Reflection

Christ Church College, University of Oxford

Many days, I would be seated on a cozy couch on the upper level of the Barnes & Noble bookstore near my house; books by Thomas Friedman and Dan Brown would be lying on the side table along with a Starbucks Caramel Frappuccino or just a plain black coffee (hot chocolate). While the amenities at Barnes & Noble far exceeded those available at my house, the view that presented itself through the large windows was the one thing that brought me to the bookstore every week. Seeing the cars speed by, I would ask myself how I ended up the way I did. Trying the answer the question, memories would race through my head reminding me how it all began in the summer of 2010.

As sweat trickling down my face, I finish my morning run with Meagan and Elizabeth on the last Saturday of Oxford and walked wearily towards my room in Sainsbury after breakfast; England had been experiencing an overwhelming clear weather season. No sooner had I taken a step across the threshold a phone call from aboard was waiting for me. My mum and dad told me, with an exultant tone, that I would soon be moving back to America. The sudden news sent shivers down my spine, freezing it even in the unusual weather. I managed to put a faint smile across my face. Yet on the inside I started dreading the day I would have to leave the place I had called my home for the past two months. Finally though, in the August of 2010, the dusk of the inevitable day soon led me to the dawn of native dirt.

During the course of my journey to the United States, I heard my sis exhale in optimistic relief, “You no longer have to study abroad”. I failed to understand how she could overlook the cruelty of the situation. I wanted to know how leaving everything I had done that summer, behind me could possibly make my life better. Every attempt of security made me grieve even more. I did not want to forgo my past, my friends, and my school.

Said Business School, University of Oxford

After twenty two hours of flying, driving, running, and waiting, I finally landed in Atlanta. As soon as I acquainted myself to the familiar surroundings, I came to realize the true gravity of the situation. I started to perceive the absence of my closest friends, of familiar faces at various events, of my partners in the early morning runs, and even of the humidity-less air. I felt more grief than Achilles did when Patroclus was killed in battle; I bore a composed expression on my face yet was unmistakably weeping on the insides.

Kakuzo Okakaura speaks volumes about life; he stresses that the art of life is a constant readjustment to our surroundings. The whole episode of moving back has taught me various facts of life. Sometimes you have to distance yourself from something not only to realize its sublime importance but also to gain a more profound understanding of it. I have made many friends all of whom hail from diverse backgrounds. More importantly, I have learnt that even though you have to adjust to your new surroundings, you can always maintain a connection with your past

Firenze, Italia

As I arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, I was consumed with excitement. The American Airlines flight headed to Rome, Italy was on time and ready to board at 2:30 pm. After a delicious cup of an over-priced airport coffee, I was ready to see the world. As we arrive at the Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport, we immediately boarded the high-speed train headed for Firenze, Italia. After about 90 minutes, I arrived. After I checked in at Hotel Mediterrano, I experienced another breathtaking view from my balcony. The first thing I noticed was the amazing landscape of this historic town as Brunelleschi’s Duomo dominated the skyline of Florence. I knew I had to go out and see Florence. Without even unpacking, I took my leather messenger bag and started walking towards the Uffizi Square.

            As I passed through the Florence Army base, Hotel Ritz and tons and tons of Gelato shops, I finally made it to Uffizi Square. The square, surrounded by mammoth statues of David and mythological heroes, was probably the busiest area of Florence. It was a place where one can spend hours and hours just sitting and relaxing. Later that night, it turned out that an outdoor musical performance was about to take place with a grand piano in front of the governor’s office.

            The next day, after a scenic run through a mountain at 5:30am, I witnessed one of the most beautiful sunrises ever. The view from the mountain overlooking Florence was profoundly surreal and astonishing. The first thing on the To Do list was to eat Gelato and it turned out that we were in town for the Grand Gelato Festival in Firenze. This hybrid between ice cream and smoothie tasted absolutely phenomenal as it easily melts into one’s mouth causing an instant refreshing sensation in the hot Florence weather.

            Florence is known for the towering dome of the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (St. Mary’s Basilica of Florence); therefore, a few of us decided to climb the Duomo. After 430 flights of stairs and a few hundred feet, we reached the summit of the tallest architectural marvel in Florence. Now, for this view I will let the picture speak its thousand words…

On Healthcare

It’s a familiar joke:

Patient: Doc, it hurts when I do this!

(Patient stabs himself in the eye)

Doc: Well then don’t do that!

