Wednesday, January 07, 2009

So what's in a Unique Selling Proposition?

While I have my own ideas, I'd like input from readers on what you think Chemists Without Borders' unique selling proposition is or should be. The Economist magazine has countless renowned institutions listing courses and opportunities, but this one from the struck me as a perfect exemplar:
UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD:
EDUCATING LEADERS FOR 800 YEARS

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

A new interview with Sarah Chayes

Here's another insightful interview with Sarah Chayes on Bill Moyers Journal. Highly recommended.

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/12192008/watch.html

Sunday, January 04, 2009

The Coriolanus effect (Coriolanus + The Coriolis effect)

Coriolanus, Gnaeus Marcius: Legendary Roman hero; conqueror of Volscian Corioli; exiled for anti-democratic views; led Volscian army against Rome; pacified through intercession of his mother. Title and hero of Shakespearean play. [source: Routlege's Universal Encyclopaedia]

Coriolis effect: n. a hypothetical force used to explain rotating systems, such that the movement of air or water over the surface of the rotating earth is directed clockwise in the northern hemisphere and anticlockwise in the southern hemisphere. [G. G. Coriolis, French scientist, d. 1843] [source: Wordfinder, Sara Tulloch, ed., Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1993]

Coriolanus effect: n. the act of going around in ever decreasing circles until one vanishes up one's own backside. [Glaswegian expression]

There's a great example of the Coriolanus effect in this article in The Economist magazine regarding Protectionism:

The battle of Smoot-Hawley (Dec 18th 2008, from The Economist print edition) A cautionary tale about how a protectionist measure opposed by all right-thinking people was passed

Library of Congress
 Hawley and Smoot, the bogeymen of trade

The article depicts what happened to world trade between 1929-33 as trade tariffs were being manipulated, the Coriolanus effect in action: