- Stockholm School of Economics in Riga

#5 (66), Nov 2004
The Anniversary Issue
EDITORIAL
M
an, it is always so
difficult to write an editorial… It is complex because it is a serious task:
you cannot make fool out
of yourself, you must say
something valuable, you
must introduce to the
newspaper, you must also
touch upon the most important realities of the
school’s life and preferably
of life in general… It is goddamn complicated!
OK, let’s start. This Insider will be issued during the 10th Anniversary
of the school. That’s something for a
start! A significant date, and we must
mention it in some way (the bad thing
is that everyone will be talking about it
anyway, so we won’t have anything
valuable to say, ahh).
Secondly, it is necessary to say something valuable and wise. To provide the
readership of the official newspaper of
the Stockholm School of Economics in
Riga with a sense of inspiration for the
whole next month and strengthen their
motivation in their quest for brighter
future of the mankind! (Exalted music
playing in the background…) We could
start: “The autumn has come, and the
leaves are falling… Through the foliage
of red, yellow and orange, we start our
journey…” Crap! Or maybe, as it is the
anniversary anyway, we could write:
“We will have a remarkable celebration! But it is important to ask yourself
what does the Anniversary really mean
to you. As such celebrations come
unnoticeably, we should all stop and
think about…” Nope, a trivial nonsense.
These “wise words” usually end up
with pathetic soap-opera style whimpering.
Or we could give some moral lessons
about life, about its values. Maybe
touching on the arrogance or selfishness
or free-riding of SSE students… Ah yes!
The easy copy-paste way: finding an
original quotation (go to
Google, write “inspiring
quotations” and enjoy the
opportunities provided by
the man-made miracle
called the internet). Let’s
search for some wise guys…
Lucius Seneka! A quote by
him: “Man is a reasoning
Animal”. True, but somehow
seems a little out of focus…
“We make a living by what
we get. We make a life by
what we give”(Winston
Churchill). “Nothing is as
terrible to see as ignorance
in action” (Goethe). Nothing
new. Let us look for someone
smarter… There it is! The great philosopher Homer Simpson: “All life’s answers
are on TV”. A great one, but slightly too
sophisticated for our newspaper. Unfortunately, the internet is not going to
save us either.
B
ut the deadline is approaching,
and, surprisingly or ironically, it seems
that this nasty fact itself will solve the
problems. According to one clever man,
deadline creates inspiration. And it really does: such was the case of this editorial, which was written
just before the school was
closed at 2 AM. This was
the last night to finish
the Insider.
INSIDE THE INSIDER
Published by SSE Riga
Information Committee
Strçlnieku ielâ 4a,
Rîga LV-1010
Phone: +371 7331183
Fax: +371 7331183
GSM: +371 9193537
http://www.sseriga.edu.lv
Editorial Team
Editor: Tomas Sudnius
Co-Editors: Vytautas Kuokstis,
Lili Madissoon
Info.com: Ieva Darvina
Pagemaker: Lili Madissoon
Proofreader: Laura Mikelsone
Most Photos: Petras Jurkuvenas
Software for newspaper and web design
is provided by
Adobe Systems, Inc.
Page 4
Page 5
Pages 6-7
Pages 8-9
Pages 10-11
Pages 12-13
Page 14
Page 15
Pages 16-17
Page 18
Page 19
Page 20
The Insider #5 (66), Nov 2004; Page 2
Excellence: The Man above
Previous Insider team’s memories
Opinion: Computers at School
Graduate: Choosing the Opportunities
Personality: Closer look at Gazelles
Dormitories
Exchange: Wszystko w porzadku
Activity: Trip to Belarus
Flashback: Baptizing
The Insider Movie
Winged Words of Lecturers
Gossips
INFO.COM
News! News! News!
Stockholm School of Economics is celebrating its 10th Anniversary. Students have
the chance to experience two roles during this event, namely to be guests themselves and be hosts for others. A number of events are held in order to mark this
significant date.
During the seminar on the 8th of November it will be possible to meet all the
rectors of Stockholm School of Economics in Riga – Prof. Jan-Erik Vahlne (1993 –
1995), Dr. Jan Eklof (1996-1997), Prof. Leif Muten (1997 – 1999), Dr. Anders Paalzow
(1999-present) as they will lead it together.
Reception in the Opera House will host different famous artists from all the
Baltic countries. These include a ballet dancer Egle Spokaite from Lithuania, opera
singers Isaai Zaharov (Estonia), Inese Galante (Latvia) and a performance by Maria Naumova (Latvia) & James Werts (Estonia)
will take place. Moreover, during the event the School will give
a wonderful present to its guests - a book “Stockholm School of
Economics in Riga Retrospect 1994 – 2004).
Experience exchange for
Student Association
Board
During the Latvian National Independence day Student Association Board
plans to visit Student Association of
Stockholm School of Economics. The
purpose of this visit is to continue sharing experience which started during the Swedes’ visit to Riga. The
two associations have already
been cooperating for several years.
General Meeting of Student Association Board
Visitors
A group of visiting students from
Freiburg will be in our school premises
on 8th of November.
On the 27th of October the General
meeting of Student Association
Board took place in order to discuss
hot issues such as lack of feedback
from lecturers, financial issues of
Student Association, changing
Student Association articles and
launching a new web site of the
Student Association.
New SA web page
The new Student Association web
page has been launched. The page has a
new outlook, an updated info, and a
new
web-address:
http://
sa.sseriga.edu.lv . Everyone is welcome
to visit it. More features will come soon.
Meeting of SSE Riga
Lithuanian Alumni
Meeting-seminar of SSE Riga Lithuanian
Alumni took place in Vilnius on the 8th of
October. The program included presentations
given by SSE Lithuanian graduates, as well
as some guest-speakers (Estonian entrepreneurs among them). The
themes ranged from advertising industry to
establishing a joint stock
company with minimum costs.
The Insider #5 (66), Nov 2004; Page 3
EXCELLENCE
The Man above (on the second floor)
In this interview, you will meet a man who probably has the best imagination
in SSE Riga. For his speeches he can get inspiration from the most unexpected
areas or objects: giraffes, uterus and babies being born, transformation of closed
minds into open ones and many others. Furthermore, he is known not only for
his imagination, but also for his power that this person possesses in this educational institution. Meet Anders Paalzow, the rector of SSE Riga.
By Julija Dzigulska &
Vytautas Kuokstis
Could you tell some basic facts about
yourself?
Undergraduate and Doctor’s degree
both come from my Stockholm School. I
studied two years in the U.S. for my
PhD. I worked for the Stockholm School,
I worked for the Ministry of Finance. I
also worked in hospital and for SSE
Riga. That’s my short CV.
Did you study economics in the University?
No. It was a little bit strange. I
planned to become an auditor, but then
I changed, and my PhD was in economics (What a dramatic change!).
What can you say about your childhood?
Describing my childhood in a few
words, it was a nice one, quite active
on, with a lot of sports.
What kind of sports?
Tennis and cycling in summer, skiing
and skating in winter.
What was your study time like?
It was very nice being a student in
Stockholm, because the program was
scheduled so that the Fridays would
often turn out to be free (Nice idea, by the
way).
Were you much socially involved
during your study time?
No. I think I was kind of a typical person at SSE Stockholm, at least in those
years. Many of us had come from the
area. We did not have enough time. I
had sports activities (tennis club).
Many of my friends have been more
active in the Student Association.
How do you spend your leisure time?
I still do some sports, some tennis,
downhill skiing. I do cross-country skiing in Latvia, as it is a little bit too short
here for downhill skiing (What about using the imagination?). I haven’t done skating here, but what is a good practice for
skiing is to do roller-blades, which I do
in Mezaparks (Don’t embarrass the rector
shouting “Watch him” and “Catch him”
in case you meet him there).
What do you do apart from sports?
I have a summer-house in Sweden
where I spend much time… well, not
gardening because I am not good at that,
but maintaining the house, painting, repairing. I do fishing there. It is a place
where I spend most of my vacation time.
Going abroad is not that exciting anyway, as I travel a lot.
What is your favorite feast to celebrate?
