9 April
G.A.
Old Fashioned
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Index
Tik tok.. tik tok.. tik tok.. It’s been a week since the end of the session and we are pretty sure all you EYPers have missed us as much as we have missed you. We both hope you have now realised and felt what PED means and why there are people crying, hugging and kissing at the end of each session. Yes, yes, we know, we are late and you were expecting the issue a tiny little bit earlier but as you should have guessed so far we did it on purpose. As Andy Warhol said: 'The idea of waiting for something makes it more exciting' and according to that you should all be very excited by now. Until next time “So long, farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, good bye" Cheers Folks! Mariela & Manto
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Editors:
Mariela Apostolaki Manto Souvatzidaki
Editorial Assistants: Theodoropoulos Dionysios Papadogeorgopoulos Fotis
Journalists:
Goula Konstantina Gigelos John Grigoriadis George Koukou Katerina Mylona Emy Palma Gaia Ringström George Selmer Nina Cathrine Van Leeuwen Bas Vidvei Nini Mandersloot Mattho
Contents 4 // Greece: first impressions 5 // Regionalism 6 // Fashion 10 // Eugenides Foundation 11 // General Assembly 12 // the EYP alphabet 13 // EYpoetry 14 // photos...
GoodBye Monkeys . . . .
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GREECE– Honest Travellers With Impossible Names by Selmer & Vidvei & Ringstrom
The first thing that struck me when I walked out of the airplane was the heat. Just a few hours earlier I had been standing on a freezing cold airport in Oslo with little snowflakes falling from the sky. But within a matter of hours I had transferred from winter to summer. Or well, summer from a Scandinavian perspective. As I have understood it, the weather we have enjoyed over the last couple of days has been nothing but pleasant springtime
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temperatures. I dare not even think of the temperatures I would have faced at a Greek summer session… The heat was, albeit striking, not surprising. I knew what awaited me. Something all the more unexpected was the public transport system in Athens. First of all the ticket prices were quite high for a single fare. Perhaps that is what funds the maintenance of the impeccably clean metro stations? Another surprise regarding the public transport system was the honesty of the Greeks travelling with it. In my hometown, where the economic situation is not at all as precarious as it is in Greece, the entrances to the subway have recently been equipped with high glass gates to prevent people from riding for free. In Athens on the contrary, nothing stands between you and the subway platform. But despite the simplicity of riding for free, every person I used the bus or subway with did never even hesitate to pay the ticket fee – an interesting and very surprising contrast the Greeks should be proud of. Of course every Greek is aware of the fact that they generally make use of a different alphabet than most other European countries. What they perhaps do not realize is the insanely difficult surnames they have. The first day of the session, when I saw the surnames of the delegates and my fellow officials, I copied and then posted them on my Norwegian friends’ Facebook-walls just to show them what a name challenge I was currently facing. During the general assembly, when every speaking delegate was supposed to state their name, I could not believe how the sounds coming out of the delegates’ mouths in some peoples’ ears formed names. To me it all sounded like Kasxkakasis Plxpaskiolus… Greece and Norway are in many aspects very far apart. When we would shut up you talk, and when we would be on time you would be “on time.” But despite all of our differences we still manage to have an amazing time together at every single session – the true magic of EYP.
Regionalism; diversity vs cohesion by Dionysis Theodoropoulos
All European societies are ethnically and culturally plural. Historically, diversity in European nationstates has been regional, often a result of conjoining economically, socially, culturally and linguistically disparate places into single polities, engaging them into nationalization, bringing upon them the side effects of it. One model of the contemporary construction of Europe, at any rate of the European Union, perhaps seeks to replicate this process at a supra-national level. Regionalism has grown remarkably since the high point of state centralism in the Second World War period. A succession of factors have come into play – uneven economic development, threats to regional cultures and languages, the decentralisation of some states, and more recently the impact of globalisation and European integration. The effects have been cumulative, with old factors continuing to operate while new ones were added, including the ideology that ‘small’ regions must be good in themselves and better than ‘big’ states or larger entities. Initially, from 1957 to the mid-1970s, the European Community, in line with the dominant centralism of its member states, showed little interest in regional problems, but since the 1980‟s, the EU has put emphasis on its regions - to the point of “A Europe of the Regions”. Both the reform of the structural funds in 1988 and the establishment of the Committee of the Regions in 1994 gave the regions more influence and the focus of the multilevel governance model. As well as directly furthering economic and social ‘cohesion’, regionalism has also been encouraged for the more political if less acknowledged objective of countering or bypassing state governments who presented obstacles to integration. Regions and regionalism were allies or potential allies for the Commission and created a partnership between the EU and the regions due to a common goal: to limit the power of the states. However, it remained the case that EU integration was mainly a market-led neoliberal project and the redistributive measures to counter the negative effects of integration were all very limited. Increasingly, regions have become important players in their own right. Partly because of encouragement and legitimation from EU institutions, but also on their own initiative and in response to the threats and opportunities of the Single European Market, regional interests have been demanding more powers and resources. The lack or weakness of regional political structures is increasingly seen as having a weakening effect on regional economic performance. This ‘new regionalist’ argument is widely used by regional groups seeking more autonomy or self-government. To further these political objectives, regions have increasingly become involved in creating transnational alliances with other regions, new cross-border regional entities, and the Committee of the Regions. What experience has taught us though is that none of the three models available– national, federal or regional – can adequately capture the complexity of the multifaceted Europe of today. Each implies an exclusive distribution of power between the levels of territorial governance that is too simplistic. And we need to think in terms of qualitative changes in the relationships within and between these levels and see them as being linked in multi-layered structures of governance.
