Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-07-21
THEY'RE WELL-DLREC7ED
Students Have Sense Of Special Opportunity
BY AMELIA YOUNG
Star Staff Writer

BY AMELIA YOUNG
Star staff Writer
Last August q young col
lege student was introduced
to President Kennedy on the
White House lawn.
"Oh, It's so nice to meet
you," she trilled, shaking his
hand. i've heard so much
about youl"
The occasion was the finale
Of the 1862 White House
seminar and the students
bright greeting, funny as it
sounded to those who over
heard it, did ably express the
enthusiasm aroused by the
program.
The White House seminar,
now in its second year I'M
der the direction of Mrs.
Dorothy Davies, Is the ad-
ministration's way Of SELL
ing" Government to its thou
sands Of student summer
employees. So that their jobs
from clerical up will be more
than mere summer Jobs, the
program gives the young men
and women an inside look by
introducing them to some Of
the leaders who make Gov
eminent tick.
In his letter Of welcome to
this years crop Of nearly
1000, the President noted
that some were returnees,
proof enough" he said,
that you have found the
halls Of Government decked
with interesting people as
well as interesting Jobs"
A Discovery
To the newcomers he said,
Gas you become familiar
with the problems and COM
plexitieS that accompany the
administration of Govern
ment you will make this dis
covery for yourself. You will
see that Federal agencies are
not vast machines bullying
with cold statistics and cold
hearted bureaucrats. You
will find, instead, that the
great stone and marble build
ings are the nerve-centers Of
the Nation and that the peo-
pie who work there take
pride In their careers and in
their achievements"
The President added,
"And I suspect that you will
find, too, that the roof does
occasionally cave in on those
whose Jobs are not well
donel"
The Seminar consists Of
seven weekly sessions (Tues-
days at 10 am. in the
Washington Coliseum from
July 16 through August q,
where the student employees
meet, hear and question Cab
met officials, Senators or
Representatives, agency
chiefs and the like.
Beyond that, Mrs. Davies
job Is director Is to encour-
age the participants to plan
activities Of their own, en-
courage employers within the
departments and agencies to
enhance the learning expert
ence, and encourage the es-
Enlistment Of "internship"
programs where they don't
yet exist.
The internS-who 60 by
different names in different
departments (e. g., student
aides, student assistants)-
form a special 10 per cent or
so Of the seminar partici-
pants. The seminar includes
high school graduates in any
government grade, whereas
the internship programs are
generally restricted to COL
lege seniors and graduate
students who are given as
sistant-type professional jobs
in their special fields Of
study.
More Flexible
The internships, sometimes
sponsored by the college or
university, sometimes by gov
eminent, are more flexible
than the regular summer
job, with greater stress on
the learning experience-of
course, it is hoped that the
outstanding young men and
women who qualify for these
programs will later return to
put that learning to use in
government service.
Five young women work
ing here this summer-four
Of them interns and one Of