The decision for me as a marketing student to do the minor European Union Policies was a good decision. It is something different and renewing after three years of only writing marketingplans and doing market research. It brings more variation to my education and it woke up my interest for the European Union.
The minor deals with the history en development of the European Union, from back in the 50’s till now. The institutional, political, economic and legal aspects of the European integration are paid attention to in this minor. So, just like in the European union, the minor exist out of a three pillar structure: European law, European economics and European institutions. All the aspects from the minor are also subjects of the tasks we have to do every week and in the five projects we had to make.
The teaching system used in this minor is the same I had in my first year of CE, namely problem based learning. Every week we got a task that we had to read at home individually and then discussed in class, with a chairman and an assistant. Discussing the task is done by the seven step model: clarify terms, define the problem, brainstorm, analysis and discussion, formulate learning goals, self-study and reporting/evaluation. The answers to the learning goals are to be found in the books but we also get lectures about law, economics and finance. Than the next week we meet again in class and do step 7, before we start with the new task. After discussing the answers to the learning goals, we always get an evaluation lecture where everything is explained once again about the subject the task was about. This is so we don’t miss anything for our exams. I really like this teaching system because it forces me to make the tasks. These tasks do also appear in the exams, so if you made every task you don’t have to study that much anymore.
Next to these tasks we also have to do several projects towards the different aspects of European integration. We had to make 5 projects, with different groups. I like this, because you can work with different people. Some of the projects weren’t very clear, so it took some time before we figured out what exactly to do. We also had to write a individual paper. We got a list of topics were we had to choose one of. I chose the topic equal treatment between men and women.
We also had to improve on our negotiating, debating and ethic skills. We did three weeks of negotiating, were we first learned how to do it. After that some of us, including me, could show their skills in front of class. In ethic lessons we learned about ethics in business in the different countries in the European Union and in debating we were able to show our debating skills.
After the first part of the minor we went on a study trip to Brussels, Strasbourg and Luxemburg to visit some of the European institutions. We went to the commission, the parliament, court of human rights, the committee of regions, house of provinces and some other institutions. It was a very useful trip where I have learned a lot, but also had much fun.
I didn’t regret my choice of doing the minor European Union Policies and I would really recommend it to other students who have to chose a minor. Of course not everything was that clear all the time, but what I have learned was very usefull and I am really considering of working in Brussels when I am done with my study.
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
Governments should interfere in the credit crisis
As a consequence of the subprime mortgage crisis, a variety of government bailouts were implemented to stabilize the financial system during late 2007 and early 2008. Governments intervened in the United States and United Kingdom and several other Western European countries, such as Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.
Some Facts
The dutch government is interfering in the credit crunch, both for people as business. They do that on several aspects:
Employment: Temporary arrangements for reduced working hours, under which employees can apply for unemployment benefit on a temporary basis; Regional mobility centers to help people move on from one job to another; Accelerating the development of infrastructure projects, as for example the new Delta Works project.
Preventing bankruptcy: In October 2008 the Netherlands raised its guarantee on savings to 100,000 euro; Where necessary the Netherlands will strengthen the balance sheets of generally healthy financial institutions by injecting capital. 20 billion euro has been made immediately available for this purpose.
Government interference by loans: The government is prepared, subject to conditions, to secure loans extended between banks and by institutional investors to banks. This is intended to get credit flowing between financial institutions again. The government anticipates that the State may have to guarantee a total of 200 billion euro worth of loans; Swifter payment of bills by public authorities. This should chiefly benefit small and medium-sized enterprises.
I think that it is necessary for the government to interfere in the credit crisis. On the first place the government is trying to limit the unemployment which will arise in a credit crisis. By interfering in this, people and companies -on the short term- benefit from it.
If the government wouldn’t have interfered, the credit markets would have collapsed. This would result in a breakdown of the financial systems. Government intervention was needed to save credit market on the short term. Re-regulation of financial market is needed to promote responsible behavior in order to prevent stuff like this from happening again.
The key is to avoid a spiral downward and the easiest way for government to do this is to increase spending, or temporarily induce more private sector spending.
The government caused the credit crunch by approving loans, so they can partly held responsible for it. They have to solve the problem and that’s what they are doing right now. So therefore they should interfere in the credit crisis to prevent us from getting in to a crisis like in the 30’s or 80’s.
Some Facts
The dutch government is interfering in the credit crunch, both for people as business. They do that on several aspects:
Employment: Temporary arrangements for reduced working hours, under which employees can apply for unemployment benefit on a temporary basis; Regional mobility centers to help people move on from one job to another; Accelerating the development of infrastructure projects, as for example the new Delta Works project.
