Author Archive for Matt Clemons – Page 23

SIPA News – The Water Issue

The latest issue of SIPA News is now available.  The magazine is published twice per year and features articles written by students and faculty at SIPA.   The topic for this issue is water.  The importance of such a simple substance is underscored in the Dean’s introduction:

With more than 6 billion people on the planet today and the combined effects of global warming and industrial and urban pollution, the supply of water safe enough for drinking, recreation, production, and other uses is becoming scarce. In some parts of the globe, prolonged droughts and other weather events (like the freeze that burst pipes in Ireland last December) or humanitarian crises and refugee camps have already created emergencies that threaten entire populations.

The following are just a few of the articles in this edition:

  • As Waters Rise, Environmental Migration Surfaces
  • El Niño Drought Leads to Blackouts, Power Rationing, and Political Fallout in Venezuela
  • In Cambodia, Development Pushes Ahead at the Expense of a Lake
  • A Beachgoer’s Duty: A Surfer and a Fisherman Lead the Way to Curb Runoff Pollution on the JerseyShore
  • Mass Freshwater Exports: Alaska’s Latest Cash Crop Heads to India

The full magazine is available for viewing as a PDF by clicking here.  All previous issues of SIPA News can also be viewed on line by clicking here.

Workshops at SIPA

The following post was written by current SIPA student Lacey Ramirez.  Workshops are an exciting, practical, and professional part of the SIPA experience which provide an excellent way to merge classroom learning with real world involvement.

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I know the Admissions Committee has started reading and I’ve been thinking about what advice I could give prospective students that would help them make a decision regarding schools. In other words, what makes SIPA different than the other graduate schools in international and public affairs?

One major component is the workshop requirement for all SIPA students.  Workshops require students apply the practical skills and analytical knowledge they have learned at SIPA to a real-world challenge. Students are organized into small consulting teams and assigned a substantive, policy-oriented project with an external client.  Clients include public agencies (from the local to national level), international NGOs and multi-national organizations, and major firms in the private sector.

Student teams, working under the supervision of a faculty expert, answer a carefully defined problem posed by the client.  Most of the teams will travel to the country in order to conduct the work necessary to produce an actionable report at the end of the workshop that will hopefully translate into real change on the ground.

Examples of MPA workshops can be found here.

Here you also find links to other concentration workshops, and please note to find examples of EPD workshops you’ll need to click here.

Okay, now on to my personal experience.  I am currently working on a randomized control trial measuring the effects of an education incentives program and parental involvement interventions on students’ performance and school attendance in Chiapas, Mexico. During my time at SIPA I’ve focused my studies on developing my quantitative analysis skills, and it is incredibly exciting to be able to apply what I’ve learned to a real world project.

Additionally, it is important to note that before we participate in the workshop it is mostly required that we prepare for it by taking an intensive Methods for Development Practice course that covers a wide variety of tools used by development practitioners. Tools are learned and applied in the Methods course through the use of case studies to give students an opportunity to practice before the workshop.  You can find a further description of the Methods course here.

In the last few weeks of the Methods course, the students (we) apply for the workshop we are interested in and they cover a wide variety of topics, including supply chain analysis, health, education and monitoring and evaluation.  Once we are assigned to our teams, we work very intensely to prepare a schedule that we will implement the following semester to meet our client’s objectives.

As I write this, my workshop team has members in Mexico conducting interviews, focus groups and observational studies to gather data that will prepare a team to go back in a couple of months to pilot a final survey.  It is very, very exciting and we hope that ultimately all our hard work will be used to serve the people of Chiapas to improve education programs and communities.

SIPA Graduation Speaker – Kofi Annan

The last month of weather we have had makes our graduation in the spring seem far away, but in reality it’s a mere 15 weeks until the class of 2011 walks across stage to pick up their diplomas.  It should be an especially exciting graduation ceremony this year as it was recently announced that Kofi Annan will be the speaker.  The following is the announcement sent out by our Dean, John Coatsworth.

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Columbia University tradition holds that all degrees are conferred at the University Commencement ceremony while each school honors its graduates with a separate and unique event. The University Commencement ceremony of the 257th Academic Year will take place on Wednesday, May 18, 2011. The School of International and Public Affairs Graduation ceremony will be held on Saturday, May 14, 2011 at 2 P.M.

We are pleased to announce that former U.N. Secretary-General and SIPA Global Fellow Kofi A. Annan will be SIPA’s 2011 Graduation speaker. Mr. Annan was the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations, serving two terms from January 1, 1997 to December 31, 2006, and was the first to emerge from the ranks of United Nations staff.

In 2001, Kofi Annan and the United Nations were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace with the citation praising his leadership for “bringing new life to the organization.”

We are also pleased to announce the new tradition of holding SIPA’s Graduation ceremony on Columbia’s South Lawn. Planned in consultation with the SIPA Student Association Board, this year’s ceremony will provide for more than twice as much guest seating as last year. A reception will immediately follow the ceremony.

