/SLASH/ university college Groningen issue 1 - December 2015
contents 1. Meet the crew 02 2. Interview with Hans van Ees
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3. Photos of Groningen 08 4. High Five 09 5. Report 10 6. Recipe 14 7. Movie review 15 8. Essay 16 9. Poem 19 10. Opinion 20 11. Photos of Groningen 21 12. Essay 22 13. Rome (an IC2I project)
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14. Comic 26
Meet the crew Emmi:
So… I grew up on the island Corfu, Greece. At 15 I moved to the Netherlands with my mom to finish my high school here. Then I moved to Groningen to study at UCG. I’m now in my second year, and have chosen the Humanities major. Within the humanities my main focus is on literature, but I’m also very interested in linguistics, psychology, mythology and calculus, so I try to make my studies as diverse as possible. Other than studying at UCG, I’m also a proud member of our cooking committee, The Sleeping Lasagnas. Occasionally I get the urge to draw, and I’ve been told that the outcome is not horrible, so that’s something. You can usually find me in my room, watching series on Netflix or reading a book. I’ve also recently taken up gaming, though it’s obvious I still need a lot of practice because I get killed regularly. When I’m not in my room, I’m most likely hanging out with my friends, singing in our Guitar Hero band. I’ve also joined the sailing association Mayday this year, but I’m usually too busy with my other activities to be a proper member of the association.
Anne: As my name suggests, there isn’t much origi-
nal about the place where I grew up. I was born and bred in Amersfoort, which is a town in the middle of the Netherlands. I am a first-years and will probably choose a major in either the Social Sciences or Humanities. I have always enjoyed literature, either reading books or writing stories, of which my biggest accomplishment is a complete play. Besides having set up the Journal Committee, I have also become a member of UCG’s Educational Committee as well as being a student assistant. Though it may seem this way, my life does not fully revolve around UCG; I am taking an acting course at USVA, work at the local Zoo in Amersfoort during the weekends and of course enjoy hanging out with friends in our all-girl unit at Frascati or just watching some series. You can always wake me up for chocolate or a concert, as long as the first is gluten free and the latter is by anyone but ‘de Toppers’. Whenever I go home-home, the best moments are when I get to walk my dog, Balou, and whenever I get back in Groningen, I look forward to sharing another week with our UCG Community. 02 /December 2015/
Desi:
Just like Anne, I am also 100% Dutch. Most of my life so far I lived in Almelo (a city in Twente) and for the past six years, I lived in Apeldoorn. The fact that I come from Almelo makes me automatically a fan of Heracles, the local football club (who plays on nationwide level by the way!). For a couple of years I played football myself and I am planning to train at the Groningse football club Knickerbockers again. It is about time, my condition is, so to say, ready for improvement (as some of you know :P). Furthermore, I like to draw portraits and cartoons, take photos, watching Big Bang Theory (BAZINGA) and singing in the shower or in a choir (I joined the musical choir at USVA last three months). Our family has a dog called Epke, but I don't define myself as a cat or dog person. I have a fetish for guinea pigs, the greatest cutest rodents on earth! I used to have a couple of them back in the old days. Currently, I am treasurer of this awesome Journal Committee and student ambassador. Due to my interest in Geography, it is likely that I will choose the major PPE, enabling me to access a master in this field.
Roos: Besides my love for chocolate, singing, drop (liq-
uorice), music and white wine, I have grown to love the city of Groningen a lot over the last couple of months. With its´ pretty streets, great atmosphere and the stunning Albert Heijn, this city even made me enjoy grocery shopping. I have very much enjoyed living here so far and even though studying at uni gets tough sometimes, I know for a fact that Groningen is my place to be. The friends I met at UCG (great thanks to whoever invented the combined living and learning system) and the girls from my rowing team at Gyas make my time here even better. Even though I could talk until the sun goes down (and then some more, no joke), writing is not really my thing. However, I do love everything related to the lay-out of posters, pictures and magazines. That is why I’ll be concerned with the lay-out of Slash. So even though this introduction might be the last you’ll hear from me in this journal, it will definitely not be the last you’ll see from me!
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Interview with Hans van Ees
By Desi Burghoorn
The first official interview in the rich history of our journal. As UCG students, it is obvious that we are bright people. Nevertheless, that does not stop us from asking questions to the staff. In this first interview, we decided to question our dean, Hans (or Hansie, as his friends call him) van Ees about having expectations, inspirations and critics. So, new journal, first interview in the history of the Journal Committee, what are your expectations of this interview and of the journal that will be published soon? I think being engaged in publication of journals is something that is very close to the academic profession. Since at UCG student research is supposed to be very important, it is very nice that you start to think about how you are going to communicate your research, and since journals are the way we communicate our research in academia, I think it is a very nice initiative. It enriches UCG life, it helps in developing all kinds of academic skills and it can provide a very good opportunity to communicate in an academic way. I think it helps shaping the identity of University College Groningen. On the UCG site you indicated that you are inspired by many people, like Gandhi, Robert Solow and Bruce Springsteen. Is there a connection between the people who inspire you and your job? I think that another nobel prize winner in economics, Joseph Stiglitz, is also one of my inspirations. You are inspired by people who, somehow, make the difference. All these people are all to some extend not driven by something like success. They want to contribute, which extends far beyond their own personal performances; they obtain intrinsic interest in what other people are doing. I like people who are doing a little bit more to provide a better world and inspire people to do so too. When it comes to Bruce Springsteen, he has nice songs and I have been to concerts, I really like the atmosphere at his concerts. On the first of April 2013, you were appointed as Dean of University College Groningen; this must have been a big chance as Professor from the faculty of Economics and Business. How did you experience 04 /December 2015/
the first months? Do these expectations, formed in the beginning of your UCG career, seem realistic reflecting on it today? It was a big opportunity for me, not necessarily for a Professor in economics and business. Being asked to set up a university college is something completely different compared to what I was doing. It is not a big opportunity for everyone who is in academia. It is too early to say whether my expectations of the UCG are realistic, even though UCG is heading in the right direction. Actually, we are going through a very dynamic process at UCG, we had very high expectations and at the speed in which we had to set it up, our expectations are very ambitious. It is important to give the UCG a little bit more time to develop. In that respect, personally, I have a better developed perspective on what Liberal Arts and Sciences education at a university college should look like and setting up a new faculty in a university is quite a complex process. The class of 2018 is obviously a smaller group of students than you probably hoped for, now what kind of impact does this have on the policy of the board? I can imagine that the RUG is willing to expand the number of UCG students in order to make it financially solid. The small number of students affects the policy of the board. UCG has to put more effort in making itself more visible, unique and distinctive in order to attract more prospective students. Primarily, besides the financial aspects, we need to offer more characteristics of LAS. More choice of courses,
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more diversity in interactions, more international students. This diversity is important, also to create more diversity in the curriculum. The board pays a lot of attention to the appearance of the university college and is investing in recruitment of new students. What kind of improvement would you like to see concerning the academic program at UCG? Building upon what UCG is already doing, I would like to see more opportunities for students. More opportunities to choose, also within majors. The integration of the program can be improved. More integration between the projects and the courses, with your help as students of course. On the second of November, an article in ‘RTV Noord’ (local broadcast station in the Northern parts of the Netherlands) was published. It stated that the University College had teething problems. The institution ‘Keuzegids’ (a magazine who judges higher education for Dutch prospective students) gave the University College Groningen an insufficient on information and content. Obviously, much has changed in terms of the academic program of the Class of 2018 in comparison with the academic program of the Class of 2017. How does the faculty react to this news? And how is this going to be changed? UCG has already made some changes, besides; these conclusions of Keuzegids are results from January 2015, before rescheduling the academic program of the first year. Regarding the content, UCG has addressed this in rescheduling and remodelling the first year. UCG now provides more flexibility and therefore more diversity, especially in courses and in the Research and Methodology line (Red: the choice between calculus for sciences and calculus for humanities) and we are working on better projects. I am confident that we are on the right track, maybe not yet there, but the plan is not to change the first year again. There is no need for additional changes; the structure and format are fine. Perhaps increase the number of courses. We can now focus on continually improving our courses, projects and skill workshops (Red: IC2I line). I think on the information, we do much better, we organise meetings, we improved the individual mentoring and we provide information on time. In the current format of the academic program of the first year, I am confident that Keuzegids will grade us with ‘sufficient’ on both criteria. Nevertheless, it is an obligation as University College to score higher. 06 /December 2015/
