the morningside post

"If this book represents a fraction of their zeal..."

I was reading the New York Times Book Review this afternoon only to see the name of a fellow TMPer mentioned.   TMP's very own Jeca Taudte has been working away at a book co-written with the MySpace Community. - MYSPACE/OURPLANET and by the account of the NYTimes she's has created quite a book.

In the opinion of reviewer Elizabeth Royte it's "blessedly straightforward....makes its point with a sassy tone" and left her feeling that "if this book represents a fraction of their [the Myspace Community's] zeal for treading more lightly on the planet, there's hope for everyone." 

So if you're in need of eco-tips go buy the book by clicking here. Or if you prefer to meet the 179,542 friends of the MySpace/Ourplanet click here.

- This alum publication comes on the heels of another. So if you're also a SIPA grad who has written a book let us know and we'll feature it on our about page.

Looking for Some Job Ideas?

By Courtney Doggart
MIA 2009

In The History of the Siege of Lisbon, author Jose Saramago explores the historical implications of a book proofreader slipping in the tiny word “not” into a historical account of the 1147 siege of Lisbon.  The ensuing romp underscores, among other things, how words are indicators with long-lasting implications. A more modern version of the proofreader’s tale can perhaps be found in the unfortunately named “nonprofit sector.” With urban legends of underpaid, overworked employees and a sector name that is less than tantalizing, it is unsurprising that the nonprofit sector consistently draws the fewest SIPA students into its ranks.

While I don’t make a habit of reading career guides cover-to-cover, I can confidently say that this one is far from dry.

Last week, I sat down last week with Shelly Cryer, SIPA alum and former adjunct professor, to talk about her new book, a guide to the nonprofit sector. From the beginning both she and the book emphasize that the sector is done a disservice by being defined by what it is not. Rather, Cryer believes that the nonprofit sector should be recognized for what it is—a sector that “emphasizes mission and not the financial bottom line.” The book, aptly titled The Nonprofit Career Guide: How to Land a Job That Makes a Difference, dispels some of the common myths (salary...) about the sector about and provides a thorough analysis of its job market.

Updates from Beirut

Live from Beirut, you'll find Ben Ryan.  The SIPA '07 grad is a long-time friend of The Morningside Post, and this isn't the first time he's blogged from the middle of a Lebanese politico-military crisis - back in the summer of 2006, Ben's blogging before his evacuation to Cyprus got him onto CNN's Anderson Cooper 360.

Check out Ben at Rational Grounds - we wish safety to you and your friends in Beirut, and to all the people of Lebanon caught in the middle of more mad fighting.

SIPA's New Dean: Your Thoughts?

By TMP Editors:

John Coatsworth, previously SIPA's acting dean, has now been named to that position permanently by Columbia President Lee Bollinger. The Columbia spectator wrote an article about the appointment here and about Coatsworth and the Ahmadinejad controversy here.

The New York Sun reacted to the appointment with a small placeholder article here before an editorial came out against Bollinger's decision here, for "activism on behalf of enemies of Israel" and criticizing Coatsworth for a protest he staged in Las Vegas against the State Department for denying visas to visiting Cuban scholars.

So what do you think? Please try to keep your comments civil and based on your direct experience interacting with Coatsworth.

60 Years of Catastrophe: Nakba Commemoration Week at Columbia

By Eamon Kicher-Allen
MIA 2009

Do you know about the Nakba?

The word means “catastrophe” in Arabic, and refers to the expulsion and dispossession of more than 700,000 Palestinians from their ancestral lands during the period surrounding the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and the creation of Israel. That war -– and the subsequent expulsion of additional hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and afterwards –- resulted in a refugee population that numbers several million today. (The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) says that it now serves 4.5 million registered Palestine refugees in the Middle East –- in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and the occupied Palestinian territories.)

On Monday, I attended the first of several events taking place this week to commemorate the 60^th anniversary of the Nakba’s genesis. An all-star panel of Columbia University professors -– Lila Abu Lughod, Gil Anidjar, Joseph Massad and Noha Radwan –- reflected on the ordeals of the Palestinians and the origins of the thinking that led to their expulsion from much of their land.

Got Thoughts?

Over the next couple of months, The Morningside Post will be undergoing a little cosmetic surgery. By summer, we hope to launch a new, better version of the site. As we complete the planning process, the editors would appreciate reader feedback. We'd love to hear your thoughts on both the look and feel of the site (color preferences, anyone?) as well as functionality. Now's your chance to let us know what works, what doesn't and what is missing. Just post in the comment section or email editor@themorningsidepost.com.

Thanks for your input--the sooner, the better!

Dubai Diary III

By Anne Nelson
(Anne Nelson is a professor at SIPA where she teaches "Writing on International Affairs". She just returned from Dubai where she attended the Arab Media Forum.)

