6:05: Governor Ed Rendell is here at the JFK Jr. Forum for a conversation, moderated by IOP Director Trey Grayson. 6:10: Trey Grayson welcomes Rendell to the forum. “Rendell was called one of America’s most interesting mayor.” 6:15: “Students all day have asked me advice about politics. Don’t run for an office people know you … Read more
The humbling and cheerful former Indian president, Abdul Kalam, inspired a crowd at the South Asia Initiative’s Harish C. Mahindra lecture, held on September 27th. His talk centered on steps to develop the rural expanse of the world’s largest democracy. Once his talk ended and questions began, it became clear that Indians in the audience … Read more
The start of school has been met by a great deal of buzz surrounding the Freshman Values Pledge. Just this past week, the story was picked up by a Wall Street Journal blog. Proponents of the pledge laud it for re-committing students to a core set of beliefs that are sometimes overlooked at college—a place … Read more
On 17th December 2010, Tunisian police seized Muhammad Buazizi’s vegetable cart. The jobless graduate set himself on fire, dying from wounds and sparking protests around Tunisia. Less than a month later, a man sets fire to himself in Egypt. The Arab Awakening also called the ‘Arab Spring’ was the turning point for governance and policy … Read more
My summer working as a software engineer in the federal government When I began my search for a summer job, working for the government wasn’t on my radar. Like most other computer science students, I looked forward to spending my summer at a sleek, young start-up, hacking web applications with other engineers, coming to work … Read more
One of India’s most prominent politicians has recently come under public scrutiny due to a petition started by a group of Harvard undergrads and graduate students. (As of today, the petition has 440 signatures—including mine.) Following the Mumbai bombings last month, Swamy wrote an article in the popular Indian newspaper Daily News and Analysis entitled … Read more
The tenor of the new debate on ROTC speaks a great deal to campus attitudes towards the military, and to campus activism in general. When I was accepted to Harvard, a frequent piece of advice given to me was something along the lines of “Don’t let the liberals up there change your views.” While everyone … Read more
This past week, junior Alexander Heffner wrote an op-ed in U.S. News and World Report that describes how a Harvard education is “overrated.” He adds that these past three years in college have been one of the least intellectually stimulating experiences of his life. And, to top it all off, we as students at this … Read more