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(11/11/12 4:20pm)
On Saturday, Nov. 10 the New York City-based Diallo House Quartet performed at 51 Main. The quartet has been one of many jazz groups to perform here in the past weeks, with other concerts by the Justin Perdue Quartet, Eight 02, and the Sound Investment Jazz Ensemble. For those interested in jazz, the Chris Bakriges Trio will be playing 51 Main next Saturday evening at 9:oo P.M.
(11/10/12 2:48am)
On Friday, Nov. 9 the Middlebury College MLK Spiritual Choir performed their "Music Extravaganza!!!" at the Mahaney Center for the Arts Concert Hall. The large choir was directed by Twilight Artist in Residence Dr. François S. Clemmons and accompanied by Dr. Burt Dudding. Following an introduction and dedication to the victims of Hurricane Sandy, the fifty-member ensemble opened with "We are Marching in the Light of God".
(11/10/12 12:43am)
After monitoring and analyzing election returns with students on Tuesday evening, Professors Matt Dickinson and Bert Johnson discussed the election with Middlebury Magazine, as part of their "Professor Pundits" series.
It’s all about the data. Wrapping up their year-long series of commentaries about the presidential election, Middlebury’s Professor Pundits Matt Dickinson and Bert Johnson note that scientific forecasting models really do work to predict election results. Hear what the pundits have to say in their final commentary on the 2012 election.
(11/07/12 5:05am)
On Tuesday, Nov. 6 students and faculty gathered at the (Karl Rove) Crossroads Cafe to monitor and analyze election results with the help of Professor of Political Science Matt Dickinson and Associate Professor of Political Science Bert Johnson. Professor Dickinson liveblogged presidential election returns throughout the evening on "Presidential Power", commenting on both the election and the cafe's environment. Most in attendance cheered with each state gained by President Barack Obama, no doubt hoping that Dickinson's tentative prediction would hold true.
(11/07/12 1:10am)
Middlebury Magazine recently released the following short video by Brendan Mahoney ’11, documenting "the Dalai Lama's Return to Middlebury" for two days in mid-October. In addition to backstage footage and that of His Holiness' lectures, the video also makes use of the Campus' interview with the Dalai Lama.
When the Dalai Lama visited campus, our digital media producer Brendan Mahoney ’11 was afforded special access. This insightful, touching video is the result.
(11/03/12 4:07am)
On Wednesday, Oct. 31 the Mamajamas performed for a large crowd of students gathered in Hepburn Lounge. Most, including the entire a cappella group, came in costume to celebrate the occasion; the Mamajamas also threw candy into their audience throughout their first song, a remixed version of Nelly's "Ride wit Me" with Halloween-themed lyrics.
(11/03/12 3:43am)
With the ongoing discussion regarding the value of a liberal arts education – including an faculty op-ed, comments on the Project on Creativity and Innovation and a Campus editorial – Middlebury Magazine recently interviewed President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz about the topic.
On the eve of the fall semester, President Liebowitz issued an exhaustive 11-page report to the faculty that was as bold and provocative in its thinking as it was ambitious in its length. In it, he addressed the evolving nature of a liberal arts education—specifically its cost and relevance. We spoke to the president about his ideas.
Let’s start with cost and relevance. . .
Well, I think there’s a tipping point beyond which people sit up and take notice about what they are paying for. And while I believe that a liberal arts education is priceless in the greater scheme and long-term view of things, people don’t always have the capacity and luxury to think long term, especially coming out of the worst recession in a century. I think more people have been paying more attention to cost, value, and relevance. And that’s why I wanted to address this issue.
What are some of the cost implications?
Wage and salaries represent about half of all of our costs. And we have significant fixed costs related to our infrastructure. So we have to take a look at how we deploy our staffing based on what we feel is the most important pedagogy, and where that pedagogy is absolutely essential and where it is a luxury.
As we think about a Middlebury education, we have to acknowledge that one of the most important reasons students come here is because of the personalized approach to learning that one will get, the opportunities to engage faculty who are committed to undergraduate teaching and who understand that the core mission of Middlebury College is undergraduate education.
