Carview!

CARVIEW

MOTORHOMES

Select Language

HTTP/2 200 server: nginx date: Mon, 19 Jan 2026 13:43:12 GMT content-type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 vary: Accept-Encoding x-hacker: Want root? Visit join.a8c.com/hacker and mention this header. host-header: WordPress.com link: ; rel="https://api.w.org/" vary: accept, content-type, cookie link: ; rel=shortlink content-encoding: gzip x-ac: 2.bom _dca MISS alt-svc: h3=":443"; ma=86400 strict-transport-security: max-age=31536000 server-timing: a8c-cdn, dc;desc=bom, cache;desc=MISS;dur=667.0 Student Economist | An International Development and Economics MA Candidate Drones on About Very Little Indeed.

Fall grades December 2, 2008

Filed under: the graduate experience — etoile @ 3:02 am

All A’s.

Relief. Surprise. Gratitude. Hope.

More soon.

Leave a Comment

Brief Paper: The Effectiveness of the State as an Agency of Development in Developing Countries September 23, 2008

Filed under: Papers — etoile @ 10:44 pm

Sarah Meyer

MA Candidate – International Development

University of Denver

When examining the effectiveness of the state in development within developing countries, one must consider what constitutes “effectiveness” in development. Many scholars disagree on this point. Some might consider the role of the state to be as unobtrusive as possible, and to avoid any economic intervention in the form of regulatory policy. As long as the GDP evidences positive growth and other economic metrics experience stable and positive growth, scholars of this stripe might consider the state to have been effective in development. Another sort of thinker might use the Millennium Development Goals as a metric for determining development effectiveness, and would hold the state responsible for the wellbeing of all its members. In this case the state would need to be involved in the measurement of these attainments, while also developing solutions for improvement within areas of unsatisfactory growth. As several of the authors mention, the effectiveness of the state in development depends on a variety of factors that constitute complex variables that must be considered in any study of state effectiveness.

Several of the papers included in the assigned readings for week two raise questions about the role of the state in development. Each of the authors seem to agree that the state does indeed have a role in the process of development, but each one of them raises unique points about the specific roles that the state can play and the relative effectiveness of those roles. Where Tabellini examines the possible correlation between the existence of adequate institutional infrastructure and positive, sustainable economic growth, Batley and Larbi choose instead to take a historical approach in their inquiry into the changing role of government internationally. Tobin applies an entirely different methodology, measuring the size of a state’s bureaucracy and then applying Wagner’s law of increasing state activity (in this case, China) to shed light on the effectiveness of the public policy process in a given state.

As far as my own assessment of the role of states, as well as the effectiveness of states in economic development, much would depend on how economic development as a concept was defined. If “economic development” is focused more on the human development goals that most improve the economic circumstances of the poorest groups, and less on state-wide macroeconomic indicators, then each state’s role in development can be mapped out accordingly with a focus on the complexities that make each state unique. In the developing nations of the world, there are still widespread problems of access to redistribution and social services that prevent economic increase from trickling down to all segments of society, particularly those located in remote villages and rural regions far from the nuclei of economic activity. The state should have a primary role in minimizing these problems of access, which should serve to improve human development metrics within its borders.

If “economic development” were defined instead as “the social organizational changes made to promote growth in an economy”, as it is defined by the Oregon State Department of Anthropology’s website, I would still posit that the state should assume a substantial role in this process. In an ideal scenario, the state would be entirely effective at the task of introducing, evaluating, and maintaining appropriate and functional social organizations and regulatory policy to allow for the best possible economic growth. However, as we are well aware, ideal scenarios do no play out as such in reality. No state will be perfectly effective in its developmental goals. The state’s ineffectiveness can be counterbalanced by the efforts of non-governmental organizations, as well as auxiliary or international organizations involved in the development arena.

I hesitate to promote democracy as a wholesale solution that will provide checks and balances, as well as representation for all citizens, since the process of democratization cannot be assumed as a mandatory prerequisite for development within a state. Each type of government should be held responsible, regardless of its current or historical political structure, for development that is balances across all sectors of its population, which can be attained by first eliminating problems of access for all people.

References:

Tobin, D. (2005). Economic liberalization, the changing role of the state and “Wagner’s Law”: China’s development experience since 1978. World Development, 33(5): 729-743.