Preventing bankruptcy: In October 2008 the Netherlands raised its guarantee on savings to 100,000 euro; Where necessary the Netherlands will strengthen the balance sheets of generally healthy financial institutions by injecting capital. 20 billion euro has been made immediately available for this purpose.
Government interference by loans: The government is prepared, subject to conditions, to secure loans extended between banks and by institutional investors to banks. This is intended to get credit flowing between financial institutions again. The government anticipates that the State may have to guarantee a total of 200 billion euro worth of loans; Swifter payment of bills by public authorities. This should chiefly benefit small and medium-sized enterprises.
I think that it is necessary for the government to interfere in the credit crisis. On the first place the government is trying to limit the unemployment which will arise in a credit crisis. By interfering in this, people and companies -on the short term- benefit from it.
If the government wouldn’t have interfered, the credit markets would have collapsed. This would result in a breakdown of the financial systems. Government intervention was needed to save credit market on the short term. Re-regulation of financial market is needed to promote responsible behavior in order to prevent stuff like this from happening again.
The key is to avoid a spiral downward and the easiest way for government to do this is to increase spending, or temporarily induce more private sector spending.
The government caused the credit crunch by approving loans, so they can partly held responsible for it. They have to solve the problem and that’s what they are doing right now. So therefore they should interfere in the credit crisis to prevent us from getting in to a crisis like in the 30’s or 80’s.
Monday, 2 November 2009
Limburg vs. Breda
The best part of the Netherlands is the southern part of the province of Limburg. That’s where I grew up and where my parents still live, so every other weekend I am over there. The weekends that I am not in Limburg I spent in Breda, my next favorite part of the Netherlands.
Almost every weekend I go out with friends and/or family in both parts of this country. Going out, for me, doesn’t just mean dancing in clubs, but also going out for a dinner, drinks in a café or going to the movies. All these options are available as well as in Limburg as Breda. But what if I have to make a choice between both?
If I am in limburg and we decide to go to the movies, we go to Foroxity. This is a bios with lots of zalen and in these zalen there are enough seats and the screen is pretty big. In Breda we have the must-see bios, with only 4 zalen with little screens and only a few seats. So going to the movies is much better in Limburg than in Breda.
For drinking a cocktail or wine in a café, Breda has much more options than the places where I come in Limburg, such as Heerlen, Sittard and Maastricht. The cafes in Breda where I often go to are Parc, Dependance, Brooklyn and Sam Sam(mostly after a shopingspree).
Going out to dinner is in both Limburg as Breda very good. Lots of restaurants with different menu’s. One of my favourite restaurants in Breda is La Regina and in Limburg it is ….???
There are no real clubs in Breda, only dancings where we go to. In Limburg there are three clubs where we often go to, namely the Peppermill, Mondial and Bozzini.
As you can see both parts of the Netherlands have much to offer, so making the right choice is very hard. What I find important is that I go out with people that can have as much fun as I do!
Almost every weekend I go out with friends and/or family in both parts of this country. Going out, for me, doesn’t just mean dancing in clubs, but also going out for a dinner, drinks in a café or going to the movies. All these options are available as well as in Limburg as Breda. But what if I have to make a choice between both?
If I am in limburg and we decide to go to the movies, we go to Foroxity. This is a bios with lots of zalen and in these zalen there are enough seats and the screen is pretty big. In Breda we have the must-see bios, with only 4 zalen with little screens and only a few seats. So going to the movies is much better in Limburg than in Breda.
For drinking a cocktail or wine in a café, Breda has much more options than the places where I come in Limburg, such as Heerlen, Sittard and Maastricht. The cafes in Breda where I often go to are Parc, Dependance, Brooklyn and Sam Sam(mostly after a shopingspree).
Going out to dinner is in both Limburg as Breda very good. Lots of restaurants with different menu’s. One of my favourite restaurants in Breda is La Regina and in Limburg it is ….???
There are no real clubs in Breda, only dancings where we go to. In Limburg there are three clubs where we often go to, namely the Peppermill, Mondial and Bozzini.
As you can see both parts of the Netherlands have much to offer, so making the right choice is very hard. What I find important is that I go out with people that can have as much fun as I do!
Tuesday, 6 October 2009
Escalators in the Netherlands
Can you imagine a Dutch person in the big aple New York, standing on an escalator? New York is the city that never sleeps and is always moving. A Dutch person using an escalator will be moved over, the first second he or she will take a step on it. The same goes for Tokyo, Paris, London and other big countries in the western world, where time is scarce.
