RIBUNE The Official STudenT newSpaper aT The lebaneSe american univerSTy

year Xiii, vOl. ii, nO. ii Monday, March 26, 2012

TTribuneLAU@gmail.com

campuS life peOple

page 3 page 5

By Zeina ShehayebLAU Tribune staff

Guardiola’s Future

SpOrTS

page 6Nader Dernaika

OpiniOn

page 9“Perfect” Parents

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Students Chase Easy A Courses

A student survey on LAU’s Beirut campus confirmed that many LAU students target easy A courses to im-prove their GPAs and study less.The surveyed students shed light on 34 different courses that they referred to as “easy A” classes. These range from Computer Applications and Business Etiquette and Pro-tocol to Chemistry 200 and Design 1A and 1B.The reason students run af-ter these courses is to get high grades, making up for lower ones, and to spare time for work on major courses.The upper administra-tion and some instructors seemed unaware of this is-sue until I brought it up to them.Said El Fakhani, the new dean of the school of busi-ness, told me he has to check for evidence when I asked him about this issue. He opened his computer and looked up for business cours-es I designated as easy A classes.

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New Teachers

Business Etiquette and Pro-tocol was one of them. “Two sections had huge number of As while three other sections taught by a different profes-sor had a huge number of Bs,” he told me. “As an exam-ple, one out of the three sec-tions had the following: 5 As, 18 Bs and 6 Cs. You have it right!”He explained that he will discuss the issue with con-cerned instructors to under-stand the logic behind it and then look into the syllabus to check the course’s assess-ment tools. He added that the nature of the course reveals whether the student had acquired the concepts involved or not.“I am glad you mentioned this to me,” he said, looking at me. “I will investigate all these issues and any illegiti-mate grading system will be stopped.”Many students who take easy A courses do so because of their tough majors.“At LAU, we have a lot of electives and I would prefer

not to study for some since I am unconcerned with them and my major is already tough,” a senior interior ar-chitecture who refused to give his name said.Others just want an easy way out. A marketing junior student who preferred to re-main anonymous explained that he takes easy A cours-es because instructors typi-cally give the notes and the exams are straightforward. “It is just a course and so far I don’t regret it,” she said, smiling.The issue suggests that many students at LAU aim for high grades rather than education itself. “As an ad-visor for communication arts students, I am always frus-trated to see that students care more about the grades they will get than about the education the course will bring them,” Yasmine Dab-bous, assistant professor of journalism and media stud-ies, said.

“The partially-veiled woman placed a seashell in my palm and asked me to think deep-ly of an issue that I want to know about and then told me to crack a nut to break the curse,” Sumayyah Radwan, a 20-year-old education stu-dent at LAU, said sarcas-tically after undergoing a palm reading at the univer-sity’s upper gate in Beirut. Fortune-telling is a rapid-ly-growing business. Tele-vision and radio stations air programs on which some fortune-tellers have devel-oped iconic statuses over the years. Meanwhile, some fortune-tellers practice their “gift” in the streets. Among these is a palm-reader who occasion-ally welcomes intrigued stu-dents at the university’s up-per gate. Radwan does not believe in the accuracy of palm-read-ing, which goes against her religious beliefs. However, her interest in the technique drove her into get-ting her palm read. “They were false predictions that were really meant for enter-tainment,” Radwan contin-

ued. “Whenever I needed to inquire more about some-thing she immediately asked for an additional 10,000 Leb-anese pounds.”The majority of LAU Beirut students who took part in a Tribune survey share Rad-wan’s viewpoint: They do not believe in fortune-telling but they are curious to know what fortune-tellers say. “I don’t usually believe in that stuff, but if they talk about my horoscope on TV while I am zapping, I would listen to it,” Samira Tabsh, a business student, said.However, Najat Basma, a 20-year-old fine arts student does not skip a day without checking her daily horoscope forecast. “My horoscope is just like an article I read every day,” Basma said. “Most of the time whatever I read in the morning comes true through the day and especially when it is negative.”Basma’s curiosity of what the future holds has led her to practice Tarot cards read-ing for two years.

Fortune-Telling at LAUBy Layan DoueikLAU Tribune staff

Photo by Iman Soufan

HELP SAMER RABAHLAU senior Samer Rabah was shot in the stomach when his father’s pharmacy on Khalde was robbed. Miraculously, Samer survived and is at AUH with only 50 cm of intestines left (out of 7m). He needs to travel to UPMC in the USA for an intestinal transplant which will be extremely costly.

Donate to Samer’s medical fund.Bank Audi, Khalde branchAccount: 050122/462/001043/01Iban: LB 71005600005012246200104301

Find us on Facebook: Samer Rabah Fund for Youth Victims of Crime, or contact me personally at akm10@aub.edu.lb.

CAMPUS NEWS2 Tribune March 26, 2012

Damascus with Love

By Zahi SahliLAU Tribune staff

Bahrain’s uprising is a mixed local movement rather than a sectarian strife, columnist and political science schol-ar Fawwaz Traboulsi said on Friday, March 9 during a lec-ture on the LAU Beirut cam-pus.Bahraini government offi-cials as well as major main-stream media in the Arab world have consistently cate-gorized the rebels as pro-Iran Shiites. But Traboulsi said that the achievement of the uprising –which the former LAU pro-fessor said has managed to unite different fragments of the Bahraini society– is be-ing undermined by sectarian discrimination.“The historical struggle of the people of Bahrain was never a struggle of a group against another. The strug-gle is against the ruling fam-ily,” Traboulsi said, pointing to the mixture of intellectual and religious backgrounds of groups within the opposition.The Bahraini opposition in-cludes leftist groups such

as the National Liberation Front and National Dem-ocratic Action, and politi-cal-sectarian parties which emerged and joined forces with leftists and liberals dur-ing the 1990’s uprising. But, in an effort to silence the demonstrators, King Ha-mad bin Isa Al Khalifa de-clared the state of emergency in Bahrain while the Gulf Co-operation Council agreed to deploy the Peninsula Shield Force to repress the revolu-tion. The Assafir columnist, who

has authored many books in-cluding A History of Modern Lebanon and, most recently, Democracy is Revolution, in-sists that the reasons for con-flict are political and cannot be associated with differenc-es in religious beliefs. “Sectarianism is a political system, and that’s a conclu-sion we Lebanese have de-rived from our tragic and painful experience,” Traboul-si said during the lecture which was organized by the LAU International Affairs Club.

Traboulsi: Bahrain Uprising Not a Sectarian Strife

By Lyn Abu-Seraj LAU Tribune staff

The Syrian Cultural Club screened the movie Damas-cus with Love in LRC 21 on March 15 in an event that hosted students from differ-ent backgrounds and majors. The movie revolves around a young Jewish girl who searches for the truth about a family secret in magical Da-mascus. She falls in love with a Christian man who disap-pears during the Lebanese civil war. Events such as this screen-ing aim to bring Syrians from different universities togeth-er, according to the club’s president Abdullah Al Jajeh. “The whole goal of today’s event is to let the Syrian peo-ple at LAU and AUB to meet

each other and form a stron-ger Syrian association,” Al Jajeh said. Al Jajeh insists that the club intends to “be as far away as possible from politics.”“I hope to see all the mem-bers of the Syrian club from both AUB and LAU joining us today and hopefully no-body will have any political comments,” he added. Diana Rifai enjoys the club’s activities. “I think it is interesting and fun especially that I am Syri-an,” she said. “It is something I enjoy doing.”“It is not just for fun, it unites all the Syrian clubs and we organize events together,” Rifai continued.

“There is never a pure re-ligious, sectarian or ethnic conflict. They are struggles around government and po-sitions on the distribution of wealth and resources and the services provided by the state,” the Marxist activist continued. Traboulsi pointed out that the reignited revolution’s clear demands include: hav-ing an effective parliament, the resignation of the Prime Minister, actual circulation of power, elimination of dis-crimination against citizens –especially the Shiites– and the removing of the Peninsu-la Shield Forces.King Hamad had estab-lished the Bahrain Indepen-dent Commission of Inquiry in June 2011. After its report revealed 46 deaths, 559 alle-gations of torture and 4,000 dismissals of participating employees, the king prom-ised to sentence offenders. The king, however, did not take serious action, Traboul-si said. “What is happening in Bah-

rain is the people’s answer to their exploitation at the hands of tyrannical systems, some of which descend from republican origins and oth-ers from tribes,” Trabousli said. Among the main features of the Arab world, which Traboulsi sees as a key ele-ment to the start of the upris-ings, is the high percentages of unemployment, especially among youth. “Bahrain is not only similar to other countries where up-risings are taking place in that it is an area of oil secu-rity, but it also has educated and yet unemployed youth,” Traboulsi said. Traboulsi insists that the Gulf region is an unsecure area, expecting more violent uprisings.“Bahrain is not alone, it’s only the weakest link,” he said. “I expect more politi-cal and social protests in the Gulf.” Traboulsi was presented with an honorary shield at the end of the lecture.

