Nearly 30 people gathered in WALL 322 on the campus of Coastal Carolina University on Wednesday, January 20, for the CIB’s first official membership meeting of the semester. The group included representatives from all four years of studies at Coastal Carolina University, and we also had with us a member of the Scholars Academy, the four-year public high school locate on our campus. Among the group were many of the new officers of the CIB, led by Blake Gutberlet, a junior from Hickory, NC, who was elected Executive Director of CIB earlier this month. Blake spoke to the group about the purpose and mission of the CIB and explained the integral connection between the student club and the class (INTEL 451) taught by Dr. Joseph Fitsanakis. The participants then shared some of the current topics and issues that they felt should be monitored throughout the semester. They included subjects such as economics and money laundering, the war between Turkey and the Kurds, and maritime tensions in the South China Sea, among others. Following the productive meeting, the CIB Executive Team held the first officers’ meeting of the semester, where the CIB budget and constitution were discussed. There is little question that 2016 promises to be a very busy year for CIB, as the club prepares for its largest-ever influx of new members. We will meet again in a week.