He Took a Chance--and He’ll Go to England as a Rhodes Scholar

Eric Garcetti of Brentwood has something in common with President Clinton.

Like the new President, the 21-year-old Columbia University student can call himself a Rhodes scholar. The prestigious scholarship, awarded to Garcetti last month, covers tuition and fees at Oxford University in England for two years as well as an allowance to cover living expenses.

One of 32 U.S. college students chosen to study in England, Garcetti was selected from more than 1,200 applicants.

“I didn’t think I had a chance,” he said. He will begin his studies for a Ph.D. in international relations in October.

Garcetti, a graduate of Harvard-Westlake School, holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Columbia University and is finishing a master’s degree in the same subject there.

He said that he hadn’t planned to begin work on his doctorate so soon but that one of his professors persuaded him to apply for the scholarship.

The professor, Carlton Long, “was a Rhodes scholar and the main reason I did it,” Garcetti said. “The last thing I thought I would be doing is studying more, but I had met other Rhodes scholars who really impressed me, so I gave it a shot.”

Garcetti is taking the award in stride. “I don’t think that anything I am saying is any more inspired (now that I’m a Rhodes scholar). . . .,” he said. “I am still going to do the things I’ve wanted to do.”

He also has in common with Clinton his interest in public service and is thinking about how to combine his studies with human rights work. He has volunteered for numerous nonprofit groups at home as well as in Burma and Ethiopia. For his dissertation, he hopes to return to Burma, maybe do a case study on the country’s struggle for democracy and continue his volunteer efforts.

“(Volunteering) has made me always be sure to combine academics with activism,” he said. “I hope that no matter what I do that I can look at the big picture and stay involved.”

Brentwood residents Britta and Arthur Schramm have been named members of the Regents Council at Mount St. Mary’s College in Los Angeles.

Arthur Schramm serves as general counsel for Westfield Inc. in West Los Angeles, and Britta Schramm is a speech-language pathologist in Santa Monica.

The couple will join the council, which is made up of business, professional and community leaders who promote the interests of the college and support its fund-raising efforts.

Santa Monica resident Matt Berger recently participated in the Presidential Youth Inaugural Conference sponsored by the Congressional Youth Leadership Council in Washington last week.

Sanders, chosen for demonstrating academic achievement, leadership and citizenship, was one of 500 high school students from across the nation chosen to attend the Inauguration of President Clinton.

He is a student at the Herzl School in Los Angeles.

Chuck Cale will be chairman of the Jimmy Stewart Relay Marathon, which will take place March 28 in Griffith Park to benefit St. John’s Hospital and Health Center in Santa Monica. The Brentwood resident is also a member of the United States Olympic Committee and was also active in the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee.

Loyola Marymount Prof. Santiago Sia has been awarded a senior research fellowship by the Katholieke Universiteit in Leuven, Belgium.

Sia, a resident of Playa del Rey, will work on a comparative study of classical theism and process thought. He will also contribute research to the Institute of Philosophy of Leuven and give a seminar on his work to faculty and graduate students on the topic of his research.