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Shedding light on the slums of Bangladesh

by Saira Bajwa

Hofstra University Professor Kari Jensen teaches global studies and geography and specializes in the plight of impoverished children in Bangladesh. Jensen, a native of Norway, focuses her research in the slums of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, and has worked with human rights organizations to increase access to education.

Q: Why Bangladesh?

A: My husband is Bangladeshi, so I guess my reasons were romantic. I always wanted to help people but I definitely wanted to focus my attention on Bangladesh because of him. I met him in Norway and went to Bangladesh a few years after we had been married. I’ve been there seven times.

Q: What kind of work did you do?

A: For my last major Ph.D. project I studied the experiences of child domestic workers, or servants, who are sent from poor villages to wealthier families in the city. The grave problem is that these kids are so vulnerable so it just depends on what kind of employer they get. They don’t have anyone to look out for their best interest. They have parents in the village, parents who think that they are sending their child to a better life in the city.

Q: Do these parents send their children away without knowing what’s going on?

A: One of the youngest child servants was five years old. Can you imagine? All alone, without family supervision to make sure they are OK. Kids can be beaten, starved, abused--physically and sexually. Many of the parents in the villages are naïve; they believed the salespeople who came and said their children would be safe and rich and showered with gifts. They really know how to butter these village families up. These parents that I spoke with said they never thought anybody would have a reason to hurt their children. But some of their children came back abused and that’s when they realized the reality. Human Rights Organizations now form networks through the villages so that families can share their experiences and other mothers can be warned of the risks of sending their kids away. It’s a huge step forward.

Q: Were you surprised by the results of any of your research?

A: During one of my research trips I interviewed 240 households in the slums about why their children did not go to school. Almost every single parent hoped their child would go to school because they said it was the only way out of poverty. I was surprised because my findings were different from what I had read in other research. Many research reports and big organizations tend to throw out statements about the poor people being ignorant but in my experience they all recognized the value of education. I guess what I’m trying to say is poor people are not stupid people. They may have varying reasons for not enrolling their children. For example, about 10 percent of the parents said they wouldn’t enroll their kids in school because they were afraid of having their kids go out in traffic. Traffic in Bangladesh is complete chaos and it is very dangerous. Or even just the cost of notebooks, something that sounds really minor to us is unaffordable for many of these families.

Q: Can you describe Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, for someone who has never been to a third world country?

A: I’m teaching South Asian geography class in which I once had a student ask me the same question. A Bangladeshi student in the same class answered, “It’s like the mall at Black Friday, every single day.” It’s such a great description of the markets, the streets, the sidewalks where you never get anywhere. Traveling to a place that should only be 10 minutes away would take hours. There weren’t just cars on the streets. There were lots of rickshaws, bike taxis, even animals. It’s all combined. It’s one of the most densely populated places on earth. It’s also very hot and humid.

Q: Slumdog Millionaire, this year’s Academy Award winning movie, graphically portrays slums in India. Did the slums you visited look anything like that? Or were the slums exaggerated?

A: I loved the movie. Loved it. I was very emotional when I saw it because it reminded me so much of my fieldwork. I walked around the slums for months talking to people and Bangladesh was just like that. It’s not exaggerated. That is how roughly half the urban population lives. That’s the reality. It really is that unhygienic. It’s where they have their babies. That’s where they grew up.

It’s extreme wealth and extreme poverty side-by-side, intermingled. It’s very striking, it’s scary. It’s surreal. You know that’s how the world is -- it’s full of contrasts -- it’s just that it becomes so clear when you see it right in front of you, just side by side like that. And speaking to the rich is depressing because in many cases they couldn’t care less. They become oblivious.

Q: You were in Bangladesh for six months at one point. Did you initially experience culture shock?

A: Oh definitely. The difficult part wasn’t adjusting to the culture. I had learned a little bit of the language. Loved the food. I had many Bangladeshi friends in Norway. I felt comfortable and even excited about culture. The real shock was in seeing poverty up close. I’m not talking about just barely getting by. I mean people with grave difficulties, knocking on my door for food for a starving child. It was hard because I wanted to help everybody and that’s impossible. I just felt very helpless and frustrated.

Q: What is your most vivid memory from Bangladesh?

