Caffeinated
at Columbia
FROM PUBLISHING
TRENDS (AUGUST 2001)
Clearly,
the students at the Columbia Publishing Course
this year have lost nothing on their ultra-achieving
predecessors in the move from Harvard to NYC. As in
years past, we have compiled a composite biography of
the terminally caffeinated graduate (achievements are
from actual student biographies). Publishers may catch
the buzz at Columbia’s Publishing Course career day,
Monday, August 6, from 9 a.m. to noon at the Time Life
Building. To RSVP call (212) 854-0034.
With
the ink still drying on the emergency education proposal
Ms. Student wrote for victims of the armed conflict
in Colombia, President Bush chose her as a White House
Fellow in 1991. Bouncing back from a stint as a corporate
paralegal, she was again lured to Washington when President
Clinton tapped her to transform the Education Department
into a high-performance organization. Delving into Ashtanga
Yoga and Zen meditation, she utilized her superior powers
of concentration to lead a successful turnaround of
Herman Miller East Asia, where she was president. A
Phi Beta Kappa inductee at Dartmouth, Ms. Student taught
her journalism professor to run, in exchange for lessons
in ornithology. Though she only picked up a little Japanese
while working in Japan as a Fulbright Memorial Fund
Fellow, Ms. Student had ample time to learn both Russian
and Ukrainian while a Peace Corps volunteer in Ukraine.
More than fluent in Samoan and literate in French as
well, she listens rapturously to Urdu ghazals when not
transfixed by the fortunes of the Indian cricket team.
Moving on to develop branding campaigns for USA Today,
Ms. Student has written five Chinese-language bestsellers
and, concurrently, has summited mountains around the
world, including the Grand Teton, Mont Blanc, and Mt.
Fuji, while also earning her first-degree black belt
in tae kwon do. Fascinated by the Gosain sanyasi sect
in India, which was the subject of her dissertation
in medieval Indian history, her less cerebral but equally
challenging pastimes include wrestling a world champion
Siberian on his own tundra. Due to inclement economic
conditions, Ms. Student has been working as a bartender,
wearing the world’s most hideous vest. Happily, many
children also know her as Bow Tie because she is a professional
clown at birthday parties and other celebrations.
©2001
Publishing Trends
