tribune issue 2

8/3/2019 Tribune Issue 2

1/12

RIBUNEThe Official STudenT newSpaperaTThe lebaneSe american univerSTyyear Xiii, vOl. i, nO. ii Monday, nov.14, 2011T [email protected]

campuS life peOple

page 3 page 4&5

Masters DeciencyBy Zeina ShehayebLAU Tribune staff

Chelsea Special Finders keepers

Girls, Frost YourselvesBy Lyn Abu-SerajLAU Tribune staff

The match began and the

ball passed from one play-

er to another when I asked

about the reasons behindthe few graduate degrees of-

fered at LAU. Two sources

from the universitys upper

administration blamed the

departments for not send-

ing a proposal to found more

graduate programs while

chairpersons blamed LAU

for lacking the requirements

needed to implement such

programs. The ball kept

turning.

LAU currently offers a total

of ten masters degree pro-

grams, falling short of the

options at other major uni-

versities in the country. In-vestigations of the reasons

revealed a variety of factors,

according to a variety of peo-

ple all of which seem to lead

to the quasi halt.

According to its ofcial web-

site, the American Universi-

ty of Beirut offers about 56

Her skin is gold and aw-

less, her hair is soft and full

and her body is comparable

to that of a model, but RaniaHamoud, a business major at

LAU, is dissatised.

Every time I see an adver-

tisement, it makes me feel

ugly and useless, she said.

Hamoud goes to Cherry, the

beauty salon across the low-

er gate, at least twice a week.

She usually asks for nail-,

hair- or eyebrow-related ser-

vices. I always prefer spend-

ing my allowance on my

beauty rather than on food

or phone bills, Hamoud ex-

plained.

Universities are usually sur-

rounded by businesses thatcater to students. Snack

shops and restaurants, sta-

tionary stores and the occa-

sional bookshops are com-

mon sights around campus.

But have you ever wondered

why LAUs lower gate area

features up to three beauty

salons and spas? What does

this tell us about our com-

munity?

Diana El Cheikh Abboud,

the owner of Cherry, con-

rmed that 70 of her custom-

ers are LAU students. Therest are neighborhood resi-

dents.

Cherry offers its clients laser

treatment, tattoo and pierc-

ings, nail treatment, hair,

make-up and massages. Al-

though most visitors are

students, the beauty salon

relies mainly on its neigh

boring community to sur

vive.

Abboud explained that th

services students use, such

as hair and nails, cost very

little. The 30 percent is threason we are still going for

ward with our business an

we count a lot on these cus

tomers, she explained.

But why do women feel they

dont measure up when i

SpOrTS

page 6

To sing for a cause

continued on page 10continued on page 10

masters degrees, ranging

from anthropology and agri-

cultural economics to epide-

miology and neuroscience.The St Joseph University

website, meanwhile, reveals

that the universitys various

faculties offer more than 94

masters degrees and more

than 19 PhDs. The programs

vary from conference trans-

lation and counseling to

family communication and

health management.

I wanted to continue my

masters studies in English

literature or political sci-

ence at LAU, Zahi Sahli, a

senior journalism student,

said. Since we do not have it

at LAU, I am probably goingto AUB instead.

LAU offers ve masters de-

gree programs under the

school of arts and sciences:

MA in comparative litera-

ture, MA in education, MA

Tuesday and no one is inno-cent. Until and unless polit-

ical and sectarian differenc-

es no longer dene us, we are

all losers. This is a Universi-

ty, not a government or a na-

tion. Violence has no place at

LAU and there are no excus-

es.

Despite enlightened cur-

ricula and extracurricular

events that promote respect,

democracy and conict res-

olution, there is still the

pull here, in Lebanon andat LAU, to resort to slogans

that divide and antagonize.

How do those labels deter-

mine whether a student rep-

resentative will lobby for

better labs, longer library

hours, increased parking

or more nancial aid? We

should be here to improve

on what we have inherited

not to emulate what has not

served us well.

Last week, as we tried to-

Lebanon, LAU Deserve Better

Nov. 1, 2011 was a sad dayfor LAU. A pre-election rally

just outside our gates turned

into a political and sectarian

battle that harmed our stu-

dents, our staff, our campus

and our name.

While there is plenty of blame

to go around, there is also

praise. To our students and

staff who tried to control the

ghting, thank you. Howev-

er, we are all lesser today be-

cause of what happened last

gether to control and thenunderstand what trans-

pired, we were sad and dis-

appointed: so much collec-

tive good work seemingly

wasted. But this is anoth-

er week and we all have im-

portant work to do. Student

elections will be postponed

to give us time to analyze

and repair, and many will

aspire to what our mission

calls for. But we are work-

ing against the tide and will

need the vision, couragand creativity that only ou

youth can provide. LAU ha

hope in its students to forg

a better and different futur

for their children. We can

afford to stay the course.

LAU deserves better. Leb

non deserves better. You d

serve better.

Elise Salem is LAUs vice pres

dent for student development

enrollment management

By Elise SalemSpecial for the LAU Tribune

OpiniOn

page 9

College for dummies


2/12

CAMPUS NEWS2 Tribune nov. 14, 2011

Healthy Halloween

By Farrah BerrouLAU Tribune Contributor

MP Criticizes ParliamentBy Omar El-TaniLAU Tribune staff

To celebrate Halloween

and World Food Day, LAUstaged a healthy masquer-

ade party in front of the Fine

Arts building on Oct. 31.

The menu included assorted

vegetables with sauce, muf-

ns, pumpkin jam skewers

and grape-cheese skewers.

The skewers were the most

popular and the rst to go.

The DJ used the infamous

insane laugh from Michael

Jacksons song Thriller

to start of the event and fol-

lowed it with a set of elec-

tro-pop music, which in-

cluded a remix of I am sexy

and I know It by LMFAO.A young woman swayed her

body to the pulse of the mu-

sic and shouted enthusiasti-

cally for the crowd to join in.

Stands covered with orange

cloth, multicolored pump-

kins, miniature brooms and

amorphous helium lled bal-

loon art bordered the court.

In the middle of the court, a

centre piece featured three

short scarecrows with cheer-

ful faces painted on fake hay,

some sorcerer hats and a

cauldron.Some stands were informa-

tive; one had the food pyra-

mid on display with various

healthy and unhealthy foods

and another indicated how

you can calculate your body

mass index (BMI).

For some students, the

healthy menu was disap-

pointing. This is Hallow-

een! There should be candy,

chocolates and sweet corn!

B. H., an LAU student who

refused to be identied, said.

Two students were already

in costume for the parade.

Jida Jaroudy, an account-ing student at LAU, wore a

pink wig while Grim Reap-

er showed up to remind ev-

erybody that life is short. I

wanted to do something dif-

ferent, he said.

A make-up competition was

organized, where students

competed for the scariest or

most liked face on Facebook.

The winner, announced lat-

er, got a romantic dinner for

two at Le Commodore Hotel.

MP Albert Moukheiber crit-

icized the Lebanese Parlia-

ment for putting too much ef-

fort into social events, when

the country needs an equal

amount of sweat behind more

important issues such as leg-

islation, representation, and

managing the countrys bud-

get.

Speaking on Nov. 4 during

Imad Salameys Lebanese

Politics and Administration

class, Moukheiber observed

that politicians speak on TVor radio every day. Mean-

while, parliamentary meet-

ings with all involved togeth-

er occurred only three or four

times in the past 18 years,

he said ironically.

In the past 18 years, Par-

liament has met 86 times

for legislation, Moukheiber

Moukheiber explained tha

such issues include victim

of enforced disappearance

the rights of foreign work

ers, womens rights and env

ronmental protection for th

handicapped among other

The plan is to be ofciall

published on Human Right

Day (Dec. 10).

Interestingly, the documen

can be accessed online an

comments can be submi

ted. This is in order to estab

lish a dialogue with partnerand the public, Moukheibe

said.

Partners involved in the pla

include the Lebanese Parlia

ment, the ministries, the Hu

man Rights Organization a

well as international organ

zations. To read more abou

it, check www.lp.gov.lb.

added. This ultimately boils

down to barely ve meetings

a year.

In developed Western coun-

tries, Parliament members

meet every weekday year-

round.

Moukheiber explained that

the concept of a parliament is

to take debates off the streets

and put them into a chamber.

Individuals could represent

the public and discussions

could occur where all voic-

es would participate, the MPadded.

In his lecture, Moukheiber

also revealed that the Par-

liamentary Human Rights

Committee had recently es-

tablished the National Hu-

man Rights Action Plan

(NHRAP), with emphasis on

23 human rights issues.

Eight students and the head

of LAU security, Major Raed

Hassouna were injured in theviolent clashes that erupted

between supporters of vari-

ous political parties early No-

vember.

