US embassy cable - 03COLOMBO1632

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 - Exchanges 
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