RIBUNE The Official STudenT newSpaper aT The lebaneSe american univerSTy

year Xiii, vOl. ii, nO. v Monday, May 23, 2011

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Are LAU Students’ Getting Worse?By Sahar MoukaddemLAU Tribune staff

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Unpreventable quakes Stupid smart rooms Meet Anita Nassar See the stain?

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“Read from page 15 till page 20 for Thursday,” the political science instructor wrote with confidence on the board. Com-plaints interrupted him. “Doctor, we have midterms,” some-body said. The instructor turned angrily toward the culprit. “When I was in college, I used to read 100 pages per day,” he said.LAU professors, close your eyes and go back to your classroom 10 years ago. Is the student you see there different from the one sitting in front of you now?Seven out of 10 instructors interviewed at LAU said that students have gotten worse in the last five to 10 years. They charged that some students today suffer from serious lan-guage problems, don’t read and are lazy and less motivated.“Some of the students don’t care if they failed or dropped a course,” Samira Shami, English instructor, said. “They come to university just to get their university degree and all they care about are their cell phones and blackberrys”Samar Mogharbel, a ceramics instructor, agreed with Shami. Mogharbel noticed that, after the new tuition system was es-tablished, students became more willing to drop a course. “They don’t care because, if they didn’t do well in a course, they simply drop it” she said.Starting Fall 2010, LAU shifted from a credit-based tuition system to a term-based one. Undergraduate students taking more than 12 credits pay a fixed rate which covers the cost of four three-credit classes.According to statistics provided by LAU, 2405 courses were dropped in fall 2010, compared to 1895 in fall 2009.Some instructors believe that the attitude of students has changed and that they are not as serious about their education and professional career.“Students before used to carry backpacks full of books and notebooks,” Ramzi Haraty, computer science associate profes-sor, said. “Now I notice students coming without even a pen to class.”Haraty suggested that a variety of procedures must be tak-en at the admission, faculty and student level. “We have to do a better job recruiting faculty, we have to get more experi-enced and tough faculty as far as academic standards are con-cerned,” Haraty explained.Many of the interviewed instructors related the problem to LAU’s admission standards. According to statistics provided on the LAU website, the acceptance rate for the school of ar-chitecture and design in fall 2010 was a staggering 80 percent, for the school of engineering 78 percent and for the school of pharmacy 83 percent.According to a member of the faculty senate who refused to be identified, professors at LAU have often proposed raising

Financial Aid Offices or Cafés?By Zeina ShehayebLAU Tribune contributor

A young woman, sitting lazi-ly in the middle of the gray-ish office, looked at her friend across the room. Notebook in one hand and pen in anoth-er, the young man was busy reviewing for an upcoming exam. “So do you think Bin Laden is dead?” She asked him. At this hour of the day, the scene seems quite banal. But it is not. What makes it worthy of scrutiny is the fact that the two LAU students are “at work.” Coming from different departments, they became friends as they chat-ted their way through the fi-nancial aid jobs they got at LAU. Based on need and budget availability, LAU’s finan-cial aid and scholarship of-fice offer students a discount of up to 1,000 dollars pro-vided that they work for 100 hours per semester at one of the university’s various of-fices. Many students, how-ever, end up earning money for doing nothing or for sim-ple jobs such as photocopy-ing papers, sorting files and delivering mail from one of-fice to another.

Several financial aid stu-dents we interviewed used the title “office boy” to re-fer to the work they do. Still, some of the students we talk-ed to complained about what they called “the demanding type of work” they are asked to do. “I don’t come to work because my uncle has connections with the supervisor,” Mike, a business senior who declined to give his real name, said. “I register my hours and I get paid for doing nothing.” He added that during a typical working hour, he drinks Ne-scafé with his friends out-side the office door. Kamal, a business junior who also wished to remain anonymous, concurred. “I check Facebook at the of-fice when and if I go there,” he said. “I usually register but don’t show up or I might even bring my friends to sit with me because I’m bored.”The problem, of course, does not extend to all LAU’s offic-es. In many cases, students work hard to earn the money they are generously grant-ed by the university. Inves-

tigation, however, revealed that more than fifty percent of LAU’s offices only require students to photocopy mate-rial, deliver envelopes across campus and sort files. “We usually have work to do but sometimes we just sit at the office and wait for requests from the supervisor,” Caro-line Feghaly, a communica-tion arts junior, said.According to public records, LAU’s financial aid bud-get for the year 2010-2011, amounted to a maximum of 15,282,694 dollars. The co-lossal sum raises questions about the way end-receivers earn their money.“I sit at the office and, when I am asked to sort out files or deliver envelopes, I do so. But when I have no specific tasks, I just sit around doing nothing,” an education stu-dent who refused to be iden-tified explained.Some students confessed that they don’t know what their supervisor’s job is. “There are no benefits be-hind this work except for

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Whatcha wearin’?

Photo by: Moham

ad Yahia Ham

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CAMPUS NEWS2 Tribune May 23, 2011

Simply Zen II Exhibition until May 20th

On the eighth floor of the Ri-yad Nassar Library, “Simply Zen II,” an exhibition featuring works by LAU English profes-sor Zen Shweiry, was launched on May 13.

At the opening ceremony, Shweiry elaborated on how he viewed himself as an artist still in the experimental stages of his creative development. The exhibition included 16 of Shweiry’s original paintings, 15 of which were done in acryl-ic and one in oil. All revolved around “confused emotions of life and death.” Guests included Vahid Behm-ardi, associate professor of Ar-

abic and Persian literature and chair of the humanities depart-ment at LAU Beirut, and Lana Shehadeh, LAU cultural stud-ies instructor. Behmardi admitted he was not

an expert in this type of art but said he could feel the beauty be-cause he works in verbal art and the works were “expand-ing from word to image.” Although Shweiry holds an MA in English literature, he said he feels that “literature is painting with words, while painting is with colors.” “They complement each other. You read a book and you visu-alize language into images, you

By Farrah BerrouLAU Tribune contributor

Student Film FestivalBy Mohamad Yahia HamadeLAU Tribune staff

Perso, a film by Brahim Badran, won the first price dur-ing the student film festival on the LAU Beirut campus on May 18. The event at the Irwin Hall auditorium was organized by Ramez Maluf’s public rela-tions class.Perso’s plot revolves around a troubled man who is haunted by the murder of his wife and can’t distinguish dreams from reality. “This event accounts for 38 per-cent of our class grade,” Chris-tine Saifi, a journalism student, said. “We’re screening six films produced by LAU students who took the broadcast class last year.”Ten public relations students, including Saifi, organized the event, which proved to be a suc-cess. The audience had to vote for the best movie.

paint an image and it speaks to the imagination,” the artist added. Among the works displayed, were two self-portraits repre-senting solitude and self-de-

pendence. Categorizing his style between figurative and naïve art, Shweiry revealed he inher-ited his interest in painting from his mother, who was the artistic influence in his early life. The exhibition, organized by LAU’s humanities depart-ment, will remain open ev-ery day from 5:30 till 8:30 p.m. until May 20.

The second movie, Layle, by Mahmoud Rida, examined the life of a young man who remi-nisced about his life, stuck be-tween childhood and adulthood. Layle also generated many pos-itive remarks and comments from the audience. “I think I can relate to the lead,” Rami, a computer science stu-dent, said. “I’m currently re-viewing my life and everything that’s going on with me at LAU.”Al-Imtihan, or The Exami-nation, by Elie Rizk, revolved around two high school stu-dents who attempt to steal their math exam. The movie had a comical feel to it and elicited a few laughs from the audience. Marwan Jaafar, an engineer-ing student at AUB, made a reference to the article about exam theft in last week’s is-

sue of the Tribune. “It’s cool, we read about exam theft and then watch a movie about it here at LAU,” he smiled.“Even American literature seems to be present here,” Jaaf-ar said as he described the fourth movie. Upon the 8th Night, by Nour Bou Dagher, was a film adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell Tale Heart. Love’s Decoy, a drama by Tara Bassim, focused on a married couple who suffer from a dys-functional relationship. An au-dience member made a snarky remark about the movie being a parody of the 21st century mar-riages in general. Balloon, a movie by Pia Hadad, was the last movie screened. The drama revolved around the life of a young girl whose recent-ly divorced parents leave her pining for her father.

The 11th annual ceremony of the Student Honor So-ciety celebrated the achievement of dozens of distin-guished LAU students at the Irwin Auditorium on May 17.Parents, honor students, doctors and deans stood up for the national anthem and LAU’s alma mater as the ceremony began. Raed Mohsen, dean of student of af-fairs at LAU, gave a word of welcome. President Jo-seph Jabra then expressed his pride in the students and his appreciation for their parents. Jabra then distributed the Highest Averages Awards, which are monetary checks of 1,000 dollars. The high-est average holders were Yara Mahmoud Khraibani at the school of architecture and design, Hassan Nass-er Abdallah at the school of arts and sciences and Aya Mohammad Dabbous at the school of business.The deans of the schools distributed certificates and pins to all students with a GPA higher than 3.5.The Rhoda Orm award was granted to Reham Dar-wich, MIT major, and the Riyad Nassar Leadership award went to Farah Chihadeh, an LAU business stu-dent.

Photo by: Farrah Berrou

Student Honor CeremonyBy Eleena KorbanLAU Tribune staff

Photo by: Najib K

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LAU’s communication arts department and the Neth-erlands Institute for Aca-demic Studies in Damascus organized a documentary workshop during which a dozen radio/TV/film stu-dents learned the art of writing and directing doc-umentaries for optimum re-sult. Rob Rombout, a Dutch

documentary film maker living in Belgium, gave the workshop on May 15 and 16.Rombout produced about 16 documentaries between 1985 and 2010, includ-ing Nord Express (1990), Les passagers de l’Alsace (2002) and Amsterdam via Amsterdam (2004).

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CAMPUS NEWSTribune May 23, 2011

LAU’s Immortals Still UndefeatedBy Eleena KorbanLAU Tribune staff

Noel Ghanem, assistant pro-fessor of biology at the Amer-ican University of Beirut, discussed the function of ret-inoblastoma protein, PRb, during embryonic and adult neurogenesis on the after-noon of May 13 at Nicol Hall, room 222 via video confer-ence with both LAU campus-es, Beirut and Byblos..Retinoblastoma is a protein used in neurogenesis which is the development of nerve tissues in embryos. Ghanem, also a neurologist, discussed in great length the develop-ment and differentiation of this neuron. “Historically, what is known about this protein is that it’s a tumor suppressor, so nat-urally what it does is inhibit cells from dividing,” Mirvat El Sibai, the LAU assistant professor who organized the event, said. “Retinoblasto-ma is regularly expressed in our body and it regulates the divisions and prevents can-cerous cells from spreading since cancer is basically the uncontrollable unnatural di-

vision of cells in the body.”But retinoblastoma in can-cer cells is mutated, and whenever retinoblastoma is mutated it’s not active any-more. As a result, it doesn’t tell the cells to stop dividing and that’s one way –among many– we get cancerous cells. Hence the cells divide uncontroolably and result in tumors and other such a forms of cancer.“[Retinoblastoma], the tu-mor suppressor, made me discover in my research that [it] not only regulates cell di-vision, but it also regulates cell-differentiation and cell-migration,” Ghanem said. All these factors allow the production of the neededpro-tein to keep a healthy natu-ral balance.Usually, differentiation and migration are two opposing procedures. Ghanem showed for the first time how this protein regu-lates and differentiates cells while also encouraging them to reproduce more cancerous ones.

Tumor SuppressorBy Tala El RizLAU Tribune staff

The Truth about AutismBy Lyn Abu SerajLAU Tribune contributor

Photo by: Lyn Abu Seraj

LAU’s Immortals imposed themselves once again on Saturday May 14, as they took home the winning tro-phy of the season. The team finished first in the rankings with 13 wins and zero losses. The American University of Beirut came in second.The players picked them-selves up after the five at-tempts they got to near in on the try line, then they de-fended their turf as the other team attempted their five of-fences. After setbacks, tack-les, and two penalties, LAU managed to score three tries, winning over AUB 16-8.George Rahal scored the first try. Rudy Hachache, brother of team captain Robin Hach-ache, scored the second try. The third try by Allen Khoury was the turning point of the game, according to Coach Raymond Safi. The ball was kicked in the air past the players and headed to AUB’s try line. Khoury dashed for the ball and caught it before it hit the ground. He scored an immediate try. The crowd

Photo by: Eleena K

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went wild chanting for LAU while Khoury’s teammates passed him around on their shoulders. “It was amazing, I had no idea where it came from, I just did it,” Khoury said after the game.The kicker, Walid Yassin, got two out of the three con-versions, or kicks, in. After every try that awards four points, the team is allowed a kick that would award them two additional points. LAU could not expect any less of their Immortals. For two years now, they have been undefeated with 32 wins under their belts and absolutely no losses. Even

so, Coach Safi claims that this is only a mere shadow of what the Immortals are ca-pable of. “This was not the LAU Im-mortals I know but when it came down to crunch time they pulled it together,” he said. “Some of the AUB players may think that there were some calls that were not in their particular favor, but we pulled it off in the end.”As the boys gathered around to take the winning photo, in-stead of saying the tradition-al “cheese” they went with a unanimous message to the losing team, “sorry, eh?”

Arwa Lynn Halawi, presi-dent of the Lebanese Autism Society (LAS) and Ahmad Oueini, associate professor at the department of educa-tion at LAU, hosted a lecture at the beginning of the month to raise awareness about this rare yet solemn disorder. Autism, as defined by the Autism Society of Ameri-ca (ASA), is a disability that typically appears during the first three years of one’s life as a result of a neurological disorder which affects the normal functioning of the brain. The disorder affects the development of cortical areas related to social inter-action and communication skills. LAS provides classes for au-

tistic children (CCA-Fr, CCA-En), technical schools (TSA), and early diagno-sis and intervention center (CDIP). It has also published books to raise awareness about the disease.“Autism is considered to be a rare thing, but, thank God, people in Lebanon know in-creasingly more about it,” Oueini explained. Today, more than 400 families have joined LAS and the number

is on the increase. Many companies, like Alpha and the ABC department store, show their support by donating money. Every year, a worldwide autism day is organized on the second Sunday of February and , for the third consecutive year, LAS has participated by or-ganizing a mass in St. John Church. Children with autism share specific characteristics.

They are often sensitive to stimuli, so they tend to cov-er their ears all the time and avoid maintaining eye con-tact. They also have a ten-dency to say inappropriate things at unexpected times. “Autistic children are not re-tarded, they are talented. They have a way of looking at things, it is like they are in their own little world,” Ouei-ni explained. “They are very smart and can work out math problems and fix technical is-sues within minutes.”Some of the most intelligent people in history were peo-ple with autism. Albert Ein-stein, the father of modern physics, is one example. Is-sac Newton, who was known to be an English physicist,

mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alche-mist and theologian was also autistic. Mozart, the pianist who wrote over 600 musicals, is a third famous case. LAS’ mission is to support the rights of individuals with autism and to provide them and their families with sup-port and services from early childhood to adulthood. “We try to raise awareness about this disorder and try our best to give these children and their families a better life,” Halawi said.LAS’ main goal is to provide-children with autism with a better life by enhancing their communication and interac-tions skills within the com-munity.

CAMPUS LIFE4 Tribune May 23, 2011

Engineering Schools Do Not Stress Seismic BuildingBy Diana BachouraLAU Tribune staff

“Earthquakes don’t kill peo-ple,” John Mutter, a seismol-ogist and disaster expert at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, says. “Bad build-ings kill them.” Haiti had some of the worst buildings in the world. Safety codes are acknowl-edged there but, in a coun-try ranked as the 10th most corrupt in the world, enforce-ment is negligent. When a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Port-Au-Prince in 2010, around 220,000 people lost their lives.Yes, it may be a little extreme to compare but the state of af-fairs may not be much better in Lebanon.The National Council of Sci-entific Research, the seismic network that monitors tec-tonic activity here, records more than 100 earthquakes of low magnitude (M 2.0 or 3.0) per month.According to Ata Elias, earth scientist and geology profes-sor at the American Univer-sity of Beirut, there is no way of predicting when the next strong earthquake will hap-pen. “The small earthquakes that we are talking about can hap-pen anywhere in Lebanon. More important regarding safety issues are the large-magnitude ones of 5.0, 6.0 or above,” he explained. “These

can happen – especially 6.0 and above – where there are active faults.” The US Geological Survey defines fault lines as meeting points where tectonic plates come into contact with one another and where the man-tle is cracked. Fault lines cre-ate earthquakes because the ground is in a constant state of motion.Lebanon lies on three active fault lines at least. The big-gest fault, known as the Ya-mouneh fault, extends along Mount Lebanon. The Sergha-ya fault lies along the eastern range and the Mount Leb-anon thrust, which is capa-ble of causing tsunamis that spread across the coast. Three notorious earth-quakes, reaching approxi-mately a magnitude of 7.5 on the Richter scale (Haiti was 7.0) hit Lebanon in the past. In July 551 AD, a strong tremor trigged a tsunami and destroyed Beirut. In May 1202, along the Yamouneh fault, another earthquake shook Damascus, Tripoli and Sidon. Finally, in November 1759, a third seism severely damaged Beirut and Damas-cus.Because of the quake of 551 AD, Beirut did not regain its glory before the 19th centu-ry.According to the US Geo-