Supporters of March 8 and

March 14 forces clashed af-

ter Future Movement stu-

dents celebrated the birth-

day of late Prime Minister

Rac Hariri outside the gates

of the LAU Beirut campus.

Stones and rocks were

thrown, injuring those ght-

ing as well as people who

stood to watch. A witness

said she saw a bench ying.It was chaos, stones were

dropping like rain on us from

outside, Nadine Daouk, an

interior design senior, said.

Yasmine Tabsh, a business

senior who witnessed the

event, explained that Future

Movement supporters were

divided in and outside the

gate while Amal Movement

students remained inside,

chanting in support of Speak-

er Nabih Berri. The dean of

students Raed Mohsen wa

at the ceremony from the be

ginning, Tabsh added.We really did not know ho

it started, everyone has h

own story about that, Tabs

said. But I believe its th

mistake of LAU since the

didnt stop the political activ

ity in the rst place.

According toAnnaha

Mohsen declared that th

university is not responsib

for any off-campus event

LAU closed its doors as of

p.m. to contain the incident

Chaos at LAUs Upper GateBy Assaad HawwaLAU Tribune staff

Interested in havingyour event covered by

the LAU Tribune?

Send us an email several

days earlier to

[email protected]

Photoby:NataliaElmani


3/12

SPORTSnov.14, 2011

By Zahi SahliLAU Tribune staff

Quote of the Issue

AVBs Chelsea Special?

Never mind Andre Villas-

Boas rants about refereeing

mistakes and his insistence

that lady luck is unwilling

to smile for his team; the

fact remains that Chelsea

are currently way below the

standard required of them if

they are to compete with the

Manchester clubs or Spains

dominant duo for the Pre-

mier League and Champions

League crowns.

To be fair with AVB though,

he inherited an aging squad

whose spine had already

peaked years ago during JosMourinhos tenure. And for

the former Academica and

Porto manager, the boards

failure to land his main

transfer target intensied

the difculty of an already

complicated job.

At the beginning of the sum-

mers transfer window, Chel-

seas plan was obvious; the

club intended to make Tot-

tenham Hotspurs Luka Mo-

dric their marquee signing.

It all added up: Frank Lam-

pards age meant that he

would not be able to main-

tain the form of his previousseasons this term.

Lampard would have become

the West London clubs ver-

sion of Paul Scholes a top

class and experienced per-

former who can turn games

around coming off the bench.

Meanwhile Modric would

have replaced the 33-year-

old as Chelseas main cre-

ative midelder.

But when Modrics trans-

fer was blocked by the sur-

prisingly resilient Spurs,

Chelsea rushed to complete

How will I react whenGuardiola comes to SanSiro? I will greet him. Wewill then see how he re-sponds and what hap-

pens, Milans Ibrahi-movic was quoted assaying by La Gazzettadello Sport ahead of hissides clash with Barcelo-na

3Tribune

Upcoming gamesLa liga19/11

Barcelona V Real Zaragoza

Valencia V Real Madrid

20/11

Sevilla V Athletic Bilbao

Atletico V Levante

Upcoming gamesChampions League

22/11

Bayern V Villarreal

Napoli V Man.City

Man.Utd V Benca

Real Madrid V Dinamo Zagreb

Trabzonspor V Inter

23/11

Leverkusen V Chelsea

Arsenal V Dortmun

Milan V Barcelona

a deadline-day deal for Liv-

erpools Raul Meireles a

signing destined to fail, re-

gardless of Meireles obvious

talent, given the pressure

that the comparison with the

world-class Croatia interna-

tional brings along..

With Ramires yet to fulll

his full potential and Meire-

les proving his similarity

with Modric does not go be-

yond the rst letter of the

two players surnames, Lam-

pards below-par perfor-

mances this season have re-

vived talk about the lack ofcreative talent in the Blues

mideld.

Another pressing issue is

Chelseas seemingly falter-

ing center back pair. The ag-

gressive-but-slow John Ter-

ry has shined in previous

seasons when he was aided

by a quick, world-class de-

fender.

The quality of Ricardo Carv-

alho and William Gallas has

been missed as individual

mistakes of David Luiz, Alex

and Branislav Ivanovic have

let the team down on many

occasions.Luiz has shown glimpses of

his talent which can eventu-

ally lead him to becoming a

consistent performer. By the

time that he nally proves

his worth, the versatile Bra-

zilian can compete for the an-

chorman sport with John Obi

Mikel who put in a poor per-

formance in his sides 5-3 de-

feat against Arsenal.

If he lls in the defensive

mideld spot, Luiz would aid

Terry and Ivanovic as a third

central defender when off the

ball. Since AVBs Chelsea fa-

vor a high-pressing game,

a defenders shift into mid-

eld could add to the teams

defensive vigor a tempo-

rary x for the Blues current

struggles.

AVB might as well learn

from none other than RealMadrids Mourinho who con-

tinues to get the best out of

his thin squads by tinker-

ing with the positions of his

players. Madrids Pepe has

served as both a defender

and a defensive midelder,

and Luiz does not fall short of

Pepes positional exibility.

Another issue is the stan-

dard of wingers at Stamford

Bridge. Surely, Chelseas

squad bolsters good wing-

ers, but these arguably fall

behind their counterparts

quality at rival clubs.

Premier League leaders

Manchester Citys squad in-

cludes the likes of Samir Nas-

ri, Adam Johnson and Da-

vid Silva while Manchester

Uniteds Sir Alex Ferguson

usually starts the explosive

Nani alongside the youngand potent Ashley Young.

Although the addition of

Juan Mata boosted their

squads quickness (some-

thing which must have

pleased Fernando Torres),

Chelsea still lack genuine

talent on the opposite ank.

Daniel Sturridge remains in-

experienced, Salomon Kalou

nowhere near the required

level and Florent Malou-

da past his best while Nico-

las Anelka, a good makeshift

alternative on the wings,

thrives in his usual striker

role.

Lilles Edin Hazard is ex

pected to move to Stamfor

Bridge in the summer whi

Chelsea will surely bid fo

Modric once the transfer win

dow reopens in July.

With the Premier League ttle nine points away from th

Blues grasps and the Man

chester clubs proving the

are Englands elite force

AVB has every right to wo

ry that he might suffer th

same fate as sacked mana

er Carlo Ancelottis.

But if club owner Roma

Abramovich can give AV

time to change his teams fo

tunes, and if the manage

can push for a few signing

Chelsea will be back to th

top of their game soon.

Upcoming gamesPremier League19/11

Norwich City V Arsenal

Man.City V Newcastle

Swansea City V Man.Utd

Sunderland V Fulham

20/11

Chelsea V Liverpool

21/11

Tottenham V Aston Villa

Upcoming gamesSerie A

19/11

Inter V Cagliari

Fiorentina V Milan

Napoli V Lazio

20/11

Juventus V Palermo

Roma V Lecce

Parma V Udinese


4/12

CAMPUS LIFE4 Tribune nov. 14, 2011

Foreign Students Social StruggleBy Natalia ElmaniLAU Tribune staff

As he positioned himself in

the back of the class, Fran-

cesco Laurenti looked quite

comfortable. His facial fea-

tures couldnt be distin-

guished from those of the

surrounding students at the

LAU newsroom. But once he

asked a question, Lauren-

tis Italian accent, and origin,

immediately broke through.

Eyebrows were raised and

mumbling could be heard

from different areas of the

lab as Laurenti responded to

the instructors question. A

number of students turnedtheir heads to see where the

voice came from.

Laurenti was born and raised

in Rome, Italy, and eventu-

ally moved to Beirut to com-

plete the last two years of

high school at the Interna-

tional College. Today, he is

a third-year journalism stu-

dent at LAU.

It was fun, the young man

recalled as he described

his rst years in Lebanon.

There were some interna-

tional friends that I made,

but most of them were Leba-

nese.

Today, however, things

have somewhat changed. I

wouldnt befriend as many

people at LAU, Laurenti

said. Making friends or be-

longing to a new social group

during university years is

challenging for many teen-

agers. For foreigners at LAU,

the task is even more compli-

cated.

Laurenti explains the confu-

sion on students faces when

they hear his accent.

Maybe its politics, religion,

how they dress, upper gate,

lower gate, its very random,he explained. Maybe I dont

look that friendly. It could be

anything.

Lara Joumaa, a Lebanese in-

terior design student, notic-

es the breakup that occurs at

university level but relates it

to the social dynamics in the

country.

I feel like Lebanese people

are so isolated within their

own communities that its

hard for them to let other

people in, she said. To min-

gle with different political

groups is difcult for some of

them, so mingling with for-

eigners is even harder.

Foreigners at LAU who par-

ticipate in SINARC, an Ara-

bic language program offered

here, describe the same feel-

ings of exclusion from the

normal social routines.

