unljnews

By COLIN CLIFFORD
J Alumni News staff

Allison Busch

Imagine being given an assignment on something you know nothing about. A project so demanding that it’s a government matter. Now imagine being a sophomore in college and having this assignment rest in your hands.

That was the daunting task facing junior advertising major Allison Busch in fall 2009.

That semester, Busch was an intern at the Global Innovation and Strategy Center, one of many sectors of the United States Strategic Command based in Omaha. The task? Figure out how to protect the commercial industry’s satellites from electromagnetic interference. In simple terms, this means stopping the disruption of satellite signals that are used around the world.

Teams take on STRATCOM challenges

Each year United States Strategic Command — STRATCOM — puts together several teams of people from different skill areas. The five members of the team are given one semester to address a problem facing STRATCOM.

The team’s goal was to create a report that contained suggestions on how to solve the disruption of the satellite signals. This report would then be presented to the students’ supervisors, and ultimately, to a four-star general.

Busch and her team began digging into the research.

“We had to dive in head first looking up information about satellites,” she said. “We were dealing with experts who had been in the field for 30 years.”

Busch’s colleague, Carrie Lacy said, “It’s definitely a fast-paced research environment where you are expected to provide real-life solutions to be used by the Department of Defense.”

Not everyone trusts the government

In addition to their heavy research load, the interns faced a challenge when workers in the commercial industry often were leery of working with anyone affiliated with the government.

“There is a trust issue,” Busch said. “Sometimes it’s hard to pull that information out of people.” But the team persisted and completed its task.

Busch was the third J school student to be accepted for the internship at STRATCOM. Past UNL interns in the program were Maggie Tunning and Adrian Whitsett.

The experience of working in a government environment and gaining a new experience was what made the internship so important to Busch. She said the most satisfying part was piecing bits of information together as they were discovered. Figuring out the cause of satellite failure also proved to be intriguing.

Despite the challenges her team faced, Busch recommends other J school students apply for the STRATCOM internship.

“Go with something outside of your comfort zone,” she said. “You won’t regret it in the end.”