Photo via Creative C

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By Mayya Al OgailyLAU Tribune staff

Dean of Students Raed Mohsen called on the LAU community this week to nom-inate qualifying students for three yearly awards, the Rhoda Orme, Torch and Ri-yad Nassar Leadership awards for 2012. The Rhoda Orme Award is given annually during the Student Honor Society Cer-emony, scheduled to take place on May 16 this year. The award is handed in to two female students on the university’s two campuses, who show dedication and ser-vice to others. The Riyad Nassar Leader-ship Award will also be pre-sented on the same day but to seniors with a minimum GPA of 3.0/4 and who have

completed at least a year as a full-time undergraduate students at LAU. The can-didates’ CVs must demon-strate leadership skills, and academic and extracurricu-lar accomplishments. The Torch Award will be giv-en out this year on July 7 and 8, during commencement ex-ercises. One undergraduate student from each of the uni-

Dean Announces Student Awards

versity’s schools is selected if he or she demonstrates “high leadership and service com-mittees,” as the dean men-tioned in his email.“We get a lot of participation each year from students, fac-ulty and staff members, and it’s always hard to make the final decision,” Mohsen said. “I believe the students’ in-volvement this year will be as great as always.”The winners are selected by Mohsen himself along with a designated selection commit-tee.In the case of the Riyad Nas-sar Leadership Award, the committee chooses three top candidates for separate inter-views before they announce the winner.

Photo via Creative C

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SPORTSMarch 26, 2012

By Rouba JaafarLAU Tribune staff

Guardiola to Leave the Blaugranas?

With thirteen major tourna-ments in his portfolio, Pep Guardiola has led the Cata-lan club to having one of the most successful and most-feared football sides of all time. However, he faces an uncertain future with his contract set to expire with the club at the end of the sea-son. Forty-one-year-old Pep Guar-diola was voted the best man-ager in La Liga earlier this year, beating last year’s win-ner Real Madrid manager José Mourinho and Manches-ter United boss Sir. Alex Fer-guson to it. But the issue remains in the fact that Guardiola hasn’t yet confirmed his wish to renew his contract with Barcelona –given that he does so each year due to his professional arrangement with the club.“From the bottom of my heart, I want to dedicate this award to Tito Vilanova, my friend, colleague and assis-tant. Even though you aren’t around much these days, you’re always there. This is for you, kid,” Guardiola said as he received his award ear-lier this year. The absence of his assistant and friend Vilanova follow-ing a cancer diagnosis has left Guardiola shaken and possibly uncertain about up-coming decisions in his ca-reer. Rumors have also been cir-culating about the worsen-ing relationship between the coach and the Club President Sandro Rosell.“Sir Alex is amazing. It’s un-

3Tribune

Upcoming gamesLa Liga 31/03

Osasuna V Real Madrid Barcelona V Ath Bilbao

01/04

Valencia V Levante Atl. Madrid V Getafe

Lionel Messi: Season 2011/12

Squad No: 10 Position: Forward Age: 24 Birth Date: Jun 24, 1987 Birth Place: Rosario, Argen-tina Goals :34Games: 27 Assists:9Shots:141

believable what he has done in 25 years at United,” Guar-diola said during a press con-ference. “But, in Spain, in It-aly, to have 25 years in the same job... it is impossible. If you don’t do so well in one

year, in one-and-a-half years, you get fired.”At the beginning of this sea-son, the Spanish manager was asked if he was looking for a new challenge. “Do I still want the challenge? I have to look inside of me for the an-swer to that,” Guardiola said. “I will continue for another year and then I will decide.

My life is decided by passion and, when that’s gone, I’ll go home and rest a little bit and try to get that passion back.” Meanwhile, several clubs out-side Spain have approached Guardiola. Spanish newspa-

per Marca claimed that In-ter Milan are ready to offer 20 million Euros per season to sign Guardiola (and the Nerazzurri may need a great manager after a forgettable season). Guardiola has been linked with Inter more than once in the past and Argentini-an legend Diego Maradona

Upcoming gamesPremier League31/03

Aston Villa V ChelseaMan City V Sunderland QPR V Arsenal 01/04

Newcastle V LiverpoolTottenham V Swansea

Upcoming gamesSerie A 31/03

Catania V AC Milan

01/04

Juventus V Napoli Inter V Genoa

said that he would not be sur-prised if Guardiola eventual-ly ended up at the San Siro.Rumors linking the manager coach with Inter were partic-ularly fueled when Guardiola showed up to an event wear-ing an Inter scarf. “It’s a gift from a friend,” he said then. “I currently train the most fas-cinating team there is.”As Roman Abramovich searches for a new Chel-sea manager, Guardiola’s name is also in the betting. The Blues’ Russian owner wants Guardiola to become the club’s new manager af-ter caretaker boss Roberto Di Matteo vindicates the post in the summer. Every coach finds it appealing to further prove his abilities in the Pre-mier League. But when Guardiola was asked about this rumor, he laughed it off. Meanwhile, the football press in Eng-land and Spain talked about Abramovich’s wishes to have the Spanish coach as Chel-sea’s new manager.The Barca players have an-other say. They want their coach to stay, given what they’ve become since Guar-diola became the team’s man-ager. “Pep is more important to Barcelona than me,” Lio-nel Messi said. “Since he ar-rived he has changed ev-erything for us. He has won everything there is to win.” Barca’s Xavi agreed. “We all want him to stay,” he said. “He is the key piece in the success we have had and the 13 titles we have won over the last few years.”

The midfielder believes that Guardiola will end up stay-ing at Barca in any case.Andres Iniesta hopes that Pep Guardiola would sign an extension. “I hope that he re-news and that he stays with us for a long time. He has to decide and he knows that the team wants him to stay,” he said. “That’s everyone’s wish. Guardiola is eager. We have a lot of beautiful things still yet to see.”The club’s vice-president Carles Vilarrubi believes that Guardiola has a high sense of responsibility and will not drag the team to a damage point. “He knows he is at home at the club and that Barcelona’s fans are with him,” Vilarrubi told TV3. “It will end well. He will remain at our home.”Guardiola explained that when he feels that he’s not needed anymore and doesn’t have the passion and strength that he has now, he will certainly leave.“There are two ways of leav-ing. When you aren’t win-ning and get sacked or when you leave naturally, know-ing that the right time has come,” Pep Guardiola said. “Everything has to end at some point.”At the end of this season Guardiola will choose where he wants to end up. He could be Barcelona’s new Fergu-son and serve the team for the next years, or he would follow Jose Mourinho’s steps by often looking for new chal-lenges with different teams-severy once in a while.

Photo via Facebook

Player of the issue

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CAMPUS LIFEBy Aseel BaidounLAU Tribune staff

Tribune March 26 , 2012

The Tribune Behind the Scenes

At 2:30 p.m. sharp every oth-er Thursday, 19 LAU stu-dents climb the stairs of Nicol Hall and quickly dis-appear behind the doors of room 524 for at least six or seven hours. Students who arrive after 2:31 p.m. get that look with the sentence “you are late” from Yasmine Dabbous, as-sistant professor of journal-ism and media studies and the instructor of Journal-ism Workshop –the course in which journalism students produce the LAU Tribune.The Tribune is the universi-ty’s student newspaper, pro-duced entirely by senior jour-nalism students. It appears every other Monday during the fall and spring semes-ters. COM422 students report for, write and edit the paper’s material. Every other Thurs-day, they gather at the uni-versity’s newsroom until late at night to design and proof-read the paper.Students sit behind their computers, waiting for the articles. Blood rushes into Dabbous’s face and her hands shake while she hur-riedly distributes edited arti-cles to the students. “No time to waste, start working now,” she tells the