More information will be coming as the events approach. We look forward to congratulating you this May.

Journal of International Affairs

The following entry was contributed by Homa Hassan.  Homa is a first-year student at SIPA and you can read her biography here.  There are plenty of extracurricular opportunities for SIPA students to get involved in and one such opportunity is with the Journal of International Affairs.  Homa elaborates on her experience as both an Editorial and Digital Assistant.

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SIPA students are always looking for ways to get involved on campus.  There is a mix of activities to take part in – there are the organizations that have to do with your particular studies, the ones that deal with your personal interests, the ones with tradition and prestige, and the ones that introduce you to new fields and new friends.

One of the projects that links new students to old and all students to alumni and global leaders is Columbia University’s Journal of International Affairs.  Two volumes are produced each year comprised of essays, interviews, and book reviews written by prominent scholars of foreign policy and international affairs.  The Andrew Wellington Cordier Essay contest also gives students the opportunity to have their original works published.  The theme of each volume is decided on by SIPA students on the JIA Board.  Our latest theme was on Innovating Development, with essays ranging from nuclear power and sustainable development to climate change technology and gender revolutions.

There are a number of different ways to get involved with the Journal as a first year student, including serving as an Editorial Assistant, Production Assistant, and/or a Digital Assistant.  No experience is necessary and training is provided for each of the positions at the beginning of the semester.  I served as both an Editorial Assistant and a Digital Assistant.  Editorial Assistants have a demanding job.  We don’t just copy edit, which of course is important, but the bigger task is to fact-check.  Editorial Assistants are the first defense on the line protecting the publication’s reputation.

To begin with, each of us was given a brief summary of all of the articles and asked to rank them in the order of our interest.  A few days later, we were assigned 2-3 pages in one of the essays and paired with a Lead Editor who oversaw our work.  For our assigned pages, every line had to be checked and re-checked and verified by two or more sources (online or in print) to ensure the information is accurate and well-supported by substantial evidence.  Any links in the article were tracked and also verified.  The work is intense, but one of the most important processes of publishing the Journal.

The Production Assistants work with the layout of the publication, placing the content onto the pages, formatting and designing them to be aesthetically appealing, and finalizing the essays before they are sent out for production.  When the publication is finally out, the Board hosts something akin to a release party.  This year, it was a nice break from studying for final exams to listen to the speakers’ panel and join the celebrations at the subsequent reception with food, drinks, and live jazz music.  The JIA Board also hosted an end-of-semester happy hour to thank all of the SIPA students who helped out.

Digital Assistants continue to work throughout the year.  One of the large projects JIA has right now is uploading all previous issues of the Journal to the JIA website.  This means sorting through PDF versions of old issues and uploading the content to the website so that they are accessible to the general public.  The nice part about being a Digital Assistant was that I could go into the publication room between classes or after work and get my work done independently.  Having worked on the production and editorial side of journalism in the past, I welcomed learning new skills by working on the digital side of things.  I also now know the ins and outs of the publication online (great resource for classes!).

Working for the Journal of International Affairs has been challenging, but one of the most rewarding ways to get involved at SIPA.  Its fluid structure allows you to try new things and advance with commitment.  And years from now, your work is still an integral part of SIPA’s library.  Working on the Journal allows you to hit the ground running and seamlessly integrates you into life at SIPA.

SIPA Media Notes

It is not uncommon for SIPA faculty to be featured in the media.  Here is a recent compilation of some appearances.

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Steven Cohen asks “Can Obama Get His Sputnik Moment?”
CNN, January 26, 2011
“By recalling the challenge of Sputnik, the president is trying to summon America to a national effort to retool and revitalize our economy. America brings great resources and great difficulties to this newly competitive environment.”

Jeffrey Sachs gives State of the Union address a “thumbs down”
Wall Street Journal, January 26, 2011
“Professor Sachs … says the numbers won’t add up. That’s because [education, infrastructure and basic research] already take up a large chunk of the more than $600 billion of nondefense discretionary spending undertaken by the government.”

Dorian Warren provides commentary on State of the Union address
NY1, January 25, 2011 (Windows Media Player)

“I think it was a very good speech. I think he was drawing from the Tucson speech where he came across as post-partisan, as willing to reach across the aisle as unifier, that he defined the ‘we’ as a nation.”

Helios Herrera discusses the State of the Union address

Rede TV, January 26, 2011 (Portuguese)

“Obama’s proposed budget cuts will not be enough to cut the whole budget deficit and the Republicans might repeal them for that reason. The climate of bipartisanship at the speech will not change overall the political game. The republicans will do what is possible to make sure Obama does not get reelected in 2012.”

