Aurora Network

The L.A. Times on Danube Delta tourism

2006-08-21T16:22:00.000-04:00

The Los Angeles Times recently published an article on the new prospects of tourism in the Danube Delta. My impression was that underneath all the admiration for the region, the Times reporter was really decrying the inability of the Romanian government to take advantage of one of its premier natural resources. She cited as the ultimate example of this an Indian entrepeneur now operating the one hotel in the Delta--and the region's only facility capable of conforming to modern tourist standards. Romanian businesses are limited to boat tours or day adventures on the canals.

I was wondering what Aurora members think about this situation and what the Network could do about determining a change. With the Danube Delta part of the World Biosphere Reserve, the emphasis should obviously be on eco-tourism; however, the potential of the region has laid untapped for too long, with the result that business is now starting to become outsourced. What is the answer?

The full-length article is found on my blog, winterlatitudes.blogspot.com, or on the L.A. Times website (if not archived already).

Romanian student retreat in the US

2006-06-21T19:48:00.000-04:00

The idea has been proposed by Romania's ambasador in the US, Mr. Sorin Ducaru, in a meeting with students in Boston this year. The retreat would be organized during a long weekend and would bring together Romanians who study abroad. Activities would include lectures by distinguished guests, panels, workshops, visits/tours, sports and, of course, at least one Romanian-style party.

Labor day weekend (Sept 2-4) has been proposed for this year and leaders of the Romanian associations at Harvard and MIT are considering organizing the event.

I would like to get input from students at other universities on this idea:

* would you like to attend? what if the cost is $500, or more?
* any suggestions for the location? How would that influence your decision?
* are you able to attend on that date, or is it still vacation and you may be travelling?
* any ideas for sponsors, activities, guests?

I hope we pull this off b/c it would be such a great event!

"How we did it ... You can do it too" series of books

2006-06-17T11:47:00.000-04:00

Or in Romanian "Cum noi am reusit ... Poti si tu sa reusesti"
The series of books will have success statements instead of the ellipsis, such as
* "sa intram la cele mai bune universitati din SUA" ("to get into the best universities in the US")
* "sa facem un doctorat in Europa de vest" ("to get a PhD in western Europe")
* "sa devenim doctori in America" ("to become doctors in America")

The books would contain several chapters with general information and advice, such as which tests are required, how to prepare, where to buy books, how much the process costs and how to obtain financial aid, scholarships or fee-waivers. Following these chapters there would be a set of success stories that would detail the experiences of a few (10-20) students that have made it to top US schools and potentially also to second-tier schools. These stories would focus on particular aspects that make a candidate successful, which can be obvious to Romanians, such as prizes at Olympiads, but also on less obvious ones, such as community service, tutoring, debating, etc.

The main goal is to keep general concepts to a minimum and detail particular examples that have been successful. The personal nature of the book would build trust in these strategies, but would also inspire confidence that such achievements are doable, even if daddy’s not rich or one does not have three gold medals at international math Olympiads. Together with the books I would also want to launch a website with similar information and discussion forums.

I am thinking of initiating such a book series with a book for undergraduate admission to the US. What do others think? Anyone else who wants to get involved? We can start with the aim of creating books, but if the logistics don't work out we can settle for a website.

An Ecuadorian Adventure

2006-06-10T19:24:00.000-04:00

Pihal 086
Originally uploaded by alexandra_stanculescu.

Hello all,
My name is Alexandra Stanculescu and I am soon to be a second year medical student at the University of Wisconsin. I am spending a good bit of the summer studying medical anthropology in Ecuador, and would like to invite you to come along via the internet should you be interested in learning more about Ecuador and the health care practices of Andean indigenous groups. I will be keeping a blog of my experiences at http://an-ecuadorian-adventure.blogspot.com/
Best wishes,
Alexandra

a disturbing attitude in Romanian politics towards bright Romanian students

2006-06-07T22:51:00.000-04:00

I came across an article in Romanian media that has really disturbed me, not for the actual events, but for the logical fallacy of the argument of the Brasov County Council members. This article refers to a yearly computer science contest in the USA (American Computer Science League) in which Romanian teams have participated since 1999 with very promising results. The major idea is that the Council refused to subsidize these high school students' trip justifying their decision with the following argument "they emigrate anyway, why should we invest in them?"