Batley, R. & Larbi, G. (2004). Changing views of the role of the government. In The changing role of government: The reform of public services in developing countries (pp. 1-30). New York: Palgrave Macmillan. [30/260]

Tabellini, G. (2005). The role of the state in economic development. KYKLOS, 58(2), 283-303.

Leave a Comment

The moon in Idaho September 14, 2008

Filed under: Uncategorized — etoile @ 7:02 pm
Tags: Images

We are almost halfway home.

Leave a Comment

Me and Owl and her little squirrel… September 9, 2008

Filed under: Uncategorized — etoile @ 4:40 am

I guess it’s Caturday for this blog.

Leave a Comment

Wangari Maathai’s White Paper

Filed under: Uncategorized — etoile @ 4:09 am

Wangari Maathai on Principal Voices

All the 2006 Principal Voices are submitting a White Paper to the Web site, explaining their views at length.

Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement and winner for the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize, argues that how everyone has a role to play in environmental protection efforts.

Our environment is fragile and the Earth’s resources are limited. We must learn to manage these resources responsibly, accountably and share them more equitably.

This will only be possible if we govern ourselves in a political space that is democratic and respects human rights, the law and the diversity of cultures, traditions and perspectives. In such a world, where dialogue is encouraged, many conflicts can be pre-empted.

Among the many human activities that degrade the environment are deforestation and the clearing of shrubs and other vegetation from the land, both of which exacerbate the process of desertification. Other harmful behavior includes creation of pollution and waste, often driven by the “single use products” such as thin plastics and paper.

Initiatives to mitigate this environmental degradation must come from governments, the private sector and individuals. To encourage and support such efforts, it is essential to raise awareness, so a critical mass of people within government bodies, corporations and among citizens understand what is at stake and are motivated to take action.

In this respect, it is critically important to have strong citizens’ movements — a civil society — that are able to take action and demand a clean environment from all the other actors.

Countries and regions that do not have strong citizens’ movements are unlikely to meet the environmental challenges that face them. In Africa in particular, a stronger civil society is especially needed to address the issues of deforestation and desertification.

One of the issues that is likely to be a major source of conflict in Africa in coming years is the availability of clean drinking water. While people can live without oil or minerals, they cannot live without water.

There are many ways in which the environment can be rehabilitated and sustained. Individuals, companies and organizations can engage in activities such as planting trees, as well as protecting existing trees and forests. They can curb soil erosion through simple techniques such as building trenches and harvesting rainwater, protecting watersheds and riverine habitats. They can also recycle, reduce waste and lower their consumption of fossil fuels. Such activities would help reduce negative environmental footprints.

When I was in Japan I learned about the concept of “mottainai.” It originates in the Buddhist tradition and the concept roughly parallels the “3R” campaign that has been popularlized in the U.S. and Europe for many years; reduce, reuse and recycle and don’t waste. I have been working to make the concept of “mottainai” better known and I hope that it will be adopted more widely.

Through my work over the past 30 years I have seen again and again that women are the first to experience the impact of limited natural resources since they are often engaged in ensuring the survival of their families. Therefore, they tend to be more responsive to addressing the situation, and willing to work for the rehabilitation of their immediate environment. Men, by contrast, tend to be driven by the necessity of earning an income and as such tend to look further into the future rather than worry about immediate survival.

Many people, organizations and companies have resources, knowledge and skills and can support those who are in the forefront of protecting our environment and ensuring that our needs, as well as those of future generations, can be met. In particular, they can support initiatives for women and families.

The Green Belt Movement shares, with many others around the world, the vision of a clean and healthy environment, and appreciates the efforts of those who devote their time, energy and resources to the wellbeing of the Earth and all its inhabitants. Not only do we honor and respect them, but we also hope that more people will be inspired to join them — and us — and play their part.

To find our more about the Green Belt Movement’s work and Wangari Maathai, please visit www.greenbeltmovement.org

Leave a Comment

It’s late… September 7, 2008

Filed under: random musings — etoile @ 3:04 am

I might, in fact, be updating a lot more regularly now since I just downloaded a wordpress utility for my iPhone. My entries just might be a lot more random and/or inane. Or at least mundane.

