The Ink
February 2015
LOVE IS IN THE AIR
The Ink February 2015 Edition
The Ink
February 2015
LOVE IS IN THE AIR
EDITORIAL Hello readers! By now, everyone and their grandmother has heard the unending valentine’s day rants of all the bitter single people we are acquainted to. Given how old this “celebration of love” is you’d think that valentine’s day bashing would have stopped by now. So
long
as
people
remain
single
and
boyfriends and girlfriends stay fickle, there will
be
no
end
to
it.
Enough
about
valentine’s day, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of our loyal readers who
COVER
stuck with us even when you did not
Models: Alex Asiedu, Shironda Puplampu
approve of our cover photos. Seeing as I am
THE EDITORS
about to exit this wonderful institution, this
Joseph Nti, Mawuli Adjei, Kingsley Agyekum, Ewurabena Hagan, Adwoa Adobea Armah, Ahomka Mills Robertson, Susana Abraham, Odunsi Bowofoluwa, Eugene Akorli, Naa Adukwei Quarcoopome.
GRAPHIC DESIGN Micaiah Wiafe
PHOTOGRAPHY
Micaiah Wiafe, Nii Apa Abbey
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Asiedua Ama Akoto, Alfred Achiampong, Hector Amoah, Job Mwesigwa, Eugene Afranie, Brenda Mboya, Efia Serwa, Richard Odame, Erasmus Nana Kumtsiah, Agyemang Prempeh, Sesamu, Haq Inusah, Checkpoint, Brian Antonio, Ebenezer Gwumah. All rights reserved. Copyright © The Ink 2015
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will be my last editor’s message to you. Very soon, someone else will be burdened with the task of figuring out appropriate things to say to you and I will be eating cheetos in front of a very large television screen till national service starts. I have loved interacting with you, you challenged my vocabulary and writing skills. Please do well to follow us on twitter @InkMag and on instagram @TheInkMag. Get ready for an exciting new issue. Happy Reading!
Joseph Nti, Editor-In-Chief
CONTENT SPOTLIGHT PROMO
Adomaa Stoner’s Placebo
CAMPUS
Message From the Office Festival of Love #InkIsBae The “Beautiful Berekuso” Project
SPOTLIGHT
Akpene Charles Jackson My President is Cool
FASHION
Latifah Lamptey
PIECE FEATURE
Love and Other Drugs *untitled* New Page
STORY
The Talent of the Inkredibles Clash of the Titans
STORY FEATURE
Sesamu Life, Camera, Ation! Maame Dufie Cudjoe Congratulations Kajsa
CAMPUS SPORTS
Ashesi vs. Lancaster
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PROMO
soundcloud.com/adomaa-1/baafira-adonai-mashup-adomaa Page 04
CAMPUS
MESSAGE FROM THE OFFICE -Ewurabena Hagan ASC Vice President
It’s almost unbelievable, how much time goes by while we’re having fun. Academic demands keep piling on; but that won’t cramp our style. The first half of the semester has been amazing! You (the Students’ Council) have made 9 weeks feel like 9 days. We’ve had blissful memories during the first half of the semester. We had our very first Festival of Love, where everyone tapped into the season of love in one way or another. Rep your Hostel day was a blast with students representing their halls and hostels in style. Also, we saw the premieres of the unisex Basketball League and the Female Premier League with our ladies representing with 100% energy on the small poles court. The Debate Society kicking the butt on the national scene...the list could go on, but you get the point. It’s inspiring to note just how eager individuals, groups and clubs are ready to make things happen on campus irrespective of the constraints. Clubs have gotten very creative in how to engage everyone in their activities. To those of us who missed out on Art Factory’s dance tutorial and the Fashion and Design Club’s fundraiser… there are only so many memories you can make in college, get-to-stepping! On that note, let’s get ready to wrap up the semester as ASC week approaches. We’ve worked hard so far. Let’s get ready to play hard… Pamoja (together)!
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SPOTLIGHT SPOTLIGHT
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A
Akpene Sexy, elegant and with the right amount of sass and swag, Miss Sundiata is an exceptional individual who has the power to capture your attention whenever she passes by. Those long lean legs, that haircut and her amicable personality come together to make one fine heck of a lady. This month, we entreat you to get familiar with the one and only Akpene Sundiata Hoggar. by:Eugene Afranie & Joseph Amo Nti
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What is the one thing most people don’t know about you? Well, I have six siblings but most people think I am an only child or something. Earliest childhood memory? I always had male friends groing up. We used to climb a guava tree in my house and I would climb up to a certain height to prove I could also climb some. Oh and I grew up in the Volta Region. Was modelling and fashion something you always aspired to get involved with? I think it was an interest that became a hobby and now it is becoming more than that. I remember my best friend and I used to play music and just catwalk on my porch when we were growing up. Most challenging issue you faced as a model? Trying to combine it with school work. The distance from Ashesi to town is quite far and it drains me as well and takes a lot of my time. Tell us about the modelling faction of the Photography Club, New Africa? I approached Daniel about having a modelling portion of Photography club. After that, I was thinking about an event that would get people excited about the modelling aspect of the club. We developed the concept and I got people I knew and people who were willing to help us set it up. What does the future hold for New Africa? I think it has really impacted. Not like something we are going to do all the time but some of the designers we featured have started active design like Chloe and Jane. It gave them a platform to show that there are designers in Ashesi. What is your description of an ideal boyfriend? I don’t think I have an ideal boyfriend. I always tried to make one up in my head but it never materialized because all the guys I have dated are very different so whatever. I tend to like dark slim guys about my height.Oh, and character matters.
