Many times when you head out to the local bar scene around SAIS, it feels as though you’re in a capsule… one that involves aging frat-stars and obsequious Capitol Hill name-droppers. Too many times I’ve ventured into the Dupont area and been beaten back by the “posh,” Blackberry-carrying mofia that is striving to make a name for themselves in the District. And usually all I wanted was a beer and maybe something a little more “bohemian.”
Please don’t get me wrong – we all have our own paths and I do not disrespect those of us who pursue such careers and networking opportunities. It’s just, personally, I don’t care which Senator you hung out with today thankyouverymuch. I’d rather find out what you’ve done to make the world a better place.
Which is why I was pleased to discover a unique project brewing in Northeast DC… a land rarely visited by the coveted Blackberry community. I want to take a moment to nod to a previous post highlighting the virtues and budding atmosphere that is the H Street NE area – certainly a part of town I’m eager to revisit due it’s atypical DC crowd.
The project in question is the Bearden Arts Building Beta Community, a new endeavor to bring green residential space to the NE area in the form of affordable condos. And when I say affordable, I mean that they are intended to start at under $200K for a space – a breath of fresh air from the typical $300K studio to $500K two bedroom apartment you can get around Logan / Scott / Thomas Circle.
At the suggestion of a friend, I attended a meeting for this “Beta Community” – more because I was interested in learning more about crowdsourcing than I was necessarily interested in the community (after all, who knows where I’m going post-SAIS). I was not prepared for what I encountered. Not only was I met with a warm and engaging group of people interested in sustainable buildings, but I learned that going green was not the only focus of this project.
The Beta Community also strives to build exactly that – a community - one that involves individuals from all walks of life, not just young professionals seeking a political career. Granted, such professionals may add a great deal to the envisioned community, but what struck me most about the event was the desire to involve current H Street residents in preserving the existing community, while simultaneously offering a new concept of homeownership to the greater Washington area. Imagine as a new SAIS grad working for the World Bank or the GAO or State or a high profile law firm and being able to make a down payment on your own home… because it’s actually affordable. And now imagine that it’s not only affordable, but it’s GREEN as well… saving you many expenses and doing something beneficial for the community as a whole.
Now that’s change I can believe in.
I, for one, will be attending the next meeting at SOVA Espresso and Wine on November 5th to see what the next steps are in developing this community. Newcomers are welcome – and bring friends. See you there!
Just sat with a bunch of my classmates–mostly American democrats– to watch a video of the Biden-Palin debate.
It will not surprise anyone who knows me that I think Biden won the debate and performed very well. I also thought Palin was fine, insofar as she met low expectations. Her folksy perkiness, her good looks, her definite middle class status, and her maternal stern voice are probably the major assets of McCain’s campaign. She clearly lacks specific knowledge and informed or well-developed opinions on most issues, but nevertheless managed to avoid total embarrassment in the debate. Also, her cliché-filled vocabulary is annoying as hell, but that’s not what people vote about.
Why am I vexed? During the debate, sometimes some students would get so carried away while mocking Palin’s vacuous/incorrect/incoherent statements that they would revert to saying things like “she’s dumb as a brick,” calling her a bitch and a whore, and shouting (with the implication that she should step down) “Don’t you have a retarded kid to take care of?”
All the remarks were made by guys. In fairness, both guys who said the last two things apologized or said they were out of line after I shot them a perplexed/miffed glance. I didn’t say anything. But, I’m still irked; not mad at these two guys specifically, but irked that such non-sequiturs are considered relevant critiques or even funny.
I don’t know if I should say something personally to those guys , or if I should say something more generally to the whole group about using more rational language to discuss politics, or if I should forget about it because if people my age have deep-rooted prejudices a mere remark from me won’t change anything, or if I should assume these two intelligent people who share my partisanship were honestly just trying to be funny. Am I being ridiculously oversensitive and politically correct?
I suspect that the fact that the current atmosphere is more permissive of sexist commentary is a direct outcome of having such an unqualified candidate, who was chosen for the cynical purpose of attracting ex-Hillary voters.
Another thing is, I’ve always been confused and irked by the epithet “whore,” mostly because I don’t morally disapprove of the occupation, and also because it’s usually aimed at a woman with no literal meaning other than “I hate her.” But, I recognize that I differ from the majority on this point. I’m hyper-literal.
I’d be curious to have your responses here.
The SAIS Observer will hit newsstands by next Tuesday. So be sure to
pick up your copy then.
Also, we will have an editorial meeting this Wednesday, October 8th, at 8:00 PM in Rome 812 to pitch story ideas for the upcoming SAIS Observer issue and for the SAISgeist blog. There will be free beer, wine, and pizza to fuel our brainstorming session. If you can’t make the meeting, but would like to write something for the upcoming issue, be sure to email us at observer@jhu.edu.
We promise to have you out by 9:15 at the latest, so please come by.
Don’t forget that Bob Guttman, CPFR Director, will be hosting a viewing party and discussion of the vice presidential debates this evening at 8:30 PM in the Kenney Auditorium. I’m sure it’s going to be a real hoot. Skadoosh!
If yesterday’s financial meltdown has you a bit nervous about career prospects in May, have no fear. There is a global industry developing that has something for just about every SAIS student, no matter what their concentration or area of interest. I speak of the global carbon industry arising in response to climate change. If you are interested in energy, consulting, corporate social responsibility, finance, development, diplomacy, negotiation, or a specific region, odds are you that in the next few years, you will be able to find a job related in some way to climate change and carbon.
Fueled by libations from the careers in development happy hour and pizza courtesy of NPR, the first round viewing of the presidential debates kicked off at SAIS’s Nitze Auditorium Friday night followed by a 1 hr live discussion.
