Volume 25, Number 6 | March 31, 2014

SIPA Curriculum Gets a Tech ‘Upgrade’

Great Debate: Is SIPA Race-Concious?|4

Protests in Venezuela |3

Continued on Page 3

History of Morningside Park|6

By Andrea Kramar and Cristobal Vasquez

Alumni Employment Trends Raise Questions about Degree Choices

With the new statistics from SIPA’s 2013 Annual Report,

a look at employment trends since 2010 suggests deliberate movements between sectors.

According to the latest report, a larger number of the surveyed stu-dents with Master of International Affairs (MIA) degrees were employed in the private sector. Conversely, Master of Public Administration (MPA) graduates were mostly em-ployed in the public sector.

When comparing data from 2010 to 2013, the report showed a sudden increase in the percentage of total MIA’s employed in the private sec-tor, from 24 to 40.3 percent. MPAs have largely stayed in the public sec-tor, and have gradually evened out to 30 percent of MPAs working in the private sector and 30 percent in the QRQ�SURÀW�VHFWRU��

While obvious factors – like the re-covering job market – contribute to shifts in employment, there may be other reasons students lean toward some sectors over others.

A recent conversation with Meg Heenehan, Executive 'LUHFWRU�RI�WKH�2IÀFH�RI�&DUHHU�Services, revealed that one of the factors leading to this shift has to do with the privatization of the public sector.

“SIPA opens a whole other choice for its students. It’s ex-citing that they can still do public sector work, but work in the private sector,” she said. “There’s energy and environ-mental consulting, there’s secu-rity and human rights consult-ing, and there’s political risk and development consulting.”

Some SIPA students, how-ever, still feel it necessary to pursue a dual degree, such as an MBA degree with Columbia Business School.

Dan Solomon, a dual MIA and MBA student, took on the business degree to expand his understanding of technical top-LFV� OLNH� FRUSRUDWH� ÀQDQFH�� DF-counting and modeling. “Both degrees taken together provide a wide degree of understanding

By Sarayu Adeni and Xiaoshuang Ma

Continued on Page 2

PhD in Sustainable Dev. Celebrates 10 Years By Kate Offerdahl

Over a decade ago, some of Colum-bia’s most distinguished faculty

had an idea to create a PhD program unlike any offered at other universi-ties. This program would be interdisci-plinary, with a focus on training schol-DUV� WR� ÀQG� FROODERUDWLYH� VROXWLRQV� WR�some of the world’s most challenging sustainable development problems. It would also represent an innovative partnership between two renowned Columbia institutions – SIPA and the Earth Institute – thereby introducing a new level of rigor to the study of so-cial, natural, and economic issues.

Soon thereafter, the PhD program became a reality, and on February 27, the program’s students, alumni, and faculty came together in Low Memo-rial Library to honor the success of the ÀUVW�GHFDGH�RI�WKH�SURJUDP�

“We wanted to create a PhD pro-gram that was brand new and cutting-edge, that would ask better questions, and would provide us with a deeper understanding to really address global issues,” said Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute.

Big data. Open government. Arab Spring. NSA leaks. Google

glasses. Mobile phone payments. Net neutrality. Crisis mapping. Intellec-tual property theft.

These are just some of the words WKDW� UHÁHFW� WKH� UHPDUNDEOH� WHFK-nological changes and innovations dominating the headlines today, as more and more information and data become accessible to the masses.

As a public policy and internation-al affairs school creating the next generation of global leaders, some SIPA students have become disen-chanted with SIPA’s sluggish en-gagement with the digital age. While the current curriculum offers a few tech-related capstones, and courses including e-government and digital diplomacy, coding, new media and development, technological solutions for development, and cyber security, many students feel SIPA has not been providing enough.

“I had to scrape around to start my own venture,” Christina Hawatmeh (MIA ’14), said about starting Protes-tify, an app she created that global

protest data. Last year, Hawatmeh took four courses at the business school since SIPA did not offer the kinds of technology entrepreneurship courses she needed to develop her venture.

Boris Maguire (MPA-DP ‘15), president of the New Media Task Force (NMTF), a SIPA student group dedicated to cre-ating professional and learn-ing opportunities in the infor-mation and communications technology (ICT) development space, shared Hawatmeh’s frustration.

“Lots of classes touch on [technology], but I don’t think we put it on an equal playing ÀHOG�ZLWK�KRZ�ZH� ORRN�DW� RWK-er topics or sectors,” Maguire said. He believes SIPA should start recognizing tech policy and tech for development “in the same esteem as other con-centrations and departments.”

Though there are no current plans to make the study of technology policy and develop-ment a formal specialization or concentration, Dean Merit

Janow, who assumed her post as dean in July 2013, has expressed a clear commitment to give the topic a higher priority.

Earlier this month, Janow an-nounced three major technology ini-

tiatives: the Dean’s Public Policy Challenge, a competition which in-vites students to utilize data and technology to solve urban problems; a roundtable April 1st with leading technology entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and experts in global ur-ban policy; and the opportunity for SIPA students and recent alumni to secure co-working space at Weworks, an entrepreneurial workspace in Soho, as part of the Columbia Startup Lab.

In addition to these initiatives, this year SIPA also brought in big names in the tech industry, including Alec Ross, former Senior Advisor for In-novation to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Craig Mundie, Senior Advisor to the CEO at Microsoft.

Kenneth Prewitt, Carnegie Profes-sor of Global Affairs and a member of SIPA’s Global Technology and Policy Committee, a committee which ad-vises the dean on tech-related cur-riculum issues, believes bringing IT practitioners like Ross and Mundie to SIPA is an important move. “We ought to be informed of the way peo-

Continued on Page 2

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308 reported results

254 reported results

Source: Andrea Kramar

Source: SIPA Annual Report 2012 -2013

“I couldn’t be prouder, knowing what our students are doing,” added Sachs, who serves as co-ggffff of the PhD in Sustain-able Development. “The program has made possible integrative and innova-tive ways to look at these problems, and we have learned a lot.”

To some, the anniversary event rep-resented the success of championing a program whose rationale many had questioned over the years.

“Ten years ago, people were worried about how the program would take shape,” said Eyal Frank, a second-year Sustainable Development PhD student. “The University took a big risk.”

Such an interdisc i -plinary ap-proach, bal-ancing study in both the social and life scienc-es, is rare for doctoral p r o g r a m s , which often stay within established disciplinary bounds. John Coatsworth, C o l u m b i a

Provost, and former Dean of SIPA, described the initial hesitancy of the administration considering establish-ing the PhD program.

“We questioned students being in-terested, students being hired, and students surviving its rigor,” Coast-sworth explained in remarks at the February 27th event.

But the concept of sustainable de-YHORSPHQW�� ZKLFK� DWWHPSWV� WR� ÀQG�solutions to complex international environmental, social, and economic problems, demands this level of rigor and interconnected study.

Joseph E. Stiglitz, University Pro-fessor co-chair and co-director of the

PhD in Sustainable Development, spoke to the program’s multi-disci-plinary foundations.

“We have to cross boundaries to ad-dress some of the most pressing issues today, and we need a whole variety of skills that aren’t normally taught in PhD programs,” Stiglitz said.&URVVLQJ� ERXQGDULHV� WR� ÀQG� VROX-

tions is exactly what the PhD in Sus-tainable Development students are doing, and producing impressive re-sults.

