Monthly Archives: September 2011
Getting into gear
By 12.20pm today (Saturday) I had undertaken 3 hours of statistics and jogged four miles! Not bad, I thought to myself.
Just like over in the Eurozone, things are hotting up here at Korbel, as we head into our second week of this all-too-short quarter. This week I learnt a little more about the methodology of neoclassical economists and some of their critics, and delved into the subject of how one’s assumptions about what drives human behaviour could influence economic policy prescriptions on a global scale for better or worse (IPE with Rachel Epstein). I drew graphs illustrating various models of trade and considered why it might be preferable to expand both my supply of Coconuts AND Fish through international trade rather than trying to grow/catch them all myself (Economic Fundamentals with Mark Evers). Meanwhile, today I took my first steps into the magical world of Statistics, holding hands with its software companion, SAS (Stats 1 with Terry Dalton).
I also spent two days at my internship with the Chamber of the Americas, where I started to work on a report I have been asked to prepare on the economic climate and trade/commercial opportunities in the Caribbean which will eventually be circulated to the Chamber’s membership in the States and beyond. Hopefully it will generate some business opportunities that will benefit both sides.
In the meantime, I have been bombarded with social/academic events that demand my attention and time. Seriously… can this place just stop being so interesting? Jeez.
We’ve got the Middle East Discussion Group hosting a performing artist’s one-woman Broadway show about her experience being an Arab American. We’ve got a renonwned scholar and PBS host coming to talk about the need to “de-racialise” statistics. Most irritatingly, this clashes with a talk by the Director of Princeton University’s China and the World Program on China’s Foreign Policy since the Financial Crisis. Then there’s a seminar on Community Organising, plus a few helpful career-related workshops. And that’s not even half of what’s going on this week in ADDITION to classes and coursework.
But before I get any further into what’s been happening on campus, has anyone noticed how royally screwed the global economy is looking at the moment? (Hey, the reason I am going to Korbel is so I can learn the proper terms for these things, okay?)
Finance Ministers met his week in Washington DC at the for the 2011 World Bank/IMF Annual Meeting as talk became louder in Europe of Greece crashing out of the currency union, with about 70% more talk of “what happens when” than “what if”.
The Fate of the Euro: A Hot Topic
The implications of this are being discussed at length here there and everywhere. I can’t seem to turn on NPR, the BBC or take a look at The Economist, The Guardian or any of my other favourite reads without finding the latest prognistication of global economic doom.
One particularly ominous article I read this week by Larry Elliott of the Guardian (London) summed up the general sentiment in a rather dire way, suggesting that “a dearth of financial weapons and political disunity over how to fire them could spell a lost decade for the whole world.”
Indeed
We hear more and more about the potential for this to be an economic catastrophe of greater than Lehmann-Collapse-2008 proportions. As they say, at that time the countries bailed out the banks, but who is going to bail out the countries AND the banks??
With the Japanese earthquake/tsunami and the economic effects that wrought, followed by the protracted debt ceiling debate in the US and subsequent credit rating downgrading, now chased by the ever growing dread of a Eurozone meltdown and the implications that would have for the already fragile global economy, my mind continues to cast back to little Bahamas, and how we will fare if a double-dip recession strikes or worse still – this “lost decade” for the global economy.
Such an event would bring with it yet fewer revenues, more debt and all the accompanying, exacerbated, woes for our economic and social health that go with that in our small island developing state. As one of the countries in the Caribbean with the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio in 2008, we had fiscal headroom to manoeuvre economically at that time as tourism from the US – the primary driver of the Bahamian economy – dwindled.
Any Excuse For A Picture of a Bahamian Beach
Today we do not have that luxury, and the idea that the gradual improvement in the economy that so many had pinned their hopes on as the source of some alleviation of the myriad problems we face may not materialise is a frankly frightening one. Not that money is going to solve all problems, but a lack of it certainly does not help.
On that note, Bahamian Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Hubert Ingraham, happened to be the Chair of the 2011 World Bank/IMF meetings in DC this week. One can only hope his characteristic cackle charmed new IMF Director Christine Lagarde enough to get us some unconditional loans, but I doubt it some how. She does appear to be smiling though. Caption competition anyone?