A: I especially remember a single mother with a tiny, tiny baby who was severely handicapped. The mother was with her brother who was also handicapped. His feet were severely deformed. He was with her for protection. In Bangladesh it’s a huge problem if you’re a woman and you’re on your own. He and the baby were so thin I just started crying. They came knocking at my door, asking for food and I asked them to come back. I bought some baby clothing and a few other things. The baby was so thin and so tiny and looked so much younger than it actually was. It was heartbreaking.

Q: What aspect of the Bangladeshi culture impresses you most?

A: Their use of resources. We have so much to learn. They don’t let anything go to waste. It’s really amazing. Anything like paper, plastic, clothes- they find a way of reusing, recycling anything. Of course we can say they have to because they’re poor. So what: we think we can use as much as we want of anything. But our earth will eventually come to an end if we don’t correct our ways. We have become more materialistic, richer and wealthier but, we’ve forgotten what really matters. Most people realize that relationships matter most. I feel that most Bangladeshis put a lot of emphasis on family. They spend a lot of time with one another.

Q: What is your advice for college students who want to help people and make a difference?

A: Learn about what is going on in the world. Engage yourself in organizations. Try to keep sympathy and empathy high up on the list. We need to identify with the pain of other people to solve problems.

MyWorkster.com and Hofstra alum make job hunt easier

By Samantha Schatz


It all started in a Hofstra University dorm room. In 2005, frustrated with the difficulties of finding an internship because he lacked connections, Jeffrey Saliture founded a web site that is a networking utility for professionals, providing access to myriad of jobs and human resources.

Now, with Saliture’s help, Hofstra became the first university in the United States to provide online career advising through MyWorkster. MyWorkster@Hofstra allows students and graduates to find alumni advisers in a wide variety of professions and offers an innovative way to connect with their alma mater. Other schools on the MyWorkster network include Yale, the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, and the University of Michigan.

Headquartered in Plainview, NY, the site operates on the same principles as networking utilities like Facebook and LinkedIn. MyWorkster's mission, to “help advance ambitious professionals with their career goals” seems to have special appeal in the current economy; the site had more than 250,000 new visitors in the first three months of 2009.

To accommodate the increased demand, he plans to build up MyWorkster’s infrastructure. “More people than ever before are signing up with MyWorkster to find the job they want and deserve,” says Saliture. “We just have to ensure that we have the proper pieces in place to support our growth.” Recently, MyWorkster launched Facebook Connect, a utility that enables users to import Facebook friends into, giving them a larger database of professional contacts.

During Saliture's freshman orientation, he met a senior who was starting his own business, and became inspired. “I remember thinking how far off and impossible starting my own business [seemed] for me,” Saliture recalls. “Little did I know then, that two years later, as a junior, I would be that same guy and have that exact conversation with incoming freshman.” His first business venture was an online site for buying and exchanging textbooks, SaveandTrade.com

Saliture credits his success with his “impassioned avoidance of settling for less.” Indeed, he still hopes to achieve a goal he set for himself as a history major at Hofstra: to attend law school.

MyWorkster from Brian Foote on Vimeo.

Former NYPD officer heads Hofstra's Public Safety

By Samantha Davies

Many students feel uneasy at school because of the high crime rates in Hofstra’s neighboring areas. That’s why the university employed John O'Malley as the Associate Manager of Public Safety. With O’Malley’s NYPD background students can sleep well at night knowing he’s in charge.

O’Malley graduated from Fordham University with a bachelor’s degree in education, but he soon decided to pursue a career in the police force. His love of helping others led him to his 20 years in the NYPD.

Throughout his career in New York City he has experienced devastating incidents such as domestic disputes, fatal accidents, suicides, murders and other harrowing situations. “Every day was a challenge,” says O’Malley, “the amount of cruelty that individuals inflict on one another is beyond comprehension.”

Although it was many years ago, he can still envision the most challenging case in his career. While trying to uncover specific organized crimes, he was ordered to wear recording devices and attend the actual meetings of the suspects. This occurred for a period of over six months and resulted in numerous arrests and convictions in both State and Federal Courts. “There are moments as a police officer that you are frightened or concerned.”

It was after O’Malley retired from the NYPD that he was soon asked to work for Hofstra University Public Saftey department. He has now been here for 21 years and has climbed the ladder up to Associate Manager.