Three program alumni, all now em-ployed at top U.S. universities, were invited to the anniversary event to present on their cutting-edge research projects that had begun in Colum-bia’s halls. One recent graduate, Solo-mon Hsiang, had his research on the long-term social effects of natural di-sasters published in the prestigious journal Naturewhile still a Columbia student. “Our work is informing the international climate dialogue,” he said proudly, emphasizing just how crucial the academic work of the PhD in Sustainable Development students has become to global policymakers, re-searchers, and citizens.

Kimberly Lai Oremus, a third-year PhD student, describes the program’s students as its best resource since its evolution in 2004. “The process of the program has been very peer-oriented,”

she explained, “The students are more close-knit and collaborative in our work, because nothing has been estab-lished and we have to carve out what the important questions are.”

Lai Oremus is very thankful for the risks taken by faculty and the Uni-versity to support the PhD program, and to make it a global leader in the academic study of sustainable devel-RSPHQW��$V�RQH�LQ�WKH�ÀUVW�JHQHUDWLRQ�of Columbia’s most interdisciplinary scholars, she is continually looking towards the future. “We want to in-crease awareness of what the PhD has done and where it is going,” she says. “This program has truly been excep-tional.”

Co-Director Sachs shares this view, and has big thoughts about the pro-gram’s potential. When asked how he keeps going, despite the depressing nature of the global challenges that he is studying, he had one answer: his students.

“Have good students, and know that they are going to solve the problems,” Sachs said.

.DWH�2IIHUGDKO� LV�ÀUVW�\HDU�0DVWHU� RI�International Affairs student.

SIPA NewsP. 2 The Morningside Post - Mar. 31, 2014

Continued from Page 1

PhD in Sustainable Development Celebrates 10 Years Continued from Page 1

Alumni Employment Trends Raise Questions about Degree Choices

of both the public and private sectors, and espe-cially the interaction be-tween the two,” he said.

Solomon, who will be interning at a real es-tate development com-pany in New York this summer, believes SIPA’s brand is its focus on the wider world. “The global perspective from SIPA LV� YDOXDEOH�� VSHFLÀFDOO\�global regional studies,” he said. “An understand-ing of global politics has proven useful as politics have such a large impact RQ�ÀQDQFLDO�PDUNHWV�µ

Another MIA and MBA dual-degree student, who re-quested anonymity, believes the two degrees complement each other. “The business school helps you understand nuances of underwriting, teaches you WR�EXLOG�ÀQDQFLDO�SURMHFWLRQV��DQG�WKH�sensitivity that comes with that,” the student said. “I am interested in work-LQJ�RQ�WKH�ÀQDQFLQJ�VLGH�RI�LQWHUQD�

tional development, so I need to un-GHUVWDQG�ÀQDQFH��ZKLFK�,�JHW�IURP�WKH�Business School, blended with urban policy knowledge from SIPA.”

The student will be interning at a management program for municipal ÀQDQFLQJ�DW�&LWL�*URXS�RYHU�WKH�VXP-mer. He told TMP that during the in-

terview for his in-ternship, the SIPA courses he took in Urban and Social Policy equipped him with a bet-ter understanding of urban govern-ment and munici-pal budgeting. But also added that he “couldn’t have even gotten in the door without an MBA degree.”

But SIPA still tries to keep a foothold with oth-er professional schools’ competi-tion. For example,

those who are not completing a dual degree with the business school can enter the International Finance and Economic Policy (IFEP) concentration at SIPA to gain a similar set of skills.

“For students who have the back-ground, an IFEP degree can be more competitive than an MBA degree,

especially if they are interested in working in emerging markets,” said Meg Heenehan. “There’s much more training in the international political DQG�HFRQRPLF�FRQWH[WV�RI�ÀQDQFH�KHUH��SIPA students can better understand what’s happening around the world. That’s what we bring to the table.”

Some students choose an MPA or MIA degree simply because admis-sion to the public health, journalism or business programs require more work experience. “I would have gone to busi-ness school if the MBA didn’t require at least two years of professional ex-perience” said Jing Li (MPA ’15), who came to SIPA directly from undergrad-uate study.

For these students, Heenehan of-fers the following advice: “SIPA does have a higher admissions rate than the Columbia Business School. But I think students should be careful not to treat SIPA as a backdoor to the busi-ness school, especially when they don’t have any work experience.”

“In an economy that’s still coming out of a recession, it is going to be harder to get a job in the most com-petitive areas like investment banking or consulting” she continued.

This doesn’t offer much comfort for SIPA’s soon-to-be IFEP graduates. Hopefully, career statistics in the 2014 SIPA Annual Report will positively forecast how they fare next year in the most competitive areas of the private sector.6DUD\X�$GHQL� LV� D�ÀUVW�\HDU�0DVWHU�

RI� 3XEOLF� $GPLQVWUDWLRQ�'HYHORSPHQW�Practice student.

;LDRVKXDQJ�0D�LV�D�ÀUVW�\HDU�0DVWHU�of Public Administration student.

Source: SIPA Annual Report 2012 -2013

Source: SIPA’s webpage

P. 3Sipa News/International The Morningside Post - Mar. 31, 2014

Continued from Page 1SIPA Curriculum Gets a Tech ‘Upgrade’

By Mariana Martin

My grandmother just fractured her hip and I am heading to

the pharmacy to purchase surgical gauzes. Upon my arrival, the phar-macist tells me they have been out of surgical gauzes since early December and that I’m going to have trouble ÀQGLQJ��VRPH�LQ�WKDW�SDUW�RI�&DUDFDV����Twenty minutes later, I arrive at a second pharmacy. After a long wait, ,� JHW� WR� WKH� IURQW� RI� WKH� OLQH� WR� ÀQG�that they don’t have gauzes either. As I look for a third pharmacy, I start to get worried that I won’t be able to ÀQG�WKLV�VLPSOH�PHGLFDO�VXSSO\��

My trip to the third pharmacy SURYHV�IUXLWIXO��,�ÀQG�WKH�JDX]HV�DQG�buy as many as I can afford to avoid future shortages.

This situation is unfortunately far too common. On a daily basis, thou-sands of Venezuelans are unable to ÀQG�WKH�EDVLF�JRRGV�DQG�PHGLFDO�VXS-plies their families need. The short-age of basic goods, such as food and medical supplies, has been a pressing issue since early 2014. However, re-cently heightened political tensions have caused these shortages to grow increasingly worse.

Today, the average Venezuelan is confronted with food shortages, rising LQÁDWLRQ��VDODULHV�WKDW�GR�QRW�VXSSRUW�a living wage, and a constant fear of violent crime or death. Protestors have taken to the streets since Feb-ruary 12th condemning these issues in hope for change. It is worth noting that these problems are not new, but have recently spawned continuous public protests since mid-February:

Key facts about the protests: February 4th, 2014

- Venezuelan students in San Cris-tobal, Táchira, peacefully protested against insecurity in response to the attempted rape of a student on the campus of the Universidad de Los Andres. The police attacked protesters with gas bombs and air shots, to which student protestors responded by striking back with stones. Three students were detained and taken to a high security prison.

February 12th, 2014- Because of the violent response

of the San Cristobal police, Venezu-elan students organized a national protest. Three people were killed by the National Guard and armed pro-government groups, many were also wounded, detained, or went missing.

- The deaths surprised everyone. The exaggerated force used in the police’s response enraged people and motivated them to stay in the streets. March 23, 2014

- The balance is as follows: 1,850 protesters detained, over 1,000 wounded, 34 people dead, and 59 con-

ÀUPHG� FDVHV� RI� WRUWXUH��The deaths include both demonstrators and po-OLFH�RIÀFHUV���

- Leopoldo López, an important opposition leader, was imprisoned and blamed for the deaths. Two other op-position mayors are im-prisoned for the same reason.

