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IS@BMAG
2010February
Duo Pepicelli
What: Classical Concert
When: 4th March, h.21
Where: Aula Magna Gobbi
How: just show up!
Scipione Sangiovanni
What: Classical Concert
When: 18th March, h.21.00
Where: Aula Magna Gobbi
How: just show up!
Franco Medori
What: Classical Concert
When: 1st April, h.21.00
Where: Aula Magna Gobbi
How: just show up!
All Admission Free!
Register on Bocconi Website
University Top Events
Kale
ido
BY NADA ZDRAVKOVIC
Monthly Guide on Where to Go
Brera e La Guerra
What: ExhibitionWhere: Pinacoteca di BreraWhen: until 21st MarchHow much: 7.50 euro
Roy Lichtenstein
What: ExhibitionWhere: Milano TriennaleWhen: until 30th MayHow much: 5.50/6.50 euro
ClaudeCollins - Stracensky
What: Solo ExhibitionWhere: Galleria nicoletta RusconiWhen: until 28th MarchHow much: free
TheCranberries Concert
Where: AssagoWhen: 16th MarchHow much: 34.5 - 57.5 euro
Milan’sTopEvents
Comics Fair
Where: Fiera Milano
When: until 28th February
That’s Butterfly
What: ExhibitionWhere: Castelli SforzescoWhen: until 28th FebruaryHow much: 6 euro
Green Life: Build Sustainable Cities
What: Exhibition Where: Milano TriennaleWhen: until 28th MarchHow much: 4 - 6 euro
Romeo and Juliet
What: PerformanceWhere: Teatro CarcanoWhen: 25 - 28 MarchHow much: 13 euro
If you’re like most people you’d probably draw a blank. Yet the conflict in the eastern part of the DRC outweighs all those places put together. In fact so far it’s the deadliest conflict on earth since WWII , and the carnage continues on a daily basis.
The nature of the conflict is as old as the human species itself it revolves around tribal a liation
and resources. The two major ethnic players are the Hutus and the Tutsis. The current conflict has it’s origins in the Rwandan Civil War that saw the Hutus pitted against the Tutsis with each side receiving support from various African nations. The subsequent Rwandan genoc ide saw the displacement of Hutu militias into neighbouring Zaire as the DRC was then known who then allied with the Zairian armed forces to fight against ethnic Tutsis in the eastern part of Zaire. In turn the Rwandan Tutsis along with Uganda and opposition forces within Zaire itself launched an o ensive against the Zairian regime of Mobutu in order to overthrow it and control the vast natural resources of Zaire. Mobutu was ultimately forced to
flee and the country was renamed the DRC.
The new government, fearing a Rwandan backed overthrow and installation of a puppet leader tried to expel the very forces that had prope l l ed i t to power. The subsequent conflict, the ‘Second Congo War’ was to directly involve no less than eight African nations as is also known as ‘Africa’s World War’. It o cially came to an end in late 2002 but its aftermath is yet to subside.
Sadly the African states have found it hard to reconcile their differences, particularly in the eastern DRC where there are large deposits of minerals including diamonds, copper, zinc and probably most important of all coltan, which is used in countless electronic devices. Even sadder than their inability to reconcile their di erences is the fact that they ha ve access to moder n weaponry that facilitate masskilling. Add to that the widespread famine and plague of curable diseases besetting the civilian population and the result is the ongoing deaths of approximately
45,000 people a month. To put that into perspective think about the outpouring of grief for the victims of 9/11, which numbered 3000. Well, in the eastern DRC there’s a 9/11 every 2 days.
B u t t h e s to r y d o e s n’t e n d there. Along with the killing and death there is systematic torture, mutilation, mass vaginal mutilation and mass rape. One documented incident is that of a militia that stormed a small village, entered a hut and tied down a father, cutting off his hands, feet and genitals. The daughter was then kidnapped and taken to a military camp where she was subjugated to continual gang rape using objects such as sticks, rifles, knives and the like. After having her vagina and womb completely destroyed and her intestines left in tatters she was dumped at the side of a road and left to die. Miraculously she survived, most do not. Another incident involved militias entering a hut and cutting a mother’s leg oand telling her 12 year old son to eat it. When he refused to eat his mother’s flesh he was promptly shot in the head. The list of stories like this could go on and on.
THEINVISIBLEHOLOCAUSTKarl James
If I were to throw out a few words like Iraq, Afghanistan, Darfur or Haiti what kind of images would come to mind? If you’re knowledgeable about world affairs then no doubt images of death, destruction and chaos would abound. But what if I were to mention the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo?
CURRENT AFFAIRS IS@BMAG FEBRUARY 2010
T h e co n s i s te n t re p o r t s o f e t h n i c c l e a n s i n g , m a s s violations of human rights and violence against woman and children by both sides of the conflict has led some to call the eastern DRC the ‘world capital of killing’. On top of this is the ongo ing exterminat ion and cannibalism of native pygmy tribes who in the words of Sinafasi Makelo, one of their leaders, are “hunted down and eaten as though they were game an ima l s ” . Unfor tunate l y, noth ing e ven resembling the principles of the Geneva Convention are to be found in this part of the world.
So the question begs to be asked ‘Why doesn’t the world s e e m t o c a re ? ’ . A l though international efforts exist for a cea se f i re , they a re f a r f rom e ective and a lot more could be done.
So why has the world been so l a x i n re c o g n i s i n g a n d responding to the crisis? How could such a tragedy fail to elicit a greater outcry against it? One answer could be the exploitation of the natural resources by foreign nations and corporations, keen to pit rival warlords against each other to keep prices low and to make sure that production is not interrupted by any measures designed to alleviate the enforced slavery, torture and murder. But this explanation alone is not enough to explain away the world’s desire to ignore the utter human devastation occurring. Another explanation could be latent racism, where the world doesn’t seem to care about a bunch of Africans killing each other. But then again no one seemed to care about the people of Haiti, Iraq or Afghanistan until world leaders and the media started beating the sympathy drum. And
no one cared about Darfur until a raft of Hollywood celebrities took it on as their ‘cause celebre’. So if people’s interest in su ering can be directed towards certain causes why isn’t it being directed to the eastern DRC? The answer remains, at least to the author of this article, a myster y. Perhaps i t ’s a combinat ion o f the f ac tors mentioned above coupled with the possibility that the stories coming out of the region are just too horrendous for most people to s tomach a long wi th the unwillingness to confront a conflict that will not be resolved in a short amount of time.
Whatever the reason, so long as the world continues to turn a blind eye to the human tragedy occurring in the eastern DRC,it will remain the world capital of death and destruction.
CURRENT AFFAIRS IS@BMAG FEBRUARY 2010
Land of VisceralIsabel Pelaez
Haiti = earthquake for most people on the globe right now. It is the poorest country on the western hemisphere, located on the island of La Española, which it shares with the Dominican Republic the f irst piece of land Columbus found , and also the first black republic to gain independence on 1804 CIA world factbook . So before everyone turned their pitiful eyes on this land, what was going on there?