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SPOTLIGHT So are you in a relationship right now? Whatever you think is right (laughs) If you were given a chance, would you enter the Big Brother house? The fact that people get naked and people might watch me shower discourages me but I have always wanted to go. It’s a fun way of making money and they seem happy all day, every day. What do you spend most on? I would say food. It’s not like it’s a lot but I like variety. I love food but thank God it doesn’t show. What is the one thing you have to have on you? My ear studs. I don’t like taking them off. If I do, I keep touching my ears because I feel like they are not showing who I am. Are you happy ? I would say I am because all the things I wanted to do I have done them. I am living life so yeah I am happy.
Hot Seat If you could act with any celebrity who would it be? Angelina Jolie What is the Soundtrack to your life? Cheers – Rihanna I would say I am (happy)
Family or Friends Well my friends become family so family.
because all the things I wanted to do I have done them. I am living life so
What do you have no respect for? Let’s leave that a surprise.
yeah I am happy.
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FASHION SPOTLIGHT
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Photo Credit: Brian Antonio Photo Credit: Brian Antonio
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FASHION
INTERVIEW WITH FEMALE STAR IMAGE LATIFAH LAMPTEY What does style mean to you? Hmmmm style? To me style does not necessarily mean keeping up with fashion trends or wearing fancy clothes. It rather has to do with knowing what suits you, what you are comfortable with, and wearing the right clothes to the right places. If there is one fashion quote you live by what will it be? “Less is more” Do you have plans for a career in fashion? No, but I used to and my mum crushed my dreams of becoming a fashion designer, so currently I do not have any plans. How do you feel after you won the Ubora 2014 Female Star Image? I was so surprised and happy because that category was very competitive. I also want to take this platform to thank the student population for their votes and recognition. This however has taught me that dressing is the thing that always leaves an impression of people on others so you should always dress appropriate and look good irrespective of the situation. Favourite dress patterns?? Leopard skin, plain or strips Tell us one fashion tip you usually apply? This might sound so simple but people find it difficult to do. Always wear well pressed clothes, it makes a dress outstanding. Tell us one fashion don’t? I know I sometimes do it, but it is “do not wear dresses or clothes designed for the temperate in the tropics.” The weather should influence our dressing and the texture of clothes we wear. Also, never wear animal print from head to toe. Favourite clothing line? I don’t really have one, no matter who designs or makes the clothing if it is good and nice I will buy it. Page 12
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CHARLES JACKSON
by Mawuli Adjei & Adobea Armah
At some point in our lives in Ashesi, we have all had a taste of Mr. Charles Jackson either in Programming 1 or Quantitative Methods. He is the lively lecturer who is always up and about on campus, moving from one lecture to the other or simply chatting away about some random topic. With his open nature, it might surprise most that there is so much that we still don’t know about him. Well fret not, sit back and relax and enjoy the other side of Mr. Charles Jackson you did not know existed. Page 14
SPOTLIGHT Where and how did you meet your wife? We met in college. She lived down the hall from me in graduate school. That’s how we met each other. So your romance started in college or did it blossom after? Well it was a bit of a high school sweetheart romance. I think my wife wasn’t even sure if I liked her. We started talking seriously about courting only after graduation. And it was a long distance courtship, since we lived in different cities. We’d have to fly to see each other. It was pretty tough there, but we decided we were going to make a go of it. What exactly brought you to Ghana? Uhh....God! (laughs) Yeah. It’s a long story. That’s what I usually tell people. There were a lot of steps involved, it was not a decision that was taken lightly. I think I came to feel like this is where God wants me right now, and that I’m doing significant work and I’m helping my wife do significant work. It’s not easy, but it’s also very satisfying. What kind of music do you listen to? I listen to some classical music. I don’t listen to much music anymore. That’s one thing that I don’t get to do as much as I’d like. I listen to contemporary Christian music but I’m not a real huge fan of Ghanaian popular music and whatnot. I remember a time that I went to listen to some music with Frimpong, and that was interesting, but it’s not something that I listen to often. I guess a part of the reasons why I don't listen to much music anymore is that, to me, Ghana is a pretty loud place, so I don’t really want to add more sound to my life, I have enough of it (laughs). When did you have your first crush? Oh my, well I guess in 2nd grade, I had the biggest crush on my teacher. I don’t particularly recall having crushes on kids as a kid but I definitely remember thinking my teacher was very cute and I wanted to marry her. (Though I had no idea what that meant.) Has teaching been your only profession? Yeah, for this part of my career, not all of it, I was unemployed for almost Page 15
two years. I did a lot of thinking about “what is it that I am excited about”. I had a career consultant help me out. One of his questions was; "give me three things that you did that were fun, that you really enjoyed. The first thing I put down was going down to my kids’ school to read to them over the lunch hour because of my flexible schedule. Then he said “Aha! One of your skills is acting.” And I said “What?! A phD mechanical engineer acting?” He asked me if I read to my kids in a normal voice, or if I created voices for the different characters. It turned out that, I was engaging in acting and then we worked through the other skills I had were research and analysis. And we said what career fits those things and he said what about being a college professor? It was something I had thought about before and to have this consultant reaffirm that was a game changer. You know with Quant or Discrete Math, I’m passionate about them and hopefully, it’ll rub off on some people. But I still struggle sometimes with being a people person, but I’m working on that. You know, even Patrick is surprisingly introverted you know for the kind of job that he has. What kind of kid were you? I was a nerd. A wimp. I mean, I