logical Survey, the last ma-jor earthquake, measuring M 5.0, hit South Lebanon in 1956. It destroyed 6000 hous-es and 17,000 buildings and left 136 dead.In 2005, a seismically sound construction code was adopt-ed in Lebanon, based on Eu-ropean and American stan-dards. The latter focus on constructions “resisting” seismic activity (Japanese standards, which are based on “flexibility,” strive to have buildings sway with earth-quake movement). These building codes are not strictly enforced.According to Camille Issa, an LAU civil engineering pro-fessor who studies the effects of earthquakes on construc-tions, building an average seismically sound structure can cost up to 50 percent more than assumed.That being said, many build-ers in Lebanon find it finan-cially inconvenient (others are intentionally negligent) to follow seismic building codes. As a result, seismically poor structures continue to rise, posing risks of severe dam-age. But it is one thing to lack re-sources and finance and an-other to undermine educa-tion and training.The general attitude in Leb-

anon’s engineering schools is that we live in a country where daily needs, such as electricity and proper high-ways, are not being served. Concern about surviving an earthquake that may or may not happen is accordingly far-fetched.“In an ideal situation, you should worry about these is-sues. But you cannot be ideal when everything else is fall-ing apart,” Issa said.While the chairperson of LAU’s school of engineering did not grant us an interview, Issa courteously explained that seismic design at the school is briefly touched upon but not scrutinized. Apparently, LAU civil engi-neering students are exposed in brief to earthquake de-sign during their final-year projects. “Generally, earth-quakes are not a hot topic in this region,” Issa said, “If anyone is interested in learn-ing more, technical electives are available.”Nizar Sankary, a fourth year civil engineering student, confirmed Issa’s remarks. He explained that earthquakes are touched upon in class, but never in detail.Likewise, the civil engineer-ing program at AUB has no focus on seismic construc-tion. According to Moham-mad Al Hariri, a fourth year

civil engineering student at AUB, courses that are relat-ed to earthquakes and seis-mic activities are usually of-fered to graduate students. Undergraduates were only permitted to enroll in such courses as of this year as technical electives.LAU civil engineering stu-dents in their fourth year are required to take three techni-cal electives from a list of 18. Technical electives that cov-er earthquake analysis in-clude Concrete Structures II and Risk and Natural Haz-ard Management. According to civil engineering students, a new technical elective ti-tled Earthquake Analysis of Structures is due to begin in fall 2011.But, earthquake construc-tion is not merely a job for engineers. As you create a building, you need to have a team made of an architect, an engineer for structure, and two others for electro and mechanic.Engineering students study structure, whereas architec-ture students study the de-sign of the building. “Generally, our focus is on design and space,” Ramzi Najjar, a third-year architec-ture student, said. “Study-ing earthquakes is consid-

The LAU Stereotype By Lama Al -HaqhaqLAU Tribune staff

“LAU students are mostly fake and materialistic, and I would never want to be part of their society,” Daniella De-bies, a student from Notre Dame University, said.Her description fits into the stereotype some have about LAU students; rich, snob-by and “plastic” individuals. Like several others, Debies finds that LAU students are notoriously known to care more about how they look

than about how they perform academically.Scholars define stereotyp-ing as process of labelling that involves categorization and evaluation and where the characteristics of a mi-nority within a group are ex-tended to the entire group. Stereotypes are often false, demeaning and present the subject as an inferior “other.”To test the accuracy of the LAU stereotype, the Tribune

conducted a study on cam-pus, focusing on the number of women wearing high heels. During one hour, only 18 per-cent of students were found wearing such shoes, while the other 82 percent were in flats, sandals or sneakers.The stereotype was also con-firmed wrong among outsid-ers who had friends at LAU. Their opinion of our student body was indeed more bal-anced.

“LAU students are very di-verse. They’re a mix of so many different things, and that’s really nice,” Fadi Had-dad, a student from the American University of Bei-rut, said.Others agreed. “I actually ad-mire them for their consis-tency to have time to study and party,” Shady Said, a student from Balamand Uni-versity, said. “I mean it’s very rare to find students who can

have time for both.”It seems that, while many are quick to joke about and ste-reotype LAU students, they do not have the same opinion when asked seriously. “There are students that are snobby and there are those that are laid back,” Aaliah Qaddah, a student from St Joseph University, said. “But it’s normal to have a mix of these people because it’s like that everywhere.”

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CAMPUS LIFETribune May 23, 2011

Dear Adviser, Can You Help?

on the reasons behind the pe-tition,” a source who refused to be identified said. “It takes time to study these petitions because some claims are not true.”Nabahani cautioned that students are sometimes to blame for registration prob-lems. She gave the example of a pre-engineering student who came to the education department, searching for her adviser. The student did not have any idea who the latter was.“The online advising system allows students to change or add courses after they get our approval,” Iman Osta, associ-ate professor of mathematics and computer and the chair of the education department, said. Some students do not check their webmail and remain unaware of advising and reg-istration deadlines. The debate on whether stu-dents or advisers are to blame will persist. In some cases, advisers commit mis-takes as they help students register their courses. In oth-ers, students act irresponsi-bly and disregard their ad-visers’ recommendation or do not check with them in the first place.Elise Salem, LAU’s vice pres-ident for student develop-ment and enrollment man-agement, acknowledged there is an advising problem

By Diaa AljurdyLAU Tribune staff

They stand in a long line, some holding a paper in their hands, some chatting, oth-ers simply daydreaming. While one may think it may describe a bus station, the scene actually takes place at Nicol Hall’s second floor, during the advising period. Advising is a crucial process for new students. Guided by their contract sheet, stu-dents decide what courses they should register for ev-ery semester, with their ad-viser’s help and approval. Contract sheets provide stu-dents with the LAC, ma-jor and elective courses they should take to graduate. Ev-ery student has one or two advisers who stay with him or her until graduation.For some students at LAU, advising is a problematic is-sue. “I was admitted as a sophomore, but during reg-istration they made me shift to freshman,” Nelly Awad, an international affairs stu-dent, said. “My adviser never had the answers as to what courses I should take.”Desperate, Awad consulted the Ministry of Education, where her high school cred-its were transferred. She ended up taking courses that weren’t counted and lost an entire semester because of an advising mistake. An unhappy Awad noted that the advising system is quite strict, with advisers as-signed in alphabetical order according to students’ family names. “I had to see a specific adviser even if he was not on campus,” Awad said.Interviews with full-time faculty revealed that some weren’t trained for advising. They use personal judgment and common sense to advise students. Mona Nabahani, an associ-ate professor of education and the director of LAU’s Teacher Training Institute, said that she learned about the advising process on her own.“They usually do mini orien-tations for new faculty, but

I learned alone,” Nabahani said. “At the time, even our chair was new. She had been here for few years and was also self-trained in advising.”Back then, a staff member at the guidance office provided help to advisers when need-ed but she has long since re-tired. “She was like an en-cyclopedia for us. We do not know now whom we should contact for advising ques-tions,” Nabahani said. Today, LAU doesn’t seem to have a reference person or center for advisers. Azzam Mourad, an assis-tant professor at the depart-ment of computer science and mathematics, said that he didn’t get any training for advising beyond the regis-trar office’s session on how to use the registration comput-er system. Sahar Moukaddem, a jour-nalism senior, had to post-pone her graduation because of a mistake her adviser com-mitted. “Last fall, my adviser regis-tered me for elective cours-es only, and I couldn’t take a major course later because it needs prerequisites,” she ex-plained. The registrar office regularly receives petitions where stu-dents charge that they regis-tered unrequired course. “Students’ petitions are sent to every student’s depart-ment, the decisions are based

at the university. She said that sessions for training ad-visers are being planned. Salem also recognized that the student-adviser ratio at LAU is low. “We are willing to hire more professional ad-visers for every school,” she said. “Our aim is to bring stu-dents online by putting more information about advising on LAU’s website.”Salem also said there are plans to make contract sheets more detailed. The current versions provide general guidelines such as recommendations to take three to nine social science LAC credits but do not spec-ify which courses fall under such category.Information of this sort could have served people like Jee-na Basma, LAU interior de-sign student, who took a course she did not need. “After I paid for the course, the registrar told me it is not required for me to take it,” she said. But some students reported no problems with advising. They said they relied on their contract sheets and always followed their advisers’ rec-ommendations. Victor Khsheish, an 18-year-old management student, said that he hadn’t had any problems with advising be-cause he learned all the rules during the orientation peri-od.