Opposition leaders have been promoting dialogue with the gov-ernment to address Venezuela’s most press-ing problems. Regard-less of political pref-erences, Venezuelans agree that the shortage of basic goods and ram-pant crime are the most important problems to tackle.

7KH� FDOO� IRU� QHJRWLDWLRQV� ZDV� À-nally answered on February 26th, when Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro organized a National Peace Conference but failed to include major opposition leaders such as Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma, or Miranda Governor Henrique Capriles, who have been pressuring the government to have this national conversation.

Maduro’s key points during the conference were: national coordina-tion, stopping the violence surround-ing the protests, national sovereignty against foreign intervention, and a

second Peace Conference, which

In Venezuela: Shortage of Medicine, Food, and Cooperation

ple designing the [technologies] are going about their business,” he said, because their efforts have direct ef-fects on public issues like security, urban development, and the environ-ment.

Because of the important policy im-plications of technology, Janow also aims to introduce more boot camps and short courses focused on technol-ogy issues into the curriculum. There are also preliminary plans in place to hire Jason Ng, an expert on Chi-nese internet censorship, to teach an IMAC course next year and for Misha Glenny, a British journalist, to teach a course on international cyber poli-cy. Among other efforts, the admin-istration has also begun to develop a stronger partnership with the en-gineering school, so that students in both schools can have greater oppor-tunities to understand the synergies between data, technology and public policy.

Though the Dean’s efforts are sig-

QLÀFDQW� FRPSDUHG� WR� WKH� OLWWOH� WKDW�the school used to offer, the strategy is still to introduce changes gradual-ly, and to continually assess student feedback, said Dan McIntyre, Associ-ate Dean of Academic Affairs.´,�ZDQW� WR� >ÀUVW@� VHH�ZKDW� VWXGHQW�

responses are to this,” Janow said, EHIRUH� FUHDWLQJ� D� FRQFUHWH� ÀYH�\HDU�plan. “My hope is that there will be a strong student interest.”

A recent SIPA student survey con-ducted by the NMTF and distributed by both The Morningside Post and NMTF was able to preliminarily gage student interest in the topic. Of the 94 respondents, 74% were either in-terested or very interested in inte-grating more technology topics into existing courses, and 62% of respon-dents were either likely or very likely to take a course, if offered, in data vi-sualization and analysis.

This has come a long way from 2007, ZKHQ�,0$&�ÀUVW�LQWURGXFHG�WHFK�

policy courses into its specializa-tion, beginning with Professor Ann Nelson’s New Media and Develop-ment Communications course.

“We were ahead of our time with those. They did not get great enroll-ment,” said Anya Schiffrin.

Students then may not have been ready, but today, likely as a result of the technological breakthroughs go-ing on in the world, students are more ready. And as tech issues become more relevant to SIPA’s greater mis-sion as a public policy school, the ad-ministration will soon need to make some big decisions. The new courses and the salaries of the professors who ZLOO� WHDFK� WKHP� PXVW� EH� ÀQDQFHG��The money raised for the technol-ogy innovation challenge grant came from the Rockfeller Foundation and several private equity and tech entre-preneurs. But much of that was seed ÀQDQFLQJ�� DQG� -DQRZ� ZLOO� QHHG� WR�ÀQG�RWKHU� VRXUFHV�RI� IXQGLQJ� IRU� WKH�

rest of her tech policy initiatives. She will also need to think critically about the kinds of faculty appointments and faculty skills that will be needed in this arena.

Regardless of how it happens, con-tinued efforts will need to be made and assessed, not only because stu-dents are interested, but because the job market demands it. If graduates from policy schools like SIPA can’t understand data and technology and how to take advantage of those tools, then graduates will be unable to solve the kinds of public problems that de-mand innovative solutions. “SIPA and other policy schools have a really serious responsibility to gear itself up,” Prewitt said.

So no more lounging around, SIPA. Let’s get jiggy with it.

Andrea Kramar and Cristobal 9DVTXH]� DUH� VHFRQG�\HDU� 0DVWHU� RI�Public Administration students.

Source: New Media Task Force Survey

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Continued on Page 5

P. 4 The Morningside Post - Mar. 31, 2014 Great Debate

In 1926, a young historian named Carter Wilson said, “if race has no history, it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being eliminated.”

Across the United States, many college campuses still grapple with racial tensions and continually work toward greater racial inclusion. Recent controver-sies surrounding race at UCLA Law School, the University of Michigan, and Columbia University all highlight the fact that in 2014, race is still relevant and touchy. Despite residing within walking distance of Harlem, a landmark for black cultural development and the civil rights movement, SIPA students and faculty may remember February more for the snowfall than for Black History Month, a national, annual commemoration of the struggles and achievements of the African American community.

At SIPA, race not only plays a role in how we interact and learn with each other, but also in how we analyze affordable housing and education policy, inter-national aid and development, crime and public safety policy, and the allocation of public resources. What does it mean to be a person of color at SIPA? How has race been addressed in the SIPA curriculum? Do students, faculty and administrators think about race when they enter the doors of the IAB?

Is SIPA Race-Conscious?

“I’ve been lucky at SIPA. Despite hearing of instances illus-trating racial ignorance and incompetence, I’ve dealt with very few instances personally. Sadly, the few times I have, I wasn’t par-ticularly shocked or surprised. For better or for worse, I’ve grown comfortable with the occasional discomfort. From what I’ve seen of students at SIPA, race and ethnicity are not really discussed. 7KLV�LV�RIWHQ�ÀQH�RQ�WKH�LQWHUSHUVRQDO�OHYHO��DV�,�GRQ·W�OLNH�EHLQJ�PDGH�FRJQL]DQW�RI�DVSHFWV�RI�P\�LGHQWLW\�WKDW�,�RIWHQ�ÀQG�WULYLDO���However, the silence that surrounds the topic of race at SIPA does a disservice to our experience, as well as our potential experiences as future policymakers. When we ignore how race and ethnicity has shaped our world, we ignore a longstanding theme in world and U.S. history.

I often explain to friends that striving for a color-blind world sounds great in theory. However, in a society where racial injustic

es and inequality are far from extinguished in practice, this blind-ness only perpetuates the anguish of the marginalized. Knowing this, it is clear that color-blindness is impossible in practice and useless in utility: it doesn’t solve real problems. We can’t change the reality of racial disparities in education and criminal justice SROLF\�DQG�SUDFWLFH�ZLWKRXW�ÀUVW� FRQIURQWLQJ� WKHLU�H[LVWHQFH�� � ,Q�WKLV�UHVSHFW��6,3$�KDV�QHJOHFWHG�WR�UHÁHFW�RQ�WKH�UHDOLW\�RI�UDFLDO�prejudice and bias in public policy. I’m glad that my peers have largely made me feel comfortable within my own skin on cam-pus, though it is unsettling to think that some SIPA students will re-enter the workforce emboldened to change policy without ad-equately understanding and grappling with how race has helped to craft our national identity. If I had to diagnose where the SIPA curricula and community stand, the student body is racially sub-conscious, while the curriculum is downright unconscious.

Difference and diversity pulls people from across the globe to live and work in New York City. This was the case during the great migra-tion in the 1990s, as it was during the great migration of the 1890s. In this context, Columbia University has emphasized its important status as a leading, global institution. On the SIPA website, Dean Merit Janow is quoted as saying that “SIPA is the most global public policy school.”

