RPCVs in Congress Hold Seats, Garamendi is California
Lieutenant Governor

Two RPCV members of the House of Representatives
facing significant challenges have reportedly been
re-elected.

Connecticut Congressman Chris Shays (Fiji 68-70) was
declared the winner of his re-election bid with just
over 50% of the vote. As of early Wednesday morning,
his Democratic challenger had not conceded the race.

In upstate New York, Congressman James Walsh (Nepal
70-72) also won a close race, receiving 51% of the
vote.

California’s two RPCV Congressmen easily won
re-election. Mike Honda (El Salvador 65-67) received
72% of the vote, while Sam Farr (Colombia 62-64) won
re-election with nearly 77% of the vote.

The fifth RPCV member of the House of Representatives,
Wisconsin Congressman Tom Petri (Somalia 66-67) was
unopposed.

In other races involving RPCVs:

In California, John Garamendi (Ethiopia 66-68) was
declared the winner Wednesday morning in a very close
race for Lieutenant Governor.
Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle (Tunisia 67-69) was
re-elected with nearly 53% of the vote.
In Texas, Independent candidate Kinky Friedman
(Malaysia 66-68) received nearly 13% of the vote in a
five-way race won by incumbent Governor Rick Perry.




Best wishes,

Ed & Maria Hromatka
972-722-5254 - Home
214-564-7201 - Cell
214-767-2169 - Ed's Work

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to bring to your attention the winter events
for Peace Corps North Texas. These events are through
the end of 2006.

Thursday, Nov. 28, 5:30pm Tree Trimming at Scottish
Rite Hospital, Maple at Oak Lawn Ave. Ten people usually show up for this event.

Saturday, December 9, Christmas Party at Gary and Judy
Zimny's home; pot luck and please bring canned goods
for a food drive. This party is always a success and a
delight. 3839 Valley Lawn Place in North Dallas near Royal.

Thursday, December 28, Happy Hour at Stratos on
West Northwest Highway near Bachman Lake; Greek food and belly dancers; we are
returning there by popular request.

Yours truly wishes you all a happy autumn and
holidays.

Brynne Sissom, 972-650-1647
Membership Chair NTPCA



________________________________________________________________________________\
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When:      Tuesday, November 28, 2005 at 5:30 PM

Where:     Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children,

            2222 Welborn Street, Dallas TX 75219

We will decorate a Christmas tree at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for
the handicapped children again this year to help kick off the holiday
season for patients and their families. We will be using our ornaments
from previous years but you can add an additional decoration as well if
it is not breakable.

Parking is free in the garage or on the surface lots.  Meet in the main
lobby at 5:30 p.m. for the event kick-off.

Peace Corps points alumni toward federal jobs

By Karen Rutzick  11/28/06

http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=35566&dcn=todaysnews

Peace Corps officials are promoting their former volunteers as ready-
made civil servants.

Volunteers return to the United States from two-year stints as
teachers, technology workers, foresters and more, from locations as
far as Malawi, the Dominican Republic and Bolivia, looking for work.
They have a passion for public service and -- perhaps most
importantly -- a handy special status that allows agencies to quickly
hire them without the rigmarole required for filling most government
jobs.


The Peace Corps is advancing this message this week during its first
career fair. About 50 alumni are at the fair, which is running until
Thursday at Peace Corps headquarters in Washington. Some traveled
from as far away as California, Michigan and Canada to fill the
Shriver conference rooms.


As the government kvetches over how to hire enough new workers to
replace the retiring baby boomers who likely will vacate more than
half of federal jobs over the next decade or so, returning Peace
Corps volunteers may be a place to start. Right now, only 40 out of
about 3,000 recent alumni of the volunteer program are in federal
service, according to Max Stier, president of the nonprofit
Partnership for Public Service. Stier spoke at the fair Tuesday.


"There are equally challenging but very different kinds of work where
you can make a difference," Stier said. "The opportunities are in the
federal government."


The schedule is packed. The Peace Corps alumni will learn about
federal internships, graduate programs in public administration,
networking skills for federal jobs, using the USAJOBS.gov Web site
and the special language of federal job applications.