But let’s step back and ask if that means students have to have that 100 percent of the time. If you look at a student who has gotten the most out of a Middlebury education, what does his or her four years look like? How much of it is really one-and-one instruction, how much of it is really in small seminars? Hopefully a large part of it, but it’s certainly not the entire part. So before we think about continuing to do what we have done as we have done it, we have to step back and ask, “Might there be another way?”
Let me give you one example that is illustrative of the opportunities we have (and it shows why we have a comparative advantage over our peers): Our Chinese department is second-to-none in teaching Chinese language, literature, and culture. It is remarkable both in its rigor and how our students emerge four years later with a fluency and a sensitivity to the culture of the language that they are studying. At the same time, we hear repeated commentary about the department’s narrow course offerings at the senior seminar level from students who have returned from studying abroad at our sites in China; [these offerings] reflect the professional experience and expertise from a relatively small number of faculty. The students see too few opportunities to apply their Chinese language capabilities to contemporary issues. So instead of hiring two more faculty in the Chinese department to cover China’s economy or Chinese-U.S. relations, in Chinese, why not tap into our existing resources in China, at our sites in Kunming, Hangzhou, and Beijing, where we cover environmental sciences (Kunming), the arts (Hangzhou), and the social sciences (Beijing)?Why not tie in classes that are going on in Beijing with classes at Middlebury? An 8:30 p.m. seminar in Beijing would be an 8:30 a.m. class for Chinese majors in Middlebury.
We’ve hired the faculty to teach our students in Beijing, and now we can have that course in two places using videoconferencing and technology that didn’t exist three to five years ago. The ability to bring in expertise from our 38 sites around the world presents this kind of opportunity for us in multiple languages across many disciplines. And so without ever increasing the size of our faculty, we can expand our curriculum significantly and provide important new opportunities to our students. And that’s just one area we can think about a little bit differently.
So, tell us more about untapped potential . . .
Well, despite having great educational resources such as the language schools (since 1915), BLSE (since 1920), and schools abroad (1949), they have largely existed in a vacuum. They have served separate cohorts of students, with occasional overlaps with our undergraduates, but only recently. These programs represent untapped resources for the College. The challenge we face now is rationalizing—leveraging, if you will—these resources to the benefit of our core mission, which is undergraduate education. Which is to say, if these programs produce financial surpluses for the College, great. If they provide important and unique educational opportunities to our undergraduate students, then even better. So a lot of my attention is given to strengthening this network of educational programs to the benefit of the entire institution, and especially our undergraduate students. It’s time we capitalized on these long-standing programs.
What role do you see technology playing?
For a period of our history, our isolated location was a great benefit. It was an oasis of sorts, an escape from noise, a place where students could come and have a contemplative four years immersed in their studies. But the world has changed dramatically since those times. I don’t think students can afford to be totally checked out, isolated from what’s going on in the rest of the world for four years, and then jump in when they graduate.
Technology is a great leveler. Even for those students who go abroad—and that’s 55 to 60 percent of our student body—technology will still be key, because it will allow students to stay connected after they return. It also is a way in which faculty can rethink pedagogy. Collaborative learning and accessing information instantaneously have become so important. Technology plays a role in how faculty can do so much more than the standard 50-minute lecture three times a week. But we have to be smart. There’s good technology and there’s not-so-good technology, technology for the lazy and bored. We don’t want that. We want to retain our focus on undergraduate education, human contact, but that’s not mutually exclusive from finding ways technology can enhance that experience.
How might the curriculum evolve?
Students being learned in the classics and foundations of the liberal arts should not change. It’s crucial that students learn fundamentals from Western and Eastern texts. Those are building blocks to understanding the human condition, and they don’t lose their relevance.