It went through the usual discovering America process in which some Europeans come, the natives are annihilated and then, in this case, replaced by some starving African slaves who then revolt under Toussaint L’Overture and become a nation. Oh, and of course the priests arrived to tur n e ver yone Catho l i c .But who wa s th i s “ s l a ve who beat Napoleon” HistoryWiz ? He was, of course, a man of letters born a slave but with the fortune of having had a free father born in Africa who taught him about the dignity of man. He gained inspiration from Rousseau, or perhaps Raynal, and other enlightened philosophers and, thankfully enough, was aided by Robespierre’s wave of change that extended to the colonies. So L’Overture was enlightened in part by the French philosophers of the time. He then received indirect aid to get rid of the British and Spanish, and afterward the French as well.
These are the dangers of information, some would say, back then. Maybe it’s better not to publish enlightened ideas if slaves can get hold of them and revolt, isn’t that right? No! Would say Robespierre; let them be free as well! Maybe then they won’t mind staying under the French rule, that robbed them of their dignity and basic rights, if we set up a “let’s all get free and happy over in the colonies” play. Turns out the French now send Robespierre to the guillotine because they did mind that people erkilled i France. So now Napoleon reinstates slavery in the colonies. A big mistake and quite naïve of him if he thought that after freedom anyone would be jumping up and down to serve their masters again! So here comes the all time hero, the handsome, compassionate, truly brilliant general L’Overture, the Haitian Simón Bolívar, and frees his people from Napoleon.
Of course it was all much more complicated; it involved several side changes from Spanish to French and back again. But overall, this man did a great job for the side of the island. He established schools, reformed the infrastructure and tried to implement di erent mechanisms to prevent Haiti from becoming a God forsaken land. Yet he died when Napoleon heard of so much freedom blabbering on in the New Land, and was tricked into a peaceful meeting that ended with him being shipped over to France and locked up until his death in 1803. Luckily enough, the seed was already planted and, although Haiti clearly did not end up as the prosperous land L’Overture had dreamed of, his life was fruitful in the sense that liberty was achieved in 1804 thanks to his e orts. Now would be a good time for you to listen to Redemption Song by Bob Marley.
QUICK NEWSNick Velthuis
Unemployed American Builds Huge Igloo in Garden
An American who has been unemployed for a year and a half now and was bored out of his mind, looking for something to do, has built a gigantic Igloo in the garden of his house in Aquilla, Ohio. The construction has four rooms, ceilings of two meters thick and an entertainment room. The television is connected with an extension cord to a socket in his garage. At night the 25 year old Jimmy Grey illuminates his Igloo with candles to create a special atmosphere. The biggest advantage is that when friends visit, the beer is always cold.
Stressed Moose Jumps From Parking Deck
So you thought you just had some exam stress? A stressed moose in the Swedish town of Söderhamn has ended his life by jumping down from a parking deck. The animal had walked into the centre of the small city in central Sweden, where he panicked due to all the new impressions. The moose fled into a multi-story parking lot and after a while saw no other way but to jump down from 8 meters. He did not survive this. The kings of the forest sometimes enter a built-up area in winters looking for food. They are shy animals and get stressed easily when taken out of their natural habitat.
Boss Kills Employees Over 32 Cents
A contractor in China has stabbed two of his employees to death. He had taken an amount of 3 Yuan (32 eurocents) from their salaries for his own use. The two men demanded their money back, upon which the employer grabbed a knife and took their lives. The victims were labor migrants. From the poor rural areas of China they had come to the city of Zhengzhou looking for a job. They were working for a contractor in the construction business, renovating a government office. China has millions of migrants trying to make a better life for themselves in the bigger cities. With the small income they make, they often keep their family members who stayed behind alive.
CURRENT AFFAIRS IS@BMAG FEBRUARY 2010
Gekkonomics
Fearing InflationCarlo Didonna
It may happen that you have read articles or have listened to people talking about the imminent soaring inf lat ion. It happened to me quite a lot during my holidays; amusingly, the people who were talking about it were already blaming authorities for not doing enough to couteract it!
Now, consider the situation: it is true that the newly created money, injected into the economy after the housing bubble bust in 2007, sooner or later will cause inflation. But there are at least two good reasons why we should not expect this to happen anytime before the next couple of years.
Firstly, unemployment. It is at its peak since 2000, just below 10 in almost every developed country. As we know from the Phillips curve, this implies a reduction, not an increase, in the inflation rate. Indeed, were it not for the money in jected , we would ha ve probab l y experienced deflation. We should not expect inf lat ion to r ise as long as unemployment is so high: it will occur when unemployment begins to curb do you remember Murphy's law? When things seem to be improving, they are just about to get worse!
Secondly, the monetary base. True, it is exploding, but at the moment most of it is kept in central banks in the form of excess reserves. Usually, after time, banks would start lending this money. This amounts to a new injection of money in the economy which inevitably leads to inflation. However, beg inning with the U.S. Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, central banks e.g. Fed, ECB now pay interest on banks' excess reserves. This makes a huge di erence, because as long as interests on these reserves are high enough, banks will be happy to keep their money in the central bank vaults. By controlling interests on excess reserves,
central banks can better manage the quantity of money in the economy, and consequent l y a l so in f l a t ion . As a consequence, the monetary base loses importance as an indicator of future inflation: its very high level is not as worrying as the people I heard talking were claiming.
Does this all mean that we should not worry at all? Unfortunately not. But the reason why we are going to experience inflation is totally di erent. Economic policy authorithies are, in my opinion, likely to allow inflation to rise deliberately, at least for some time. And why is it so? Again, there are two reasons.
To begin with, in order to decrease inflation when it will start to rise, central banks would have to drain liquidity from the economy thus raising interest rates and discouraging borrowing. They may prove unwilling or unable to do so, because reducing output too early could cause an anaemic recovery. The outcome could be so dangerous that we can confidently expect them to refrain from any early interest rate increases.
Finally, allowing inflation means that a State can borrow at a lower real interest rate. The importance of this can hardly be overstated: governments have created huge deficits to enact fiscal stimuli, so they will have to reduce them sooner or later. Instead of levying unpopular taxes, they are most likely to take advantage of inflation to borrow at a significantly lower cost.
The bottom line: when you will see prices r is ing and hear people saying that authorities are not doing enough to contrast it, you can tell them that they are quite wrong: they are not doing anything at all, but at least from an economic viewpoint for very good reasons!
A short explanation of the name of this column:
Gordon Gekko is the sou l l e s s f inanc ia l speculator in Oliver Stone's "Wall Street", sadly popular for his speech on the survival o f the f i t test with reference to capitalism, best summarized by his expression "Greed is Good". However this view does not reflect the ideas of the writer, because of his wellknown horrible sense of humor he finds the reference quite ironic.
CURRENT AFFAIRS IS@BMAG FEBRUARY 2010
C o v e r s t o r y
EXCHANGEGreat Expectations
There is hardly another experience during your
studies that is more remarkable than those three or
four months you decided to spend away from the
university you chose to study at, the environment you
got used to and all those friends you made and
cherish. IS@BMag has looked more closely at how
going on exchange works at Bocconi and what the
experience was like for those who went away.
