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Outlook The American University of Beirut

Lebanese Red Cross breaks world record

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Vol. XLIII, No. 7

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ENA-AIR, The Middle East and North Africa Association for Institutional Research, held its second annual conference last Wednesday through Friday, November 3, 4 and 5. The conference dealt primarily with the issue of ‘Driving Change in Higher Education,’ focusing on such topics as the use of technology, strategic planning, assessment of learning outcomes, as well as foreign accreditation. The conference was held throughout West Hall and was able to

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he Abdul Hamid Hallab Regional External Program (REP) Service Excellence Award was recently handed to Dr. Ghazi Ghaith. Ghaith is a Professor and the Chairperson of the Education Department in AUB. This award is given to professionals who have contributed significantly to AUB’s REP. This is the second award of its type ever since be-

Campus News Arts & Culture One on One Spotlight Arabic Opinion

www.aub.edu.lb/outlook

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Zaki Nassif Music Program

Nisreen Homeidan Live at AUB Assembly Hall

host representatives from over 50 institutes for higher education in countries all over the MENA region.

AUB is proud to be the host of such distinguished guests as, Dr. Trudy W. Banta from the University of Indianapolis, Dr. James Fredericks Volkwein from Pennsylvania state University, and Dr. Mary Ann Coughlin from Springfield College, Massachusetts. All are leading authorities in their field and have been appreciated worldwide for their insight on issues pertaining to highcontinued on page 4

Dr. Ghaith Awarded the REP Abdul Hamid Hallab Service Excellence Award Mohamad Yaghi Contributing Writer

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| Tuesday, Nov 9, 2010 | The Independent Student Publication Since 1949

MENA-AIR Addresses Educational Change Dalia Hosn Contributing Writer

Focus on Business Student Society

ing first given to Ghazi Zaatari for his work with institutions wanting to develop their Medicine program.

The REP is a branch in AUB that assists educational institutions with consulting and various other needs, while reflecting AUB’s values. Ghaith is being awarded for his significant involvement in consulting for REP. The REP’s mission is to, “Establish AUB as the premier provider of consulting, traincontinued on page 4

Arabic News Entertainment Sports Editorial & Op. Out of the Box

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Nisreen Homeidan in Assembly Hall

Photo by Lotfi Al Salah

Lama T. Zakharia Contributing Writer

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rowds bustled through Assembly Hall on the night of the much anticipated concert in memory of the legendary composer Philemon Wehbe (1916-85) 25 years after his death. Wehbe composed a variety of songs for numerous prominent musical figures such as the, Milhem Barakat, Ragheb a’lama, and none other than the great Fairuz. It was up to Nisreen Homeidan to take on a mission of a lifetime: reviving Wehbe’s music.

As everyone was getting settled in, a short black and white video was projected showing Wehbe presenting amusing humorous poetry and music. Joint laughter was heard from the audience

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Insight Club Deconstructing Persuasive Visuals Insight Club

accompanied by faint traces of sorrow for the loss of such a large member of the Lebanese music community. Afterwards, Homeidan stepped in with an elegant black dress and a pleasant smile.

In spite of her youthful appearance, Homeidan amazed almost everyone (both young and old) with her powerful voice that goes far beyond her age. Each of the 16 songs was carefully chosen to suit both her vocal range and texture. Furthermore, she managed to effortlessly sing six Fairuz songs without attempting to overtake the legend in any way possible. Rather, Homeidan introduced an innovative complimentary touch to each of

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the venerable songs with extra care not to wash out any of their authentic elements.

As for the general atmosphere in the concert hall, it was far from the dull usual one a person might expect from a typical lengthy concert. Homeidan took us from the common Lebanese sheesha, nuts and perhaps arak atmosphere; with songs such as Webeh’s “Barhoum Hakini”, to the profound melancholic pieces; such as “Sulayma” originally sung by Zakiya Hamdan.

Not surprisingly, by the end of the night, the viewers transformed into singers and dancers. At this point, everyone had a chance to sing and clap to reminiscent songs.

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Campus News

Nov 9, 2010

Lebanese Red Cross Breaks World Record Lojine Kamel News Executive

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his month the Lebanese Red Cross, including AUB’s Red Cross Club, broke the Guinness Book World Record with the largest handprint painting the world has yet seen.

