Fletcher students are walking around these days with flip flops on their feet, band-aids on their arms from recent travel vaccinations and a general dazed, somewhat alarmed look. All that means that spring has sprung, international internship preparations are underway and exams are just around the corner.

I’ve got my own round of recent vaccinations making my arms just a bit sore this morning. I got my Yellow Fever, Meningococcal and Hep A (I swear I’ll get the second round this time) vaccinations yesterday afternoon in preparation for my upcoming travel to Rwanda. We’re taking off three days after exams end and I can’t wait; I’ve been waiting to get to that part of the world my whole life. I have two research purposes for this trip – the first is with Fletcher Professor Eileen Babbitt, with whom I’ll be conducting research on the results of post-conflict reconciliation programs in the country. Second, I’ll stay on alone for a few weeks, conducting research for my MALD thesis on the international peacekeeping system since the 1994 Rwandan genocide. I’m super excited for this thesis – writing policy memos is a useful skill, but what I love and think I do fairly well is thorough research and academic writing. I’ve been itching for a project like this for awhile; can’t wait to get going.

Aside from that, I’m planning a few days of traveling around Rwanda getting a sense of the country, including some trekking in Rwanda’s Nyungwe Forest National Park, and then will be back here for the summer working on a couple of books for this series, writing my thesis and PhD applications and hiking as much as I can.

Can’t wait – sounds like a perfect summer.

Until then, one more policy paper (on the US government stance on global warming), one more exam (development economics) and one more theory paper (how classical IR theory can explain US development aid to non-strategic developing countries). Wish me luck!

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One of the many benefits of Fletcher is the ability to cross register at Harvard Business School, and I’m currently in the midst of a paper for an excellent class I took there this semester, Behavioral Finance. While Fletcher has a great assortment of business courses, it is helpful to be able to take some more specialized classes on advanced finance at HBS – moving into the more advanced second year finance electives there was also a good reminder that Fletcher’s intro to corporate finance courses can definitely stack up the first year business school courses, as it wasn’t difficult to get in the swing of HBS, although their teaching style is somewhat different.

Anyways, finance and economics are perhaps some of the most “positivist” fields, with an implicit assumption that laws can be discovered through the application of progressive reasoning – the common assumption of a “rational actor” is the most obvious example of this. Of course, most people are less than rational when it comes to making financial decisions (As anyone who lost money on Pets.com stock in the late 1990’s could tell you).

This course on behavioral finance brought in insights from psychology and recent economic analysis on how people make seemingly irrational decisions to understand inefficiencies in the market. These inefficiencies can create major profits for sophisticated investors, so it’s quite an interesting field both intellectually and practically.

For our final paper I decided to look at IPO underpricing in China. When it comes to market irregularities China has them in abundance, so it’s an interesting topic. I’m looking at IPO underpricing – in the US first day returns on IPO’s are around 15%, while in China they are regularly over 100%, so there is definitely something odd going on.

Underdeveloped market regulations and a lack of disclosure seem to a big part of the situation, so my law classes at Fletcher are coming in handy. Fletcher also has an excellent course that gives you a very full understanding of the arcane intricacies of econometrics, which is definitely coming in handy as I wade through academic papers with lots of regressions. Back to the t stats and securities regulations . . .

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Colorado doesn’t seem very much like the Persian Gulf – there isn’t much of a ski scene in Abu Dhabi and I don’t think the lifestyle of Boulder would go over very well in Riyadh, but apparently Colorado has the potential to become an oil superpower that would surpass the Gulf. I haven’t been fooled by someone selling dubious stocks through the Internet or fictitious oil wells in the suburbs of Denver – the potential of Colorado’s energy reserves was explained by Dr. Daniel Fine of MIT at a luncheon at Fletcher earlier this week.

