W E E K L Ythe

c e n t r a l e u r o p e a n u n i v e r s i t y

An independent newspaper by CEU students and alumni January 27, 2016, Year 6, Issue 66

CEU

DISCOVERS

Winning Photo Entry from the#FallatCEU Photo ContestPhotographer: Levente Safrany

Check inside for details regarding the latest photo contest being hosted by CEU’s Communications Office and Student Recruitment Office, in cooperation with the Center for Arts and Culture and CEU Weekly

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THE CEU WEEKLY

2

Small Talk

Do You Have Any New Year’s Resolutions for 2016?

~ Ann-Kathrin BeckSchool of Public Policy

Germany

Anastasia Zabusova School of Public Policy

Russian Federation

Darshan DatarLegal Studies

India

This year I promised myself to do all the work in time and start beforehand. Actually, my PhD application deadline is coming and I am already in such a hurry. I already started, you know, being kind of late.

I will listen to my dad’s advice this year. For the first time in my 23 years I will follow it. I don’t think about impossible things. Also, I want to be more responsible, because in 40 days I have lost two cellphones after partying. I didn’t tell my dad about the last one.

Hitabhilash MohantyLegal Studies India

LIFE IN A DAY AT CEU: #CEUCELEBRATES

CEU SMALLTALK

No. No. Never!”shaking heads, rounded eyes and laughter were the typical answers. Expecting grand resolutions, our follow-up was to be “Which one will you break first?” But apparently CEU students are pragmatists. The

CEU community dreams a lot, but tries to keep those dreams close to reality. Starting a year with big expectations that are unlikely to be met can be a road to disappointment. Instead a lot of you have smaller, feasible goals. Some of your classmates are happy to share theirs:

Liza PotapovaPolitical Science

Russian Federation

My resolution is to wake up 2 hours before classes! So that I don’t look like a skunk. And no small talk anymore. I will talk big!

Federico Musciotto & Christian BongiornoNetwork ScienceItaly

Sleeping less. I really enjoy sleeping but I sleep too much now. Perhaps I can manage this year.

I am the opposite. I need to sleep more. Maybe it will be never enough.

How to Particpate!

Each entrant should submit 1-5 images by 23:59 on February 29, 2016. Post your pictures to the contest

event page on Facebook or share it on Instagram with the hashtag #CEUcelebrates.

Please include your name and academic program.Photo captions are max 150 words each image!

Share Your CEU Experience

CEU’s Communications Office and Student Recruitment Office, in cooperation with the Center for Arts and Culture and CEU Weekly,

will be hosting a photo contest each season this academic year.Our winter theme is #CEUcelebrates.

Enter 1-5 photos showing us what you celebrate, how you celebrate and who you celebrate with. Share your CEU story.

Send questions to: myceu@ceu.edu. All images must be the original work of the individual. By entering the competition, you grant Central European University a right to use your images and captions. You retain the copyright in your images.

ISSUE 66

3

Op-Ed

ST. STEPHEN BASILICA AND ANANDA TEMPLE

After four months of living in Hungary and attending Central

European University, we routinely walk past churches and statues, which all have their own symbolism. These historical sites have become part of our everyday lives, but we still do not know what all they mean. The following article is an opinion piece by the author between the St. Stephen Basilica (Budapest, Hungary), which most of us pass by on the way to CEU each day, and Ananda Temple (Bagan, Myanmar), in the author’s native country. St. Stephen’s Basilica is named after

Saint Stephen I of Hungary, the first King of Hungary (c. 975–1038), whose “incorruptible” right hand is said to be housed in the reliquary. It fits the a common description of Roman Catholic churches. In early Christian, Byzantine and other Eastern Orthodox forms of church architecture, this commonly means a Greek cross (cruciform) plan, with arms of equal length or, later, a cross-in-square plan, more like a square. In Western churches it usually, though not exclusively, means a church built with the layout developed in Gothic architecture. It is a place of prayer, worship, study, learning, and a social center where Hungarian people come together.Ananda temple was completed