Just off the plane, bringing home more questions than answers.  First of all, I have witnessed firsthand how ludicrous it is to talk about the "Arab media."  There is a tremendous range of voices from Lebanon to Saudi Arabia to the Sudan, which impresses you even more when you see them in action.

There is a lot to ponder about the Arab world and the Internet.  Some of the discussion was familiar territory about whether (or for some, how quickly) the Internet would displace broadcast and print media.

But there was also a more urgent underlying concern.  The population of most Arab countries is heavily skewed toward youth, and the youth are turning to the Internet in droves. As in the West, the youth are more likely to be early adapters.  The media leaders at the forum realize that the stability of the region is delicate.  These powerful new engines of society (in the form of new media and social networking) may be dominated by the youth.  Many of the young people are highly dissatisfied with the status quo, and drawn to fractious religious and political movements.

Dubai Diary by Professor Anne Nelson: Part II

(Anne Nelson is a professor at SIPA where she teaches "Writing on International Affairs". She is currently in Dubai where she is attending the Arab Media Forum.)

Day 3:  Well, Day 2 was spent in back-to-back meetings. Many of them were about censorship of the Internet in Arab countries. Interestingly enough, I could find no evidence that my first post got through, and the super-speed Dubai hotel system would happily load columbia.edu, but wouldn't go near morningsidepost.  I began to wonder. Had some other blog put morningsidepost on the Emirate delete list?  Or was it just another -- snafu?

I got an email confirmation tonight that my post did indeed arrive (but I can't load the blogging program and must improvise). Such thoughts are appropriate for my through-the-looking-glass experience here.  I've now spent two full days in a room full of white-robed men and black-robed women, discussing exactly the same topics we've been tackling in my spring SIPA class, only here it's in Arabic.  (The translations are good, but a little slow.)

 

The Lives of Iraqi Interpreters

By Eamon Kircher-Allen
MIA 2009

I have a soft spot -- as any regular reader of this blog knows -- for criticisms of the war and occupation in Iraq.

So last weekend when I went to see New Yorker staff writer George Packer's play, Betrayed: The Iraqis Who Loved America Too Much, I brought along a friend from outside the international affairs world who has only a passing  interest -- compared to SIPA students, at least -- in the politics of the Middle East.

Afterward, we discussed the play over burgers at a spot around the corner from the play's SoHo venue, the Culture Project. I quickly discovered that we both loved it, for somewhat different reasons.

Our Military-Industrial-Media Complex

NOT FADE AWAY
Now on Your Small Screen: the Military-Industrial-Media Complex

Comment by Tom Lansner

Tom Lansner is adjunct associate professor at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, specializing in international media and communications. He covered conflicts in many countries over a decade as correspondent for the London Observer and other publications. His three-part e-seminar on war reporting is available at Columbia Interactive.

+++++++++++++++++

“The usual dividing lines between government and journalism have been obliterated”
                                                        — The New York Times, 22 April 2008

+++++++++++++++++

Talking Heads.... Lies in Wartime? 
photo: The New York Times

These days, old soldiers don't just fade away.

Perhaps it is increasingly life expectancy, combined with a plethora of broadcast news outlets. The serious, sober, experienced,

and tough-minded retired generals and colonels invited to comment on American war in Iraq, and issues around detention and torture at Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib, presented the face of probity and patriotism.

If things were going wrong, they would surely be as square as their proverbial jaws with the American public, for whose protection, and assuredly for whose basic democratic values, they had long been willing to make the ultimate sacrifice.                

Or so many people believed.

Recycled as television pundits, most of these officers have offered analyses that very rarely stray from the official line. Their expertise and access — as well as the “command presence” to which most news presenters respectfully defer in these times of "war on terror" — have shaped a half-decade of public perception regarding the propriety and progress of the Iraq conflict.

Yet the former officers’ comments were much more than like-minded.

SIPA Professor Blogs from Arab Media Forum in Dubai

(Anne Nelson is a professor at SIPA where she teaches "Writing on International Affairs". She is currently in Dubai where she is attending the Arab Media Forum.)

By Professor Anne Nelson

Day 1: Somebody forgot to tell them that most journalists and academics don't know from business class. On Emirates Air, it's almost overwhelming. It takes me most of the 12-hour flight to figure out how to operate my massage-stratolounger chair and the entertainment system, which has several hundred movies on demand.

I spend a few hours with a history of Islamic culture, then decide to watch "The Golden Compass," the movie based on the Philip Pullman novel, curious about critiques that the film is an attack on Christianity.   It looks more like an attack on narrow-minded fundamentalism (interesting that the little heroine is given many "Messiah-like" qualities).  But I'm mainly annoyed that the film drops off at the end in a craven bid for a sequel, without resolving the plot. 