3 March 2010, 1 pm – the all important deadline
for an experience that may change your life and
certainly will change your university experience:
Around 2000 Bocconi students will have registered
through Punto Blu to get the chance of filling one of
the roughly 1100 exchange spots the university offers
every year – but why, where do they want to go and
how do they prepare for it?
Why Go Abroad?
In a non-representative survey by IS@BMag with 60
participants, the two prevailing reasons to go on exchange
were the wish to travel and to enrich one's CV. Our
interviewees who went abroad in previous semesters had
similar motivations: Carlotta Bonsignori, a BIEM student who
went to Singapore Management School last fall, even chose
Bocconi for her studies due to its high number of partner
universities. “I chose Bocconi in the first place because of the
many opportunities to go abroad it offers. I think an exchange
gives us the possibility to meet many people from all over the
world, be able to travel in places which just sound "far far
away", and experience a different way of teaching that no
other program offers”, she explains.
Just like for Giorgio Chen, now MSc in International
Management, who went on exchange at UC Berkeley during
his Bachelor studies; it was not only the life experience worth
remembering forever, but also the possibility to improve their
English and the partner universities' academic excellence that
made them decide to go for exchange.
The Right University
“I knew I wanted to go to UC Berkeley from the first week
of my first year of University.” Being as determined about the
dream exchange university as Giorgio is certainly a big plus in
the planning phase as it saves time on that crucial decision –
where to now?
For the survey participants there was one clear favourite
destination, namely the United States, followed by Europe and
Latin America. However, a little over 50 per cent of the
respondents felt that there was not enough information about
the exchange available.
Among those we interviewed, there were many different
decision strategies to observe: Nevio Duci, a CLEF student
who went to Wharton/UPenn last semester, read the travel
reports by former Bocconi exchange students, while Leila
Vezendi, BSc International Economics and Management
student, talked to her friends who suggested her to go to Hong
Kong, and Carlotta printed the list of all possible universities
and narrowed it down to a few on which she read the material
that can be found in the restricted area of the International
Relations Office website. (See the interview with Mario
Tabarini from the IR Office on the application process).
Alexandra Bode and Sissi Lin, collaboration Silvia Semeria
C o v e r s t o r y
Deadlines
22nd - 3rd March
Applications for
Exchange
Applications for
Summer Campus Abroad
Until 18th March
Applications for
International Internship
through IR
EXCHANGE
Great Expectations And Great
Experiences
“When I came to UC Berkeley, it was
much better than I expected it to be – I got so
many friends and people
are incredibly smart
there”, says Tu Zhixiang,
BIEM student who went
on exchange last semester.
An experience that is not
uncommon, as Le i la
explains: “ It was even
better than I thought
because coming to the
campus in Hong Kong for
the first time and seeing it
situated right next to the
seaside I just thought:
Wow!”
However, it is not
only the nice campuses and people that
counted for our exchange veterans – after all
they also went there to study and a lot of them
found Bocconi to be more theoretical than
their exchange universities, which had more
focus on practice:
“ At Bocconi we are used to studying a lot
more, and so I found the academic pace slower
in Buenos Aires, even though over there there
were more practical courses”, says Stefania
Caracciolo, Business Administration student
and on exchange at UADE, Argentina in 2007.
“The academic level really depended on the
class chosen. Some classes were average, while
others were really the best in world. The
exchange programme also
made me realise how good
Bocconi's academic level
actually is.”, Giorgio adds.
The rea l i sa t ion that
maybe the university you
might have been desperate
to leave behind for a while
is not that bad after all
takes many different forms
– be it the coffee that
almost every time is a
thing missed abroad when
we asked our interviewees,
the exam weeks or, you
might be surprised to read
it, the computers.
But things missed abroad aside, the most
obvious impression that all those who have
been on exchange have given us during the
interviews was their amazement about the time
they had spent abroad: The many friends they
made, the places they had seen and all the
crazy things that happened to them. So what is
it like to be back at Bocconi?
C o v e r s t o r y
Staying In The Spirit
“My exchange experience was awesome.
Even though it's not fair to my home
university Bocconi, I
w o u l d g o b a c k
tomorrow if I could!”
says Leila and just
exemplifies the many
little things everyone
misses and would like
t o t a k e b a c k t o
Bocconi with them:
“I’m sure I’m going to miss the informal
environment I was used to at Penn:
students in t-shirt, shorts and slippers,
drinking and eating during classes. All
those made the students much more
relaxed and more focused on learning than
dressing.” adds Nevio.
So how could Bocconi become a little more
like those missed places and learn from all
the other great universities it partners up
with?
“What I believe worked better over there at
UC Berkeley was the e - learning platform
and especially, the network with the
business world. The organisation over
there was so much better. Bocconi
University is a great school, but it definitely
needs to improve its organisation and
remove many layers of bureaucracy”,
G i o r g i o
answer s . For
Stefania,
more practical
classes, more
communication
a n d
par t i c ipat ion
f r o m t h e
students during
the course and
a more fair evaluation would be areas in
which Bocconi could improve.
EXCHANGE
Over To The Next Exchange Generation
One area that almost all interviewees were quite satisfied about was the International
Relations Office: It is considered a one-stop shop for all your questions and concerns
you might have regarding your future exchange experience. As Mario Tabarini
emphasises (see interview), the top reason survey participants stated for not going
abroad (financial concerns) should not put anyone off pursuing their dream of
spending some time away – and even though there are challenges along the way, there
are very few things our interviewed exchange students would have liked to know and
organise before they went on exchange:
Accommodation, conversion of classes taken abroad into Bocconi grades and
information about the courses to be taken at the partner university.
And Now: JUMP!
Once you have chosen your dream university, informed yourself about the country,
learned the language and packed your luggage, there is only one more thing to do:
JUMP! (Giorgio) and “be sponges, soak up everything of the time that has the
potential to be one of the best ones of your life” (Carlotta)
In Bocca Al Lupo!
C o v e r s t o r y
How to Make a Successful Exchange ApplicationInterview with Mario Tabarini, Exchange
Program Coordinator
IS@BMag: Let’s start with some figures, how many
students apply each year for exchange and how many
slots are there available?
Mr. Tabarini: On average, every year there are 2000 students
including both undergrad, grad and law programs applying
for 1100 places. The slots available increase every year
because of new exchange agreements or renegotiations with
the existing partner universities. This year, for example, there
are roughly 100 places more.
In our expansion, we aim at improving the quality of the
exchange experience, so we follow these criteria: consolidation
of our existing relationships with the world top universities by
increasing the number of slots available with each of them,
and careful selection of new partners. This implies that we
reject many new partnerships requests because of quality
considerations.
IS@BMag: What are the favorite destinations? Are the
trends changing?
Mr. Tabarini: Undoubtedly, North America and English-
speaking countries are the most preferred, although recently
demand for Asian universities is increasing. In general, I have
to say that the applicants tend to be quite well distributed
among all the destinations we offer, and this means that very
few slots remain unfilled.
IS@BMag: There is a broad spectrum of partner
universities a student can choose from, and certainly
there is a huge amount of information available about
each of them. Where does an exchange applicant
start from?
