Hartmann is one of 100 young German professionals selected for the scholarship exchange who study at a select group of 78 colleges in 36 states and complete a six-month internship in their career field.

She will have also completed a community service project of her choice during the fall term. During the year-long program, Hartmann will also attend seminars in New York City and Washington, DC.

Hartmann is being hosted by NIACC in Mason City.

Host families for future participants are being sought. If you are interested in hosting, or know someone who may, please contact Jennifer Jarvis, Assistant Program Officer, at (212) 497-3512.

The Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange, now entering its 21st year, was designed to strengthen ties between the younger generation of the United States and Germany. Conceived in 1984 and annually endorsed by members of the United States Congress and the German Parliament (Bundestag), the program has enabled over 2,500 young professionals to trade countries with their counterparts to live, study and work for a year in a foreign environment. The program is financially supported by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs under the authority of the Fullbright-Hays Act of 1961, as well as the German Bundestag.

CDS International, Inc. is designated to administer the program in the United States through a grant agreement with the U.S. State Department.

In Germany, the program is administered by CDS International's partner organization, InWEnt gGmbH, in Cologne.

The Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange is currently seeking American applicants for the 2005-2006 program year in Germany. For more information, please contact Dan Eilman, Program Assistant at( 212) 497-3522.

In addition to the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange, CDS International also administers a variety of other internship programs.

For more information on CDS International and its programs, including the Congress-Bundestag program, please contact CDS International, Inc. or visit our Website at: http://vvww.cdsintl.org.

Katie Dahl
Staff Reporter

Working 40 hours or more a week during a student's senior year can be stressful, especially when working for 20 House Representatives.

Laurianne Miller, NIACC freshman, served as a page during the end of her senior year. "A page helps the House of Representatives by doing research, running errands and getting to study bills and amendments for the representatives," Miller said.

While working in Des Moines, she said she stayed at the Holiday Inn while her other co-workers lived with relatives or rented apartments.

"At first it was kind of cool staying at a hotel but it got old living out of a suit case," Miller said.

Miller was a student at North Iowa High School in Buffalo Center. Since she was missing most of her last semester of school, she took two classes, government and classical literature. Working as a page for the House of Representatives, her experience counted as her government credit. With her other class she had to email her assignments to her teacher.

"I missed my friends but it was a good experience," Miller said.

She said she learned a lot about government during her session. Miller also learned the conduct of debate first-hand.

Miller was introduced to the idea of serving as a page from a family friend, House Representative Henry Rayhons.

She said she applied for the job along with around 500 other high school juniors and seniors. There were 45 positions available, 20 for the House, 20 for the Senate, and five positions that were involved with both house and senate.

Miller said she was called for an interview for a chance to be a page. The interview was held in the legislative dining room which Miller said was pretty intimidating.

She advises anyone applying for a position as a page to smile and be confident.

After she got the page position, she said she had to go through orientation and get fitted for her uniform.

Female pages wear a khaki knee length skirt, with a white button up shirt with a blue blazer over top and panty hose. She wore the outfit daily.

Miller said she plans on getting her degree here at NIACC and transferring to the University of Iowa to major in political science.

She said she hopes to eventually work in Washington, DC as a secretary for a representative.