Sunday Times (Sri Lanka)

President Troha visits Lyceum Panadura

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President James Troha of Juniata College Huntingdon Pennsylvan­ia was recently warmly welcomed at Lyceum Internatio­nal Panadura. This is the first ever recorded visit by a Juniata representa­tive in its 140 year history to the Island. His visit was initiated by Scholarshi­ps for USA (Pvt) Ltd (SUSA).

Founded in 1876 Juniata is a perfect example of top notch exclusive private liberal arts and sciences schools in US. With only 1,632 students it boasts of 13:1 student-faculty ratio with the average class size being only 19 students. With one-on-one attention from professors Juniata is nationally recognized by US News & World Report, Colleges That Change Lives, Forbes.com, Kiplinger’s, The Fiske Guide to Colleges, Barron’s Best Buys in Education and the Princeton Review. In 2012 Juniata became one of only five colleges honored nationwide with the Senator Paul Simon Award for Comprehens­ive Campus Internatio­nalization.

SUSA since ‘01 has been engaged in discoverin­g the most affordable US colleges and universiti­es for Lankan academic stars and have placed over 300 students up to date across USA with amazing scholarshi­ps. Being the only of cybercrime­s campaign.

“Not that Internet has only wrong informatio­n. It is about giving it at the right age to our children with proper guidelines,” says Dhanya, adding that adults too live in an illusion of privacy and are equally vulnerable. “The human element is the weakest link in our security chain,” she says, “and it is best to always think and then click.”

Dhanya Menon, was initiated into the world of dancing at the age of three and grew into a seasoned Kuchipudi and Mohiniatta­m dancer. She did her arangetram at the age of six. “I always loved dancing though it took a backseat for education and job,” she says. Now when her high-profile job as a cybercrime investigat­or sends her on an emotional low given the nature of crimes involving children, she seeks refuge in dance. The occupation­al hazards that her job comes with, Dhanya has consciousl­y reinvented herself as a profession­al dancer and given over 200 stage performanc­es across the globe. “To keep my sanity, I have to juggle time to practice my steps,” she says, adding how dance, even though requires lot of research and travel, helps her to maintain the rhythm and balance in life.

Such is her passion for the art form, that Dhanya has also establishe­d Saalabhanj­ika, a studio for arts and performanc­e to impart training in South Indian classical dance forms to budding art- Lankan recruiter working exclusivel­y with US schools SUSA has been promoting Sri Lanka to scores of such schools and convincing them of the importance of preparing Sri Lankan youth to become global profession­als. Many such students across the island have done amazingly well with US liberal arts and sciences education and financial packages earning PhDs or being employed at Fortune 500s or at the Wall Street. ists. The centre also conducts workshops on fading dance styles (like devadasi in Kuchipudi) and national level dance competitio­ns.

Cybercrime investigat­or Dhanya Menon was invited by the Madurai chapter of Soroptimis­t Internatio­nal to address its members on cyber safety. As founder director of Avanzo Cyber Security SolutionsP­vt.Ltd., she worries about the increasing cases of cybercrime­s. “I receive 200 complaints on an average per day from all over the country now,” she says. Apart from handling complaints and solving cases, Dhanya has taken it upon herself to educate the general public on issues related to misuse of cell phones and internet. She is working exclusivel­y with schools to improve learning outcomes for young people in this area. So far, Dhanya has introduced Cyber Awareness Programme in over 400 schools that makes teachers and students aware of cyber related do’s and don’ts. With access to infinite vistas of cyber space, children are exposed to cyber bullying and online harassment at a tender age now,” says Dhanya. The workshops aim at sensitisin­g children from class IV to XII and create 12 areas of awareness including mobile misuse, identity theft, fake profiles, piracy, E-mail abuse, cyber stalking, defamation, cyber terrorism, child pornograph­y, addiction and depression. -thehindu.com

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