The previous record was accomplished July of this year, in Chen-Chung city, China with a 3,753 meters squared painting. The Youth Department of the Lebanese Red Cross, centralized in volunteering and community services and not to be confused with the actual paramedic branch of Red Cross, were the ones primarily involved in this initiative. Together with thousands of civilians all over Lebanon, the Youth Department beat this record by a huge amount, creating a 4,353.12 meters squared painting in under a day.

The Lebanese Red Cross divided the canvas into eight different pieces. Each piece was around 9 by 82 meters and was sent to a main region of Lebanon, spread geographically in the North, South, East, and West. The Beirut section was handled by

AUB, LAU, LU, and Spears, the main head quarters in Achrafieh. Over 60 AUB students participated, as well as around 60 children from local public schools. The project took about eight hours, starting at 8 am and carrying through until 4:30 pm.

According to some reports, over one thousand civilians showed up to help in Tripoli, with more than 8,600 people participating in total.

“Our main goal was to break a record that would emphasize unity,” stated AUB Red Cross President Malek Taffeha, “we wanted to stress that here we are all united under one banner, that of Lebanon.”

Red Cross had a recent design competition to create the blueprint that would be the focus of the painting. The winner was AUB graphic design student Layla Smaili, third year Red Cross member. The design was chosen for the canvas because it embodied the very essence of unity, showing several people of different colors all joining their hands together. Speak-

Photo by Tariq Buhilaigah

Red Cross huddle up for a team photo

ing of Smaili’s design, Taffeha remarked that is showed “Lebanon as a united country of peace, and we wanted to show this to the world refuting global misconceptions.”

It seemed that the volunteers and Red Cross members were very pleased with the outcome of the event, indeed, rightly so. AUB Red

Cross member Christine Basha spoke fondly of the event, stating “I liked it very much because we were doing something new and creative – something that could make a difference in the Lebanese community.” Civilians and Red Cross members worked alike, collaborating together while successful-

ly promoting their message of harmony throughout the event. “Everyone from AUB was extremely dedicated a fun to work with,” said Taffeha, “this was an amazing event, and I simply couldn’t be more proud to be a president of such an amazing club, whose members I can’t thank enough.”

Issam Fares Institute Hosts Discussion on Career Choices Samer Bu Jawdeh Staff Writer

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doctor. A lawyer. An engineer. These three careers are what many of our parents have, not only advised us to choose, but pushed us to register for.

Mohamed Younis, Senior Analyst at Gallup and Silatech Index-Arab Youth Polling team, has some shocking news for parents everywhere backed up with statistics to empower a student’s own free choice for any major. The discussion, organized by Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, took place on Thurs-

“...through civic engagement... one truly finds out his or her passion because one builds a connection with the world...” day, November 4 in Nicely 211, and was entitled “Inside the Views of Young Arabs: What the Silatech Index tells us about the future of the region.”

Before discussing the choice of major and career, the study shows how many countries within our region are suffering from brain drain as their intellectuals migrate to foreign countries in search of improved working and living opportunities. In fact, even those blessed with the opportunity to invest in their own

country and boost both its economical and social conditions prefer to invest elsewhere. Even if some entrepreneurs set up businesses in their own country, they still keep a government position which they give their first and last priority to , because the latter, unlike the former, grants them safety in an unstable state. Thus, the ability to develop and improve the country is quite infinitesimal, even impossible.

Another issue which is of great importance is that a

diploma is not adequate. It takes more than a diploma to be a doctor, an economist, even an artist. It turns out that without full devotion to your major or career, you can never fully succeed. This devotion is often acquired beyond the class and not within the academic realm. It is within the civil society and through civic engagement that one truly finds out his or her passion because one builds a connection with the world around them, enabling them to answer the

great questions: Who do I want to be? What kind of job do I want? All of this allows us to take the additional step that makes all the difference and pushes us to devote our skills, talents, time and knowledge for a cause we believe in. In short, the saying “follow your heart” remains a necessary path to accomplishment. So, keep in mind (and in the minds of your parents as well) that it is not the career we choose that qualifies us for success, but the passion that we pursue.

Outlook

Nov 9, 2010

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campus news The Quality of Higher Education in Lebanon

Lynn Itani Staff Writer

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conference concerning the quality of higher education in Lebanon and abroad was held on October 21 and 22 in Beirut.