Despite its location in New York City and its occupying the contigu-ous neighborhood to Harlem, some have suggested that race is every-where and nowhere at Columbia University, and at SIPA in particu-lar. This should not be framed as a criticism but rather as a golden opportunity for Columbia and SIPA to assume a leadership role in addressing one of the greatest issues of our time.

The curriculum should create space for discussion and debate, both conceptual and applied, amongst students and faculty. This should not be viewed simply as the preserve of students of color but for everyone in the Columbia community. Importantly, SIPA has the potential to put forward ideas and solutions for an increas-ingly diverse and interconnected city, country and world. In doing so, Columbia will demonstrate the type of thought leadership that was important in the 1890s and 1990s, but even more so now as we debate the type of city, nation and world in which we want to belong and help shape. The issues are challenging but together we can and must, through deeds as well as discussion, change the paradigm on race relations.

I focus on one of several ways that race should be examined at SIPA. We are a policy school, and “how we analyze“ often rests on a quantitative foundation: How many of which groups in society are experiencing what conditions?

When policy attention turns to racial justice and ways to pre-vent discrimination or to reverse historic disadvantage, there is an REYLRXV�QHHG�IRU�D�FODVVLÀFDWLRQ�VFKHPD���7KHUH�DUH�FKRLFHV�WR�EH�made about who is to be counted in which group. There is certainly more than one way to measure “races.” Nations vary in whether they focus on color, national origin, ethnicity, language, religion, and even whether they use the label “race” at all (most don’t).

In its earliest days, social science used biology to construct racial categories. This was (somewhat) pushed aside by anthropologists who held that races are socially constructed and by political scien-tists who offered that they are politically constructed.

Social science notwithstanding, the policy process relies on “sta-WLVWLFDO�UDFHV�µ�WKDW�LV��ZKDW�LV�SURGXFHG�E\�RIÀFLDO�UDFLDO�FODVVLÀFD-tions in administrative records and government statistics. In U.S. statistics, for example, there is an exact count of Whites, Blacks, $VLDQV�� 3DFLÀF� ,VODQGHUV�� $PHULFDQ� ,QGLDQV� DQG� PXOWLSOH�UDFH��7KHUH� LV�DOVR�DQ�H[DFW� FRXQW� RI�+LVSDQLFV�� WKRXJK�GHÀQHG�DV�DQ�ethnicity.

Any social policy concerned with racial justice in the U.S. depends RQ�WKHVH�UDFH�VWDWLVWLFV��DV�DOVR��DOORZLQJ�IRU�GLIIHUHQW�FODVVLÀFDWLRQ�schemes, do such policies in Brazil, India, Kenya, Germany, and on and on. How we analyze, how we talk about, and how we try to improve the unfair ways that races are treated is tangled up with how we count them, an issue I urge SIPA students to debate.

Kyle Willian Bibby is a VHFRQG�\HDU� 03$� VWXGHQW� DW�6,3$�DQG�WKH�9LFH�3UHVLGHQW�RI�SIPA Students of Color (SSOC).

Harris Beider is a Professor in Commu�nity Cohesion at the Centre for Social Rela�WLRQV�DW�&RYHQWU\�8QLYHUVLW\�DQG�D�YLVLWLQJ�professor at SIPA.

Kenneth Prewitt, Carnegie Professor of Public Affairs, teaches a SIPA course (6150) ²�5DFLDO�&ODVVLÀFDWLRQ��3XE�lic Policy. President of the So�cial Science Research Council, and Senior Vice President of the Rockefeller Foundation.

$V� D� SHUVRQ� RI� FRORU� DW� 6,3$�� ,� FRQVLVWHQWO\� ÀQG�P\VHOI�PDNLQJ�excuses for my fellow students, professors, and administrators when ignorance, insults, and lack of care or respect are given to issues of race here on campus. It’s upsetting to know that I am attending one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the country yet in its public policy school, very few courses on race are offered. Although the few classes offered pertaining to race are great, they are not enough.

As a 2011 graduate of Columbia College, I was surprised at the limited offering and lack of attention given to race here at SIPA. ,W·V�RIIHQVLYH� WKDW� WKH��WK�ÁRRU�7�9��DLUHG� WKH�6RFKL�2O\PSLFV�DQG�Jodi Arias trial yet never showed the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, a march that commemorated the civil rights move-ment, women’s movement and labor movement. SIPA Students of &RORU��662&��KHOG�LWV�ÀUVW�HYHU�%ODFN�+LVWRU\�:HHN�ODVW�)HEUXDU\��and it’s embarrassing to know that without our events, Black His-tory Month would not have been recognized at SIPA. How can we seriously believe that we are nurturing and educating future policy-

makers when we continue to ignore race in our classrooms?I am an IFEP student and I could easily earn my SIPA degree

without ever taking a course focused on issues such as diversity or socio-cultural marginalization. SIPA should combat this problem academically by including a race, poverty, or inequality course in the management section of its core curriculum—something like “Diversity and Public Policy” or “Managing Inequality.” If SIPA in-cluded the topic of race within its required coursework, students would have no option but to recognize the relevance and necessity of studying race in relation to public policy and international affairs. If SIPA does not become more race-conscious, unfortunately, race ZLOO�FRQWLQXH�WR�EH�D�´VLOHQWµ�IDFWRU�LQÁXHQFLQJ�KRZ�VWXGHQWV�choose their partners for economics study groups, how they decide what extracurricular student groups to join, and who WR�LQWHUDFW�ZLWK�LQ�WKH�ÀVKERZO��

.LDUD� 5HHG� LV� ÀUVW�\HDU� 03$�student at SIPA and the Presi�dent of SIPA Students of Color (SSOC).

”7KH�*UHDW�'HEDWH�ZDV�FRPSLOHG�E\�'DQLHOOH�6WRXFN��D�¿UVW�\HDU�0DVWHU�RI�,QWHUQDWLRQDO�$IIDLUV�VWXGHQW�

Feature P. 5The Morningside Post - Mar. 31, 2014

By Cristobal Vasquez

RHFRYHU\� IURP� WKH� JOREDO� À-nancial crisis, which ravaged

the world economy, may have been further along if $20 trillion stashed away in tax havens had in fact been taxed. The $20 trillion estimated by The Economist³ZKLOH� GLIÀFXOW� WR�verify—makes clear the consequenc-es of these vast resources circulating without regulation. At a minimum, levels of government indebtedness would be lower and more money for government spending would be avail-able. Cooperation between countries, WKHUHIRUH�� LV� NH\� WR� DOOHYLDWH� WKH� À-nancial strains of tax evasion.

Many academics support the cre-ation of global public goods as a so-lution to the complex interrelated challenges the world faces today: José Antonio Ocampo is one of them. A former Colombian minister, UN Undersecretary-General for Eco-nomic and Social Affairs and World Bank presidential candidate sat down with The Morningside Post for a frank interview on the importance of international tax regulation as a necessary global public good.

What follows is an edited and con-densed version of our conversation.

What can organizations such as the World Trade Organiza-tion, the United Nations, the In-ternational Monetary Fund and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development do to foster cooperation between countries?

It is all about how cooperation is designed and what the monitoring mechanisms are. What happens is that the way the international sys-tem has been designed and the inter-ests that have been imposed are to control some things and not control others. Take the issue of capital for instance. Tell me, what capital is regulated? Illicit capital. The Unit-ed States created a super elaborate V\VWHP� WR� FRQWURO� WKH� ÁRZ� RI� LOOLFLW�capital, so it is possible to control it. However, what happens is that when it comes from Wall Street they don’t want to control it, but when it comes from drug dealers, they do.