Mr. Tabarini: We understand that it can be difficult for a
student to decide where to spend 4-5 months of his/her life
with all the choices he/she is given. That is why we try to give
the potential exchange applicants a fairly complete view
through a series of promotional events and materials:
1) The Exchange Brochure, listing all the partner
universities, the slots available and last year’s participants
GPA;
2) The International Week, with special preparation sessions
for some specific destinations (China and India) and where
potential applicants have the chance to meet students who just
had an exchange experience;
3) The Restricted Area on the website, with the University
Fact Sheets (provided by the partner university), ranking of
applicants from last years, feedback from students who came
back from exchange and information on relevant courses
offered by partner universities.
IS@BMag: The information collection eventually leads
to the final choice, which narrows down to 5
universities: what is the best strategy to play in this
case?
Mr. Tabarini: Taking into account last year’s ranking and
your own GPA, aim high with the first two choices, but make
sure you have a “parachute” last choice that somehow
requires a lower GPA than your own, so that you make sure
you’ll be going on exchange next year! Always keep in mind
that the choices are ranked, so your favorite destinations
should come first in the list.
An exceptional case is University of California, where
exchange students are distributed to 8 different campuses by
the Central Exchange Department in Santa Barbara. Once
selected for UC, the student fills up a new preference list of 4
choices: this means that if you apply for UC, you must be
ready to end up in any of the four campuses you have chosen!
IS@BMag: How about the economic aspect of the
exchange experience?
Mr. Tabarini: An exchange experience does not automatically
imply higher expenses. Milan’s high cost of living is not often
outdone. However, the university offers many forms of
financial aid for outgoing exchange students, so make sure
you check out this possibility before letting economic
considerations put you off this great experience!
EXCHANGE
On the 6th of February I landed in Dhaka, a city that I didn’t even know existed until a couple of years ago, in Bangladesh, a country I used to be just half aware of, ready to go on field trips in the rural areas, probably very far from a decent toilet.
Why would I do such a thing?
Because we, indeed I’m not brave enough to travel alone yet, are leaving for an internship at the Grameen Bank, the first and most renowned micro credit institution whose headquarters are in Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh. The founder, Muhammad Yunus, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 thanks to his simple yet genius idea: lending small sums of money to the poorest, enabling them to buy their own means of production, that are usually rented off by richer landlords, for such high fees that what they earn is barely enough to make a living. The great majority of borrowers are women: together with the increase in independence from the very rich, micro credit lead a small social revolution in Bangladesh, and is now expanding and inspiring various programs all over the world. After the bank followed, several other initiatives of Grameen started on the wave of recognition for the need of a more ethical way of conducting business.
THE INTERNSHIP
The internship is structured in a flexible and personalized way, with no fixed obligations, and tailored around your specific needs. This is due to the fact that
interns are treated mainly as visitors rather than actual workers: they are not requested to actively do much, and they are not paid as well; to be completely honest you have to pay a small fee, 40$, because at Grameen Bank “we believe that you value more what you pay”. I however had no specific plan so I decided to stick with a pretty basic, but
comprehensive schedule: the first week is usually spent in Dhaka, the 12.5 million people city, where you f a m i l i a r i ze w i t h t h e general functioning of the bank (and I assume you try to recover from the c u l t u re s h o c k ) . T h e standard internship lasts about three weeks, in fact since you are not an actual employee you don’t really have much to do afterwards.
A f t e r D h a k a , t h e following weeks are generally spent on field trips, one of which is a week-long trip in the rural part of Bangladesh to see how the bank approaches the villages. This is were the bank operates mostly, and also the most interesting part of the experience, since you are given the opportunity to see how the whole loan process from the beginning: s t a r t ing w i th the fi r s t , s ome t ime controversial, contacts, due to the fact that Grameen operates mainly with women, that are usually “protected” from strangers, to the formation of a group of borrowers and their meetings. The system through which debts are repaid is peculiar of Grameen Bank: a group of about five borrowers, each handling a different activity, is formed, and subsequently has to attend weekly meeting s during which they repay together. In such a way all the members of the group are responsible collectively. This could seem just an expedient to preserve the bank’s interests, but it's a really useful way to make sure the money isn’t spent on consumer goods: the members of the group are from the same village and exercise a significant amount of social pressure, ensuring the success of Grameen bank, that has one of the highest repayment rates among financial institutions in the country.
“...micro credit lead a small social
revolution in Bangladesh, and is now expanding
and inspiring various programs
all over the world.”
An Unconventional Internship Part I
Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Prize for Peace in 2006
Camilla Gai
Being fascinated with the micro credit idea as a high-schooler when Mr. Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize, I decided to seize the opportunity of living the experience while in college: when else could I ever have this much free time? I followed the example of other friends who had already gone and returned enthusiastic.
The experience suits perfectly the need for both a humanitarian study related purpose and a touristic one:in fact we decided to take a one week vacation in Nepal afterwards. Sure the trip is not an easy one, nor is its preparation: ladies if you don’t feel ready to part from you LV maybe this is not the kind of experience you. Getting ready can be quite complicated, starting from the number of vaccines you need, and reading all the health caution pages of the Lonely Planet guide can make you change your mind right away, especially with respect to field trips in the rural part of the country! However, relying more on the reassuring guide of my friends, it became clear that there is nothing that can’t be avoided with some common sense. After all, the hardest part might be getting through the multi-layered Italian health care system. Indeed there are two departments to get the vaccines from, and once again you will be given the chance to spend some time in a queue.
Communicating with Grameen Bank could be bureaucracy-wise similar to any Italian post office, or the International Relations Office in Bocconi (with the excuse that they are in a third world country!). Answers to emails arrive about a week later: planning in advance is definitely a must here! Regardless, the lady taking care of the interns is quite nice, and the demand for an internship will be accepted surely, the only true requirement being to ask for a place at least a month before. Similarly getting a visa can be a bit of a pain due to the visa agency in Milan, referenced directly from the Rome embassy. However all is well that ends well, and, thanks to the lovely help of those who went before me, I am now the lucky possessor of a passport complete with a visa stamp, a round trip ticket to Dhaka and I am pretty certain I'm the most vaccinated person in my city.
In case you were interested, to spare other international students some of the lines we had to do, there will be a booklet available in a couple of months on the IS@B Website with detailed instructions on how to get through the organization of the trip, including useful tips such as what clothes to bring, how to get a visa and so on.
There will be a second article, once I’m back, but for now...just wish me luck!
Before you go..
When should I start
planning the trip?
2 months in advance should allow enough time to plan and solve possible inconveniences.
When is the best period
to go?
The ideal period would be between October and February, however many still decide to go during the summer. Remember that June through August the weather is significantly more humid and that the Grameen Bank is really busy because of the high number of interns.
I wanna leave, what do I
do now?
Contact Grameen Bank and make sure they accept your request for an internship and send you a certificate.
How do I get a visa?
You need the certificate from Grameen and the flight tickets, so you can ask for a visa for “study reasons” with multiple entries.