Colorado has huge reserves of oil shale – much like the tar sands in Canada, it is a geological formation which has huge quantities of oil trapped inside porous rocks. Of course, squeezing oil out of millions of tons of rocks is much more expensive than drilling a well in the deserts of Kuwait. But with oil now consistently above $60 a barrel, a range of new approaches to energy are now becoming cost effective. Dr. Fine explained that the Colorado oil shale has been examined many times in the past, but underdeveloped technology and lower oil prices kept these reserves undeveloped. There have also been major technological innovations in recent years which make developing the shale cheaper.

Many of the issues of costs, technology, and strategic access to energy that this lecture raised were handled in one of the most interesting courses I have taken at Fletcher, Petroleum in the Global Economy. Taught by a former Exxon executive, the cource gave us an excellent framework for understanding the cost and operational structures that drive new energy projects, and the role of technology and policy in shaping energy demand for the future. Just as an example, the idea of “peak oil” (the idea of a finite and declining amount of oil) ignores the feedback effects of price changes and technology. For example, the Colorado oil shale would not be included in practical reserves 15 years ago, due to lower prices and older technology then.

Of course, developing a major new source of petroleum does nothing to deal with the problem of climate change, and there are questions about the environmental impact of heavy energy development in a beautiful part of the West, but the potential of Colorado shale opens up many new options for US energy policy and energy companies.

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I’ll be honest right now – I usually prefer to be inspired by a particular event, person, conversation, social event, sporting contest, or…television show before I post an entry to this blog. I figure that there are plenty of us bloggers out there now, so we should at least provide something interesting for our audience to read, or they will be bored to death by another reflection on how great Fletcher is, how wonderful the professors are, how fun the social scene is, and how stimulating the events are (all true, by the way. And yes – they pay me to say that). That is why I attempt to wait until I’m truly inspired to share something with the blogging community. And that inspiration happened today.

I attended a screening of a documentary film called Bullshit (hope that the Fletcher censors allow that), about the Indian environmental activist / nuclear physicist (yes – the two are indeed closely related), Vandana Shiva. The film had been made by PeA Holmquist and Suzanne Khardalian. Suzanne is a Fletcher alunus of the GMAP program, and was present at the screening today to discuss the film.

The film, generally speaking, is about globalisation and patenting, on genetic engineering, bio-piracy, and indigenous knowledge. The filmmakers followed Vandana Shiva over a two-year period, from her organic farm at the foot of the Himalayas to institutions of power all over the world. It showcases Shiva doing battle with the huge American biotech company, Monsanto, when they try to patent an ancient Indian strain of wheat. The film shows her attempts to close down a Coca-Cola plant in Kerala in a conflict involving groundwater pollution. It also highlights the very real problems of farmers’ suicide, a backlash of globalisation in India.

For me, the film had special significance since I used to work with an NGO on organic farming in the tribal belts of rural India in my days before coming to Fletcher. The film brought back memories of seeing dry and parched lands, cracked and ruined by excessive use of pesticides and fertilizer. It brought back memories of talking with the illiterate farmers about the agricultural choices before them, and realizing the extreme lack of knowlege and awareness. I recalled listening to tragic stories of crop failure, loans, high interest rates, defaulting, and coping mechanisms that seemed almost inhuman. It’s amazing how quickly those personal interactions and emotions whirl back to you when confronted with them on the “big screen”.

After the movie, I engaged in a lengthy debate with a favorite professor of mine here at Fletcher, Professor Carsten Kowalczyk (http://fletcher.tufts.edu/faculty/Kowalczyk/profile.asp). We stood outside of the auditorium and debated the use of genetically modified organisms, the international trade system, the relationship of farmer suicides to the policies of the WTO, and many other items. Although we disagreed on some of these issues, there was an extreme amount of mutual respect and appreciation for each other’s experience and opinion. I believe that we both left the conversation feeling that we had each gained a little something from the other.

Once again, thanks to Fletcher for bringing Suzanne and her documentary to the school, and for providing a space (both physical and intellectual) where students and professors can engage in healthy, mutually respectul, and beneficial debate.