Zahra Bou Melhem, a 19-year-old pharmacy stu-dent, agreed. “I didn’t face any problems during ad-vising, my advisor gave me courses according to my con-tract sheet,” she said. A survey of 26 LAU students revealed that 12 had an un-satisfactory advising ex-perience. The rest were ei-ther satisfied with or neutral about the process.Mona Shahine, an instruc-tor at the humanities depart-ment and freshman adviser, said she has never registered students for a non-required course. “If they insist on tak-ing a course that I don’t rec-ommend, I double check by calling Randa Gharzeddine at the registrar,” she added.At the guidance office, Zeina Trad and Dina Abdul Rah-man help with the advising of freshman students. “The Freshman System and the SAT have changed,” Trad said. “Advisers are aware of that but get lost sometimes. That’s why Dina helps them.”Trad added that advisers of-ten contact them about spe-cific cases. “I’m also here to help students who have aca-demic problems,” she said.“The first step for solving ad-vising problem is a proactive advising system which our school is adapting,” Nashaat Mansour, a computer sci-ence professor and the as-sistant dean at the school of arts and sciences, said. “Stu-dents should be called during their first year by their advis-ers to check how they are cop-ing with every aspect of their courses.”According to Mansour, an-other step is an indirect training program where new faculty shadow given men-tors at the department to get acquainted with the advising process. All in all, several projects are underway to improve the state of things. “After all, stu-dents are justified in their concerns and LAU is serious in making changes,” Salem said.

Photo courtesy of: Fatima G

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SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH6 Tribune May 23, 2011

By Eleena KorbanLAU Tribune staff

Back in 1978, LAU students had to take punch card read-ers to the American University of Beirut in the evening to use a computer. Since then, our cam-pus has come a long way.“Today, LAU is a leader in the use of IT in Lebanon,” Roy Ma-jdalani, vice president of hu-man resources and university services, said. “IT is interwo-ven in the texture of the univer-sity.” In 1980, LAU acquired its first set of Texas Instrument com-puters. Fifteen years later, it launched the computer net-work. In 1996, email was set up for all faculty and staff. The LAU website launched a year later. In 2004, LAU became the first university in the Middle East to launch a comprehen-sive wireless network. Nicolas Majdalani, director of

IT infrastructure and support, explains the magnitude of this network. “We have over 300 ac-cess points but imagine 40,000 students and alumni, 2,000 staff and faculty all putting pressure on the access points to transition and migrate, not to mention the uprising of all the wireless phones and laptops,” he said. “It’s only normal that the system would glitch to keep up with the demand.” Today, LAU has 52 smart classrooms between Beirut and Byblos, with 21 more to come. Not to mention six smart conference rooms. The proj-ect was financed by USAID, which offered 555,000 dollars through its ASHA grants pro-gram.The classrooms come in four levels. Level zero includes a projector, electrical screen and

a PC. Level one classrooms have in addition a sound sys-tem and the touch-screen Cres-ton Control System. Level two adds a document camera that allows teachers to project handouts. Level three, the ul-timate, includes at least two projectors and two screens, a complete sound system with microphones, a VC and an in-structor IP camera. “The visual aspects of the class-rooms are really important,” Patricia Purdhomme, a biolo-gy student, attested. “Seeing the images while the professor explains helps us remember. I feel it makes all our lives easier.”A smart classroom is meant to fully integrate technology into the learning process. Howev-er, the said process seems to be disrupted with all this new technology. “We waste twen-

ty minutes in the beginning of class trying to figure out how to work the equipment, and even-tually end up calling someone to help us,” Julia Ataya, edu-cation major, complained. Ata-ya’s frustration is shared by a significant number of students who watch their professors struggling with the technology at the beginning of class.Mohammad Fakih, a business student who works at the au-diovisual department, is one of the many young men that tend to professors when they give up. “We get around two calls ev-ery hour,” he said. “Usually the problem is that they can’t fig-ure out how to open the lectern, sometimes a cord would just be unplugged.”In April, the audiovisual crew provided faculty with two train-ing sessions on smart class-

rooms. “Only around ten at-tended those sessions,” Fakih said. “Another issue is that we have had three keyboards sto-len already because teachers leave the podiums unlocked. More attention needs to be paid to the equipment.” Per-haps with better organization and training, both students and professors will learn to ful-ly take advantage of the invest-ments LAU has made for them. When launching “The Legacy and the promise: LAU’s cam-paign for excellence” in 2008, President Joseph Jabbra said that “investing in education is the best investment that any-body can make in the future not only of this country but of this region.”If that is the case, then our re-gion’s future looks pretty good so far.

The fact that 82 percent of tech geeks primarily use their tab-lets at home underlines the sig-nificance of this device as a rev-olutionary modern invention. According to a March 2011 sur-vey by Google’s AdMob, tablets have entirely dominated the technological market since the release of the Apple’s iPad. This information comes to prove that a company cannot rest on its laurels for long. In an industry that runs on quick spinning, companies are at risk of falling behind in the pecking order of corporations in wheels. Some have begun to question whether tablets will replace desktops and laptops as the new favorite gadget. Digital strategy consultant and LAU instructor Ayman Itani believes, however, that tablets and laptops are two in-comparable devices. While the former are mainly used by a receiving audience, he explained, laptops remain the most popular input device.

By Zahi SahliLAU Tribune contributor

According to Itani, the creation of tablets has originated from a growing need in the technologi-cal world to find a meeting point between rising and old gadgets. “Tablets have been invented to fill a gap between smart phones and laptops after the huge glob-al success of smart phones,” the technology expert said. LAU student Mona Hammoud assured that she would prefer a laptop over an iPad. As a journalist, Hammoud be-lieves that laptops are ideal tools for writing and editing. “I cannot see myself writing an article on an iPad,” she said.

The communication arts stu-dent’s opinion emphasizes Itani’s judgment about the dif-ference between tablets and laptops. The iPad’s ingenious concep-tion, however, which has tak-en the world by a storm, did not come to existence without pre-liminary phases in the indus-try. The innovative success of smart phones, in particular, prompted Apple to create the iPad, which was followed by a slightly mod-erated version, the iPad 2. Other companies have pounced at the chance to compete with

Apple and develop their own versions of the same device. “The smart phone was very well-done technologically and user response about it was ex-tremely positive. Other man-ufactures have unsurprising-ly gone in the same direction,” Itani said. An immense commotion has surrounded the release of the second version of Apple’s iPad; the new-generation device has racked up a record one million unit sales during the first week-end, according to Reuters. Statistics indicate that Apple continues to dictate the flow of new technological gadgets. In the AdMob survey, 43 per-cent of respondents revealed that they spend more time with their tablets than they do with their laptops or desktops. Meanwhile 77 percent of re-spondents reported that their desktop or laptop usage has de-creased after buying a tablet.Although prices for technology in Lebanon are fairly inflated in comparison with other coun-

tries, part of the global strength of tablets is their relatively cheap cost. “iPad 2 is sold for 800 dollars in Lebanon and for 500 dollars in the United States,” Itani said. Buying an equally fine laptop would demand that a consumer shells out more than 1,000 dol-lars.Although monetary value is a vital detail for a potential cus-tomer of any modern gadget, the prices of these devices are not the key motives for audi-ence purchasing preferences.As previously highlighted, the crucial point remains the mode in which a consumer would use the gadget of his or her choice. For those seeking entertain-ment through the massive in-flux of media output, iPads are ideal companions.The laptop, however, is still far from becoming extinct. It still provides the essential role of a classic input device that many people in the me-dia industry and other busi-nesses still require.