However, when you talk about the organization of the curriculum, and you divide things by, say, the regional division of the world (Asian studies, African studies, Latin American studies, etc.) it assumes that the old order—state institutions—play the most significant role in world affairs. If we learned anything since 9/11, we learned how non-state actors are becoming more and more important. So, we need to think about how this kind of change alters how we organize, at the least, our international curriculum and also how we view “the world.” And then there are the ways disciplines have evolved. It’s tidy to say “I’m a biologist” or “I’m a chemist,” but what’s happening in between the established disciplines is, in many ways, as significant and exciting, if not more. Then again, graduate schools continue to produce PhDs almost solely within disciplines. So it’s tricky. But it’s worth examining what we learn, how we learn it, and what constitutes knowledge in today’s world. Just because something has been done a certain way doesn’t mean it should always be done that way.
Also, we need to set our expectations for what students need to know. What represents the best launching pad for students not only to get a fundamental base in a liberal arts education, but also best prepares them to thrive in the world?
This leads to how our students learn . . .
I’d like to think of a Middlebury education as being a sum of all the parts, and that they all support one another, rather than being perceived to be in competition with one another. So it’s not a zero sum game, but rather a summation game.
Now, there is a risk of charlatanism when students get involved superficially in a number of disciplines. But through projects like the Solar Decathlon or the “Hydrogen tractor” winter term course taught by two alums last year or MiddCORE, we see examples of where you have a superb academic experience in the classroom supporting and being supported by what students are doing outside the classroom. And that’s an important aspect of today’s liberal arts education.
Though I understand it, I don’t necessarily believe it’s in the best interest of our students that during the past 25 years, we have become so focused on excellence in the classroom, we have devoted less attention to what students are doing outside of class. We as a faculty need to see how life outside the classroom is a crucial element of a Middlebury education.
What about the evolution of the student body?
Diversity of life experience and diversity of thought are the two most important things in creating a vibrant learning environment. If we manage to bring together students of different world experiences and of different thought—political, social, cultural—it will enrich the educational environment significantly.
I started teaching here in 1984 and seemed free to make statements in my political geography class that 15, 16 years later would have been challenged by students whose life experiences would have rendered my positions and my lectures dated and, well, provincial. We now have students from more than 75 countries, so to speak about international development or dictatorships or freedom of speech takes on a very different character when people who have experienced a very different system or lifestyle can say, “Wait a minute, what about this perspective?” That’s what we try to do here: provide different viewpoints so as to stretch our students’ understanding and comfort levels as they study across the liberal arts.
If we successfully answer the relevance concern, does that solve the cost issue as well?
Partially, yes. It buys us time. But we can’t assume a five or six percent growth in the cost of a college education forever. So we need to work on both. We have to make “the relevance case” more strongly in order to attract and retain the best students, and we have to address cost before we lose too large a segment of the population who believes it would be impossible to finance a Middlebury education.
(10/27/12 8:19pm)
As previewed last Thursday, Middlebury's Sound Investment Jazz Ensemble played for a large crowd at 51 Main on Friday evening; their opening piece can be streamed above.
(10/27/12 7:00pm)
Stuck in the Middle and the Paradiddles performed in their first-ever joint concert at Coltrane Lounge on Friday evening. Described as " full of frivolity, brand-new songs, and plenty of surprises", the concert is now available for online viewing via Qik.
(10/26/12 7:35pm)
5:47 PM: As the assembly concludes, organizers and participants confirm next week's 4 PM meeting in the Warner Hemicycle. An organizer points out that administrators tried censoring knowledge about this event, and encourages everyone to spread word of next week's trial and meeting.
5:39 PM: There is brief mention of Middlebury's divestment from Apartheid in the late 1980's, as well as more recent efforts to divest from the Sudan. An organizer points out that 350.org was started by three Middlebury students, meaning that a national movement to divest from war could certainly start here.
5:33 PM: Participants return to the initial question in order to discuss strength and tactics in moving forward. Suggestions include additional general assemblies, smarter media tactics and more press releases, "lending additional hands" on the divestment poster, distributing further details and evidence, diversifying tactics, and incorporating the support of the College's alumni.
5:25 PM: 'What do people think about the administration violating handbook policies or the mission statement?' another participant poses to the assembly. With the trial holding the students responsible, an organizer explains, it may be possible to hold the college responsible, in turn.