Tribune staff.Rouba Jaafar, sports page editor, paces the room with a tense smile on her anxious face. “I just can’t wait for the issue to be printed,” she says. Iman Soufan, co-editor-in-chief, holds her phone in one hand and works on the arti-cle with the other. “Don’t wait for me today, I won’t finish before 10 p.m.,” she tells her friend on the phone. Soufan believes it takes cour-age and passion to create a successful Tribune. “As weird as it sounds, you will eventually create a rela-tionship with the Tribune,” she says. Natalia Elmani and Ranim Hadid, arts and culture page editors, read the articles on their page out loud. They call on Dabbous to come and help but she is already busy with others. “Continue working, Yasmine won’t come now, I have been waiting for her for 10 min-utes,” Carla Hazarian, cam-pus news page editor, tells Hadid.Diligently editing her page, Elmani spares some time to tell me about the experience. “This is the real experience of the journalism world,” she says. “We work as a real

team, and as real journal-ists.”Hadid agrees with Elmani. “I think it is a commitment and not a course. It is more like a part-time job,” she says.On the other side of the class, I can see Farah Al Saati, on-line editor-in-chief, banging the mouse nervously. “I hate InDesign, I just hate it,” Al Saati exclaims. Dabbous rushes to calm her down.“I feel that I am a newsroom director, and that students are journalists, and this creates a unique rela-

tionship with them,” Dab-bous says. The Tribune was launched in 1997 when a Fulbright fellow came specifically from the United States to establish a student newspaper at a Leb-anese university, LAU. The paper was an extracurricu-lar activity for journalism students –among which was Dabbous herself. Ramez Maalouf, associate professor of journalism and former chair of the communi-cation arts department, lat-er made the production of the Tribune part of a senior class,

Journalism Workshop.“I just love the Tribune, and it really means a lot to me –maybe because I was writing for the paper when I was a student,” Dabbous says. Back to the newsroom. Lay-an Doueik, the campus life editor, looks at me in shock. “Oh my God, Aseel! Please tell me you did not forget to do the vox pop!” My face turns red, my eyes wide open. The only word that comes out of my mouth is, “Yasmine!” “I know I said I don’t feel like a teacher in this course, but when it comes to grades, be-lieve me, I will be a teacher,” Dabbous tells me, smiling.Doueik considers that the idea of students gathering in-formation, writing and then editing their own articles, to eventually distribute them “makes the group similar to an organic community where any error might affect the whole newspaper.” On Monday morning, the stress disappears and a smile emerges on the faces of the 19 students as they distribute their paper. “I see the Tribune as our off-spring. It’s just good that ev-ery issue doesn’t take nine months to be produced,” Zahi Sahli, co-editor-in-chief, said with a smile.

Vox Pop:Who is Lebanon’s 1st Post-Independence President?

Salam Dirani21-year-old banking and fi-nance student

Oh, I cannot remember exact-ly who he is. But he is very well-known though. Riad El-Solh??

Wael Roumieh21-year-old IBM student

Bechara El-Khoury.

Right answer!

Yasmin Boutine22-year-old AA liberal arts student

I do not know. What is the year of independence again?

Nazem Richani20-year-old accounting stu-dent

Elias Hrawi? I am not really sure. I forgot.

Lara Abou Chala20-year-old english student

Bechara El- Khoury.

Right Answer!

Photo by: Aseel Baidoun

5

CAMPUS LIFETribune March 26, 2012

Students Run Out of General KnowledgeBy Zahi SahliLAU Tribune staff

As an LAU instructor spoke about King David’s journeys, only one student knew the narrative she was referring to. A few days later, the in-structor referred to the story of Isaac, and the reaction was the same. In a region where pious tradi-tions are prevalent, students’ unawareness of the stories of prophets, which are writ-ten in the Old Testament, the Bible and the Koran, is ludi-crous, the instructor said.As social media follows the revolutionary footsteps of the twentieth-century visual media and changes the way students learn, considerable concern over undergradu-ates’ level of general knowl-edge has emerged. This is a growing issue in Lebanon, communication arts professor Mahmoud Tarabay says.Tarabay attributes the di-minished level of acquired general knowledge among to-day’s students to a number of factors which constitute the consumer-oriented “fast food culture.”With online and television news briefs as well as phone memory and address books available to consumers, young students do not feel

that they have to read and store information from books anymore, Tarabay said. “We are shifting the tasks and functions of the brain be-cause technology can do its job,” Tarabay said. “Students feel they don’t have time to read and research, and get the general knowledge that everyone can acquire.”Once an LAU student, Ziad Bahloul –who is currently the Computer Lab & Simula-tion Lab Supervisor at LAU and an instructor of busi-ness– echoes Tarabay’s nos-talgic verdict, insisting that the level of knowledge has dropped since he last sat at a student’s desk. The business instructor be-lieves that students have not been making the best out of the technology offered to them, insisting that par-ents and teachers must di-rect youth toward using their devices more for educational purposes.“Students misuse technolo-gy, they spend hours on com-puter games and social net-works rather than studying and going out with friends,” Bahloul said. With the nearly-instanta-neous dissemination of news on the internet, newspapers

are struggling as they try to compete with social media networks and blogs for online readers. But though there is an in-ternational decline in terms of readership, the problem manifests itself more clear-ly in the Arab world, which ranks last behind other re-gions in terms of reading time per year. According to the 2010 Hu-man Development Report, the average reading time of a citizen in the Arab world is six minutes annually while an individual in the Western world reads 12,000 minutes on average per year. Mona Knio, chair of the com-munication arts department, says that students must be curious to learn if they are to attain a decent amount of knowledge.“The culture is now differ-ent,” Knio said. “But learn-ing is much more important than just going to university and following the syllabus to get a high grade. You should have the curiosity to learn.”Though Knio says the up-coming generations’ bond with technology has allowed them to develop notable visu-al abilities, she insists that that students are now more

interested in practicing the-ories than in building their cultural background. A survey carried out on 80 students from USJ and LAU found that only 10 percent of the participants could name the first post-independence Lebanese president. Only 10 percent could and name three living local journalists while 6 percent could name three of their favorite novels. Hassan Hammoud, associate professor of sociology, says that today’s students do not feel they have time they can dedicate to reading books. “One gains culture through direct interaction with sourc-es such as reading and at-tending seminars and confer-ences,” Hammoud said. “But there is no interaction be-cause students of this gener-ation don’t take time to read books.”Hammoud believes that glo-balization has allowed tech-nology to replace books, a phenomenon which has facil-itated the downfall of nation-al cultures. “Technology is contribut-ing to making people lazy instead of preparing them to obtain skills,” Hammoud said. “They are losing the skill to write, especially in

their own languages.”Some instructors, however, believe that a generation of students cannot be evaluated collectively. Chaoki Douei-hi, Professor of sociology and anthropology at Saint-Jo-seph University, insists that “there’s no such thing as a generation that is cultured or uncultured.” Douehi, who has been teach-ing for thirty years, added that evaluation should take place on case-by-case basis. “It depends on the student. This has been the case forev-er,” he said.Where an individual was raised and how he or she was nurtured rank among the nu-merous variables which come into account when judging whether a student has suffi-cient general knowledge or not, Doueihi said. Latif Zeitouni, a professor of Arabic literature at LAU, says that a “new culture” is being shaped.“I don’t think that the level of culture has dropped, but that the new generation is interested in new concepts,” Zeitouni said. “They are us-ing other things that have to do with their era.”

Vox Pop:Who is Lebanon’s 1st Post-Independence President? New Teachers Demand Larger Classrooms By Iman SoufanLAU Tribune staff

Coming from the opposite side of the world, Andrew Bo-brow, a communication arts instructor, arrived to Beirut to teach at LAU last fall.“I knew people back in the United States who had taught here quite some time ago, and they had nothing but a praise so I thought it would be worthwhile,” he said. Bobrow, who comes from New York City, is adapting well to the culture of LAU and to life in Beirut. He feels the two cities are “equally

chaotic.”The Lebanese capital may not be very different from ur-ban and cosmopolitan New York, but Bobrow found a great disparity between the two cultures in the class-room. “There is a habit here in Leb-anon of showing up late, and a tendency to skip classes and turn in assignments late, which I am trying to break,” he said. “But I don’t think I will, I think it’s fairly much en-grained in the culture.”

“Other than that, my stu-dents are interested and at-tentive, and I’m very happy,” Bobrow nonetheless added.Diving into a new communi-ty may be a difficult adjust-ment but, for most new in-structors, joining LAU has been a pleasant experience. The only complaint the LAU Tribune heard repeatedly re-lates to the space problem and class sizes. Zein Shweiry, a new face at the English department, de-scribes her journey thus far in one word; “inspiring.”