My birthday definitely not. New Year:
I never liked it for some reason as it
seems kind of pathetic to me. So then it
is probably Christmas as it is a family
gathering.
Do you prefer giving or receiving
presents?
I am very poor when people ask me
what I want for presents. I think it is
more fun to give presents. I like to figure out what people need.
How do you cope with stress in the
work?
Stress? I don’t know actually, I do not
think it affects me that much (Maybe
summertime meditation helps?).
What about signing 1000 invitations?
No, actually, 2000. You just accept it
in some way. Signing invitations is not
the favorite part of my job. Signing invitations and rejection letters is not fun.
But signing diplomas is fun.
How did you become the rector of
SSE Riga?
I was here from the very beginning. I
first taught a macro-economics course
here. Then for several reasons I got more
and more involved in the administration, and in 1999 I was appointed the
rector (Does that mean that our next rector
will be a Dane who loves Ferraris?).
In your opinion, how has SSE Riga
changed during your time here?
We are more open both internationally and nationally. We have exchange
programs that we did not have three or
four years ago. We also have opened up
The Insider #5 (65), Nov 2004; Page 4
in running entrepreneurship activities.
How would you describe a perfect
student of SSE Riga?
I was far from being a perfect student
myself. Perfect students should be fairly
open to opportunities.
What does SSE Riga mean to you?
That’s a tough question. Work, a lot of
work, fun, a lot of interesting things to
do. Because you are able in the position
like this to develop things, to learn a lot
when living not in your native country, what makes it interesting, and
sometimes troubling, no matter how
much time you’ve spent in a foreign
country, and also you have this opportunity to put things into action.
What is your favorite place in this
building? Your chair maybe?
No, I spend too much time sitting on
it. It’s cafeteria where I can go and eat
something (Do you have discounts
there?) No I do not have any, by the
way, I was the last one to get to know
that if you are employed buy the school
you do not need to pay for tea and coffee, so I paid for it quite a long time before I realized. One of the towers is a
very nice place. Maybe I should go there
more often and hide.
And your favorite place in the city of
Riga?
(Murmuring the question again…)May be
some kind of a bar? Ohhh, no no no… I
cannot go to the bars, because I know
that there is high probability that at
least one student will see me in Riga. I
go quite often to Mezaparks, I like the
beaches although it’s not Riga – in summertime if not every evening but several evenings a week I go swimming to
Jurmala. I go quite often to the Doma
Steakhouse on Smilsu iela, I know the
owner, he is a Swedish-Latvian guy (giggling). There I can always meet some
Swedish guys and talk to them. Oh! The
Opera is also very nice.
What kind of bad
habits do you overall have?
I have lot of
bad
habits
(thoughtfully). Lot of
them, but I don’t know
whether I should mention all of them. I feel comfortable with my bad
INSIDER
habits. I tend to sleep very little, I prefer
to work in the evenings, if I were to decide I would make working hours after
lunch and work till midnight.
What would you answer given the
same question as you give to
interviewees? What is the biggest weakness that you have?
That is the tough one. I have several
of them… First of all, I would not have
made the tests and so would not be invited to the interview. If I would anyway have been invited for an interview.. my weakest point… some related
to… I cannot score very high on this
question because I know how a good
answer should look like… ok, sometimes I spend too much time here, that I
think if you are in management position work takes too much
time…You will never find a balance between professional and
non-professional life in a management position. Sometimes
you make a better trade-off,
sometimes worse. I think I am
sometimes a bit poor in making
a good trade-off. (Would you admit Anders to SSE Riga?)
So would it be a good answer?
It is not very specific. To some
extent it reflects that I am quite
happy with myself and bad
things I might have, but it also reflects I
would say not a very good answer.
How do you see yourself in ten years
time?
I don’t see. If you had asked me ten
years ago about my future, I would
never have thought about Riga.
Do you have a dream?
Sometimes a dream is to retire. I also
want to do research. Or have at least
one year off.
Where do you get inspiration for your
speeches?
It always comes one day or one hour
before the speech. The deadline creates
the inspiration.
Do you have stage fright?
Not so much. When I was about 10
years old, I played quite a lot of theatre
(We wonder what kind of characters). I also
played piano in auditoriums. I got used
to that. But you should be a little nervous.
But it’s very good to experience. I always therefore encourage people to be
teaching assistants (Revenge purposes?).
For me it was the worst experience. I
had students that were much older than
me.
Do you have any kind of expectations
concerning the anniversary?
Of course, a lot of people will come. I
think many of those involved in organizing will be happy when it is over,
maybe relieved. It will be a nice party,
however.
Do you have anything to add?
No… I do not feel very comfortable
talking about myself. It is much easier
to talk about the school.
Previous Insider team’s memories
As this issue is dedicated to the Anniversary, we asked
some people from previous Insider teams to share their
memories.
Previous editor about the Insider:
The idea that mass media shapes the mind, attitudes, and
values of people emerged not a day ago. Mass media was a
tool used by the Soviet Union and by Hitler in Germany to
convince people of what seemed necessary for the rulers of
those days. This means is still used quite widely in some
backwoods of the world. The printed press is one type of
mass media and not the weakest one. All what’s needed is 1)
a piece of paper; 2) a talented and charismatic hand; 3) the
people who would read what is written. And the mind of
students could be in your hands. You could manipulate them,
change their thoughts, and pack their heads with stupid (or
smart) thoughts. In SSE Riga, we had a piece of paper (=The
Insider) and the audience. Unfortunately, we didn’t have really talented and charismatic hands, as most of the hands in
this school are better at writing Black & Scholes formula
calculations or the theory of Schumpeter than at composing
a piece convincing of anything. Well, no wonder, we are not
studying psychology…
On the other hand, there are several positive things about
it: students of SSE Riga still have their bright and critical
minds. Maybe sometimes too critical for that piece of paper
of the school, which, I hope, is getting better and better each
year…
By LB
Previous pagemaker about the Insider:
* Do you know what advantage I had? :) I read all the gossip stories before publishing. And since the gossip page was
the most wanted - most people read that first - that was a
real advantage. And I must admit that I deleted rumours
about me that I didn’t like. Because of that there was a gossip
saying that if there is gossip about Vadims P. (that’s me) then
he is the author. :)
* The readers usually don’t know what it takes to create an
interesting, information-rich and entertaining newspaper
in 2 days before the deadline when there are just two ready
articles for 4 pages... Well, we know. It takes the whole weekend of writing and proofreading, coaxing people who can
write something sensible. The fun part, of course, was filling
the Gossip page. (Tip for future generations: pictures take
more space and better attract attention. Use collages and
photo stories!)
* Each new The Insider is as a child to its creators. I understood that once when the final version of the newspaper
was being copied to the optical disc. Suddenly something
wrong happened to the computer. The file was lost completely. That caused huge stress to me. I recreated the newspaper in record time, but the work overload led to a very
serious illness. So please, respect the work of people who
contribute to The Insider and don’t throw the newspaper
on the floor.
By Vadims P.
The Insider #5 (66), Nov 2004; Page 5
OPINION
Journalistic Investigation
Computers at School: the Harsh Reality
By Sherlock Holmes
Something new on the 3rd
floor
The inspiration to write this article
came suddenly and unexpectedly – this
is the way all inspirations behave. One
day a builder switched his equipment
into the power socket where I used to
switch my laptop. As some of you may
have already understood, I am talking
about the third floor and the place
which was used for putting your
laptops and which is now closed and
where you can find Rasa, Liberts and
their mysterious businesses.
However, I am not going to concentrate only on the problems of
our beloved lap-topers. Instead,
I will take a look at all the technical (computer) possibilities we have at
the school by starting from the savage
computer labs.
Savage Com labs
Does anyone know where to get
equipment which measures the level of
noise? One “quiet” and cozy place on
the 5th floor definitely needs some investigation. As most of us know, it is
not the only problem in the labs. Even
greater one is the “Peak time”. It is a
special event where 330 students from
the Baltic countries compete among
themselves trying to get one of the 34
computers. It is a traditional event
which happens every time someone
has a deadline. In fact, you can minimize the harm of noise by putting on
a big headphones full volume (as a
result half of Com labs can not work),
but how to get a free computer?!