It was a European initiative cosponsored by the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Montpellier (CIHEAM), QuaRES, the National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS), AUB, the Faculty of Agriculture of the Lebanese University and the College of Higher Education of Business. The conference included higher education institutions from Lebanon, Egypt, France and Switzerland, among others. AUB was a cosponsor for this conference while other participating Lebanese universities included USJ, LAU and the Lebanese University. AUB advocated the internalization of quality assurance programs in order to evaluate education in different universities. The conference provided a gateway for

the exchange of experiences and plans regarding quality assurance of higher education institutions.

As the number of universities is increasing not only locally, but regionally and internationally, there is a greater need to evaluate the quality of education in order to maintain good standards. Intensifying such efforts is in the interest of both universities and Ministries of Education. Provost Ahmad Dallal reflected on the conference, explaining the US and European models of such quality assurance. He described the evolution of the American quality assurance process as a “bottom-up approach” in which initiatives were primarily taken by institutions, while the government’s role was restricted.

The American quality assurance process is based on peer-review whereby communities of scholars evaluate each other; this means

that freedom of expression is embedded within the system. Moreover, it lends scholarly credibility to the assessment process. In contrast, the more recent European assessment initiatives are largely “top-down” and driven by governmental interventions aimed at setting standards for quality assurance in higher education. However, such governmental initiatives eventually required the expertise of scholars. He added that in Lebanon, with increasing institutional and governmental initiatives, these two models are converging.

Provost Dallal also stressed the importance of applying quality assurance in the context of the increasing competitiveness in higher education, in order to foster excellence, and to maintain AUB’s regional leadership.

He said that it is important to develop and sustain a cul-

ture of institutional self-assessment and evaluation. He added that AUB has gone a long way since it started exploring its quality assurance options a little over a decade ago. From the beginning, AUB benchmarked its quality assurance practices against those of peer institutions, and drew on the expertise of experts from American institutions. As a result of these efforts, AUB was granted institutional accreditation through the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, as well as professional accreditation for four programs in our six Faculties/ Schools (OSB, FEA, SON, and FHS). Last year, Dallal added, AUB took an additional step in institutionalizing the review of academic programs, by approving policies and procedures for the review of all of programs and departments at least once every six years. This means

constantly re-evaluating and reinventing programs to keep up with developments in their respective fields and to ensure that our programs are of the highest standards.

Such internalization of quality assurance is needed because international accrediting bodies do not exist for all disciplines. More generally, with the proliferation of universities in Lebanon and the region, quality assurance will distinguish solid educational institutions from mediocre ones. However, Dallal added, it is important to emphasize that quality assurance practices provide an opportunity for serious universities to collaborate and benefit from each other, an exercise which he hopes will extend beyond institutional assessment into joint research; after all, better research and high quality education go hand in hand.

Insight Club Hosts Lecture on “Deconstructing Persuasive Visuals” Heather Jaber News Executive

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n Tuesday, October 25, AUB’s Insight Club hosted a lecture entitled, “Deconstructing Persuasive Visuals,” given

by Assistant Professor Yasmine Dabbous in Auditorium B of West Hall. The aim of the lecture was to draw attention to various forms of visual advertisements, mainly ads and posters, which have underlying meaning and subtext.

Izzat El-Hajj, President of the Insight Club and fourth year Computer & Communications Engineering major, viewed the lecture as a way to highlight “examples of advertisements we see everyday and how these affect us.” The context of Dabbous’ presentation stressed the existence of symbolism in mod-

ern-day ads and, moreover, “how symbols acquire meaning...and how these meanings have social context.”

El-Hajj also stressed the importance of such lectures in today’s society. He states, “We are bombarded by image advertisements every day and they all target our subconscious.” For example, the popular brand of “Zest” soap has a bright yellow, lemon coloring, which leads the buyer to associate the brand with a sense of freshness. The coloring in ads viewed every day affect the subconscious of the audience, causing them to feel a certain way or to associate a feeling or trait with a particular brand.

Dabbous discussed “semiotics,” the concept that discusses abstract ideas, “signifiers,”

and the actual, substantial things they represent. The “sign,” or the word for the item, becomes a “signifier,” which is then associated with a “signified,” the end-product of the cycle and, most importantly, the creation of “social meaning.” Dabbous includ-

ed an example of this concept, showing that the color red has been used to signify an array of concepts, from politics to sexuality. Most importantly, she stressed that “ads do not sell you a product, they sell you what the product stands for.”

