NOTES ON PEOPLE (08/16/98)

NOTES ON PEOPLE

Earns master's degree in public administration

by Dr. Elizabeth Mischenko-Pawlyk

CHICAGO - Katya M. Mischenko, daughter of Nicholas and Valentina Mischenko of Mount Prospect, Ill., was awarded a Master of Public Administration degree from the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs, University of Illinois at Chicago.

In 1996 she received a B.A. in political science with honors, also from the University of Illinois, and attended a summer program in democracy at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy in Ukraine.

In recognition of her dedication to community and public affairs, Ms. Mischenko has received numerous awards and scholarships, including the Pi Alpha National Honor Society for Public Affairs and Administration, the Chancellor's Service Awards (for four consecutive years) and the John Eckol's Scholarship for Excellence in Political Science.

Ms. Mischenko was very active in student organizations at the university. She was research assistant to the dean of the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs; associate site coordinator for First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton's Chicago visit, which involved work with the White House advance team; and head delegate to the Model United Nations.

Ms. Mischenko is also actively involved in the Ukrainian community. She is a member of the Ukrainian American Youth Association (SUM) Amateur Theatrical Group in Chicago, belongs to the Ukrainian Orthodox League and the Ukrainian Famine Committee in Chicago, and is president of the Ukrainian Student Club. She is a member of Ukrainian National Association Branch 214.

Awarded Fulbright for research in Poland

WILTON, Conn. - Diana Howansky has been awarded a Fulbright grant for the purpose of conducting research in Poland, the U.S. Information Agency and J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board announced.

Ms. Howansky, a resident of Wilton, Conn., is one of approximately 2,000 U.S. grantees who will travel abroad for the 1998-1999 academic year through the Fulbright Program. Established in 1946 under congressional legislation introduced by the late Sen. J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the program is designed "to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries."

Ms. Howansky's research will focus on Akcja Wisla, the operation carried out by the Polish Communist government in 1947 that forcibly removed about 150,000 Lemkos and other Ukrainians from their ancestral lands. In order to deny the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) support from the local population and to "Polonize" the Ukrainian minority, Ukrainians were relocated from southeastern Poland, where they had been living for generations, and spread out across the northern and western territories that Poland received from Germany after World War II.

Ms. Howansky intends to interview numerous victims of Akcja Wisla, to document their experiences, and to explore the extent to which Ukrainians in Poland were forced to assimilate.

Ms. Howansky graduated in May 1998 with a master's degree in international affairs, as well as a specialization in Russian area and East European studies, from the Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). During the course of her stay in Poland, she will be affiliated with the department of history at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow.

For general information on the Fulbright Program contact: United States Information Agency, Office of Academic Programs, 301 Fourth St. SW, Washington, DC 20547; telephone, (202) 619-4360; fax, (202) 401-5914; e-mail, [email protected].

Youth from Ukraine meets colorful mayor

by Peter Bobrek

PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. - While visiting his grandparents, Peter and Maria Bobrek in Knoxville, Markian Sich of Kyiv, had the opportunity to meet with George Jones, mayor of Dollywood, which is owned by singer Dolly Parton. The mayor speaks a few Ukrainian words and, as a result of long research into his ancestor's archives, traces his roots to Yaroslav, prince of Ukraine.

Mayor Jones is a colorful figure who adorns his clothing with numerous pins from all over the world, including Ukraine. Markian, who was born in Lviv was proud to pose with this 31st-generation Ukrainian.

Markian is visiting the U.S. with his mother, Natalka, brother Matthew, and sister, Melanka, while his father, Alex, awaits their return to Kyiv. They plan to visit with the Sich side of the family in Alfred Station, N.Y., and will be returning to Kyiv at the end of summer, where Markian currently lives and attends school. The Siches are members of Ukrainian National Association Branches 777 and 116.

| Home Page |