was very thin, not at all athletic and I can remember in Little League baseball, they put me at the bottom of the batting order because they knew that I was going to strike out every time. Sports was not something that I was good at or enjoyed. I was a scout. I was a pretty private and quite a non-social kid. I don’t think I was a particularly good student even, until about high school. I would say, my under-graduate years is kinda when I hit my stride. I was really motivated by the competition so I did really well. I think, that’s still always been a part of who I am, thinking about things, doing research, imagining things. Apart from your introvertedness, what other side of you does the public never see? I don’t know what to say on that one. I mean a thing that most people probably don’t know about me is that I ride a bicycle since I don’t do it around the campus. Not necessarily students, what about your colleague lecturers? Well I think most of them know that I’m here as a missionary. So that’s certainPage 16
SPOTLIGHT ly not a surprise or a secret. I think that might surprise students a little but I try to be circumspect about that, I mean this is not a religious institution and there are people of many faiths here. I think my faith informs why I’m here and I’m not going to leave it at the door as part of who I am. So in terms of Bible-wielding Evangelist, that’s not my personality temperament but my door is open and I’ll have conversations with you. I don’t want to evangelize in the sense of the other religions are bad, I want to evangelize in the sense of Jesus is important to me, I think he could be to you. During college, that’s when a lot people struggle with things of faith. This is a time when a lot of students are figuring that out. So it’s an interesting period in your life as a student so it’s kind of cool to be around a lot of people like you and potentially be an example for someone else.
I was a nerd. A wimp. I mean, I was very thin, not at all athletic and I can remember in Little League baseball, they put me at the bottom of the batting order
What’s your most memorable day as a lecturer in Ashesi? The one that was most impressive for me was the past semester in Programming 1. There were two teams that had chosen projects for the Samsung Internet school in Dago in the Eastern Region. Both teams decided to go there and I drove them there. One group impressed me when they spoke to the students that are using the Solar Internet School to see what they had to say about it. Some of those students were saying “Well, this is really nice but we’re here in Dago, Eastern Region and there’s no way any of us are going to be able to go to high school. So why should we even study?” The Ashesi students responded by saying “How dare you say that? Do you know how I got to Ashesi? Look at me, dream big, Don’t give up.” I was almost in tears by the end of that trip there, because I was seeing what Patrick talks about in transforming a continent, happening before my eyes.
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CAMPUS
FESTIVAL O
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OF LOVE
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PIECE
LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS by Haq Inusah
Me, I went to a boy’s school, learnt to speak pidgin, squashed off every visible bit of my “emo” side and fully subscribed to the superman image of a male. Standard boy thing. As patriarchy would have it, that is the light and the way to being a man. Thing is, we forget say superman be hard guy (origi steel even) but he make insecure pass. This month, in 2015, I’ve taken a closer look at the thing called love and the ironies it poses for all of us “hard guys”. I’ve never really noticed all the things I’ve observed this year before. In my unsolicited defense, if you went to a boys’ high school like me and your school went all red on Val’s day, then your straightness should very much be questioned right now. …Anyway, anyway… sticking to my point, Ashesi has been love crazed all month. I find it very amusing that there is actually a month that human beings remember how to love and then forget it all over again. Many things did happen this 14th and the days preceding it. Wallets got slimmer (note that I didn’t say purses), Mannies and Akornnor saw a little dip in visits and Indomie wrappers seemed to beat stereo foam packs to the line in the race of being the realest waste issue on campus. Ok, ok… Page 20
I’ll admit that I’m exaggerating the story a little and telling it in a very pessimistic way. Let me focus on teddy bears I saw and the waffles, and the pizzas and chocolate bars and the romantic trips that resulted from all this drastic saving. Teddy bears and chocolate bars are very cliché on the 14th but I did see a giant teddy bear that caught my attention. It wasn’t in the very least ordinary. Yesi yesi it was from a bearded buff friend of mine to his hipster girlfriendl. Then the waffle factory thought up another romantic idea. They (the waffle factory) gave the day before the 14th a new spin. They served million dollar waffles (they literally cost that much) in bed to some lucky valentines. For some, it was a pleasant surprise. To others it was no surprise at all. In truth, for some people it was a well expected and deserved reward for all the hard work they put into reminding people that they wanted Valentine’s Day gifts. All this while, reminders of “A Slice of Love” and a lot of other love related ads were pilling in my mail. If I wanted to “chop” love, why would I want a slice of it? Can’t I have a jumbo pack of love pizza to myself? But hey, you can’t blame the
PIECE pizza shack. They needed a catchy name and the cartoon of a hobbling child they peddled about had a slice of pizza in his mouth, so I guess it makes sense. But really, these guys were the biggest, baddest airs this February. Troski Journal was in there somewhere, in the mix. By design the event landed on Daniel Bonsu’s birthday. That meant more niceness from him and more access to his legendary camera. It was fun to watch. All of it. People just gobbling pizza and taking photos. For me the most beautiful thing about all of this was that a portion of the proceeds of the event went to charity. In my opinion, that is one of the few true displays of love I have seen all February. “A Slice of Love” was actually a collaborated initiative of the Troski Journal and Sa’am’s Pizza. I did see a bit of the iStand Above Club in there somewhere, but I’m not too sure what the relationship truly was. The last event I remember is the arts factory initiative of a love wall, or rather a love blackboard. So people simply wrote notes to their loved ones and posted them on the board at the amphitheater. It was quite a beautiful spectacle really, with colour and squiggles here and there. Very cute. Obviously I did not dare go close to the board when people were writing and posting notes. I didn’t even go to check if I got shown some love. That is probably because of two things… one, I’m a hard guy remember? (Man of steel papa paa). I don’t do rainbows and unicorns with the ladies. The other reason could be that I’m just scared. If poetic justice is worth anything then by virtue of the fact that I did not send any mentions, I would not receive any mentions. Whatever the reason truly was, my actions should help you, dear reader, grasp a sense of the fragileness of the masculine