Lorene Fouquet, a SINARC

and LAU student from Par-

is described how much she

enjoys life in Lebanon. Peo-

ple are warm and welcom-

ing but, at LAU, its difcult,

she said.

Fouquet recalled that she

once sat alone on a bench on

campus for some time beforea young Lebanese woman ap-

proached her and started a

conversation. She asked her

if she needed anything and

eventually exchanged phone

numbers. Its nice, but its

not usual, Fouquet said.

Intercultural communica-

tion scholars explain that

newcomers into a given cul-

ture often nd it hard to t

in before they socialize them-

selves into the rules govern-

ing the community in ques-

tion. The responsibility of the

hosts, in this case, is to com-

municate about the stan-

dard social norms and help

explain them to the newcom-

ers. Such norms include basic

rules such as choice of cloth-

ing, patterns of dating and

approach to relationships.

Another SINARC and LAU

student from Paris, Victor

Vallin, explained what its

like to be a foreigner at LAU.

They kind of stare, like oh,

hes a foreigner, hes asking

questions, he said.

Although the foreign student

population at LAU amount-

ed to 1,578 students last fall,

some feel slightly excludedfrom campus life simply be-

cause they come from differ-

ent cultures, are unable to

speak Arabic or cannot nd

the proper social events that

help integrate foreigners and

Lebanese students.

I went to a basketball get-

together and no one really

showed up, Tommy Beard,

a SINARC student from New

York, explained.

But regardless of the differ-

ences some students may

witness on campus, Dean of

Students Raed Mohsen ex-

plained theres nothing in

terms of conict with int

gration.

Most international student

have dual citizenship so the

have visited Lebanon b

fore, Mohsen said. There

really no culture shock.

Laurenti tries to distinguis

what brings out such a di

ference on campus but, lik

many others, he is unsur

about the diagnosis.

There is a barrier betwee

students, he said, But may

be there are other factor

that unite them.

Nadine Nakad, a Lebanescommunication arts stu

dent, believes its difcult t

nd a group that is culturall

mixed at LAU.

Its not their home countr

its known as an unstab

place, she said. Like man

Lebanese, she welcomes fo

eigners and hopes to have

more culturally diverse cam

pus life.

Laurenti agrees. Overal

there are good and bad peo

ple anywhere, but it would b

much better to have more o

an international atmospher

at LAU, he said.

Finders, KeepersBy Rouba JaafarLAU Tribune staff

Shelves full of books, copy

books, calculators, umbrel-

las, sunglasses, brushes, sta-

plers, hats, iPads, laptops,

wallets and golden rings.

The scene resembles a ga-

rage sale but actually de-

scribes LAUs lost and found

ofce.In a rush to get to class, you

may forget your iPhone on

the cafeteria table.

Suddenly aware of your over-

sight, you go back but cannot

nd the item in question. In

such a situation, remember

to rst stop at LAUs lost and

found ofce.

Originally in Shannon Hall

and now across the street

from the lower gate, the lost

and found ofce amasses

loads of peculiar items for-

gotten around campus.

As I walked into the room

where all the precious little

treasures are stored, I was

amazed by the number of

copybooks and books on the

shelves. I counted 276 of dif-

ferent kinds and colors. Theymade the wall look like an art

piece or a rainbow.

Also on the oor were draw-

ing pads, rulers and some

books. CDs were everywhere.

I also found hats and even

lights bulbs.

We keep valuable stuff

aside, Bassem Dandan, the

head of the security guards,

said. He explained that some

students lose expensive prod-

ucts like golden rings, wal-

lets, laptops and iPads. We

keep valuable items even if

no one comes and asks about

them, Dandan said.

Nour Al-Mokdad, an interna-

tional business student, lost

her accounting book. They

asked me about the day I lost

the book and the time, theytook my ID, they gave me

back the book, and I had to

sign, she explained.

Dandan revealed that unso-

licited books, both copied and

original, usually go to library

during the trade-in-day. He

explained that some peo-

ple, including those who lose

valuable items, never visit

the lost and found ofce.

Major Ahmad Hassouna ex-

plained that most items lost

are of little monetary value.

Most of what we nd is nor

mal stuff, he said. If we n

something expensive, we d

an investigation. Hassoun

explained that, when a sig

nicant lapse of time passe

the lost and found ofce sell

unsolicited valuables ansubmits the money to th

business ofce, which in re

turn gives it to the nancia

aid ofce.

Some forgotten items nev

er make it to the lost an

found ofce. I lost my inter

nal hard disk last summer a

Sage Hall and it wasnt at th

lost and found ofce, Fara

Shami, a radio/TV/lm se

nior, said. I kept asking fo

two weeks but it was gone.

Photoby:AhmadYassine


5/12

5

CAMPUS LIFETribunenov. 14, 2011

Stand High, Dine LowBy Caroline FeghalyLAU Tribune staff

When you stand at the up-

per gate, you see students

pass by with fancy cars that

cost a fortune. And if you vis-

it the parking lots surround-

ing LAU, you nd yourself at

a car show, full of the brands

you dream of: Ferrari, Bent-

ley, Mustang, Porshe, and

the newest Mercedes and

BMW.

There are very rich and

prestigious students at all

universities, but most are

concentrated at LAU. Every-

one knows it, Malak Jaafar,

a 20-year-old journalism stu-dent at the Lebanese Inter-

national University, said.

But when it comes to the res-

taurants in which they fre-

quent, LAU students choose

places that are affordable to

any middle-class person.

To test the matter in a more-

or-less scientic way, I asked

50 students on campus where

they dine most, what they or-

der, and how much they pay

per person. Around 42 per-

cent picked Roadster diner in

Hamra.

The most expensive plat-

ters at Roadster are the Fa-

jitas, which can reach up to

29,750 Lebanese pounds.

But most students said they

order burgers and especial-

ly the Mighty Chicken Burg-

er that costs 10,250 Leba-

nese pounds.With french fries and Coke

on the side, the meal costs

around 20,000 Lebanese

pounds.And for those who or-

der pasta, the most expen-

sive plate costs 14,750 Leba-

nese pounds.

Eight percent of the students

prefer Deek Duke, and an-

other eight percent dine at

Chopsticks. Like those who

dine at Roadster, students

who eat at Deek Duke most-

ly order burgers with fries

and Coke, paying between

20,000 and 25,000 Lebanese

pounds.

When I look at the way LAU

students dress up, and all the

brands they wear, I imagine

that they dine at very expen-

sive and high-class restau-

rants, such as hotels, Me-

lissa Sherfane, an interiordesign student at the Amer-

ican University of Science

and Technology, said.

Six percent of the students

chose expensive restaurants

such as those at Phoenicia

Hotel, or Square and Hem-

mingways at the Movenpick.

They picked Yumi, in Monot,

and O&C seafood restaurant.

Marwan Abou Ghayda, a

23-year-old internation-

al business major, dines at

Yumi. I order about 30 piec-

es of sushi, with an alco-

holic drink, and I pay about

100,000 Lebanese pounds,

he said. This is for one per-

son only.

Rajy Radwan, a 24-year-old

management student, pays

40 dollars per person at

Mondo for a salad bar, a plate

of pasta, and a soft drink.Malik Jaafar, a chemis-

try graduate student at the

American University of Bei-

rut, thinks that during

classes, LAU students dine

at Roadsters, Crepaway or

any restaurant that is close

to them. But on a weeken

when they have no clas

es, they most probably go t

much more expensive pla

es.

The remaining 26 percent i

my survey are scattered b

tween Crepaway, Scoozi, Fr

days, McDonalds, Hardee

KFC, Burger King, Burge

Joint, and Universal Snack

The prices of the variou

meals at the rst three ar

more or less equivalent t

Roadsters while the re

have less expensive choices

LAU students have thsame taste others have.

And that the prestige of th

university isnt related t

where its students dine, Na

dine Salam, a 20-year-ol

marketing and advertisin

major, said.

Cooking: An Art at a Distinct ClassBy Maria FellasLAU Tribune staff

Is it the Food Channel fe-

ver, the escape from difcultclasses or simply the joy of

cooking your own food?

As surprising as it may seem

for an international business

student, Jean Maalouf is in-

terested in Food Preparation

I, a class offered by the hospi-

tality and tourism manage-

ment department at LAU.

I look forward to it, he said.

The same department also

offers a class for those inter-

ested in baking. Mariana

Khayyat, an accounting stu-

dent at LAU, nds the course

entertaining.

I decided to include this elec-tive in my choice of courses

for the spring semester after

a friend of mine recommend-

ed it, she said. He described

it as an escape from all other

hectic classes.