The topic fits in with the main goal of the Insight Club, which seeks to “promote balance.” The club wishes to “provide perspective on how we can appreciate all aspects of life,” says El-Hajj.

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campus news

Nov 9, 2010

MENA-AIR for Educational Change continued from page 1

er education.

Universities all around the globe have become more involved with one another as students transfer from one to the next, apply for summer programs, internships, and graduate studies. However, one of the biggest issues in the MENA region is the lack of homogeneity, as universities tend to follow multiple systems of education including American, French, British and local. Even though the diversity of learning modules is something to be commended, it cannot be denied that this creates many problems for administrators, educators, and students alike.

It makes interaction between the educational institutions very difficult, especially when they have to be incorporated into an international system.

Furthermore, MENA-AIR’s President-Elect, Gina Cinali states, “What’s driving it a lot is that universities across the globe are seeking some

sort of validation, accreditation, and certification that’s more general, that spans Europe and the States and across the world, and what the accreditors are looking for when they come here is: Are we fulfilling our mission as a university.” Therefore, no matter what the colleges may say and explain about the beauty of their campuses and the integrity and intelligence of their students, there is still very little statistical data that is made available and verifiable to international organizations and to the public as well. Ultimately, the main issue becomes the way in which Institutional Research, namely the gathering and analyzing of statistical data, can aid the universities in understanding and bettering their own systems.

Whether it’s students filling out surveys, teachers submitting evaluations, or administrators presenting statistical data, everyone in doing so, participates in gaining a bet-

Photo by Rami Diab

ter understanding of the educational system and our role in it. Therefore, the participants in the conference are people who believe in studying trends, being introspective and they know that only

then can we have a better education. Ultimately, we can only do that by being critical of ourselves. “But that introspection and self-criticism,” says Cinali, “is only valuable if it is anchored in cor-

rect, data gathering, analysis and presentation, turning data into useful information which is then acted on–that is what is meant by ‘Driving Change.’”

Chairperson Ghazi Ghaith Earns Award for Excellence continued from page 1

ing and related professional services in all areas of specialization offered by our six faculties, in the broader region between Europe and the South Asia.”

Ghaith was recognized for his outstanding contribution of over a decade to the REP with his various endeavors in Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Ghaith has assisted in creating a foundation year in various educational institutions that allow students not ready to meet the demand of a rigorous English curriculum an extra year. With Ghaith’s assistance, these institutions are now able to invite students who lack an English based education to familiarize themselves with an English education.

Along with this Ghaith has implemented various recruitment programs that have allowed these institutions to operate and hire a reliable faculty, workshops that have allowed for teachers to expand their knowledge on education and for other teachers to present their methods of teaching and English based curricula for these establishments. Ghaith is also responsible for creating intensive English education programs across North Africa and the whole of the Middle East. This program has allowed institutions to offer a better communication skill based English courses. Notable institutions that Ghaith has assisted in are the School of Education of Qatar Uni-

Right to Left: President Dorman, Dr. Ghaith and VP Diab

versity and the Prince Fahad Bin Sultan University.

This award is a highly prestigious awards and it highlights the achievements of

individuals and the AUB institution as a whole. Ghaith sees this award and position as a means of, “Reflecting AUB values such as hones-

Hassan Nasr (Office of Communications)

ty, tolerance and integrity.”

Ghaith hopes for all students in AUB to continue holding such values and continue preserving its legacy.

Nov 9 , 2010

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Weeklong Initiative on the Right for an Education Samer Bu Jawdeh Staff Writer

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ook out AUBites!

AUB’s Right to Education Week is progressing as we speak. What is the Right of Education Week?

Let’s start from the beginning. When Ayman Quader, 24 years old, received an academic scholarship to pursue his masters in Peace, Conflict, and Development Studies in Spain, he was only one step away from his dream to help his people overcome the “cruel condition they are passing through in the present time.” Unfortunately, Ayman’s dream was unable to tear apart the siege around Gaza. Ayman is just one of many students who are deprived their right to education. To ease the educational

hardships suffered by Palestinians, many elementary schools had to develop into universities to accommodate Palestinians with the ambition to learn. Birzeit University, one example, was founded in 1924. Since then, it “is guided by the principle of academic freedom and upholds independence of thought, freedom of discussion, and unimpeded circulation of idea,” which, in the eyes of the occupation, are enough to target the university.