This is where the most entertaining part begins. As students usually
are creative persons, they think of
many ways how to act. Some brief
examples: logging in before lectures
and leaving many windows open
and a table covered with different
crap; logging the missing person off and later telling him/
her that someone has done it
before you. Last year some
people before thesis deadline came to
school at 7
a.m. to book a
computer.
Some left computers logged
in overnight
(with a table
full of crap) before the macro
deadline.
There
are
some more solutions: to become a member of SA or IT
support or to search in the library catalogue for some hours. Some other features of Com labs: unsustainable
heat and lack of fresh air (in the
middle of October), the ability to see
how frames change on the monitor,
20Mb on the Z:/ drive (e.g. G mail
(Google mail) – 1000Mb), etc.
Buy a laptop?
A good option seems to save some
money, buy a gun and visit a bank in
order to buy a lap top. Not so easy, fellow! My small research shows that not
everything is as smooth as it may seem.
If someone noticed me walking with a
pen and sheet of paper around the
school counting power sockets and
tables, that person should understand
the point now. First of all, about the
classic (wire) connection to the internet:
there are 4 places in the 3rd and 7 in the
The Insider #5 (66), Nov 2004; Page 6
4th floor. One interesting notice in the
Com labs – there are numerous free
slots in two big hubs (the place where
you plug in your wire); however, it is
not possible to reach them unless you have a 10-meterlength wire and are willing to
play a Spiderman. It seems
that one needs to possess extraordinary
imagination in order to put those hubs
in a more inaccessible location. The two
tables that last year contributed as
home for lap-topers now seem to be
cast-off. So we have 11 hubs on the 3rd
and 4th flours plus 2 accessible on the
5th floor: in total, only 13 places. Doesn’t
seem like an outstanding number compared to the big community of lap-topers (comparison: there are 13 Year2
Lithuanians who currently possess a
portable computer).
How much laptops can
be used?
One may think that you only
have to save 20LVL and then
forget the meaning of the word
“hub”. And again the answer is
that everything is not so smooth. At
least until the time they will invent
wireless power supply and wireless
tables. At this point I am making the
assumption (this is what SSE Riga students are good at) that every lap top
needs power supply. The grounds for
this assumption are that my computer
actively works not more than 2 hours.
I believe that most laptops don’t overrun 3 hours limit, unless you posses a
OPINION
white Apple. And in two hours I only
manage to go through Delfi, not mentioning the time that is required to write
a report.
The second assumption is about
tables. As we are primarily concentrating on working purposes, sofas downstairs are rejected as not suitable for creating a report or thesis. So what do we
have?
Location
5th floor, room near IT support
5th floor, middle room
5th floor, room on the left
4th floor
4th floor restroom
3rd floor
Total
After looking at the table, you may
ask how the hell it happens that there
are 6 power supplies, 3 tables and only
1 place to plug in our laptop!? I would
call it inefficient allocation of recourses.
All in all, we have 24 places where to
use a laptop. Of course, it is an approximation; moreover, we made some assumptions that could not hold in all the
cases. However, I would argue that this
Power Tables Places to switch a laptop
sockets (places) (consist of a table and a
reachable power socket).
~6
2
0
10
~7***
9
34
3
1
2
7
10
8
31
1
1
0
7
7
8
24
*You may ask why the library is not included into the table. The answer is simple: there is no
internet connection available there for quite a long period already. Moreover, it works only till
20.00.
**There are also a few power sockets and a bunch of tables in the cafeteria; however, as far as I
am concerned those tables are primarily intended for eating purposes.
***Leave one for switching on lamps, as there is not enough light there.
The numbers presented in this table are a bit extreme. It is hard to imagine 10 laptopers in the
restroom + some other people studying. The supply of oxygen will go far below zero.
number is quite accurate. At peak times
it is even less, as many people use laptop
places for studying purposes or team
meetings (e.g. study room). Yes, some
additional tables could (should) be put,
but this will not solve all problems as
there are limits of air, space and
etc…This is not only a problem of sockets or tables, it is also about territory.
Attempts to jam a lot of people in a small
place create pornography instead of
good working conditions.
3rd floor again
This moment is a perfect time to remember how we started the article the end of the 3rd floor and all the magic
moments that were experienced there.
Suddenly, and what is most important,
silently it is gone. No discussion, no sentences in the AB minutes, nothing. I will
not elaborate on students’ rights and
how it should be in the democratic
school – everyone has his/her own beliefs about the ways our school should
function. Now if you have some free
minutes, take a tour around the school.
But this time avoid Soros, library, second and sixth floors. Better visit SA, IT
support and the Investment fund.
The Insider #5 (66), Nov 2004; Page 7
GRADUATE
Interview with Janis Teteris
Teteris, the president of the Alumni Association
Choosing the Opportunities
By Diana Berzina &
Laura Mikelsone
Most of the readers of the Insider
don’t know you. What are the main facts
you would like to uncover about yourself?
I graduated from SSE in 1996, we
were the first class to graduate. Before
that I studied 2 years at the University
of Latvia in two programs – International Economics Relations in B.Sc. in
Business Administration program and
Tourism&Hotel Management in B.Sc. in
Economics program.. Actually I managed to get all three bachelor degrees
within one week. 2 degrees from LU and
of course SSE RIGA…
Is it actually possible to manage all
that at the same time?
Well, I believe that the more a person
does, the more one is capable of doing!
Since I was not sure what I wanted to
do after graduating from high school, I
took up two programs at the University of Latvia. At that time I also was
looking for an opportunity to study at
Stockholm School of Economics, and
they advised me to come back to Riga
to apply to SSE RIGA which was supposed to open the following spring. So
that is how I entered SSE RIGA. However, I didn’t want to leave studies at
LU half-done, so I continued studying
there in parallel.
Wasn’t it hard?
It was a bit tough during the examination sessions at LU! And it was even
more difficult when I was writing my
thesis. At that time, there were a few of
us who called computer labs their
home. Work a little, sleep a little, work
a little and so on…
What about social activities at SSE?
I was sports.com at that time. That
was the first year when the students
went to France on Five Ball Tournament.
We also came up with the idea to have
summer symposium in Engure.
How about academic performance?
Actually, I have never had an aim to
be the top student! My grades were usually somewhere around the middle.
Even in primary school, I was an aver-
age student. I enjoy more doing various different things at the same time.
All the extra activities I had, were
quite time consuming!
And what did you do after graduating?
My first job was at Deloitte&Touche
and the first assignment I had to work
on was liquidation of “Banka Baltija”.
After a year I switched jobs as investors from Finland offered me to establish an insurance company Sampo,
which I was managing for three years.
Now I have established my own insurance brokerage company Pirmais
Brokeris. In the mean time I have also
just returned from Stockholm School of
Economics in Sweden, where I got my
M.Sc. in International Business and Economics plus an award for an excellent
thesis that I wrote together with Mexican fellow Gerardo. It was presented to
us in the same building, where Nobel
awards are given, that was quite an
impressive moment.
How old are you?
Very old. I just celebrated a jubilee –
turned 30!!
What are your memories about SSE?
Well, the first thing that comes to
mind is the fact that when we started
studying at SSE, the school building
was not finished! First courses, e.g.,
teambuilding were held at the department of Geography (LU). I remember it
was extremely hot outside as it was the
middle of July, all the windows were
open, and we had to study…Besides the
lectures were from early morning till
late at night! And of course, the open-
The Insider #5 (65), Nov 2004; Page 8
ing ceremony of School was a remarkable event. The king of Sweden and the President of Latvia
were the ones to “open” the
school.
Another thing that was different
about our time was that we felt as one
big happy family – there were only 56
students, all Latvians and we had very
good relationship with the administration. It was a bit different from today as
the average age at that time was around
23, most of us had some work experience or had studied elsewhere. A very
good real life experience was gained,
when the school organized an internship trip for all the students to
Stockholm which lasted for two weeks.
We had the opportunity to go by ferry
Estonia one month before it sank! During these two weeks we had presentations and also worked for different companies. And, of course, the
graduation…It was held in the yard of
SSE and there was an article on the first
page of Diena about SSE having their
first graduation!