Despite this positive outlook, Shweiry finds some difficul-ty dealing with the number of students she has to teach in every class. “I think that ef-ficient learning is character-ized by a smaller number of students in a classroom,” she said. Shweiry finds a class of 20 to be ideal.LAU has been increasingly struggling with space prob-lems and class sizes during the last few years. Short of classrooms on Beirut’s small campus, administrators find

themselves forced to accom-modate up to 40 students in classes such as Art of Film or Introduction to Psychology.Shweiry believes such num-bers eventually cut instruc-tor-student interaction.Another new instructor af-fected by the large number of students per class is Leila Issa. Issa teaches Calculus I, III and IV, and each of these classes is made up of 40 plus students. “I have an issue with the

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PEOPLEIWSAW Empowers Women of Today

I entered the office and found myself in a different world. The white walls were covered with posters and paintings of women, there was also a cupboard filled with several books whose titles revealed tales of women. Nisa’a Min Biladi (Women from my Country), Soltan-at al Shasha (Giants of the Screen), and Al-Raida were among them.As I went in, I found a black shirt, a black cap, a white scarf and a couple of necklac-es hanging on the wall. Writings were on each of them. The phrase written on the white scarf grabbed my attention: “Partners to end violence against women.”In 1956, LAU was known as Beirut College University for Women, with a female stu-dent body and a female pres-ident.The Institute of Women’s Studies in the Arab World was established after the

Nader Dernaika: Acting Up

By Caroline FeghalyLAU Tribune staff

Tribune March 26, 2012

By Carla HazarianLAU Tribune staff

university started accept-ing male students. It came in 1973, a reminder of the uni-versity’s heritage. Dima Dabbous-Sensenig, di-rector of the institute, was –as she puts it– “born a fem-inist.” To her, feminism means that every human be-ing, regardless of gender, has the right to do what they be-lieve they can do. She consid-ers it a conviction, not a job.“Feminism is in my blood,” she said. “Nobody has the right to tell you that, if you are a woman, you can’t do this. I can do what I want to do and what I think I can do.”The IWSAW has been very active since its inception. Among its more recent ac-tivities is an effort to recruit young male university stu-dents in a campaign against gender-based violence. The project took place in co-operation with Aba’ad, a Leb-anese NGO committed to equality among the sexes.

Another IWSAW project or-ganized last year is the White Ribbon Campaign, an activ-ity against domestic abuse. It also recruited men to help raise awareness.“A man is not a man if he beats a woman,” Dabbous ex-plained. “He is a man if he stops other men from beat-ing women, and if he helps change the law to protect women.”Dabbous believes that both men and women suffer from stereotypes. She calls for an equilibrium and the rethink-ing of gender rules –a rea-son behind the institute’s bid to involve men in their cam-paigns.The IWSAW also adopts cas-es of unjustly imprisoned women. Most of these wom-en are foreigners. They are either poor or have no family in Lebanon, and can’t afford a lawyer. The institute finds them lawyers and pays for the latter’s fees. Funds come

from American and Europe-an charitable organizations. The institute also works on teaching jailed women var-ious skills they need to find a job after their release. The idea is to help them make money and become indepen-dent. At a more academic level, the IWSAW generates its own publication. Al-Raida is the first journal for women’s studies in the Arab world. First published in 1976, it tackles taboos such as homo-sexuality, sexuality, virgini-ty and abortion.The journal targets women in general, academics and university students. Its goal is to raise awareness about pertinent issues in the Arab world and break the barriers that prevent women from achieving their full po-tential.“Maybe Al-Raida wasn’t at-tacked for the topics because it’s in English. The language

He sat calmly in the LAU courtyard looking on with the vigorous smile of a pas-sionate artist. Communica-tion arts student Nader Der-naika’s genuine desire and obvious talent led him to act in four LAU plays to date. Dernaika enjoys the connec-tion he feels with the audi-ence in theater. “I really en-joy the interaction with the audience,” he said. “Every time I get a reaction out of them it gives me a rush and fuels me to go on.” Dernaika says that he was inspired by the movies From Dusk Till Dawn and Bram Stoker’s Dracula to perform the way he did in his first play. “I remember scaring my younger brother by chasing him around the house with

protected it,” Dabbous said. “It’s very progressive, but it’s not like you’re publish-ing something in a national publication. It’s an academ-ic journal.”The laws protecting women in Lebanon are meager and prejudiced. Lebanese wom-en are not allowed to pass on their nationality to their chil-dren. More flagrantly, a man who rapes a woman and then marries her is absolved of his crime. And only recently did honor crimes become forbid-den by law.“In the 1950s, women’s activ-ism was strong. They gained the right to inherit equally as men, and the right to vote,” Dabbous said. “Now, we go to demonstrations, but un-fortunately, Lebanon doesn’t change laws. The Parlia-ment doesn’t care about hu-man rights. They only think about political and sectarian issues.”“It is a disgrace,” she added.

fake vampire teeth,” Dernai-ka laughed.When he saw the play’s post-er, the young man imme-diately called the director, Hannah Rasekh. He used a deep baritone dark voice during the phone call. But though he always had the ability, Before his first audi-tion at LAU, Dernaika felt tense.“I was nervous at the begin-ning because i had never au-ditioned for a role before. She asked me to read a few lines and I delivered them enthu-siastically,” he said. “Hannah offered me the role a day later, which made me extremely happy since it was an opportunity to act onthe LAU stage for the first time.” Dernaika later played a character called Joe in the

play Cocaine. The character, who remains home during the whole play, is a broke co-caine addict. In his fourth acting perfor-mance at LAU, Dernaika portrayed an old man in the surreal production, Bed.Despite playing four differ-ent roles, Dernaika was able to separate the characters and focus on creating a dis-tinguished identity for each of them. “I completely forget or block out the character of a previ-ous role that I recently played and focus on giving life to an-other character to avoid re-peating the same actions and delivering a similar perfor-mance,” Dernaika said.“Creating a new charac-ter is challenging and inno-vating and the process en-

hances an actor’s creativity. Without proper assistance and guidance from the direc-tor though, that cannot be achieved,” Dernaika added.Since childhood, Dernaika showed a great interest in acting. He appeared in many high school plays and has en-joyed fooling his friends with practical jokes. “Everyone was so stressed, so I used that as an excuse to act something out,” Dernaika re-called faking illness ahead of final exams at his school. “I pretended I was dizzy and pretended to faint. I tried to make it as believable as pos-sible.”Dernaika had to keep a straight face as students gathered and teachers pan-icked. He was taken to local clinic. “While I was there, my

father showed up because the school called him and told him that I had fainted” he said. “Yeah, it got a bit out of hand.” Dernaika explained how he eventually chose communi-cation arts after having tak-en some business courses. “I was about to enroll in busi-ness and I did like 5 to 6 courses before changing my mind,” he said. “But I’m glad I took them because they made me decide to change my major.” “Acting’s my passion so I pre-fer to pursue that,” he said.But to avoid disappointing his parents, Dernaika hopes that he can land a regular of-fice job and and hopes to stay in touch with acting in his spare time by joining theater groups.

7

ARTS & CULTURETribuneMarch 26 , 2012

The smell of deep fried pota-to, sound of Pepsi bottles be-ing opened, and Unica choco-late bars remind Ehab Allam of his family. He’s a Lebanese child who lost his parents during the Lebanese Civil War. Allam is the main character in Charbel Kattan’s new nov-el, Suitcases of Memory.Although it is the author’s first, the Arabic fiction novel was nominated for the Ara-bic BOOKER Prize 2012. The novel takes you on a journey with a little Muslim orphan who lived in a mon-astery after his grandmoth-er died and his father disap-peared with the outbreak of the Civil War. Allam grew up as a talented, intelligent young man but he kept his skills hidden to have peace in a country with no peace. Fast forward to 2005, Allam is in a questto find his long-lost father who left him dur-ing the war and never came

back. As an airport security employee, he uses his skills, funds, contacts and resourc-es at the airport and at inves-tigative agencies in Europe to track the missing old man. Meanwhile, in the airport lost-and-found warehouse are forgotten suitcases that were never claimed by their owners. When Allam is transferred to customs department, he dis-covers these suitcases, called

“orphans.” As a child who lost his father in mysterious circumstances in the war, he decides to solve the puzzle of the five airport orphans. Within each bag lays a story and with each story the dra-ma of a family who suffered during the war. With the dis-covery of each bag’s owner, a mystery is broken and hearts come together.This is a must-read book for all of us who have had it enough with the tragedies of the Lebanese war and want to finally have a happy end-ing. Charbel Kattan was born in Maghdouche, South Leba-non, in 1970. He left to the Republic of South Africa in 1990 after the Lebanese Civil War end-ed to continue his higher edu-cation in informatics. Currently, Kattan lives and works in Johannesburg, clear of violence and retalia-tions.

rect expiry dates. Another side effect might be that people tend to get hooked on yogurt. Statistics say that several people get addicted to yogurt. One of these people is Farah Day-em, who said she became so used to it that she could not let go. “I became so used to it that I could not let go,” she articulated.But eating yogurt is better than taking pills, because we all know that eating and drinking natural things is more natural than consum-ing chemical things. Other ways in which you can sleep well include listening to classical music, reading a really long novel (like a hun-dred pages) or praying before you go to bed and asking God to extend a helping hand.