Throughout the years, “24 students have been shot and killed in the wake of demonstrations that called for an end to occupation.” The university had to function underground and “many students

needed as long as 10 years to complete their four-year degree courses.” Such historical recounts triggered the university to initiate the Right to Education Campaign in 2006, with the belief that “education is both a human right in itself and an indispensable means of realizing other human rights.” The campaign’s intention is to spread global awareness concerning ongoing violations against the Palestinian’s educational rights. It aims to reach out to activists willing to support the fundamental rights of any human being. Thus, as it became an international activity, the Palestinian Cultural Club at AUB took the initiative to hold this week

and “not only focus on the details of the Israeli occupation that make academic achievement difficult, but also focus on more local problems Palestinians face, including discrimination in Lebanon.”

During Right to Education Week students will be “hearing more about how different institutions in Palestine and in Lebanon hold back Palestinian students from achieving the same levels of education as their non-Palestinian peers.” All of this, and more, will be addressed through lectures by Marcy Newman, former CAMES professor, and Mahmoud Zeidan, Human Rights Supervisor of Education for UNRWA. The lectures can be heard

on Tuesday and Wednesday at 6:30 in Auditorium C, and 7:30 in Auditorium A, respectively. Students will also have the chance to hear live testimonies concerning the “experiences of living and studying under occupation and the personal challenges faced as students either living under occupation or living in Lebanon without citizenship,” on Thursday, at 7:00 in Bathish. Finally, AUBites can gather on Friday, in Auditorium C, at noon to discuss what has been learned and what should be done to support the struggle for education. Now that Outlook brought you the news before it happened, get involved and be part of the event.

Aie Serve President Afif Tabsh Lectures on Time Management Aziza Khalil Contributing Writer

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hat is time management? Are we in control of our own time? Afif Tabsh, the president of Aie Serve, wanted to know the answers to those questions. Tabsh is an AUB graduate who majored in computer science and minored in business. During his time at AUB and currently as president of Aie Serve, Tabsh realized that the sole way to get the best out of life is to make sure that we are in control of our time, not the other way round.

On Friday, October 5 Tabsh gave a lecture on time management. He started off by asking the question “What is time management?” Every answer proposed came down to the same statement, “time management is making use of your time wisely.” Before we can have proper time management we need to know our own personal habits. Are we procrastinators, perpetually late, or perfectionists? Are we easily distracted? Or are

we one those “do-it-alls?” According to Tabsh once you’ve found out your own personal habit, we can now start experiencing the benefits of having proper time management. Such benefits include a boost in productivity, complete control of stress, and the accomplishment of all desirable goals coupled to a balanced lifestyle.

Having proper time management doesn’t come in one day; it takes time before our lives are properly organized. Tabsh explained the seven steps he uses to get his own time organized. Firstly, he sets goals, “to be able to achieve anything worthwhile, one should have a set target, like a sailing boat crossing the ocean going its destination.” Once we’ve set our goals, the second step is to make a plan to achieve our goals and objectives. This can be done by writing up a to-do list with clear-cut deadlines.

After we’ve constructed our to-do list, the third step from there on is to prioritize, plac-

ing the important and urgent projects before all else. Once that’s done then now can move on a step further to step four, which, in a nutshell, emphasizes the need for a neat work environment. When we’ve got our work spaces neat, we can then move on to step five: how to say no; saying no to certain tasks as no one can do everything. Step six is focus, focusing all our energy on the task at hand, paying no attention to anything else that may still need to be done. Finally, the last step, step seven, is to stay at a comfortable balance, to make sure we sprinkle some fun in to our work and schedule breaks during the day.

All in all, the lecture seemed to be an eye-opener for all those attending.

Tabsh thanked the audience for making it and closed with a few words on the value of time management saying, “it is not about counting the hour of your days, but about making every hour of the day count.”

