2004-05 SRI LANKA FULBRIGHT JUNIOR SCHOLAR PROGRAM

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 COLOMBO 001632

SIPDIS

DEPT. FOR ECA/A/E/NEA-SA - TMASTRANGELO
USUN PLEASE PASS TO IIE - RGOLDBERG/LPAREKH

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OEXC CE OEXC
SUBJECT: 2004-05 SRI LANKA FULBRIGHT JUNIOR SCHOLAR PROGRAM


1. THE US-SLFC RECEIVED A RECORD TOTAL OF 597
APPLICATIONS IN RESPONSE TO ITS PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT OF
THE SUBJECT AWARDS PROGRAM. AFTER A PRELIMINARY
INTERVIEW OF ALL ELIGIBLE CANDIDATES BY THE
COMMISSION'S COMMITTEE ON STUDY AND TRAINING, A SHORT
LIST OF 20 CANDIDATES WAS PRESENTED TO THE US-SLFC'S
BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR A FINAL INTERVIEW HELD ON
SEPTEMBER 10, 2003. TWO OF THE CANDIDATES INVITED FOR
THE FINAL INTERVIEW WERE UNABLE TO PRESENT THEMSELVES
AT THE INTERVIEW.


2. THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS WERE HIGHLY IMPRESSED BY THE
18 FINALISTS AND SELECTED SIX INDIVIDUALS LISTED
BELOW, FOR FURTHER PARTICIPATION IN THE 2004-05 JUNIOR
SCHOLAR AWARDS PROGRAM. AS PER LAST YEAR, THE BOARD
FOUND EACH OF THESE NOMINEES EMINENTLY WORTHY OF A
FULBRIGHT AWARD, BUT DUE TO LIMITED FUNDS WAS
COMPELLED TO NOMINATE THREE PRINCIPALS AND THREE
ALTERNATES.


3. GIVEN BELOW IS A RANK-ORDERED LISTING OF THE SLATE
OF SIX RECOMMENDED CANDIDATES FOR THE 2004-05
FULBRIGHT JUNIOR SCHOLAR PROGRAM.


4. PRINCIPAL NOMINEES:


A. THE TOP-RANKED NOMINEE, AND UNANIMOUS CHOICE OF ALL
BOARD MEMBERS, ON THE PANEL OF SIX, MISS HANCHAPOLA
APPUHAMILAGE UDENI "MANEL" GRADUATED FROM THE
UNIVERSITY OF PERADENIYA WITH A SECOND CLASS UPPER
DIVISION HONORS PASS IN PSYCHOLOGY. MANEL WAS AWARDED
THE FRIEDRICH EBERT STIFFTUNG FULL SCHOLARSHIP TO
FOLLOW THE DIPLOMA IN COUNSELING. WHILE SELECTING
COUNSELING AND PSYCHOTHERAPY AS HER MAJOR FIELD OF
STUDY, MANEL WISHES TO SPECIALIZE IN CHILD ABUSE AND
WAR TRAUMA. CURRENTLY SHE WORKS AS A CHILD CARE
OFFICER AT THE NATIONAL CHILD PROTECTION AUTHORITY AND
ALSO AS A TRAINEE CHILD CARE WORKER AT THE NATIONAL
TRAINING AND COUNSELING CENTRE FOR CHILDREN. SRI
LANKA IS GREATLY LACKING QUALIFIED PERSONNEL IN THIS
AREA AND MISS MANEL'S EXPOSURE TO THE U.S. WILL
BENEFIT THE COUNTRY ON HER RETURN.


B. THE SECOND-RANKED PRINCIPAL NOMINEE, MISS SAJIWANI
UPEKA "SAMARAKOON" HAS A FIRST CLASS HONORS DEGREE
PASS IN ZOOLOGY FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF PERADENIYA.
SAMARAKOON WAS AWARDED A UNIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIP FOR
EXCELLENCE IN STUDIES. SAMARAKOON IS A TEMPORARY
LECTURER AT THE DEPARTMENT OF ZOOLOGY OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF PERADENIYA. SHE HAS CHOSEN MOLECULAR
SYSTEMATICS - AND HER RESEARCH INTERESTS ARE IN THE
FIELD OF PHYLOGENETIC SYSTEMATICS AND CLADISTICS.
SAMARAKOON OBTAINED A SCORE OF 287 IN THE TOEFL TEST
(CBT) HELD IN 11/2002. IN THE GRE TEST TAKEN IN
06/2003 SHE HAS A VERBAL SCORE OF 620 AND A
QUANTITATIVE SCORE OF 620 AS WELL. THE ANALYTICAL
RESULTS OF THE GRE WILL BE SENT TO HER SUBSEQUENTLY.