Dhaka, Capital City of Bangladesh Borrowers from Grameen Bank
Singapore’s official language is English, yet, once there, you quickly realize that Singlish is what r e a l l y r o l l s o n t h e r o a d .“Singaporean English”, a slang that well reflects the multicultural identity of the city, basically a mixture of Chinese, Malay, and mostly English. The first time you hear a classmate saying “Oh prof ! I am so stoned today!” don’t think about weed: he’s just tired*. Other remarkable features of this language is the accent they put on some words, making “six” sound like “sex” and “coke” just like “cock” (“ Do you want a big or a small cock?”).
The main activities to do in this city are shopping and eating.Malls mushroom and it is really tricky to find a subway stop that is not covered with four or five stories of shops with often a cinema at the top (after living here for two months I can think of only one!). The amount of food courts and fast foods is what really makes you realize you are not in a western country: always open and always full. Don’t get surprised to see someone having pork organs noodle soup at 8am in the morning.
Rejoice for the 24/7 McDonalds home-delivery instead!
Eating Asian food is always a little challenging for anyone who has been spoiled with a knife and fork. Don’t think it is all about chop s t icks : you wi l l meet a new, miraculous tool: the cutting spoon. You use it mostly with Indian, Malay and Indonesian food. It will not look any different from any of the spoons you have met before, except you will soon be learning how to cut and debone with it. I can assure you it is not simple to eat chicken with just a fork and spoon! Even though the skyline of this city has something almost futuristic, with millions of shining lights and thousands of skyscrapers, it is a very safe place to be, as “mom” Singapore takes care of everything. It is very thoughtful to its citizens. Chewing gum ruins the sidewalks, so it is prohibited to sell it in the country. To protect its citizens from falling in the gambling trap, it has put a 100SIN (about 50 ) entry fee for Singaporeans only for the casinos of the island. It is forbidden to eat or drink anything on public t ransportat ion ( s ipping water
included) because you might get it dirty.
One last fact about living in Singapore is that you always need to have a long sleeve shirt with you. Outside it might be 31°C with high humidity, but you learn not to forget it home. Their love for utterly too cold A/C is unstoppable. In class, in the buses, in the mall, and above all, in the cinema, where you need a proper sweatshirt. As if you thought of bringing any to the equator.
With uncountable contrasts, Singapore is able to be modern and stay Asian. It is a little bubble in the tangle of the South East Asian impenetrable jungles, heavenly beaches, chaotic cities and forgotten villages. It is a great city to go on exchange, but what makes it a jewel to me is its location: it is a safe home in the middle of a part of the world that is so diverse and attractive.
*Trying to smoke pot here gets you a
one-way ticket to the Changi prison:
capital punishment is still in practice,
especially if you are in possession of
illegal substances.
Singapore is Shiock, lah!TRANSLATION FROM SINGLISH: SINGAPORE IS AWESOME!
Singapore Skyline
Sofia Pietrella
E a r l y s p r i n g . Saturday morning. A h u g e c r o w d waiting in front of a grey building… At 10:30 the doors open. The huge crowd starts moving like a big, noisy cloud towards the entrance. The unfortunate ones within the mass suffer from some e l b o w o r h a n d hitting them. The struggle is tough, only the winners reach the desired destination… You may wonder what the reason for all that hustle and bustle is. Those people may try to buy the last tickets for a football game or a pop concert… Good guesses, but wrong. The situation described above is, in fact, the one I encountered last April during the spring exam session in Bocconi when students waited long before the opening hour to enter the old beloved library to get the seat they wanted… Strange, you may think. Well, Bocconi’s library can tell many stories that can surprise you, shock you and definitely make you laugh your head off.
I have always asked myself whether there is another library in the world that gathers so many young brains and even leaves some outside queuing in a line and waiting for a seat to be freed. What is the secret? What is the mystery leering in the air and the fascination pouring from the walls? You may guess again and suggest that those who study there pass all there exams with 30 e lode. True for some but not for everyone. I can assure you that many blame the failure in their
exams on the misleading posters in the library that say “Do not make noise. Let the books do the talking”, and unfortunately the books never started talking to them. Irrespective of their failure or success on the exams, students keep going there. Then there should be something more than a proper studying atmosphere.
To put it straight people love the place even if they do not say it expressly. If they didn’t, then how come they argue which is their favorite room, seat or even chair. Do not laugh here; it is vitally important that you have a favorite chair. According to some the wooden chairs keep you awake; the blue ones are appropriate for anyone whereas the black ones are said to be most comfortable. Therefore, sitting on your type of chair is the key to the most efficient learning process. Another example of true affection is that if people really fall for the seat they have, they are ready to sacrifice a long relaxing lunch and take a 20 min
break in order to reserve their seat now that e v e r y o n e i s a l l o c a t e d a specific place.
In add i t ion , u n d e r n o circumstances can one deny that the library is the best place for socializing during exams. I t i s m u c h better to see people around when you lift y o u r h e a v y head from the book than to
see the wall at home. If you go there with friends you spend together the lunch time and the more than regular coffee breaks, you cross along the library space looking for some familiar faces and exploring the new birds. I can well apply David Guetta’s song “Time” which says “I spy a girl with a book in my hands…” and confirm that many of the library visitors often distract themselves with looking at the others. Well, I do hope that in the end they pass their exams.
Lastly, I can tell you, without any exaggeration, that regular visitors do feel it's like a second home. In addition to everything mentioned so far, you have to know that you are even allowed to take a nap there, especially if sitting on a black chair. I have seen students do that. Therefore, the next time you enter Facebook and see statuses of explicit affection saying “Tomorrow back to the library”, “Tomorrow back home”, “Library time” etc, be sure that they all refer to one and the same place – Bocconi’s library!
LA BIBLIO: ...THERE MUST BE SOMETHING IN ITS AIR!
Danny Mavrodieva
Dear fellow Bocconi Students! It is with great pleasure that we inform you that the next edition of the annual MilMUN conference will take place in Universita Commerciale “Luigi Bocconi”, Milan, Italy from the 3rd to the 7th of May 2010.
What is an MUN?
A Model United Nations (MUN) is an academic simulation of the United Nations that aims at educating participants about civil society, effective communication, globalization, intercultural tolerance and multilateral diplomacy. In Model UN, young academics take on roles as diplomats and represent a State different from their own nationality in a simulated session of an intergovernmental organization (IGO). Participants research their “new” home country, investigate key global issues, debate, deliberate, consult, and finallydevelop solutions to world problems in committees like the Security Council, Economic and Social Council and more.
What is MilMUN?
MilMUN is one of the most prestigious MUNs in Europe. From 2006 to 2009 our conferences have brought more than 450 young academics with more than 50 different nationalities from all five continents and representing over 60 universities to Milan. Their main fields of study were just as diverse, ranging from Economics, International Relations and Law to History, Medicine and Mathematics.
Why Join MilMUN?
MilMUN offers a world-class academic conference, a unique networking opportunity with some 120 international students, an amazing way to improve your CV for graduate school or job search. Simply put, MilMUN is a complete package that you just can’t pass on!
How to Join Us?