5:21 PM: Discussion returns to the topic of deception, as an organizer states that the two letters were certainly a single action; the time gap between their release was intended to allow students to experience the feelings that would accompany such an announcement, as well as realize its feasibility. However, those critiquing the action are not convinced, saying that the varying levels of information distribution separate the letters.
5:13 PM: Another participant notes the tone of the assembly, which has been quite polarizing between the administration or the students. 'We need to view things from the administration's perspective, as well.' Considering the administration as an "incumbent", the participant continues, you can't simply muscle them over; rather, interests must be aligned and commonalities found between parties.
5:08 PM: While an organizer tries to shift away from this topic, the participating staff member points out that many in the community were turned off by this deceptive tactic, even if they agreed with the overall message. While another argues that the deception was a satire on the College's lack of transparency, this participant believes these opinions to be important and asks that everyone discuss ways in better explaining the action to others.
5:04 PM: Other participants directly respond, arguing that trust is not present in students' relationship with the administration. Therefore, the DLWC actually "shed light on other issues of mistrust." The unprovoked admittance of responsibility has created some sort of real trust, according to the participant.
4:59 PM: One participant states that the misinformation of the hoax email will only harm the cause in the long-run. The participant further explains that because the "coming-clean" letter did not take the same form as the original email, it is hard to view the event as a single, non-deceptive action. 'My trust has been violated,' making it harder to work with the DLWC, as well as hurting the community.
4:56 PM: 'What power does the administration really have with regard to this issue? How quickly do you expect this endowment transfer from Investure to take place?' a participant asks. An organizer responds with examples of other schools, which have placed screens on their endowment; some of these schools even feature independent boards with student representation, determining how the money should be invested. Thus, this particular organizer believes endowment screens to be a realistic solution.
4:49 PM: Another participant points out that the DLWC and their supporters must find a balance between challenging the institution and respecting judicial code. This leads into a discussion about the risks students are willing to take for this cause, in which many talk about the advantages of diversifying strategies (i.e. mixing the lobbying of the administration by SRI and Divest for Our Future with the DLWC's more radical tactics). One participant would like to see a progression in strategies, or continuing talks with the administration until they no longer appear to be support the cause; the participant is presently satisfied with the administration's efforts and has yet to reach a point where riskier tactics would be appropriate.
4:43 PM: An organizer reminds participants of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education's (FIRE) "red light" designation for Middlebury College, meaning that the institution has "at least one policy that both clearly and substantially restricts freedom of speech." This transitions into a discussion about the College's realness. As one participant points out, individuals accused of rape have simply been asked to take a semester off in the past, substantially contradicting consequences in the real world. There is some opposition to the path of conversation by other participants.
4:34 PM: Discussion turns to the upcoming trials of Molly Stuart ’15.5, Jay Saper ’13, Jenny Marks ’14.5, Sam Koplinka-Loehr ’13, and Amitai Ben-Abba ’15.5, which will be on Thursday, Nov. 1 at 3 PM in Dana Auditorium. A participant asks if everything will begin and end with this trial; 'how do you get students excited about divestment, as well as keep them that way?'
4:27 PM: Discussion shifts toward available strategies. A participant points out that student tuition likely adds to the endowment; 'perhaps, this could be a good place to start the screening?' Another speaks of alumni donations, which add to the endowment; the participant recommends screening such gifts, raising alumni awareness and support.
4:22 PM: Discussion slowly starts with an initial question from the staff member regarding that from which the group wants to divest. Participants seem quite interested in achieving divestment from fossil fuels, particularly after the recent achievements of on-campus and national movements. Although one organizer highlights the DLWC's focus on divestment from war, a participant points out that fossil fuels and war are inherently connected.
4:14 PM: The assembly begins, as participants continue to trickle in. Meeting organizers would like to discuss the various "tools" on the table for achieving divestment. However, the assembly will be managed as a discussion among both organizers and participants, meaning any topic is appropriate. The person speaking or questioning will decide the next speaker, while wiggling one's fingers upward or downward represents agreement/interest or disagreement/disinterest, respectively.