Although catering for a spe-

cic major, hospitality man-

agement courses seem to at-

tract students from around

campus. Classes like Food

Preparation, Baking Pas-

tries and Chocolate, and

Wine, Spirits and Cigars are

among students favorite

electives. During fall 2011,the department offered four

sections of the rst, four of the

second and six of the third.

Although we live in a large-

ly patriarchal society where

cooking is often the responsi-

bility of women, LAUs macho

men still ock to these class-

es. I would love to learn some

new skills, Maalouf said,

Why not cooking? I havent

received any news saying

that its reserved for girls.

Course offerings reveal that

all instructors teaching this

course are males usuallyhighly trained professional

chefs. Georges Tamer, hospi-

tality lab supervisor and in-

structor, teaches Wine, Spir-

its and Cigars.

We teach students tast-

ing techniques, and how to

differentiate between each

genre of wine, he explained.

We also cover the various

types of grapes available.

Baking classes teach stu-

dents the techniques of pre-

paring delicious and visual-

ly appealing desserts. Pupils

are then asked to apply whatthey learned in the kitchen

lab. In Food Preparation I

and II, instructors give stu-

dents recipes and demon-

strate the process by cooking

during class hours.

Tala Khansa, an education

major, explains that cooking

classes are interactive.

They require participation

from all the students who are

involved in the process, she

said. Its really fun.

Kitchen labs are equippe

with professional uten

sils, simulating commercikitchens at hotels and re

taurants.

Like other courses on cam

pus, cooking classes involv

tests and exams.

They still seem, however, t

attract students from acros

campus. I always had th

hobby, but to learn the tech

niques and secrets of th

trade from professional in

structors seems very appea

ing, Khayyat said.

P

hotoby:AhmadYassine


6/12

6

PEOPLEYoung InstructorsAim Big

It was the rst day of the ac-

ademic year. She entered the

classroom casually like any

other student.

She wore tight trendy jeans,

a grey and white v-neck

shirt and a funky green scarf

around her neck. Incon-

spicuously, she spread her

books, papers and laptop on

her desk, yearning for a way

to get attention among the

clamor and chitchats of stu-

dents.

Five minutes passed. Pu-

pils looked at their watches,expecting the instructor to

come in anytime.

OK guys, so the class has be-

gun. My name is Wafaa Ha-

lawi and I am gonna be your

Art of Film teacher for this

semester, the young woman

said with a clear voice, as she

placed her palms on the desk

to lift up her body.

Around 37.5 percent of

LAUs instructors are below

To Sing For a Cause

By Layan DoueikLAU Tribune staff

May Nasr graduated from the Lebanese American University as a social work-

er. Today, she is also a singer. As a child, Nasrs dream was always to sing on a

stage, playing a guitar. She never truly believed this dream would come true.

1.Who supported you in the music eld?

The people who supported me in the most profound ways were music artists

Farid Abul Kheir and Zaki Nassif as well as Badia Sabra (former voice teacher

of Fairuz). May they all rest in peace. I continue to receive much moral support

from my closest friends who have always provided me with valuable input and

guidance and have helped me remain on the right track.

2. Why dont you accompany your songs with video clips for wider spread?

I would love to have video clips for some of my songs. However, I cannot afford

it nancially since the music work I do does not generate sufcient income. My

concerts throughout the past 12 years have mainly been fundraising for charityand humanitarian causes..

3.What do you think about todays art? Are you fond of any modern art-

ists or music?

I am very fond of several modern musicians whom I categorize as very talented

and committed to producing music of great positive and lasting inuence on lis-

teners. Some of those contemporary and modern musicians whom I personally

admire for their genuine work: From Lebanon, Tania Saleh, Charbel Rouhana,

Jaheda Wehbeh, Mashrou3 Leila and Issa Ghandour. From Palestine, Rim Ban-

na, Weh Wlad el hara. From Syria, Lena Shamamian, Rasha Rizk. From Jordan,

The Team

Tribune nov. 14, 2011

Makadi Nahhas, Al Fari group. From Morocco and Tunisia, Souad Massi, Dh

fer Youssef.

5.We all know that respectable art does not generate enough mone

these days. Whats your main career?

My professional career is in the eld of micronance (i.e. programs giving ve

small loans for women and men managing income generating business activ

ties) and economic development.

It is very unfortunate that the existing music production companies in our r

gion show no interest in supporting respectable rising non-mainstream an

or non-commercial music. This forces dedicated musicians to rely on their i

dividual efforts through professional career jobs in order to nance music pro

ects. For this reason, it took me ten years to produce my rst album Lil Gh

ly (2008).

6.Do you have a new single or album in process? And what do you hop

to accomplish this year?

A new album is on the way, to be released later this year. It is a live recording

a joint concert which I was honored to perform with my friend, the great Pue

to Rican musician, Lourdes Perez, in San Antonio, USA. We both sang each ot

ers songs, combining Arabic and Spanish. Three songs were released durin

our joint concert in Malaga-Spain this past July 2011. The full album will be r

leased in March 2012 when we perform together again in San Francisco, USA

We were planning to give a concert tour in the Arab region this year but decide

to put this plan on hold due to the current instability the region.

By Farah Al SaatiLAU Tribune staff

Editors-in-Chief:

Farah Al Saati, Ranim Hadid,

Zahi Sahli

Staff:

Iman Soufan, Carla Hazarian, Lyn Abu-Seraj, Layan Doueik, Omar El Tani, Zeina Shehayeb, Mohamed Al-Oray

Mayya Al-Ogaily, Natalia Elmani, Assaad Hawwa,Caroline Feghaly, Rouba Jaafar

Adviser:

Yasmine Dabbous

37. Students here seem di-

vided in their assessment of

instructors based on age and

its relation to teacher credi-

bility.

Halawi is only 28 years old

and holds a masters degree

in lm studies.

I enjoy being a young in-

structor and feeling the nov-

elty of being in the teachers

shoes, she said.

Many students shared Hala-

wis opinion that age is not a

factor and that credibility de-

pends on the character of theinstructor and the way he or

she delivers the message.

They also believed that

younger instructors are live-

lier, joke around and have

more patience. I try to

choose young instructors be-

cause they are enthusiastic

and more familiar with our

modern way of thinking,

Hussein Sheet, a business

student, said.

But some believed that

young instructors lack the

experience and ability to

manage a class. Old instruc-

tors give the feeling of cred-

ibility and assurance that

they know the material very

well unlike the young ones,

Lara Abu Chala, an English

major, said.

Khaled Nasser, a lecturer

in interpersonal communi-

cation, studied this very is-

sue in the United States. He

found that age and humor

signicantly affect the credi-bility of instructors.

Age, he said, is associated

with being wise. According-

ly, his research revealed, stu-

dents tend to choose the older

instructors.

The ideal teacher is the one

who has the competence and

the understanding of stu-

dents, Nasser, who is him-

self 35 years old, explained.

Reine Azzi, a 29-year-old

English and moral reasoning

instructor, refers to Aristot-

les rhetoric theory to explain

her point.

She believes that credibility

is not simply about age but

is more related to ones abil-

ity to establish the ethos

through the substance of

ideas and their presentation.

I am not the only source of

information, students as well

help me through their re-

searches, Azzi said.

Azzi agrees with Halawi that

the techniques she uses to in-teract with her students may

give her an edge over old-

er instructors. I love using

Facebook. Sometimes I ask

students to post their class

reports on our group wall,

she said.

When asked about the rea-

son for choosing teaching

as their rst profession, a

number of young instructors

pointed to the challenge to

prove themselves and the

passion for educating st

dents.

Hussein Hassan, the youn

est part-time instructor

the school of arts and sc

ences, said he invests in h

young age, acting as an ol

er brother for his student

I had many opportuniti

to work in the industry but

believe that I am born to b

a teacher, Hassan adde

I have the communicatio

skills, knowledge and pa

sion.Halawi, Azzi and Hassa

share the same teaching a

proach mainly relying o

the balance between disc

pline and trendy ways of i

teracting with the class.

I was a student not that lon

ago so I try my best to be a

pealing and fun, bearing

mind all the cheating tec

niques, Halawi said with

smile.


7/12

7

CULTURE & FASHIONTribunenov14 , 2011

The Lady Behind Vintage StoryBy Mohamad Al-OraybiLAU Tribune staff

Yasmeen Borro, the proudowner of Vintage Story, is

hard to miss in a crowd. Apart

from being mtisse and mod-

el thin, she always wears a

pearl-white smile and color-

ful outts.

Born into a Lebanese-Moroc-

can family, Borro is all about

diversity. I was raised in a

home that hosted many dif-

ferent traditions, cuisines

and languages, she said. She

would have labneh for break-

fast and couscous for lunch.

The blend of cultures made

Borro appreciate differences

and nd beauty in combiningthem. Having the privilege of

touring Europes cosmopoli-

tan cities as a child, she learnt

to respect different cultures,

sexual preferences and racial

differences.