I turn to the Arabic movie menu.  There are about a hundred on offer.  Interesting -- I've been disappointed by the lack of Arabic offerings from my usual Netflix and library sources. I click through a bunch of contemporary romantic comedies and farces Then I find a string of black-and-white features, from the 50's and 60's from the look of the costumes. 

A New Take on an Old Subject

By Courtney Doggart
MIA 2009
With even the friendliest debate about Israel and Palestine quick to descend into an abstract, emotional brouhaha, it's always refreshing to find contributions that are grounded in the every-day reality of the people living there. Thursday's screening of Slingshot Hip Hop is likely to do just that.

The film braids together the stories of young Palestinians living in Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank as they discover Hip Hop and employ it as a tool to surmount divisions imposed by occupation and poverty. From internal checkpoints and Separation Walls to gender norms and generational differences, this is the story of young people crossing the borders that separate them.

The filmmaker is New York-based artist Jackie Reem Salloum. Drawing on her Palestinian and Syrian roots, her pop-infused work focuses on challenging the stereotypes of Arabs in the media. She has directed several shorts exploring this issue, including Planet of the Arabs, which received the International Editing Award at the 2005 CinemaTexas Film Festival and was an official selection in that year's Sundance Film Festival. After receiving her MFA from New York University, Salloum began directing SlingShot Hip Hop. Five years in the making, it is her first feature length documentary. Salloum's work is also the basis of a youth education program on Palestine/Israel, and she frequently speaks at universities and conferences internationally.

The screening, which will take place in Altschul Auditorium on Thursday the 24th between 8 and 10 pm, features a Q&A with the director. There is an optional $2-5 donation (towards film production costs) at the door.

“I’ll Take a Small Debate, and Please Hold the Diatribes”

By Christian Kim
MIA 2009

For an elite policy institution, SIPA’s dialogue concerning the Middle East conflict seems strangely one-sided, heavily favoring the Palestinian cause. This in itself is not surprising, given the fact that Palestine’s dilemma dovetails with two major tenets of the Western liberalist canon: political pluralism and national self-determination. But a blind acceptance of the view that Palestine carries the moral prerogative lacks intellectual vigor—one that does not comport with the level of scrutiny demanded from future policymakers.

Undoubtedly, conditions in the Gaza Strip have deteriorated to the detriment of many average citizens. However, calling it the world’s biggest prison and using the term “genocide” to describe Israel’s actions go too far. Genocide is railroading people like cattle to crematories and gas chambers and summarily executing them. Genocide is wiping out entire segments of the population with machetes and machine guns and burying them in shallow graves. Genocide is not cordoning off a territory because it refuses to stop lobbing a daily dose of rockets into the very country trying to provide necessary supplies. As for prisons, they are for prisoners. Palestinians are not criminals serving sentences. They are combatants in a war they refuse to disavow.

African Economic Forum Highlight: The Kenya Tea Trade

At the April 4 African Economic Forum, organized by the SIPA Pan-African Network (SPAN), several entrepreneurs presented their visions for business and investment that have potential for social good. Wanja Michuki, profiled here, talked about the Kenyan fair-trade tea company she helped bring to the United States.

By Eamon Kircher-Allen

MIA 2009

Wanja Michuki’s revelation came to her while sitting in the offices of Merrill Lynch late one night in the summer of 2001. She was working at the investment bank while getting an MBA at Columbia Business School on an investment banking track.

“It was at some bizarre hour,” she said during a visit to SIPA on April 4 for participation in the African Economic Forum. “I was like, what am I doing here? I was doing something I really wasn’t passionate about.”

It was then that Michuki, 26 years old at the time, realized she wanted to do work for a firm with a social mission. She wanted to do something for the economic development of her native country, Kenya. Back at school, she drew up a business plan and thought about what sector she would want to work in. The answer: Kenyan tea.

Follies 2008: Friday morning at SIPA

SIPA students slowly return from the dead and stumble to econ after a rough Thursday night.

Director: Liz Mendenhall Choreographer: Bekkah Schear

Dancers: Liz Mendenhall, Bekkah Schear, Kristi Schober, Alison Binkowski, Leah Manning, Shannon Gaffney, Lorelai O-Hagan, Erica Hagen, Portia Hunt, Natalie Bonjoc, Roshan Shah, Isabela Echeverry, Casey Ehrlich, Sean Blashke, Jake Rollow, Alex Thome, Donald Jones, Pat Contreras, Scott MacKenzie, Adriana Harvey, Amanda Toubali, Olivia Dolores,  Sassine Gimeno, Sethu Nair Video/Editing: Aaron Ernst