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Fall 2010
Intern Newsletter
Inside this issue:
Adventure Begins 2
High Expectations 2
Inspiration 3
Complicated but
Interesting
3
HAA Ambassador 4
HAA New Board 4
Phone: 202-467-0893
Fax: 202-496-9177 E-mail: [email protected]
HACU NATIONAL
INTERNSHIP
PROGRAM
One Dupont Circle, N.W.
Suite 430 Washington, D.C. 20036
Director’s Note
Fall 2010
As you get ready to complete this experience and prepare for the holiday season, we encourage you to take
advantage and enjoy all the activities we have organized for you. Amid the celebration of Hispanic Heritage
Month, interns have had tours of the Capitol (see photo above) and of the Washington monument and received
training in business etiquette.
In this issue, we have contributions from interns in Dallas and Seattle as well as two reports from DC interns.
As you read their stories, you will see how diverse the HNIP community really is. Either making websites acces-
sible for everyone or analyzing data from fire experiments, HNIP interns are actively engaged in substantive
work at their agencies.
We also highlight Alejandro Herrera, who is serving as liaison between the HACU Alumni Association (HAA)
and the current fall interns. Alejandro is a fine example of the caliber of HACU interns. He is currently working
on opening the doors of opportunity for Hispanics at the DCAA.
In closing, I would like to congratulate those of you who have been offered and have transitioned to a federal
government position. I hope you can also open doors for those behind you!
All the best,
Maria Elena Vivas-House
HNIP Fall 2010 Interns
Congratulations to the interns Who Secured a Federal Government Position!
Thea Neal, Summer 2010 Intern, USDA Mariela Mercedes, Summer 2010 Intern, USDA
Enio Miranda-Bermudez, Summer 2010, FDA David Martinez, Summer 2010 Intern, IRS
Emily Cruz Rosado, Summer 2010 Intern, IRS Manuel Ostos, Spring 2010 Intern, DHHS
Regina Cagle, Spring 2010 Intern, USDA Arling Arriaga, Spring 2010 Intern, DOL
Adventure Begins Once More By Anwar Alumeyri Department of Treasury—Office of Information Management—Washington, D.C.
Rochester Institute of Technology Fall 2010 Intern
Page 2 Fall 2010
this internship.
I’m working in the offices of the U.S. Forest
Service, which is part of the U.S. Department
of Agriculture, in the Air Fire Division. There
is a very laid back, but professional attitude
in this office. Everybody is very passionate
about what they are doing, mainly because
they believe that their work helps people
and helps us understand how our environ-
ment works. My project is to analyze field
data from a prescribed fire experiment. To
accomplish this I have to learn the statistical
analyses software “R”, so the analysis of
data can be done in a fast, but reliable man-
ner.
So this last two weeks I have been having a
crash course in R, learning by doing. It is not
difficult to use, once you get the way it
Complicated but Interesting By Francisco Alonso USDA—Forest Service —Seattle, Washington
Universidad Metropolitana-Camaguey Fall 2010
It's good to be back to Washington, DC. It
is a nice city. Perhaps the best place for
people with disabilities. Can you guess why?
DC is one of the most accessible cities in
the world. It has a large number of tech-
nologies that are accessible to most people.
I feel that it is my job to make the world
accessible for everyone regardless of dis-
abilities. Whenever I design a product the
first thing that comes to mind is how people
with visual, hearing and physical impairments
will be using the product. I expect everyone
to use it. Technology that's accessible for
everyone means having their independence.
This is the beauty of accessibility.
Now you get the idea why I work for the
Department of the Treasury. My responsi-
bility is to make all of the websites accessi-
ble for everyone. I am in the Accessibility (Section 508) Program of Information Man-
agement (IM). The Office for IM is The Of-
fice of the Chief Information Officer
(OICO). Besides working in the Accessibil-
ity program, I also act as an IT Specialist in
other areas of work such as programming,
Microsoft SharePoint and different duties
related to my skills that help facilitate work-
flow when I am needed. I am glad that my
job keeps me busy.
Adventure is the first word that describes
my first two weeks of work. I have learned
how people with disabilities use the Inter-
net. There are countless of tools to help
blind people surf the Internet. Deaf people
can communicate with the blind people
using text-to-speech through a smartphone.
Hearing people with physical impairments
can use speech-to-text to communicate
with deaf people via a television screen. It is
wonderful that there are a lot of tools to
make our lives easier.