Then does New York become a tax haven?

New York is a tax haven, no doubt. Of course it is a tax haven. Nonresi-dent Latin Americans bring capital to the U.S. totally tax-free. And that by the way, is part of the hypocrisy that is around these topics. Capital DVVRFLDWHG� ZLWK� GUXJ� WUDIÀFNLQJ� LV�controlled, but not other types, such as that on Wall Street. The system wants to control the taxation of U.S. companies when investing outside [the country] but does not want to charge taxes on the Latin American capital invested in the United States. So there is ambivalence and why not say, hypocrisy, in the way things are handled.

Are there other cities besides New York that have engaged in such practices?

$OO� ÀQDQFLDO�centers are tax havens in part, all of them. Now, there are some that are pure tax havens: Bermuda, Lux-embourg and Ireland—which is also a half tax haven. But New York and London, the two PDLQ� ÀQDQFLDO�centers of the world are tax havens for cer-tain purposes. When the U.S. wants to make a capital tribute, it does not solely have to be for North American capital outside the U.S. but it also has to tax foreign capital that is in the

U.S. However, this capital, doesn’t generate taxes here because it harms investment and this capital can go to other countries.

You mentioned international tax havens for foreign capital. Are there tax havens within the United States?

Here, there are also internal tax havens because there is competition between states. There is a federal income tax that applies to everyone, but there are many states that have no state income tax. Why are some businesses organized in some states and not in others? Because they do not have state income tax. It is the same thing. Here in New York we pay income tax to the U.S. government, to the State of New York and to the City of New York. We can’t avoid it. Go to New Jersey or Connecticut and you don’t pay certain taxes. In fact, all the neighboring states.

Why are many large multination-als, that actually have operations in New York, located in New Jersey?

Because there, they pay lower taxes. Also within the U.S. itself, there is a problem of tax havens on a second level, to put it in some way, because it is only on state taxes, not federal.

:KDW� VSHFLÀFDOO\� PDNHV� 1HZ�York and London tax havens, aside from the lack for regula-tion? Are there other factors that LQÁXHQFH�FDSLWDO�LQÁRZV?

No, they regulate capital in the sense that you can’t bring illicit capi-tal to New York. Eventually they will take it from you. What is not regu-lated are tax matters. The OECD has a system of exchange of information WKDW� LV�KDOI� ÀFWLRQDO��7KLV� LV� WKH� UH-cent debate the G20 and the OECD are having about tax havens. Several member countries are tax havens, ei-WKHU�IRU�VSHFLÀF�RU�JHQHUDO�SXUSRVHV��)RU�VSHFLÀF�SXUSRVHV�1HZ�<RUN�DQG�London are tax havens; for general purposes, Luxembourg and Switzer-land are. So, there are tax havens within the OECD countries, but at least there is a principle of exchange of information.

Would you say that multilateral organizations tend to overlook tax issues then?

The only organization that has a comprehensive system of cooperation is the OECD and as I said, we’ve seen how it leaks from several sides. The IMF has tax cooperation systems, but more like technical assistance and it also has very good research on these issues. The United Nations also has a technical committee on tax issues that I helped create.

&ULVWREDO�9DVTXH]�LV�D�VHFRQG�\HDU�Master of Public Administration stu�dent.

In Venezuela: Shortage of Medicine, Food and Cooperation

KDV�\HW� WR� WDNH�SODFH��7KH�ÀUVW� FRQ-ference has not produced any tangi-ble results. On the contrary, violence against protesters continues to rise.

Alejandro Dumont, an economics student at the Universidad Central de Venezuela (UCV) and president of his student organization, argues that a negotiation shouldn’t be neces-sary for the government to stop the repression. In Dumont’s list of objec-tives for the student movement, he hopes to liberate political prisoners, such as Leopoldo López, and disarm the paramilitary groups. Dumont noted that Maduro’s government is

taking advantage of the violence be-cause “it distracts [the population] from the real problems of the coun-try, those that affect you regardless of your politics; chavista or not.”

Despite the students’ efforts, their agenda doesn’t cover all of Venezu-ela’s problems. The economic situ-ation needs an urgent solution. Ac-cording to the Venezuelan Central %DQN��LQ�-DQXDU\�������LQÁDWLRQ�ZDV�at 57.3%. Prices continue to increase rapidly, while salaries have not been catching up. Furthermore, the Cen-tral Bank revealed a 28% shortage of goods, which explains why it has

EHFRPH�VR�GLIÀFXOW�WR�ÀQG�EDVLF�JRRGV�in the Venezuelan market.

Pedro Palma, former President of the Academy of Economic Sciences, argues that the government has not taken comprehensive action to bring about improvement and lacks the disposition to create shifts in the economy.

The economic crisis has continued to worsen following the modest ini-tiatives that Maduro’s administra-tion implemented. “Decisive steps PXVW�EH�WDNHQ�LQ�WHUPV�RI�ÀVFDO�SRO-icy, public services, gas prices, pub-

lic spending and corruption,” said Palma.

Today, the government is trapped between protests and an economic crisis. People are suffering and will continue to suffer, unless Venezuela invites all parties to the negotiating table and takes the necessary steps to reverse its course.

0DULDQD�0DUWLQ�LV�D�ÀUVW�\HDU�0DV�ter of Public Administration student.

Missing $20 Trillion: An Interview with Jose Antonio

Ocampo on Tax Havens

Continued from Page 3

Source: SIPA webpage

P. 6 The Morningside Post - Mar. 31, 2014 Feature & Opinion

It’s more than just a walk in the park for Brad Taylor, 55.

With a backpack that reads “Morn-ingside Park” slung over his shoulder, the gray-haired man counts 116 steps. They are what separates the high-er and the lower part of the strip that stretches from 110th to 123th St., through Harlem and Morning-side Heights, just one block away from Columbia University.

The park’s past, however, is no stairway to heaven, says Taylor, one of the seven members on the board of Friends of Morningside Park. This group of volunteers ÀJKWV�IRU�UHKDELOLWDWLRQ�DQG�PDLQ-tenance of a landmark that, not so long ago, held the not so fairy tale-like reputation of being a Disney-land to drug addicts and criminality.

Named for its sunrise views, Morn-ingside Park started to leave dark-ness behind in 2008, when the City administration designated it as a scenic landmark. That is more likely what the project’s designers had in mind when they elaborated a plan to narrow this 30-acres area.

Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, who worked together to cre-ate other landmarks such as Central Park and Prospect Park, had their share of literal ups and downs to deal with: Morningside Park’s unique to-pography includes valleys and a steep cliff of Manhattan schist – a very strong rock type, formed about 450

million years ago as a result of New York City’s earth-shaking dynamics.

Much more recent history has taken place there. On the Friends of Morn-ingside Park’s website it is possible to

ÀQG�KLVWRULFDO�SKRWRV��VXFK�DV�WKH�RQH�that shows Columbia students enter-ing the park for a picnic, in the social heat of 1968’s spring protests. The protests were centered around two issues: the building of a gymnasium that students felt alienated black Harlem residents, and Columbia’s involvement with the Institute for Defense Analyses. In the picture, two boys carry a protest sign: “To rebel is JUSTIFIED!”

In the same year, the British band The Who was photographed at the Carl Schurz monument. The four mu-sicians posed there with eyes closed, FRYHUHG�E\�D�ÁDJ�RI�WKH�8QLWHG�.LQJ-dom. The picture was used for the

poster of the rockumentary “The Kids Are Alright.”