“This career has exposed me to a population I wasn’t familiar with.” As for our safety here at Hofstra, O’Malley assures us that there are no major safety problems, but it’s always important to let Public Safety know if you are feeling uncomfortable. “My advice would be to always be alert to whoever is around you, use the buddy system, utilize public safety escort services and last but not least drink in moderation.”

As to whether or not his career has changed him, “I like to think that it hasn’t changed me, but educated me and made me become more benevolent to the needs of people.”

Rubenfeld leading new wave of political journalists

By Stephany Pena

Click here to view Rubenfeld's work

Professor Maurice Krochmal was vacationing on Fire Island last year when he received an 11 p.m. phone call from one of his journalism students. It was Samuel Rubenfeld.

While reporting on the New Hampshire primaries, Rubenfeld decided to take a bus to Manchester. When he arrived downtown, he had little money and no local connections. He found himself stranded on a dark Elm Street with no place to stay. He decided to call his journalism professor Maurice Krochal for advice.

With Krochmal on the phone guiding him, Rubenfeld made his way to a Dunkin’ Donuts, where he explained his predicament to a young man behind the counter. The young man said his friend could give him a mattress for the night.

The next morning, undaunted, Rubenfeld was back on the reporting trail. Krochmal, who acted as Rubenfeld’s online editor said, Rubenfeld’s “prototypical journalist personality will allow him to apply his passion and quest for the truth in all places.”

Though still an undergraduate, Rubenfeld has already contributed to his hometown weekly newspaper, The Times of Middle Country. In addition, he’s interned for Newsday, The Village Voice and Dow Jones Newswires, where he edited business news as a Dow Jones Newspaper Fund Intern. Now, Rubenfeld spends most of his time as the senior news editor of the Hofstra Chronicle and at the congressional newspaper, The Hill, in Washington, D.C., where he contributes to the Congress Blog.

He was recently chosen as a recipient of the Top 10 Journalism Scholarships in the country by the Scripps Howard Foundation, most notably for his coverage of the 2008 presidential election including directing live online coverage of the Super Tuesday contests.

“His ability reflects the ability of people who have been in the field a long time,” said Stephen Cooney, editor-in-chief of the Chronicle. “He is journalism.”

Rubenfeld says that covering last year’s campaigns and being present at Obama’s first, “Yes We Can” speech were the most defining moments for him. His coverage even caught the eye of Martha Stewart, who asked Rubenfeld to appear on her show to discuss expectations for the final Presidential debate.

A political junkie since high school, Rubenfeld decided to pursue a career in journalism in the spring semester of his freshman year. He took a journalism ethics course at Hofstra with Dr. Steven Knowlton and learned how journalism could be used as a force for good in the world.

“He's certainly inquisitive, well-read, thoughtful, opinionated, loud, and abrasive—just about all the things we want in a journalist,” said Knowlton, who currently teaches at Dublin City University. “As is almost always the case with an 18-year-old, particularly the best ones, we had a little trouble getting him calm and even-handed enough to be considered credible. But that is a result of a passionate commitment and a deep belief in justice and in journalism's ability to fix things.”

Rubenfeld has investigated and reported stories ranging from Governor Eliot Spitzer’s “Troopergate," to Rudolph Giuliani's business ties with the man who sheltered the 9/11 mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

Many of his investigations involved tough obstacles, for example, sources that wouldn’t trust a young reporter or and would withhold information from him. He responded by devoting more time to his reporting.

“Every day the hunt is different, and the battle is diverse, but journalism is not a routine job,” Rubenfeld said. “It takes drive, ambition, and vigor to navigate around those challenges and come up with the story that one is looking for.”

At a time when the media is under fire, Rubenfeld stands out as a stunning example of someone who has succeeded because of his ethical judgment and drive to present the truth.

“There’s nothing like a real-world experience,” Rubenfeld said “It puts you into a state of ecstasy so transcendent that emotionally you will not be able to handle it.”

Watch the video of Rubenfeld on the Martha Stewart show.

English, physics major seeks career in law

A double major in English and physics turns to legal field
By Stephen Cooney

Dan Richford is a senior with a dual degree in physics and English at the University. Add a minor in mathematics and the fact that he is the Copy Chief of the Hofstra Chronicle, and Richford probably has one of the most complicated intellects on campus. This would lead one to believe that he is either going to edit for a living or become a physicist. Yet, his friends insist he’s going to law school. We decided to sit him down and sort this out.