Below is the list of Romanian participants this year, and their results.

Category School City Ranking
Intermediate 3 Andrei Saguna Brasov 2
Intermediate 5 Grigore Moisil Brasov 5
Ioan Mesota Brasov 6
Emil Racovita Cluj-Napoca 8
Junior 5 Grigore Moisil Brasov 8
Senior 5 Tiberiu Popoviciu Cluj-Napoca 10

Here is the entire article, in its original context (Romanian only).

I was talking to a friend, and we were thinking of writing a small article in response to this kind of attitude and send it to Romanian media. However, I wanted to run it by you first, for two reasons:

1.to see what your first reaction is - maybe I am reading too much into this
2. in case you agree with me, to have the backing of the AURORA Network when sending this article. Perhaps also send an online petition to people we know, so we give this thing momentum. The goal would be to give these children some coverage, and also to sensitize the media to the attitude in the political circles towards tomorrow's elites and, some of them, tomorrow's leaders (some of them might become AURORA members in the near future).

Ce crede statul Roman despre o diploma de la Harvard?

2006-03-08T07:45:00.000-05:00

... sau de la alte universitati din top 100 americane sau top 500 din lume sau restul (top 2000?) care sunt cel putin la fel de bune ca cea mai slaba universitate acreditata din Romania?

Pe scurt, raspunsul este ca nu stim exact, dar banuim ca nimic bun. E ciudat ca noi nu stim, noi cei care suntem studenti la aceste universitati sau absolventi ai acestor universitati. Nu stim pentru ca nimeni nu ne-a spus si pentru ca noi nu am intrebat. Legile sunt vagi, metodologia alambicata si netransparenta si stirile descurajatoare.

Situatia este ridicola! Este ridicola pentru ca diplomele din Romania sunt recunoscute in America in timp record si cu minim de birocratie. Un absolvent de doctorat din Romania nu ar intampina nici o dificultate birocratica pentru a lua un post de profesor la Harvard; ironic reversul nu este adevarat! Cum pot institutiile din Romania sa concureze pe piata de munca pentru a atrage tinerii romani care termina la universitati din afara Romaniei?!

Bun, situatia e grava; ce facem? Organizatiile de studenti de la Harvard vor sa initieze o petitie prin care sa ceara usurarea formalitatilor de echivalare a diplomelor obtinute la universitatile de top din lume, ideal pana la un nivel la care echivalarea se face automat pentru o lista de universitati de top. Impreuna cu aceasta petitie vrem sa lansam o campanie mediatica pentru a atrage atentia societatii romanesti asupra acestei probleme.

De ce ti-ar pasa? In primul rand pentru ca situatia actuala afecteaza negativ Romania descurajand intoarcerea studentilor. Apoi, pentru ca probabil vrei sa stii ca diploma ta de la o universitate de prestigiu este privita cu respectul cuvenit de catre tara ta. Si nu in ultimul rand iti pasa in special daca exista posibilitatea sa te intorci in institutii de stat (guvern, administratie, universitati, banci).

Update: Pentru ca ne-a prins vara cu petitia neterminata, amanam lansarea ei pana la toamna cand credem ca vom avea o audienta mai interesata decat in timpul vacantei de vara.

"breaking the ice"

2006-02-03T10:20:00.000-05:00

This is meant to be the first post on Aurora. Hopefully it works.
Since I haven't replied to the original email, I shall briefly say here that I think creating this blog in the first place is a very good idea. Hopefully, it will allow us to spread the word about our beliefs and goals, while also bringing valuable contributions from people back home, who are interested in similar issues and can lend a helping hand or ... "a helping thought".