Archive for March 2010

Workshop Trip to Liberia

The following entry was composed by Nora Gordon, a second year MIA student concentrating in Human Rights.  Nora spent Spring Break, and an additional week in Liberia participating in her SIPA workshop.  She is back now but wrote this while she was away.
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I am currently working in Liberia with my workshop team on improving vocational training programs for youth in Liberia.  We are here for two weeks conducting trainings in vocational training centers about market assessment.  Our goal is to help staff and participants learn how to use a market assessment toolkit that was produced by a SIPA workshop team in 2008.

Here are a few quick notes from the trip so far . . .

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We went to work on Saturday morning for a quick meeting with our supervisor.  Our project involves making a short film and other training tools for people working on job training programs for youth. We will get to visit 4 Youth Employment Program sites throughout the country.

The idea is for us to help local programs figure out market needs and shape their training accordingly.  When we finished our work meeting, a Liberian guy walked into the office singing “In the jungle, the mighty jungle…” We all laughed.  He gave us a giant, gummy smile and told us his name, McNeal.  “I’m the IT guy,” he said.  We told him about our video and he was excited to be on camera.  Then we tried to find out some details about the local culture.

“Do people dance a lot in Liberia?  Where do people dance?”

“Whaaaaaaat?!!  You ask me this?!!  How you gonna ask me if we daaaaance?!”

We laugh.

“A typical Liberian will never answer a question,” McNeal explains.  If you ask “I hear in Liberia you don’t answer questions. Is this true?” We will say “Where did you receive this information!?”

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I’m finding some similarities with other places I’ve worked, like Rwanda and oddly even more with East Timor.  Maybe these are just commonalities for conflict/post-conflict zones.  But, for example, there are chips of broken glass cemented along the top of the walls surrounding residences.  There are lots of locks on every door, 24 hour guards, and in our compound there are a bunch of bars on all the windows.  We have 24 hour guards and a curfew.  We’re not supposed to even walk ten feet outside by ourselves after dark (6:30pm). I’m feeling very protected/restricted.

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Today we did our training in the field, which involves introducing a “Market Assessment Toolkit” for vocational trainers and youth.  There was a 14 year old boy named Morris in the class who asked “Why is it called a toolkit?” Good question. I’d explained earlier that it was like tools in a toolbox- like a hammer, but for your brain.

So one of his teachers explained that metaphor to him, and I thought, “This is great, let’s put him in our film!”  We’re making a film as part of our project in order to help make sense of the toolkit.  As class went on, though I realized the boy was quite cross-eyed, and I thought “Ugh, now if I put him on film, it will be so stereotypical, ‘Oh look at this poor little cross-eyed African boy’ and people will just focus on that instead of what he’s saying.”  Or else mean people might laugh.

But then I thought, “It’s not fair to discriminate and not put him in the video because of a physical condition.”
So I had this idea to pull him aside later and have him talk to the teacher so he would be looking at the teacher not the camera, and it wouldn’t be so noticeable.  It worked out nicely and is great for our project.

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SIPA Case Competition

The following entry was composed by Sandhya Chari, a second year MPA student concentrating in Economic and Political Development.

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This year, I had the chance to participate in something unique at SIPA – the Public Policy Case Competition. This event was modeled after traditional business case competitions, wherein student teams are given a case in the morning, and required to present a strategic analysis of it in the afternoon.  There were two cases – one for public sector and one for international development. I was on a team for international development.

SIPA is the first school to present a competition like this one. It gives students a chance to work in a fast paced environment on real domestic and international policy issues. It also allows us to show our unique skill set, at the intersection of strategic consulting mentality, and policy knowledge. In addition, it gives judges from the world of development consulting a chance to network with each other, as well as meet students hoping to eventually work in their field.

In order to participate, we had to submit applications in the fall. The applications asked us about our consulting experience, and asked us to analyze a hypothetical case. After the selection process, we were assigned to teams. Teams were made up of three people with complementary professional experiences. This ensured that on the day of the competition, we would each be able to contribute a unique skill set.

On the day of the competition, we arrived at 8am to receive our cases. After this, we spent 5 hours pouring over the case and coming up with strategic solutions. By 1pm, we were required to submit a power point presentation of our analysis. Needless to say, this was an intense 5 hours. Each minute was utilized in analysis and discussion. After agreeing on a particular approach, we went to building the power point. At 1:15 the presentations started in random order. Each team got up and spent 15 minutes presenting, and 10 minutes answering questions.

Although our team didn’t win, I know that we all came out of the competition feeling like we had gained a lot. Moreover, it confirms why SIPA is so unique. With our diverse experiences, and skill sets, we are able to come together to tackle a common objective. It was also a great way to see the way our academic learning here will translate into real world projects in the future.

The following Web site contains additional details:  http://www.policycasecompetition.com/

World Leaders Forum – Nicolas Sarkozy

Each year SIPA students are able to interact with influential members of the policy community through the World Leaders Forum.  Prior to his visit to Washington, D.C. to meet with President Obama, the French President will be visiting Columbia.