Bahamas PM Hubert Ingraham meets Christine Lagarde: You know things are bad when the Director of the IMF resorts to handing out umbrellas to help developing countries weather the economic storm
“Were you all stoned?”
That’s a memorable question from my Statistics class on Saturday. That Stats 1 to you. Introductory Statistics with Prof. Terry Dalton. As a first class it came off, in the words of Prof. Dalton herself, more like an “AA (alcoholics anonymous) Meeting”. In the best sense possible, of course.
Saturday morning Statistics class: We’re in this together
I myself have not had any reason to use maths for 10 years (bar the GRE, which was not a great showcase for me in that regard…), nor have I ever taken a Stats class, so my level of anxiety about this particular skills course that I am taking as an elective precursor to my required skills class – Stats 2 – is pretty high.
And this was exactly what I told Prof. Dalton as she went around the class and asked us to introduce ourselves and give her an idea of what our background in math or statistics might be, and basically how scared we are of her course (she also mentioned that if any of us had taken a Stats class then we really “shouldn’t be here” and could get bumped up to Stats 2). The idea behind this primarily being that she would like to keep it in mind as she seeks to ensure we get the most out of the class as we go on through.
Here’s a sample of some of the responses from my class to her question, which I appreciated:
“My eyes cross when I see numbers. It’s like I just can’t compute.”
“I would say my level of anxiety is a 12 out of 10…”
“I took a Stats Class last year….but please don’t kick me out! I don’t remember much…”
“I almost didn’t graduate high school because I got an F in Statistics. I ended up getting a D-, so I have good reason not to like Statistics…”
“I took a Stats Class in undergrad…but please don’t kick me out! I swear I don’t remember anything!”
“I’m the stereotypical Asian student…I got a good grade in my GRE math but I am still pretty scared of this course.” (My personal favourite).
Anyway, it was after this that Prof. Dalton suggested we sounded more like we were attendees at an AA meeting, spilling our guts on our past failings and fears, than members of a Stats class. She also jokingly asked whether those who claimed to not remember anything from their previous Stats classes were not “all stoned” at the time, apparently slightly dubious of such assertions.
All good humoured stuff. Prof. Dalton certainly put a lot of us at ease that morning as she talked about how the course would progress at a slow and steady pace and presume no prior knowledge of statistics or of a high level of math ability. In this vein, she also claimed that she herself struggled with statistics in undergrad, first as a political science major and then as a business major, and still does not consider herself to be a “quantitative person”.
However, based on what she also told us I would imagine this could only be true in the sense that she is as much a quantitative person as she is many other things. Prof. Dalton, the vegan single mum with five kids (yep, we really got to know each other), has a JD, an MBA and a PhD in Quantitative Research Methods! AND most impressive of all (for me, an aspiring runner in remission) she used to be able to run a sub-5 minute mile until 2 years ago. An interesting lady.
If you are wondering if Stats might be for you, Prof. Dalton also gave a very convincing summary of some of the reasons why it is a useful skill to have, and in particular why proficiency in the SAS software that her class incorporates provides a real leg up in the job market. For one, for jobs in the US Government in particular (not my bag, for immigration reasons, but maybe yours) it is a bonus because they often use it but training in SAS software is extremely costly (about $2,500 for a half day session “in which you learn to turn it on and off”, in Prof. Dalton’s words) and as such the Government will look to hire people that already have this proficiency and will not require training. The general message is that whether you are a business major or a human rights major, having this hard skill set under your belt will make you stand out in the jobs market.
On that note, I leave you (and hopefully Korbel Administration if they are reading…) with this suggestion I came up with for the Korbel School’s next newest addition to its roster of Skills classes on offer: Global Offensive Hand Gestures 101 (see link below). What could be more important in a global professional environment than understanding when someone is using an obscure hand gesture to tell you to “Shut up” or to insinuate that you have an unfaithful wife? I am sure this happens a whole lot in international diplomacy, for one. Especially at those long UN meetings or Debt Crisis summits and such like. People are going to get tetchy. Insults are going to fly…
What may be a Shadow Puppet to you is in fact a French person telling you to Shut Your Trap
Have you ever used one of these hand gestures? If so, leave me a message! I want to learn your language!