How many students from the first
year actually graduated?
52 out of 56! One was expelled for
cheating, one was not able to manage
school and work at the
same time and two did not
pass Finance… yes, it was
the same situation at that
time! Peter has complained
that he was not allowed to
fail substantial amount of
students in Stockholm, so
SSE RIGA students get a
double number of fails!
What about Alumni Association?
Some things about the
history… Two course
mates of mine decided that
we should keep in touch after graduating! They established this association
right after our graduation. Of course, at
that time, the interest was not significant, as we were the first year, everybody knew everyone, and most of us
just didn’t see the need for such an association. I helped these two guys with
administrative matters, paper forming
and stuff. That is how I got involved.
After two years we had a meeting and
somehow I turned out to be elected as
the president of the association. Then I
GRADUATE
put more focus on organizing social
events for alumni.
Can you name some of them?
Basically, the aim was to meet each
other and have fun. Of course, organizing is time consuming, but it is worth
it. To mention a few of the events…
bobsleigh in Sigulda, go-carts tournament in Bikernieki, Beach volley tournament in Saremaa, skiing in Otope.
There have been two BIG FISH events –
extreme relaxing with competitions in
fish ponds. Forgot to mention – fish is
another hobby of mine. I’m sure there
will be BIG FISH 3 next year, which will
include rubber boat rally – an idea taken
from Estonians. We’ve also had bowling tournaments, annual hockey tournaments. We have also taken up the idea
of educational events, like forums for the
graduates, where they themselves
would have presentations as well as
guest speakers would be invited. This
year the 3rd Alumni Forum will be held.
Anyways, most of the information on
our activities can be found on
www.alumni.lv!
How do you see the future of Alumni
Association?
I strongly believe that more younger
graduates should be involved, the
graduates of the very recent years.
Somehow I feel that the association
needs a new president and new active
members, who could implement new
and fresh ideas! Secondly, the cooperation with Lithuanians and Estonians
should be promoted. I know that
Lithuanians have some sort of their
own organization for alumni, but active cooperation is slowed down due to
the geographical borders. We have had
events in Lithuania and Estonia though,
which means that it is not impossible
after all.
If you had to list the priorities of your
life…
Well, the main thing for me is to do
things that are of interest to me and that
enriches my horizons. It is extremely
important to do, what you enjoy doing! But the danger of doing many
things at the same time is a potential
loss of focus, loss of the larger picture! I
am sort of a project-oriented person – I
decide on particular things what have
to be done first, and concentrate on
reaching the results on them!
And where do family and friends
show up?
I doubt that one can prioritize family
and work and friends. They all are important part of our lives and for me they
cannot be compared or prioritized. The
question to ask ourselves is how do we
mix them together, where do we find
our balance. Though each person has to
find a balance that suits him/her the
most!
In my life, friends and family play
very important role. Having common
hobbies is an excellent way of spending
time together with friends. As for my
own family, I am thinking about it a lot!
Family should become more important
part of my life in the future.
How do you see yourself after some
40 years?
I’d like to do something for the sake of
doing it and enjoying it, not for the
money! I’d also like to travel a lot and
relax out in the nature with a bunch of
friends, perhaps doing some nice hobby,
maybe fishing or yachting around the
world… There are so many options and
opportunities, just have to choose the
best ones!
The Insider #5 (66), Nov 2004; Page 9
PERSONALITY
A Closer Look at Gazelles
Beauty of style and harmony and grace and good
rhythm depend on Simplicity.
- Plato
We see them, we talk about them,
Personality
we hate or adore them but do we
know them? “Gazelles”. This word is
quite popular when we talk about
them, simply because of their grace
and the fact that they are always
studying, working, walking, eating,
talking, sitting, and hell knows what
else doing together. These girls are
the most beautiful, the most popular,
and unbelievably sexy pairs of
friends. You must get to know them.
Therefore, with no further ado we
introduce to you Jekaterina & Irina
(Year 2) and Agra & Lelde (Year 1).
By Ruste & Arnas
Jekaterina & Irina
Irina (Ira): very active, communicative, easy-going, and ambitious. Would
take a picture of her family to a deserted
island.
Jekaterina (Katja): you won’t believe that. Very active, communicative, easy-going and ambitious.
Would never ever go to a deserted
island.
Both girls like going to swimming pool and partying. However,
both are very busy and constantly
feel lack of time. Besides, we even
managed to find some differences
between them (not just the island
issues). On very rare occasions,
Katja comes late to meetings while
Ira is always on time. Or a bit earlier. And another one: Irina confessed she loves singing. Either
Katja forgot to mention her passion for music, or she leaves the
task of soundtrack to Ira.
Friendship
The girls met on the first day at SSE
Riga (August 11th, 2003). They simply
noticed each other and thought:
“What a nice girl!” So sweet!. Now
they are da best friends. Never argue:
no, no, no.
Studies
Again we use this word: both.
Both girls like studying and
hate free riding. Irina assures
that she avoids free riding
just because she likes to control everything (poor ambitious team mates…). And as
many of us probably know, it’s
cursedly difficult to slack and
maintain control at the same time.
Here the evil journalists decided to
check if the girls really are so
strong in academic sense. The
question: what’s the difference between markup and
margin? Suddenly, Irina
and Jekaterina got into
an obvious fuss and
assured that the question had nothing in
The Insider #5 (65), Nov 2004; Page 10
common with our interview. As the
journalists remain very evil, both respondents are forced to join their mental capacities and quickly produce some
results: markup is additional value;
margin is a line selling under which is
not profitable (yeah, studies in SSE Riga
add huge value to our knowledge).
Career
Okay, seems like ten years from now
some multinational corporations will
be unbelievably lucky. It’s because Ira
and Katja are seriously planning to
reach positions in the top management
there. Of course, evil journalists are still
there and that’s why girls must tackle
the problem of career vs. family. Katja
is sure that in ten years she will have
already reached the desired career and
therefore thinks that she could sacrifice
it for the sake of family. However, Irina
is not so sure that she would like to give
up her independence and high-sounding titles.
Love
God, love is in the air! Both girls
(again!) are absolutely sure that love
exists and that it’s the most beautiful
feeling of all existing. Then nostalgia
comes and girls remember that old nice
chewing gum “Love Is…” (let’s repeat
that: So sweet!) P.S. Don’t touch Katja.
She has a boyfriend.
Beauty
They do remember their natural color
of the hair! Well, it’s understandable
about Irina, as she has natural hair now
(one blonde less in SSE Riga). But
Jekaterina’s abilities are astonishing. Besides, now Arnas understands why
Katja dyes her hair: the natural color is
more or less like his own.
PERSONALITY
Agra & Lelde
is essential for happy life. That is one
natural and healthy attitude for a girl,
we would say.
Personality
Love
st
Agra: Riga 1 gymnasium, likes to
rule. Would take knife to the deserted
island in the reality show. Why? Because it is useful.
Lelde: Riga 1st gymnasium, some say
she’s an angel. She would take toothbrush. Why? Clean teeth all the way!
Anyway, jungles are a bit too much,
“Talantu fabrika” is much better.
Both are single, i.e. no serious boyfriends. Yep, there’s still chance for you.
OK, as all male readers now are busy
searching for the Grale; we, girls, could
talk some gossips. Nah, you wish.
Both would not claim that they already are adults. Mommy and daddy
still needed.
Friendship
There is one extraordinary story behind the beginning of friendship of Agra
and Lelde. One day… OK, there isn’t.
The friendship started in 11th grade in
R1stG; eventually, these girls have become da best friends.
Studies
While Lelde doesn’t believe in love,
Agra gave a long persuasive presentation about love and various kinds
of it. Yes, Agra is one romantic
little girl, of course, she might
have a knife in her purse, so don’t
get too carried away with that.
Lelde believes in affection. And
where has gone the idealistic and
romantic view of the world,
which is a necessity for a young
lady?
Agra: “Hello. Don’t believe anything
what is written here. It is not our
thoughts after all; it is how they [the
authors] make it. If you want to know
more about us, please approach us personally.”
Beauty
Beauty requires sacrifices? Yes.
