QiMeng Cao '06, Ori Duek '06 and Benjamin Plum '05
Israel, China
Beijing to Jerusalem, via Selinsgrove?
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| Benjamin Plum ’05, QiMeng Cao ’06 and Ori Duek ’06 in New Orleans during Mardi Gras in 2003.
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It would seem that a philosophical New Yorker, a backpacking Chinese exchange student and a former Israel Defense Force soldier would have little in common. But common ground is exactly what they found when their lives intersected on the campus of Susquehanna University.
Cao, Duek and Plum overcame their language and cultural differences to become fast friends and roommates. Now, as business partners, they are working to overcome those same barriers in the wider world.
Last spring, the men did a joint independent study with James Brock, dean of the Sigmund Weis School of Business. The result was the formation of China - Israel Direct Trading, LP (CIDT). Their goal: overcome the cultural hurdles that have stifled direct trading between the two countries.
“By accident, we discovered that there’s a huge demand for Chinese goods in Israel, but most of the imports from China into the Israeli market come through third-party distributors in the United States and European Union countries,” Cao says.
Following three months of market research, CIDT became the first of its kind to facilitate and develop relationships between Chinese suppliers and industrial customers in Israel for such heavy production materials as polypropylene, silicone nitrate, automobiles and tire recycling technologies.
“There’s a huge market and little competition,” Duek says.
CIDT’s reputation continues to spread in the Israeli domestic market, and the company has secured exclusive representation contracts with both Chinese and Israeli firms.
All this, while going to college and studying abroad. Plum handles CIDT’s public relations and marketing planning from the U.S., while Duek and Cao run the business from Vienna while studying international business and performing internships. So what if they come home from classes to find messages in three different languages on their answering machine? They still take time out of their busy lives to enjoy the sweeter side of life.
“We are enjoying the rich history, art and music of Vienna, together with my personal favorite – the best ice cream in the world,” Cao says.
— V.K.
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Don Padgett ’91 – RUSSIA
“In July 1993 I went to south central Siberia on a five-week expedition with a team of three other U.S. scientists. As aquatic botanists, we went to collect and study the aquatic plants in that region. We were there for July 1993, and it was very hot (high 90s) – not what people think of when they think of Siberia.”
Paul Callahan ’95 – IRAQ
In 2001, Paul Callahan resigned from a Manhattan investment bank to join the U.S. Marine Corps. Callahan, who served two tours of duty in Iraq, said that being a Marine is something he always wanted to do. “I’m glad I resigned from my job,” he said. “Being a Marine officer is one of the greatest privileges the country can bestow… For parents to trust me with their young Marines in combat is a tremendous honor.” Currently stationed as an instructor at a training center in California, Callahan trains units to fight and survive in cold, mountainous environments, such as those of Afghanistan.
Neither Manhattan nor the Middle East kept Callahan from keeping in touch with Warehime Professor of Business Administration William Ward, who Callahan rates as “the best professor I ever had,” as an undergraduate at Susquehanna or during graduate school at New York University.
— J.S.
STUDY TOUR – CHINA
Every year since 2000, students and faculty have traveled to China for a two-week study tour. The credit-bearing trip is organized by George Wei, associate professor of history.
Kathryn Marie Spence ’99 - SOUTH KOREA
In 1999, Spence received a Fulbright Award to teach English at a South Korean middle school. She taught in Kwangju, where she lived with a South Korean family. Her first time in a plane was on her way to South Korea, “so to say that my global experience was broadened is an understatement,” Spence says. While living in Korea, she discovered what it is like to be a minority, an experience which has led her to teach in American schools with large minority populations.
— E.M.
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| Erin Goedegebuure ’06 learns how to weave coconut tree leaves into roofing materials for the bamboo huts where laborers and their families live. |
PLUS PROJECT – THE PHILIPPINES
For two weeks in May 2005, five students accompanied Jeffrey Mann, assistant professor of religion, on the inaugural Philippines – Learning, Understanding and Service Project trip to the provinces of Batangas and Cavite and the city of Manila.
Rachel Folk ’05 – CHINA
Folk, who is teaching English in Taiyuan, China, e-mailed a friend and current SU student in September:
“I was thinking the other day, as I came across a tree in the downtown area (which is rare, there are not many trees in this city!), that it is almost fall... Remember that one tree that is in front of Weber Chapel? The one that turns the most vibrant red color? I always wanted to take a picture of it, and I never did. Could you take a picture of it and then e-mail it to me?”
Anurodh Joshi ’09, Archana K C ’09, Sabin Mulepati ’08, Smita Raithore ’07 and Anuj Sainju ’06 – NEPAL
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| Sabin Mulepati ’08 at Swayambhunath Stupa in Kathmandu. |
Four years ago, Sainju, of Bhaktapur, Nepal, found out about Susquehanna from the Common Application and discovered it “matched all my needs and was perfect for me.” Two other students from back home, Raithore and Mulepati, heard about Susquehanna from Sainju, and also applied. With K C and Joshi, two other current students from a different part of the country, there are more students at SU from Nepal than any other foreign country and 37 U.S. states! Raithore says, “I can find faces from my country and speak in my own language. This makes me feel a little like I’m at home.” If she could take something about central Pennsylvania home to Nepal with her, it would be “more open space and trees. Squirrels everywhere!!”
— E.M.