The event will be broadcast live and links to video players are found on the forum Web site.  The event video will be cataloged on the forum multimedia web site where you can also find videos of past events.

President Nicolas Sarkozy of France

Date: March 29, 2010 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM
Location: Columbia University Morningside Campus Low Memorial Library, Rotunda
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The Pro-Con List

If you have yet to do so, you are bound to eventually.  Old school or digital, you will sit down with a blank piece of paper and draw a couple of columns or open up an Excel spreadsheet.  You will then label the columns “Pro” and “Con.” Perhaps you have a separate sheet of paper for each school or a separate tab for each school in Excel.  Decision time. The clock to the deposit deadline is ticking.

You will then diligently begin to fill in the columns with what you see to be the pros and cons of each school you have received an offer from.  Or perhaps you just received one offer and it is a matter of either accepting the offer or choosing a different path.

I thought I would take an opportunity to help you fill in the pro list in regard to SIPA.  Yes, I am biased.  A native New Yorker I am not, but a converted New York lover I am.  I have lived in New York City for seven years and whenever I leave  for travel, I always miss it.

Instead of focusing on topics like world class faculty and a robust curriculum that every policy school can most likely boast about, I will focus on the experience of living in New York City.  The diversity, the energy, the attitude, the people, the events, the culture . . . the sound!

I would venture to guess that by the time I help you with the pros of attending school in New York City, your pros column will require you to either go on to a second piece of paper or scroll down on your Excel sheet because more rows are going to filled than you can view on the screen.

I lived in California before moving to New York and I was trying to make the decision as to whether or not I should move east.  I had never lived on the east coast before and it was a big decision for me at the time, and I remember my pro – con list as well.  I distinctly remember a conversation I had with a very well traveled friend.  He said something along the line of the following:

“Matt, you would be crazy NOT to move to New York City.  I believe that everyone should live in New York City once in their lifetime.  It has an energy you just can’t describe.  Don’t let this chance pass.”

I took his advice, and boy am I glad I did.  Let’s take a quick look at some of the unique attributes and flavor of NYC.

The following facts are from Wikipedia . . .

Over 900 songs have been written about NYC (think about the inspiration you will get living here).

NYC has two professional football teams, two professional hockey teams, two professional baseball teams, a professional soccer (sorry rest of the world, that’s what we call it) team, a professional women’s basketball team, and although it is a subject to local debate, a “professional” men’s basketball team.  There will soon be two so called “professional” teams when the Nets move to Brooklyn soon.

The subway runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and is the largest rapid system in the world when measured by stations in operation, with 468.

You may not think of nature when you think NYC, however New York City has over 28,000 acres (110 km2) of municipal parkland and 14 miles (23 km) of public beaches.

NYC has more than 2,000 arts and cultural organizations and more than 500 art galleries of all sizes.

Care to cross pollinate with other students?  There are close to 600,000 university students in New York City.

. . .  and how about some famous quotes related to New York City.

“Culture just seems to be in the air, like part of the weather.”  – Tom Wolfe

“I go to Paris, I go to London, I go to Rome, and I always say, ‘There’s no place like New York.  It’s the most exciting city in the world now.  That’s the way it is.  That’s it.”   – Robert Deniro

“I miss New York. I still love how people talk to you on the street – just assault you and tell you what they think of your jacket.” – Madonna

“When its 100 degrees in New York, it’s 72 in Los Angeles. When its 30 degrees in New York, in Los Angeles it’s still 72. However, there are 6 million interesting people in New York, and only 72 in Los Angeles.” –  Neil Simon

“At night… the streets become rhythmical perspectives of glowing dotted lines, reflections hung upon them in the streets as the wistaria hangs its violet racemes on its trellis. The buildings are shimmering verticality, a gossamer veil, a festive scene-prop hanging there against the black sky to dazzle, entertain, amaze.”  – Frank Lloyd Wright

“You come to New York to find the ambiance that will evoke your best. You do not necessarily know precisely what that might be, but you come to New York to discover it.” – Dr. James Hillman

“New York is a galaxy of adventure at once elegant, exciting and bizarre. It’s a city that moves so fast, it takes energy just to stand still.”  – Barbara Walters

Can you feel the excitement!?  Not only will you find inspiration at SIPA . . . NYC is a basically an inspiration or great moment waiting to happen.  That’s my quote and I’ll leave it at that.

Admitted Student Message Board Reminder

This is just a reminder to admitted students that you can access an Internet Message Board to interact with current SIPA students and with other admitted students.  Information on how to log in are contained on the Welcome Page referenced in the Admission Letter.  At present only a small number of admitted students have logged in and this should be a good resource for getting some of your questions answered.

We are working on getting out our last small group of decisions so if you have yet to receive an email, hang in there.

"The most global public policy school, where an international community of students and faculty address world challenges."

—Merit E. Janow, Dean, SIPA, Professor of Practice, International and Economic Law and International Affairs

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