during the reign of King Kyanzittha (r. 1084-1113). It is a symmetrical

~ Dr Moe Moe Oo Associate Professor

History DepartmentVisiting Research Fellow at CEU

Myanmar

masterpiece of the Mon architectural style and, with some North Indian influence, reflects the transition from the Early to the Middle period of Bagan architecture. The Ananda is a perfectly proportioned Greek cross (cruciform) structure and beautifully symmetrical in form, including its vestibules and gabled portico entryways with stupa finials. Ananda Temple is like a museum. We can study all kinds of Myanmar arts here—architecture, stone sculpture, stucco, glazed plaques, terra cotta, wood carving, metalworks, and more. It provided the cultural, political, and religious model for all subsequent Myanmar kingdoms and became the symbol of the Myanmar nation-state.The Mandala, a spiritual and ritual

symbol in Indian religions, represents the cosmos metaphysically or symbolically, and is commonly found in religious art and architecture. In Bhramanic Hindu and Buddhist belief, the earth’s sacred center is unusually not near at hand, but far off to the north, on a separate, unattainable continent, the center is Mt. Meru, the fixed point about which the heavens revolve. According to the “four continent earth” model, the earth’s continents (Macro Cosmos) are arranged in the form of a lotus flower (Micro Cosmos). Mt. Meru stands at the center of the world, the seed-vessel of the flower, as it were, surrounded by circular ranges of mountains.

St. Stephen’s BasilicaAnanda Temple

Greek Crossed (Cruciform) Floor

Plan

Greek Crossed (Cruciform) Floor

Plan

A Hindu temple has a spire that rises symmetrically above the central core of the temple. These spires come in many designs and shapes, but they all have mathematical precision and geometric symbolism. One of the common principles found in Hindu temple spires is the circle and turning-squares theme (left), and a concentric layering design (right) that flows from one to the other as it rises towards the sky. St. Stephen’s Basilica and Ananda

Temple are each topped with a dome, with stairs symbolizing the way to heaven (the ascent). Another common element is the shape of mountains represented in temple architecture; the steps represent spiritual ascent and the link between heaven and earth.By studying these temples, we can not

only analyze the social and cultural considerations, ritual function, cosmology theory, symbolism and architecture concepts, but also find connections between Western and Eastern cultural heritage and history.

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THE CEU WEEKLY

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CEU Residence Center Policies

DORM DEMYSTIFICATION

Demystifying the myths and general confusion over the Residence Center entails a closer look at CEU admission criteria and financial aid schemes. After consulting the representatives from the respective offices, as well as the Residence Center Director, we learned a lot of important details. First, housing is a crucial factor in a student’s decision to accept CEU’s admissions offer, therefore, each academic department has an allocated number of dorm rooms to entice potential students. This policy can be found in the CEU Financial Aid Regulations, 3.1. If you choose to accept the whole

admissions package which includes the dorm room, it is yours for the duration of your time at CEU as long as you are not absent for over four weeks at a time. If you live in the dorm and decide to share a room, the monthly stipend is 20,000 HUF. While, presumably, this system is designed to make rooms more available, there is no stipend or other incentive for students to seek long-term housing off campus.However, we must warn you...

Do not get too familiar with this policy because CEU is changing the current system to a new one strictly based on a merit tier! Financial allocations will remain the same but in addition, the best students would be offered a single room, the

second-to-best students would be offered a shared room, and so on. What remains to be decided is what criteria the academic departments will use to assess merit and whether this new policy will take into consideration the ‘need’ component in the high demand for the dorm.Also, one caveat regarding any

‘merit system’ is that they are often associated with inequality, as sociologist Robert Jackall writes they are used “simply as sophisticated, highly rational legitimations for what is in practice a complicated political patronage system.” Meritocracies only work when the playing fields are even but with the multicultural world CEU draws students from, how can criteria be objective and justified?In addition to a fairer system,

the new dorm policy should take into account pareto optimality: if the demand is high, students who do not want to live in the dorm should be motivated to move out, in order to make space for paying students. Such incentives could be in the form of a stipend or canteen voucher; whereas the nightly cost for staying at the dorm at 10 USD or about 80,000 HUF/month would surely cover the cost of the room. More available rooms would help ERASMUS students who struggle to find city accommodations for only three months, as well as benefit foreign students who have never traveled outside their countries.The admissions office fully

understands this suffering and wishes CEU had the luxury to offer all students space at the dorm, but there are obvious financial and property constraints. In fact, “out-dorm” stipends were available about 10 years ago, but financially and logistically, it was too difficult