(For students who would like to read the article, follow this link: http://www. rtvnoord.nl/nieuws/155478/Kritiek-op-University-College-Groningen, only available in Dutch) On the 24th of November, the local newspaper ‘Dagblad van het Noorden’ announced that the RUG will establish a University College in Leeuwarden. The new UC will not be linked to our College. At first sight, it would be strange to establish another college in Leeuwarden in 2017, while we seek to expand the number of students. What do you think of this recent development? What is the motivation of the RUG behind all this? Already since January there was an agreement between the University and the municipality of Leeuwarden that implies that the RUG will have its eleventh faculty in Leeuwarden, hosting one bachelor program and several master programs. At that time, it was decided that the format will probably be a university college. Recently, there was a lot of discussion about the time allocation of the plan. My plan is simply to set up a successful faculty here; the university is generous in terms of funding, we are located in a lively student city. There should not be any reason why we could not be successful, even if there is a university college in Leeuwarden. In the national context it also does not matter very much, several university colleges are going to be set up in the next few years. The UCF will not be linked to UCG; you cannot have two university colleges at one university. The biggest challenge is to actually establish a UCF, the RUG has to prove that there really is a need for another university college nearby. Update: The latest outcome in this discussion is that Leeuwarden will not be a LAS college such as UCG but a residential interdisciplinary program. (Again, if you would like to read the original article, written in Dutch, please follow this link: http://www.dvhn.nl/nieuws/groningen/toch-university-college-leeuwarden-13335303.html)
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By Desi Burghoorn
08 /December 2015/
High five
By Hanna Dosenko
People failed to build the Tower of Babel, but invented planes instead. What strikes me most is that we all know that there are no atheists in the plane which is falling down. So being far away from the stable ground can make us closer to religion, even though we haven't found a proof yet, we haven't seen any signs of a presence of God in these clouds. But still, unconsciously, we feel the divine much closer being high in the sky. Perhaps because it's unexplored and religion gives a desirable protection, an illusionary shell. God, we are extremely loud when we talk about reaching you, but when we are finally incredibly close there are no words, no emotions, no thoughts. It's simple as that: the feeling of Self vanishes into the air. You and your body are two different variables - only seemingly interrelated. Being able to understand while all you have is Silence, being able to catch the essence of sense while all you see is nothing. This is what I call giving a "high-five" to God.
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Enhanced-GFP in Human Kidney Cells Report by Lieke Heupink
The ability to follow the pathways of proteins has been very important for science. In this article I explore the transfection of HEK293, Human Embryonic Kidney cells. Two plasmids are used, both contain Enhanced-GFP and only one a nuclear localization signal. With inverted fluorescence microscopy the difference can be observed and the movements of the different plasmids followed. All cells in the body require and produce protein. Proteins are responsible for almost all tasks concerning the maintenance of cellular life and therefore the human life. The tasks of proteins include cell shape, inner organization, product manufacture, and cleaning up.1 The amount of proteins the cells requires differs over time. The moment a protein is needed at a specific place in the cell, there are multiple pathways which the protein can take to go there. First of all, a protein which is moving from the cytosol towards the nucleus is imported through the nuclear pores. Secondly a protein moving towards the Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER), mitochondria or peroxisomes contain a multiprotein complex on their membranes which transports the protein. These complexes are called protein translocators. Lastly, the proteins which move from the ER to other organelles in the cell have their own transport system, the vesicles. Vesicles are small transport spheres which are ligated from the membrane of the ER. The inside of these vesicles is filled with the protein. Furthermore, another way for protein to find its way around the cell is the “sorting signal”. The sorting signal is a part of the protein, it consist of 1560 amino acids and gives direction to which organelle the protein has to be transported. When the protein arrives at the destination, it often loses the amino acids coding for this sorting signal.2 For scientists it is important to be able to follow these movements of proteins within the cells. To follow these movements multiple methods have been developed. Today, we are able to colour the protein with a Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP). GFP is small protein which originates from jellyfish. This is done by “transfection” which means bringing DNA into the cell. In 10 /December 2015/
our practical we transfected HEK293, Human Embryonic Kidney cells (figure 1), with two different plasmids (plasmid A and B). Both plasmids contained Enhanced-GFP (EGFP) which is similar to GFP, but increases the sensitivity and give rise to brighter fluorescence.3 One of the plasmid had placed in front of the EGFP a nuclear localization signal (nls). This is a sorting signal which codes that a protein from the cytosol goes into the nucleus. In our case, this would cause that when the plasmid with the nls entered the cell it would be transported to the nucleus. The nucleus would than emit green light. The other plasmid did not contain nls, causing the cytosol to become green. However, we did not know which of the plasmids had the nls. Figure 1: Human Embryonic Kidney cells are grey long stretched cells. In our own cell culture, we saw some cells floating in the medium. This could have been caused by shocks it got when they were transported or cell proliferating.