Borro opened her business at

the age of 24. Vintage Story, which sells

vintage clothing, shoes, ac-

cessories, bags and sunglass-

es, is among the rst of its

kind in the Middle East.

It feels like yesterday when

I rst sold vintage pieces in

an open house in Beirut, back

in 2008, Borro said. She sold

all the pieces she had hand-

picked from across Europe in

only three days.

I came from Europe with a

suitcase and ideas, Borro ex-

plained. She named her store

Vintage Story because every

piece at the shop tells the taleof a journey, a designer or a

trend.

Borro realized soon the ab-

sence of luxurious vintage

shops in Lebanon. My fa-

vorite pieces in store today

would be a Dior scarf from

the 70s and Yves Saint Lau-rent earrings from the early

90s, she said.

Borro travels every two

months all over Europe

scavenging for unique vin-

tage pieces. The samples she

picks are always of excellent

quality and in perfect shape.

Vintage is all about quality,

its a culture of timeless piec-

es, Borro said.

Borro also has her own line of

vintage-inspired couture. I

take my time with every cus-

tomer and customize vintage

inspired outts depending on

the style and vision of my cli-ent, she explained.

Born in Abidjan and raised in

Belgium, where she studied

fashion at Atelier Lannaux,

Borro eventually settled in

Paris and worked with famed

designer John Galliano.

Working with Galliano wathe best learning experienc

I have ever had, she sai

He is a genius.

The young woman star

ed collecting vintage pie

es when she was only 14. A

companying her father, a

art expert, to auctions a

around Europe, Borro gre

a special bond with antiqu

ties.

Collecting antiques and vin

tage clothes as a child mad

my store today my destiny

she said. It is what I love d

ing and what I do best.

As proud as she is for beinLebanese, Borro stands ou

effortlessly. Her cosmopol

tan upbringing and Europ

an life style formed a youn

woman who is diverse fo

combining the beauties of ev

ery culture that touched her

each others work and helped

ne-tune their abilities.

Over time, Mouallem devel-oped his own style.

Some of his most known slo-

gans are Badna Balad,

Cha3eb Ne3sen, and Free-

dom never comes for free.

Lebanon is the best country,

without them was another

powerful message; the Leba-

nese people managed to nd

religious or political meaning

in it.

While the slogan was orig-

inally intended as a politi-

cal pun, it ended up mean-

ing many different things,

Mouallem said.

In his early work, the youngartist used his talent to deliv-

er messages but, over time,

he felt tired with the nega-

tive emphasis in his art and

decide to try a different direc-

tion.

I wanted to focus on the pos-

itive and introduce the art of

grafti to people, Mouallem

said.

Word of his ability soon

spread, and he became quite

well-known. His art moved

paint is granted, this ur-

ban art has become more ac-

knowledged and marketed in

recent years.

Mouallem, still 24, stud-ies architecture at the Leb-

anese University. Grafti is

his part-time job, but he con-

siders it more a hobby than a

profession.

Yes, I do get paid to do it

most of the time, but I dont

do it for monetary reasons,

he explained. I do graf-

ti because its a passion and

a hobby, and I want to intro-

duce it to the Lebanese peo-

ple.

Across grungy warehous-

es and old residential build-

ings in Lebanon, words of po-litical meaning and colorful

pictures decorate the once-

blank wall a scene that is

becoming more and more fa-

miliar as each year goes by.

One man, who has played a

signicant part in the rise

of this subculture, is Rami

Mouallem, a well-known

Lebanese grafti artist.

Dark and reserved, he speaks

of himself quite humbly but

pride shines upon his face as

he talks about his art.

He is a man whose passion

and career have taken him to

places across the globe. Whatwas once a hobby has now be-

come a business and a life-

style.

I [originally] decided to do

grafti to transmit a message

to people through an original

art. That was my concept at

rst, he said.

Grafti is the art of spray

painting lettering or imag-

es on property such as build-

ings. Traditionally deemed

illegal if no permission to

An Urban Art FormBy Carla HazarianLAU Tribune staff

The spark that started his

passion came in 2006, when

he was just 19 and the Leb-

anese grafti scene was still

uncommon.Driving by some street

art, he found it interesting

enough to further research

the subject in books, online,

and through video clips of

hip-hop and break-dancing.

Mouallem also download-

ed informational videos that

taught him how to paint with

spray cans.

In 2007, he met up with oth-

er local grafti artists every

Sunday. Artists critiqued

Photo

by:RamiMouallem

from the sides of buildings t

magazines, newspapers an

television.He worked on advertisin

and awareness campaign

and got to illustrate for majo

companies such as Porsch

Adidas, Pepsi, Smirn

Heineken and Vespa t

name a few.

He is also in demand to elab

orately design the walls o

homes, buildings, restau

rants, galleries and pub

giving them an urban twist.

Mouallem created a new

business venture, Pimp M

Room, which consists of cre

atively painting children

bedrooms.He does not advertise, re

lying instead on word-o

mouth and Facebook to rais

awareness about the art.

Grafti has taken him t

Brazil, Turkey, France an

most of the Middle East.

I asked Mouallem if ther

was anything he would rath

er be doing right now, if h

got another chance.

It would still be grafti, h

said.

CourtesyofYasmeenBorro


8/12

8

MEDIA &LITERATURETribune nov. 14 , 2011

NDU Film FestivalBy Ranim HadidLAU Tribune staff

Reaching for the StarsBy Nora KamareddineLAU Tribune contributor

pleased to see the amountof supporters who showed

up on the night her lm was

screened. A week after she

uploaded her trailer on You-

Tube, she registered over

10,000 views.

Showing my lm at NDU al-

lows me to present my work

and represent LAU to other

universities and lm makers,

she said. I was able to com-

municate with other direc-

tors and enrich my lm expe-

rience.

The idea of Shaers lm a

look at temporary marriage or

zawaj al muta is more or less

Six lms directed by LAUcommunication arts stu-

dents were selected to join

the Fifth Annual Film Fes-

tival of Young Filmmakers

Making the Future of the

Lebanese Cinema.

Hosted by Notre Dame Uni-

versity every year since

2006, the festival aims at

helping lm students from

different universities come

together, encouraging their

talents and fostering their

creativity.

According to the festivals

website, organizers hope to

set a new foundation for fu-ture generations of lmmak-

ers. The event publicizes the

works of talented students

and recent graduates to

thrust them into an already

difcult industry.

Students who receive the

greatest number of votes

from the festival audience

receive trophies. The over-

all top winners are awarded

3,000, 2,000 and 1,000 dol-

lars for the rst, second and

third places respectively.

Farah Shaer, director ofI Of-

fered You Pleasure and win-

ner of the public vote, was

a taboo in Lebanon.My message was to portray

my idea about it, she said.

Although I was criticized on

many blogs and on Facebook,

Im glad the rst screening of

this lm was a success.

Natalie Kreidieh and Sari

Shrayteh, co-directors of

Arak Baladi , a documentary

about urbanization in Leba-

non, are both happy to have

made it to the NDU lm fes-

tival.

We tried to connect all the

problems in Lebanon but

they were too many, Shray-

teh said with a giggle.

Have you ever dreamt of go-

ing to space?

Richard Branson, the found-

er of Virgin Group, has made

this dream come true.

A 209-million-dollar project,

which had its early begin-

nings in the year 2004, is now

approaching the end phase.If everything progresses as

desired, starting late 2012,

commercial ights into space

will be available for 200,000

dollars per person.

They will be offered once a

week and will cater to a max-

imum of six passengers per

ight.

There are already 450 tick-

et holders waiting to be

launched into space. Ranim

Hadid, a communication arts

They chose the topic, theysaid, because farmers suf-

fer from urbanization, yet

people are largely unaware

of the problem. We real-

ly wanted to share this and

shed light on certain issues,

Kriedieh said. In the name

of prosperity and progress,

Lebanon has caused an in-

crease in poverty and envi-

ronmental damage.

This festival would be the

rst for Fuad Halawani, di-

rector ofSoura. It feels good

to have made it to the fes-

tival, Halawani said. Hes

glad that people got the

chance to view his lm.Other LAU participants at

the festival include Joseph

Rizkallah, director ofDream

for Me, Bob Hamandi, direc

tor ofNagham, and Ibrahim

Badran, director ofPerso.

Adam Simon, a business ma

jor and audience member,

said he enjoyed the festival.

You get to see other people

work and their ideas of life,

he explained. Its really in-

spiring.

Some lms make you laugh

others make you sad, Simo

said. In both cases theres a

message being portrayed.

student at LAU, thinks the

idea is really cool. Although

way overpriced, she said, the

experience of looking at the

earth from space should be

great.