For detailed information on how to apply, visit our website at www.milmun.org. You can also join our Facebook group. Applications are now open, so hurry!
With Warmest Wishes,
The MilMUN 2010 Executive Team
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Artist: RushAlbum: 2112Year of Release: 1976
Pure Prog Rock has a l w a y s b e e n a British monopoly. It seems that America was uninterested w i t h t h e experimentations that began in the
late 60s and early 70s in England, where “Genesis”, “Yes”, and many other bands were carrying out their quiet but deep revolution. Yet exactly when Britain's prog rock influence was waning, a Canadian trio was quick to take the baton. “Rush” was never really a pure prog rock outfit, but it blended in a unique way the dreamy atmosphere of their British colleagues with the rampant sound of hard rock, which had marked the birth of the 70s.
Their first noticeable result is the classic "2112". The album is famous mostly for its title-track, a 22 minute long suite divided
into 7 parts whose lyrics portray an Orwellian dystopian future after a novel by Ayn Rand. The suite reveals Rush's interest for the original prog rock suites, yet it differs from them in many respects: first of all it's much easier to listen to, despite its length. No endless synthesizer-based instrumental trips; no abrupt time changes. It's more a succession of different motives, each able to capture the attention of the listener, and the final result is one of the finest pieces of rock music in history.
But the album doesn't end there: the Asian melodies of "A Passage To Bangkok", the creepy "The Twilight Zone" and the final hard rock of "Something for Nothing" (which has a musical structure much more complicated than it seems) are other highlights of the genius of these three Canadians. All over the album, the performance of Neil Peart truly stands out - one of the finest drummers that you'll ever listen to.
This is the first big success for Rush, which would go on cranking out must-have masterpieces at least until 1981, in a constant musical evolution that represents one of the greatest stories of coherence in all rock history.
Humorously, they asserted: "Individually we're an ass. But together we're a genius".
“Best Director” wears High Heels
A female film director is a rare thing. And an award-winning female director? Non-existent.Anna Clover
Why is this, you may wonder, when in t h e 2 1 s t c e n t u r y wo m e n h ave opportunities to take top positions as lawyers, politicians and business executives, and yet are so under represented in the directors chair of the film industry? Not a question with an easy answer certainly. Perhaps due to a mentality that women's role in the industry is to be “Marylin Monroes” and look glamorous in front of the camera, never to be in control behind it. It would seem Hollywood is a hard nut to crack if you're male, and titanium if you're female.
However, over the last couple of decades, the first few female directors have emerged, and among them, prominently bearing the torch, is the talented Kathryn Bigelow.
Bigelow's directorial début was back in 1987 with the moody, gory, low budget vampire thriller “Near Dark”. The film's producer told her that if she “couldn't handle” the director's role, she would be replaced within five days. Little to say, Bigelow handled it. The film won critical acclaim, and rightly so; the film is dripping with blood, atmosphere and
passion. Bigelow's career continued with the action thriller and box office smash “Point Break”, followed by the apocalyptic and explosive sci-fi movie “Stange Days”. A film dealing with themes of addiction, metaphorical substance abuse and voyeurism to the backdrop of an anarchic millennium. What all these films have in common is that they deal with such traditionally macho subjects(Near Dark is no Twilight), and do so with style, depth and grit. It would be impossible to guess the gender of the director of any of Bigelow's films (I would have played it safe and bet “male”), but to do so is completely irrelevant to the art. Bigelow is solid proof of the fact that gender and genre are not as interlinked as the Hollywood
marketing departments would like everyone to believe.
And as for award winning female directors being non-existent?Bigelow's latest fi lm “The Hurt Locker”, dealing with the psychology of the American soldiers in the Iraq war, is nominated for the Oscar of “Best Director”. Providing the overblown “Avatar” (directed by Bigelow's past spouse James Cameron) does not put a damper on proceedings, Bigelow is tipped to win it. Finally, the Academy Awards will have rewarded Bigelow's achievements as a director, and will have also given the much deserved acknowledgement of female directors throughout the industry. About bloody time.
“If there's specific
resistance to women
making movies, I just
choose to ignore that
as an obstacle for
two reasons: I can't
change my gender,
and I refuse to stop
making movies.”
Kathryn Bigelow
M.R.
I remember it was a sunny summer afternoon when Altan and myself were sitting in one of La Scala’s many training rooms, and Altan was playing classical music on a piano. Suddenly a tall, bald, old man with a somewhat womanly bag hung around his shoulder entered the room and asked us quietly whether today’s practices were over. I was almost surprised by this man’s un-disturbing rudeness, but my friend responded to him quickly saying that practices were over and closed the piano. The man smiled and left.
I asked: “Who was that?”
Altan: “Roland Petit!”
Unwillingly amused and excited, I ran after the old man just to have a glimpse of this living legend. Yes, it was him: a simply dressed, neat, old man calmly walking the corridors of La Scala. The very same man who once worked with almost all leading figures of Ballet during the 20th century was back in Milan with his famous “Pink Floyd Ballet” reborn after three decades of hibernation. Altankhuyag Dugaraa (Altan), an aspiring Mongolian of Boston Ballet, was to become the first ever Asian to dance on La Scala’s stage as a lead dancer in this renowned ballet along with such names like Svetlana Zakharova, Massimo Murru and Guillaume Cote.
Now not to give you a false impression that I am an expert in the field; I have to admit that I possess very little knowledge of ballet or classical art in
general and, after my first two years spent in Milan, I was still yet to experience La Scala. Then, in a period of two months, I went three times and had very different feelings for each performance.
First, I was late for Qatar Philarmonic Orchestra’s concert and could not enjoy it to the fullest. However, I was pleased by the internationality of the orchestra troupe as well as the confidence with which the Lebanese born conductor communicated with the audience. The second time with Altan we saw the Opera “Aida”, and to be honest I barely pulled through the four hours, despite the fact that we were sitting in Palco Centrale. The decorations were impressive though, and the actual plot was known to me because we managed to sneak into their practice sessions from backstage earlier on.
The third time it was the turn of the Pink Floyd Ballet, and I can assure you that it was the best thing I have seen in my life so far, and I am really grateful to Altan to have been given such an opportunity. The ballet itself is very lively and harmoniously combines Pink Floyd music with dance simplicity. At times it is very energetic and masculine, at times it is sublime and thoughtful. Svetlana Zakharova was definitely the Queen of the night. When she came up on stage I duly remembered Cote saying that she was “too long”. And yes she was a little too long/tall, a little too skinny and a little too weak for a ballerina. But when she moved, it was almost surreal: her arms seemed more
like wings rather than human flesh, and her gracious movements across the stage, her feeling of the music was telling the story in an unusually poetic way.
In short, she was a pure epitome of attractive female weakness so precisely defined by one European poet or philosopher centuries ago.
Goosebumps, mere silence, maximum attention to catch every detail of this rare performance, enduring applause…You can expect to see Svetlana Zakharova at La Scala in May for Trittico Novecento, and in the autumn for Serata Forsythe. This spring’s Ballet highlights include “Romeo & Juliet” starring Alina Cojocaru (a good chance for Romanian speakers) and Rudolf Nureyev’s classic “Don Quixote”. The first one will not be a classical ballet, but a rather new thing as the organizers themselves put it “a foray into creativity of our times.” In my understanding it is combination of three very different ballets supported by music of three great Russian composers: Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev and Shostakovich.
