Rita Sinha, BS ’06, has been crowned Miss District of Columbia International 2007. Sinha, 23, hopes to use her title to do some good. Throughout her year’s reign as Miss DC International 2007, she will promote HIV/AIDS prevention in the nation’s capital by advocating the message of abstinence education in school systems, community organizations, and the offices of policy makers.

The District of Columbia has the highest rate of new AIDS cases – a rate that is ten times the national average. While the Global AIDS epidemic abroad is a main concern for many of our nation’s leaders, Sinha says, “We have an epidemic right here in our backyard. Let’s not be negligent of that.”

In June 2006, Rita Sinha graduated from Spirit of Faith Bible Institute, a post-secondary Christian University. Currently a patent examiner at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, she plans to continue her education in law school and pursue a career as a patent attorney.

During her time at GW, Sinha was a member of Alpha Phi Omega Service Fraternity; president of Word Up! Bible Study; the Student Association’s director of diversity affairs; chapter, regional, and national board member of National Society of Black Engineers, and an International Student Ambassador.

Robert Pierce Forbes, BA ’87, a lecturer in history at Yale University, has published a book that analyzes a crucial moment in American history. The Missouri Compromise and Its Aftermath: Slavery and the Meaning of America goes behind the scenes of the Missouri Compromise and discusses the high-level deal-making, diplomacy, and deception that defused the crisis, including the central, unexpected role of President James Monroe. Forbes’s analysis reveals a surprising national consensus against slavery a generation before the Civil War.

Brian Kamoie, JD ’96, MPH ’97, has been appointed to the career Senior Executive Service position of Deputy Assistant Secretary and Director of the Office of Policy and Strategic Planning within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In this role, he leads ASPR’s efforts in policy development and strategic planning for preparedness and response to bioterrorism and other public health emergencies.

Mark London, JD ’79, has coauthored a book, The Last Forest, along with Brian Kelly. In the book, the longtime explorers and chroniclers of the Amazon basin trace the region’s transformation due to urban sprawl and other damage inflicted by humans. The book explores the question: Is it too late to strike a balance in the Amazon between economic sustenance for the millions of people who live there and protection of the world’s last great forest? The pair has coauthored several other books together. London is a trial lawyer in Washington, D.C.