The worlds rst commercial

spaceport called Spaceport

America is located in Mo-jave, New Mexico.

White Knight Two, the

mother ship, will carry the

spaceship SpaceShipTwo

alongside with it into the up-

per atmosphere from where

the latter then rocket launch-

es into the sub orbit at a speed

of 3,200 kilometer per hour.

After reaching a maximal

height of 100 kilometers and

a short period of weightless-

ness, the spacecraft will drift

back towards the earth with-

out any motor power, based

on the concept of a feathered

re-entry.

The rear wing will tilt at a

certain angle and the craft

will slowly glide back into

the atmosphere similar to a

feather gliding in the wind. According to latest technol-

ogy, this is the safest way of

returning to the ground.

I would wait for some time,

until its cheaper and safely

tried, Raja Sidani, a painter,

explained. When you have

more competition, the ser-

vice tends to improve.

Space Ship Two is equipped

with two windows, one to

the side, and one above ev-

ery seat on the space plane.

In addition to these viewing

possibilities for passengers,

every individual receives a

recording of his or her per-

sonal pre-ight and in-ight

experience.

In order to y with Virgin Ga-

lactic, every passenger must

undergo a two-day pre-ightpreparation, which includes

training sessions compara-

ble to the ones astronauts

take.

Passengers will be tested to

make sure their bodies can

endure the stress of under ze-

ro-gravity.

Travelers will also learn

some basic emergency re-

sponses and how to operate

some of the machinery on

board of the ship.

Virgin Galactic is not t

only company working o

space travel for ordinar

tourists.

Alongside this project a

eight more private compa

nies working towards th

goal. The company Xco

Aerospace is offering a ighaboard their spaceshi

Lynx for around half th

price of Virgin Galactic.

Will the ight to space b

come as affordable as one t

Dubai?

Until then, Ahmad Yas

ine awaits. I am sure I wi

be scared but I have enoug

curiosity to do it, he said.

people tell me its nice, I wi

denitely get all excited an

try it.


9/12

OPINION9Tribune

Note: The LAU Tribune is not responsible for theopinions expressed on this page.

College for DummiesBy Ruba Haj HassanSpecial to the LAU Tribune

nov.14,2011

When the 2008 economic cri-

sis occurred, only a minori-

ty of the worlds economists

managed to forecast its oc-

currence; it was complicated

and uncertain.

But today, most of the worlds

economists agree on the like-

lihood of another recession

soon with the political lead-

ers failing to introduce a per-

manent solution to the risks

of the world economy.

With the growing pessimism

in the stock markets, high

levels of unemployment,sharp decrease in housing

prices, high prices of food

and gas taking over most of

the relatively low wages and

salaries, unstable dollar cur-

rency, the dramatic devasta-

tions in the Euro zone, and

the heavy debts of most de-

veloped countries, it doesnt

need an economist to fore-

see another recession yet to

strike.

Going further, it doesnt need

an economist to claim that

two consecutive recessions

will eventually lead to de-

pression.

Eighteen leading experts

not to daunt you with facts

and gures reported in a re-

cent CNN money survey that

they believe there is [only]

about a 15% chance of a new

recession. Of course, this is

pretty much the same group

of individuals who told every-

one that the economic slow-

down in early 2008 was just a

soft patch as well.Following the daily news of

the Euro crisis, or what Nico-

las Sarkozy (the French pres-

ident) and Angela Merkel

(the German PM) tend to call

the Greek crisis, its start-

ing to get clearer that the fail-

ure of the Euro zone to deal

with Greece, Italy, Ireland,

and Spain (high levels of un-

employment, massive debt,

negative economic growth)

will be the prelude to a world-

wide devastation and global

economic crisis.

Then, Barack Obama shows

up, the rst black president

in the history of the United

States, who carried with him

hope for change to a hopeless

American society struggling

to survive their countrys un-

stable economical situation.

Finding himself helpless to

stand against some business

giants in his country, Obama

focuses on decreasing his

countrys 9% unemployment.

And the only way to do so isby protecting those business

giants from bankruptcy. If

any of those giants fall, they

will eventually fall after one

another in a dominos effect

like the one that occurred in

2008.

Thus, thousands of employ-

ees will lose their jobs lead-

ing to a straight recession.

Knowing that if the Euro

falls, New York stock ex-

change will fall instantly af-

ter it, and knowing about the

angry movements all across

the United States led by the

young activists of Occupy

Wall Street, Obama gave

Europe around six weeks to

deal with its crisis.

Unfortunately, the six weeks

are over and Europe has not

only failed to deal with its cri-

sis, but has created other cri-

ses as well. The only solution

they found is to beg China for

rescue. Greeces political sit-

uation is highly critical, It-

alys 1.9-trillion-dollar debtand -0.2% economic growth,

and Spains 18% unemploy-

ment, tell us something is go-

ing out of control.

Questions to be answered in

the upcoming articles: What

are the options left? What if

Greece leaves the Euro zone?

What is Chinas reply to Eu-

ropes call for help? What is

the role of the Middle East

and how would this crisis af-

fect us?

WRITE!

Do you have

anything youd like

to say?

Send us your

articles [email protected]

and well be

happy to publish

them

By Ibrahim Halawi

Special to the LAU Tribune

and your hair looks unusual.

No one does. (Except for me. I

understand).

Taking charge of your own

life for the rst time isnt

easy. In fact, you might just

nd yourself ipping out a

little and uttering things

like: What do you mean I

need money for that? Give

it to me! or Why are you

walking slowly when Im

late for class? or WHY ARE

THERE SO MANY BLACK-

BERRIES?!

In any case, fear not. I am

here to help you through thistough time by giving you an

idea of whats to come.

First; you must learn to ac-

cept that from this day on,

sleep will become a privi-

lege. Pulling all-nighters and

waking up at 6 a.m. after just

32 minutes of sleep only to do

the pants-dance before rush-

ing to class will become your

Growing up is a scary thing.

You nd yourself alone in

a dorm room with noth-

ing but an old blankie and a

years supply of instant noo-

dles to keep you from starv-

ing, when you suddenly re-

alize that you are expected

to keep yourself alive until

Christmas break without the

help of those strange, middle-

aged people who live in your

house and go by the names of

mom and dad.

So you bite your nails. Then

your toe nails. Then your

roommates nails. Then thenearest object that resembles

a nail.

Eventually, you decide that

the best way to express your

despair is by posting an om-

inous picture of yourself on

Facebook so that everyone

will feel the depths of your

teenage angst simply be-

cause youre looking down

everyday norm.

Caffeine will become your

new best friend. Embrace it.

You will often nd yourself

bumping into walls because

your eyes are closed and then

apologizing to every wall you

bump into. You will come to

discover a very thin line be-

tween consciousness and a

comatose-like state. (Are you

sleeping right now? Is this all

a dream?).

Procrastination is your worst

enemy. If you let your work-

load pile up even for a day,

your brain will very quicklyalter its molecular structure

causing you to break down at

the smallest inconvenience.

Like when nding out that

Tangled is the last Disney

princess movie. (Why God,

WHY?!).

You will also go around tell-

ing strangers that you think

black holes are portals for an-

gels. When you nd yourself

slicing pineapples yelling:

SPONGEBOB, I KNOW

YOURE IN THERE! Get

yourself to the nearest hospi-

tal.

Sometimes your roommate

turns out to be your soul-

mate, sometimes your room-

mate turns out to be a se-

rial killer. Either way, its

important to at least try to be

friendly. (Teddies dont hug

back, you guys).

So start by giving them some-

thing pretty, like France. If

youre ever annoyed of them,express your feelings using

Taylor Swift lyrics. And if

they get in a ght with a oor

mate, be neutral. (Be Swit-

zerland).

Theres a very big chance

that you will exist purely on

Twinkies and soup for the

next few months. Any form

of decent human nutrition

will soon become a thing o

the past. Although accordin

to the sticker on the cover

soup is supposed to be prett

healthy.

And Im not one to argue wit

stickers. It will take you ap

proximately 2.3 months t

successfully do your laundr

without turning your under

wear blue. Until then, yo

will most likely show up t

class in smelly socks.

You may also embarra

yourself in front of your pro

fessors by not knowing wha

the word reprimand meanDont beat yourself up for i

its not that great of a word. I

smells funny.

By now you should be fu

ly prepared for your rst en

deavor as an adult. Good luc

to you, and remember; it

not cheating unless you ge

caught. (Wink, wink). Se

you on the other side.

Economic Depression Certain to Occur


10/12

10

CONTINUEDTribune nov. 14, 2011

Girls, Frost Yourselves

MA in international affairs,MS in computer science and

MS in molecular biology.

The LAU school of busi-

ness offers a masters de-

gree in business administra-

tion (MBA) and an executive

MBA.