I’m in bed with the lights out but I can’t seem to fall asleep. Listening to more of Tuchman’s 14th century. Tomorrow morning (today?) we had planned to go to church and then have lunch with Mom-in-law incorporated. I have to start getting normal sleep with classes starting next week. I’m already reading my required texts…

Leave a Comment

Fall 2008 Schedule September 5, 2008

Filed under: Uncategorized — etoile @ 12:17 am

Leave a Comment

A hectic week. September 4, 2008

Filed under: random musings,the graduate experience — etoile @ 11:15 pm

So we are finally here and mostly settled in. Oh, the stories I could tell. Suffice it to say that the house we had rented well in advance of our move fell through. It was in pretty bad shape, unlike how it appeared in the pictures we saw. We ended up having to rent a different place in several hours of driving into town from Wyoming with four cats…with his mother arriving on a plane the next day and my mom arriving on a plane the day after. It has been a very long time since I have been as stressed as I was last week. Having my mom here was wonderful, and she did so much to help up find furniture and shop for essentials, but anyone who might read this blog knows how it is to have relatives in town. Just a bit more stressful than it would be under normal circumstances. I do miss her now that she’s gone, though. We truly made some of the best memories we’ve made together in years that I will treasure forever. My mom already loves Eric; they hit it off beautifully, since we all have the same sense of humor. We formed some inside jokes that will remain part of our silly repertoire forever.

Right now I am typing this while sitting on our mid-century harvest gold couch with two fold out twin beds that cost us $50. The same lady, Evy, who was having the estate sale, sold us a solid wood bedroom set from the same era for $400. It has three dressers, a headboard, a complete queen bed with frame and box spring, a vanity mirror, and two nightstands. What a steal! We got so many other things from her…filled a 16′ Uhaul with the furniture we took away from there. I love mid-century modern, and I don’t think the trend has caught on so much in Denver as it has in New York, LA, and Seattle. That’s the only reason we got such a steal.

So, all said and done, we ended up in a tri-plex that we have nicknamed The Fruitplex. Not because of the sexual orientation of any of its tenants, but mainly because my nickname is Peaches, and Eric’s nickname is Bean. (Yes, beans are little-known fruits!) Our unit is in the middle, so we call it The Squash. (Yes, a squash is a fruit, too!) The whole building looks like an avocado. It’s that color. I love it, though. My mom and his mom said that our place was reminding them of when they were young! Tonight, with oldies blasting from our turquoise blue tube radio from the 1950s Eric said he felt like he was time traveling, listening to me sing along to the radio while washing the dishes by hand. It’s quite surreal.

The drive from Seattle to Denver was actually kind of cool, if exhausting. We never did get a good night of sleep, between four meowing (and peeing) cats, raucous hotel neighbors jumping on the bed ALL NIGHT LONG (is that what it was?), and all the other perils of roadside hotels. I only had to drive at night the first night, though, and I got to listen to “A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century” by Barbara W. Tuchman on my iPod, which was amazing. I can’t wait to read all of her other history texts. We got to have Starbucks pretty much every day, and I fueled my tired brain with Iced Grande Caramel Macchiatos in pretty much every state between there and here.

I can’t say I miss Seattle, though I do miss the people. I am glad to be starting a new life doing exactly what I hoped and dreamed I’d be doing right now. I get to do it with a pretty remarkable, hot, brilliant, supportive, and infinitely kind partner. That part I wasn’t expecting, but it makes it so much better than I ever could have imagined. Seattle is starting to get cold and dreary and rainy right now, and I can’t help but think of my many loved ones huddling into winter coats that I know by heart (I can almost see them in my mind’s eye walking towards me on Broadway or Pike now in the neverending drizzle, smiling to see me). Denver is sunny, but it lacks the close relationships that I have grown to cherish so dearly. We got to see Doug tonight, which was a happy surprise. He was coming through town for work, and he joined us for what I termed a “ghetto dinner” in our Squash. It was lovely, and wonderful to see him.

In school news, orientation is nearing its close tomorrow after one final day. On Monday, classes will be starting all over campus. My first class is on Wednesday, since my schedule ended up being Wednesday – Friday. I’m thrilled about the classes I ended up getting into. I’m still waitlisted for Dr. Sally Hamilton’s “International Development in Cross Cultural Perspective”, which is pretty important to me since she will be my thesis advisor and I want to get to know her and explore her ideas in the classroom as soon as possible. I’m also taking a class with Haider Ali Khan, which I am quite excited about called “Political Economy and Human Rights”. Dr. Khan is a friend of Martin Kenney’s, a Human Development professor at UC Davis who I met in Taiwan last year and who I have the utmost respect for. I am taking “Statistical Methods I” at the graduate level, which has a required text that cost us $175. Yikes! Then I have “Politics of Development” with Krishna B. Napit, who Professor Hamilton speaks quite highly of. That class looks pretty interesting.