If you want to see the premieres I suggest booking places beforehand either online (with an extra charge they will send the tickets to your address) or visit La Scala Biglietteria at Duomo. If you still haven’t managed to get places, you can visit La Scala on the afternoon of the performance day, where they sell limited amounts of tickets at the western entrance of building. Good luck!
“For me, it’s impossible to imagine Milan without Teatro La Scala.”
A VISIT TO LA SCALAC
ULT
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EN
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ME
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Munkhnaran Bayarlkhagva
Asking questions is probably tougher than
finding the right answers. Why are you Catholic?
Or better: why if you are born in certain areas of the world are you presupposed to choose the local religion? The Orthodox religion is dominant in Eastern Europe, Catholicism in Italy, for instance. Mormons live in Utah, USA. Why does the r e s p e c t f o r y o u r predecessors or local traditions weigh more than the importance of individual choice? Or worse, why do people satisfy themselves with t h e p r o x i m i t y o f arguments instead of seeking for the real truth? One has to take a stand on any issue, whether it’s God or politics or health by her own decision: result of l og i ca l ana ly s i s , a thought process, and not because of some gu ide l ine o f l oca l tradition. Refusing to follow the social script leads us to the human phenomenon that I call a One Man Society – people who are greeted everywhere but who are accepted nowhere. They are complete with independent opinions, taken from various ideologies, which constitute a society within a person.
The first thing I do every morning is open
my mailbox to read the news. How often do you
read the news? More importantly, how often do you understand the news? There are three levels of news management on the personal level: first category are people who accept most of what the media says and are the easiest to manipulate. As perfect law abiding citizens (or sheep, decide yourself), we respond appropriately and do our best to contribute to the common good by spreading the vital message, whilst unintentionally exaggerating the issue to ridiculous extents.
The second category includes those who
take a step further and reject everything
the media claims. ‘Why do we believe everything the
TV says? Do we really think that they are smarter than us? They are just humans, like you and me.’ These kinds of thoughts are running in those satisfied minds. The frightening reality is that most TV personnel are not regular people. They graduated from the Stanfords, Oxfords, and Harvards of this world; their superior intelligence allows them to step down to a lower level and to manipulate the common folks with their skilful webs of hypnosis, concealed under simple and understandable arguments, compelling us to accept
whatever trash they decide to throw at us. And that’s the third level – the right mix of logic and light cynicism.
Have you ever wondered how do those fashion designers come up with their annual trends? What is the actual source of that inspiration which drives them to select a particular
colour or style? Is there any physical, p h i l o s o p h i c a l , biological reason for me to wear blue this year instead of pink with sparkles? Apart, of course, f r o m t r y i n g d e s p e r a t e l y t o segregate myself f r o m t h e p o o r losers. ‘Look at me, notice me! I am cool! I am rich! I am fashionable!’ - shouts my useless junk of wool with Versace on it. Isn’t it great to impose your own will on millions of mindless rich clones rushing
to purchase the last remaining piece of polyester from your new collection?
You know, at times, after admiring the
world that currently surrounds me, I
dream about a different world, an ideal
world – the one where everyone is free to choose one’s own
religion, own political affiliation, own style of dress. It is a wonderful world, utopia really, where everybody is a one man society – greeted everywhere and accepted everywhere. The world where each citizen is a bundle of opinions initially considered utterly controversial or unthinkable: where a conservative Muslim student could support gay rights, where people won’t be avoiding men of Middle-East appearance with beards due to the nonsense that all Arabs are terrorists. It’s a world where people sharing common views could gather and talk and cherish their ideologies. It’s a world where people sharing common views would gradually begin to feel significant about their own beliefs and start to suggest the superiority of their own Gods over others’, their own cultures over others’, their own traditions over others’. It’s a world where minorities would get more and more oppressed, where the majorities would set the rules of the social monopoly and dictate the generally accepted definitions of behaviour, fashion, and coolness. It’s a world where only the very few would continue to fight stereotypes, continue to strive to redefine the social norms and save individuality; but most would join the vastly expanding army of D.G. wearing, Fox News watching flock of sheep. Wouldn’t that world be fascinating to live in?
Alter-TalkA One Man SocietyRustam Jamilov
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Nick Velthuis
Amsterdam is slacking. Five years ago it was the creative
capital of Europe, centre for all artistic maniacs to unleash
their inner inventive beasts, but times have changed. Artists
are leaving; Amsterdam has become too small for them.
Where do they go you might wonder? Berlin is the answer;
the new promised land for artists. The rent for their
workshops is lower; they go out to eat twice a day. Amsterdam
doesn’t stand a chance compared to Berlin. The German
capital is simply bigger and cheaper.
Twice a year, the old airport Tempelhof is the setting for
Europe’s biggest fashion fair: Bread & Butter. Except for the
cold winters the city is like a breath of fresh air. It’s a cool
place full of new impulses. Creative minds live close to each
other, kindling each other to new projects, while not having to
care about what anyone else thinks. Artists are autonomous,
do what they want and don’t care about money. This is not
the case in Amsterdam. People there wonder if others will
like their work or not. In Berlin people just say F*** it, we’re
setting the standards for the rest of Europe.
In a natural way, Berlin is an intense place. The image of
Amsterdam as a sparkling creative city has decayed to
become a mere myth. It was true once upon a time, but that
was because of the squatters. They had havens with
worldwide attraction. These places have disappeared because
of Amsterdam’s urge to control. Whenever a seed is planted,
the municipality of Amsterdam is there to create a load of
rules to control what grows out of it. The squatting initiatives
that gave Amsterdam an international allure in the eighties
and nineties, have been cancelled because of that. Living in
Amsterdam has become so popular that there is fairly little
vacancy in real estate, providing little space for artists to
operate. Amsterdam appoints old office buildings as places
where artists can rent space for little money.
Solutions like this aren’t necessary in Berlin. It’s almost
anarchist, how things go there. In Germany there is a
smoking restriction in the catering business, yet few Berlin
cafés actually care. Almost nobody pays for public transport
at night, and from five o’ clock onwards 20% of all of Berlin’s
population seems to be walking around with a beer in their
hands. This does mean that artists are not subsidized,
something that still speaks in the advantage of Amsterdam.
However, the independence of living an unsubsidized life
attracts artists to Berlin. It makes them stronger and
independent.
If Amsterdam doesn’t start subsidizing spaces for artists to
create their works, the shift to Berlin will continue. In the
meanwhile in Berlin, Amsterdam is well liked, as a holiday
destination. Nobody really likes to live there anymore, being
an artist. Creative migration could leave Amsterdam
talentless, and thus bleak. The red light district and the coffee
shops are closing down. It looks like Amsterdam needs to be
creative to keep their almost theme-park like image on a high.
Luckily the high thing shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
Berlin v Amsterdam
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“...artists are leaving, Amsterdam has become
too small for them. Where do they go, you might wonder? Berlin is the
answer; the new promised land for artists.”