The Dean, The Dude, The Legend…
Yesterday was a pretty rad day at the Korbel School. Dean of the Josef Korbel School of International Studies (JKSIS) and former US Ambassador to Iraq (2009-2010), Christopher Hill, came to address students and staff for the first time this academic year and a stuffy ex-diplomat he is not.
Not surprisingly, Dean Hill is an entertaining and informative speaker, who has an obvious personal as well as professional commitment to his role as chief overseer of the State of Affairs at Korbel today. His address touched on matters related to academic life at Korbel (including an update on some of the big names from public life that he is going to bring to the School to talk to us in the near future), as well as his views on a number of issues in foreign policy and diplomacy today. He even suggested that he wants to teach a class in the Spring, to the obvious glee of a number of students.
To the amusement of all, Dean Hill opened up his dialogue with students by talking about how Former Vice President Dick Cheney’s book, “In My Time”, which was released earlier this year, “disparages” him and other former officials.
“If you see the former Vice President’s book at an airport, turn it upside down, backside up. That’s the same way I left it,” he told Korbel students and staff, to much laughter.
(Though I haven’t read the book, Cheney is said to have criticised the nomination of Hill as Ambassador to Iraq by President Obama, due to his perceived “lack of experience” in the region, and was also critical of Hill’s previous work dealing with nuclear issues in North Korea during the Bush Administration).
With that, here’s a little summary of some of the main points of interest from Dean Hill’s address:
ON POLITICAL BIGSHOTS COMING TO KORBEL….
In late fall, Former Secretary of State, Gaddhafi heart throb and most importantly, Korbel alum, Condoleeza “Condi” Rice is going to come to speak to us, and maybe even do some “workshops”.
On that note, while I don’t think it would be her first choice, when else but as Condi walks up to the mic at that event would be a better time to play this awesome tune from my youth: The “Condoleeza song” otherwise known as “The Energizer: From her lips to God’s ears” by punk band, Against Me!?
Yeah? You with me? Vote below!
Not only that, but General George Casey, another former Korbel Grad and Army Chief of Staff from 2007 to earlier this year is also being lined up for a showing at the school. Suggestions on possible intro tunes for his talk also welcomed.
Add Former Secretary General of NATO and EU Foreign Policy Chief, Javier Solana and former Secretary of State Madeline Albright (after whose father, US educator and diplomat Josef Korbel, the School is now named) into the mix and it seems that Dean Hill is certainly keen on sharing the benefits of his extensive network with the School this year – and this is just the start!
ON THE ECONOMIC CRISIS AND ITS IMPACT ON AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY AND DIPLOMACY….
My journalistic habit got the better of me, and I couldn’t resist taking the opportunity to ask Dean Hill a couple of questions about his views on Wikileaks and the impact that the Economic Crisis, which we seem to be now headed further back into thanks to the disastrous situation in the Eurozone, has and will have on American foreign policy and diplomacy.
Dean Hill did not mince his words on either count, telling us bluntly that both developments have very negative consequences for policy and diplomacy.
On the subject of the economic crisis, he said:
“I am concerned about how it affects foreign policy. I never heard Iraq or Afghanistan mentioned once in the Republican debates we’ve had recently. And on the Democratic side there seems to be even less commitment to stay in a long war. There seems to be a kind of unholy alliance forming between the Republicans and the Democrats towards not supporting foreign policy initiatives. ”
Dean Hill suggested that this can be seen in the fact that there is discussion underway on cutting the sacred cow of the American budget: Expenditure on the military.
“When you see the military budget coming under pressure you can see there’s a real concern from the American people about these wars.”
Dean Hill added that he has concern for how budgetary constraints may impinge upon embassies ability to influence affairs in other countries going forward using “soft power”.
“There are three ways you can get people to go with your policy. Firstly they can be so thunderstruck by the force of your ideas that they will agree to go along with you. Secondly there is coercion – war or invasion, or economic sanctions – but that sometimes doesn’t work so well either. And thirdly you can say ‘Please support us, we will have a better relationship.’ And you can build schools and so on. I am worried about that third option.”