Note: This is a satirical piece is dedicated to a (very) scien-tific professor who does not care for the sources of statis-tics. Are you troubled by your con-stant lack of sleep? Do you stay awake even as you count hundreds of living and slain sheep? According to so many statistics, three-quarters of people around the world have your problem. The good news is that sci-entists from all around the world have found that, if you drink two, three or four cups of yogurt between 10 p.m. and midnight, and then wait for about 13 minutes and as much seconds, your eyelids would automatically shut against each other. The experiment has been

verified by so many scientific institutions – even the best research centers in the Unit-ed States. However, like ev-erything, this process has both advantages and disad-vantages. If the yogurt is expired, then you might get poisoned. Usu-ally, scientists say, an expiry date is written somewhere on the box of edible substances. But Zayed Wazni has his doubts. “I doubt it,” he ver-balized staggeringly. “I once bought yogurt which had no expiry date on it.There is no fear at all from now on, however, as em-ployees from the Ministry of Health have checked the ex-piry dates on all boxes of yo-gurt just yesterday, and have found that the yogurt in the market is branded with cor-

Satire: A (Very) Scientific ExperimentBy Zahi SahliLAU Tribune staff

Suitcases of Memory: A ReviewBy Farah Al SaatiLAU Tribune staff

Is there something that can eliminate the capability to download songs on the inter-net? Is there something that can send someone to jail for a simple reason such as shar-ing a song on the internet?Is there something that can weaken small companies try-ing to grow? Is there something that can destroy the internet’s free speech? The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement may.ACTA is a treaty signed by multiple nations in order to protect intellectual property rights, such as downloading songs and movies off the in-ternet using the famous peer-to-peer (known as P2P) sys-tem called torrents or simply downloading from websites. Lobbyists and lawyers worked hand-in-hand writ-ing this treaty behind closed doors for approximately five years or more, without the consumer’s knowledge. There to protect artists who could make more money, ACTA tries to prohibit indi-viduals who download their products instead of legally purchasing them. But reading the treaty in be-tween the lines, one can no-tice it’s there to limit the In-ternet as we know it. This treaty is there to serve the rich and the ones who al-ready have their businesses set; those who simply want to maximize their income al-though they already make a behemoth amount of money.It may hurt people like young aspiring artists who do mash-ups -or a compilation of songs that make up an in-dependent piece. The consequences of the trea-ty range from banning con-tent on the Internet to la-beling generic medicine as counterfeit drugs. Yes, this treaty does not sim-ply stop at the edge of the In-ternet; it also affects a large section of the media as well as the science and medicine

fields.Kader Arif, a member of the French EP, explains that “the problem with ACTA is that, by focusing on the fight against violation of intellec-tual property rights in gen-eral, it treats a generic drug just as a counterfeited drug.”Arif finds this obviously problematic. “This means the patent holder can stop the shipping of the drugs to a developing country, seize the cargo and even order the destruction of the drugs as a preventive measure,” he adds.In fact, generic medicines are not the fake version of a drug; they are “a generic version of a drug, produced either be-cause the patent on the orig-inal drug has expired, or be-cause a country has to put in place public health policies,” as indicated on wikipedia.org.Despite the fact that the ACTA treaty was signed by several governments such as those of the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Mo-rocco and New Zealand, this treaty has not been applied yet. There still is chance to re-ject it by the European Par-liament. If this treaty applies, aver-age users around the world will suffer severe negative ef-fects. It is not clear to what extent Lebanon can be affect-ed, but the eventual conse-quences may ultimately af-fect the country.

By Jawad ItaniSpecial to the LAU Tribune

Legal Threat to Internet

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8

MEDIA & SCIENCETribune March 26, 2012

Lebanese Universities Battle for “Likes”By Farah Al SaatiLAU Tribune staff

cording to Abdallah Absi, a computer science student at AUB and the founder of Rif-flex, says. In his opinion LAU beats AUB on Facebook. “LAU is known to be more caring and engag-ing,” he said.Studies found that online rep-utation affects universities greatly. In general, the more a university Facebook page has likes and the more active it is, the better its reputation among undergraduates. “At a time when reputation is more important than ever be-cause of higher student fees and greater global competi-tion, the ability to manage their [universities’] reputa-tions is increasingly falling out of their hands,” Harri-et Swain, a journalist for The Guardian, wrote.Before Facebook, Twitter and other Social Media channels, and smart phones, universi-ty-related news was broad-

LAU and the American Uni-versity of Beirut (AUB) ad-vertise their social media channels on their official websites. LAU adminis-trates five official Facebook pages, including: LAU alum-ni, LAU Libraries, LAU news and information, LAU Stu-dents and Tomorrow’s Lead-ers Scholarship Program. AUB, on the other hand, has only one official page –the American University of Bei-rut Official Page. LAU’s official page has gained 32,351 likes, which nearly amounts to 21,000 more fans than AUB’s official page, with 11,240 likes. Material posted on these pages falls under three main categories, including aca-demics, events and universi-ty-related news. Most of the likes on the two pages come from students and thus both pages should have much more likes ac-

cast on the official websites of the concerned institutions or was sent by email. The news often reached students quite late –especially when the lat-ter did not check the official website regularly.Today, Social Media pages have come to be universities’ prime choice for communica-tion with students.“The audience of universi-ties is a combination of a large student body of current students, a growing alum-ni community, collaborators from the public and private sector,” Ayman Itani, digi-tal media instructor and So-cial Media specialist, said. “These participants are com-municating more and more via various Social Media channels.”Unlike the wall of AUB’s Facebook page, LAU’s is open to all. Posts range from questions about exam dates or registration deadlines to

announcements about stu-dent plays and other com-mercial links. One can find job offers and restaurant ads –up to the promotion of a sal-sa dance class.Although LAU beats AUB on Facebook, the case is re-versed on Twitter. AUB’s official Twitter account, @AUB_Lebanon, has gathered over 5,000 followers –near-ly double the amount of LAU followers. “As one of the best univer-sities regionally, these uni-versities must have a higher social media outreach to ev-eryone,” Absi advised.Beirut Arab University (BAU) joined the Social Me-dia battle through its stu-dents’ effort. Undergradu-ates created several pages and groups to communicate and exchange information about BAU on Facebook. Neither an official page or a Twitter account was created

by the university so far. The fight for digital presence doesn’t end there. BAU was the first Lebanese univer-sity to launch a mobile app in the App Store on May 24, 2011. Seven months later, LAU created its own version of the digital platform. These apps keep students updat-ed with the news they might need about their universities like registrations dates, offi-cial holidays and course of-ferings. Universities’ Social Media presence is not only impor-tant for students; it is also helpful for alumni. Face-book keeps old classmates in touch. It assists alumni in finding jobs. “If universities want to take part in the discussion, they need to embrace Social Me-dia as part of its day-to-day communication and their long-term plans,” Itani ex-plained.

You May Not Know You Have Sleep ApneaBy Serge KorjianLAU Tribune contributor

Nothing beats a good night’s sleep. And the saying applies quite literally as sleep is ac-tually as vital for you to func-tion as food is. Still, sleep disorders are the most common and the most underdiagnosed disorders worldwide. Sleep not only affects your mood and your energy, but interestingly enough your blood pressure as well. Many recent studies have shown solid contribution of disorders like obstructive sleep apnea in increasing blood pressure. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), one of the most un-derestimated sleeping disor-ders, is a condition in which sufferers face repeated epi-sodes of cessation of breath-ing during sleep sometimes for a minute at a time. The process by which people

with OSA stop breathing is quite simple. While a person is asleep, the passageway of air to the lungs is blocked at the throat –the narrowest and most collapsible part of the airway. This phenomenon is most-ly seen in overweight peo-ple, because the extra weight creates adds pressure for the airway to overcome.Because loss of breath dur-ing sleep is not something that is pleasantly received by the body, the sympathet-ic nervous system is activat-ed causing arousal to restore normal breathing. This is the same system that is activated when you are ex-posed to fear or danger and that helps your body cope with difficult or stressful sit-uations. Consequently, these “arous-als” cause leaps in the blood

pressure and eventually lead to hypertension.What is remarkable about this disease is that people do not notice it at all. Instead, many individuals complain of excessive day-time sleepiness despite a seemingly comfortable sleep the night before. They also complain of heavy snoring.As OSA can often be over-looked, many people with hy-pertension, who cannot seem to get a good blood pressure with regular medications, are labeled as having “re-sistant hypertension.” The truth, however, is entirely different. The most common therapy for OSA is a strict weight loss program and a few months of “assisted ventilation” at night –a machine that helps the person breath while they’re asleep.