From ‘Punch Card Readers’ to Smart Rooms

Of Tablets and Laptops

Photo by: Fatima G

houl

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CULTURE & FASHIONTribune May 23, 2011

Royal Weddings: What’s with All the Fuss?By Tala OsseiranLAU Tribune staff

Most young girls dream of be-ing princesses and falling in love with prince charming. Unable to let go of the child-hood stories we grew, we came to cherish royal wed-dings, a glimpse into a world most of us only know in fai-rytale books. Newlyweds Prince William and Princess Kate Middleton made their way recently to Buckingham palace, after a dazzling wed-ding ceremony that fascinat-ed the world. Amid reports of unrest in Libya, Syria, Ye-men and Bahrain, Al Jazeera stopped for some time to broadcast live this Cinderel-la story. We got a good look at the prince’s blue Austin Mar-tin, decorated with red, white and blue ribbons. The priest of Canterbury declared the newlyweds “man and wife” in front of two billion people. “People are always under the influence of the media, which tells us that we should be

As she carried her notebooks in one hand and her Lou-is Vuitton bag in another, the young woman hurried-ly crossed LAU’s upper gate. Behind her DKNY sunglass-es, she could see a group of fe-male students looking at her. They seemed to admire her new Diesel jeans. It does, in-deed, fit perfectly, the young woman thought. Quite hap-py about the outcome, she rushed to class. Advertising scholar Judith Williamson explains that brand names offer their own-er value and status beyond the attributes of the actual product. A jeans, in other words, is merely an outfit that cov-ers one’s lower body. But when it’s jeans, it also signi-fies that its proprietor is hip and, quite importantly, rich enough to afford a pair of

pants that costs several hun-dred dollars. “You become what you buy,” a consumer research study conducted in Ontario, Cana-da, explains. For those who obsess with fashion, clothes are a reflec-tion of what’s inside. So picture this. It’s the sec-ond day of advising here at LAU Beirut. People stand in line, sweating and tired. Yet J. AlHachem feels compelled to be super fashionable from head to toe. “I wake up at 5:30 a.m. every day to get ready,” Al Hachem said. “My daily ritual includes make-up, hair and finding the per-fect outfit.” When the dress becomes more important than the per-son wearing it, and dressing up becomes a way of life in-stead of a perk, some are left behind. Students who don’t

like to wear brand names on their foreheads find them-selves on the fringes. “To me, they are just trying not to conform. It’s not that they don’t like dressing up, because I know that for a girl this is impossible,” Rawan, a management student at LAU Byblos, said. Psychologists suggest that the obsession with fashion and expensive brands may have develop during child-hood. Young adult girls don’t just happen to randomly like CK, D&G or Prada. “These girls are used to wear-ing expensive and luxuri-ous brands. Their parents dressed them that way as kids, and that’s what appeals to them as adults,” Maral Boyadjian, a doctoral candi-date in leadership skills and LAU psychology instructor, said.

But the problem doesn’t lie in those who are fashionable or like to treat themselves with expensive bags, clothes and accessories. It is more in the opinion such people have of those who don’t appreciate brand names.Georgio Djukovic, a student at LAU Beirut believes that “those who wear nothing but sweatpants, and do noth-ing but critique those wear-ing brands” are just trying to make a statement. “You think they don’t spend time thinking about what to wear? They are too obsessed with not conforming that sometimes it’s more serious than those who wear brands,” he said. The pressure to be fashionable may lead to prob-lems, both psychological and financial, among some peo-ple. “For those who can afford it, expensive wear is okay.

But it gets out of hand when I see students or even par-ents drain their credit cards to pay for trendy items,” said Amanda Geagea, manager of IKKS, where a simple pair of slippers can cost from 100 to 400 dollars. Numerous studies confirm that the pressure of fashion may lead to a distorted self-concept, the feeling of be-ing marginalized and a loss of self-esteem, especially among the young. Some stu-dents resort to buying fake items to try to live up to the expectations of their peers. Others try to resist.“It is so ridiculous that some bother themselves this much to please others. I would nev-er care about what others think of what I’m wearing,” Anastasia K, a biology stu-dent at LAU, said. “What matters is that I’m happy.”

Are You Really What You Wear?By Maria FellasLAU Tribune staff

looking up to these people,” Reem Sweidan, an LAU jour-nalism student, said. “It all begins with the Disney mov-ies we watched. The media convinced us that royalty is what we should dream of.”And the bigger and more ex-travagant the wedding is, the better. “It’s more of a sta-tus thing since people always envy what they can’t have,” Rola Nasr, a social psycholo-gy, explained. “Many people may to care about this occur-rence because they are chan-neled into doing so by a force that plays on their psyche.”Watching royal weddings boost our hopes of finding love and living “happily ever after.” During the ceremony, our dreams are played out by a beautiful princess and a handsome prince. “Let’s face it, we all like to have an ex-cuse to enjoy watching some-thing and to criticize it after-wards,” M. N., who refused to

be identified, confessed. “All news station, all magazines around the world are at the wedding. Why wouldn’t I want to be part of the two billion people watching? It’s a dream when reality comes alive.” “The media play on the myth we grow up with, the one of a normal girl marrying into royalty,” Yasmine Dabbous, assistant professor of me-dia studies, explained. “They know such stories sell and

they cover them extensively to attract viewers and make money. It’s all about the rat-ings.” Prince William’s sta-tus as the next king of Britain and the son of the late Di-ana fueled people’s interests and, accordingly, increased viewership. “The shadow and memories of the late Lady D made the media fall into the trap of comparing both wed-dings,” Mahmoud Tarabay, a media instructor and train-

ing consultant, noted. “It was said that Lady D was the main guest at the wedding.”The ceremony during which Diana married Prince Charles on July 29, 1981 was called “the wedding of the century.” Around 3,500 people attend-ed and 750 million followed on television. The gathering of famous heads of the state, pop stars and royal dignitar-ies from around the globe also makes royal weddings a me-dia marathon. For most peo-ple, however, such ceremonies are a warm diversion from the gloomy bad news we get ev-ery day. “Maybe the folks af-ter all just like hearing some good news at the end of the day, something positive they could actually all focus on,” O. O., who also wished to re-main anonymous, said. “Can’t we just take a little time off from all the destruction and the sadness in our lives to cel-ebrate love?”

Photo via Facebook

PEOPLE8 Tribune May 23, 2011

Anita Nassar: Going Beyond the Line of Duty

Inside Shannon Hall, and within the unassuming quar-ters of the Institute for Wom-en’s Studies in the Arab World, IWSAW assistant di-rector Anita Farah Nassar struggles to open an uncoop-erative door. She laughs at her situation and samples other keys. “What is the matter with this door?” she asks with an im-pressive lack of frustration. After twists and turns, one key clicks into place and Nas-sar ushers me into her world. Those who know Nassar and those who don’t can tell that she confronts obstacles with patience, perseverance, and dedication. “I’m a strategist,” she said.“I push myself beyond the line of duty. As you struggle to reach your objective, you see that there is always some-thing new to learn.”Nassar remembers, for in-stance, the year 1985, when IWSAW had to deal with an

income-generating project in the midst of the Lebanese civil war. “The institute de-cided to reach out and help displaced women. Some-times it was frightening,” she said. “The fear of being in an unsafe place and the pos-sibility of getting killed were always there but, because we believed that these wom-en needed our help, we went through with it.” Nassar’s work at IWSAW is rigorous and hard at times. It includes training of train-ers, raising awareness about gender-based violence and empowering young women.“What we do at the insti-tute is work on empowering women without leaving out or antagonizing men,” Nas-sar said. “We try to part-ner with them as we defend important issues related to women.” IWSAW organiz-es awareness-raising cam-paigns, lectures, workshops and conferences with inter-

national speakers. Subjects covered recently include gen-der-based violence, citizen-ship, politics, media, human rights and the law.Nassar has been involved for over ten years in projects un-dertaken by IWSAW to assist female prisoners in Lebanon. Her contribution has helped improve the conditions of countless female convicts, who end up in prison because of life’s harsh circumstances. “I don’t feel they are prison-ers,” she said. “I trust them and they, in return, put their trust in me.” Nassar has recently complet-ed the final draft of the Guide to Work in Women’s Prison in Lebanon, soon to be pub-lished by IWSAW and UNF-PA. It includes practical in-structions and tips to ensure the success of projects under-taken in women’s prisons in Lebanon; as well as a com-parative study about female prisoners over ten years. As part of her job at LAU, Nassar also teaches early childhood education and chil-dren’s literature at the edu-cation department. Nassar’s inspiration is her mother. “Along the way, my mom Eleonore inspired me, my model. She was a pio-neer,” the IWSAW assistant director said. “She was one of the first women to open a ‘boutique’ in Lebanon in the early ‘60s, which was not common, nor possible, at the time. Unlike many women of her generation, she was persistent and pursued her dream to the end.”Although Nassar has earned the right to be one of the re-gion’s renowned women, she is quite low profile and pre-fers to remain as such. “I’m not a person seeking fame,” she said. “I’ve been asked to go on a lot of shows but I always refuse. There’s no point in being celebrated, I just want to get the work done as perfectly as possi-ble.”