4:06 PM: People are slowly gathering in the Warner Hemicycle. Presently, there are about twenty students and one staff member.
3:35 PM: We will be providing live updates from the Dalai Lama Welcoming Committee's "General Assembly", beginning at 4 PM in the Warner Hemicycle. Flyers announcing the event, pictured below, were distributed across campus throughout the week; the group also provided meeting details on their website.
(10/12/12 4:30am)
(10/11/12 2:43am)
In preparing for the arrival of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Middlebury Magazine's Maria Theresa Stadtmueller provided the following explanation and information:
What is a Dalai Lama? And how is His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama different from (and similar to) the previous 13?
A week before His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s visit to Middlebury, a large audience at Dana Auditorium heard some answers to the questions, “What is a Dalai Lama?” and “Who is this Dalai Lama?” Professor William Waldron sketched the spiritual and temporal role Dalai Lamas have held since their rise to prominence in 16th century Tibet, adding insights about the particular life and role of Middlebury’s honored guest.
The title “Dalai Lama” itself suggests the complex history of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism. “Lama” is Tibetan for “guru” or “teacher”; “Dalai” is Mongolian for “ocean.” The title is loosely translated as “Ocean of Merit” or “Ocean of Wisdom,” and Waldron explained how it harkens back to the Buddhist leaders’ patronage by Mongolian princes who ran—and defended—Tibet from the 13th through 17th centuries. Far from otherworldly spiritualists, these Buddhist lamas operated amidst Mongolian and Chinese political plays, with each power exercising control over Tibetans through their spiritual leaders.
Buddhism didn’t arrive in Tibet until the 7th century, and the monks who brought it from India were not entering a spiritual vacuum: practitioners of Tibet’s indigenous shamanic spiritual tradition, Bön, resisted the Buddhist influence. Originally armed pastoralists like the Mongolians, the Tibetans took to the Buddhist teachings of compassion. Bön and Buddhism ultimately developed a syncretic relationship, and during the four-century span prior to Mongolian political rule, it was the Buddhist monasteries who provided a stabilizing cultural force, serving as keepers of literacy and iconography, even lending money (similar to the role the Catholic monasteries played after the fall of the Roman Empire).
Waldron noted that while Dalai Lamas have for centuries wielded political and spiritual influence, it is the latter role Tibetans value most. Traditionally, the Dalai Lama is considered the reincarnation of the revered bodhisattva (or “enlightened being”) of compassion, Avalokiteshvara. Bodhisattvas cycle through many earthly lifetimes, delaying their own rest in nirvana in order to help liberate others from suffering. In the Tibetan Mahayana Buddhist tradition especially, Waldron noted, “the many bodhisattvas represent the potential for cultivating awakened properties within oneself.” This awakening, through meditation and other practices, allows a person to see reality without the ulterior motives and grasping of the ego; the awakened person is free to engage others with compassion and wisdom.
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama was a toddler in his mud-and-stone village when a lengthy, detailed process identified him as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama. Given the restless time into which he was born, he went from a closely tutored child in a Lhasa palace whose only exposure to technology was an old film projector, watches, and a telescope to a world traveler who counts among his friends prominent scientists, philosophers, and religious leaders. (His own education demanded decades of studying scriptures and the highly advanced logic of Buddhism; he earned the equivalent of a Ph.D. in philosophy and is the author of dozens of books.)
And although Waldron noted that the 14th Dalai Lama “is not the first to be beleaguered by politics,” the politics that have beleaguered His Holiness are of a modern scale. Fearing for his life during the increasingly restrictive Chinese occupation of Tibet, he fled in 1959 and found asylum in Dharamsala, India, with many other Tibetans. As Pico Iyer notes in his biography of the Dalai Lama, The Open Road, “One in five Tibetans—more than a million—died of starvation or in direct encounters with the Chinese. One in 10 was jailed; all but 13 of the more than 6,000 monasteries in Tibet were leveled.”