Again, long discussion why guys
have it all simple. Why to shave
beard is easier than to shave
legs? Straightforward math, because man’s face has small area
to shave compared to long (hopefully) woman’s legs. Also hard
work if you aren’t gifted by nature.
Beauty makes easier to live, blondness
makes it harder in a way. Then there
were few feministic ideas said, so not
so evil journalist skipped that part.
Disclaimer or a token of gratitude
from the not so evil journalists
After listening to both couples, we
suddenly realized that something is
missing. Some kind of measure, comparison, you know… And then the solution came to our minds: SWOT
ANALYSIS!
We’re
future
businesspeople, aren’t we?
We have started talking about
Morten as they were just after the micro lectures. After 5 minutes praises for
him we understood two things: Agra
Year 1
Year 2
and Lelde really like him and damn
Friendly
Self-assured
those girls talk a lot. Agra entered SSE Strengths
Beautiful
Beautiful
Riga as she likes economics, and, baFamily-oriented
Hyper active
sically, Lelde is here for the same reaAgra’s choice: knife
Friendly
son, because Agra likes economics.
Both believe in true love
Anyway, they like SSE Riga. People
are nice and friendly. Not so evil jour- Weaknesses
Unspoilt (not SSE Riganian)
Markup and margin
nalist wanted to know how has finview of the world
Katja’s boyfriend
ished the big teamwork clash beTalk too much
Met only in SSE Riga
tween Kæstutis (Year1) and Agra
Like Morten too much
during EBP course? You can guess. OK,
Curse at each other
it is clear enough to ask year 1 guys,
Agra had problems with
are you men enough to be in the team
teammates
with Agra?
Great career in multinational
Opportunities Strong families
As we understood, the choir is the
Career in singing
companies
main extracurricular activity. As the
Good job (SSE Riganians after all)
start was rough - prep-semester
Exploitation by Year 2
Possibility of failing Finandidn’t allow them even to think about Threats
Distrust
because
of
a
guy
cial Economics
choosing out of many activities available. Mark-up, margin: no problem
OK, what do we have here? Oh, they’re amazing. That’s what we could expect
(yeah yeah, accounting has just fin- from four wonderful girls like these. Lots of strengths and some little, tiny, marished).
ginal, hardly noticeable weaknesses. All we could say that Year 2 girls have got
less negative points. This implies that in a year’s time, when Agra & Lelde will
Career
The main priority of these girls was already be Year 2, they will curse and talk less (forgetting about Morten is a bit
family not career. They explained that more challenging) thus getting even closer to perfection. And we bet that Irina &
having good career doesn’t imply a Jekaterina won’t give up, will they?
Catch your opportunities, girls! Sky is the limit…
happy life as opposed to family, which
The Insider #5 (66), Nov 2004; Page 11
DORMITORIES
businesses HOME ltd. The
main difference between
HOME ltd. and DORMS ltd.,
which actually makes the
present situation more challenging, is the type of management: in
the family business autocratic way is
used with top managers PAPA and
MAMA, while in DORMS ltd. team work
is the key to survival and success. As
far as nationality of our entrepreneurs
is concerned, Latvians are dominating.
However, there are some Estonians
(though recently
they have been
leaving this industry. Perhaps
they
couldn’t
manage to adapt)
and quite a large
number
of
Lithuanians. Nationality really
matters, as it
brings difference in the products manufactured: such products as water wars
or bottle football can be found only in
Lithuanian Year1 male sector whereas
Latvians are best known for drumming,
shouting and complaining about
Lithuanians’ noise service. When compared according to age, the majority of
the entrepreneurs are young Year1 students and only a few are from Year2 or
Year3. You may argue that experience,
people’s ability to express themselves
and be socially active should increase
as they age. In our case, however, if not
the complaints about Year1 or late
night visits to Year1 girls rooms no one
would even notice that such phenomena as Year2 or Year3 still exists in the
DORMS. Still, we should respect those
veterans as they managed to survive
for such a long time. Despite all the differences between the “dormies”, they
all have something in common. Without any doubts, it is the core feature of
every entrepreneur – the need for
achievement and the striving for perfection. It doesn’t matter if it is a need to
enhance one’s physical and psychological endurance while waiting in a queue
for the shower well knowing it will be
as cold as food left and forgotten in the
kitchen yesterday; or a need to learn to
sing “you can’t manufacture a miracle”
till the miracle happens and a lady from
the DORMS administration comes from
the first floor to give you her blessing;
or even a need to make the kitchen look
DORMS LTD.
By Levi Y Tolsti
I
t is widely believed that school prepares you for the real life. However, often life seems to have only one similar
thing – the dead line which you usually
meet dressed as officially as some Year1
students, but lying in
a coffin and with no
right to a re-exam.
Such things as basic
animal instincts for
fighting for your
right to shower,
strategy how to eat
cornflakes with milk
without buying any
milk or basic principles of how the “privatization” procedure works in practice can not be
learned at the university (at least not in
such school as SSE Riga (and thanks
God!). But there is a place you can experience all this and even more. It is the
Death for Ordinary Rest seeking Mature Students – the Dorms.
This word might sound as a terra incognita for those having their own families, papas and mamas at their own
home here in Riga or renting a flat from
the very beginning of the academic year.
Actually, it is not terra incognita but a
rather normal place where communities with a little higher level of entrepreneurial spirit live. To make you believe that this is all true, let’s analyze
these communities while using something we all can rely on and something
that can give a very strict answer with
no space for bullshiting – the EBP theory,
the Hult model.
T
he entrepreneur: The most common entrepreneur of the DORMS ltd. is
a young male or female student from
the prestigious Stockholm School of
Economics in Riga. However, in this case
the academic background should not be
taken into account because of a completely unique business (the main products available for the outside world are
loud music, shouting, partying, using
elevator after midnight). The entrepreneurs are not completely fresh in this
field of business as their parents owned
The Insider #5 (66), Nov 2004; Page 12
like a place to eat, not to make such
movies as “Saving private Ryan” or
“Apocalypse now”. Of course, the need
is worth nothing if the result is not
evaluated. Thanks god, in our case it is
not like this, as the most entrepreneurial personalities of the DORMS ltd. already were evaluated by the school’s
authorities and in a kind and pleasant
conversation with the rector have already negotiated about their reward.
T
he environment: Of course, people
are always the ones who create changes.
But the environment is actually the
thing to be changed. And in this particular case the environment plays a
highly important role. Firstly, while
market economy thrives in the outside
world, the DORMS are still in the
middle of transition: everything outside
your room (kitchen, bathroom, shower,
corridors) belongs to everyone and the
first who fills the cupboard with his/
her stuff or crams the fridge with his/
her food has the right to ultimate
privatization of the object. However,
our ancestors were right when saying
that everything was born from chaos:
after 3 months even some rules emerged
on the wall of the kitchen. As a result,
no more dirty dishes, no more ketchup
on the walls – a perfect example of creative destruction and a new space for
improvisation. Who knows: maybe after one month there will be a disco room
or a new football pitch.
T
he process: There certainly are
many differences in how DORMS ltd.
vision looked 3 months ago and how it
looks now. That’s why the whole entre-
DORMITORIES
preneurial process can be divided into
separate parts. The “NO IDEA…” phase:
this is before our entrepreneurs arrive
to the place. Their heads are filled with
lots of expectations that DORMS ltd. is
their desired start of independent life, a
place filled with peace and perfect atmosphere for studying. However,
things are not so sweet. During the second stage of “SELF PERSUASION” they
face the reality filled with sleepless
nights, psycho friends and “healthy”
diet. Their naïve mind still persuades
the brains that it is only temporary, that
everything still can be as good as at
home. But no one can escape the revolution in the mind – teddy bears are forgotten, the family picture is hidden in
the deepest drawer, the “START UP” of
entrepreneurship begins… Currently,
the process is going on, and no one
knows how it will end.
In conclusion, now everyone should
believe that DORMS is not only a building. It is a lifestyle as well. Maybe not as
healthy as “BABOOSHKA HONEY”, but
still worth experiencing. So if you want
to feel free, express yourself and realize
your hidden potential, it is not necessary to go to the choir. Join DORMS ltd.