To Work or Not to Work

By Caroline Hodroj LAU Tribune staff

She wakes up at 7 a.m., goes to her first class at 8 and, by 10 a.m., she is ready to go to work. She then cleans the bathroom, arranges the pil-lows on the bed, and picks up the clothes on the floor. It’s now finally 5 p.m. and she can go back home. Back at her room, Noura Bohsali, a hospitality management stu-dent at LAU, looks around for her books. “I try to merge my studies and my work,” Bohsali said. “My work doesn’t interfere that much with my studies however, because I am well organized.” Students who hold part-time jobs are surely under pres-sure but gain a great work ex-perience before leaving LAU. Despite her heavy schedule, Bohsali never faced prob-lems related to academic per-formance.According to a study done at a high school in Kentucky, working students gain more experience but “do not differ markedly from nonworking students in school experienc-es.” They’re still involved in all the regular outings, they just have an extra load on the side that they deal with.As a hospitality manage-ment student, Bohsali is re-quired to complete an intern-ship. She has to start at the very bottom to slowly build herself up the profession-al ladder. “I’d rather work now than after graduation,” Bohsali said. “I want to be able to attain a higher posi-tion once I look for real a job.” With less time on her hands, Bohsali disagrees with the belief that working students fail academically. Despite her work load, she still finds time to study. “When and if I can’t find time to study, then I will stop working,” she said. “But for the time being, I try not to look at it as a difficult task.”According to the Sunday Times, half of the students

in the U.S. hold jobs while in college. The newspaper spec-ifies that, for a better aca-demic performance, students must limit their workload to 16 hours per week. Abdul Rahman Tabbara, a business student at LAU, works full time at Beesline. When the shop first opened its doors near campus, Tab-bara had to work 12 hours per week. “I didn’t have a social life,” Tabbara explains. “You should be able to make the sacrifice and, instead of going out every day, you only go out once a week.” Nonetheless, Tabbara tru-ely believes it’s a great ex-perience that will help him later in life. A research proj-ect conducted at the Univer-sity of North Carolina dem-onstrates that students who have worked during college have “average earnings that are up to 26 percent higher seven to 10 years later than those who did not work dur-ing high school.” But despite the advantag-es, there are several prices that have to be paid. When in class, Tabbara sometimes thinks about work more than the course material. Tabbara acknowledged that, when he faced problems at work, he also failed academ-ically but thankfully never had to drop a class. “I had to create time to study,” he explained.Tabbara said he would nev-er stop work but admitted he needs a break. As the manager of the shop at one point, Tabbara was in charge of HR and ironically found then that hiring stu-dents wasn’t a great idea. “They wouldn’t take the job seriously,” he said. “They would complain of not having the time to devote to work be-cause of their studies.” Some would talk too much on the phone while others would pretend to go to school and instead go to the beach.

By Lea GiustiLAU Tribune staff

Photo courtesy of Anita Nassar

9

CONTINUEDTribune May 23, 2011

The Team: Editors-in-Chief:Mohamad Yahia HamadeCaroline Hodroj

Staff:Lama Al-Haqhaq, Diaa Al Jurdy, Diana Bachoura, Tala El Riz, Maria Fellas, Lea Giusti, Ivana Hindi, Eleena Korban, Sahar Moukaddem, Nour Monajjed, Tala Osseiran, Reem Swaidan

Adviser:Yasmine Dabbous

Financial Aid Offices or Cafés?

making friends,” Farah Mtaweh, junior social work student who helps at one of the auxiliary offices, said.Despite the obvious problem, many financial aid students re-fused to speak, even anonymously, fearing that they would lose their position and the money they get every semester. “What if investigations were done to reveal our identity?” One student asked. “Who would give us our financial aid back?” To qualify for financial aid, students must have a course load of at least 12 credits and a minimum 2.0 GPA. LAU’s Beirut campus includes 62 offices and 131 supervisors with 850 to 900 financial aid students spread across the various units. The number of students assigned to work at offices depends on the budget of the department, the type of work required, con-fidentiality and the space provided to accommodate the stu-dents. It may vary from three up to 23 students per office –sometimes more.“We send an email to supervisors at the beginning of every term asking for any modifications required,” Samir Obeid, in-structor and director of the financial aid and scholarships of-fice, said. Obeid noted that the jobs assigned to financial aid students are mainly “office work” although some might help instructors in their research or at the lab or the gym.Rola Rizk, an academic assistant for fine arts and foundation, said that she has ten assistants but “I don’t see them all.” She added that they work to make her happy although they some-times nag and give the work she assigns to them to other assis-tants. “I don’t mind it since the requests are done at the end,” Rizk said.The Tribune did its own investigation, observing several de-partmental, administrative and faculty offices where finan-cial aid students were employed. In addition to the minority who did indeed work, most were busy with unrelated matters. Students sent messages on their BlackBerries, ate snacks or drank juice or Nescafé. Many were busy studying or prepar-ing for an upcoming presentation. Several chatted with fel-low financial aid assistants about their personal lives or about random issues such as fashion, jewelry, perfumes and restau-rants.Obeid, who acknowledged the problem, recommended that su-pervisors audit the work of financial aid assistants and train them where needed. “Distribution of work should be done over the day,” he added. “Supervisors should optimize scheduling because it is a big responsibility they assume.”Kamal, who has rotated in many offices around campus, said that some of his supervisors gave him actual work but some also asked him for petty tasks such as bringing them lunch.“I am not satisfied when our recommendations are not ap-plied,” Obeid acknowledged. “I am not happy in general be-cause some offices make use of the students and some offices don’t. This needs better cooperation.”In the final analysis, however, Obeid rightly noted that, de-spite its faults, the current system brought financial relief too many families. “One of the benefits of the program is that stu-dents assist their parents in subsidizing the tuition,” he said. “Ten dollars per hour… A price not given in many other jobs.”

Continued from page 1

Photo by: M. Y. H

amade

Are LAU Students’ Getting Worse?Continued from page 1

admission standards during meetings but no direct ac-tions were taken.Not only are LAU students getting worse, the whole country is,” Nadim Mohsen, cultural studies instructor at LAU, said. “All the negativism of the war appeared now, cultur-ally, socially and politically, and nothing happened to re-verse the downfall that was induced by the civil war,” he added. “I can feel that stu-dents cannot grasp the is-sues when we do a discussion or an opinion gathering, as if they are living in a different world. I don’t blame them be-cause they are part of this so-ciety that is falling down.”Today’s students don’t need to spend overnights in the li-brary searching for informa-tion, they can just pull out their laptops, iPads or smart-phones to Google the infor-mation they need, whenever they need it.“Too much information is not necessarily good informa-tion” Hiba Mekdashi, media and design instructor, said. Mekdashi believes that stu-dents now lack eagerness and passion for their work. “Their attention span is short, they easily get bored. They are less inspired and

motivated,” she complained.Some believe that education is not getting worse but is rather changing to meet the needs of an evolving world. “This is the law of nature,” Vahid Behmardi, chairper-son of the humanities depart-ment, said. Behmardi believes that the majority of teachers are used to the old concept of reading. “Students now do read, but not in the classical way,” he explained. “Holding an iPad is like holding a whole library by your hand.”The interviewed faculty of-fered many solutions, includ-ing a better equipped staff, a stricter attendance and grad-ing systems, organizing de-bates and seminars that help students improve on a cul-tural and academic level.All interviewees proposed to raise the standards for ad-mission to LAU. Professors believed that this procedure would definitely ensure bet-ter qualified students.“I agree 100 percent that raising the standards will help in making LAU a bet-ter university,” Elise Salem, vice president for student de-velopment and enrollment management, said. She con-firmed that the administra-tion is working seriously on

this issue and has already made progress. “Two years and a half ago, it was open admissions,” she said. “You could apply two weeks before the start of university and the standards were not very clear.”Since fall 2009, new stan-dards have been implement-ed. Students are now asked to apply for the SAT test along with the EEE exam. In addition, LAU phased out the AA program, which gave students without a Lebanese baccalaureate the possibility to enroll. “We are not happy that the quality of students in the classroom, reported by our faculty, is in many cases not up to bar. We agree that this is not acceptable,” Salem said. “We want to raise the stan-dards slowly and, at the same time, there has to be more rigor and accountabili-ty in the classroom” Surprisingly enough, some students agreed that LAU has to raise admission stan-dards. “People believe that anyone can be accepted at LAU and this is giving us a bad reputation,” Neam Kat-erji, a communication arts student, said. “We don’t want to be called the lazy universi-ty anymore.”

Engineering Schools Do Not Stress Seismic Building

ered to be a purely technical solution; it does not affect the space you live in, so we don’t really study seismic design.” As Maroun Daccache, chair-person of the LAU school of architecture, put it, “the ar-chitect is the director of the orchestra. The engineer makes calcula-tions and adjustments to the

plan according only to struc-ture, not design.”Najjar stressed that more should be done to teach seis-mic design but claimed that it’s not viewed as a priority. As Issa himself put it, “at the end of the day, the prob-ability of a civil strife break-ing out in Lebanon is greater than that of an earthquake.”