ego. This month has been fun. It has had some crazy ideas. Some people even came up with a Love Calculator that told us the percentage of people in love in Ashesi. To them, I say… nice usage of the knowledge you gained from Research Methods…that is, in the event that you were actually telling any truthJ. All in all, I’ve seen love, pretenses of it and a different kind of it… for food. Personally I play the quiet border man pacing the arena and watching every detail of an ongoing show. I did watch this show go on. I hardly indulged and that is why I’m one of the best people to tell you all about it. There was love in the air, and other drugs as well. Drugs to cure the stress of our beautiful high tempo university. Sad that we will forget how to love openly after this month. Sad that the high tempo will drone us back to anxiety and sleeplessness all over again. Sad that the boys will get back to EA Sports FIFA and the Barclays Premiere League and coding and complaining, with soda at their sides and stereo foam packs at their feet. The men will march back to being emotionless robots this March. …much like the straight faced soldiers that will parade the independence grounds on 6th of March in unhappy march for a sick nation. All of us, back again to being sick… of lovelessness.
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STORY AD
Clash of The Titans It was a late Friday afternoon, the sun was preparing to disappear and as usual I could be spotted in my dirty, sweaty school uniform, the backwash of playing football all afternoon, walking with friends who always made sure I was not looking like a primitive being alone. There were five of us but one had a little sister. So that made five and half. We were famished as usual, but with barely our transportation fares on us, all we could do was pray we make it home alive. During this famine and dearth period, we barely held any conversations. We were all too busy having flashbacks of how much wiser we could have spent our days. I for one, would be busy recycling saliva asking God why he brought me to this earth to come and suffer. He didn't even ask me what I wanted to be. What if I wanted to be born a goat? But well, we dragged our feet on. It was all going well. It seemed like we were going to survive another Friday backlash until we reached "Happy Corner", an award winning beans joint. Before any of us could even realise it, and this is no hyperbole, we saw one of our homies dash into the beans store like The Road Runner with a jetpack on. It was the homie with the sister. He broke the bro code; he had money on him for food. The betrayal. But when we saw him open his hands and give the beans seller today's equivalent of fifteen pesewas and begging for plenty gari to be put in a separate bowl, we realised that was his fare he was sacrificing. This kind of hunger was obviously of the devil. We stood outside and watched on as he negotiated for extra beans and as we saw the woman handpick three beans and drop them on our brother's meal, our hearts broke. He proceeded to politely ask the beans seller to fetch water off the beans from the pot to add to his meal so that it might gain weight. He dared not look in the direction of the plantain. This, wasn't even the most depressing part. We watched him request for an extra spoon to be given to his little sister. Then, the reality dawned upon us. And Jesus wept. Within ten seconds, they had balanced the beans. The plate looked like it had just been delivered fresh from the factory. We were filled with awe and admiration at the wisdom of this earthly sage. He came out, holding his sister's hands, feeling very victorious. We could not help but take turns to encourage and tell him that the walk to his house was not that long. And then, we abandoned him.
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Sesamu
FEATURE
Sesa Mu means 'change' in the Ghanaian twi language. As the name already states, we are a team that looks at bringing change to farming communities across the nation by connecting farmers to resources that will help train them in efficient methods of farming, and entrepreneurial qualities with regards to marketing of their farm produce. Our goal is not to fish for the farmer but rather to teach the farmer how to fish for himself so he could make a more profitable outcome from the production and sale of his produce. Currently, we are working mainly with pineapple farmers within the Berekuso community. We oversee about 40 farmers and gradually bring them together into a farmers cooperative. The Sesa Mu organization in collaboration with Esoko Ghana Ltd has been able to register these 40 farmers to receive market prices for their produce, agricultural help tips, and weather updates via text messages to their mobile phones for all networks. This has been a great milestone achieved, as the farmers will now be able to negotiate better with market women from neighboring towns. Sesa Mu operates as a social enterprise with a business model that focuses on the principle of being richer in impact rather than in wealth. Our business arms are the Sesa Mu Pineapple Supply Group which has supplied over 100 pineapples thus far to Akornor Cafeteria alone and the Sesa Mu Smoothies Café which employs 6 students and has sold over 150 cups of pineapple smoothies since its establishment. The Pineapple Supply Group and Smoothies Café respectively have helped increase farmer incomes by 28.5% and makes a profit of 22.2% on each job supply and smoothie sale. The vision of Sesa Mu Farmers Initiative is to extend its tentacles across the country and Africa as a whole. To bring development to rural areas through the one thing they do best, farming! This is why we say……. Sesa Mu: Don’t just think pineapples, think change. Sesa Mu; the change starts with you! Page 23
PIECE
This poem doesn't have a title. Just a heart it has been sent out to. “I’m not outside looking in I’m not inside looking out I’m in the center And I’m looking around.” -Lamar
I was looking around At the faces in the crowd. Searching for my prize. Mesmerized, By your eyes. But then I saw you cry That’s when I died With my last breath cursing The callous heart that made you cry.
