Military Takes Aim at Educating Civilians
by Naseem Khuri on April 30, 2008 in News
On a sunny April day in West Point, New York, eight students sat down for lunch in the dining hall of the United States Military Academy. Seven of them were cadets, wearing Advanced Combat Uniforms and boots-the relaxed dress code for Fridays. But the eighth stood out like a sore thumb: a Kennedy School student dressed in khakis and asking lots of questions.
An Uncivil Action
by Nik Steinberg on April 30, 2008 in HKS News, News
On July 7, 2007, Harvard campus security guard Rajiv Ghimiray was working the night shift when he started to feel dizziness and a tingling feeling throughout his body. Ghimiray, who suffers from high blood pressure, sat down to rest on a sofa in a dorm lounge, where his supervisor found him minutes later. He was given an official warning for taking an unauthorized break.
The Mathematics of Climate Change
by Syon Bhanot, News Editor on April 30, 2008 in HKS News
Having a PhD in physics isn’t typically regarded as an asset at school of public policy. But for Jason Blackstock (MPA/MC), it landed him right in the middle of this year’s Spring Exercise for first-year MPPs.
The Citizen Conversation with … Peter Bergen
by Ben Branham on April 30, 2008 in Citizen Conversation with...
Peter Bergen, a visiting adjunct lecturer who this spring taught a new course on “Al Qaeda and the Rise of International Terrorism” (ISP-425), is widely viewed as a pre-eminent terrorism expert. As the first journalist to conduct a televised interview with Osama bin Laden in 1997, Bergen has authored two books, Holy War, Inc. (Free Press, 2001) and The Osama bin Laden I Know (Free Press, 2006). Prior to HKS, he taught at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). The Citizen caught up with him before the last week of classes. (PHOTO: Peter Bergen at the Afghan-Pakistan border in 2003; CREDIT: Scott Wallace)
Armageddon Outta Here
by Cody Keenan on April 30, 2008 in Opinion
As I sit in a Starbucks on Pennsylvania Avenue between the Capitol and the White House, I watch a steady line of staffers clad in Brooks Brothers and clutching BlackBerries march by.
As they obsessively scroll through their inboxes, their bosses do little to prevent our problems from steadily growing worse. I’m halfway tempted to stand in their way with a hastily-painted cardboard sign declaring “THE END IS NEAR.”
I’ve got that uneasy feeling I haven’t had since my mother used to yell at me using my middle name. I’m not much for the evangelical movement that fervently hopes the Rapture is upon us, but I’m beginning to understand their penchant for fitting the Book of Revelation to their needs. Fires. Floods. Earthquakes. Famine. Chaos. Read more
You’re a Lot More Interesting than I Thought
by Carlyn Reichel on April 30, 2008 in Opinion
Not to make this all about me, because this is about you - but my birthday is today. So, as the quarter-life crisis careens headlong at me, I’ve been thinking about how to honor the momentous day when I will finally be able to rent a car on my own.
I try to do something unique or interesting or stupid each year to mark the occasion. Last year, I went to trapeze class and got hooked on a niche market skill that will inevitably make for more unique job interviews later in life. This year, I am trying a little self-reflection. Imagine that - it only took me 25 years.
Here’s what I’ve come up with so far: you’re a lot more interesting than I thought you were. Read more
Public Management 101: Bartending Basics
by Leah Vincent on April 30, 2008 in Opinion
When I was 22, I took a job as a bartender in Manhattan to earn some extra cash. As a longstanding teetotaler, I was initially derisive of my new job - until I realized that bartending was in fact a fountain of public management knowledge.
In the months I spent behind the bar, I learned about the effects of alcohol, the rules of hustling and the curious mating games played by American youth. I also learned about myself, our culture and humanity (or lack thereof). But most relevant to my studies at HKS, I learned everything I need to know about running an organization. Read more
Talking Heads
by Naseem Khuri on April 30, 2008 in Culture
The question: Your HKS experience is almost over. If you could do it again, what would you do differently?
Eavesdropper
by Naseem Khuri on April 30, 2008 in Culture
Snippets of conversation overheard in the HKS hallways. Read more
Hard Crime/Soft Crime
by Jim Armstrong on April 30, 2008 in Culture
Actual reports filed by the Harvard University Police Department, with commentary by our resident crime-watcher, Jim Armstrong.