Continued from page 4

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OPINION10 Tribune May 23, 2011

What do you think of the say-ing; “like father like son?” Conducting a research on great male figures like Picas-so, Isaac Newton and Ein-stein, we see that these suc-cessful people accomplished great things in their lives but didn’t have a son to carry their legacy.As I witnessed him, sit-ting there like a lion inside the cave where he ruled, I couldn’t help but notice the authority he had on others. He passed by them with his head held high and his chest wide open. They foolishly kneeled down to him, blind-ed by his father’s clothes lingering shaggily on him, thinking that they actually fit. Does his carrying his fa-ther’s name oblige us to re-spect him? He has the walk of a lion and the manners of a conceited one for that matter. His com-mands were satisfied with the glimpse of an eye, his voice was heard, and his eyes glowed sharp like thunder. I felt like a 10-year-old again watching The Lion King.Being an outsider myself, I saw this incident as a Holly-wood shot, but this time the acting was real. He’s confi-dent about himself and eu-

phoric about the sheep-herd that surrounded him.Coming from a patriarchal society where males rule, I ask fathers, “how much do your sons carry your name, or are even qualified repre-sentatives of your names?”And I keep on wondering and looking at him trying to de-fine how much “he” is certi-fied to use his father’s name when in reality he’s nothing like him.We all heard people saying, “You’re just like your dad,” or “if he was here he would’ve been proud of you.” Reality check: You are noth-ing like your dad; wearing the black suit doesn’t make you similar to him, neither does your behavior. You’re not even close or up to the achievements that he accom-plished. Nothing of what you are des-perately trying to achieve will ever make your dad proud. Carrying that name only empowers you to hold a title with empty content. So why don’t you give us a break and leave your father alone and start working on proving something out of your own name instead. Like your father, there is no one, not even you.

Don’t Pretend You Don’t See The Stain

“You know what I real-ly think? I think you’re an egotistical phone call ad-dict, cigarette smoking un-der estimator, who’s an over-indulgent skinny stick of woman, who chews gum too loudly and has bad ideas, bad breath, bad teeth, bad grades, bad boyfriends, bad hair and truly and utterly bad habits,” she might have said. If some girls were to hear this from their best friends, they’d have died due to sheer undiluted horror. But that’s the nature of de-layed honesty. If left unat-

tended, it will result in a vol-canic eruption of raw terror that will leave whomever is listening in a sorry state of magnified shock. And that’s your cross to bear for not do-ing anything about it soon-er and having made this the only time you’ve ever been honest. In my opinion, honesty and communication are pil-lars of any healthy relation-ship that is based on mutu-al trust, understanding, and life-long support. White lies are interesting in the sense that they’re exactly what you want to hear but essen-

tially the worst thing you’ll probably accept from an indi-vidual. They show that your friend has been essentially dishonest and insecure about your reaction and that he or she feels unsafe with you. Or worse. Maybe too lazy to phrase the truth in a tactful and diplomatic way. Let’s rewind to that first in-stant you encountered some-thing that you disapproved of. What did you do? If you confronted whatev-er bothered you, then you’ve saved yourself from an in-ner anger that manifests and festers and makes you un-

Caroline HodrojLAU Tribune staff

necessarily harsh and prone to lashing out inexcusably. Much like a ticking bomb that ticks louder with every white lie. If you keep it in, your cyn-icism will eat at you till you risk saying things that put Simon Cowell to shame. “She had it coming!” Some will argue. While that might be true be-cause she suffered from a chronic condition of emotion-al unintelligence, the reality is that you could have done something about it sooner rather than wait for that mo-ment where your brain feels

too saturated with false pre-tenses and every white lie that comes out of your mouth weighs down your tongue till you feel poisoned with your own cowardly atrocity. The worst part is that you’re equally to blame. You probably thought you were doing someone a favor by not expressing how you feel. You probably tapped your-self on the back for being so patient and self controlled. If that’s the case then good for you, but the reality is that I don’t believe you and that’s my honest opinion.

Like Father... No SonTala El RizLAU Tribune staff

I am always asked: “What are you majoring in?” A sim-ple question that requires an even simpler answer: “Jour-nalism.” What always shocks me is the flabbergasted look I see on people’s faces when I tell them. Usually, what hap-pens next is the “burst out.” People ask, amazed: “You, Selim? Jour... Journalism? But why?”This is the stereotypical opinion that some people in Lebanon have about cer-tain majors, and what a lot of graduating high school stu-dents suffer from. As a student who used to rank first in his class, I was expected to turn into a med-ical doctor, an engineer or an architect. Many people think that someone who is con-fused, or doesn’t know what to do with his life (aka, major-less), would eventually find him/herself in majors like journalism, psychology, po-litical science, and the like. The important question here is: Is there a difference be-tween those majors and oth-ers?For some people, a student working to get a bachelor’s degree in psychology, for in-stance, is wasting his time and will end up working in a

different field or not finding a proper job. When asked to give his opinion, Maallem A., a fifty-nine-year-old farmer living next to my house said, “All the students, should ma-jor in something useful like engineering or medicine. Journalism is not a major, is it?” I was shocked when I heard those words. I didn’t know that there were people who still thought that way. This is more than just an opinion, this is strong bias. This is a conflict between generations which shows that prospective or current students aren’t always on the same page as older contem-poraries.Sarah-Joe, a sixteen year-old, is still in high school and thinking about majoring in Human Resources. “Well, I am not generalizing, but I think that there’s a big number of people that are not well educated; they are very old fashioned and do not have accurate information about all academic majors, espe-cially the new ones or the ones they consider as ‘inferi-or,’” she said. “Many say ‘ha-ram’ to me when I tell them I’d like to work in Human Re-sources later.”Being brilliant at school isn’t

Yes, I am a Journalism StudentSelim NjeimLAU Tribune contributor

related to what a person chooses to be. Stephen King, the famous novelist, was an excellent student who gradu-ated from high school and got a scholarship to attend the University of Maine. Acad-emy Award winner Natalie Portman attended Harvard. What I think should be done to eradicate the prejudices that people stick to is the dis-semination of a new culture regarding this issue. This can be done through TV shows, conferences, adver-tisements and some work-shops for people to know that every major is the pillar on which the other stands. If you’re an engineer or a con-tractor, wouldn’t it be inter-esting to get people to write about your company in news-papers and magazines? Finally, as a person who has had many setbacks when it came to choosing the “right” major, I tell all students and whoever might care to lis-ten: If you want to be suc-cessful, you need to be happy, and if you want to be happy you need to fit in the envi-ronment that your major cre-ates. Thus, with all my heart, and with full self-confidence, I declare that YES… I am a journalism student.

OFF CAMPUS11Tribune May 23, 2011

Domestic workers: A Violation of Human RightsBy Ivana HindiLAU Tribune staff

Naccache main road, 8 a.m.. People driving down to Bei-rut on a typical weekday saw the body of a young domes-tic worker, swinging from a household balcony. Exposed to the stiff cadaver, hang-ing lifeless, early risers me-chanically headed to their jobs. The deceased work-er had opted for an obvi-ous bright yellow suit that shined through the rays of the early sun, as though her intentions where to highlight a disturbing violation of hu-man rights.According to Human Rights Watch, domestic workers in Lebanon die at a rate of more than one per week. The seri-ousness of the situation gave rise to numerous debates on the subject, including a doc-umentary feature film, Maid in Lebanon, and a human rights film festival at the Me-tropolis Empire Sofil Cin-ema where discrimination against foreign helpers was tackled. During the last few weeks, posters calling for the rights of domestic workers in Lebanon were posted in and around Hamra.Human right activist Ray Jreidiny revealed the re-sults of a survey done in 2005 and 2006, covering over 600 domestic workers in Leba-non. The findings are outra-geous, with 65 percent of do-mestic workers operating for 11 hours or more per day and 42 percent for over 13 hours. Around 34 percent have no regular time off and 33 per-cent had to pay a large part of their salary to an agency in Lebanon and to another in their home country. Around 52 percent of domestic work-ers in Lebanon are screamed at, and most importantly, 99 percent have their passports withheld during their stay here. Due to the incalculable crim-inal and unlawful incidents domestic workers in Leba-non reported over the years, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka and the Philippines have placed a stiff ban on travel to Beirut.