Those outside looked in at me Those inside looked out at me The crowd drew closer They began to sing, That I found your eyes, my prize, Yet I wasn’t much of a winner
Another tear rolled down your face And then you smiled. You were crying tears of joy Because you saw me too. But I am now dead. The third drop falls on my grave. It was way too late I could not be saved.
It’s true I’m gone And it’s for good. I am not going to return soon, They say my story ended so sadly, But my soaring soul begs to differ Because I died seeing you happy.
-Mawuli Adjei-
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WAFFLE FACTORY Give your taste buds a treat with hot and cold scrumptious goodness
This and every Wednesday, from 4:30-6pm at the lounge Page 25
ADVERT
ASHESI CAREER FAIR 2015
PARTNERS:
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SPONSORS GOLD SPONSORS: GENERAL ELECTRIC (GE) GE is the world’s leading technology and financial services company, with over $140 billion in annual revenue. In Ghana GE operates in the Power & Water, Oil &Gas and Healthcare businesses and has grown its operations by more than five-fold since 2010. In 2014, GE opened a new 200-capacity permanent office in Accra, with a total of 46 employees including over 12 Ashesi University Alumni. at the end of 2014, there had been a shipment of 400 Vscans, GE’s portable ultrasound device. As the global leader in Deepwater O&G equipment, GE is committed to local content delivery in the Oil and Gas space in Ghana and recently committed $3.5m to the partnership, and is working with Ashesi to develop a curriculum applicable to the Ghanaian Oil Industry through its Oil and Gas University initiative.leadership program needs and company culture. The culture of GE is about providing everyone with opportunities to exercise their responsibility, integrity, and creativity while growing themselves, their careers, and our business as such GE offers several training and leadership programs that cuts across many areas including IT, Finance or Engineering or Communications. FIDELITY BANK At Fidelity we believe the skills of our people are critical in maintaining and improving the success of the bank. We are therefore committed to seeing our people learn, develop and excel in their career. It's a key element of the way in which we keep our people and teams excited, stimulated and engaged. Because of this, we invest in new ways to unleash the potential of our people by leveraging on their strengths and giving them the right technical and professional training to help them perform to an exceptional level. ACCESS BANK Opportunities at Access Bank We are interested in young, energetic, result oriented, highly intelligent individuals who are passionate about Africa and willing to join a team of professionals in the transformation of our oraganisation into a world class financial institution. Your career journey with us starts with a 4months intensive training at the Banking school of Excellence giving you the opportunity to be trained with other best of the breed, thereby providing the platform for rewarding and professional banking careers. To apply for this role you must have at least second-class upper degree from a reputa-
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ble University. TOTAL PETROLEUM GHANA LIMITED Total Petroleum Ghana Limited (TPGL) is part of the global Total group, which is the fifth largest publicly traded integrated international Oil and Gas Company in the world with presence in over 100 countries. A major player in the Petroleum Industry, TPGL has been operating in Ghana for more than 50 years with a strong brand presence in all the ten regions in the country. FIRST ATLANTIC BANK First Atlantic Bank is a full-scale commercial bank with about 20 years experience in the Ghanaian market. Originally founded as a merchant bank, First Atlantic Bank has won several awards recognizing its leadership in customer care, trade finance and corporate banking. First Atlantic Bank offers four distinctive service categories: private banking, retail banking, commercial banking and corporate banking. Each category encompasses a range of innovative services designed to benefit our customers and delivered to our exacting levels of service excellence. GROUPE NDUOM Groupe Nduom is a broad based Multinational Business Group, a Business Group of African and American origin. Groupe Nduom’s diverse business ventures are united by a strong emphasis on effective corporate governance. Our businesses and social enterprises include entities in the Tourism, Investment Advisory and Management, Financial Services, Technology, Media, Management Consulting, Cross Border Trade and Sports industries. At Groupe Nduom we identify growth opportunities within rapidly expanding West African countries and plan to leverage that growth throughout the African Diaspora world-wide over the long term.
SILVER SPONSORS: GENKEY GenKey is an international biometrics technology company with its headquarters in the Netherlands and offices in Ghana (Accra) and the USA (Chicago). With a mission to address identity fraud, we deliver innovative biometric solutions for large-scale programs in Africa and other parts of the world, such as national elections, digital healthcare and ID manage-
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ADVERT ment. GenKey will participate in Ashesi University’s Career Fair this year. We will interact with students and discuss opportunities available in GenKey. MILLWARD BROWN We provide research-based consultancy to help marketers successfully manage their brands, optimize the return on their media and communications investments, and create value for their businesses. In short, WE HELP CLIENTS GROW GREAT BRANDS!