“If Hillary Clinton, the Secretary of State, goes in there, wagging her finger (and cannot back it up with inducements in the form of commitments to help the country financially) you are getting to the point where they’ll say ‘Thank you very much, we have an appointment with the Chinese. And the Chinese don’t ask questions…”
“How are you going to get schools built in Afghanistan when you can’t afford to build schools in Colorado? It’s going to be a tough trade off,” he said.
ON WIKILEAKS…
“It’s done a lot of damage. Your job as a diplomat is to establish the level of trust where people will tell you things.”
Criticising not only the release of the leaked US Cables by Wikileaks, but also the publication of them by the New York Times and other newspapers, whether with names redacted or otherwise (Hill suggested that by publishing the material the NYTimes had engaged in “trafficking of stolen goods”) the former diplomat related the story of how Iraq’s Human Rights Minister had put herself at risk to let he and the embassy know about an illegal detention site in Iraq.
According to the Dean, the US then organised a mission and went in and shut it down. The successful operation and how it had come about was subsequently made public by Washington (something Dean Hill suggested he was not best impressed about either). Dean Hill suggested that it is these kinds of pieces of information and the benefits that accrue from them that could be lost in light of the Wikileaks creating the impression that sources identities and comments will not be held in confidence by the US.
“If America can’t be seen to keep its mouth shut we have a problem,” he said.
“We’ve got a problem, we’ve got a procedurist issue and we need to do some damage control.”
ON USING GRAD SCHOOL “WISELY”
“You should have anxiety over how you are selecting your courses. This is not Frisbee 101. This is not undergrad.”
Dean Hill noted that if a person came to him as a State Department representative with their degree transcript, he would be looking to see this person made the best of their grad school opportunity.
That is, the primary benefit of coming to Korbel to obtain a Masters degree is not simply to obtain a Masters degree, but how you structure it and how well your classes support your career interests and not just your curiosity.
“You are going to go out into a job market that has some problems. We want you to have you prepared,” he said.
The Dean advised all students get to know the Office of Career and Professional Development, which is located within the Korbel School.
ON A MASTERS PROGRAM VS. A PHD…
“A professional Masters program is aimed right at the jobs market. A PhD is aimed at the academic job market. We like to think that 90 credits later in a professional MA program you’ll have everything you need. It’s not that we’re trying to give you what you need to start you on the bottom rung of the career ladder, we’re trying to give you the education and training that will serve you all the way up that ladder. We really believe you can have a really good career with a professional MA.”
ON INCREASING INTERNATIONAL STUDENT NUMBERS…
At the moment there are 402 MA students at Korbel, around 12 -14 PhDs and almost 400 undergraduates who take classes at the School. Of this year’s incoming MA quota, there are 16 international students (that includes me, by the way).
Dean Hill said that he and Student Admissions Director, Brad Miller, are keen to see that percentage increased and have had “lots of meetings on strategy” in relation to how to go about doing that. Whilst suggesting he is not keen on seeing the level of internationalism now evident in some other schools of international studies where as much as 50 or more per cent of students come from abroad, JKSIS would like to have a percentage “somewhere in between what we have now and that upper number.”
“We need to do more,” he said.
So if you are an international student thinking about coming to Korbel… apply soon! They want YOU!
Are you smarter than a Colorado Rockies player?
This was the question posed today in my first Economics class! Apparently there is a test on economic concepts that was given to players of the Colorado Rockies baseball team here in Denver (this just may be a massive lie) and, in the spirit of the TV show “Are you smarter than a fifth grader?” our Econ Professor suggested maybe we would like to take it during our inaugural session. Just to see where we stand. Now, I don’t want to prejudge the economic smarts of a Colorado baseball player, but something about that suggestion gives me the impression our professor does not have very high expectations of us at this time. Then again, he is a huge Colorado Rockies fan (I know this because at least half of his anecdotes referred back to them) so maybe I’m wrong.
The next John Maynard Keynes?
On the subject of my professor, Mark Evers, I had heard he has somewhat of a reputation. Basically one student suggested he was so “on another level” (translation: super smart) when it came to Statistics (which he also teaches) that he had a hard time explaining it to people who are not on that level, and thus made the topic unnecessarily complicated, while another made a face when I mentioned his name and said something about “rambling”. I expected the worst but was very pleasantly surprised to find that while he does himself acknowledge a tendency to digress and also has an ability to speak incredibly fast, Prof. Evers is nonetheless a friendly, entertaining and informative teacher and my worst fears have not been realised. Yet.