A flow of workers from Nepal has now replaced the stream of workers agencies brought from many far-eastern coun-tries. Caly is a domestic worker from Nepal. She looks weak and is scared to deviate from her robotic job. Her poor lin-

guistic skills and minimal in-dependence do not allow her to leave the household she works at, even for a breath of fresh air. Caly muttered a few shy words in English. “I help my family with money from here,” she said.Human rights agencies charge that basic rights are confiscated from domestic workers in Lebanon and cite numerous reports of cruel vi-olence. The Lebanese house-

holder’s approach, they say, is often provoking and belit-tling. “Lebanese authorities, for-eign embassies, employment agencies and employers need to ask themselves what is driving these women to kill themselves or risk their lives

trying to escape from tall buildings,” Nadim Houry, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, said.But the blame, in some cases, is not solely on Lebanese house-hold owners. Nicole Nahas, a 48-year-old housewife, be-lieves that, in few cases, “ma-fias” in Lebanon try to influ-ence workers and talk them into acts of rebellion. They encourage them to escape, promising more money, but

ultimately providing nothing more than misery. “Some do-mestic workers seem to come to Lebanon with the inten-tion to escape and find vari-ous other jobs in the country, ones that do not require stay-ing in a household,” Nahas pointed out.

But, regardless of wheth-er this is true or not, unac-ceptable violations of human rights still abound. Among them is ideological, demean-ing discrimination. Many Lebanese look at domestic workers as dim and unintel-ligent individuals. One wom-an Tribune talked to explicit-ly said that her helper from Nepal is “dumb enough” to stay quiet and calm. “I am fed up with headaches and

domestic workers who keep causing trouble at my house,” the woman added.Interviewed from her hos-pital bed, Kamala Nagari is a Nepalese national who in-jured herself on February 20, 2008 while trying to escape a horrifying situation. “I was locked in for two days, and they [the employers] did not give me food and water,” she explained. “Then after two days, I wanted to run away. The apartment was on the fifth floor. I tried to go down using cable wires running along the wall of building. The cable broke, and I do not remember what happened afterwards.”An official at the Philippine embassy also recounted the story of a domestic work-er from Manilla who was ac-cused of stealing jewelry and accordingly beaten up by her employer and locked in-side the house. She commit-ted suicide. “When employ-ers lock someone up inside a home, they are committing a crime and the police should treat it as such,” Houry said. Danielle Ayoub, a 50-year-old housewife, makes sure her domestic workers are treated fairly. “I hear a lot of whining from my friends during gatherings. All they do is tell stories about their domestic workers who have escaped and left them with all the tasks to do by them-selves,” she said. “I believe that no domestic worker would feel the urge to escape or commit suicide or cause any form of trouble if treated justly.” Issa Hindi, a 19-year-old uni-versity student, witnessed the Naccache suicide, was deeply bothered by the dis-turbing sight. “I took the phone and called my friend as a first reflex. I was shocked to see someone hanging, it was terrible,” he said. Hindi vainly tried to search for a blurry picture he had taken through his mobile phone. “It felt like a horror movie,” he added.

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OFF CAMPUSTribune May 23, 2011

Weight ManiaBy Reem SwaidanLAU Tribune staff

She begins to take off her shoes. She looks at her wrists and takes her watch off to make sure it doesn’t add a gram or two. Her whole body shivers as she looks at her slim figure. She slowly lifts one foot and then the other. With her eyes closed, she si-lently prays. Rania Mroue, a 38-year-old mother of three, has an anx-iety attack every time she stands on the scale to weigh herself. “I was never like this when I was younger, it’s be-come a sickness I live with now,” Mroue confessed. Calculations show that, for her height, Mroue has a less-than-average weight. Unfor-tunately, it’s the paranoia of gaining a few kilos that keeps her uneasy. “Media and soci-ety gave us a certain image of how we should look like and we’re all tormented by that image,” Mroue explained.A 2003 study conducted in a rural community in Lebanon revealed that 30.2 percent of women are obese. Anoth-er cross-sectional survey of 2,104 children (3 to 19-year-old) and adults showed that obesity and obesity risk levels are higher, overall, among boys than girls (22.5 versus 16.1 percent risk and 7.5 versus 3.2 percent obesi-ty, respectively). This finding was associated with lack of exercise among children.“I can’t walk without think-ing that people are looking at me and laughing,” Tamara

Tahtah, a 22-year-old stu-dent, said. Tahtah has been suffering from obesity since she was 8 years old. She has tried all kinds of diets but nothing seemed to work. “What hurts me the most is that it wouldn’t have mat-tered this much to society if I was a man,” she sadly ex-plained. A cross-sectional study of adolescents in private Leba-nese schools suggested that overweight and obesity prev-alence among girls decreases with age (P < 10).“You can never be too thin,” a Pretzel Crisps advertise-ment reads. Youngsters are exposed to slogans glorifying thinness every day. An overwhelm-ing number of studies reveal that such ads push young men and women toward an-orexia and bulimia. “When I ask my patients why they want to be thinner, most of them reply; ‘because I want to look like a model,’” nutri-tionist Joyce Daher said. Daher explained that peo-ple come to her for the wrong reasons. Very few, indeed, seek more balanced diets for health reasons. “They only care about how they look,” she said. Daher explained the impor-tance of proper nutrient in-take for a longer and health-ier life. “What my patients don’t understand is the dan-ger they put their bodies through with all those crazy diets,” Daher said. “There is

only one diet, and that is eat-ing small portions of every-thing.”“I have put my body through a lot,” Khouloud Shammas, a 33-year-old mother of three, admitted. Shammas has suf-fered from bulimia and an-orexia for the last 10 years. Her house is filled with mag-azines and pictures of mod-els. “I was never overweight but I became obsessed with my weight after having my first child,” she explained. Shammas believes that the pressure around her and the comparison she makes with television figures pushed her to seek extreme thinness. “The moment I woke up in the hospital with my hus-band and children around me looking worried, I woke up to reality,” she said. “I final-ly stopped pressuring myself and just stayed healthy, I’m happier than ever now.” Radwan Kaddouh is a 15-year-old boy who suffers from major obesity. Kad-douh’s parents are no longer concerned about how their child looks. They worry about their son’s life, which is now in danger. Kaddouh is no longer able to walk, sleep or go to school due to his obesity. His parents be-lieve that their son’s state re-lates to fast food and lack of exercise. Living in fear, they also blame themselves for not being attentive enough before the problem escalated. A 2003 study in rural Leba-non demonstrated that high-

er socioeconomic status is correlated with higher adop-tion of unhealthy nutrition-al habits (fast food, energy-dense snacks, sweets, etc.) and lower consumption of traditional healthy Mediter-ranean food (cereals, vegeta-bles and fruits). These find-ings are consistent with the general tendency in devel-oping countries, in contrast with first-world nations. “Some people who have an unhealthy obsession with their weight, may never be satisfied no matter how low the scale seems to register,” psychologist Rouaa Arbid ex-plained. Arbid believes that such people need to undergo a form of therapy in order to understand the positive as-pects of having a healthy in-stead of a “bikini body.” “If men and women begin to understand this theory from a young age, this obses-sion will rarely occur,” Ar-bid said. She thinks that par-ents should always be careful about the lifestyle of their children. “Parents these days reward their children with fast food instead of a book to read,” she explained. Mroue still struggles with facing the scale. It’s been five years but she still expe-riences anxiety attacks be-fore weighing herself. “It’s difficult because I’m sup-posed to be a role model to my children. How can I be a role model when I fear a two-dig-it number on a scale?” Mroue asked.

Thousands of people gath-ered on May 8 in Tripoli for the half international mar-athon, by far the biggest sports event in the north this year.Organized by Ma’an Loubnan, the Tripoli Youth Forum and YASA, the mar-athon included a combina-tion of three races: Two 21K races, one for wheelchairs and one for people 17 years or older, two 5K races, one for people 12 years and older and one for fun where fami-lies could just stroll along the course and, finally, a 2K race for children under 12 years of age.“We’re working on raising awareness about the impor-tance of sports and its ef-fect on our youth,” the mara-thon’s website said.The Al-Ma’arad area was hot and crowded. Ka’ak stands were placed spaciously along with booths and kiosks by the various sponsors. They offered water, food, in-formation about the mara-thon and guidance for those who needed assistance. Several pre-race activities were also organized to raise awareness about following driving rules. The motto of the event was, after all, “Drive Slowly So We Can Run Together.” Organizers offered plenty of entertainment until around 3 p.m.Artists, local and national, sang songs, DJ’s played Ara-bic and English beats and the crowd was flustered under the heat of Tripoli’s sun dur-ing the day. The races attracted numer-ous NGO’s, corporations and institutions such as Spin-neys, Boom Boom Ener-gy Drink, BankMed, Liban Post, Al Ameen Roasteries and much more.

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Tripoli’s Half Inter-national MarathonBy Nour MonajjedLAU Tribune staff