This week, SAIS updated the Student Facebook. The Student Facebook doesn’t refer to facebook.com, but rather a “book of faces.” In many ways, it’s superior to facebook.com. Flipping through the pages, you can finally learn the name of that kid you’ve been talking to in Macro. Or to relearn the name of a student that you met at your program’s reception. After going through a couple of pages, you’ll notice something striking.
All the Bologna SAISers are smiling, and have an orange background, whereas the DC SAISers are not smiling, and have a white background. What’s the relevance of this?
Last year, the Student Facebook did not differentiate between Bologna and DC students; All the photos looked like passport photos, or mug shots. But this year, one can easily distinguish who’s from Bologna. This minor “graft” just serves to maintain the “rift” between Bologna and DC students. The administration has previously tried to bridge the gap between the two camps. But putting together a Student Facebook where you can easily differentiate between a Bologna and DC student is a step backwards for the administration.
Since the administration claims we’re all SAISers, we should be treated as such and every effort should be made NOT to differentiate between Bolognese and DCers. Differentiation between the two parties just serves to reinforce identities and stereotypes. Maybe it’s time we bring in a conflict management team led by Zartman to negotiate a peace? Before we take the conflict resolution route, we should try to remember the words of my co-blogger:
We’re all SAIS students… What we have in common far exceeds what we don’t, all we have to do is be willing to say, “Hi! My name is (insert your name here).” What’s yours?
The new Facebook should be available in your mail folder or accessibly through the intranet, if you see a face from the other camp in class or at happy hour, be sure to say hello.
For those of you who are new to DC, you may have noticed that we have some pretty awesome water fountains that are more like water coolers. Though, the one thing missing is proper signage. Last academic year, nearly ever water cooler had a sign above saying cups are for guests and for everyone else (students, faculty, and staff), Bring Your Own Bottle (BYOB). BYOB is important because it helps saves the environment and kinda saves the school money. And as a student, you’re probably living in the library, so you probably want to have your own bottle to get water instead of continuously using and throwing away a dainty paper cup. I recommend buying a nice BPA free SAIS water bottle from the basement gift shop or a Klean Kanteen.
Many people, such as Kofi Annan and me, believe future wars will be fought over (fresh) water. Anthropogenic climate change is going to increase fresh water scarcity, and with an increasing global population, this appears to be a recipe for conflict. However, according to Winston Yu, water resource specialist in the South Asia region for the Sustainable Development section of the World Bank, the track record shows that there have been no wars over water and the future shows a continuation of the status quo, benefit-sharing and cooperation.
Mr. Yu spoke at the second Year of Water event this past Wednesday. His lecture was entitled, “Wars over Water: Is Benefit-Sharing a Necessary Condition for Cooperation?” Mr. Yu’s two propositions were that cooperative development of international rivers offers economics advantages over unilateral development. In addition, benefit sharing IS a necessary condition for cooperation. He examined three case studies, Senegal River Basin, the Columbia River Basin, and the Lesotho Highlands Water Project.
By examining these three unique cases, Mr. Yu was able to show that cooperation between riparian countries offered possibilities for mutual gain. Lesotho experienced cost savings of $640 million by cooperating with South Africa on its water project. With the Senegal River Basin, cooperation provided benefits that wouldn’t have been able to achieve individually. Secondly, the process of creating cooperation agreements is slow. The Senegal River Basin took about fifty years, from talks to dam completion whereas the Columbia River Basin project took about twenty years.
One needs to focus on the benefits of water, not just its physical volume, and flexibility of cooperation agreements. In other words, Mr. Yu doubts cooperation would be possible if the agreements in the case studies were narrowly focused on total water volume. Instead, cooperation was possible because these parties focused on the benefits provided by water. This way, you can get a broader set of possibilities than if by just focusing on water. Moreover, by building flexibility into agreements, the projects can adjust to changing situations.
So is water conflict avoidable? Well Aaron Wolf argues that there are only a few cases of military action, but there are numerous examples of tension over water. Currently there’s political tension between Egypt and Ethiopia, where both parties have indicated that if the other party builds a dam, it will be destroyed. And what about intrastate water conflict? Somali faces a severe drought. Several years ago, several hundred people were killed in Somali when two clans clashed over a water well.
And in what way will anthropogenic climate change affect water conflict? According to the UN’s Environment Programme’s report on “Global Outlook for Ice and Snow,” Glaciers in the Himalayas-Hindu Kush and other mountain regions of Asia provide much of the water for Asia. Currently climate change projections show a temperature increase of one to six degree centigrade in the region by 2100. “Glacier-coverage would be greatly diminished in the Himalayas–Hindu Kush” (Global Outlook for Ice and Snow 130). The report argues that:
With increases in seasonal floods and significantly reduced overall water flow… 1.3 billion people could be exposed to risk of increased water shortages… the result of glacier loss is therefore not only direct threats to lives, but also great risks of increased poverty, reduced trade and economic decline. This poses major political, environmental and social challenge in the coming decades (Global Outlook for Ice and Snow 131).
Mr. Yu provides excellent analysis on a “constant” resource but would his propositions of cooperation and benefit-sharing work on a diminishing resource?
Last December, I wrote about how Microsoft provides a free converter for Office 2000, XP, and 2003 to open Office 2007 documents. So far this year, I’ve encountered and heard of several situations where people had issues opening Office 2007 documents, so I just wanted to take this time to reiterate the availability and usefulness of the “Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats” for PCs. And the availability of the “Open XML File Format Converter for Mac 1.0” document converter on the Mac.
These addons are a must have.