Photo courtesy of Hanan Abou Dahesh, Aie Serve Secretary

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campus news

Nov 9, 2010

“Ta3a Ne7ke”

IBSAR Discusses Language and Social Networking Mohamad Medawar Webmaster Fouad Badaoui Staff Writer

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he AUB based environmental group IBSAR organized a discussion among professors and students regarding the influence of social networking in West Hall on Thursday October 28. With professors from a wide academic variety, the event’s aim was to grasp an understanding of the evolution of the Arabic language in a technological era. Dr. Jad Melki acted as moderator, and coined the term ‘natural language’ as being that which people use, rather than that which they ought to.

Associate professor of English Language Lina Choueiri discussed the Lebanese

youth’s habit of starting sentences in Arabic and ending them in English or French.

“Code witching,” she says, is a social marker. She explained that the younger generation is not being stimulated enough to focus on Arabic (she gave the example of translated soap operas), although the language has, according to her, adapted to the internet scene. Choueiri does not believe that Arabic is threatened online, but finds that a new form, “Arabessy,” has emerged to fit the need of Arabic internet users, even though language purists might not like it.

Behavioral Psychologist Dr. Nidal Najjar revealed that people use a repertoire of responses in usual conversations and that, as the environment evolves, these

responses change as well.

She then explained how the technological difference between two generations engendered the disappearance of old responses and the usage of previously unseen ones. She gave the example of the use of numbers in order to type Arabic in Roman characters without forgetting the extra letters of the Arabic alphabet.

Professor of Chemical Physics Mazen Al Ghoul explained that internet technology has radically changed the way research is conducted. Native language is the innate thought whereas natural language varies from time to time. He continued on to show that the definition of technology has changed throughout the years and that Arabic (as one of the top 10 languag-

es) has a strong online presence. If anything, technological terms are an addition to the spectrum of communication tools. Al Ghoul added that the Internet is accelerating communication and socialization. As an example, he revealed that he had met his wife online. He also addressed the progress technology offers to academia, reminding his colleagues in the audience how he used PowerPoint on campus long before it was trendy. Al Ghoul also encourages professors to encounter students online using Twitter and Facebook and noted that the iPad will revolutionize the way we see textbooks. He concluded that the advancement of technology in social mingling is an irreversible process and the only thing left to do is to

adapt.

Associate Professor of Health Promotion and Community Health Tamar Kabakian said that certain virtual relationships could be detrimental to one’s health. She gave the example of social networking turning into addictive behavior. She also emphasized that family structures and physical relationships are greatly weakened when a person sets virtual priorities instead of real ones. Finally, she explained that this new lifestyle could lead to neck and back pain, sedentary habits and smaller social circles in general.

The Q&A that followed saw the audience’s opinion on the speakers’ stances and their points of view concerning the Internet’s effect on academia and social life.

Saving Muslim Women: The Politics of Rights in Our Time Yasmine Saab Staff Writer

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he lecture given on Monday, October 25, entitled “Saving Muslim Women: The Politics of Rights in Our Time” drew AUB faculty and students to the College Hall Auditorium as speaker Dr. Lila Abu-Lughod discussed contemporary politics that single out ‘the Muslim woman’ as an international target for aid.

Dr. Abu-Lughod, the Carnegie Scholar for the years 2007-2009, is a renowned anthropologist currently teaching at Columbia University in New York. She has authored multiple texts dealing with the intersection of gender and religion which are also studied in (mainly Sociology-Anthropology) courses at AUB. She was also, interestingly, an exchange student at AUB in 1972.

Her lecture explored the ethics and politics of international relations with regards to the oppression of Muslim women as a cause taken up

“Do Muslim women really need saving?” worldwide. The adoption of the cause coincides with, and reinforces, a general stigmatization of the Muslim world, especially notable concerning the subject of honor killings that remain in occurrence in some regions of the Arab world.

An honor crime is generally understood to be when a woman is killed by a male relative for violating a sexual code and disrupting the family honor. It has been publicized by numerous media (how many of us have read the bestselling novels such as Burned Alive, Zahra, and Forbidden Love?) to trigger what Dr. Abu-Lughod calls a ‘global enterprise’ of politics to save the victims of these crimes.

While Abu-Lughod undoubtedly does not defend the happening, she does question the extent to which foreign nations have the right to defend those of another people.

Does it really make sense to protect the rights of a people with a completely different set of values from your own? And is it really a matter of ethics, or is it politics, that impels the ‘white men saving brown women from brown men?’ (Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak: 1988).