BRONZE SPONSORS: GROWTH MOSAIC Growth Mosaic aids socially and environmentally impactful businesses with the investment they need to expand their operations. We are looking for marketing-oriented, business-savvy Ashesi Business Administration and MIS graduates to join our team as Analysts to research impactful sectors in Ghana, identify investment opportunities with partners in our network, and recommend businesses we should accelerate towards raising capital to expand their businesses. VOTO MOBILE VOTO Mobile is a Ghana-based social enterprise with staff in Ghana, Canada, and the United States. Our team was formed based on years of experience supporting district governments and donor partners in addressing challenges related to information management, communication, and accountable governance.Our mission is to increase participation, transparency and accountability in the services delivered to citizens, and to empower communities to collect and share information to drive positive social change. We do this by connecting citizens and duty bearers through mobile technology for insightful two-way communication.
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CAMPUS
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FEATURE
LIFE, CAMERA, ACTION! IDDRIS: The black market for television series and movies is practically run by him, he’s like the main supplier in a drug cartel. Where he gets the stuff from, no one knows. But always refrain from asking when dealing with such merchandise. What we do know is that we would be lost and bored out of our skulls (not particularly in that order) without him. Kudos to you Iddris!
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SAMUEL: Known as our very own Slim, this big buddy has sure got more ‘soul’ than most of us. If parties were a pretzel, Mr Slim is that salty jog we all love, the one who gets the disco balls rolling and helps us forget assignments getting in the way of our groove. He sparks the party and add sun to stormy days. With the rather insane academic curriculum on this campus, we appreciate such a gem!
PATRICK: A true Patrick student t fellow stu recharge isolated h supplies Essentials sachet wa you’re ou aren’t w there are to get so remember your hat t
by Kingsley Agyekum,Hector Amoah and Agyeman-Prempeh
entrepreneur. was the first to recognize his udents’ need for cards on this hill. He currently Mannie’s and s with their ater. So whenever ut of credit but worried because various avenues ome on campus, r Patrick and tip to him.
SENANU: The mouse guy. Like a technopath, Senanu has a way with technology that just doesn’t come naturally to others but does he use his power over PCs to try and take over the world like that crazy chick in Sky High? No! He uses it to help those in need. From faulty software to defective hardware, if you have an IT problem, he is and has always been here to help.
AFRED: A modern day Picasso. He was an indispensable member of the team that designed the mural at the lounge, he’s responsible for the art on the amphitheatre board, he draws the cartoons in The Ink and he does most of the artwork for the ads you see on the TVs at Mannie’s and Akornor. Whichever one you remembered that made you go “woow!!” yes, he did that. He’s that good.
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ANDREW AND PHILIP: Dynamic Duo (clichĂŠ, but you get it.) They are prodigies who show proficiency in their musical fields, sharing and displaying their expertise on instruments from Ubora to Worship Night, they inspire us with their euphony. Their talents would be missed. Who takes their spotlight? I must say those are rather big shoes to fill. The Ink salutes you, our two muses.
OMAR: Omar infuses off-campus life. king of Columbiana par is responsible fo campus attracti you need to o event he is defi man.
This column is dedicated to giving every dog its day, figuratively. Not that w going to talk about dogs or anything, The only thing these 2015 students hav common with dogs is their loyalty. Their loyalty to excellence and Ashesi. These the people who work outside the spotlight to make Ashesi the closest thing utopia. On a scale of 1-10, they ought to be placed at 2015.
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life into . He is the memorable rties. Omar or all the off ions. When organize an finitely your
we’re ve in e are to a
FEATURE
HANIF: This is our ‘action’ man. He catches our unforgettable moments, that unforgettable smile, that terribly cheesy moment, that moment of surprise, all on camera. That is Hanif's speciality he graces as with. These moments captured by our dear friend would be a remembrancer of the Ashesi dream in years to come. We applaud you Hanif.
MOHAMMED: Well versed in Investment and finance, Mohammed heartily offers reliable academic help to anyone. This character is the ‘repersonification’ (if that is even a word ) of what his name stands for….he selflessly stays up all day helping friends with courses he has already done. Impressive bro! Keep up the good work.
