All Entries in the "Featured" Category
International law and the realities of India
By Peter Rizov
Over the fall break, 20 students from the SAIS International Law and Organizations department flew to New Delhi to try and gain an insight into the realities, politics, and economics of life in India. After two days of tourism and five days of meetings, visits, and many questions I, for one, came away [...]
Looking for something to do? SAIS offers a variety of paid positions
By Jessica Lamberston
Switching from a full time career to a full time job as a student (as many SAISers do) can’t always be easy. Although studying new topics and class time full of discussions may be a great break from the drone of every day life, there is a certain strain on the pocketbook during [...]
Fun, competition, and deliciousness at the International Dinner
By Masha Bolotinskaya
The SAIS International Dinner traditionally takes place at a time when all students are crazy with the onset of finals. However counterintuitive, the dinner does provide much needed reprieve for the stressed and helps raise money for a great cause: the summer internship fund.
Thanks to the SAIS summer internship fund, this author took [...]
Strategic Studies Department: Fall Staff Ride
By Masha Bolotinskaya
Did you ever wonder what all those clever FSR advertisements around campus were all about? The FSR stands for the Fall Staff Ride, a proud military tradition of taking a group of military personnel on a tour analyzing and discussing a particular campaign, hence why Strategic Studies students organize this event three times [...]
Dual book reviews on a recent Iranian novel
Shahriar Mandanipour and the Failure of Love in Iran
by Kevin Cross
Recently, and particularly in cinema, authors have not only written themselves into their stories, they have inserted themselves into stories about themselves writing stories. Because it blurs the bounds between the real and imagined, critics call this postmodern, implying deviousness on the author’s part [...]
A South Korean Perspective on Health Care Reform
By Jinny Lee
Named a ‘non-resident alien’ upon entry, I am neither advantaged nor disadvantaged by the current health care reform process. Nevertheless, just-over-a-year living experience in the U.S, I have come to find that South Korea’s system outranks the US system in quality and affordability.
Getting medical attention here is quite difficult. First, I had to [...]
The Economics of Eating in DC: Arbitrage at the H St Corridor
By Sophie Lu
For those who delight in taking advantage of the little price-quality arbitrages in life, I highly recommend exploring the various quality restaurants and music venues sprouting up around the H Street corridor. One such restaurant is 1905, located at 1905 9th St. Surrounded by grungy basement jazz and reggae lounges; its dark non-descript [...]
SAIS’s IT Department undergoes large scale, multi-year upgrading process
By Jessica Lambertson
Information technology in the Hopkins system has caused major confusion for students across the SAIS campus. Even those not technologically challenged have difficulty navigating the multiple websites, laborious directions, and missing staff links.
George Petasis, Chief Information Officer and newly appointed Head of the Advanced Technology Team at SAIS, has set out to help [...]
Ethnic Dining in DC
By Nadine Szablya
Wednesday night, seven-thirty, we met in the courtyard. Ten students, who largely had never met, piled into two cars and ventured out together to the Palisades, seeking the adventure of unknown cuisine. We were united by a love for food, and not only did we leave the library for an entire evening to [...]
SGA Social Chair opens up to the Observer
By Ehab Tawfik
Second Year Student, Ehab Tawfik had the chance to sit down with May Nguyen, and ask her about herself and her plans for the position of Social Chair.
Ehab: Tell me a little bit about your background.
May: I attended Amherst College, class of 2004. After Amherst, I went to work in Vietnam on early [...]