While he has tirelessly engaged in efforts on behalf of Tibet’s autonomy, His Holiness recently abdicated his political role as his people’s temporal leader (Waldron noted that his traditional political authority lodged mostly in central Tibet, but that this abdication nonetheless changes “the religious polity of classical Tibet”). He remains active fostering Tibet’s monastic and cultural traditions in exile while calling for a “global ethics” that supersedes religion or culture to engage and develop what is common to all humans—kindness, responsibility, and compassion. Toward this end, he regularly hosts conferences in Dharamsala that pursue questions about cognitive science and meditation, Buddhist doctrine and quantum mechanics, and commonalities among religions. This self-described “simple Buddhist monk” doesn’t claim to have universal answers, and in fact, suggests that while Buddhism works for him, it may not be a good fit for others. As a quote from the Buddha displayed in the Dalai Lama’s home temple in Dharamsala says, “As one assays gold by rubbing, cutting, and melting, so examine well my words and accept them, but not because you respect me.”
Tickets to see His Holiness the Dalai Lama are now sold out. Live video feeds will be provided to both Dana Auditorium and the McCullough Social Space during both of his talks. Seating for these on-campus video viewing areas is free and open to the public, and is available on a first-come, first-served basis.
We will also be streaming the lectures live online. This link will be live a few minutes before the lectures begin: http://go.middlebury.edu/dlstream.
Stay tuned as both the Campus and the Current continue to provide full coverage of the weekend's events.
(10/05/12 10:28pm)
In case you're still piecing together your plans for the evening, Dispatch's concert at Radio City Music Hall will be broadcast live on YouTube at 9 PM. Chad Urmston, Brad Corrigan, and Pete Heimbold formed the band while attending the College in the 1990s.
(09/26/12 5:23pm)
The papercraft art exhibit in the Kevin P. Mahaney '84 Center for the Arts Upper Lobby (Peter Broucke).
(09/23/12 1:09am)
Like many of the campus' language houses, the Arabic House (located at Sperry House on Franklin Street) spent the afternoon preparing various dishes of the Middle East for about thirty guests. The menu included regional favorites, such as baba ganoush, hummus, and kebab.
(09/21/12 11:28pm)
The college will continue to live stream the International Politics and Economics' Symposium, "From Deng to Dollars: The Political Economy of China’s Rise" online. For those of you already out for the evening, the Current will maintain a liveblog of the discussion below, and what's a better Saturday morning than catching up on the political economy of China's rise?
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8:35 PM: Thanks for following, the Current is signing off for the evening from the IPEC symposium.
8:34 PM: EV is addressing the transition from the historic Communist Party, which was based much more on ideology, as opposed to today's party, where leaders will attend special schools and receive large salaries. YH adds that you need both economic and political centralization to avoid corruption. He is now returning to social media, suggesting that one can avoid censorship through criticizing policies, as opposed to political leaders. Additionally, there is more knowledge of corruption now thanks to social media. Unlike the Middle East, where the social media has translated into mobilization, the focus in China has really been on information dissemination; however, this may be now shifting toward mobilization, as seen through the recent protests against Japan. SR concludes in stating, if you stay part of the system, that's when salaries rapidly increase; after a time, fifteen million becomes chunk-change.
8:24 PM: Taking many questions at once now due to limited time, which will lead into a final discussion on the most interesting topics.
8:20 PM: We're moving into questions: 'There's certainly dissatisfaction, but there doesn't seem to be a consensus about what to do about? How will that consensus be reached? Ordinary citizens don't seem to know what they'd like to see, and this is in the city, which tends to be more united than the rural areas.' SR begins by speaking about his field work in the rural areas, where he asks people if they've ever seen a riot; most have not, and many are satisfied, as each generation tends to be improving, even if those in the city are becoming much wealthier. But this is with 10% growth! What happens when that declines, the "bubbles of expectation" begin to pop, and there's no more hope? "I'm worried about rural dissatisfaction in 2025." EV continues by discussing the sociology of political movements and protests; he says that many of these rabble-rousers are former, hard-working university students, who see an unfair world and the Communist Party rewarding its own. YH concurs with SR, saying that everything will depend on economic growth; he also talks about the power of social media, removing the isolation from events in China. For example, all those whose homes are taken by the government can now communicate with one another.
