Exercise

Knowing when not to say “no”

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View of Manhattan from Brooklyn...it's not all work.

View of Manhattan from Brooklyn…it’s not all work.

Last semester I took only four classes and had few extracurricular activities, but that was more than enough. Endless group project meetings and Stats/Econ problem sets kept me beyond busy and struggling to keep my head above water. You would think that when planning my activities for this semester I would have taken into account my trials and tribulations from last semester and paired back my responsibilities. I did the opposite.

I kept my course load to 13 credit-hours, but instead of one massive semester-long project (Sustainable New York City ) I now have two (Business Plan Social Enterprise in Senegal; Implementation Plan for Scaling Up Community Health Workers in Mozambique). I am now the president of the New Media Task Force, a student organization whose mission is to educate SIPA students about the importance new media for international development. I took a part-time work-study job with the Earth Institute managing the social media for the Millennium Villages Project. Oh, and I joined a group of students selected (from 8-15 other student groups*) to represent Columbia at the National Invitational Public Policy Challenge. The competition is the weekend before spring break in Philadelphia and a 10-15 page proposal (I should probably be writing that instead of writing this blog post…positive procrastination?) is due on Monday.

Despite the workload, I’m having a blast. Still, I’m looking forward to an uneventful spring break (after the Public Policy Challenge, of course) and the long bike ride I plan to take on March 18…eight days and counting.

*Don’t ask.

Speeding through Yonkers with Columbia Cycling

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The Columbia Cycling Team has been holding no-drop group rides every weekend to encourage new-commers to join the team. Today, I took advantage of that opportunity and went out on my first long ride in NYC: across the Washington Bridge and all the way up to Nyack, an over 50 mile roundtrip. Check out my route. It was nice to learn a new ride…one can only go around Central Park so many times.

My legs felt good most of the way, but things got tougher on the way back when the the group split up and I joined the faster pack. We screamed down Hillside Drive in a drafting echelon. I pedaled furiously at the back of the draft-line, letting others take charge of pulling at the front. Then, toward the end of the ride, I decided to take my turn at the front…bad idea. After only 15 seconds of effort, I was spent and the team dropped me. Luckily they slowed down and I was able to catch up.

[slideshow]

Gross National Happiness or Have You Seen a Cow?

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Today was the first day of the first week of orientation for my master’s program (MPA-DP) at Columbia. The day concluded with an interesting lecture (the first Development Practitioner Seminar) from Dr. Saamdu Chetri, the director of Bhutan’s Happiness Center. His lecture was on Gross National Happiness (GNH). Every two years the country of Bhutan conducts a survey to determine the level of “happiness” in the country. The idea is based on the fact that GDP is an inadequate indicator to judge the wellbeing of a society. In fact, the traditional concept of “growth,” Dr. Chetri explained, may be incompatible with long-term economic sustainability.

[polldaddy poll=6477912 align=right]At the end of the lecture, we were given the opportunity to ask questions. My question: Since the index is based mostly on answers to subjective questions in an interview setting, how do you ensure that social pressure to be happy (or at least say you’re happy) doesn’t artificially inflate the level of “measured” happiness. That’s not how I phrased it (I wish I’d phrased it better), but that was the basic idea.

Dr. Chetri’s response was that the questions are designed in a way to make it very difficult to intentionally sabotage the results. Instead of just asking if you’re happy, the interviewer would ask a variety of questions on numerous subjects from which they could infer the person’s level of happiness. For instance, the interviewer would ask something like: “Do you know what a cow looks like?” The assumption being that if you don’t know what a cow looks like you are less connected to nature and therefore less happy.

The GNH is based on four pillars of happiness, which are good governance, sustainable socio-economic development, cultural preservation and environmental conservation. Economic development is important to achieving happiness and equity in society, but it should not come at the cost of the other three pillars. For example, while cleaning up an oil spill may create jobs and contribute to GDP, it has a negative impact on overall happiness because oil spills are devastating to the environment.

Central to GNH is the idea of sustainability, which will also be a key component of the Sustainable Development Goals (the successor to the Millennium Development Goals, which will sunset in 2015).

P.S. I went on an evening ride in Central Park today. Going fast is scary with so many people around.

Working out in NYC

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Without much else to do in the few days that remain before school starts, I have been scoping out my new ‘hood. Yesterday, I walked over to the rock gym at the Manhattan Park Health Club (just eight minutes away). The facility was tiny by Boulder standards, but I think having an indoor gym at my disposal will be key to maintaining my sanity between classes and braving NYC insanity.

This morning, I went on my inaugural run in NYC (my bike won’t arrive in NYC until this afternoon), which took me west on 48th to the path that follows the West Side Highway, up to 79th and back (about 4.5 miles). It was hot, but my lungs appreciated the thick air. I saw a handful of serious bikers and about as many signs warning bikers to “slow down” and “be respectful.”

Training in the city might be difficult, but I’m determined. I’ve already figured out my first ride: across the Brooklyn Bridge out to Coney Island and back (about 30 miles). My bike should be delivered today and ready to ride tomorrow (fingers crossed).

If all goes well, I plan to get in über-shape in time to compete in Staten Island CX this fall.
http://vimeo.com/32023921