What’s left out of the joke is the two hundred-dollar price tag that the doctor tacks on to those five words.  This country has a problem, and it’s healthcare.  It’s unavailable to some, and completely unaffordable to far too many.

Fortunately, the Senate is working hard to pass the biggest healthcare reform that this country has seen in decades.  The bill will mandate that all American citizens have healthcare, and support this by “Healthcare Exchanges” in 2014, from which Americans can choose from similar healthcare plans from many different providers and compare prices.  The bill will also increase medicare coverage to around fifteen million more Americans, and adds restrictions on insurance companies that prevent them from denying coverage based on preexisting conditions.  The combination of all of these factors leads experts to believe that 94% of Americans will have health coverage by the end of the next decade.

Unfortunately, the bill has plenty of flaws.  The first one is that it lacks a central, Federally controlled and nation-wide public option.  The fact is, even with the new healthcare exchange opening up, there will still be a lot of people who will not be able to afford health insurance.  This is exacerbated by the fact that coverage will be mandatory, and just like many states have instituted monthly fines for those who lack automotive insurance, people who lack health insurance can look at a fine of about $500 per month.  That hardly seems like a solution to increasing healthcare coverage and lowering costs.  A second issue with the bill is that it does not go far enough to regulate insurance corporations.  While they do now have to give anyone a policy, regardless of preexisting conditions, there is no legislation to stop them from charging exorbitant rates to those people who do have some sort of major health issue.

I firmly believe that a complete overhaul of the system is necessary, and this bill is a good start, but it’s really not enough.

Article: Click Here

The White House Stance: Click Here

House Resolution 3590 (2076 page Healthcare Bill): Click Here

University Budget Cuts

Because of the current economic crises, universities like many companies and state agencies are facing significant budget cuts . How these cuts are imposed on academic units (colleges, departments) and non-academic units (physical plant, student services) will have a major impact in both the short-term and long-term on the ability of the university to carry our its core missions of teaching and research. How universities make their budget cuts is not only of great concern to their faculty and staff, but increasingly to students and their parents.

To deal effectively with budget cuts, the central missions of the university, teaching and research, need to be preserved at all costs and even enhanced, if possible. In descending order of importance, these two missions require:

a. Tenure-track and other faculty,

b. Undergraduate and graduate students,

c. Classrooms, laboratories and other facilities,

d. Academic colleges, departments and programs, and

e. Support staff and facilities.

University administrators when facing budget cuts typically will claim that these cuts will be made strategically, that is, in such a way that the core missions of the university are preserved. However, internal and external politics often make this very difficult to do. Nevertheless, many universities have developed guidelines or principles for dealing with them. The following guidelines or principles were gleaned from budget-reduction plans developed at a number of universities.

(1) Conserve core academic programs.

(2) Preserve the university’s ability to recruit and retain students.

(3) Ensure that students can graduate on time.

(4) Target budget cuts with a view to improving academic programs and units.

(5) Suspend filling administrative and support positions whose loss will not affect the short-term operation of academic programs or units.

(6) Eliminate administrative and support positions with minimal impact on academic programs.

(7) Lower administrative/operating costs of colleges and other units.

(8) Consolidate the duties of administrators and support staff.

(9) Adopt alternative methods for delivering courses.

(10) Use internal resources (teaching assistatns, postdocs, or lecturers) to fill open faculty lines until conditions improve rather than closing lines.

(11) Eliminate course duplication among departments and colleges.

(12) Consolidate small or similar departments into larger units to save on operational and administrative costs.

(13) Eliminate off-campus academic programs.

(14) Eliminate unneeded committees and task forces to free up faculty and staff time.

(15) Have qualified administrators teach.

(16) Eliminate or outsource support programs.

(17 ) Make better use of the summer session to generate revenues.

(18) Encourage staff and faculty to take unpaid leaves with a guarantee that they will have their positions and salaries back when they return.

(19) Offer early retirement incentives.

(20) Defer building maintenance.

(21) Reduce building and grounds upkeep.

Unfortunately, many administrators are, in reality, not making strategic budget cuts. Instead, across the board cuts in faculty and staff benefits are common, as is indiscriminately closing open faculty and staff lines. Cuts in staff or faculty lines, however, are not suppose to result in cuts in services, including the number of courses being taught. Administrators seem to believe that staff and faculty are not “fully employed” and that they can easily take more duties without adversely affecting the performance of their duties. As any faculty and staff member knows, this is not true. University faculty typically work over 60+ hrs per week.