8:08 PM: The discussion has returned to academic predictions of economic crises or political movements. YH states the unpredictable things shake the system the most, even if such a system was previously labeled strong by academics.
8:05 PM: EV has continued arguing that the dissatisfaction could actually encourage a small group of high-level leaders to institute real change with more transparency and more regular legal procedures; the incoming government may even follow such a scenario. However, YH reminds listeners of the "overlapping" political system of China, where the new government isn't truly free of the influence of those leaving office. He sees the future as a continuation of the present (arresting or executing some political figure for corruption), which is a somewhat more unfortunate scenario.
7:54 PM: There's a consensus among the three speakers that no academic can predict the future accurately, but EV believes there to be an overall dissatisfaction with the outspoken population at this time. YH explains that he has noticed that those on social media sites, perhaps a reference to the most outspoken, tend to be more liberal and interested in change.
7:49 PM: YH says the government is, in fact, cracking down on corruption. And in terms of the severity of the punishment (i.e. execution), China may be the harshest in the world in punishing corruption. He continues that transparency would require decentralization and taking away some of the central government's power. SR interjects, asking who will monitor these things on more local levels? YH suggests studying other countries in trying to gain more facts in successful transition from centralization to decentralization, from corruption to less corruption.
7:43 PM: The roundtable has begun as a discussion between the three panelists, debating the effectiveness of China's government in solving the country's largest issues. How do we rate the government's effectiveness in comparison with the United States or Japan, where it appears even more difficult to pass any policies? Or should we look at it through a lens of combatting corruption, where the government has not been as effective. EV argues the government needs more transparency, which will be resisted by many of these older leaders; combatting transparency could kill the party, while not combatting it could kill the nation.
7:28 PM: Fairly large crowd for a Friday evening with a mix of students, faculty, and community members. Professor Erik Bleich has introduced this roundtable as something of a "cafe" discussion with questions following soon after.
7:15 PM: Four chairs are set up at the front of MBH 216; a small, but growing audiance awaits the arrival of the symposium's three speakers, Ezra Vogel (EV), Yasheng Huang (YH), and Scott Rozelle (SR).
(09/21/12 3:06pm)
Noting its wonderful title, I jumped at the opportunity to attend James Bettner Brooke's "Covering Putin’s First 100 Days: From Romney's Top Foe To Pussy Riot" at the Robert A. Jones '59 House on Thursday evening. Brooke is the Russia/former Soviet Union bureau chief for Voice of America (VOA), where he blogs at Russia Watch. His lecture caught the attention of both aspiring journalists and students of Russian Studies, as he intertwined the topics of media and modern Russia through an in-depth exploration of his blog. With regard to the former, Brooke explained VOA's significance for English speakers within Russia, many of whom turn to its articles, photographic essays and videos as an alternative to other English news sources, such as Russia Today. With regard to the latter, he elaborated on recent events within the country, ranging from President Vladimir Putin's framing of the United States as an enemy and the recent eviction of USAID, to last month's conviction of Pussy Riot and the accompanying protests.
It appears the situation will only grow more interesting with time, as Russian relations develop with China (and sour with the United States), borderland populations grow, the population of ethnic Russians declines and a "faster" generation matures. As I'm sure many in attendance would agree, Brooke's blog is certainly worth following for the latest updates from Moscow.
(09/20/12 2:31am)
It's our pleasure to welcome you to the Campus' redesigned website, featuring a simplistic design mirroring our print edition, more capabilities for both our staff and readers and content from the past, present and instant. While our weekly issues remain the focus of our efforts, this website enables multimedia supplements to stories, creates a new space for both design and debate and enables accessibility to the college no matter where you are. Through adding the Campus Current, we're also moving beyond our weekly news cycle, as breaking-news stories, live events and miscellaneous items are continuously posted right here beneath the week's headlines. Please explore, read and discuss, and thanks from all of us at the Campus.