Mr. Schurz was the 13th U.S. Sec-retary of the Interior, a fellow with round glasses and an abundant beard,

in the best Abraham Lincoln spirit. It’s at his statue, in 116th street and Morningside Drive, where Brad Taylor talks about the impor-tance of protecting this gateway to Harlem.

Taylor moved to Morningside Heights in 1992 to accompany his wife, who started working at Co-lumbia’s press. It wasn’t long until he was rapt with the neighborhood’s park. An architect by formation, he especially appreciates the stone wall, built with a method where WKH�URFNV�DUH�FDUYHG�WR�ÀW�WRJHWKHU�

without any mud. Taylor also praises the spectacular

landscapes, but a frown soon appears. There’s some kind of war going on be-tween neighbors and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

The cathedral plans to build two 15-story residential towers, with 426 rental apartments (339 will be luxu-ry) and a garage for almost 200 cars, in 113th street. The construction, says Taylor, will mess up the view.

If only that was the major problem. The self-entitled Friends of Morning-side Park battle for NYPD reinforce-ment, security cameras and more RIÀFH� SDWUROV� ²� QRZDGD\V�� WKHUH·V�only one person per time to cover the

whole area.A few weeks ago, two Columbia stu-

dents were mugged at gunpoint in the park. “There’s always fear that the bad reputation comes back,” says Taylor.

There are other minor issues to be GHDOW�ZLWK��HVSHFLDOO\�E\�WKH�RIÀFH�SD-trols, who don’t carry guns. “It’s about quality of life. Taking care of things like dogs without leashes, public uri-nation and barbecues in wrong areas,” Taylor says.

The good news is that changes are al-ready in motion, says Phil Abramson, director of Media Relations at NYC Department of Parks & Recreation. He highlights the creation, in recent \HDUV�� RI� ´JUHHWLQJ� JDUGHQVµ� DW� ÀYH�entrances as well as major plantings elsewhere in the park.

One of the jewels is a rare gi-ant sequoia tree (25 feet tall with a 5,000-pound root ball), the center-piece of a pinetum of 32 pine trees.

There are more attractions to come in the following months, such as a Shakespeare season portrayed by a company of women only and a season-al farmers market.

A Brief History of Morningside ParkBy Anna Virginia Balloussier

20 Things To Do Before You Graduate

We’re in the homestretch. Just about seven weeks left to go

until graduation. In case you don’t have enough on your plate already, here’s a list of twenty things you should do before leaving the IAB building forever:

1. $WWHQG�D�OHFWXUH�RQ�WKH���WK�ÁRRU�on something that you know nothing about. When are you ever going to have a chance to learn about thermo-nuclear-hydraulic evidence-based transatlantic energy systems in Tim-buktu again? Seize the day.

2. Watch the sunset from the 15th ÁRRU�� :KHQ� WKHUH� DUHQ·W� HYHQWV� JR-LQJ�RQ��WKH�WRS�ÁRRU�LV�TXLHW�DQG�KDV�stunning views of downtown NYC.

3. Go to Follies. It’s ridiculous and hilarious fun for the whole family. Actually, don’t bring your family. No one will get the inside jokes except for you.

4.� *R� WR� RIÀFH� KRXUV�� <RX·YH� EHHQ�meaning to do it all semester, maybe even all year. Go visit that professor that you haven’t yet had a chance to talk to about thermo-nuclear-hy-draulic evidence-based transatlantic energy systems. Go.

5. Study in a library that is NOT Lehman. Try the Engineering Li-brary in the Northwest Corner Build-ing if you’re looking for a study space that will make you really wish you’d tried harder in Fundamentals of Me-chanical Engineering during under-grad. Try Avery Library for the same feeling about Intro to Architecture.

6. Go to a sporting event and root for the home team. Yankees, Mets, Knicks, Nets, Jets, Giants, Rangers, Red Bulls. Take your pick.

7. Take a trip to the famous Hun-garian Pastry Shop on 111th and Amsterdam. Grab a cup of coffee and a cherry strudel and hunker down for some good old-fashioned loitering.

8. Grab some friends and eat dinner at Jin Ramen on 125th and Broadway. It’s just. so. good.

9. Say yes to drinks with your classmates. You can always re-do the class, but you can never re-do the party. Nor will you have to because we’re in graduate school now and no one is going to fail.

10. Study in the Harriman In-VWLWXWH� /RXQJH� RQ� WKH� ��WK� ÁRRU��You can enjoy panoramic views of Morningside Heights, eat your lunch and study all in peace and quiet. But shhh…this is a SIPA secret reserved only for those in the know.

11. Go to a SIPASA party. You will realize the day of that you don’t feel like going anymore and will frantically try to sell your ticket on Facebook. When no one buys it and you are forced to go out of guilt because you already spent the money and you’re a starving graduate stu-dent, you’ll be really glad you did.

12. Stop and talk to that person you met in your orientation group and DOZD\V� VHHP� WR� VHH� RQ� WKH��WK�ÁRRU�when you never have time to catch

up. You can bet that after May you’ll be seeing a lot less of them, so now’s the time. Your fellow classmates are SIPA’s best assets, so take advantage of the great people all around you with amazing stories, from amazing

places, doing amazing things.13. Go downtown to Bleecker

Street (try John’s Pizzeria) and get yourself a real slice of New York City pizza. While you’re at it, get a whole pie. It’s been a long week.

14. Take a walk in Central Park. It’s beautiful and you could use the exercise anyway. It’s been a long week and you just ate an entire pizza

pie.15. Get a sandwich at Sub-

sconscious. This is a freebie. If you haven’t done this yet, you deserve an award for extreme creativity in food acquisition.

16. Stay at Lehman past mid-QLJKW� GXULQJ� ÀQDOV�� ([SHULHQFH�the camaraderie between in-somniacs and procrastinators burning the midnight oil. Bring M&Ms and Mountain Dew if you want to look like one of the locals. Prepare to get nothing done.

17. Make an appointment to have your resume reviewed at OCS. This is one service that will undoubtedly come in handy over the coming months as you franti-cally search for jobs.

18. Get a job. (Totally kidding.)19. Get some sleep. Even if it’s

just an hour in some obscure cor-ner of Lehman. You’ve got a busy life ahead of you.

20. Head over to Columbia’s Campus Walk and take a look around. Low Library, the Alma Mater statue, Butler, the pow-

GHU�EOXH�&ROXPELD�ÁDJ�ÁDSSLQJ�LQ�the wind…just stop and take it all in. You are about to graduate with a master’s degree from Columbia Uni-versity in the City of New York, son.

Now go out and catch your dreams!

0HOLVVD�0D\HUV�LV�VHFRQG�\HDU�0DV�ter of International Affairs student.

By Melissa Mayers

Anna Virginia Balloussier is a YLVLWLQJ�VFKRODU�DW�6,3$�VSRQVHG�er by Folha de Sao Paulo , a Bra�zilian newspaper.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Source: Melissa Mayers

The No. 7 train line of the New York subway cuts across the

island of Manhattan and makes a beeline for the borough of Queens. After it’s last stop on the island, the Secretariat building of the United Nations on East 42nd street, it zips over to where the real international community is tucked away—a com-munity that is as well represented in that borough as they are in the

higher echelons by their diplo-mats.

As passengers on the 7-train travel eastward, away from Manhattan, the cliché concept of what it means to be “American” fades into the distance. There are no cliché white-bred Amer-icans on this train. Yet seeing the passengers on this train together is so innately American— and so “met-ropolitan New York.”

Every time I step off the train at a different stop, I experience a differ-ent culture. These days, I’m off to South-Asia.

