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                         November 21, 2003

Cadets participate in annual SCUSA conference

Spc. Nate Jastrzemski
Staff Writer

The 55th annual Student Conference on United States Affairs began here Wednesday and ends Saturday.

The event gives cadets the opportunity to discuss and formulate foreign policy with other college students from around the world.

This year’s theme is "U.S. National Security: Balancing Self-Interest with International Responsibilities." More than 200 students from state, international and Ivy League colleges joined delegates from the other service academies to participate this year, said Maj. Michael Arnold, executive secretary of the event.

"SCUSA is meant to get students from around the country to discuss foreign policy formulation and recommendations with cadets," Arnold said. "It gets them thinking about international relations and the U.S.’s role in the world."

He said cadets and their civilian college counterparts are our future leaders and they felt West Point was a great place for them to meet while they were undergraduate students.

"The real goal is to put together policy formulations in various aspects of U.S. foreign policy, or in the case this year, national security. We want to show the world these are bright kids and some of their findings will be published for the government to look at and consider in real-world policy."

He said the cadets involved with running the conference have their own chain of command and have been working on this event since just after last year’s ended.

"This conference is one of the many ways cadets get involved and develop leadership skills, Arnold explained. "The response we’ve gotten from the students is great -- this year we had more applicants than we had space to for."

Special guests this year include Scott Rowel, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Policy, Plans and Resources and NBC News anchor Brian Williams as keynote speaker.