Unfortunately for the Internet, it is far from
being accessible for everyone. My mother
cannot even use the Internet. This sparks a
challenging goal for me to accomplish. I
want to make at least 50% of the Internet
accessible to everyone. The Internet is too
vast for one person to accomplish alone. It
is open for everyone who wants to contrib-
ute goodwill and kindness.
I want to thank my supervisor, Gladys for
the opportunity that she has given me to
work for the Department of the Treasury.
It is a great honor. All of her hard work to
get me in the HACU program has made me
a much stronger intern.
I feel honored to be part of the HACU
Internship program. I now have a goal to
make this internship the best experience as
possible so we all can grow professionally
for success.
I have a good feeling that this internship is
going to be a blast. I cannot wait to share
my valuable experience to everyone so
we can learn from each other.
works. I also have been working with the
data of the prescribed fires. I have produced
a considerable amount of charts and calcula-
tion so it’s easier to interpret the data.
There are still analyses that have to be done
with the data and other charts that will be
made as a result of the charts that already
exist, so its going to get more complicated
and interesting as the project develops.
The first couple of weeks have been so far,
so good! Seattle is a really cool city with
lots of culture poring from every corner.
There are streets musicians everywhere,
and lots of art galleries, coffee shops and
original/peculiar places to eat and have a
good time. The music scene is a major part
of the city; there are live concerts of repre-
senting every genre of music that can be
imagined. The grunge/alternative genre started in here back in the 90’s. So it is safe
to say that music everything in this city.
The weather is kind of treacherous, is very
cold and when its rains, which is everyday,
it gets even colder. This is going to be my
first experience with a real winter season.
In Puerto Rico there are no real changes
between the seasons, at least not like in this
place. So, I think surviving the winter is
going to be one of my biggest challenges in
Anwar Alumeyri is a student from Rochester
Institute of Technology (RIT), majoring in
Information Technology. He worked for the
Department of Agriculture (USDA) as a Mi-
crosoft-IT intern in the American Association
of People with Disabilities Program
Francisco hard at work in Seattle.
High Expectations US Department of Commerce– Census Bureau–-Dallas, Texas By Caterina D’Alessio Ramos
Fall 2010 Intern Universidad del Este-Carolina
Page 3
During my first two weeks at the U.S.
Census Bureau, I have seen how important
it is to successfully complete the security
process for current and prospective em-
ployees. At the Census Bureau each secu-
rity process focuses on maintaining secu-
rity and control standards for all Census
Bureau employees. Not only is security a
priority, but so is employee training.
Training is concentrated on topics related
to the function, operation and service, or
data accumulated by the Census Bureau.
The data collected highlights important
demographic value by the Census Bureau
of the United States. Consequently, the
training I have been given allows me not
only to learn more about the Census Bu-
reau, but equips me with the capability to
achieve my career goals and ambitions.
During my field work, I have noticed that each
office collects data and is in responsible for the
analyzing and reporting. Also, I have noticed
how the collective work of all employees benefits the entire U.S. population. The col-
lected information by all the employees at the
Census Bureau assists in the regulation, safety,
and improvement the United States.
I have high expectations of my work perform-
ance and experience I plan on gaining. Work-
ing at the Census Bureau is a great opportu-
nity, which will assist me in achieving career
ambitions. I hope to fulfill the expectations of
my supervisor and the agency.
Inspiration U.S. Department of Education—Office of Postsecondary Education—Washington, D.C. By Claudia Cervantes
Fall 2010 Intern California State Polytechnic University-Pomona
My experience being a HACU intern at
the Department of Education in Washing-
ton, D.C. has been incredible. I have ac-
quired a tremendous amount of knowl-
edge, not only on how our educational
system works, but also on how the Fed-
eral Government operates as a unit. I have
been provided with opportunities for
growth not only professionally but also
personally. More importantly, I have been
treated as a regular federal employee
more than as an intern.
Since my first day at the Office of Post-
secondary Education, I could easily sense
that my experience working there was
going to be unique as well as gratifying.
All the staff members were very welcom-
ing and always tried to assist me on any-
thing they could. They provided me with
more that what I could need or ask for.
They also gave me a very interesting first
assignment that allowed me to compre-
hend right away what the office was all
about and the type of work that they do.