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PASSION fo he 25th National Selection Co to present some excellent photo
by Koukou
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or FASHION onference of Greece is proud os by Mario Testino and Tyra Banks
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u & Vidvei
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Last stop: eugenides foundation by Emy Mylona
It is final. The very last day of the session has arrived. That means that the time to see the outcome of your efforts has come as it is GA day. But, wait a minute. Where are we? Well, let me enlighten you a bit about our General Assembly venue, the Eugenides Foundation. Eugenides Foundation was established in 1956 in accordance with the last testament of our national benefactor, Evgenios Eugenides. Its purpose is to boost the technical and scientific education of young people in Greece and, for that purpose, a range of useful facilities is used. Take for example its library or the planetarium, which started operating in 1966 or the publishing sector which has published over 400 educational books used by the Ministry of Education and others and focuses in technology and sciences, such as physics or mathematics. Eugenides Foundation has a long history when it comes to student conferences as it has plenty conference rooms, ideal
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for EYP, let’s say. The procedure of the General Assembly takes place in the Amphitheatre and as you can see, it accommodates all our needs as we have, for instance, microphones right in front of us and a podium for the speeches. We have to say that we feel really privileged and content to be here, as the hospitality and politeness of people involved here was extremely helpful and we are truly thankful for that. A special reference should be made to Mrs. Polenaki, who helped us along the way and, as everyone here, made the process of the GA possible. Concluding, we have to state that it is the cooperation between people engaged to something that makes anything possible and successful. We would like to believe that the procedure of the General Assembly was successful and tailored to our needs. Who knows? Maybe someday you will come back for a presentation in the planetarium maybe or, even better, for another EYP conference!
the general assembly and beyondw by George Ringstrom
The end was near yet so far away. Upon the arrival of the general assembly we all started to sense the inevitable end of the session. The time had come to present the product of energetic teamwork, lengthy discussions, tedious negotiations, stressful deadlines and some jellyfish-dancing. In Sunday’s mock GA we could witness a heated discussion about the nature of Spongebob’s superpowers. The purpose of the mock GA was (apart from solving the issue of the devalued appreciation of Spongebob and his friends) to give some clarification in what this mystified general assembly was all about. But all who have ever experienced a GA know that one can only know its true essence by having experienced one - something that proved to be true in this case as well. Yellow placards calling for personal privilege tainted the start of the session. Confusion arose
several times regarding who should talk and who should not. But when the first wave of anxiety, nervousness and tension had passed things started to run more smoothly. The perhaps most noticeable change was the delegates’ discovery of the magic green placard – the direct response. All of a sudden debates intensified into political battlefields. One after another committee members passionately engaged in the vivid discussions, whether they were about the BMI of role model celebrities or how to solve the nuclear tensions in the Middle East. Like a cowboy taming a wild horse, the board held a firm grip of the sometimes rampant group of young delegates. Some even dared to challenge the very president of the session – “for this is a democracy and you have the right to disagree”. Spoken like a true EYPer! But even in the most heated moments of a discussion did no delegate lose the sense of
politeness and respect. And that is perhaps what more than anything characterizes the nature of the general assembly - the ability to discuss and debate polemic issues in a sensible manner. With the end of GA comes the end of the session. For three days an innumerable amount of opinions have been formed and expressed. Some will continue their engagement in the EYP whilst others will depart for other ventures in life. But regardless of what the future beholds, all will hopefully remember this 25th National Session in Athens as a short but intense period of happiness and intellectual challenge. And of course, a little bit of crazy bananas in a perfect circle.
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eyp
the alphabet
L
by Vidvei IN COOPERATION WITH
O for organisers, because they’re our heroes
DIMITRIS AND VASILIS
P for the Press Team
A for AMAZING.
for lovely. EYP is lovely.
M for memorable N for Norway, because Norway is an extremely cool country. Literally.
Q for the quizzes in our EYP magazine “Old Fashioned”, If you haven’t taken them, you should.
B for Batman, a superhero we all admire
R for rules. Please follow the Golden Rule.
C
S for (no) sleep
for coffee, a drink we couldn’t survive without
D for debating delegates.
T for Tiago!
E for (not) eating
U for unite, because we unite the European youth
F for fun!
V for Vendetta, because it’s a good movie
G for Greece. Duh.
W for work, lots of work.
H for “hara”, which is Greek for happiness!
X for xenos, because EYPers are attracted to for-
I for international; 10 different nationalities are
Y…. MCA, because it’s joyful song
attending the session
eign people, customs and cultures
J for journawesome, because the journos are awe- Z for the dance of Zalogos some.
K for Koukou, because she has a funny last name.
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eypoetry... by Mattho Mandersloot
Something that easily crosses your mind when you think of ‘old-fashioned’ writing is poetry. Probably because old-fashioned writers tend to use poetical style with words and expressions we would now call fancy and far-fetched. Back in 1864 already, Charles Baudelaire, a French poet, supported this kind of writing, with the words: “Always be a poet, even in prose.” («My Heart Laid Bare,» Intimate Journals). Ever since writing has been associated with lyric and the ‘beauty’ of a text has never lost its value in the world of literature. On this note you could say poetry is an inspirational source for old-fashioned writers. And so it is for our newspaper. In this issue I would like to express the press team’s commitment to the session with a poem. May it be an inspiration for your future EYP sessions!
A little drop of antiquity And wits and versatility Will make our paper look quite good And just as fancy as it should
The journo team will do their best To outshine sturdily all the rest Expect as much as you might need Our biggest effort is guaranteed
Our pledge, our oath is hereby made A word of honour, a serenade To all of you we gladly make A promise to proof what’s at stake
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