Two Eastern Kentucky University students are the first in the Commonwealth to be selected for internships in the nation's capital through The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars.

Andrea Phelps, a senior public relations major from Louisa, is working this semester with Amlev Dershowitz Communications Inc., a public relations firm specializing in strategic planning and crisis management. Mary Nelson, a senior broadcasting major from Greenup, is working with George Michael Sports Machine, an NBC-affiliate sports program.

Funding from the Council on Postsecondary Education enables each student to receive a $3,000 stipend through a new partnership between the Center and the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education.

"EKU students were eligible for the internships in the past, but the program costs were so high that few of our students were able to afford them," said Dr. Paul Blanchard, professor of government and campus liaison for the program. "Now one of our students can participate for approximately the same cost as a semester at Eastern."

"To experience an internship in the nation's capital, arguably the most important city in the world, is just an extraordinary opportunity for students," Blanchard said. "It's real-world education that students need to complete their college education. The students are involved in real decision-making and with important decision makers every day."

Phelps and Nelson recently completed internships with the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission.

"They're outstanding students," Blanchard said. "Their work in Frankfort convinced me that they had the skills and maturity that would make them perfect for the Washington Center internships."

Phelps, a 1999 graduate of Lawrence County High School and the daughter of Larry and Kim Phelps, said her internship with Amlev Dershowitz is providing her with "valuable working knowledge about public relations, the media, Web site marketing, development and strategy. (But) the things that are going to help my career more than those skills are the relationships I've built, the business knowledge I've gained, the persistence I've learned to use and the confidence that has stemmed from being able to handle Washington public relations."

She added that her classroom experience at EKU and her three prior public relations internships "prepared me for Washington much more than I realized. The Department of Communication at EKU is to be commended for preparing students for the 'real world.' The basics that I have learned in such courses as public relations writing and advanced public
relations have contributed to my success in internships."

EKU students will be eligible to receive a Washington Center internship in the private or public sector in the spring or summer of 2003, according to Blanchard. Applications for the spring semester will be accepted through Oct. 29.

For more information, contact Blanchard at 859-622-4380 or paul.blanchard@eku.edu.