Richard Pastore, Millie Saroha, and Kara Rekemeyer represented the department at the 62nd annual Student Conference on National Affairs (SCONA) at Texas A&M University from February 16-18, 2017. The students attended presentations from national security policymakers and analysts including Admiral Michael Rogers, Director of the National Security Agency and Commander of U.S. Cyber Command; Islamic scholar, author, and former radical Dr. Tawfik Hamid; and Dr. Charles McMillan, Director of Los Alamos National Laboratories. Additionally, each student worked in a theme-based group over the three days of the conference to develop a policy to advance national security. Millie Saroha’s group explored the news media and the rise of fake news. Richard Pastore’s group focused on economic warfare, regulation of the financial industry, and cybersecurity. Kara Rekemeyer’s group examined immigration. Pastore and Rekemeyer were chosen to present their group’s proposal.
