Beyond the Threshold: Life in the New Russia

Amanda Sprang spent nine months, from September of 1995 to May of 1996, studying at Colby College's program in St. Petersburg, Russia. Through contacts made during previous trips to Russia in middle and high school, Amanda was able to quickly rekindle her old friendships and make new ones with many young Russians from different backgrounds. The following work is a collection of twelve essays about life in the New Russia. The essays are framed by a foreword and an epilogue that help place the entire work in a historical context. Although the theme of each essay emerges from a particular incident, within every story Amanda has addressed numerous topics relating to Russian life in today’s changing society. Her first essay, “Art Klinika," takes place in an avant-garde night club in St. Petersburg, and includes a brief yet impressionable, encounter with three young Russian men. “The Birthday Party” recalls a wild evening at the home of her close friend, showing how the Russians greet special occasions. Both the third and fourth essays take place in Moscow, where Amanda returns to visit old friends. These two essays portray the lives of the new economic elite in comparison with the average citizen, as well as show how young Russians face the new challenges that greet them. "Politics Russian Style" recalls a political rally in St. Petersburg, and attempts to shed light on the wacky political world of an infant democracy. Chapters Six through Ten take place away from the western cities of St. Petersburg and Moscow, as Amanda brings us to the cold, mysterious land of Siberia in the dead of winter. She recounts her five day train ride with a retired, high-powered, Communist party official, her experiences in the provincial city of Irkutsk, and a brief trip to a Buddhist monastery and, later, an excursion to Lake Baikal. Back in St. Petersburg, Chapter Eleven gives a humorous account of a ski trip with several Russian friends. Amanda finishes her work with her final chapter, “The Dacha," which describes a weekend spent at a Russian country home with her friend's family.

Interview with Jeuel Esmacher Bannister

In her January 20, 2015 interview with Michelle Dubert-Bellrichard, Jeuel Esmacher Bannister details her time at Winthrop from 1940-1944. Shared are the memories of professors in the music department, her opinions on the expectations of students, and going to school during WWII. Esmacher Bannister recalls stories of the Army Air Corps Cadets on campus, and the courses offered by the U.S. government that led Esmacher Bannister to a career as a Japanese and Russian cryptographer. This interview was conducted for inclusion into the Louise Pettus Archives and Special Collections Oral History Program.

Análise cognitiva do estudo comparativo entre estratégias humanas de tradução e mecanismos de traduções automáticos

Embora os progressos na área de informática sejam bastante significativos e velozes, na tradução automática há muito ainda o que ser feito. Desde meados dos anos 40 já havia um interesse, em especial pelos americanos e ingleses, numa tradução mais rápida e eficiente de documentos russos, porém até hoje o que se vê em termos de tradução automática está aquém daquilo que se possa chamar de uma boa tradução. Para buscar uma tradução automática eficiente os cientistas têm usado como fonte principal meios estatísticos de solução para tal problema. Esse trabalho visa dar um novo enfoque a tal questão, buscando na ciência cognitiva sua principal fonte de inspiração. O resultado a que se chega com o presente trabalho é que a estatística deve continuar sendo sim uma fonte de auxílio em especial na definição de padrões. Porém, o trabalho trás consigo o propósito de levantar a sobreposição semântica como via de possível solução que possa vir auxiliar, ou, até mesmo trazer maior rapidez a questão da tradução automática. No campo organizacional levanta uma questão interessante, o valor da experiência como meio inteligente de buscar melhores resultados para as empresas.

A crise econômica de 2008 e a Rússia: consequências e fragilidade da economia russa.

Esta dissertação tem como objetivo geral analisar as conseqüências da crise de 2008 na economia russa e como objetivos específicos: apontar as fragilidades da economia russa e a sua consequente vulnerabilidade a choques econômicos externos, além de analisar os efeitos da dependência do petróleo na geração de receitas para o governo e para o PIB do país no contexto da crise. Dessa forma, o trabalho será dividido em cinco partes: Introdução, Capítulo 2 - onde se discutirá a Crise de 2008 e os seus efeitos na economia global, Capítulo 3 - onde se abordará a crise e a Rússia, Capítulo 4 - onde será analisada a dependência russa, através de um teste estatístico de regressão linear simples, em relação às exportações de gás natural e mais profundamente às de petróleo e Conclusão.

The BRICS: some historical experiences, growth challenges and opportunities

The acronym BRICS was a fad among the media and global investors. Now, the acronym sounds passé. However, the group of countries remains important, from both political and economic reasons. They have a large aggregate size, 28% of the global GDP and 42% of the world’s population, high growth potential due to the current significant misallocation of resources and relatively low stock of human capital, structural transformation is in progress and one of them, China, is taking steps to become a global power and a challenger to the US dominance. This paper provides a brief overview of the five economies, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. We focus on some aspects of their history, the Chinese initiatives in international finance and geopolitical strategic moves, their growth experience and structural transformation over the last 35 years, trade and investment integration into the global economy and among themselves, the growth challenges faced by their economies and the potential gains to the Brazilian economy from a stronger integration with the other BRICS. In association with its efforts to be a global power, China aims to become a major player in global finance and to achieve the status of global currency for the renminbi, which would be the first currency of an emerging economy to attain such position. Despite the similarities, the BRICS encompass very diverse economies. In the recent decades, China and India showed stellar growth rates. On the other hand, Brazil, Russia and South Africa have expanded just in line with global output growth with the Russian economy exhibiting high volatility. China is by far the largest economy, and South Africa the smallest, the only BRICS economy with a GDP lower than US$ 1 trillion. Russia abandoned communism almost 25 years ago, but reversed many of the privatizations of 90’s. China is still ruled by communism, but has a vibrant private sector and recently has officially declared market forces to play a dominant role in its economy. Brazil, Russia and South Africa are global natural resources powerhouses and commodity exporters while China and India are large commodity importers. Brazil is relatively closed to international trade of goods and services, in marked contrast to the other four economies. Brazil, India and South Africa are dependent on external capital flows whereas China and Russia are capital exporters. India and South Africa have younger populations and a large portion living below the poverty line. Despite its extraordinary growth experience that lifted many millions from poverty, China still has 28% of its population classified as poor. Russia and China have much older populations and one of their challenges is to deal with the effects of a declining labor force in the near future. India, China and South Africa face a long way to urbanization, while Brazil and Russia are already urbanized countries. China is an industrial economy but its primary sector still absorbs a large pool of workers. India is not, but the primary sector employs also a large share of the labor force. China’s aggregate demand structure is biased towards investment that has been driving its expansion. Brazil and South Africa have an aggregate demand structure similar to the developed economies, with private consumption accounting for approximately 70%. The same similarity applies to the supply side, as in both economies the share of services nears 70%. The development problem is a productivity problem, so microeconomic reforms are badly needed to foster long-term growth of the BRICS economies since they have lost steam due a variety of factors, but fundamentally due to slower total factor productivity growth. China and India are implementing ambitious reform programs, while Brazil is dealing with macroeconomic disequilibria. Russia and South Africa remain mute about structural reforms. There are some potential benefits to Brazil to be extracted from a greater economic integration with the BRICS, particularly in natural resources intensive industries and services. Necessary conditions to the materialization of those gains are the removal of the several sources of resource misallocation and strong investment in human capital.