~ Meiko Boynton School of Public Policy

United States

Ekaterina EfimenkoLegal Studies

Russian Federation

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to manage. There were integrity issues, including students who printed fictitious leases to get the stipend. Yet, instead of abolishing the “out-dorm” stipend completely, modification of the guidelines might have been a better solution.Similarly, when the new dorm

policy is created, it would be good for the administration to consider maximizing the amount of rooms available for students throughout the year, as well as deciding on a more specific set of criteria for getting a place in the Residency Center.

It is general knowledge that demand for the CEU

dorm is always quite high. As a result, several questions and stories abound: especially, which students actually get selected and why does CEU not incentivize students to leave the dorm if space is so limited?

An Investigative Piece by Meiko Boynton and Ekaterina Efimenko Regarding the CEU Residence Center’s Housing Policies,

Both Old and New

ISSUE 66 CEU Intercultural Festival

AIN’T NO PARTY LIKE A CEU PARTY: THE ANNUAL INTERCULTURAL FESTIVAL

5

~ Ali WagnerSchool of Public Policy

Canada

Saturday’s Intercultural Festival showcased the wide diversity of cultures represented across CEU. Sponsored by the CEU Student Union, students had the chance to highlight special parts of their heritage, including

food, videos, masks of the British Queen and Prime Minister, piñatas, Danish tongue-twisters, Taiwanese tea eggs, traditional clothing, alcohol, and . . . even more food! The event started strong with students pouring into the room eager for “treats and deets”, and moved into performances from people representing many different parts of the world. A lively Pakistani dance had the room rowdy one minute, while a beautiful Tahitian performance mesmerised it the next. Singing acts included a combo of guitar and beat boxing from the Philippines and a soulful Armenian folk song.Below are just some of the moments of the festival captured by the CEU Weekly. Visit the CEU Weekly Blog

for more pictures of the event: ceuweekly.blogspot.hu!

Students gather for a taste of Kazakhstan

All smiles at the Tibetan table

Things get intense at the Latin American table

Roma dance delivers an energetic performance

Ghanian Dambadance gets the crowd jumping

Crowd in awe during the Tahitian performance of Te Vai NuiPhotos: Colin ForberSchool of Public PolicyCanada

THE CEU WEEKLY

6

Photo Essay

Edd Carlile

BUDAPEST’S FORGOTTEN TRAINYARD

Budapest has a long and coloured past, and windows and glimpses into the weight of that history often yield character-filled gems. Istvántelek was built in 1959 to service the trains and carriages of Hungary’s

extensive rail network. However, since its abandonment in the 1970s, Istvántelek has instead become the home of rusting and rotting relics of Hungary’s past, from engines dating to before the First World War to those still bearing the symbols of Soviet control. In this photo essay, CEU Weekly’s Colin Forber presents some of the scenes from that forgotten train graveyard.

Colin

For

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The main building filled with old relics

Photos and text : Colin ForberSchool of Public Policy

Canada

Carriages left abandonded outside the main building are now covered in rust and

graffiti

An MAV 301 engine as was used in Hungary before WWI

Buildings and business continued around as the trains rusted and the roof collapsed

Old relics that never made it through the doors

A throwback to Soviet times, this old engine now guards the rear entrance to the

abandoned station

ISSUE 66 New CEU Library

PICTURING THE NEW CEU LIBRARY

~ Ursula SanchezSchool of Public Policy

Member of the Library Committee

7

The CEU library is the second home for many of the students of CEU. It is not only where you can find

all the required readings for class and hundreds of books at your disposal, but is also a place where you can find a moment of peace, quiet and inspiration… when you’re not being disturbed by construction noise! (Which is for sure to blame for not handing in your paper on time...)As disturbing as it is, the CEU redevelopment project will

certainly benefit our community; this is why we want to present you with six new features from the new library that you will love:• Natural light all along the front wall of the library

looking towards the Danube, plus light shafts throughout the building. Large windows and good lighting will ensure we keep track of the notion of time (to some extent)

• More computer workstations with large screens. Hopefully we won’t have to be early birds to manage to get a computer.