The game is beautiful, that is for sure, and many beautiful things come with this game. My favourite moment is the time span between winning a final and the moment that the captain, your hero, raises that cup into the air and you know that you are not dreaming, you have won. That is what the game is all about: winning.
The captain of a team is a leader, a warrior and someone who will drag you through a game when the going gets tough. England has one of their best generations ever at the moment. The ideal mix between highly talented and very experienced players, all carrying a truckload of quality. How nice would it be for the English if 2010 would be the year that they will lift up the World Cup. I can imagine Rooney celebrating becoming top scorer in South Africa, and Stevie Gerrard picking up the award for best player. England is where football was born; in my opinion it houses the best league in the world and it simply deserves a World Cup. One thing I would regret is the fact that if they actually win, there would again be one of those exciting moments between the final whistle and the raising of the cup by no-one else but… Rio Ferdinand.
Rio Ferdinand you say? Yes, him. The England defender who went through a tremendous slump of form earlier this season and has proven to be quite injury prone, would be the one to raise the cup. Is Rio a leader? Does he fight in the frontline when the casualties pile up? Sure, he is a player of great quality but if I had to pick a leader in the current England
squad there would be three names popping up. The first is Stevie G, the great Liverpool captain. Second is Wayne Rooney, whom you could never accuse of giving up. Third, and most prominent to me is John Terry, nightmare of any striker in the world, leader, warrior, captain.
So why is he not, you might wonder. Well, he slept with Vanessa Peroncell, and that is not his wife Toni, but his former Chelsea teammate and fellow England international Wayne Bridge’s ex-girlfriend. Terry supposedly played the caring friend after the break up, a friendship, which led to an affair. So basically he slept with a single woman who just turned out to be his teammate’s (and friend’s) ex-girlfriend. Yeah it kind of breaks a code, in the first place because John is married, in the second because Wayne is his buddy, but none of these codes are written in the laws of football. Still, Terry lost his captaincy for not having his values straight. He is a bastard, so what? In football you need bastards. Germany is nowhere without the extremely annoying Ballack. Italy won the World Cup with Marco Materazzi (who has many qualities, but none of those are with a ball at his feet). Portugal has Cristiano Ronaldo, love him or hate him. You could describe all these guys as bad boys, but also as winners, champions. I think this is what counts.
Too bad Fabio Capello bases his tactics on the glossy magazines he reads at the hairdresser and not on actual football code, or on this column in IS@B Mag for example. You think he’d listen if I’d send him a copy?
The Beautiful GameNick Velthuis
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A few more addictions...Aleksandra Popovska
On this occasion I will not try to turn your attention towards shirts with blue, red and white stripes that remind us of the waves of the sea in the summer period. Neither will I advise you to fill your wardrobe with light colors that transform us into flowers that bloom after the winter period.My intentions are directed towards the remembrance of a fashion icon, stylist and God, Alexander McQueen. After causing disbelief and questioning of why he took away his life at the age of 40, the world grieves at the loss of a creative mind, starlets grieve at the loss of a great friend, and fashion for the loss of a tremendous designer. This British designer lived according to his childhood dream of creating dresses first for his sisters and later for some of the most prominent people in the world, such as Rihanna, Bjork, Nicole Kidman, Sarah Jessica Parker, Prince Charles, Mikhail Gorbachev, Madonna and many others. It’s worth mentioning the fact that before founding the brand Alexander McQueen (McQ) he designed clothes for Givenchy and collaborated with Puma. He was a ‘British Designer of the Year’ four times, as well as named ‘International Designer of the Year’.
His uniqueness was expressed through controversial fashion shows, such as the one with a model in a fluffy white dress standing on a platform which spins her, while robots spray black and yellow colors at the dress, or idyllic winter night images with snow and forest-like surrounding while in the background there is the creepy sound of wolves crying out, or the unique shoes in a bowl shape, which seem impossible to wear. Needless to say that the colorful, impeccable, perfect dresses he designed
were as particular and astonishing as art itself. According to some, the suicide of his friend Isabella, or the death of his mother 9 days before his own death are some of the factors which influenced his decision to commit suicide. Yet, what is unquestionable, and widely known, is the art spectrum he left behind and the impact he made on fashion, together with Galliano, to a more unconventional type of fashion, fashion which shocks and reminds us that what we wear should be more of an attitude and flow of creativity than pure commercialism.
Rest in peace...
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Hey Guys! I'm selling the following books at half the price you will find them at EGEA, so if anyone is interested just send me a message or an email:
* Marketing 3 (Lamb, Hair & Mc Daniel)* International Law 2nd edition (Antonio Cassese)* Entrepreneurship and Small Business 2nd Edition (Paul Burns)* Introduction to Man ...agement Accounting - Chapters 1-17 -
14th Edition (Horngren, Sundem, Stratton, Burgstahler & Schatzberg)
Editor-in-Chief
Sissi Lin
Vice Editor-in-Chief
Isabel Pelaez
Anna Clover
Editors
Current Affairs
Nick Velthuis
Campus Life
Alexandra Bode
Danny Mavrodieva
Culture&Entertainment
Aleksandra Popovska
Contributors
Nada Zdravkovic
Silvia Semeria
Rustam Jamilov
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Camilla Gai
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Karl James
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IS@BMag
Editorial team
Contact: [email protected]
Double room in Corso Buenos Aires, M1 Porta Venezia, Tram 5, 33, 9, 29, 30, passante.The entire apartment is 110 m2 with 2 big double rooms, a big shared living room and a big kitchen. Each room has its own bathroom. The rent is 440 per person. Simona
340/9676844
I have a Nintendo Wii which i didn't even open, cause unfortunately i have no time to play videogames anymore. Completely new, not even unpacked. Remote control and games included.
Italian speaker to learn Italian [email protected]
Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol" (almost brand new hardcover book) for EUR18. Price in Milan's shops - EUR25.40. Storyline: Masons, conspiracy theories. Contact me if you are [email protected]
Get the latest editions - in perfect shape - of : GMAT Review (12th edition), Kaplan's GMAT Advanced(2009-2010) or GMAT Verbal Review(2nd edition) at only half the price! Don't miss this [email protected]
Hi! I would like to buy a table-lamp for a reasonable rate. Person to contact: Alexandra, +39 34095 650 79, English,please!thank you
I'm selling a USED NOKIA 5800 Xpress Music. in great condition, used for a short time. comes with all the accessories, in the original box.
I’m selling text books for BIEMF:
1) Financial Accounting2) Macroeconomics3) Public Law4) Financial Markets
I’m selling a used phone, NOKIA 6600
Good conditions.
Contact: Daniela3204508200
I am a native Italian speaker and would like to start a tandem course with an English speaker.
Contact: Daniela3204508200
I’m selling second hand books, novels and I am looking for used text book for second semester BIEM books.
Contact: [email protected]
I’m doing Spanish tutoring,
Contact: [email protected]
I’m a mother tongue English speaker willing to give English conversation classes for 15 euro an hour.
Contact: [email protected]