Finally, three graduate pro-

grams are available under

the school of engineering.

They include an MS in civ-

il and environmental engi-

neering, an MS in computer

engineering and an MS in in-

dustrial engineering and en-

gineering management.

Chairpersons and upper lev-el ofcials at LAU had vary-

ing explanations for LAUs

disadvantage.

Mona Knio, the chairperson

of the department of commu-

nication arts, spoke of LAUs

relative young age as a uni-

versity. Were currently re-

viewing and developing the

BA and well be ready to work

on the masters program

when were done, she said.

Knio explained that former

communication arts chair

Ramez Maluf worked on a

proposal for a masters de-

gree in communication artsbut the effort was not pur-

sued after the end of his term.

She also mentioned the ques-

tion of space. The number

of communication art stu-

dents is increasing, she said.

The department already

faces problems nding emp-

ty classes for undergraduate

courses.

But a source from the uni-

versitys upper administra-

tion said that individual de-

partments are responsible

for the absence of graduate

degrees at LAU. Offering a

new degree starts with a pro-posal from the departments,

the source said. If we do not

have many masters degree

programs, thats because de-

partments have not asked for

them.

The establishment of a new

degree or a new major is a

complex, multi-layered step

that may take up to three

Continued from page 1

years. Departments or divi-sions submit a proposal to

the Academic School Council.

If approved, the document

must meet the requirements

of the University Curricu-

lum Council, the Council of

Deans and the University

Executive Council. Programs

leading to a new degree also

require the approval of the

Board of Trustees and reg-

istration with the Board of

Regents of the State of New

York and the Education min-

istry in Lebanon.

Vahid Behmardi, the hu-

manities department chair,said that having more mas-

ters degrees is a consider-

able project because it re-

quires more professors,

funding, budget and resourc-

es. I dont think we are still

ready for more MA programs

at LAU but the moment we

feel that we are ready we

wont hesitate, he said.

Behmardi is proud that LAU

established an MA in com-

parative literature in 2003.

The program attracts gradu-

ate students in the eld from

AUB, Balamand and other

universities.We started with an MA in

comparative literature and

we hope that, with time,

we will have more MA pro-

grams, Behmardi said. Its

better to have a well-built vil-

lage than a ruined city.

Ahmad Kabbani, the chair-

person of the natural science

department, pointed out four

important issues to be rem-

edied if LAU is to offer more

graduate programs: Space,

more faculties, a diverse fac-

ulty body and better infra-

structure and research sup-

port systems.He explained that the gradu-

ate school requires good lab-

oratories and space facilities,

which we lack on the Beirut

campus. As a chair, Im a

rm believer that graduate

programs should be delocal-

ized over all majors, he said.

But a source from the univer-

sitys upper administration

Masters Deciency at LAU

The LAU Tribune is seeking talented reporters and writers to join its team.

If youre interested, please send a writing sample to:

[email protected]

said that the market doesntrequire a graduate degree in

many elds.

So why bother to have more

MAs if students will get the

same salary with or with-

out the degree? the source

asked.

Still, students at LAU

seemed interested. In fact,

many of those who returned

to school after graduation did

so because they couldnt nd

jobs.

Why doesnt LAU have a

choice of master programs

other than international af-

fairs? A political science se-nior who preferred to remain

anonymous asked. Political

science students take cours-

es similar to those that in-

ternational affairs students

take. So why should we as

political science students do

a masters in internation-

al affairs when we have oth-

er choices at other universi-

ties?

Nour Daouk, an interi-

or architecture sophomore

agreed. The bachelors de-

gree in most majors is not

enough these days so LAU

should implement a masterprogram in architecture for

us to continue in the same

university we started with.

Some students were left

with no choice but to travel

abroad.

If I had the option, I would

have stayed at LAU and ap-

plied for my masters but

since this does not apply, I

am travelling to London,

Lara, a radio TV/lm junior

who refused to give her full

name, said.

Huda Abdo, chair of the so-

cial sciences department,

called for more masters pro-grams at LAU. She add-

ed that the effect of having

only few graduate programs

means that we remain

where we are, especially in

terms of research. I think

that, as faculty, we all want

to go forward and the admin-

istration is with expansion,

she explained.

comes to their looks? Feminist scholar Naomi Wolf providesome answers in her book, The Beauty Myth.

According to Wolf, women are manipulated by the media wh

make them feel insecure and unhappy.

Television, magazine and billboard commercials show models

extraordinary beauty, leaving out normal women and redu

ing females to sexual objects.

Because most of the women in most media are unbelievabl

beautiful, most women feel a pressure, consciously or uncon

sciously, to attain this ideal, Wolf explained.

Surprisingly, Cherry is frequented by men as well. We hav

males coming into our salon, their ages ranging between 20 an

40, Abboud said. Younger men come in to use the solarium an

laser treatment while the older ones come in to do manicure an

pedicure.

Right next to Cherry at the lower gate is Colormoods, a spa-or

ented salon. It offers nail treatment and spa and its target ag

group is 25 and above.We have a lot of students coming in from LAU because we offe

promotions, Tatiana El Kurd, the salon owner, said. They ar

encouraged to come in.

Most of Colormoods prot comes from the female population a

LAU. Many come at least twice a week.

Rasha Haddad, an English major at the American Universit

of Beirut, considers herself imperfect and tries to improve he

physical look by constantly frequenting beauty salons.

I see all these perfect models in commercials and it only drive

me closer to hating the way I look, she said.

Haddad indulges in spa treatments to relax and uses much o

her allowance to air-brush her hair every two days and x he

nail polish.

Wolf explains that, before the 1960s, commercials largely ad

dressed housewives. Products advertised included detergent

household equipment and the like. But with the rise of the wom

en liberation movement, the focus shifted to issues of beautyWith the women outside the house, all was left was the body

Wolf wrote.

Advertisements today focus on perfumes, facials, dietary prod

ucts and make-up. They feature women with ideal physic

suggesting to female readers that they will reach this beaut

standard if they buy such products.

Yasmine Dabbous, assistant professor of media studies an

journalism at LAU, nds the issue problematic. With the quas

absence of normal women in the media, and especially in adve

tising, it is normal that most readers will feel they have to com

pete with these models, she said. They are the only standar

available.

Norma Bou Nassar, the manager of Beesline The Shop on Sada

street, says that few LAU students frequent the store becaus

services focus on spas, body and relaxation programs and me

ical facials. They just come in and waste time looking aroun

at our products, she said. The only time students actually buBeesline products is when they want to buy a gift, a voucher or

sun tan oil.

Mona Al Abbasi, a business major, said she frequents the salon

around LAU every time she has a break between classes.

What I like about LAU is that it has beauty salons around it

she said.

During the ten days in which I reported on the issue, almost a

women interviewed said they go to the beauty salons aroun

campus. Haha! Of course I do, what are you talking about? on

of them laughed. Sometimes I feel like I live there.

I tried to play the devils advocate and sometimes argued tha

beauty comes from within, but many did not seem convinced.

Yes I do believe that beauty comes within, but the rst thin

that men see when they look at me is my looks, Nour Diab,

business major at LAU, said. Enhancing my beauty is just on

way to make me feel better about myself.

Continued from page 1


11/12

1

OFF CAMPUSTribunenov. 14 , 2011

Have You Checked Your Vitamin D Level?

By the time she went to see

Dr. Ahmed Tayem for the

pain in her hip, Joumana

Aoun, a Lebanese housewife,

had reached a stage where

she could no longer walk from

her bedroom to her kitchen.

I cried when I even per-

formed the slightest move-

ment, she said. I stayed

bedridden for three days; my

home became a mess.

The doctor asked for blood

By Samia BuhulaiyemLAU Tribune staff

tests and x-rays of the legs,

the lower back and both hips.

To his astonishment, the

check-up revealed nothing

wrong. He put her on heavy

doses of sedatives, but they

were of no avail.

Aoun, it turned out, had neg-

ligible amounts of vitamin

D in her blood stream and

was diagnosed with Fibro-

myalgia. Now, I am on Cal-

cium and vitamin D supple-

ments and, for pain and the

secondary depression I had, I

am on Symbalta, she said. I

am back to normal life activ-

ities.

Laila Itani, a nutritionist

and lecturer at Beirut Arab

University, smiled when she

heard about Aouns case.

Yes, Hypovitaminosis D (vi-

tamin D deciency) is silent

and is spreading all over the

Middle East, she said.

Vitamin D helps ones body

use the calcium and phos-

phorus in the food intake. It

regulates normal cellular dif-ferentiation, thus prevent-

ing cancer and helps insulin

secretion. It also has other

functions related to the im-

mune system.

I interrupted Itani, sur-

prised. People in this re-

gion enjoy sunlight and dairy

products more than any oth-

er people; they get all the re-

quired amounts of vitamin

D, I said.