See more about the film at http://www.peaholmquist.com/bullshit/

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I ran into my friend, Omar, this evening, just before a weekly review session for Development Economics. He reminded me that in one of my earlier posts, I was feeling very excited about Dev Econ and regression analysis.

It’s time for an update.

I realized that my enjoyment of dev econ over the course of this semester has been severely limited by the law of diminishing marginal returns. My indifference curve has never been this low. This class has seriously disrupted my Internal Balance.

Drew and Liz (fellow bloggers and classmates), how are you guys faring?

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I ran into my friend, Omar, this evening, just before a weekly review session for Development Economics.  He reminded me that in one of my earlier posts, I was feeling very excited about Dev Econ and regression analysis.

It’s time for an update.

I realized that my enjoyment of dev econ over the course of this semester has been severely limited by the law of diminishing marginal returns.  My indifference curve has never been this low.  This class has seriously disrupted my Internal Balance.

Drew and Liz (fellow bloggers and classmates), how are you guys faring?

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I have to echo Ben’s sentiments about Fletcher Follies, which is an annual Fletcher event that allows students to show off their funny talents and skills, which we don’t otherwise normally see. This year’s Follies was great–everyone had funny skits and produced creative videos. Where these people found the time to do it is beyond me, but I’m glad they did because they sure made me laugh. My particular favorites were: Angie, Alison and Nate’s Bollywood video spoof, which had them dancing in the snow, downtown Boston and in the frozen Mystic Valley Pond; a spoof on The Fletcher Connection video, mocking our fellow classmates and friends who feature in it; Jason Taylor and Lucy Basset’s skit on who the better Fletcher student is; and finally, Brian and Geoffrey’s video that had some of our favorite Fletcher professors and faculty reciting The Black Eyed Peas’ “My Humps” as a poem. Priceless. Professor Drezner also graced us with his impersonation of Bill Clinton, which I found rather ironic as I’d just blogged about it. Hats off to Josh Newton, Abby Wood and Adam Sewall for pulling Follies together and doing a fabulous job hosting–no small undertaking.

Follies comes at the perfect time of year, too, because most of us have entered crunch time and the stress begins to pile on, so laughing is very much needed. Beginning around mid-April final papers are due, studying for final exams must begin and theses must be finished. Fortunately, I have a manageable course load this semester and my work is under control, but I still have a ways to go on my thesis and I, of course, still have to find a job. I do have some very promising leads on the job front, however, as I recently passed the Foreign Service Oral exams for the Department of State and was also selected as a Presidential Management Fellow (PMF) Finalist. Both are exciting possibilities. Ideally, I’d love to get a PMF job working with the Department of State for two years and then would reevaluate whether or not I wanted to join the Foreign Service. But I still don’t have a job yet, so for now, I’ll keep looking. In the meantime, keep your fingers crossed that I’ll land a job soon so I can do some fun traveling post-graduation!

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I have to echo Ben’s sentiments about Fletcher Follies, which is an annual Fletcher event that allows students to show off their funny talents and skills, which we don’t otherwise normally see. This year’s Follies was great–everyone had funny skits and produced creative videos. Where these people found the time to do it is beyond me, but I’m glad they did because they sure made me laugh. My particular favorites were: Angie, Alison and Nate’s Bollywood video spoof, which had them dancing in the snow, downtown Boston and in the frozen Mystic Valley Pond; a spoof on The Fletcher Connection video, mocking our fellow classmates and friends who feature in it; Jason Taylor and Lucy Basset’s skit on who the better Fletcher student is; and finally, Brian and Geoffrey’s video that had some of our favorite Fletcher professors and faculty reciting The Black Eyed Peas’ “My Humps” as a poem. Priceless. Professor Drezner also graced us with his impersonation of Bill Clinton, which I found rather ironic as I’d just blogged about it. Hats off to Josh Newton, Abby Wood and Adam Sewall for pulling Follies together and doing a fabulous job hosting–no small undertaking.