Also on the agenda are the details of Peace Corps alums' special
hiring status, which allows agencies to appoint them to federal jobs
within one year of their return to the United States without making
them compete with the general public.

The Transportation Security Administration and the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention are holding their own sessions, and
participants will have a chance to go to Government Accountability
Office headquarters.


In addition to TSA and CDC, the 16 agencies participating in the fair
include: the Securities and Exchange Commission, the International
Trade Administration, the U.S Agency for International Development,
the Homeland Security Department's Inspector General office and the
State Department.


Still, even as the Peace Corps promoted public service to the alums,
they were warned that the complexity of the government could make
finding the right job difficult.


"It ain't gonna be easy," Stier said. "You might think 'I had my
Peace Corps experience, and I don't need [a challenge] again.' Sorry,
but that's life."


Stier pointed the attendees toward his organization's Web site,
www.makingthedifference.org, to begin the challenge.

Hello,

This email message is a notification to let you know that
a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the North_Texas_Peace_Corps
group.

   File        : /Winter_2007_Newsletter.pdf
   Uploaded by : chapinr75081 <chapinr@...>
   Description :

You can access this file at the URL:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/North_Texas_Peace_Corps/files/Winter_2007_Newslett\
er.pdf

To learn more about file sharing for your group, please visit:
http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/groups/files

Regards,

chapinr75081 <chapinr@...>

Bob Klein, RPCV, will be in Dallas on December 7 & 8.  He would like
to schedule interviews with RPCVs who served in the early days of
Peace Corps.  His project is to archieve these interviews for future
study regarding the experiences of Volunteers from the 60s and 70s and
the Volunteers of recent service.  If you are interested, call Bob on
his cell phone at 520-977-2120.  Call Kathy Carson at 214-824-4983 for
a local contact person.

Hello All, and Happy New Year!

Please join us this coming Saturday, January 13, to do
our part to Keep Dallas Beautiful. Our stretch of
highway is Northwest Hwy from 75 west to Preston Rd.
Our blue signs mark this two mile section.

We meet at Blue Mesa Restaurant at 9am. Blue Mesa is
on the south west corner of 75 and Northwest Highway.
I have bags (and safety vests if you want one).

It has been a success so far and the weather has
remained mild. When we leave 6-8 bags of trash behind,
(and all manner of other wierd stuff;-)) and the
street looks clean, you go home with a good feeling.
The morning has been worth it.

Any questions, please call me...Brynne at 972-650-1647.

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

Hello All,

Due to the predicted arrival of rain and an Arctic
Cold Front this weekend, we have postponed the Adopt A
Highway Trash Pick up until Saturday, February 24,
9-12.

Brynne

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

The Dallas Regional Office is currently looking for a Temporary
Recruiter to begin on February 18, 2007.  Please refer to the job
description below.  All applications must be received by February 4,
2007.
Best regards,
Shannon Borders
Public Affairs Specialist

Immediate Opening: Temporary Recruiter
Peace Corps Dallas Regional Office
Job Description: Temporary Recruiter, FP-0301-7 (Equivalent to GS-
07)
SCOPE
This position is located in the Dallas Regional Office under the
jurisdiction of the Office of Volunteer Recruitment and Selection,
Peace Corps. The incumbent serves as a Volunteer Recruiter under the
general supervision of the Regional Manager. The purpose of the
position is to recruit qualified, scarce skill applicants and to
build awareness of all Peace Corps programs in the region. This is a
temporary position and will extend from February 18 through May 12,
2007.

RESPONSIBILITES
Campaign Planning 20%
Identifies opportunities for recruitment of individuals with scarce
skill for the Dallas Regional Office's five state region (AR, LA,
NM, OK, TX), and develops comprehensive plans for both campus and
community recruitment activities.  Assists recruiters in identifying
and implementing specialty recruitment campaign blitzes.

Campaign Promotion Responsibilities 30%
Assists as a team member in marketing campaigns to promote
Recruitment events a activities. Assists Public Affairs Specialist
and Recruiters in implementing marketing campaigns. Serves as team
member for campus and community-based recruitment drives.

