One Final Squawk
by Carlyn Reichel on April 29, 2009 in Opinion
In trying to decide what this final column should be about, I knew I wanted to reflect on the significance of our time here at HKS. What have been my lessons learned, the growth experiences before being released back into the world as a proper adult - employed (I can only hope), effective, and possessing greater erudition. And the one thing that keeps popping up is not the activity-based costing, the beta coefficients, or the Congress insanity, but the people.
I came to the Kennedy School to find myself - instead I found all of you. I found more of myself too, but the great facilitator of that wasn’t any reading lists or in-class discussion; it was the conversations in the hallways, the hours of loge-lurking in the Forum, the multitudinous pints at Shay’s and Grendel’s and Tommy Doyle’s and…I’ll stop now. Read more
Single Ladies at the G-20
by Carlyn Reichel on April 15, 2009 in Opinion
With President Obama nestled snugly back in the White House after his European tour, and the first lady having personally lifted J. Crew out of dire economic straits with her wardrobe choices along the way, we can finally take a moment to pause and reflect on the past few weeks. As the “charm offensive” toured the Western world, I felt a little like we needed a Santa-tracker device to keep tabs on our wandering leader. England, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Turkey, and Iraq - all in a little over a week. And everywhere Obama went, the cameras were sure to follow. One particularly striking image came early in the trip: the group photo of participants in the G-20 summit in London.
It was a diverse image, a powerful symbol of the divergent cultures represented in this world meeting to face truly global crises. The different tie choices alone could have formed a great cooperative international color wheel. But, as I’m sure you can see the point I’m winding up to here, there were exactly two representatives not wearing a two-button, double-vented cut of the standard Armani suit in black, blue, or charcoal gray. Germany’s Angela Merkel and Argentina’s Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner were the only ladies at the G-20 conference. Read more
The End of an Era
by Carlyn Reichel on February 25, 2009 in Opinion
MPP2 Insecurities, Revealed
For longer than I care to admit, I have had a huge crush on Conan O’Brien. For years, I had a life goal of being just successful enough at something, anything, to be the third guest on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien;” for years, this seemed like a more-than-achievable goal. All one really needed to do was accomplish something mildly interesting in the general vicinity of New York City. But now, all that has changed.
Last Friday was the last episode of “Late Night,” and Conan’s next incarnation as Jay Leno’s successor on “The Tonight Show” will inevitably be less quirky, more mainstream, and much, much less likely to accept the likes of me as a fill-in when the musical guest cancels at the last minute. It, in short, was the end of an era.
More disturbing to me, however, is the fact that it’s been 16 years since Conan first took to the air, at least ten since I set my egomaniacal goal, and still I have no idea what my something, my anything, is going to be. By the time Conan takes over for Jay on June 1, I too will have come to the end of my entre-act - the end of my formal education. I too will have to step onto a bigger stage, with higher stakes, knowing that there isn’t really the option to go back to the years where I could blame my lack of personal direction on being in college, or my early-20s, or somewhere with inadequate cell-phone coverage.
I am freaking terrified. Read more
Will You Be My Presidentine?
by Carlyn Reichel on February 11, 2009 in Opinion
If you haven’t noticed, I like to relate my column to the seasonal celebrations sprinkled throughout the year. Usually it’s because I’m short on time and ideas - like now. However, this coming weekend also happens to mark a two-fer: Valentine’s and Presidents Day, and I’m a sucker for social-political kismet.
I’m sensing one of my patented, over-wrought political metaphors coming on. And here it is. Read more
One Christmas Miracle, Please
by Carlyn Reichel on December 10, 2008 in Opinion
“It’s official,” the New York Times announced early last week, “the U.S. economy is in recession.”
Next to that, a cheery story about the death toll of U.S. troops in Iraq being over 4,000 since the “Mission Accomplished” declaration. East Asia looks ready to explode at any moment, and to top it all off, Saxby Chambliss got re-elected to the Senate, despite my previous Op-Ed. Is it just me, or does this seem like the version of the world from “It’s a Wonderful Life” where George Bailey was never born and everything sucks?
But even as I slap my cheeks in “Home Alone”-like panic, this very thought inspires me with the spirit and potential of the season. Putting aside all of the religious significance of the holidays, this is a wonderful time of year. Some might even say it’s the most wonderful time of the year. People are nicer to one another in the street. Twinkle-lights festoon the dark Cambridge nights, making the cold seem just a bit more bearable. The weird guy from my bus route has his elf hat on. And while incessant Christmas music is irritating prior to December, now it’s downright jolly.
So maybe, just like in “It’s a Wonderful Life,” all we really need is a good dose of Christmas spirit and a belief in our better angels to turn it all around. The answers America has been looking for are all right there in the holiday specials currently clogging my DVR. Let’s start with the classics. Read more
The South Can Rise Again
by Carlyn Reichel on November 20, 2008 in Opinion
Before November 4, I’d bet dollars to donuts I was one of about four people at HKS who cared about Georgia politics. And to clarify, I’m talking about Georgia as in the largest state east of the Mississippi River, not Georgia the formerly communist country on the Black Sea. The country of Georgia has received much more attention of late, and deservedly so.
But I digress already. Georgia is usually just lumped into a mass of Southern stereotypes and redneck jokes. Some of which are unfortunately true (yes, the Civil War was once legitimately brought up in one of my classes as the War of Northern Aggression), and some of which have only served to exacerbate a dangerous political “wisdom.” Ever since Nixon’s “Southern Strategy” pried the South away from a yellow-dog Democrat stronghold and turned it into the Republican fortress it has been for the last 15 years, strategists have refused to bother with the South. Read more
Trick, or Treat, Just GOTV
by Carlyn Reichel on October 29, 2008 in Opinion
In just a few days time, that grand and goofy American pastime will once again be upon us: donning a costume, going door to door, and harassing strangers. I’m not talking about Halloween, I’m talking about get-out-the-vote weekend, or GOTV. In less than one week, our country - at least whatever small remaining percentage of it hasn’t already cast an absentee ballot or voted early - will go to the polls to choose new leadership. If you don’t already know this, whether you are a domestic or an international student, you really need to get out more.
I won’t belabor the point that you need to vote (you do) since I think I can safely assume members of the HKS community are already on board with the general concept of participatory democracy. I do intend to belabor the point that you need to do more. For whomever you’re supporting, you need to do more than vote. Voting is the minimum requirement for you, student of the Kennedy School. Read more
Compossible Conspiracy? How Rupert Murdoch and George Bush are Destroying the English Language
by Carlyn Reichel on October 3, 2008 in Opinion
I have railed many a time against the high crimes and misdemeanors that our soon-to-be-ex-president has committed against the English language. I have even recommended our glorious leader be welcomed into retirement by a Nuremburg-style tribunal - a recommendation I made (mostly) jokingly, of course. I won’t enumerate the multiple misstatements of our offender-in-chief, partly because most of you are well aware of these “Bushisms,” and partly just because it angers me to think about them.
One would imagine that a basic requirement for leading the people of this country would be to speak the primary language comprehensibly. As a student of history and government, I long for the eloquence of a Jefferson. As a realist, I’d settle for a Ford. I’m not asking for Milton-esque imagery or Shakespearean constructions, I’m asking for basic subject-verb agreements. Read more
The Rebellion is Here
by Carlyn Reichel 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
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