C. THE THIRD-RANKED PRINCIPAL NOMINEE, MISS ANDAL
"RADHAKRISHNAN", HAS AN LLB UPPER SECOND CLASS HONORS
PASS FROM THE NATIONAL LAW SCHOOL OF INDIA AND AN LLM
WITH A MERIT PASS FROM THE LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS
AND POLITICAL SCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON.
RADHAKRISHNAN IS A LEGAL EXECUTIVE OF THE REVENUE
STEERING COMMITTEE OF THE S.L. MINISTRY OF FINANCE.
DURING HER FULBRIGHT GRANT, RADHAKRISHNAN WISHES TO
SPECIALIZE IN TAX LAWS.

ALTERNATE NOMINEES:


D. MR. WATHUGALA GAMAGE DULAN MANUJINDA "WATHUGALA",
THE FIRST ALTERNATE NOMINEE AND FOURTH ON THE PANEL OF
SIX, OBTAINED A FIRST CLASS HONORS PASS IN COMPUTER
SCIENCE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF COLOMBO. WATHUGALA WAS
AWARDED A SCHOLARSHIP BY THE UNIVERSITY OF COLOMBO AND
THE PROFESSOR J.E. JAYASURIYA PRIZE FOR MATHEMATICS ON
THE RESULTS OF THE FIRST YEAR EXAMINATION IN 1998. HE
ALSO RECEIVED THE MOHAN MUNASINGHE AWARD FOR THE BEST
COMPUTER SCIENCE STUDENT, THE CINTEC AWARD FOR THE
BEST COMPUTER SCIENCE PROJECT AND THE JOSEPH NALLIAH
ARUMUGAM MEMORIAL AWARD FOR THE STUDENT HAVING THE
HIGHEST AVERAGE MARKS ON THE RESULTS OF THE SPECIAL
DEGREE EXAMINATION IN SCIENCE. WATHUGALA ALSO
RECEIVED THE JUSTIN SAMARASEKERA AWARD FOR THE MOST
OUTSTANDING SCIENCE STUDENT OF THE YEAR, 2001.
WATHUGALA IS AN ASSISTANT LECTURER AT THE SCHOOL OF
COMPUTING OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLOMBO. HE HAS
SELECTED COMPUTER VISION AS HIS AREA OF
SPECIALIZATION. WATHUGALA HAS OBTAINED A SCORE OF 260
AT THE TOEFL (CBT) TEST IN 11/2002 AND A SCORE OF 1800
AT THE 09/2002 GRE (GENERAL) TEST.


E. MR. RUKSHANA SUBASH KURUPPU "NANAYAKKARA", THE
SECOND ALTERNATE AND FIFTH NOMINEE ON THE PANEL OF
SIX, IS A PROBATIONARY LECTURER IN LAW AT THE FACULTY
OF LAW, UNIVERSITY OF COLOMBO. NANAYAKKARA OBTAINED A
SECOND CLASS HONORS PASS AT THE LLB EXAMINATION, 1998.
NANAYAKKARA HAS AN LLM IN HUMAN RIGHTS FROM THE
UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG, 2001. THE ASIA FOUNDATION
AWARDED A SCHOLARSHIP TO NANAYAKKARA TO READ FOR THE
LLM IN HUMAN RIGHTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG.
HE WAS AWARDED A STUDENTSHIP ON THE RESULTS OF THE
FIRST EXAM IN LAWS AND FOR CONTINUOUS PERFORMANCE IN
THE LLB FINAL PARTS I, II AND III; THE GATE MUDLIYAR
EDMUND PERIS PRIZE AND THE AJITHA PARATHALINGAM PRIZE
ON THE RESULTS OF THE FIRST EXAM IN LAWS; A GOLD MEDAL
IN THE ADDRESS TO THE JURY CONTEST, IN THE ENGLISH
MEDIUM 1994 AND ALSO IN THE SINHALA MEDIUM IN 1998.
NANAYAKKARA'S AREA OF SPECIALIZTION IS ENVIRONMENTAL
LAW AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW.


F. MR. CHAMILA KUMARA "WALGAMPAYA", THE THIRD
ALTERNATE AND SIXTH ON THE PANEL OF SIX, IS AN
INSTRUCTOR AT THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGINEERING
MATHEMATICS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PERADENIYA.
WALGAMPAYA OBTAINED A SECOND CLASS UPPER DIVISION PASS
AT THE B.SC. ENGINEERING IN COMPUTER SCIENCE. HIS
AREA OF SPECIALIZATION IS IN DATA MINING, NEURAL
NETWORKS AND PATTERN RECOGNITION. WALGAMPAYA HAS
TAKEN THE 04/03 TOEFL TEST BUT HAS NOT YET RECEIVED A
SCORE.


5. ALL NOMINEES WHO HAVE NOT TAKEN THE TOEFL AND/OR
GRE TESTS WILL BE REGISTERED AS SOON AS US-SLFC
RECEIVES THE TEST FEE WAIVER VOUCHERS FROM IIE. DULY
COMPLETED APPLICATION FORMS OF THE 2004-05 FULBRIGHT
JUNIOR SCHOLAR NOMINEES WILL BE SENT TO IIE BY OCTOBER
10, 2003. REGARDS.

LUNSTEAD