Imagine not knowing your son’s name or forgetting that fire hurts you or that wash-ing machines are designed to clean your clothes. This is what may happen if you are an advanced Alzheimer dis-ease (AD) patient. AD is a form of dementia characterized by the loss of brain function. A result of the loss of neurons and synaps-es in the cerebral cortex and certain subcortical regions, the disease affects behav-iour, thinking, and memory.There are two types of AD: early onset and late onset. The first appears before the age of 60. It is less common but deteriorates quickly. The latter is the most common. It occurs among elderly people, above the age of 60.Several features may in-crease one’s risk for hav-ing AD. These include high

blood pressure, a history of head trauma, gender, hered-ity, etc. However, the direct cause of Alzheimer’s is not yet clear. Research is ongo-ing to prove whether it is di-rectly genetic or not.As the disease progresses, symptoms become clearer and more severe. These include difficulty in mental functions, such as language, memo-ry, perception, cognition and emotional behaviour.Although there is no prov-en way to prevent AD, some practices may help if incor-porated into the daily rou-tine. These include a low-fat diet, the maintenance of low blood pressure, an in-crease in the intake of antiox-idants, a reduction in the in-take of linoleic acid found in margarine, butter, and dairy products, and an active men-tal and social life.

By Anita NasrallahLAU Tribune contributor

The Plight of Alzheimer

OPINION9Tribune

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

By Yasmine Sarhi LAU Tribune staff

March 26, 2012

One can look at domestic vi-olence from four axes: the physical, the psychological, the sexual, and the economic.All victims of domestic vio-lence as well as their families should be empowered. All those victims should break their silence, and de-victimize themselves. No woman, man, and child should live in fear and suf-ferring because they do not know where to go.Many domestic violence vic-tims do not know that there are agencies to contact.The key out of this ailment is education.I think education is the duty of the media. The media tends to concentrate on indi-vidual cases or events, and turn them into news piec-es, instead of looking at the

big picture. This strategy at-tracts more viewers and con-sequently more advertise-ments and material gain.Thus, it is clear why the me-dia picks a murder case over a slapped wife.Citizens in Lebanon always conceal domestic violence and abuse, because wom-en and their children were brought up with the fixed idea that a man has the right to beat his wife and children, and a mother has the right to beat her children. People have become desensitized to this issue.Mass media should cover in-cidents of domestic violence, and media staff should be in-volved with experts in the field.Media should play the role of bringing abused people and

law enforcement agencies to-gether on air in order to edu-cate the public. They should stress the fact that human beings should be respected and never be abusedMedia should inform parents that the best way to prevent physically assaultive behav-ior comes from role modeling within the family and that love does not include unfair or unjust control.Support the equity of be-havior between all family members and intimate part-ners regardless of age, gen-der, or sexual orientation. To achieve an equitable end is to ensure an equitable be-ginning. I might sound like a utopist, but I hope that one day all domestic violence shelters won’t be needed.

band’s infidelity.A child’s mind might not be able to absorb harmful war images shown in the media.A parent may not necessar-ily want to know that their “golden child” is not so “gold-en” after all, but in fact, a drug-addict, an alcoholic and a complete menace to society. People of different faiths might find it very difficult to accept that a certain charac-ter from a holy book was just a normal human being like any other.A politician’s supporters may not be able to handle the fact that he is, in fact, a very, very, dirty politician.Children might still like to believe that the tooth fairy exists and Santa Claus is still coming to town with gifts.Still, in many societies around the world today, I’ve seen people choose to be igno-rant of the truth when it was staring at them right in the face. Some of you know how this works: the over-protective

parents that coddle their children to the extreme. Not only do these coddled indi-viduals go out into the world projecting an image of exag-gerated superiority and look-ing like a complete maniac to the general public (Hitler, anyone?), others have to put up with this absurdity on a daily basis. How about news channels not airing certain war foot-ages on screen due to the ex-treme content of the materi-al? How did censorship help here? By protecting the view-ers from having to be subject-ed to such scenes of violence? They are not the ones actual-ly being tortured, feeling the pain, and suffering under the hands of murderous socio-paths.No, it’s the now-dead victims whose voices of pain were not heard due to censorship.When is censorship a neces-sary tool of protection?It never is.People need to know the truth in order to take the ap-

propriate action.Due to censorship in the me-dia, people have been blind-ed into supporting unethical and unlawful politicians, and have been manipulated into supporting capitalist associ-ations.We have been lured into be-lieving the “non-profit” claims of educational institu-tions and into becoming part of a consumerist culture that blindly spends its money try-ing to keep up with the “cur-rent trend” of the majority. Censorship has allowed the media to become god-like to many from the general pub-lic.To suppress the truth is to suppress genuine growth.Censorship has even been used as a tool to control those who have the potential to make positive and effective changes to the world.Journalists and reporters are constantly having their work removed from different me-dia outlets due to the “sensi-tive” or “problematic” nature

of its content.Many times, it’s this type of content that will help the public take the very much needed and justified action in order to help improve society on a more realistic level for the majority.The media is a watcher that tells the stories as it wants to. The media monitoring com-panies, like Ipsos-Stat, claim to state statistics and infor-mation as is.But the question here is: who watches the watchers?I say, be your own watcher.Be the director. Be the au-thor. Be the audience. Don’t let censorship hide the truth and stunt your growth. Hiding the truth creates ig-norance and ignorance is the reason we keep making the same mistakes.Censorship is why history re-peats itself.See the truth for what it real-ly is and take action.Let us not make the same mistakes our ancestors made.

Domestic Violence in the Media

Censorship: A Barrier to Progression or a Tool of Protection?

What is censorship? I could define it according to how it is stated in several dic-tionaries –and no doubt that it would take me weeks to go through the different defini-tions– but I’m not going to do that. I’ll try to summarize it for you in a way that makes the most sense (or at least, I’d like to think it does): Censor-ship is the active omission of material or information that may be considered harmful, immoral or unsuitable for a specific audience or the gen-eral public.Why do associations, people or organizations use censor-ship?Well, herein lies the rea-son as to whether they use it to protect their own image from being ruined or protect the people’s minds from fac-ing the ugly truth – and yes, the truth can be really ugly at times. After all, a loyal and devot-ed wife might not be able to deal with knowing of her hus-

By Samia Buhulaiyem LAU Tribune staff

lish with a Philipino accent. Some people just have kids as an accessory, a fashion state-ment or a prop if you will: A 2-year-old kid dressed in de-signer clothes, crawling on the floor with designer shoes.There are two options here, either don’t get children or adopt. Developing countries are ma-jor contributors to this phe-nomenon.When I see financially secure and educated couples too en-trenched in themselves to give a damn about their pro-tégés, I cringe. It is hard to solve this prob-lem; maybe we will reach a stage similar to that of Al-dous Huxley’s Brave New World where having parents would be a taboo because ev-erybody is a test tube baby.