People in the Netherlands just don’t understand the use of escalators. They stand still on it, even on the left side! If you want to stand still, please do it on the right side, so that other people, can pass you. This is one of my biggest irritations when I am at the train station, in a shopping mall, metro station or any other place where ever is an escalator. In every other country in the world people use escalators for what they are made for; moving faster.
There once was an experiment in the Netherlands, to help the Dutch understand using the escalator. It was held at a big train station. They put up signs, that if you want to stand still please use the right side and put up arrows on the left side in the hope that people would understand that this is the side were they have to move furhter. It just didn’t work!
I don’t know if it is the Dutch mentality or whatever, but it kinda irritates me that most of the Dutch just don’t get the use of escalators. So to all the dutch escalator users: please stand still on the left side and leave the right side for those who do understand the purpose of escalators and who want to pass you!
People in the Netherlands just don’t understand the use of escalators. They stand still on it, even on the left side! If you want to stand still, please do it on the right side, so that other people, can pass you. This is one of my biggest irritations when I am at the train station, in a shopping mall, metro station or any other place where ever is an escalator. In every other country in the world people use escalators for what they are made for; moving faster.
There once was an experiment in the Netherlands, to help the Dutch understand using the escalator. It was held at a big train station. They put up signs, that if you want to stand still please use the right side and put up arrows on the left side in the hope that people would understand that this is the side were they have to move furhter. It just didn’t work!
I don’t know if it is the Dutch mentality or whatever, but it kinda irritates me that most of the Dutch just don’t get the use of escalators. So to all the dutch escalator users: please stand still on the left side and leave the right side for those who do understand the purpose of escalators and who want to pass you!
Saturday, 26 September 2009
Romance, humor and a slice of cultural background
I recently watched the movie Australia with Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman.
The movie was about an aristocratic woman, Lady Sara Ashley(Nicole Kidman), living in England who is following her husband to Australia. He is setting up a range /cattle station in Australia, near Darwin.
When she arrives, her husband is murdered. She is totally in shock, but decides to stay in Australi
a to save the range. She has to make sure that the range won’t become part of the territory of the biggest competitor. To save the cattle station, Lady Ashley has to get her cattle to Darwin, for the army. For this, she gets the help of the cattle drover who works at the range(Hugh Jackman). Together with 5 more workers from the range they start the journey towards Darwin. During this journey Lady Ashley falls in love with the cattle drover and she realises that there is always new life to be had.
I’ve always had some kind of obsession with Australia, but unfortunately I’ve never been there. In this movie you can see the beautiful landscapes Australia has.
I first thought, because it is more a drama movie, that it would be a beautiful but sad story. It actually is a movie with a lot of humor in it. Later I read that the producer of the movie, Baz Luhrmann, is the same who made Moulin Rouge, also with Nicole Kidman. You can notice that he made both movies because there are similarities, especially the humor and the acting of Nicole Kidman.
Another reason why I wanted to see this movie, was Hugh Jackman. He is a great actor, but he also looks very good, especially in this movie as rough cattle driver! You could feel the romance between Lady Ashley and him, from the first moment they met each other. Off course there was some fighting in the first place, but later they fell in love.
If you like a romantic movie, with some cultural background and lots of humor, this is a movie you will have to watch!
The movie was about an aristocratic woman, Lady Sara Ashley(Nicole Kidman), living in England who is following her husband to Australia. He is setting up a range /cattle station in Australia, near Darwin.
When she arrives, her husband is murdered. She is totally in shock, but decides to stay in Australi
a to save the range. She has to make sure that the range won’t become part of the territory of the biggest competitor. To save the cattle station, Lady Ashley has to get her cattle to Darwin, for the army. For this, she gets the help of the cattle drover who works at the range(Hugh Jackman). Together with 5 more workers from the range they start the journey towards Darwin. During this journey Lady Ashley falls in love with the cattle drover and she realises that there is always new life to be had.
I’ve always had some kind of obsession with Australia, but unfortunately I’ve never been there. In this movie you can see the beautiful landscapes Australia has.
I first thought, because it is more a drama movie, that it would be a beautiful but sad story. It actually is a movie with a lot of humor in it. Later I read that the producer of the movie, Baz Luhrmann, is the same who made Moulin Rouge, also with Nicole Kidman. You can notice that he made both movies because there are similarities, especially the humor and the acting of Nicole Kidman.
Another reason why I wanted to see this movie, was Hugh Jackman. He is a great actor, but he also looks very good, especially in this movie as rough cattle driver! You could feel the romance between Lady Ashley and him, from the first moment they met each other. Off course there was some fighting in the first place, but later they fell in love.
If you like a romantic movie, with some cultural background and lots of humor, this is a movie you will have to watch!
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