On a separate note: This morning I left my house at 7.49am to catch the bus to a place called Lakewood, Colorado, to go to an interview for an internship with the Chamber of the Americas. Yet again, I fell back on my mantra “What you achieve is in direct proportion to what you attempt” (might seem obvious to some, but I find it an important and useful thing to remind myself of from time to time) as I forced myself out of bed long before my day would otherwise have required me to and onto a number 16 bus with the anticipation of changing buses three times over the course of a two hour period to get to my destination 11 miles away. Yes, public transport can be scary when you haven’t used it in a particular city before and you have somewhere to be in a defined period of time and you can’t remember what you are supposed to do to get the bus to stop (a bit like the movie Speed except not). But lo and behold, I pulled through, and made it to my interview.
A scene from the movie Speed, which is not a lot like my bus ride this morning.
The Chamber of the Americas is a not-for-profit organisation which helps connect US businesses with opportunities in South America, and South American businesses with opportunities in the US. At the heart it believes in the idea that increased trade is a win-win situation that results in greater development. Run by Gil Cisneros, a hugely-connected and, by all accounts, good-hearted businessman with decades of experience helping enterprises of all sizes make the connections and gather the know-how they need to succeed in trade and commerce within the Americas, the COTA is located in an unassuming little office opposite a Hooters restaurant in middle-of-nowhere Denver.
However, it’s location and exterior belie its international reach and agenda. For example, in October the COTA has a trade mission to Peru in its sights, which will see it lead business operators from the States to the South American country to network with Peruvian government officials, private sector stakeholders and learn about the opportunities that exist to expand their businesses and products into the growing Peruvian market. Most exciting of all, the Colorado business owners will have dinner with none other than Ollanta Humala, the President of Peru, himself!
Who would have thought one little office in Lakewood, Colorado, would be doing such big things. As it turns out, I will now, among other things, be helping COTA promote their work, in order to ensure that more people hear about the opportunities they provide both in terms of networking within the US, through trade missions to South and Central America, online and through capacity building seminars, workshops and consulting here in Denver.
More on that later, Chicos. I will leave you with this picture I took in Peru this summer just because the view is too beautiful not to share (Machu Picchu is beyond that valley):
Welcome, global human!
Here we are: The first post in this scrumptious little webdingle about my life here at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies in the Global Finance, Trade and Economic Integration (GFTEI) M.A.
(The above image represents what my experience of studying GFTEI at Korbel will not be like…)
After overcoming (and also ignoring) a number of technical issues, I and about 25 other Korbel students from a variety of programs today set up our blogs, whilst eating muffins almost as oversized as the name of my degree, courtesy of Nicole Vilegi-Sandage (pastry-bearing Assistant Director of Admissions). This is all in anticipation of bringing YOU, the unknown reader, news and views about our time here at JKSIS so that you might be better informed about whether the Korbel School, or a particular program within it, is right for you.
(First piece of advice: Be careful when you google “Giant Muffin”. It’s not all cars crushed by baked products, let me tell you…)
I personally plan to cover the gamut of relevant and slightly less relevant subject matter here. This may include which classes I am enjoying most, what professors are most approachable, why I chose this degree, where I am trying to get internships, where I DO get internships (fingers crossed…),observations about the differences between life in The Bahamas and Denver or about studying at a US versus a British university. On other days, maybe you’ll find my views on what’s going on in the news (and how that relates to what we study at Korbel, ofcourse…), to what my favourite new microbrewery beer is this week or how much I love Mexican soap operas (very educational).
It goes without saying that all of this will be extremely informative but with an irreverence and wit rarely seen in your run-of-the-mill student blog. Not to build it up or anything…
If you would like to find out more about where I am coming from on this, feel free to check the “About” section for a slightly rambling summary of my background and objectives…
And ofcourse, leave your thoughts or queries in the comments section.
Josef Korbel School / Global Finance, Trade and Economic Integration 