Dorms - Another Reality
School. School never changes. The
end of living at home occurred pretty
much as we had predicted – state
exams, graduation, and the acceptance letter to SSE Riga. After a long
journey, we found shelter in a
building on the outskirts of the city.
They called us “the Dorm Dwellers”.
By Liia Semjonova
& Juri Pervjakov
A
t the start of each year the 6th and
7th floors of Hipokrata iela 3 become
occupied by the students of SSE Riga.
We never chose to live together – it all
happened by accident. Roommates,
friends: all are chosen by chance. Independent life begins for most, and continues for some of us. Soon it becomes
evident that eating ready-made food is
too expensive (if not, why not to rent a
flat for •200?), and both guys and girls
(those who couldn’t before) start learning to cook. After a while it all becomes
a habit: waking up early, getting back
from school late, walking or jogging in
the forest, swimming side by side in the
lake with dogs, drinking infinite
amounts of tea while discussing matters of life behind the kitchen table. Even
coming back to dorms after parties exactly at 3 am, like Cinderella, is man-
ageable.
If someone says that
the living conditions in
dorms are bad, tell
them to visit the
Lithuanian flat on
Alberta Street, just
across the road from
the school. In dorms
there even are no cockroaches or any other
nasty animals (if you
don’t have your own
pets like fruit flies, of
course). Yet, another type of pets existed
in the guys’ sector: a rat who kept others in the room awake at nights. As the
poor creature was a birthday present
it was exported to Estonia for the summer. Nobody heard of him ever since…
T
here are, however, some things
that are rather peculiar about the
dorms. Sometimes you may find yourself standing in the shower, all covered
with soap, waiting until the rush hour
of showering is over and you can use
more than a cupful of water per minute.
Along with that, girls currently consider learning to wash in complete darkness as some people with bad hearing
switch off the lights not noticing others.
In the guys’ sector the real bottleneck
is the fridge: a 160 cm high white box
stuffed with eggs, meat, sausages, milk,
and other types of food. The freezer fails
to hold all the meat dumplings (pelmeni)
and ice-cream that is stuffed there. In
the girls’ sector the fridge is quite empty
and looks as if everybody was on a diet.
Sometimes a jar of jam stays untouched
for a year before people start wondering whether it belongs to anybody at
all. Sometimes the ‘Saratov’ or
‘Snezhinka’ (aka Snaigë) almost freezes
the milk, but sometimes you can find a
puddle on the kitchen
floor, as the “defrost”
button seems to push
by itself.
Ladies downstairs
(term used to refer to
the receptionist and
other staff) will come
right away like room
service if you just turn
on the oven and all the
stove plates. During
one birthday party a
lady came because she
had heard the noise from downstairs.
The most visible bottles were hidden
and to her question: “Are you drinking
apple juice?” everybody nodded like angels. Surprise birthday parties are very
common. Playing crazy games, covering the birthday child with whipped
cream, and half-naked girls dancing in
the study-room do not shock anybody.
Halloween party has become a tradition. We cover each-other’s faces, bodies, and hair with gouache and go wandering around the whole dorms gathering food and other stuff from unsuspecting nurses and LU students. Nobody can escape, and we return victoriously to our floor to party. Last year
there was even a film made about the
weirdly dressed monsters. They say
that some people would prefer this
material not to be published…
L
ife never gets boring in the dorms
(except if you are the only person in the
sector). Bake a pizza, as everybody does,
and relax listening to the cat-concert
performed by sector 728 every evening.
Dorms will never disappear, in one form
or another they will always be a part of
our school. And the people living there
will feel that they too belong somewhere – to the Dorms Community.
The Insider #5 (66), Nov 2004; Page 13
EXCHANGE
Wszystko w porzadku!!!
By Zygimantas Mauricas
and Aiga Dzene
Getting to Nowy Sacz
After several application forms, emails and other formalities Aiga and
Zygimantas became Socrates/Erasmus
exchange students. And went to
Wy¿sza Szkola Biznesu – National
Louis University (WSB –NLU)… in Poland… for 5 months…
After hours of farewell parties in Riga
and even more hours of driving the
mysterious place was finally reached.
Status of exchange students
students must find study materials
themselves, because the school does not
supply students with books and handouts. But you can find all
the necessary information
and studying materials in
School’s Intranet with the
precondition that you
know Polish. But sooner or
later we will learn it, because all exchange students
are obliged to study Polish,
since it is a precondition of
survival in Nowy Sacz.
Besides studies…
language when trying to explain what
exactly you want to eat.
School life
Picturesque landscape
with rolling hills all around the valley,
colorful autumn forests, charming
mountain lakes, frosty springs, moldy
ruins of a XIII century castle, cozy tiny
shops, posters, Polsky Fiat progressively going up to the mountain,
serpentines, soothing sound of church
bells, remote quarrelling of Gypsies,
howling of dogs and pervasive tranquility inspire us for many and more.
Many: Tatra Mountains, Krakow,
Lublin, Auschwitz concentration camp,
Wieliczka salt mine, Budapest, Lake
Balaton, Bratislava, Zagreb, Plitvica
Lakes and Prague. More: Turkey, Germany, Austria, Serbia, Ukraine, France,
Italy, Romania. And of course good old
slogan of SSE Riga “party hard” cannot
be forgotten here. Zubrowka, Pan
Tadeusz, Sliwowica, Zywiec beer,
Rakija, Hungarian wine are just a few
names to mention…
School life seems to be good as well.
No more sleepless nights before various deadlines and exams, since the
school is usually being closed already
at 10 p.m. as in all other normal universities. Yet we have to prepare for a sleepless month in the end of the autumn session and it is exactly what we are doing
by the means of continuous rest, recreation, entertainment, sports etc.
WSB - NLU can boost having the best
sports facilities with an everyday open
sports centre where you can play basketball, tennis, football, volleyball, table
tennis, make aerobics, yoga or fitness
or just watch how others do it.
WSB – NLU for international students offers Marketing and Management studies in English. But English track is only a small part of Basic facts about Poland:
the school, since most students Size: Possible to cross in 15 hours, well…
study marketing management, People: A little bit more than in Lithuania
political science or computer in- + Latvia + Estonia + Sweden + Finland +
Norway + Belarus
formation systems in Polish.
Of course, it is impossible not to Languages: Polish language is extremely
compare WSB with SSE Riga. widely used in Poland… only a few
Study process does not people speak other languages… unfortuBasic facts about Nowy Sacz
differ too much from SSE nately, later it appeared to be us…
(highly known as Nowy Suck): Riga – there are some for- Religion: Christian Aggressive
eign lecturers, some lec- Currency: Poland is very rich; therefore
Size: Possible to cross…
tures are mandatory, and their currency is gold, which they call
Location: Placed in nowhere, in the midst of
Budapest, Prague, Tatra Mountains, Krakow, students must do differ- Zloti.
ent assignments and pa- Price level: All prices are in gold, but our
and Chernobyl
pers. However, instead of scholarship is just in Euros…
Populations: The biggest population is
pervasive Scandinavian Transportation: Petite “Polsky Fiat”
students’ population; the second biggest is
influence at SSE Riga, remains the most popular technique to
“drugi ludzie”, the smallest but the most
WSB have strong Ameri- move from A to B despite the recent
active is gypsies’ population.
History: Almost as old as Riga (700 years), ex. can one. Even though decrease in the number especially in
WSB has a good library, mountainous & heavy traffic areas.
city of Bohemia.
As a matter of fact, being an exchange
student in Poland is very interesting and
beneficial. Everything started as soon
as we reached Nowy Sacz. After a cozy
welcoming we were escorted to some 3
or 4 stars hotel that afterwards appeared to be our dormitory. 24 hours
internet, shower, washing machine,
Turkish coffee, telephone are only a few
advantages to mention… Then we had
many official and other meetings followed by an ever increasing number of
invitations. Consequently, we reached
agreement that we will go only to those
events where we will get VIP places.