That makes 15 credits that I am registered for, and 3 that I am waitlisted for, meaning that if I get into Hamilton’s class I will have the maximum – 18 credits – on my schedule for my very first quarter. Also, I am brushing up on Spanish, possibly taking French at University College (part of DU), and trying to learn Swahili. I want to be proficient in all three by graduation. This should get interesting!

We are flying back to Seattle next weekend for yet another long drive, this time with a Uhaul full of my boxes. The movers left quite a bit unmoved. Oh, did I mention that we STILL don’t have our things? Right now we are just surviving with the things we moved down in two cars and the things we bought when we got here to set up our new home. I miss my french press coffee pot and my Bodum double-walled coffee cups. I miss my jeans!! So very much. All my books will be coming down on this trip, but we won’t have any bookshelves other than the one small dark one from my apartment and the antique one on the moving truck that is Eric’s. Someday!

I’m happy. I’m excited. I’m truly embarking on a part of my life that once only existed in dreams. It is everything I had hoped and more.

I’ll write more as classes begin.

Leave a Comment

Life doesn’t fit into boxes. August 20, 2008

Filed under: minutiae,random musings — etoile @ 9:40 am

Here we are packing everything that we want to bring with us out of our Seattle life and into our Denver life. I didn’t think I’d be bringing much, and I still don’t think I will. This trip was always going to be a trip I made alone, and my life was most likely going to be lived alone. The summer has given me the gift of John Eric and Miette and Bowie, and even his mother Carolyn. Now this is a life that will be lived as a family; decisions made as a team. It holds so much more promise than it ever did before, and I was so happy even then that it doesn’t seem possible to be this blessed. I am thankful.

I am still suffering physically from the Southeast Asia trip; my stomach continues to revolt every few hours and I feel weak and want to lay down constantly. Our sleep schedule is still insane; we wake up at 5 or 6 am just to fall asleep exhausted at 8 pm. What else? Owl, our smallest little grey tabby kitten, needs a checkup at the vet for her broken arm that has been healing over the last month. A few days before the trip she decided to attempt flight out of her babysitter Jonathan’s 7th floor window (did she see a bird, perhaps?) and we are lucky – so very lucky – that she survived and that we located her again. I am calling her my “mirac-owl”. I have to say that was one of the worst moments of my life, knowing she wasn’t in his apartment and seeing the window screen ajar. Even I got dizzy from heights when I looked out to try to find her. If it wasn’t for Eric running up the several blocks from his office, I would have been helpless. He spoke to the building manager and found out that she had been taken to a vet somewhere in Seattle; every friend I have who could make phone calls from work was trying to locate her all at once, and we finally found her at the same emergency vet where I took a fallen squirrel on my first week in Seattle. (It is truly amazing how things come full circle.) When I saw my little kitten, bloody and swollen, I cried for her pain, and I cried for happiness that she was going to be okay. Her several weeks in a cast are finished (thanks, Carolyn) and she is on the mend and back to normal. She only favors that broken leg a bit.

Yesterday we spent the morning at Top Pot, which is a ritual I missed intensely while we were traveling. It seemed that it was the appropriate time to say goodbye to my second home, my little neighborhood coffee shop. That was where I found out that I was accepted to grad school so many months before. It was where I said goodbye to Dave for the last time and embarked on a life that didn’t include him. It was where I answered my emails, wrote out birthday and Christmas cards, met with friends and conducted blind dates. It was home, and it will always be part of me. But it is time to let it go, now. Denver will have new little haunts that we can call our own, I trust.

The movers come tomorrow or Friday. Wish us luck.

Leave a Comment

lions and tigers and bears – oh my! August 19, 2008

Filed under: News — etoile @ 8:30 am

So finally we have the quintessential blog post that starts out by saying “so much has happened since I posted last”! I have some excuses. Let’s see…I’ve been in Southeast Asia for a month with John Eric…he and I have arranged our future so that we can be together in Denver…we have a little house near campus that is waiting for us to arrive on Monday (this Monday!)…and so much more that I can’t even get into yet. I’m so excited about everything. School – or at least orientation – starts on September 2nd and more than anything I can’t wait to pick my classes. I learned so much on the trip about International Development and about my own areas of interest, but I can’t wait to bring it all together in the classroom.