To find out which plasmid contained the nls, we used the Calcium Phosphate method. First the DNA (of one of the plasmids) and the CaCl2 were mixed. Afterwards a buffer solution, in our case HEPES-Buffered Saline which contain phosphate ions, is added. In this mixture the phosphate binds to the calcium of the CaCl2 and form precipitate where the DNA can bind to. It is important to mix the three fluids well and let them rest for around twenty minutes at room temperature. The following step would be to carefully adding the DNA/CaCl2/HBS solution containing the precipitates to the HEK293 cells in a DMEM medium. The DMEM medium can be recognized from the pink colour due to the phenol red. The HEK293 cells are bound to the bottom of the petri dish and grow in a monolayer, the cells are absorbing the precipitates with EFGP by way of endocytose and phagocytose. It is important to add the DNA/CaCl2/ HBS solution drop by drop while rocking the plate softly to ensure that the
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mixture is distributed well. When adding the solutions together, the colour of the DMEM medium changed to yellow. The phenol red in the DMEM is a pH indicator. When the DNA/CaCl2/HBS solution is added the mixture becomes less acidic which makes the solution turn yellow.4 Afterwards, the HEK293 cells are put in a 37째C incubator. One and a half hour later the culture medium is being refreshed, first the old medium is carefully removed. Then new DMEM culture medium is added and the cells are again placed in the incubator. After two nights the result of the transfection could be investigated. With an inverted fluorescence microscope the two petri dishes were observed. In the petri dish with plasmid A, it was found that the entire HEK293 cells was emitting a green colour. In other words, plasmid A did not contain the nls and stayed in the cytoplasm of the cell (figure 2). In the other petri dish the opposite happened. Plasmid B did enter the nucleus of the HEK293 cells. Therefore, some of the nucleus in the medium with plasmid B emit a green light (figure 3). However, the majority of the cells in our samples are not fluorescent, this can have multiple reasons. First of all, it depends on the number of formed precipitates which then can be absorbed by the HEK293 cells. Only HEK293 cells which were able to absorb the precipitates can express the GFP. Furthermore, when the two are solutions were added together, it may have happened that the plasmids were not distrusted equal. Only EK293 cells close to the plasmid can absorb it. Thus, when the plasmids are not distrusted well not many cells can absorb the plasmids. Lastly, in our cell culture we saw some cells floating, the cells are often dead. Dead cells are also not able to absorb the plasmids. Thus, with the use of the Calcium Phosphate method and transfection it is possible to observe the movement of a protein in a cell. In the practical we have shown two plasmids with two different pathways. Plasmid B contained a nls sorting signal, causing the nucleus to emit green light. Plasmid A did not contain a sorting signal and stayed in the cytosol. Therefore, the cytosol emitted green light. Although the transfection rate was not extremely high, the difference between the plasmids were clearly visible.
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Figure 2: Plasmid A, did not contain nls, therefore entire cell shows the EGFP. The cells can be recognized by the yellowish circles. The transfection rate compared to other samples from the UCG group is quite high: around 2%.
Figure 3: Plasmid B and Fixed HEK293 cells containing plasmid B. Plasmid B contained the nls, therefore the nucleus emits green light. The nucleus is seen inside the cell, the cell is embarked with a yellowish line. The right picture is a fixed cell culture. This can be used to compare our own results. The transfection rate is a lot higher in this picture.
Figure 4: Overview of the used materials. In this picture are the plasmid A, the HEPES-Buffered Saline, the CaCl2 and a pipette.
