:: Political Paradigm 'Blog ::

:: Thursday, August 28, 2003 ::

More from Timothy Noah's Kurd Sellout Watch on Slate.

Day 75: Kurds, the US, and the UN
Day 143: More Kurds, the US, and the UN
Day 147: Turkey wants to move more troops into Iraq

:: WL 8/28/2003 06:54:00 PM [+]

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I'm sure many CUNY and Hunter students are in the same boat as the students quoted for the article below. Not having enough classes (or class sections) available means students end up paying more for college while getting shortchanged in their education. For some courses, especially languages, losing a semester means that both the student and the professor have to waste valuable class time on review instead of new material. Cutting class offerings also artificially lowers the 4-year graduation rate which I believe is still used in part to calculate the US News rankings, the 2004 edition of which is just out:
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/rankindex_brief.php
While we may not put much stock in these rankings, they're nevertheless popular (why else would US News now charge for access to them?) and a reality that CUNY must deal with.

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New York Times
As State Colleges Cut Classes, Students Struggle to Finish

August 24, 2003
By GREG WINTER

The moment registration opens, Michele D. Hannah dives for courses with the fury of a fifth-year college student vexed by a constant riddle.

"When will I get the classes I need to graduate?" said Ms. Hannah, Class of "I have no idea" at the University of Iowa.

Classes have gotten so tight, or so scarce, that Ms. Hannah says she trolls the university's Web site like a day trader, checking every few hours for the stray course opening that might suddenly appear.

But it probably will not. At many public universities, grappling with record budget cuts and enrollments at the same time, the classroom is no longer being spared. After whittling away at staff, coaxing faculty members to juggle more classes, stripping sports teams and trusting aging roofs to hold out a few years longer, many public universities have reluctantly begun chopping away at academics, making it harder for students to graduate on time.

-snip-

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/24/national/24COLL.html

:: WL 8/24/2003 12:59:00 AM [+]

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Sergio Vieira de Mello up for Nobel Prize?




Brazil's former president wants to nominate the late UN envoy for the Nobel peace prize. It would, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corp., require the Nobel committee to make a rule change, but I think it's appropriate given de Mello's work in Kosovo, East Timor, and Iraq. Still, Kofi Annan and the UN system won the prize just two years ago so I don't know if the committee will want to award the prize to another UN figure so soon. It's not a particularly meritorious way of looking at things, but I'm sure the same thoughts will be discussed in Norway during the selection process especially if there's any sort of rule change involved for posthumous awards.

In other news, August 28th marks the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. It's as powerful an oratory today as it was then. You can read the full text (with audio!) here.

:: WL 8/23/2003 11:26:00 PM [+]

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Kids, here's your weekend reading assignment. I'm sure Professor Roberts would put it on her reading list too.

When you think about big military spenders, you think of the US, China, Israel, the UK, and some other ass-whuppers. But Norway? A country that hasn't exactly threatened anybody in the last 300 years? Why yes. Norway's charismatic defense minister is transforming her country's defense-oriented military into a niche fighting force aligned with the Pentagon. And yes, Kristin Krohn Devold isn't just one of only two female defense ministers in NATO, she snowboards and is certified to jump with Special Ops paratroopers. Mad sexy. But she has a point: in today's US hegemony, the only way small countries can get respect is to ''identify what you are good at, and concentrate on it." It's not entirely without risk, as greater perceived alignment with the US brings with it a greater chance of being targeted by al Qaeda. Just look at the Jordanian embassy bombing in Baghdad.

Rome used plenty of "auxiliaries" to fight its wars alongside its venerable legionnaires. Is the US heading in the same direction? Time will tell. In the short run, though, Norway's Devold may be on the short-list to replace the UK's Lord George Robertson as Sec-Gen of NATO. Not bad for ski troops.

:: WL 8/23/2003 03:34:00 AM [+]

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NEWSFLASH: "Wide Angle" program on Italy's Berlusconi tonight!

Channel 13's "Wide Angle" program takes a look at Italy's PM Silvio Berlusconi, the controversial businessman-politician. Check it out tonight at 9pm EDT (or check your local PBS listings).

More on Berlusconi...

:: WL 8/21/2003 06:39:00 PM [+]

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NEWSFLASH: Massive truck bomb blows up UN HQ in Baghdad

It's ironic to think that UN workers in Iraq were probably safer working there under Saddam than now when the US is in charge. CNN reports 13 casualties from this latest terrorist bombing but that number will, sadly, probably go up. It's also reported that Sergio Vieira de Mello, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the top UN official in Iraq, is somewhere alive in the rubble.

The coalition will have some questions to answer, specifically with regard to "soft targets" like the UN HQ. Remember, the UN's only mission in Iraq is humanitarian assistance - they've been shut out of the WMD search and peacekeeping. So for remnant Baathists to target the UN makes little sense, unless it's part of some scorched-earth policy where anything's game. Is it time for a readjustment of the forces deployed to beef up security at aid workers' offices and other civilian buildings? We've already seen the bungled handling of security at the Baghdad museums. Perhaps this bombing will serve as a wake-up call to the Bush administration that they need to get more people to Iraq to guard more places. Fast.

UPDATE: de Mello's dead

:: WL 8/19/2003 01:11:00 PM [+]

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The Blackout of 2003:

Coverage from ABC News and CBS News.

Apparently an overload up near Niagara Falls caused power stations from New York City to Toronto to Detroit to shut down. Bloomberg says power will be restored by tomorrow. Hope everyone gets home safe tonight. Well, at least the blackout hit during daylight hours...

So, where were you when the great blackout of '03 hit? Post your thoughts in the comments box below.

:: WL 8/14/2003 07:23:00 PM [+]

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Coming soon: Watch this space for 2004 Republican and Democratic convention coverage! Stay tuned.

:: WL 8/13/2003 11:07:00 PM [+]

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The latest installment of Timothy Noah's Kurd Sellout Watch on Slate. Is George W. Bush gonna sell out the Iraqi Kurds like his daddy did 12 years ago? Stay tuned.

:: WL 8/05/2003 05:58:00 PM [+]

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More good stuff:

International Crisis Group - The Special Court for Sierra Leone: Promises and Pitfalls of a “New Model”

STRATFOR - The Wall of Sharon

:: WL 8/05/2003 12:39:00 AM [+]

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Kids, your political reading of the week, this time from The Economist:

Most rational people can probably agree that Silvio Berlusconi is hardly a shining example of Italian statesmanship. This week's Economist takes him to task yet again. The magazine explains why it has singled out Berlusconi as the target of its investigation in an "open letter" to the Italian PM. Plus, more from the Economist's coverage from 2001 when Berlusconi became PM: "An Italian Story" "Fit to Run Italy?"

:: WL 8/03/2003 12:22:00 PM [+]

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I'm sorry, something just ain't right with a state that can possibly let Larry Flynt run for governor against Arnold Schwarzenegger. Now I'm all for Larry's free speech work, but even Jerry Springer has some political experience as mayor of Cincinnati.

Again, only in America...

:: WL 8/02/2003 12:46:00 AM [+]

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