• Seven collaboration rooms with wireless LCD screens for small group meetings. Finally you won’t have to be “shushed” by neighbors for chatting with your peers. We will have a place to work on our projects or study together in groups.

• Two multimedia labs: one with 8 workstations and media production software to create documentaries and other visual projects, and one digital literacy computer lab with 16 workstations with other types of software including for working on geospatial projects and for training sessions on library research skills.

• Water fountains and bathrooms inside the library! Because we need to keep hydrated! Also right outside the main door a real café that seats 100 people, and a big improvement from vending machines to keep our sugar levels high, along with few chairs and a sofa!

• Key policies under review: more nighttime and weekend hours as requested by students, and allowing backpacks, handbags or coats in the Library!! If this was a main reason to deter you from studying in the Library now you won’t have any excuse! The new Library will have a security system that would allow you to finally be able to come in with all your required study devices in a comfortable way.

All of this will be available from the fall term of 2016. Unfortunately, those of us who are graduating won’t be able to enjoy these new facilities, but it’s great to see our university evolving and building upon the contributions of students, faculty, and users of the library. And despite the distance, we can still access some important databases through the remote access and VPN service for alumni, so don’t forget to request this after graduation (http://library.ceu.edu/using-the-library/alumni/). However you use the library, we hope it will remain

a favorite place to work and meet with your fellow students, and that you’ll take pride in being a part of a great enlargement project for a growing and evolving community.

CEU Weekly Editorial Board & ContributorsEditor in Chief: Ekaterina Efimenko Managing Editor: Ben Spies Layout: Aaron Korenewsky

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

As with the seasonal variant of wine, warmth becomes para-

mount in Winter’s icy months. Warmth ideally represents more than physical warmth, and is achieved by more than arriving at a warm room or temperate destination. To me, warmth and another holiday-associ-ated word, home, are intrinsically and inextricably related. Seeking warmth, many students re-

unite with friends, family, and places bringing the definite and recogniz-able feeling of home. Not everyone, at CEU or elsewhere, is lucky enough to do so. I fell into the latter category this Winter, separated from my par-ents, sister, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. I stayed on this side of

the Atlantic despite the majority of my life having taken place on the other. Pity me not, however; I found holi-

day warmth aplenty. The warmth of a house, the warmth of a home, and the warmth of loved ones. I celebrated Jul with the welcoming family of a CEU friend and, although I had expected nothing this Christmas, I received much more than presents. After re-turning to Budapest my girlfriend flew out to visit and I got a chance to guide her around the city and plan a trip to a place I will always consider home, Prague. As Pico Iyer says: “home...is not just the place you were born, it’s the place you become yourself.” Prague very much assumes that role in my life. I lived there one semester

in my undergrad and, two years later, am embarking on an MA focusing on Bohemian history. I find that home cannot be singularly defined, to me it is somewhere that imprints itself into your being. So take heart if you were unable to re-

turn Home for vacation; many homes await discovery, not to replace others, but to enrich your life. Iyer sums it up beautifully when he says, “[h]ome has less to do with a piece of soil than a piece of soul.” And so at the end of my travels, boarding the train for Bu-dapest, I found that in a way I was glad to be going home.

Contributors: Ann-Kathrin Beck, Charla Boley, Meiko Boynton, Calum Cameron, Colin Forber, James Gresock, Camilo Montoya-Guevara, Dr. Moe Moe Oo, Ursula Sanchez, Ilana Ullman, Alexandra Wagner, Anastasia Zabusova, Alexandra Zonk

~ James GresockHistory

United States

8Distribution Points: Reception Nádor 9, Nádor 11, Library, Cloakroom & CEU Dorm ceuweekly.blogspot.com

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