William Eimicke previews State of the Union address
WNYC, January 25, 2011
“Professor Eimicke said the president needs to get more specific. He’d especially like to hear more about the president’s plans for improving the nation’s infrastructure to help boost the economy and create jobs.”

Anya Schiffrin examines “Davos and the Gender Quota”
The Guardian, January 25, 2011
“The air is thin in Davos, and every January it gets saturated with testosterone as economic and business leaders swoop in for the annual meeting, momentarily replacing the resort town’s sea of ski parkas with a cloud of black suits. But we didn’t know how bad things were until it was reported that sponsors of the meeting have been told to make sure they bring one woman for every four men in their delegation.”

David Dinkins discusses his legacy as the first black NYC mayor
NY1
, January 24, 2011
“Sometimes you will feel criticism is inaccurate and unfair. And sometimes you might feel, you know, you’ve got a point.”

William Eimicke presents the Picker Center’s police consolidation report to the City of Schenectady, NY
Albany Times-Union, January 25, 2011
WNYT-TV, WTEN-TV, WXXA-TV, YNN
“You’re spending less on rent, you’re spending less on technology, you’re spending less on equipment.”

Joseph Stiglitz comments from the World Economic Forum in Davos
Washington Post, January 24, 2011
“’If you work in emerging markets, you feel the energy. If you are in the U.S. or Europe, you see the numbers and it’s hard not to feel depressed.’”

Scott Barrett comments on Bill Gates’ donation to polio eradication
Associated Press, January 24, 2011
“Professor Barrett said if the World’s Health Organization’s next polio deadline is missed, it may be time to abandon the efforts  ‘Eradication cannot continue indefinitely. The situation is very fragile and at some point the alternative needs to be examined more carefully.’”

Diane Vaughan addresses NASA and the Challenger disaster, 25 years later
Orlando Sentinel, January 23, 2011
“Professor Vaughan, who researched NASA’s culture after Challenger and Columbia, says NASA has taken a different approach after Columbia: ‘Look at the recent attempts to launch Discovery and how long they’ve stood down for that. It doesn’t mean they [NASA engineers] are doing poorly. It means they identified a flaw and are taking safety seriously.’”

Gary Sick writes, “While You Were Reading About Ukrainian Nurses…”
Foreign Policy, January 19, 2011
“Real news was buried in WikiLeaks — like this revealing cable on Iran’s nuclear ambitions.”

Patricia Gorman Clifford discusses “What Do Business Schools Want?”
Washington Post, January 24, 2011
“The fact you are realistically evaluating your current skill set is a great place to begin. Some prospective students are so focused on gaining admission that they don’t think enough about managing the hard work and specific types of tasks that they’ll be expected to complete as a student.”

Jeffrey Sachs discusses the outlook for the European debt crisis
Bloomberg TV, January 18, 2011
Professor Sachs talks about the outlook for the European debt crisis, the economic growth outlook for Africa, the impact of globalization on U.S. society, and climate change.

Dorian Warren on Walmart and New York City
WNYC, January 18, 2011
“They waited until the political opportunity was much more advantageous for them in the sense of an economic recession. It’s muted some of the opponents’ claims about how Walmart will be bad for certain neighborhoods precisely because it’s hard to say we don’t want jobs Walmart would create.”

Joseph Stiglitz discusses “unsustainable imbalances” in emerging nations
El Mercurio de Valparaíso, January 16, 2011 (Spanish)
Professor Stiglitz visited Santiago, Chile to share his reflections on “unsustainable imbalances” in capital inflow with Columbia University graduates and former World Bank officials.

Arvind Panagariya comments on Indian growth and poverty
Times of India, January 14, 2011
In delivering the Raj Krishna Memorial lecture at the University of Rajasthan, Professor Panagariya said, “India’s economy is growing at over 12 percent in dollar terms. It’s $1.3 trillion economy can reach the size of China’s  $6 trillion in 15 years if it continues to grow at the current pace.”

Anya Schiffrin is blogging from the World Economic Forum at ReutersDavos Notebook. Read her latest “The Deepest Fear of the Davos Man.”

Howard Friedman blogs for The Huffington Post. Read his latest: “What Would Dr. King Think of Today’s Poverty?”

John Mutter was featured on TreeHugger in an article entitled, “Brooklyn’s Bamboo Bikes Hitting the Big Time in Ghana.”

Anne Nelson posted “Vietnam Fighting a Losing Battle Against Free Speech Online” at PBS’s  MediaShift blog.

Rodolfo de la Garza blogs for WNYC. Read his latest post, “The Case for Nonpartisan Redistricting.”

Gary Sick blogs at http://garysick.tumblr.com. Read his comments on “And Life Goes On: An Iran Snapshot.”

Steven Cohen blogs regularly for The Huffington Post. Read his latest post: “Civility is More Than Symbolism.”

Stuart Gottlieb comments regularly on The Arena, Politico’s daily debate with policymakers and opinion shapers.

"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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