THE INDIANS OF JACKSON

HEIGHTS:The moment I get off the subway,

I’m immediately transported to a street somewhere deep in the Indian hinterland. The scene is made com-plete with cheap toys sold on hand-carts, saree stores and shop windows full of greasy sweetmeats and snacks like jalebees and samosas.

The street is peopled by a commu-nity that’s formed their own little niche in a global city, a niche where their language is more at home than English.

Conversations about South-Asian culture often circle around food, and for good reason. In this little bor-ough not-so-far-away from Manhat-tan, I sniff a mélange of the North, the South, the East and the West of the sub-continent all within a few city blocks. Here in Queens, it’s not geography or climate, but rather the IRRG� WKDW� VLJQLÀHV� WKH� FRPPXQLW\·V�cultural identity.

Deep in the south of the Indian sub-continent is a culture that revolves

around coconut. From the leasing of land for coconut plantations to the hallowed “profession” of coconut tree climbers, coconuts are central to the region’s identity. 6XUH�HQRXJK��,�ÀQG�WKH�FRFRQXW�LQ�

its entire splendor in a South-Indian restaurant in Queens. Pure coconut oil mixed with masala is an accompa-QLPHQW�WKDW�JRHV�ZLWK�´GRVDVµ�D�ÁXII\�SDQFDNH�PDGH�ZLWK�ULFH�ÁRXU��:KLOH�

dosas have become a delicacy that is available all over the world, even on hand-drawn carts outside the gates RI�&ROXPELD��WKLV�VSHFLÀF�DFFRPSDQL-ment is something that only restau-rants and homes in Kerala, and ap-parently Queens, still serve. It can’t be found easily, not in South-Indian restaurants in Bombay and not even in the fancy South-themed restau-rants in Delhi. It is the kind of au-thenticity that is replicated not for commercial gain but from a true ad-KHUHQFH�DQG�ÀHUFH�OR\DOW\�WR�FXVWRP��

A TRIP TO BANGLADESHA few steps from the culture and

food of deep-South India is the delta country of Bangladesh, its cultural essence distilled so lucidly in many of the restaurants in the area. In one restaurant I enter, the waiter enthu-siastically trots over to the table. He grins a lot, blushes even more, speaks very little English and uses the menu as an aid to all conversations, point-ing to it whenever speech fails him.

He obviously can’t speak English, so I try another South-Asian language, Hindi, in an attempt to have a con-versation over and above the menu. Yet now it’s as if I’m in a perfect re-creation of the sovereign state of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. No other language works here but the native Bengali, sometimes mixed with new trills and lilts on English words that make the language purely its own.

Every sense is engaged to transport you to Bangladesh. The olfactory is ZKDW� KLWV�PH� ÀUVW�� 7KH� TXLQWHVVHQ-tial ingredients and ways of cooking create a lingering pervasive aroma. 7KH�YLVXDO� HIIHFW� VWDUWV� VXSHUÀFLDOO\�with the interiors, including the fake

SODVWLF�ÁRZHUV�LQ�ELJ�XUQV�RQ�WKH�ZLQ-dowsills and mosaic tiles. But what really makes the scene come alive is the families out for dinner, the groups of men discussing politics and the animation going on downstairs in the party-hall, where a political meeting of some kind is being held.

As in most South-Asian countries, the political meeting soon gets out-

of-hand. A handful of American police of-ÀFHUV� DUH� FDOOHG� LQ�to break the meeting up. It feels like an American invasion of a very routine cul-tural process that plays out almost all the time in the homelands of these patrons.

P A K I S T A N I SCARVES AND SHAWLS

Next, I go into a store that seems to have been trans-ported here from the northern state of Pakistan. Brightly colored scarves and shawls dress the window of the store. It’s such a depar-ture from my usual high fashion, som-

ber blacks and navy blue hues that it beckons every kitschy instinct in me and draws me in.

On a political level, most of the time when my community talks about India in reference to Pakistan, or the other way around, there’s talk of terrorism, border disputes and bal-listic missiles. But in spite of my very notably Indian appearance, the Paki-stani store girl greets me with noth-ing but warmth. She looks overjoyed to see a fellow South-Asian. There is so much enthusiasm in her voice as she shows me around.

We talk about the longing for home, missing the tropics and how shawls are very useful in New York winters. She feels so sisterly to me that I can’t help feeling we’ve established a con-nection of sorts. I’m pretty sure I’ll never wear that gaudy scarf I bought from her but it’ll always be part of my wardrobe because it served it’s pur-pose in making me feel warm.

THE REPLICATION OF AN IDENTITY

It’s striking how real a representa-tion of identity and culture the deni-zens of that small borough truly are. I don’t believe any UN delegation, with all of their extensive training on the political history and economy of their nations, can be as real a rep-resentation as these artless folk that live and breathe their culture every-day, even in a foreign land thousands of miles away.

I think back to the animosity be-tween the Pakistani and Indian del-egations at the UN and how sharply it contrasts with the camaraderie of my store visit. How the Bangladeshi

P. 7The Morningside Post - Mar. 31, 2014Opinion

A Subway Ride to South AsiaBy Priyanka Johnson

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Editorial Board_____________________

Editors-in-ChiefAndrea Kramar

Cristobal Vasquez

Editor-at-LargeMax Marder

Managing EditorSarah Girma

SIPA News EditorFernando Peinado

Great Debate EditorDanielle Stouck

Senior EditorsRosalind Adams

Sarayu AdeniErin Banco

Priyanka JohnsonMelissa Mayers

Kaitlyn OfferdahlDanielle Schlanger

Dana WattersTamara El Waylly

Social Media EditorSamir Memon

CartoonistDana Watters

waiter tried to talk to me, in spite of our linguistic handicaps, about Bol-O\ZRRG� ÀOPV� DQG� KLV� IDYRULWH� DFWRU��Some people say New York is a melting pot, but there’s this phrase I’ve heard somewhere that describes it more apt-ly. It’s like a salad bowl where every FRPSRQHQW� UHWDLQV� LWV� GLVWLQFW� ÁDYRU���Where each component retains its in-dividuality and uniqueness, yet blends perfectly with the other ingredients. :KDW� LV�QRWDEOH� LV� WKDW� WKH� FRQÁLFW�

that characterizes the whole subconti-nent of South-Asia is absent here. A ORW�DERXW�WKH�FRQÁLFW�KDV�EHHQ�ZULWWHQ�off as emanating from cultural differ-ences or long legacies of separation, secession and mistrust. But these very same cultures share the borough of Queens without any of the animosity between them, as exists between the homelands they left behind.

Eventually I get back on the train and make my way back to the island. I smile at an Afghani man on his way to work the nightshift in the city and two Indian kids sitting across from him. It’s amazing how these cultures ÀW�SHUIHFWO\�WRJHWKHU�LQ�RQH�OLWWOH�ERU-ough, on one little train, while back in WKHLU�QDWLYH�ODQGV��WKH\�ÀQG�LW�GLIÀFXOW�to share a whole sub-continent.

3UL\DQND� -RKQVRQ� LV� ÀUVW�\HDU�Master of International Affairs student.

The Morningside RoastThe Morningside Post - Mar. 31, 2014P. 8

:KLOH�WKH���WK�ÁRRU�LV�WKH�RQO\�DUHD�currently up for grabs, many people are worried that Putin will soon annex the entire IAB.

In a public interview with Barbara Walters in 2012, Putin stated, “the stoic, emotionless architecture of Co-lumbia’s International Affairs Build-ing is a near replica of my face. I used to want a dog that looked just like me, but I’ll take a building instead,” he stated. Now many fear he may act on his words.

