September 17 Issue
by The Editors on September 17, 2008 in Print Edition
Addressing Challenges in Liberia
by Syon Bhanot, News Editor on September 17, 2008 in News
12 Students Put HKS Skills to Work
Just a few weeks after taking their last finals, Claire Applegarth (MPP2) and Tamara Heimur (MPA/MBA) found themselves in a Liberian government car, inching through the streets of Monrovia. Soccer fans filled the streets, making it almost impossible for their car to move. Read more
HKS Introduces International and Global Affairs Concentration
by Tina Chong, Editor-in-Chief on September 17, 2008 in HKS News
Will IGA be a model for other concentrations?
The Kennedy School has introduced a new concentration in International and Global Affairs (IGA) for students starting the MPP program in the 2008-09 academic year. With an increase in the number of required courses and a broadening of policy areas under the concentration, IGA aims to provide a rigorous and interdisciplinary training for students interested in international and global affairs. Read more
The Culture Desk Wants to Hear from You!
by The Culture Desk on September 17, 2008 in Culture
Here at the Citizen’s Culture Section, we like you. That’s why we are introducing four new(ish) interactive features, including one called Fashion Confidential. Need tips on the hottest new fashions? Let our own fashion expert Christopher Laconi guide you. Just email the.culture.desk@gmail.com with your questions.
The Human-Faced Fish
by Victoria Criado, Asst. Culture Editor on September 17, 2008 in Culture
Eccentricity can be a dangerous thing to confess to in politics. When Sarah Palin was first tapped by McCain, some wondered if she would be “Eagletoned” – in reference to Thomas Eagleton, the ’72 VP candidate who was axed after it came to light that he had undergone electroshock therapy. In 2004, some wondered whether Senator Bob Graham’s relatively benign habit of logging every moment of his day in a small notebook might hurt his chances in the Democratic presidential primary. Graham has been painstakingly detailing such mundane activities as teeth-brushing and breakfast-eating since he ran for governor of Florida in 1977. The extent of his habit included buying the entire remaining supply of the North Carolina Paper Company’s notebooks (his favorite kind) when the company went out of business in the mid-1990s. Hard to see anything wrong with this – but the habit was mooted by the media as a potential stumbling block for his campaign. Read more
The Rebellion is Here
by Carlyn Reichel, Opinions Editor on September 17, 2008 in Opinion
This summer I spent a decent amount of time remarking on the protestors in our midst. There are more of them out there than you might imagine, protesting something every single day. Protesting things you wouldn’t possibly think could motivate someone to stand on a street corner and harass strangers, but there they are.
It began in Berkeley. Just blocks from my summer sublet, the university was trying to shake impassioned hippies out of the trees they had inhabited for over a year to prevent Cal from cutting down an oak grove to build a new athletic facility. Overnight it went from a quiet, quirky demonstration to a call to arms. Feces were flung. Arborists were bitten. Nobody bathed. Suffice to say, it was not pretty. Read more
A Trying Time for Freedom
by George Anjaparidze on September 17, 2008 in Opinion
Over a month has gone by since Russia’s invasion of Georgia, and yet conflict zones and other Georgian territories remain occupied by Russian forces. Russia’s brutal campaign has reopened old, deep wounds and gashed many new ones. I had a chance to go home to Georgia to witness these wounds firsthand when I met with internally displaced people in Gori, a strategic town near South Ossetia that was recently vacated by the Russian military. It was difficult to get the women to open up at first but once they started, they had many stories to tell. Read more
Why Public Service Matters
by The Editors on September 17, 2008 in Features
Incoming HKS students share with us why, in their view, public service matters.
- Sophia Pappas: A Life-Long Duty
- Michael Sechrist: The Little Things
- Mallika Sarkaria: A Voice for the Silent
- Bill Daly: Jumping Right In
- Omar Yanar: Aspiring to Inspire
- Wivina Belmonte: Blessed Frustration
Obama’s Kennedy Problem
by Sam Downing on September 17, 2008 in Opinion
Too often political punditry traffics in trash, but this election season, recycling is in vogue. For every new catchphrase, an old saw reminds us that the more campaigns change, the more their storylines abide.
For every flip-flop, there’s a comfortable pair of shoes; for every swift boat, a familiar horse to carry us across the stream. You’ll find a crony capitalist for every earmarxist and a wedge issue for every wide stance. You’ll even hear tales of limousine liberals munching arugula alongside paleoconservatives, but only at the Harvard Faculty Club.
In the flurry of pithy phrases recycling through election commentary this year, two themes deserve credit for offsetting the most carbon emissions:
(1) The battle between experience and change, and
(2) JFK. Read more
Auction of Broken Dreams
by Stephen Ander on September 17, 2008 in Opinion
It’s the start of another semester here at the Kennedy School, and we’re off with a bang. But, this bang is no starting gun aimed at the sky, but rather a shot aimed at us, the people.
As much as the administration has tried to give students the leeway to get into popular classes by introducing the progressive idea of an auction system with set bidding points, the system is inefficient and murky at best. Read more