Certainly, we can also boast about having certain valuable options such as the
possibility to choose subjects, skip lectures, write something bad in the
student’s feedback report. An option of
not understanding what is being said
can prove to be very helpful in everyday life situations; however, on the
other hand, it may lead to some disadvantages such as the usage of your body
The Insider #5 (66), Nov 2004; Page 14
ACTIVITY
Trip To Belarus
By Rainers Vileins
I am proud to announce that between
the 7th of October and the 10th of October two miraculously brave SSE debating teams went to the Minsk Open and
with some difficulties returned unhurt.
The trip to Belarus really was an extremely interesting experience for all of
us. In this short report I will try to tell
why.
The first surprise was already on the
border where the Belarusian custom
officers thought it was a great idea to
direct passengers out of the bus in the
middle of the night and let them shiver
for some 20 minutes (a marvelous touch
if you asked me).
As we arrived in Minsk, we were
overjoyed to be informed that for the
next 3 days we would stay in the Olympic village outside Minsk without any
means of getting to the capital. After the
pleasure of driving in a bus for about
10 hours we were happy to find out that
for the next 3 days
we would be served
meals in a fear factor
style.
Unfortunately, the author’s
stomach collapsed
already in the first
day, although it
grew stronger afterwards.
Then there was
also the surprise of
finding out that if you leave your beer
in the room, it will be in a nice cold temperature in a matter of one hour. Despite the fact that we would not have to
face something like warm beer, there
was the problem that in the morning
one could see his/her own breath,
which was not good news for those
who did not get their hands on the limited amount of extra blankets (our arrogance helped out in this fight).
The debates themselves were not surprising. A lot of Belarusian topics were
on the agenda, my favorite being the level of radioactivity in the Gomelj
region. Nevertheless, the
courageous pair of
Aleksejs and Boriss (both
Year2) managed to come
out on the top of the game
though my team just
missed out on the semifinal.
We also brought back
some terrific souvenirs,
for example a calendar
that is devoted to the 60th
victory in the great Fatherland war depicting the courageous
proletariat soldiers unselfishly moving
on towards victory. The cigarettes without filters that some of Year1 students
could enjoy during the baptizing were
of the same origin as well. And of course
pictures of big posters telling people
that on the 17th of October they would
have to vote for Belarus, which they
unsurprisingly did. All I can say is that:
WE WENT TO BELARUS AND SURVIVED!!!
The Insider #5 (66), Nov 2004; Page 15
FLASHBACK
Reflections from the Baptizing
Optimistic view:
Dummies, Napkins, and Nutella :)
Baptizing is an event, which enlightens the hearts of the Year 1 students
of SSE Riga and the eyes of the Year 2.
The first are eager to participate and
await the action from far before it actually takes place; the second, however,
start to think about it earlier: after they
get baptized themselves while being
Year 1.
Everyone needs Baptizing to get acquainted with the rules of hospitality
in SSE Riga. We need it to get to know
and to love Year 2 and even more experienced ones.
In this article I will tell you how the
things really happened.
after they had appeared.
During the other days, not taking into
account Friday, we drew our future, our
families, ourselves with our left hands.
And the last, but not the least, came
the day that showed us the level of
damn hospitality of the fellow students.
That day was the day when I realized
that a spit on the back
is not an insult at all.
T
T
he first merry day of Baptizing
started with the exam in Financial Accounting, which was tent to be the major event of the day, if only there weren’t
those cute little dummies and napkins
handed out. They really brought a
beam of light and a sense of nostalgia to
the souls of the tired students. Later
that day a sucking sound could be heard
all over the premises.
Tuesday brought us a relief and nothing to worry about until the results in
EBP appeared on the board downstairs.
It turned out that they were false. This
made many of the newborn babies reveal their lack of teeth in a satisfied
smile. There were a few revenge plans
coming up, but they lost their spirit just
By Milda Tylaite &
Artjoms Kobahidze
The masterpieces appeared to be rather
praiseworthy and gave the hall of SSE
the spirit of naivety and innocence. The
porridge, which was a part of the PACC
course during the week, was delightful.
The only drawback was that not everyone was able to taste the fish oil, which
was very sad. The stroll through the
park did us good, for we were tied to
one another and could better feel
ourselves to be a one whole community. We also practiced our vocal skills and entertained the pedestrians. The physical exercises
which were provided by our dear
and attentive Year 2
students loaded our
young muscles with
energy for the rest of
the week.
There was an absolutely hilarious event
on Thursday in Soros
where some of us were
forced to eat another
portion of porridge
and drink milk
through a bottle. That
one gave us additional
years of life as laughter does prolong lives
of humans.
The Insider #5 (66), Nov 2004; Page 16
he participation
ratio was not very
impressive; however,
those who missed
the action lost a lot of
positive emotions.
They lost the opportunity to grab a stack
of eggs and throw
them all in the direction of the so-called
torturers. They lost
the opportunity to
eat pure strawberry
jam and Nutella chocolate butter. They
lost the opportunity to show their dirty
bottoms and stained faces to people,
shout with all their might and to try on
the boots of a newborn.
Hopefully, next Baptizing thanks to
our efforts will be even more exciting
and breathtaking than it was this year.
Beware…
FLASHBACK
Pessimistic view:
Food, Sex, and Baptizing
So, lastly and unexpectedly fast the
42nd week came and it turned out that
we still were not full-fledged members
of SSE society and something should be
done about that. That something was
the week of baptizing, and in this article, I will tell you how the things really happened.
T
he week began with the
exam, and after it, some of the
students cared neither about
baptizing, nor about further life, and
one could have heard the comments
such as ‘What a day! We are not afraid
of Friday anymore’. Unfortunately, on
Monday it was really easy to forget that
this week was supposed to be special,
the same was during most of the other
days. On the first day, our baptists Y2
did nothing else but introducing us
with the theme- Kindergarten, - and
giving us the dummies which even
were not enough for everyone and disadvantaged new-born babies felt really
unhappy about that.
Later on, Tuesday and EBP
results came (have you noticed
the tendency that somehow
even our baptizing is closely
related to studies?). We were
almost convinced that
we are by far
not
better
than Y2, as the
statistics were
sad enough,
but it was
even more to
see
how
people reacted
to the evaluation ‘36’ when
they had been
expecting 160
at
least…
When it was
revealed that
this was just a
cruel joke,
some students
were very dissatisfied
about losing
their Excellents or Merits and started
creating revenge plans (we have to
amuse ourselves somehow…).
The other days until Friday also were
not very impressive, although some of
us ate porridge,
drew their future,
went for a walk in
Riga’s parks or had
morning exercises in
SSE. However, I cannot resist pointing
out that by far not
everyone had an opportunity to attend
walk and exercises,
as Y2 did not bother
to look at the schedules of Y1, or even if
they did so, they did
not tell us to come a
bit earlier anyway
(we still cannot read
your thoughts, so that would had been
very useful). On Thursday, the situation
turned out to be vice versa - everybody
knew about the event in Soros, but as
the deadline was approaching, by far
not everyone preferred baptizing activities. What is more, those who did
that were quiet disappointed as milk
drinking and porridge eating compe-
tition was exciting only for the competitors.
A
nd lastly, Friday, and the dirtiest
part of baptizing, came. Only about a
half of Y1 students decided
to participate, nevertheless, not only malingerers
are worth criticism: some
of the baptists obviously forgot the
theme of the event or probably decided
to change it into ‘Sexual Revolution’,
which had nothing to do with Kindergarten (neither it was very pleasant to
do all those sexualized tasks, which, as
we
understood,
were supposed to be
very
amusing).
What is more, no one
coordinated all the
activities of the stops
in the park- it was
not very interesting
to do the same tasks
twice, and it was
even stranger to
wait until the other
group leaves the
stop so that we could
get there…
Hopefully, next
Baptizing thanks to
our efforts will be
much more exciting
and breathtaking
than it was this year.
Beware…
The Insider #5 (66), Nov 2004; Page 17
ENTERTAINMENT
The Insider Movie
There is a high probability that you have noticed two crazy Year1 guys terrorizing this educational institution with a
camera.
If you approached them, they might have answered that they were making a porno movie.
But they lied.
In fact, it is much worse than that.
Their scandalous mind-blowing video project is to appear at Reunion of the Insider during the Anniversary. Don’t miss
the opportunity (not recommended for children and intelligent people)!