Click here to see quantum physics explained through interpretive dance.

Q: How did you end up majoring in physics and English?

A: Mostly, because I had time. I was originally an engineering major but the engineering major being five years and being, shall we say, every moment of my life being set from then on, I decided physics was the way to go.

Q: You won an award in physics?

A: I was a research assistant for over two summers. We did enough work to put a project together and we took it to an American Physical Society meeting in upstate New York and we won first prize for undergraduate research.

Q: What type of research?

A: I was doing computer modeling of chemical reaction. I really hate explaining the reaction because in layman’s terms, it was basically making a mixture change from red to blue. These reactions seem like they were not important but it has a whole lot of other applications.

Q: Such as?

A: Specifically for the heart. It is the study of an excitable medium that enters into oscillation, which mimics fibrillation in the heart – a heart attack.

Q: How did the award help the school? Did it help with the Particle Center?

A: When a school has the students that are interested and capable of doing the research there is always a chance that they can get noticed for it. Since we won the awards it raised the profile of the school and that helped the school when applying for funding.

Q: Why don’t you want to work in physics?

A: I don’t not want to work in physics. I just need a change from that whole type of work.

Q: So you are going to law school?

A: I always wanted to go to law school. There isn’t really a pre-law so I studied what I liked. I am going to write a book called ‘Why Do Physicists Go to Law School?’

Q: Are you looking at Hofstra Law School?

A: I am not sure if I am going here. I did an even distribution across the top 100 law schools. The Hofstra bracket has said yes. Plus, they were willing to help me out with the finances. I spoke with President Rabinowitz and Berliner about going to school here too. They are both very nice.

Q: What type of physics do you like the best?

A: I am a big fan of elementary particle physics and it figures that the quantum mechanics course would come right when I was getting ready to graduate.

Q: What is elementary particle physics?

A: Well, it is a step down from chemistry. It deals with atoms and electrons. It is the constituents of atoms; protons and neutrons and their constituents and all the other funny particles that tend to be there, like corks and leptons, neurons, neutrinos.

Q: Since you don’t think you are going to be working with all those fancy particles any more, what type of law do you want to practice?

A: I always liked different languages and different cultures so I am thinking international law.

Q: How is physics going to help with that? I guess physics is a culture, but protons don’t need lawyers.

A: Some protons might; they are kind of squirrelly. There are indistinguishable particles and indistinguishable particles need representation.

Law professor fights for fair pay

By Ryan Sexton

“I always wanted to be a lawyer,” says Joanna Grossman, an associate professor in the Hofstra School of Law. “I definitely have a very combative personality!”

She has used this passion to fight against sexual harassment and sex-based discrimination in the workplace. To Grossman, it is mystifying that despite the amount of legal work done to eradicate sexual harassment, “it still continues to have a pervasive effect on women’s experience in the workplace.” Over time, she says, “there’s been very little actual reduction in sexual harassment.”

In addition to sexual harassment, Grossman is interested in other areas of discrimination and in family law. “I’m very interested in the way law affects individual lives,” she says. “That’s a sort of over-arching theme to the kind of work that I do.” Though she’s had plenty of high points in her career, she says her most recent was during her tenure at the University. “What I like most about teaching law is providing the structure,” she says.

While many Hofstra students were trying to score tickets to the Presidential Debate, Grossman was pushing the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 in Washington, D.C. Lily Ledbetter was once an ordinary production supervisor at Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. When she left in 1998, she was waiting on feedback from a pay discrimination complaint she had filed. In the end, it was discovered that she often received as much as 40 percent less than her male counterparts, even ones ranking slightly lower than her.

The case made its way to the Supreme Court, where, sadly for Ledbetter, it was shot down based on a time limitation. In most states, action had to be taken within 180 days of receipt of pay deemed discriminatory. Grossman became an advocate for revamping the law to make that time limitation much more realistic.

On January 29, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act became the first bill President Barack Obama signed into law. “I had the opportunity to be in the White House the day they were doing anything important for the first time,” says Grossman. Although the law won’t directly benefit Mrs. Ledbetter, it will likely help women for years to come.