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SPORTS
ASHESI vs L
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LANCASTER
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STORY
Kingsley was talking on the phone as usual. His talents were sought after by many, right now the person he was talking to was just thanking him. I could tell because she was screaming loud enough for me to hear every word clearly. “OH MY GOD THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! Everyone I went to said it couldn’t be done but all you did was say a few words, AND I WAS CURED!!!” She went on saying thank you for about 10 minutes, then she hung up. “Sorry, about that, you know how it is having these talents. They’re both a blessing and a curse.” He oozed positivity whenever he spoke. It was almost insulting to compare my talent to his. “ Are you ready to meet the rest of the team?” I nodded sheepishly and we set off for the main school building. We were in front of the school reception when we ran into Joseph and Ahomka. Joseph was editing something Ahomka had written. Seeing him in action was surprising, Kingsley had told me his talent was editing but I didn’t think too much into what that could mean until now. I saw the words moving around on the word document. I wasn’t the only one who was in awe of this, a girl passing by us on her way up the stairs was distracted for a second and ended up stumbling and falling. She cried out in pain, apparently she had injured something. Kingsley quickly rushed to her side, “Are you ok? No, scratch that, you are ok. Ok?” At his words, the expression of pain left her face; one that resembled enlightenment replaced it. “I’m okay. Thank you so much.” By the time the incident with the girl was over, Ahomka and Joseph were done. Ahomka turned his attention to me; he scrutinized me for a bit and then turned to Kingsley. “This is the guy you were talking about?” You would expect that question to be a bit condescending, but coupled with his perpetual smile, he had a tone that was enthusiastic. “Yes this is him, he’s really talented. I’ll leave him to you, Joseph.” Kingsley glanced at me, said “good luck”, then he left. Ahomka accompanied him, and I was left in the presence of the editor in chief, Joseph Nti. Page 38
by: Hector Amoah
“Let’s go”, Joseph set off up the stairs and I followed suit. “I’m a bit busy right now so I’m leaving your evaluation to Nii Apa. He’s very capable of judging talent but he won’t be too hard on you. The Ink encourages everyone who believes they have talent to write for us, but there has to be a screening process. With the way Kingsley spoke about you, I’m sure you’ll be fine”. He spoke at a fast pace and I almost didn’t get everything. We approached Lab 221 and saw Nii Apa talking to the girl who had tripped earlier. A worried look appeared on Joseph’s face, “I hope he hasn’t gone on for too long. His talent is dangerous.” I hadn’t heard anything about Nii Apa’s talent. All I knew was that it was automatically activated when he ranted. Joseph increased his walking speed and called out to Nii Apa, who then looked away from the girl. But after that happened, she seemed to get weak kneed, “Oh no! I’m too late” Joseph ran to the girl and just managed to catch her as she fainted. I stared at Nii Apa, who didn’t seem too bothered by the current situation, then I asked Joseph, “What’s Nii Apa’s talent?” Joseph let out a sigh, “If you listen to Nii Apa rant, he’ll ‘bost’ your brain”. He turned to Nii Apa, “You know you aren’t supposed to make verbal rants anymore, that’s why you have the column.” Nii Apa shrugged, “She asked me what my favourite kind of music was. I was just being thorough.” He stared at me for a while, and considering I was already semi-terrified by how talented he was, I felt a lot of pressure to say something smart so I opened my mouth ready to impress. Then he looked away, “This is the guy Kingsley was talking about right? I think I remember him from AIX but I could be wrong. “Yes he’s the one Kingsley was talking about.” Joseph shot Nii Apa a stare that said “what did I just say?” Then he let out another sigh, “This scene is all wrong, let me see whether I can edit it. This girl should be at the Health Centre receiving treat-
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STORY ment for what Nii Apa just did,” In that instant the girl’s body levitated and moved towards the Health Centre. It was at that moment I realized how out of my league the members of the Ink team were. They were so talented that they could impact the world around them, but the best I could do was write something and hope the few people who read it(did what?). I was just about to withdraw my bid to write for The Ink when Joseph asked me a question, “So what talent do you have?” The first thing that came to my mind was the first word out of my mouth, “Nothing!”, Nothing nearly as amazing as the talents I’d seen today, and this wasn’t even the full team. There was Micaiah, who was also an editor, but I’d heard that he dealt more in photography. My mind pictured him being able to take pictures with the snap of his fingers or something as awesome as the talents of the other members. “Well?” My train of thought was derailed by Nii Apa’s question. I began to show them what I could do. I closed my eyes, opened my mind, and I imagined. Imagined the most creative stories I’d ever thought about, and they saw them. They could see a projection of the little creativity I had in me, the one talent I could brag about, being able to broadcast my imagination for others to see. It seemed so insignificant compared to Joseph’s editing or Nii Apa’s brain bursting rants, but it was all I got. I opened my eyes when I was done. The expressions on their faces gave absolutely nothing away. I didn’t know whether they were impressed, content or disappointed. Both of them just stared at me for a while, then Nii Apa walked away, without uttering a single word, almost as if he had no interest in what was going on here. “Kingsley will tell you the details of your piece for the magazine.” With that, Joseph was on his way too, and I just stood there, slightly weak kneed, imagining what working with these people would be like, because that was all I could do for now. Imagine.
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PIECE
New Page by Calvin Ayivie
The feeling is just right
I'm way down on the ground but I still want to fight
I can feel blood in my nostrils Voices from the side ropes
Dark figures of stout men losing their bet
Jabs coming in so fast like JFK losing his head And all I could think about is you
Out of this mist of sweat, I could smell your cologne,
I'm down to your feet, my heart I pour
Might have lost a battle today but not the war.