The Insider #5 (66), Nov 2004; Page 18
ENTERTAINMENT
Winged Words of Lecturers
Morten Hansen
(Microeconomics)
Z We all know what happens to those
who consume extreme bundles. They
are put into rooms with big locks.
Z I see vice-rector is there, but she is
not allowed to see this.
Z I still can’t believe how 115 students
can consume 125 handouts.
Z Lecturers to have earn more money
than students, otherwise my life sucks.
Z Now I earn more than you (students)
if it is not - life sucks.
Z You come here on your free will.
Z I pretend that you sometimes a right
to say smth.
Z Please, don’t know anything, as I will
be out of the job.
Z The world is not full of Estonians.
Z Students are supposed to be poor.
Z Of course there is ‘Don’t know’ option, but then you slap people in the face
and you get the answer.
Z Can you smell it? It’s FRIDAY!!!
Z Insert infinity, here insert infinity
there and you’ll be infinitely happy.
Z Monday: well, this is horrible, but
that’s what it is.
Z Students & pensioners - easy prey [If
Morton is a boss of transportation in
Riga]
Z I actually enjoy life sometimes, when
I see tears in people’s eyes.
Ilga Berzkalns
(Information Management)
Z Read the text in mornings, evenings,
during lunch break, before waking up!
Hans de Geer
(Business Ethics)
Z I am not here to answer all the questions. I am here to complicate.
Konstantin Kontor
Gunnar Lindholm
(Finance specialization)
(Financial Accounting)
Z Within 50 thousand years people did
not stop being aggressive, vicious, stupid, and, in general, bad.
Z Imagine I am a balance sheet.
Z If you do it, you can leave in peace.
Some winged words from old good days (some of them used to be called
“Quotation of the month”):
Z The first lecture in Service Marketing, Professor: “Have you had any experience in the service marketing field?”
Student: “Yes I have worked for a drugs
wholesale company.”
Z From an opposition speech: “What
I like in your report is cover page!”
Peter Hogfeldt
(Financial Economics)
Z Bill Clinton has been doing much
good not only to Monica Levinsky!
Z You think you see the light at the end
of the tunnel. It’s train coming, nothing
else.
Z Monkey selecting stocks can do better than the professional.
Z I would be very happy if I could pass
everybody in this class… After 2 re-exams.
Morten Hansen
Gunnar Lindholm
(Microeconomics & Macroeconomics)
(Financial Accounting)
Z If you see a pattern here, go and talk
to Larry.
Ingemar Stahl
(Business Law)
Z In Sweden, we could get a new type
of punishment – you will be sent to
Latvian prison - I wouldn’t like to be a
pig in that factory. Anyway, I wouldn’t
like to be a pig at all.
Z We use diamonds for decorating
women
Karlis Kreslins
Z Yesterday we have studied a few
minutes more. And today as well. But I
can pay you back by reducing the time
of your exam…
Z Do you remember when I told you
yesterday that you are the best class
I’ve ever had? Now I changed my mind.
Larry Stout
(Leadership)
Z Dogs were the cause of amusement.
Z You, guys there, have sick minds!
Z My gift for you is a copy of Larry’s
book. You can use it when you go to the
toilet.
Duane Helleloid
(ITC)
Z “We still have to decide whether we
want an exam with a greater rate of fails
or just a normal exam”, about the exam
in IT.
(International Economics)
Z
We don’t want those cheap
Lithuanian pigs coming to our country!
The Insider #5 (66), Nov 2004; Page 19
GOSSIPS
Gossip of the month
They say, that Year2 is VERY loyal to
Year1. This years’ baptizing was
specially designed to bring some
sexual satisfaction to all the newcomers.
They say that Pauliukas (Y2) could
give girl-treatment consultations: he
often “rides” together with Natasha
(Y2) and he has gathered the prettiest
female team in BE.
They say that all Y1 Lithuanian guys
from dorms are very musical; however,
they also say that their understanding
about musical art totally differs from
the one of people from other sectors.
They say that Aleksandrs Sapriko
actually studies at SSE Riga.
They say that Evita Medne (Y1) promised to dance on the table in next party
at school as she was too busy in Baptizing party
The say that Karlis Sprogis (Y3) likes
to dress up in women’s clothes when
nobody is watching.
They say that Martins (Y1) has special relationships with taxi-drivers
who give him special individual discounts for taking him home at night.
They say that Umbitis (Y2) almost
made the lecturer of IM blind with his
laser pen during the presentation of his
report.
They say that Aljona (Y1) was born
in a tram. She is not used to close nor
doors, neither windows.
They say that a new musical band is
going to be established in SSE Riga:
Kestas (Y1) will be the conductor while
Tomas (Y1) and Karolis (Y1) will be
given solo parts.
They say that Sergei (Y2) is gaining
weight: now he weighs 51 kilo!
They say that during the Baptizing
Party Ernests (Y1) and Toms (Y1) have
found each other extremely attractive.
They say that Andis (Y1) loves “Dogs”.
He always has a piece of sausage in his
fridge in case there are some hungry
“Dogs” around.
They say that Ieva (Y2) is so busy that
she has to think 5 min before answering the question where she has been
during the day.
They say that Sigitas(Y3) loves Julius
(Y3) so much that he never goes anywhere without his company.
They say that Andris C. (Y2) has
started to love voleyball, because the
window of Secondary School No 13
showers is the best place to lock his bicycle, as he can peep at the girls while
unlocking it after the training.
They say that a couple of Y1
Lithuanians came to SSE from jungle...
at least they behave like that.
They say that Janis V (Y2) doesn’t
drive to school with his car because he
crashed it into a “suddenly grown up”
tree in his backyard.
They say that Andis (Y1) has hallucinations: he strongly believes that someone is riding bicycle on the 7th floor in
dormitories.
They say that there is a faked Janis P
(Y2) in our school, because he doesn’t
want to drink in his apartment
anymore, refuses to take a free beer in a
bar and he
doesn’t want
to play zole
with others.
They say
that during
Baptizing
Week Ljoha
(Y1) has got
used to sucking
his dummy so
much that he
continues doing it every
single night.
They say
that Rainers V,
Janis
V,
Ricards B and
Reinis V were
r o u g h l y
slanged
by
Ozols (all Y2)
Pussy cats:
just because
they helped heavily drunken Martins
O (Y2) to find his way home.
They say that Mykantas (Y1) is afraid
to stay alone at night and calls for his
stepmother Gediminas (Y1) so loudly
that everyone in dorms can hear it.
They say that Mecislavs is cool about
not being cool.
They say that Dima (Y1) has found a
new hobby- SOUP MAKING! The first
experience was quite successful: everyone survived.
They say that you should be careful
when giving Vytas I. (Y2) a hug as you
can accidentally crash his balls.
The laptop of Gediminas (Y1) is definitely a fixed asset...
They say that Arnas (Year 2) assumes
that Katja (Year 2) has a boyfriend.
The Insider #5 (66), Nov 2004; Page 20
They say that Edgars Veigurs (Y1)
wears pink strings. Ask him to prove
it...
They say that Janis V, Reinis V and
Martins O have already started to practice their new cheerleading program in
Information Management course.
They say that according to Public
Folder data base the youngest student
of SSE Riga is Jurijs (Y1), who was born
in February, 2004.
They say that Reinis V drinks only
when he is drunk.
They say that Gediminas (Y1) loves
licking women’s legs, and the atmosphere gets so hot that it is needed to
use fire – distinguisher.
They say that it requires a smart per-
Picture of the Month
black or white? Miaow...
son to invent CAPM. They also
wonder whom it takes to question it.
They say that Tadas (Y1) is making
adjustments to Russian-Russian dictionary: you even can’t imagine how fast
new Russian words appear in his mind!
They say that Tomas’s (Y1) consumption of chocolate cream can be measured
in buckets.
They say that Evita (Year2) tends to
ask Alex (Year2) such questions as “Am
I the most beautiful girl in the world?”
They say that the fake EBP results
where as real as they have ever been.
They say that Maris (Y1) has discovered that the easiest way to get a good
result in accounting project is visiting
accounting lecturer ’s home country
during the project week.