You are correct life is changing as well as some perceptions. Thank you for sharing the article.
Billy
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Billy
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Life IS changing when the Rhodes selection committee can look at a person
with paraplegia & still see "physical vigor". P.S. I'm back. It's been awhile. I
got kicked off the list when my husband was in the hospital for a couple
weeks & my mailbox exploded... 8-) CloudSing
32 U.S. Students Chosen As Rhodes Scholars
By TARA BURGHART
.c The Associated Press
CHICAGO (AP) - Ian Desai was so curious about maps he found in a book that he
retraced the ancient voyage of Jason and the Argonauts, one of the most
enduring Greek fables. Now, not surprisingly, he'll immerse himself in modern Greek
and Oriental studies at Oxford University after being named among America's
32 Rhodes Scholars.
The scholars, chosen from 904 applicants from 341 colleges and universities,
will enter Oxford next fall. The scholarships fund t! wo or three years of study
in England.
The American students will join scholars selected from 18 other nations.
About 95 scholars are selected each year.
``I'd really like to look back on the past through a modern lens,'' said
Desai, a University of Chicago graduate. ``What I'm trying to understand is how
the past comes to influence current political and social realities.''
For six weeks during a study abroad program in Greece, Desai walked, took
buses, rode a motorcycle and sailed with a group of Turkish fishermen to better
understand Jason and the Argonauts.
``I was looking to retrace this journey and get a kind of current perspective
on this ancient myth,'' he said.
The Rhodes Scholarships were created in 1902 by the will of British
philanthropist and diamond magnate Cecil Rhodes. Winners are selected on the basis of
high academic achievement, personal integrity, leadership potential and
physical vigor,! among other attributes.
Past scholars include former President Bill Clinton, U.S. Supreme Court
justices Byron White and David Souter, singer/songwriter Kris Kristofferson, former
presidential candidates Bill Bradley and Wesley Clark, and James William
Fulbright, creator of the Fulbright Scholarships.
This year, Harvard University had the most selectees with five, followed by
the U.S. Naval Academy with three - the most for that school in one year since
1929, said spokesman Cmdr. Rod Gibbons.
Another winner, Jennifer Howitt, who lost the use of her legs in a hiking
accident when she was 9, plans to study development and to continue work to
improve conditions for the disabled in developing countries.
``I'm still having trouble putting into words how it feels,'' said Howitt of
Georgetown University, a member of the U.S. wheelchair basketball team that
won a gold medal at the Athens Paralympic Games. ``In a lot of ways,! it felt
kind of like winning the gold in Athens. It kind of put this smile on my face
that I couldn't take off.''
Others selected include Jeremy Farris, a senior at Georgia Tech who
discovered a pathogen to help control kudzu and plans to study political theory at
Oxford, and Andrew Kim, a University of Chicago graduate who plans to study
international relations, particularly conflict resolution and refugee issues related
to Africa.
Justin Mutter, one of two Rhodes honorees from the University of Virginia,
has been working in public health in Haiti and plans to study how global
religious communities confront problems like poverty and disease.
``Everyone experiences shock, not really having known what to expect, and all
of a sudden hearing your name called out,'' Mutter said. ``After that, it's
this sense of gratitude, not only for being offered a scholarship but for the
community, the experience of the whole process.''
On the Net:
http://www.rhodesscholar.org
11/22/04 13:08 EST
Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news
report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed
without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active
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