Follies comes at the perfect time of year, too, because most of us have entered crunch time and the stress begins to pile on, so laughing is very much needed. Beginning around mid-April final papers are due, studying for final exams must begin and theses must be finished. Fortunately, I have a manageable course load this semester and my work is under control, but I still have a ways to go on my thesis and I, of course, still have to find a job. I do have some very promising leads on the job front, however, as I recently passed the Foreign Service Oral exams for the Department of State and was also selected as a Presidential Management Fellow (PMF) Finalist. Both are exciting possibilities. Ideally, I’d love to get a PMF job working with the Department of State for two years and then would reevaluate whether or not I wanted to join the Foreign Service. But I still don’t have a job yet, so for now, I’ll keep looking. In the meantime, keep your fingers crossed that I’ll land a job soon so I can do some fun traveling post-graduation!

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When I first started taking Professor Drezner’s course on Statecraft, the last thing I thought I would hear coming out of his mouth were impersonations of U.S. Presidents. But, he surprised us in today’s class by doing excellent impersonations of Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. It was hilarious. We were discussing the cognitive limitations of policymakers and with each impersonation, he gave us an example of the limitations each of the those Presidents experienced.

Today’s hilarity aside, Statecraft has actually been one of my most favorite classes at Fletcher. It’s a very practical class for someone who wants to work for the government, particularly the U.S. government, as we learn a number of different ways to formulate policy and promote it. We write memos, op-eds, simulate National Security Council meetings and next week, we’ll be simulating Meet the Press.

Professor Drezner first comes across as gruff and unapproachable, but really, it’s just part of his image. You can see for yourself at his blog. But after taking a class or two with him, you realize he’s quite funny, cares about his students and is incredibly smart–a great combination for a professor.

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It’s amazing how different spring semester is compared to fall [Important Note: It's still not actually spring - we're due for snow tonight. Boston, you have less than a month to correct this contradiction]. If the last few weeks of fall semester were ‘intense,’ then spring is some alternative reality where Sunday morning starts at intense. I think most students can attest that it’s not just the work, it’s the effort of trying to get everything in, the guilt involved in not participating in certain events, and the push for jobs/internships that really make for a hectic but rewarding April. All of this is a round-about way of saying that I have zero interest in a blog post related to my academic work or Fletcher in general.

But one thing first. Some clubs here are organizing an event (see what I mean? You can’t resist.) with Nick Sullivan, who literally wrote the book on the Grameen Phone project. In part, that story is about technologies for development, so we wanted to try to get a complimentary speaker who could offer insights into contemporary techs. 4 development work. The One Laptop Per Child project seemed like a great option and many of us have tried to get them here to talk. I even attended a discussion on the project at Harvard’s Berkman Center and tried to convince them. Others made similar efforts and we tried to work contacts, but we haven’t been able to get anyone. My pitch to OLPC has been: ‘Come to Fletcher to connect with development practitioners, you’re gonna to need them if your project is going to succeed” – and this was definitely apparent at the discussion I attended. Anyway, OLPC, if you’re out there, email me to come make a connection you need to have. Btw, your machine kills fascists and it’s cute:

Ok, I’m committed to including distractions in this post, so here we go: good blogs.

Academic Blogs: Wait, that’s not allowed in this post. Besides, none of them have time in April.

Basketball: That’s better.
*Billups has returned to Freedarko – amazing posts.
*Truehoop – recently absorbed by ESPN, but same stuff – more time.

Libraries: Don’t worry, not what you think.
*Booktruck – Who knew librarians were this cool? (Me.)

All Things Harvard: I just can’t stay away apparently, but this is a good feed (note to Fletcher).
*Planet Harvard

Internet Society: For lack of a better label.
*Open Net Initiative
*Center For Citizen Media
*Rebecca MacKinnon
*Ethan Zuckerman
*In An African Minute – An incoming Fletcher student, I might add

Shameless Plugs:
*Crazy Monk
*I Green NY
*Fletcher Ledger

Say Goodbye To The Rest of Your Day:
*Kottke – The ultimate distraction

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