Look baby.. You still the peoples champ, is your name they roar
Today you might be cornered in a cage
But tomorrow, same book but a new page Page 41
CAMPUS
THE “BEAUTIFUL BE
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EREKUSO” PROJECT
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FEATURE
MAAME DUF
By: Agyeman
Ashesi means beginning and for Maame Dufie Cudjoe, the end of her Ashesi journey really marked the beginning of her new Journey. For her, what mattered was helping to make even the most disadvantaged in society benefit from what knowledge and skills she had learnt. Basically, she had as a goal, giving back in the best possible way to a society that had nurtured her. She was ready to give back to her people. While at Ashesi, she had been through the many realistic cases presented as they studied. The challenges and needs of we, the people of Africa, became so real to her, but along with the learnt knowledge and exposure to these very real problems, came the requisite skills to make a difference and have real impact right from Ashesi. Her rather humble journey started in one of Ghana’s biggest private banks, an incubation period of her rather ‘renaissance’ ideas. Then she moved to work with Zain Communications Ghana, where she worked as the Corporate Social responsibility (CRS) coordinator, a platform fit for the birth of her incubated ideas. When the nest was warm enough, she was promoted to being CRS and corporate manager where her ideas hatched to the benefit of all in society, make Airtel a rather socially responsible company. One of the worthwhile ventures our dear lady has spearheaded and fully supported is the award winning community engagement project called, Page 44
FIE CUDJOE
ng Prempeh
Airtel Touching Lives, where people of rather humble means who work to the benefit of society are in turn rewarded for their work and given the resources for them to give even more to society, thus engendering a spirit of citizenship, one of the three pillars instilled by Ashesi. Her journey so far has been successful hence four awards have come to Airtel, only in 2014, as result of the hard work of her team in serving society. She is very optimistic about the future of projects such as these. Maame says that she gets great satisfaction not only for the recognition of their efforts to make Africa better but also due to the fact that that through their earnest efforts, businesses in Africa are inspired to take a similar path which could leave Africa transformed for good.
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FEATURE
The Ink Congratulates Kajsa Hallberg Adu
On the birth of her new child, Ellen Nana Adjoa Adu Page 46
PROMO
http://www.hulkshare.com/yao_carl/stoners-placebo-2
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SPOTLIGHT
MY PRESIDENT IS COOL by: Joseph Amo Nti
More often than most, you’ve read about him in magazines, seen his achievements on the internet and if you’re a student of his amazing college, heard people sing his praise. Patrick Awuah Jnr’s feats are awe-inspiring and ingenious, they are also things you know and have heard many times over. What you do not know about him lies right here in this interview where The Ink gets up close and personal with the founder and president of Ashesi University College. Where did you grow up? I grew up in Kumasi, Takoradi and Accra. So you moved around a lot? Well I was mostly in Accra but when I was an infant I was in Kumasi then Takoradi and then moved to Accra for class two and grew up in Accra after that. How many Ghanaian languages do you speak? Two. Fante and Twi. We know you have a brother, do you have other siblings? Yes, two sisters. Growing up, did you struggle academically? Um, yes in the very early days of primary school and lower six, I struggled. Was this in particular subjects? No it was just general, in lower six I was studying three subjects for the A levels and I did poorly in all of them especially mathematics. It was real wake up call for me. Did you ever feel like dropping out of school, perhaps college? No, it never occurred to me. So how was your college experience at Swarthmore? College was hard work and fun. I attended a party every weekend. IAfter college, I partied less. But I met my wife at a house-warming party. You used to teach kung-fu in Labone, do you have any other interesting talent or skill? Yes I taught Shotokan on campus. Now I teach my daughter and one other student at home. I also like to read and keep fit. How do you keep fit? Do you go for runs or work out at the gym? I work out at home; my workout routine is basically martial arts and yoga. What genre of music are you into? I really do not have one but I am not into loud and aggressive music like heavy metal and some hip hop songs. This doesn’t mean I do not listen to hip hop because some hip hop songs are
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good, I just don’t appreciate cacophony passed off as music. When was your first crush? My first crush was probably in high school but I think I had one in primary school as well, yes Achimota primary school but nothing came of it. (laughs) Do you watch football and do you have a favourite team you follow? In Ghana its Kotoko and that is just from my childhood, though I do not really follow the league here anymore. In the English premiere league its Chelsea and Arsenal; I like them for different reasons. I became a Chelsea supporter because of Michael Essien and I like Arsenal because of the coach. I like Arsene Wenger’s approach of finding young talent, he actually builds people up as footballers and I support that. Do you have any plans for retirement and succession? I do not have “plans” for retirement. It will eventually happen but I do not know when it will happen. I may step away from Ashesi and go do something else before I retire if I feel that there is something else that I should be focusing on in my personal or professional life; if I realize that I am no longer useful to the organization; or if the board thinks so too. You never know, life is full of unforeseen circumstances. What would be your dream vacation? My dream vacation would be to go somewhere beautiful and see different cultures. Just go to beautiful places and do a few things and basically relax. I don’t like to stress out about a vacation itinery. One time in Paris I spent the whole day walking around the city, riding the subway system and seeing places in an unplanned way. I walked so much that day that i wore holes in my socks. It was great! Paris is a beautiful city. Another time in Hawaii, I spent most of my vacation taking walks on the beach, sitting on a balcony facing the beach, reading, and sleeping. If you had the opportunity to break any law for one day with no consequences what would it be? Gee I don’t think there are any laws that I am dying to break but I can tell you one that I break on a regular basis: the speed limit. Give me a straight road and no traffic and I will step on it a little, in Ghana I think the fastest I go is 140km an hour; but I don’t always look. If there was a fire in your house, your wife and children are safe and you can only grab two items what would they be? My instinct would be to grab my passport, laptop and wallet not because of the money but because of all the cards. If I had to choose I would pick my passport and my wallet. I’m assuming that I’ll have clothes and my mobile phone.
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The Ink