After taking environmen-tal science at LAU, I learned that we humans are too greedy for one planet, we con-sume more than is bestowed on us. We need one earth and a half to sustain us, and the cherry to top it is that last year the global population reached 7 billion.Then I see these magazine-cookie-cutter wives all me-dia-perfect, with their hard working or non-existent hus-bands abroad, engaged in anything but taking care of the child. I am not targeting women only. The domestic worker or the nanny ends up looking af-ter the child. I am not racist but it as-tounds me sometimes when I hear these pure bred Leb-anese babies speaking Eng-

“Perfect” ParentsBy Omar El-Tani LAU Tribune staff

10

CONTINUEDTribune March 26, 2012

Continued from page 1

Easy A Courses Fortune-Telling at LAUContinued from page 1

Editors-in-Chief:Farah Al Saati, Natalia Elmani Iman Soufan, Zahi Sahli

Staff: Ranim Hadid, Carla Hazarian, Lyn Abu-Seraj, Layan Doueik, Omar El Tani, Zeina Shehayeb, Mohamed Al-Oray-bi, Mayya Al-Ogaily, Assaad Hawwa,Caroline Feghaly, Rouba Jaafar, Aseel Baidoun, Samia Buhulaiyem, Yasmine Sarhi, Francesco Laurenti

Adviser:Yasmine Dabbous

The Team

“Tarot is mainly playing cards with a pack of 78 with five suits,” Basma continued. “It is a way of revealing the truth about your life.”A psychology student, Khouloud Mardini, judges predictions’ validity by comparing her life events with the predictions of fortune-tellers. “Yes, like at new year’s eve, I become curious to know what the upcoming year is hiding for me,” Khouloud Mardini, a psychology student, said. “And if it happened to come true I’ll do the same thing next year.”George El-Khoury, a psychiatrist and addiction specialist, says that all humans –even those who claim to be fully rational beings– are somehow superstitious. El-Khoury em-phasizes superstition’s role in alleviating people’s anxiety over existential and daily challenges. “Fortune-telling and horoscopes are of the processes that rely on the as-sumption that the future is somehow already defined. By knowing it, our anxiety is sud-denly alleviated and replaced by certainty,” El-Khoury explained.“But those individuals that rely on it fail to notice is that by ‘knowing’ the future they have already changed it. They then behave in a way consistent with the prediction,” El-Khoury added.Both Islam and Christianity deny the validity of fortune-telling. Sheikh Riyad Has-san says that fortune-telling goes against the principles of Islam. He points to a Koran-ic verse which verifies his viewpoint: “And with Him are the keys of the unseen; none knows them except Him” [ 6:59]. “All fortune-tellers and astrologers lie even if their predictions are ratified,” Hassan said. “There is no way that celestial planets can determine our personality and affect our daily life.”Priest George Sawme shares the sheikh’s beliefs. Sawme said that fortune-telling is categorized as profanation and heresy, emphasizing that Christianity dictates that only God can know the happenings of the future.The Bible verifies Sawme’s words: “There shall not be found among you anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer…, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord…” [Deuteronomy 18:10-13].While some prophets had the ability to foretell events, Sawme said, their role was only to raise religious awareness. “God gave prophets like Samuel and David the power to enlighten people because peo-ple were not religiously mature at that time,” he elaborated. “Fortune-telling does not exist.” While obsessive interest in fortune-telling can intervene in people’s normal function-ing, having mild superstitions is not particularly harmful. “This could be temporary and a system of underlying psychological stress but can also have long term consequences,” El-Khoury said. “I like to believe in horoscopes even if others think they are myths,” Razan Mufleh, a communication arts student, said. “I like the idea of people having different horoscopes which give them certain characteristics.”

Dabbous added that she often advises students to use their free electives to form a specialization they could use later in their careers. According to the Tribune survey, the courses mentioned by students abound in various de-partments. LAU instructors were surprised to hear that their courses were among the ones designated by students. Afif Hachem, an LAU chef who teaches Food Preparation I and II and Baking Pastry and Chocolate said that he is very frustrated about the al-legations, since his courses are practical and do not indeed require hours of studying. “All they need is basic knowledge, creativity and passion for food,” he said.“This reputation was created because of the students’ excitement about hands on experience, in addition to the education,” Hachem added.Hachem said that the courses he gives teach students to observe strict reg-ulations. Young men, for example, have to shave their beards regularly and young women must abstain from using nail polish. Students must learn not to taste the food during the preparation process, have the uniform on, stop using cel phones, and so on.“A student who comes in late has to chop onions as a punishment,” he smiled. Music professors were unavailable for interview although Survey of West-ern Music and Survey of Middle Eastern Music are among of the students’ favored easy A courses, the survey confirmed.Mona Nabahani, an associate professor of education, explained that class assessment should be relevant to the learning outcomes of the course. It is more than just a simple performance.“This has become a trend in the education department,” she said.Nabahani said that, if the outcome is relevant to the output of the course, you can’t but give As. She refused the generalization that LAU professors easily give As but said that some students look for professors who are easier than others. “Some students shoot for the courses that don’t require much to pull their GPAs,” Nabahani said. She added that she doesn’t know any instructor with this kind of reputation here.Students however revealed that they do shoot for LAC electives “with easy A professors.” A student who took music as an art elective, admitted that he learned nothing in class. All he remembers, he said, is how the professor looks. “The professor didn’t take the course seriously and was irresponsible during the exam,” he said.A biology junior student who refused to give her name said that she doesn’t target easy A courses but rather easy A instructors. She added that she pre-fers to take courses that require analysis rather than memorization.“I didn’t learn anything,” she said about LAC electives. “They are not relat-ed to my field but I still have to take them.”The dean of business promised to find a solution to this problem and as-sured me that he will hopefully solve the problem within the coming few months. “There is a plan to restrict access to business courses to what liber-al arts students need,” El Fakhani said.He added that non-business students who are interested in business will have to choose courses within a specific list of general courses that will introduce them to the field. As the interview came to an end, El Fakhani thanked me for opening his eyes to this issue and followed me to the door. He then stopped to say he was on his way to the hospitality management chair to address this problem.

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lack of graduate assistants as the grading load is significant and the number of stu-dents per class is high,” Issa said. The problem leaves her with very little time to work on research. But putting this problem aside, Issa said she enjoys her time here. Hani Anouti is a new philosophy instructor at LAU. He did his B.A. and M.A. at LAU before he decided to return as a teacher this past summer.Anouti, who teaches Cultural Studies I and II and Introduction to Philosophy, is also concerned about the space problem.“I don’t mind the number of students in my classes, I just think the classes are too small, they should make them bigger,” he said. “I need more space in order for the stu-dents to feel comfortable and for myself to teach comfortably.” But despite this hurdle, Anouti is happy here. “I feel like I am part of the system at LAU,” he said.

New Teachers

Students & General Knowledge

Zeina Meskawi, an instructor of communication arts at LAU, believes that modern education’s challenge is to develop students’ critical think-ing skills and help them use their acquired knowledge in the practical world.“Education’s not about general knowledge only, but also about making associations,” Meskawi said. “It’s all about critical thinking –which what LAU is trying to promote.” While the shaping of a ‘new culture’ may be subject for debate, it is a fact that the culture of reading conventional texts is fading. “I certainly won’t read, especially in my free time,” an LAU student said.

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Animal Abuse: No ExcuseBy Francesco LaurenziLAU Tribune staff

At a disorganized animal shop on the main road of Bourj Hammoud, a dog takes small steps inside a cage that is too small for its size. Its alimentary, hygienic and physiological needs are ne-glected. At closing hours, a cardboard box, filled with dead animals, including turtles, fish, rab-bits and birds is carried out of the shop.A university student and reg-ular Bourj Hammoud visitor, Rabih, is not as shocked as I am by the scene. “Sometimes, you’ll see much worse,” he explains. “I’ve got-ten used to it, but I still get sad.”The Bourj Hammoud shop is not a unique case. Jason Miers, executive director of Animals Lebanon, says that most pet shops in the coun-try do not meet the minimum standards set by the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums.Animal abuse does not sole-ly involve physical abuse. It also means keeping a dog locked in a cage that’s too small for its size, neglect-ing its alimentary and phys-iological needs, poorly main-taining its level of dental and physical hygiene and not pro-viding its sleeping area with adequate conditions of clean-liness.“Because of the miserable conditions of animal shops, 95 percent should close down if they had to meet with basic standards,” explained Miers. “You just need to buy a per-mit, without any regulation or legislation, to open up a shop and start selling ani-mals to the public.”Animals Lebanon, an NGO founded in September 2008, has closed down three of the most abusive zoos in Leba-non to date and has placed over a hundred animals in sanctuaries around the world. It is working at the moment to close the remain-ing zoos.The organization has also es-tablished an adoption center

six months ago. It has now become home to many cats and dogs in need of care.Animal abuse in Lebanon ranges from extreme mis-treatment to less excessive, but still hurtful, behavior. Dogs have been dragged by cars, used as bait in dog fights, or burnt alive. In other cases, they have been over-chained, or just left alone without any hu-man contact or interaction with other dogs until they de-veloped obsessive behaviors, such as constantly licking their paws or compulsively engaging in back-and-forth movements.Scientific research shows that abusers are brain-washed during their child-hood to believe that animals have no feelings. They are usually people who enjoy watching a helpless be-ing suffer.Another NGO specialized in animal rights, PETA (Peo-ple for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), works to protect and help animals through legislation, educational cam-paigns, and rescue and shel-ter activities.Rima Barakat, who joined PETA in 2006 as a volun-teer, is happy to help one of the very few NGOs defending animal rights in a country including over 14,000 regis-tered organizations.“It’s very hard to explain to these people that when you poke an animal, he feels it and when you don’t feed him, he feels hunger, and when you don’t give him shelter in winter, he feels cold,” Bara-kat said.A major reason behind ani-mal mistreatment is the un-revised 70-year old law that dates back to 1943 –when the Lebanese pound had a much higher value. Animal welfare law 762 states that a person who mis-treats or oppresses a pet is sentenced to jail and fined a penalty of less than only 15 dollars.