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Recipe: Oreo milk chocolate microwave mug cake
A chocolate sponge combined with chunks of biscuit, made in under five minutes in the microwave Ingredients: • 30 gr of butter • 15 gr of milk chocolate • 1 egg • 2 tablespoon of single cream • 1 teaspoon of vanilla sugar or a few drops of vanilla extract • 4 tablespoon of plain flour • ½ teaspoon of baking powder • 3 broken Oreo biscuits • 1 broken Oreo biscuit to decorate Method: Melt the butter with the chocolate in the microwave for 30 to 40 seconds (800 watts) in the mug. Beat the mixture until smooth and allow it to cool slightly. One by one, whisk in the egg, cream, vanilla sugar, flour and baking powder. Add the broken Oreos without stirring too much. Cook in the microwave for one minute 30 seconds (800 watts). Decorate with the broken Oreo. Allow to cool for one minute before eating and enjoy!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/cake-recipes/11568703/Oreo-milk-chocolate-mug-cake-recipe.html
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movie review: scouts guide to the zombie apocalypse By Dora van Elk
What’s cooler than cool? SCOUTING! Three scouts, on the eve of their last camp out discover the true meaning of friendship when they attempt to save their town from a zombie outbreak. If you are looking for a movie with crude humour, this is definitely the movie for you! From the first minute till the last, this movie will have you laughing at the most absurd things. Whether that’s singing Britney Spears songs with a zombie, or getting attacked by a zombiestripper. This movie is a great instrument to exercise your laugh muscles. But watch out! Blood and gore abounds. It’s rated R for a reason. Multiple actually; zombie violence and gore, sexual material, graphic nudity, and language. I rate this movie 7 zombies out of 10.
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Premium Essay draft by Cairo Geha
In 2006, McDonald’s introduced a burger to the Netherlands that, to many, is worthy of international praise: the Big Tasty Bacon. One of the more recent premium1 burgers offered at McDonald’s, this burger is priced at (€4.95) standalone and (€6.95) for the menu. In a society now dominated by false advertisements, it is rare to find a product that truly lives up to its name and promotion; the Big Tasty Bacon is decidedly both very big, and very tasty. The Big Tasty has attracted a cult following among many of its consumers, and understandably so. Originally introduced in the United States as “The Big N’ Tasty,” it was designed to compete with the Burger King Whopper sandwich (AP Newswire, 2007). In the late 2000’s it was introduced in many European countries as the Big Tasty. The Big Tasty was released as a specialty burger across the United States in 2000, and was removed from the McDonald’s menu on January 1st, 2011. Internationally, it was first released in a limited number of restaurants in Sweden in 2003. It was followed by the UK and many other European countries in 2004 and the years following. Later, it was released in Australia, South America, South Korea, and many other countries.2 The Big Tasty Bacon, a variant of the Big Tasty that also contains strips of bacon, is only available outside of the US. In the context of burgers, premium is usually meant to signify the good quality of the meat. In this essay, premium is often used in reference to the whole composition of the burger, not just the quality of the meat. 1
The full list of counties that sell the Big Tasty is Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Mexico, The Netherlands, Norway, Czech Republic, Pakistan, Panama, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Servia, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Venezuela, Ukraine, And the UK. 2
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The Big Tasty Bacon was extremely well received by the Dutch McDonald’s consumers, but was later taken off the McDonald’s menus in Denmark and the Netherlands in the late 2000s for unknown reasons. However, people wanted it to stay; due to its exceptional taste and its popularity among the community, the site “http://www.bigtastymoetterug.nl/” was founded, expressing the community’s discontent that the Big Tasty was removed from all the menus across Holland. On April 2, 2012, McDonald’s decided to reinstate the Big Tasty in the Netherlands. The site is no longer running, but the Big Tasty is here to stay. Just within the last couple months, the Big Tasty was removed from the specialty/temporary menu and placed with the rest of the premium burgers in the premium menu, its new home. The day this happened was a day to remember for Big Tasty fans3; from that day on, the Big Tasty was safe from future removal or replacement.