Exposure to UV B rays in

sunlight, fatty sh, egg yolks,

and fortied foods such as

milk products and breakfast

cereals are the main provid-

ers of vitamin

In fact, it is not only a mat-

ter of how much sunlight you

get or how much dairy prod-

ucts you consume, Itani ex-

plained.

Vitamin D deciency comes

from a combination of fac-

tors. Lack of sunlight or

dairy product and breast-

feeding are among the most

important, but they are not

the only ones.

You must sit enough in thesun while eating vitamin-D-

rich food, for example. Aging,

intestinal diseases and over-

weight may also negatively

affect vitamin D levels.

Eating habits make a lot of

difference here, Itani ex-

plained. Fat cells absorb vi-

tamin D and prevent your

body from using it.

According to the Bikhazi

Medical Group labs, healthy

vitamin-D level varies be-

tween 53 and 150 nmol/L.

Signs of vitamin D decienc

may be confused for typica

fatigue, which makes the dis

ease even more problematic

It is the responsibility o

people to observe them

selves. If they suffer unex

plained weakness, fatigue

muscle cramps then the

should consult their doctors

Itani said. Vitamin and min

erals deciencies might b

hiding there without them

knowing about it.

Farah Dabbous, a graph

ic designer, is health-con

scious and undergoes regulacheck-up tests. Last sum

mer, she decided to test he

Vitamin D levels. The result

came as a shock.

My level was around

nmol/L when it should b

above 53, she said. I was s

surprised. I expected som

deciency because I spend

lot of time in the ofce behin

my computer but I never sus

pected it would be so drast

cally low. I was not even fee

ing tired.

Cinderella, dressed in a rag-

like dark green dress, bare-

foot, moved on the stage in a

controlled manner that char-

acterized her innocent per-

sonality.

She stood out amongst

the dancers, who were all

dressed in beautifully col-

ored costumes and makeup.

The stark difference high-

lighted her simplicity andmade the audience sympa-

thize with her.

The stepsisters, dressed in

pastel colors wearing Pointe

shoes, pirouetted around the

young dancer to make her

feel uncomfortable.

The universally known tale

of Cinderella was brought

to Beirut in a ballet cho-

reographed by Jean-Chris-

tophe Maillot for Les Ballets

de Monte Carlo during the

weekend of Nov. 4.

Cendrillon, the two-hour per-

formance, played at Casi-

By Iman SoufanLAU Tribune staff

no Du Liban. Tickets were

sold out for the rst and sec-

ond night and very few seats

were available on the nal

night.

Maillot gave facial expres-

sions a very vital role in this

ballet: The sisters would al-

ways pull rude faces to Cin-

derella and cockily have their

noses risen around her, cre-

ating a sense of superiority.The stepmother was dressed

in a beautiful purple leotard

as she carried herself very

snobbishly around the stage.

It was apparent that she felt

threatened by the attention

Cinderellas father gave to

his daughter.

The evil step-mother tried

to steal his attention. Her

sharp moves and arm ges-

tures depicted her evil per-

sonality, her piercing eyes

emphasized her sinister vibe

and her sudden movements

always put the audience on

edge.

The minimal stage decora-

tions focused the audiences

attention on the dancers and

their movements.

Ive been teaching ballet

for the past 15 years and I

must say that their footwork

was beautiful, Akiko Jen-

ki, a Japanese ballet instruc-

tor who is visiting Lebanon,

commented.

The fairy godmother, covered

in glitter, danced in a joyful

and elegant way. Her move-

ments around Cinderella

voiced a caring and positive

mood that put Cinderella at

ease.

I love how he interprets act-

ing into his ballet moves with

the dancers arms in con-

trast with the feet that strict-

ly stick to pointing beautiful-

ly and elegantly, especially

with the fairy godmother,

Elena Sewell, a moder

dance teacher in Beirut, com

mented. One of my favorit

choreographers, I adore hi

work.

Now dressed in a white gown

Cinderella goes to the ba

and emphasis is brought o

her feet that are drenched i

glitter. Her feet are given im

portance as they are the ke

that leads the prince back ther.

Her arabesques were per

fect. She danced graciousl

on her glittery feet, Sewe

said.

Drawing the show to an end

the prince nds Cinderell

and saves her from her vicio

ous stepfamily, bringing jo

to this mistreated girls life

This classic fairy tale end

as the prince lifts Cindere

la and begins to dance joyfu

ly in celebration to the end o

his quest. He has now foun

her.

Photovia:CreativeCommons

Cinderella: A Ballet in Casino Du Liban

Photovia:CreativeCommons


12/12

8

OFF CAMPUSTribune nov. 14 , 2011

Fawwaz Traboulsi: Revolt Motives Are Internal

An unprecedented wave of

revolts has swiped the Arab

worlds decades-old politi-

cal calm as citizens of Tuni-

sia, Egypt and Libya have al-

ready toppled their leaders

while efforts do the same con-

tinue in Yemen, Bahrain and

Syria.

Meanwhile, the United

States, a main feeder of the

toppled regimes, has been

caught off-guard as demon-

strators look to dismantle

governing monarchies and

dictators of supposedly-re-

public administrations.Fawwaz Traboulsi, a veteran

Lebanese political activist,

believes that the American

governments hesitant re-

action originates from glob-

al academias disregard for

certain aspects of the Arab

worlds complex political

landscape.

There were 25 years in

which the ideology of glo-

balization was implement-

ed and studies did not in-

volve sub-national identities

in any analysis, Traboul-

si said. Academically, the

whole effort was to explainthe Islamic exception, the

world war on terrorism and

why there is no democracy in

the Arab world.

The fact that studies about

the origin of authoritarian-

ism in the Arab world were

non-existent before the Arab

Spring underlines the Unit-

ed States real stance on de-

mocracy in the Arab world,

according to Traboulsi.

There was never a study

that explained the presence

of authoritarianism because

the United States has always

supported authoritarian re-gimes, Traboulsi, who most

recently published A History

of Modern Lebanon, said.

While some have hurried to

conclude that the revolts are

a proof of a resuscitated Arab

identity, Traboulsi believes

that the countries shared so-

cial and economic problems

and not a revived sense of

Arabism incited simultane-

ous demonstrations through-

out the region.

The link between these re-

volts is not the shared ethnic-

ity but awareness that inter-

By Zahi SahliLAU Tribune staff

ests and forces within these

societies are quite similar,

Traboulsi said.

According to a report pub-

lished in October 2011 by

the Arab League, 85 percent

of the Arab worlds popula-

tion is aged between 14 and

25 while the unemployment

rate has reached 26 percent

the highest in the world.

Amid highly-publicized fears

of liberals and leftists thatradical Islamic parties may

govern the region in the near

future, Traboulsi called for

respect of peoples right to

elect their representatives.

Democracy gives people the

right to elect their represen-

tatives and Islamists are

part of our population and

they have the right to be rep-

resented in their national

parliaments, Traboulsi ex-

plained.

Traboulsi, however, predicts

that Islamists rise to power

would signal the beginning

of a fall in their popularity astheir anti-democratic ideolo-

gy would then be exposed.

Traboulsi believes that Is-

lamists opposition should

exert sufcient effort to com-

pose an alternative progres-

sive agenda instead of dwell-

ing on the publics fear of

radical Islamic blocs.

Marxism gives a complete

alternative system to the Is-

lamic agenda since other ide-

ologies, like Arabism, do not

represent all the Muslims in

the region, Traboulsi, who

is one of the founders of the

PhotoviaFacebook

Communist Organization

Action, said.

Traboulsi pointed out how

the common slogan of the

Arab revolts, people want

to overthrow the regime, is

deeply-rooted in leftist ideol-

ogy and sees the occasion as

a golden opportunity for the

leftists to regain their pre-

mier political stance in the

region.

Meanwhile an attempt todrop the sectarian regime by

a portion of Lebanese youth

has seemingly failed after

several demonstrations and

an eventual sit-in camp at

Sanayeh Garden.

Following a 15-year-long

Civil War, the Taif agree-

ment called for the abolish-

ment of political sectarian-

ism.

However, ve post-Taif elec-

tions have already taken

place with parliamentary

seats divided among mem-

bers of different sects.

The current parliament isillegitimate and unconstitu-

tional and the natural ten-

dency is for the Lebanese to

request that their states con-

stitution is applied, Trabou-

sli, who played an advising

role in the civil movement at

the young activists request,

said.

The Arab Spring has incit-

ed similar demonstrations

across the globe; citizens

from different states of the

US, who have felt the strain

of the global economic credit

crunch, launched the Occu-

py Wall Street movement.

The wave of protests spread

across continents as citizens

of Euro

tribune issue 2

Documents