Extensive research by Ani-mals Lebanon demonstrates that this law has not been used even once during the past 20 years.Bassam, a shop owner, be-lieves there is a lack of clar-ification and enforcement of the laws relating to animal rights.“I treat the animals I sell well without the need of a law and, even if there was one, you can be sure nobody would follow it without the proper enforce-ment,” Bassam said.Another reason relates to profit. According to Bassam, the equipment needed to main-tain a pet shop based on in-ternational standards re-quired for the animals at a shop are quite expensive.During November 2011, An-imals Lebanon drafted the first comprehensive legisla-tion for the protection and welfare of animals to the par-liament after a year and a half of work and revisions by over 20 international organi-zations.The 29-page-long draft pro-

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OFF CAMPUSTribuneMarch 26 , 2012

Zaitunay BayBy Natalia ElmaniLAU Tribune staff

Nestled between the yachts that encrust the port of Bei-rut and the relatively noise-less strip of the downtown corniche, Zaitunay Bay can be classified as a new hotspot for people of the greater Bei-rut area. Continuously expanding with restaurants, cafes and small shops, the new area is creating an ambience that is similar to the stylish prome-nades of the Cote d’Azur.The sea, the sun and children playing while their moth-ers chitchat around tea offer a refreshing outlet to people who want to escape the stress of the city.Zaitunay Bay offers a num-ber of palettes, a wide variety of places to sit down and grab a bite to eat or simply, people watch.Ramzi Traboulsi, the chair-man of L.E.T Entertainment, the company behind the orig-inal restaurants, St. Elmo’s Seaside Brasserie and Cro Magnon Steakhouse, has no-ticed a successful turnout to Beirut’s latest development and future growth. “We can’t fully judge today where it will lead,” Traboulsi explained. “But as far as I’m concerned, and from what I believe, it will be the hit for the next decade and will def-initely be a destination to attract all the Arabs, expats and tourists from all over the world.”Zaitunay Bay has made it possible not only to create a website of the continuously developing area, but also al-lowed its restaurant go-ers and by-passers to post pic-tures or comments about their experience around the bay or of the restaurants on Facebook and also tweet about different topics from their Twitter account.As the large heat lamps get tucked away, in preparation for the scorching summer season, Zaitunay Bay will continuously attain to the various customers who walk across its wooden dock.

Photo via Creative C

omm

ons

poses drastic changes in an-imals’ conditions, which would eventually cause some shops in Lebanon to close down.One of the laws states “en-suring the proper equipment for the provision of food, wa-ter and a sufficient stock for at least one week of clean food and water.” Another law points to “un-dertaking the appropriate measures to preserve the general hygiene of the prem-ises of the institution.”Despite the hindrances which are expected to face the legislative efforts, Miers says the organization will keep working toward clear legislation on the issue and strong awareness campaigns until the situation of animals in Lebanon improves.“It could take around two years to pass the votes,” Miers said. “But we will keep meeting regularly with the Lebanese Parliament and Ministry of Agriculture to ensure this legislation is en-acted and conduct strong awareness campaigns.”

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OFF CAMPUSTribune March 26, 2012

Beirut River Contaminated With Filth

After a long a day he sat down to eat his black olives in the same old rusty tin with a loaf of Arabic bread by his side, Bshara Amin, an old Lebanese fisherman who lives right be-tween Beirut’s riverbank and the sea, complained that the stench he wakes up to every-day is only worsening. “I think people have forgotten the beauty of nature and what God has blessed us with, or else the river wouldn’t look the way it does now,” he said.Having seen cement, tires and rotten garbage dumped into the Beirut River by trucks that belong to various sur-rounding factories, Amin still cannot hold one party respon-sible. “The factories bring all their garbage and dump it in the river and it flows into the sea,” he said. “It makes our journey for fresh fish more dif-ficult.” “But this doesn’t mean civil-ians are not throwing their trash in the river,” Amin con-tinued. “I have neighbors who contrib-ute to this disaster.”Beirut River runs from the east to the west of Lebanon. Its curve separates the capi-tal from its eastern suburbs –mainly Burj Hammoud and Sin El Fil. Known to be one the largest in Lebanon, the river stretches through a mixture of villages and areas. In the 1960’s, there was enough water in the Beirut River for boats to navigate it. But degeneration started with the Civil War in 1975 and has not stopped since. Currently, the water height varies between ankle- to knee-length –which ultimately makes some wonder if the riv-er is even a river at all.As I explored the “browner” parts of the Beirut River, I came across Maroun Hayek, a shop owner near Burj Ham-moud. He complained that, since he opened his shop in 1983, the state of the river has only deteriorated. “Thirty years and no prog-ress,” Hayek said. “The problem is in the areas that are not being monitored by the government. The gar-

By Ranim HadidLAU Tribune staff

bage accumulates from the mountains all the way to the sea.”In a remotely cleaner loca-tion such as Burj Hammoud, the municipality keeps a close watch.“All the shops that overlook the river have bars on their windows, to minimize the garbage that is thrown in,” Hayek said. “But this doesn’t stop the diseases and bacteria that we inhale everyday.”Citizens living or working near the Beirut River face ma-jor health risks because of the toxic fumes. “We take immu-nity medication to avoid get-ting sick because we are being

Photo of Nahr B

eirut Bridge around 1910

exposed to so much bacteria in the air,” Hayek explained.Ramzi El Hajj, a helper in one of the nearby stores knows how rivers are cleaned. “The gov-ernment is supposed to clean the river every year,” he said. “Here, it is only cleaned every three.”As an observer of the munici-pality’s cleaning operations, El Hajj has been able to analyze how the job is done. “They don’t even clean it properly, they take out the sand to sell and leave the dirt in the river,” he continued.The smell worsened as I moved further away from the sea and discovered families living on

the riverbank who struggle to find alternatives to dispose of their garbage. Mohammed Khodr has lived on the bank of Beirut Riv-er for 15 years and admits to be a contributor to the gar-bage disposal into the river. “For us people who live on the river, the only way to get rid of our trash is to burn it,” he said. “But some things can’t be burned.” Many who live around the riv-er are unaware of the conse-quences of their actions. “The smell now is pleasant compared to how bad it gets in the summer,” Khodr said. “We face a problem when the

garbage accumulates and are forced to throw stuff in the river to minimize the smell.”Most recently, the color of the Beirut River turned red.Saad Elias, media represen-tative to the minister of envi-ronment, explained that the change in color was caused by red dye dumped inside the sew-ers of Chevrolet in Sin El Fil. “The sample turned out not be harmful, it did not include nei-ther chromium 6 or cyanide –which are dangerous to the en-vironment,” he said. “As soon as the source of this spill is uncovered, the party re-sponsible will be tried in court because this is a crime against the environment,” Elias contin-ued. The long-term cause for the Bei-rut River according to the min-istry official is overpopulation; buildings are constructed closer to the river everyday. “More people are living closer to the river so more things are be-ing thrown into it,” Elias said.The ministry of environment in Lebanon was established in 1981 but has since been unable to enforce regulations. As of July 26, 2002, the government allowed the ministry to enforce environmental laws –the first being severe punishment to anyone who attempts to endan-ger the environment in Leba-non. But Elias complained that the ministry does not have the adequate resources to help the environment. “Because we do not have an ex-ecutive department, we can only do so much. It is difficult to implement the necessary plans of operation,” he said.As an advocate for the environ-ment the minister continues to spread awareness. “We are now focusing on schools and organi-zations, we hope to turn the Bei-rut River back to a green area,” Elias added.Amin finishes eating his olives and goes to wash his hands in the grey-colored river.“For us who live around the riv-er, it becomes a choice. We can’t survive if we don’t clean the riv-er,” he said. “In order to make things better, we must work to-gether. It starts with providing resources.”

Photo of Nahr B

eirut in 2012 by Ranim

Hadid