Housing a whopping 150 g of meat, the Big Tasty is undeniably a sizable burger. The burger is comprised of a 100% pure beef patty, a 5-inch sesame seed bun, two tomato slices, square-cut lettuce, sliced onions, three slices
The recipe for the Big Tasty Sauce is composed mainly of Rapeseed Oil, Water, Sour Cream, Free Range Egg Yolk, Thickeners, Smoke Flavoring, and Color (Paprika Extract). There are more ingredients, but too many to list here. 3
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of Emmental cheese, and Big Tasty sauce. However, it’s the Big Tasty sauce that truly sets the Big Tasty apart from the rest of McDonald’s burgers. The Big Tasty sauce “makes the burger” for many Big Tasty fans . With its “smoky flavor” (McDonald's UK), the sauce is what brings all the components of the burger together; one bite harbors the unique sensation of complementarity not experienced when consuming other, lesser quality burgers from McDonald’s. While other burgers, such as the Big Mac and the Quarter Pounder, include many of the same ingredients as the Big Tasty (namely the patty, the cheese, and the tomatoes), none come close to achieving the state of “oneness” that the Big Tasty sauce inexplicably provides. Within the UCG, the act of eating a Big Tasty has developed a practical use as a form of time measurement. Formally, the time it takes to walk to McDonald’s from Steenhouwerskade, eat a Big Tasty menu, and then walk back is a single “Big Tasty.” This process takes approximately 35 minutes, but will have to be adapted and amended to accommodate the location of next year’s housing. I asked random UCG students who knew the Big Tasty to describe what the sensation of eating a Big Tasty is like. When approached about the Big Tasty, one student had this to say; “It’s real good.” - Frank Boon, 2015 It’s fair to say that the Big Tasty is truly deserving of the title “Premium Burger.” From the iceberg lettuce to the pure beef patty, the Big Tasty has all the components for success.
It is not uncommon for a student to leave to the city, stating “I’ll be back in a Big Tasty.” 4
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poem
By Dora van Elk
YY U R YY U B ICUR YY 4 me
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A Spotlight on UCG and News Events By Anne de Vries
Whenever hearing about events like those in Paris just a couple of weeks ago, the Russian airplane crashing in Turkey or the suicide blasts in Beirut, our studies at UCG feel insufficient or just plain redundant. It makes me angry when I hear my own prime-minister tell the world, on behalf of the whole country, that we are in war with ISIS, while I have not given my consent for him to do so and neither have others surrounding me. It makes me angry when I hear of all the hardship around me, people physically crossing borders to save their lives, others struggling to get by. It makes me angry when my train gets delayed due to someone trying to take their own life and my fellow passengers complaining about the delay or laughing it off. It feels silly to be sitting behind a desk, being taught what philosophers said about the state centuries ago or how to set up a function for market demand. Though, then I remember what exactly we get trained to do here. We are taught to see the world with different views, in different lights. We are taught the skill to see the diversity in communities and how to let these cooperate. We are taught to improve the world to the best of our abilities and save it from the mistakes the generations before us have made. While that may sound pretentious and we cannot change decisions of individuals or prevent all of our own mistakes, I believe that UCG will teach us the skills to be able to make even the slightest difference in the lives of others, even if it is just putting a smile on their faces. Despite all this hurt and discomfort in the world I believe it is important to celebrate the good times as well. It is important to remember what makes you happy and pursue this to the best of your abilities. Therefore I wish everyone the best Christmas, and while this may sound cheesy, I urge you to bear in mind who you have around you, and to cherish them.
20 /December 2015/
By Desi Burghoorn
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immigration:
education shouldn´t be the defining variable Essay by Jonathan Steinhorst Europe’s flourishing economy, high living standards and a secure environment draws more people than ever before to its gates. However, migration has its up-and downsides, deeply dividing Europeans about how to respond to an ever-escalating migrant crisis. A pivotal question is, whether migrants should be selected and granted asylum according to their educational status, which aims at supplying European companies, which increasingly require mostly skilled labor, with workers and reducing the costs of immigration. Generally speaking, a selection of migrants in the European Union based only on their educational status is inacceptable and morally not justifiable, as most migrants are drawn to Europe from conflict torn and impoverished regions. Sixty-two per cent of refugees who have reached Europe so far this year and who are applying for asylum in the European Union originated from Syria, a country devastated by an ongoing civil war. The Syrian civil war has uprooted and displaced millions of people in the Middle East since it’s beginning in 2011. Germanys institute for migration and refugees published data signifying that nearly 60 per cent of refugees that applied for asylum in Germany in September 2015, came from Syria, the Arabian Republic, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan or Eritrea, all countries that are either at war or are governed by authoritarian regimes. These people turn to Europe in their fate, seeking security and a safe haven. They desperately need help, and the states of the European Union have committed themselves to help people in emergency situations by signing the Geneva Refugee Convention in 1951. According to this Convention, everyone has the right to be granted asylum if he or she is fleeing severe jeopardy or political repression and persuasion. Granting residence permit in European Countries solely by judging some ones education undermines this agreement and interferes with the moral and ethic values that are upheld by the European Union.