Though Russian troops have not yet set up base at 118th and Amster-

dam, they are likely on their way. One Russian lieutenant, who spoke to TMP in anonymity for fear of ret-ribution, said that 132 troops recently ERRNHG� ÁLJKWV� WR� 1HZ�York on Annexation Air, a Russian interna-tional airline.

In preparation, Co-lumbia University is preparing for a full-ÁHGJHG� ZDU�� � ,Q� DGGL-tion to placing snipers atop the IAB’s 15th ÁRRU�� WKH� XQLYHUVLW\� LV�ordering its police forc-es to buy extra sets of dinner knives at CVS and ordering WURRSV� WR� KLGH� FDPRÁDXJH� LQ�0RUQ-ingside Park.

Inside the International Affairs Building, the atmosphere is getting heated. Several SIPA students have threatened to transfer to the Harvard Kennedy School if SIPA does not ade-TXDWHO\�SURWHFW�WKH���WK�ÁRRU���2WKHU�students have sided with the Hairy-man Institution’s efforts and have begun hosting lunchtime brown-bags in support.

If the annexation is successful, the ��WK� ÁRRU� ZLOO� EH� WKH� RQO\� ÁRRU� LQ�U.S. history to be occupied by a for-eign power.

$QGUHD� .UDPDU� LV� D� VHFRQG�\HDU�Master of Public Administration stu�dent.

In a move taking American policy analysts completely

off guard, Columbia University’s Hairymen Institution passed Ref-erendum 32.2 last Wednesday, call-LQJ� IRU� WKH� ��WK�ÁRRU� RI� WKH� ,QWHU-national Affairs Building (IAB) to secede from SIPA and join the Rus-sian Federation.

“Recent developments by the SIPA administration have been infringing on the autonomy and personal welfare of the Institution,” announced Hairy-men’s research chairman, Sergei Federov. “As the lone institute focus-ing on Russian and Eurasian studies at SIPA, we have long-standing his-torical ties to the Kremlin and would be better suited to be part of the Rus-sian Federation.”

The announce-ment came as a shock to Dean Ganow and other top administrators at Columbia University. “The Hairymen Insti-tution has long been an important facet of SIPA, dating back to 1946. We will do everything we can to ensure Hairymen remains in SI-PA’s hands, and are not ruling out the possibility of armed warfare,” Ganow stated.

The possibility for warfare may quickly become a reality. Following the Institution’s announcement, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his unwavering support for the center’s efforts. Columbia’s +DLU\PHQ�,QVWLWXWLRQ�LV�´RI�VLJQLÀ-cant national interest to the Krem-lin” and “is deep within the hearts and minds of the Russian people,” he stated. He ended the interview VWDWLQJ�� ´ȫȠȜ� ȏȡȒȓȠ�ȚȜȖȚ�µ� �´LW�ZLOO�be mine”).

Though it is unclear why Putin is pursuing a Columbia University research center, as opposed to other reputable Russian-focused centers across the U.S., several theories have emerged.

Top security analysts allege re-searchers at the the Hairymen In-stitution were colluding with Putin in order to smuggle in free borscht and caviar, a lifeblood for the cen-ter’s researchers, whose wages de-creased 45% this year. In another citing, historians and archeologists claim Putin is seeking out the 12th ÁRRU� EHFDXVH� LWV� ,.($� FKDLUV� DQG�desks remind him of the gilded seats of Russia’s famed Peterhof Palace.

By Andrea Kramar

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The Morningside Post is the student-run newspaper of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.The views expressed in this paper are those of the individual writers and not necessarily of the editors or Columbia University.

Please direct inquiries to editor@themorningsidepost.com.

Alice’s Café to Stop Serving Horse Meat

With just three weeks before

Columbia’s highly an-ticipated Genghis Khan Day, Alice’s Café an-nounced on Friday that it will no longer be serv-ing horse meat, the leg-endary leader’s favorite food and a mainstay of the SIPA cafeteria since the early 1970s. The an-nouncement cited health concerns over the qual-ity of the horse meat but failed to specify the details. Some students are now questioning whether the café has an ulterior motive.

“I’d be lying if I said I ZDVQ·W� PDG�µ� VDLG� ÀUVW�year MPA-DP student, Julianna Pena. “Free-range organic horse meat is fairly easy WR�ÀQG�LQ�WKH�FLW\�DQG�,�KDYHQ·W�KHDUG�RI�anyone getting sick. Given the timing of the decision, I can’t help but wonder if this is due to some prejudice against our beloved Temujin,” she stated.

SIPA administrators, however, claim there is no prejudice against the holi-day and that the timing of the decision was purely coincidental. “Though the timing of the decision was unfortunate, WKLV� LQ�QR�ZD\�UHÁHFWV�6,3$·V�SRVLWLRQ�

on Genghis Khan Day,” said Assis-tant Dean of Cul-tural Affairs, Dr. Rachel Ostovich. “We have scheduled an outstanding lineup of musicians, wrestling and ar-chery competitions, and as usual, are providing hun-dreds of gallons of fermented mare’s

milk. If early ticket sales are any in-dication, this year’s event will be the largest in university history, praise be to the Spirit Banner and Creator of the Great Sky.”

Now in its 137th year, Columbia’s annual Genghis Khan Day has become SIPA’s most prominent cultural gala, attracting thousands of alumni and New York City community members. This year’s concert will be headlined by Kharanga, Altan Urag, Amarkhuu Borkhuu, and Third Eye Blind. With tickets selling out in less than 72 hours, it is unlikely Alice’s Café is trying to hurt the event and is rather the latest display of what some see as a continu-ing decline in quality.

“I don’t think Alice’s has any prejudice against the beloved Khan, but [still] the cafe is continually downgrading,” said second-year IFEP student, Hayato Sakurai. “Sure, if you like bland qui-

noa or salty chicken salads, \RX·OO�EH�ÀQH��EXW�,·P�UHDOO\�XSVHW�,�

won’t be able to order a horse pa-nini anymore. Now, I will have to trek all the way to the Law or Busi-ness School cafeterias for lunch. At least their cotton candy machines aren’t always out of order.”

Alice’s Café has shown a trend over the past few years of cutting out higher quality delicacies while raising the prices of items it con-tinues to carry. Since 2011, the caf-eteria has discontinued selling goat eyeballs, octopus gonads, Venezua-lan beaver cheese, and New Hamp-shire birch syrup.

When pressed for details regard-ing the health concerns, cafeteria representatives cited two deaths which occurred in New York City as a result of tainted horse meat in 2013, However, after an in-depth investigation, TMP found that the supplier of the contaminated meat used recently retired horses from the Central Park horse-drawn car-riages, meat that was only approved to be used as pet food. Alice’s Café uses a different distributer based in Yonkers. Furthermore the deaths IURP� KRUVH� PHDW� DUH� VLJQLÀFDQWO\�lower than the deaths from cherry tomatoes (six), almond butter (11), and kale chips (23), all of which oc-curred in the city during the same time span, and all of which are still sold at Alice’s at a heavily marked-up price.

NYC mayor and SIPA alumnus, Bill de Blasio could not be directly reached for comment, but his press RIÀFH�VWDWHG�WKDW�WKH�0D\RU�LV�GLVDS-pointed with the decision and is not ruling out a larger investigation.

6DPLU�0HPRQ�LV�D�ÀUVW�\HDU�0DVWHU�of Public Administration student.

By Samir Menon

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Source: Andrea Kramar