Reviews all information pertinent to planned campaigns and develops
recruitment/awareness plans that effectively utilize staff and other
resources to reach targeted markets, i.e. scarce skills, senior
Americans and minorities. Assists Public Affairs Specialist in
planning campaign publicity and securing local media support.
Contacts community, professional and academic resource people and
organizations, enlisting their support of local recruitment efforts.
Ensures that appropriate printed materials are prepared and
necessary equipment is secured for campaigns. Arranges public
speaking engagements and audio-visual presentations. As necessary,
makes travel accommodation and logistical arrangements related to
campaigns
Assists the Regional Manager and the recruiters in the development
of the Regional Office recruiting schedule by researching possible
campaign sites, reviewing and analyzing campaign data, and
recommending recruitment dates and duration of planned visits.

Recruitment Activities 50%
Implements planned blitz recruitment campaigns. Travels to campaign
sites within the Regional Office jurisdiction to conduct on-site
awareness activities.   Makes presentation before classes, campus
and professional organizations, and community groups that promote
Peace Corps and highlight recruitment needs,  Utilizes class talks,
general and special focus information meetings and other formats in
community and campus settings to support recruitment goals. Seeks
additional opportunities to present the Peace Corps recruitment
message through public forums and the media, utilizing available
technology including the Internet. especially in scarce skill areas
such as education.  Performs straightforward and non-controversial
tasks to assist in the development and maintenance of relationships
with various stakeholders. Participates in interview with print and
electronic media. Prepares written reports highlighting relevant
campaign plans, activities, and results.

Responds to general inquiries about the Peace Corps by explaining
terms and conditions of volunteer service, application and selection
procedures, etc., and provides other relevant programmatic
information. Provides written materials and applications to
interested individuals.  Encourages qualified individuals to submit
applications to the Peace Corps and tactfully discourages those
people with non-competitive skins or low motivation from applying.
Counsels non-competitive applicants in ways to enhance skills to
improve future placement possibilities.

Deadline for Application: Sunday, February 4, 2007

Send letter of interest and current resume via email to: Daniel
Mendieta dmendieta@...

I wanted to let everyone know about an opportunity to get involved
with a wonderful group called Engineers without Borders.

I will highlight that you don't need to be an Engineer to involved
(I am not). Please e-mail me if you would like to attend our meeting.

We are looking people to become part of our group.

The goals fall in line with many of our goals as Peace Corps
volunteers.

Engineers Without Borders is a non-profit humanitarian organization
established to partner with developing communities worldwide in
order to improve their quality of life. This partnership involves
the implementation of sustainable engineering projects, while
involving and training internationally responsible engineers and
engineering students.

The activities of EWB-USA range from the construction of sustainable
systems that developing communities can own and operate without
external assistance, to empowering such communities by enhancing
local, technical, managerial, and entrepreneurial skills. These
projects are initiated by, and completed with, contributions from
the host community working with our project teams.


Our meeting information for February is as Follows:

Join us for Pizza at the

Engineers without Borders

2007 Kickoff meeting

on February 1st

from 7pm-8pm

Location: University of Texas at Arlington
Nedderman Hall Room 601

Our Guest Speaker is Bob Walker the Executive director for Uni-Bell
PVC Pipe Association. Uni-bell is a international nonprofit
engineering association dedicated to helping people gain access to
safe sustainable water through use of PVC pipes.

We hope you can attend!

The event is free, but if you would like to make a small donation we
would appreciate it.

You can also donate at: http://www.ewb-usa.org/chapters.php?ID=839


Please pass this e-mail on if you know someone who might be
interested who is not a member of the Return Peace Corps Group.

If you would like to find out more about Engineers Without Borders
please visit our website at: www. ewb-usa.org.

Please e-mail me with questions at sgarvin@....

Thanks!

Samantha Garvin
RPCV Honduras (2002-2004)
Dallas Regional Peace Corps Recruiter
EWB North Texas Chapter Treasurer

Sorry for some reason my e-mail address didn't show up on the message
on Engineers Without Borders.

If you would like to attend the event or would like more information
about Engineers without Borders please e-mail me at
sgarvin@...

or sgarvinrivera@...

Thanks!