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By completely shielding its boarders against ill-educated immigrants, European countries would act contradictory to its development policies towards poor and developing nations. On its website, the European Commission boasts with its 50 per cent share of worldwide donations to development aid, and claims that one of its goals is to eradicate poverty globally. What impoverished countries lack most is education, and without proper schooling and education, the citizens of such countries remain trapped in what Robinson and Acemoglu describe as the “vicious circle”. The vicious circle is used to describe the ongoing rule of the elites, who benefit, among many other factors, from an uneducated population, as education often correlates to political empowerment. If people from authoritarian regimes and poor countries make their way to Europe, and in one way or another, just a small fraction of their overall populations will arrive there, then it should be considered as a chance to endow them with what they lack; education. Even European taxpayers who fear for their jobs must admit that the principle of giving migrants an insight into how European institutions work and function and to let them taste democracy, is likely to be more effective in terms of development aid than to donate billions of European tax dollars to poor nations without seeing any effects. Instead of just lavishly giving away money to African cleptocrats, European governments could provide migrants with jobs and thus ensure a flow of remittances to the much poorer home countries of the migrants. After all, remittances can substantially contribute to a third world countries financing scheme, for example 40 per cent of Somalia’s GDP in 2006 consisted of remittances. It should also not be forgotten that even lower paid blue-collar jobs in Europe mean a lot for someone who has ascended from absolute poverty in Eritrea, and that the worth of the Euro sent back as remittance multiplies by a significant factor in a country like Somalia. Another strong point in favor of welcoming migrants is their potential workforce for replacing an aging European population. Currently, more than 22 per cent of people living in the European Union are aged 60 years and above. This development should raise concerns, thinking about the future economic progress of Europe. In the face of unattended workplaces in the future, migration could be at least part of the solution to keep Europe’s economy running.
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Of course the leaders of European countries have their moral obligations and goodwill to render development aid, but Europe also has internal problems to settle. One of these is the debt crisis, which confronts several European nations. Another obstacle is high youth unemployment in southern European countries like Spain, Italy, Greece and Portugal, which further complicates the already intricate situation. Spain for example had to cope with an unemployment rate among youths of more than 50 per cent, as of 2013. Age pyramids but also pictures circulating in the news, unambiguously reveal that migrants are of fairly young age, the majority of them below 40 years. Given the high rate of unemployment among youth and young citizens in several European countries, opening up boarders to an influx of unskilled laborers would only exacerbate the problem. Nonetheless, letting in only skilled workers would not affect youth unemployment and boost the economy, considering that predictions estimate that till 2029, up to 390 000 Engineers could be lacking in the German economy alone. Taking everything into consideration, European politicians face difficult decisions in the critical times of huge migrant rushes towards Europe. Even though there is not always economical sense to opening the door to illeducated migrants, they should, because Europeans have a moral obligation they must live up to, manifested in the Geneva Refugee Convention. Nonetheless, migrants fleeing war and migrants who just seek economic benefits must be treated as different cases. In terms of development policy, offering a migrant a job can benefit his home country more than financial aid, as the case of Somalia has shown. After all, the forces driving migration will only cease if conditions among countries become more equal. Europe should stick to its promise and reassure the globe of its leadership and care for the world by helping migrants, whether they are educated or not. Angela Merkel, chancellor of Germany, perfectly summed it up as follows: “When it comes to human dignity, we cannot make compromises.�
24 /December 2015/
Rome (an Ic2i project)
This project is conducted by Emma van Wezenbeek, Luca Leithuijser, Marieke van Beek and Jacky Yuejie Wang. This project is supported by University College Groningen. What is your impression of Rome? Romantic, mysterious or pleasant? However, recent report showed that “Rome is on the verge of collapse. Broken-down motor scooters and bicycles are dumped on pavements, kerbs are overgrown with grass and shrubs, and there is litter everywhere …” What causes the collapse of Rome? What causes the waste problem in Rome? What causes the paralyzed public services? Check out www.rome2016.nl to find the answer!
/December 2015/ 25
essay writing at ucg By Emmi Kraan
26 /December 2015/
Editorial office: Desi Burghoorn Emmi Kraan Roos van der Reijden Anne de Vries Jacky Yuejie Wang With thanks to: Marieke van Beek Hanna Dosenko Hans van Ees Dora van Elk Cairo Geha Lieke Heupink Luca Leithuijser Jonathan Steinhorst Emma van Wezenbeek