The assignment involved analyzing and
preparing a summary of an application for
a grant submitted to the office. They ex-
plained to me that what the office does is
basically give away grants that are de-
signed according to the funds made avail-
able by the federal government. The analy-
sis of the grant application gave me the
opportunity to better comprehend the
structure of the office and its role within
the Department of Education.
The following day I met with my supervisor,
Dr. Ochoa, to discuss an adequate work plan
for me. Dr. Ochoa was pretty open to any
suggestions I could have when it comes to
the role that I could be playing in the office
and he encouraged me to provide as much input as possible into the designing of such
plan. We decided that I was first going to
explore the different divisions within the
office in order to better determine the areas
in which I would like to be involved.
I spent the following week meeting with the
supervisors from the different divisions
within the office. It was fascinating to learn
about all the programs and the grants pro-
vided to students, institutions, college and
universities through those programs. I truly
wanted to be part of all of them but my time
at the office is limited and therefore I had
to select two or three programs I would
like to be involved in.
The programs that I selected are those
that mainly deal with providing financial aid
to first generation students who have dem-
onstrated academic commitment and finan-
cial need. I decided to work as part of
these programs because as an under-
graduate, I benefited tremendously
from them. Thus, it had a special mean-
ing for me. I wanted to see how those
programs come to be a reality and all
the hard work that needs to be put in
place in order for them to occur. Now
I look forward to working with the staff
that puts together those programs in
the next couple of days.
I also had the opportunity of attending a
couple of meetings with Dr. Ochoa and
I was able to see how the office inter-
acts with and relates to other offices
within the department.
I truly believe that working with Dr.
Ochoa is going to benefit me tremendously
because he is a Latino and an excellent
leader. He came to this country when he
was 14 years old from Argentina and was
able to overcome many obstacles in order
to reach his goals. His accomplishments
inspire me to do better and have more
confidence in myself to believe that I can
do whatever I want if I put all my effort
into it.
Caterina working at the Census Bureau
From the Left: Dr. Ochoa, Claudia Cervantes and
HACU President and CEO Dr. Antonio Flores
High Expectations U.S. Department of Commerce—Census Bureau—Dallas, TX By Caterina D’Alessio Ramos
Fall 2010 Intern Universidad del Este– Carolina
Champions of Hispanic Success in Higher Education
www.hacu.net/
applicantportal
Fall 2010 HACU Alumni Association
HNIP Ambassador
The HACU Alumni Association Shot at Graduate School
Scholarship is open to HACU student program alumni who intend
to pursue education beyond a bachelor’s degree and is designed to as-
sist with the cost of applying to graduate school.
The Application is OPEN!
Visit www.hacu.net/alumni to learn more
HACU ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
SHOT AT GRADUATE SCHOOL SCHOLARSHIP
About Alejandro J. Herrera: Currently, Alejandro is a HACU Intern at the Department of
Defense, Defense Contract Audit Agency where he is working
as a Legal Administrator in the General Counsel’s office. Alejan-
dro’s last HACU internship was with Department of Health and
Human Services, Office of Refugee Resettlement, during the
spring semester of 2010. He is a graduate student at Florida
International University studying Public Administration and
Criminal Justice. Alejandro was born in Union City, New Jersey
and raised in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida by a Cuban immigrant fam-
ily.
As an HAA Board Member, Alejandro will be responsible for
serving as liaison to all current participants in the HNIP [field
and DC] and to represent and communicate the ideas, con-
cerns and recommendations of all current HNIP program par-
ticipants.
If you have any questions, concerns, or comments feel free to
contact him: E-mail: [email protected]; Work email: alejan-
[email protected] He looks forward to meeting all of you throughout the fall and
wishes you good luck with your internships.
Congratulations, Alejandro J. Herrera,
HACU Alumni Association Ambassador!
Upcoming HNIP
Events
October
12-Second Intern Meeting
Career Opportunities
Location: NCHE Building 1B,
4:00 pm-6:00om
22-Tour: TBD
November
9-Third Intern Meeting
HACU Ambassadors Location: NCHE Building Floor
1B, 4:00-6:00pm 11– Federal Holiday-
Veteran’s Day
19-Tour: TBD
25-Holiday-Thanksgiving
HACU National
Internship Program
Application
Deadlines
Spring 2011
Program dates: 1/13-4/20
Regular deadline: 11/4/10
Summer 2011
Program dates: 6/3-8/13
*Early deadline: 10/1/10
Regular deadline: 2/25/10
Fall 2011
Program dates: 8/25-10/10
Regular deadline: 6/17/100