In 2001, the global female community rallied around the rights of oppressed Muslim women in Afghanistan, which incidentally coincided with the need for justification for the Afghanistan war.

Abu-Lughod identifies four problems with the approach towards this paradigm. Firstly, there is an inherent problem with the understanding of the subject, the ‘Muslim woman.’ An elusive term to begin with (is there only one type?), the ‘Muslim woman’ is not a victimized commodity, controlled and owned by her male counterparts throughout the Arab, or even Mus-

lim, world.

Secondly, she draws attention to the polarization of the image of the West as the place of liberalism, freedom and feminist modernity, and of the East as that of repression, female imprisonment and patriarchal tradition. She states, “honor cultures don’t have a monopoly on violence against women.”

Whereas violent, anti-female acts are viewed as an errant, deviant rarity in typically Western cultures, in the East, such acts are seen as reflective of the entire culture and ethnic community.

Thirdly, human rights reports which facilitate processes of government policies and enhance intervention are mistakenly considered scientific and objective. These assumed accurate portrayals “empower the West [and] encourage self-righteous commitment to change the backwards or dysfunctional

cultures.”

Fourthly, the lack of historicism and contextualization somewhat skews the view of honor killings. As she wrote in her September 2002 article, ‘Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?’ we must be sure to recognize that different cultures are “products of different histories, as expressions of different circumstances,” (American Anthropologist, Sept 2002, pg. 787).

The points that Dr. Abu-Lughod raises not only in her lecture but also in her works are clearly relevant to our community, being the targeted people of the above (and other, similar) mistaken understandings. To this end, we might ask ourselves how justified we are about the Western cultures, those of our other Arab neighbors, or even about each other, and realize that we judge because we falsely assume to know the facts.

Nov 9, 2010

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The 17th Francophone Book Fair “The Words of the Mediterranean”

Rayane Zahreddine Contributing Writer

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he 17th “Salon du Livre Francophone de Beyrouth” or Francophone Book Fair of Beirut took place from October 29 until November 7 in BIEL. The exhibition, created in 1992, by the Embassy of France in partnership with the Lebanese Syndicate of Importers of Books, has developed to be an annual literary event. It is now organized by the Lebanese Syndicate of Importers of Books in partnership with the French Cultural Mission in Lebanon. With more than 80,000 visitors in 2008, the Fair ranks third in the French book fairs around the world, after Paris and Montreal.

The Fair aims to share a novelty of books and events with an audience of readers of all ages and tastes, in order to develop their enjoyment of books and of reading, and also their music appreciation. In the morning, school buses from the francophone schools of Lebanon flock to

the fair, where the schoolchildren benefit from guided tours, are exposed to children authors who in turn visit the schools. In the afternoon the Fair is open to all audiences and stages many book related events in addition to music concerts and photo exhibitions. The Fair presents an occasion to meet with important and interesting authors in a friendly and intellectual atmosphere.

Each year, francophone publishers (Dar An-Nahar, International Publishers…) , bookstores (Librairie Antoine, Librairie Stéphan…), institutions (ALBA, Ministry of Culture…) and press (L’Orient le Jour, La Revue du Liban…)set up stands over a 3500sqm area in BIEL in order to display and sell books written in French or translated to French. Meetings, conferences, exhibitions and animations also take place during the exhibition, with authors present to discuss their works and

to sign them. This year, the Fair gathered more than 130 authors, 70 conferences and round tables, 11 bookstores, 11 publishers, 20 institutions and 10 news-stands, making the exposition a vivacious literary fest.

The exhibition’s theme this year is “Les Mots de la Mediterranée,” or Words of the Mediterranean, with most books and topics having a Mediterranean tone: a tribute to Albert Camus, conferences about the Arabian Nights and on Palestine, authors from Algeria and Egypt, and much more.

On the last day of the Fair, the winner of the Phoenix award was announced {Maybe we can put his/her name and book title in time before printing, since the result is Sunday evening}. The Phoenix award has been a tradition since 1996. It is the first French literary prize awarded in Lebanon for a French work written by a Lebanese author or for a work relating

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to Lebanon by a French author.

Judging from the great attendance to the exhibition and the interest of the read-

ers in the French books, the 17th Francophone Book Fair of Beirut was another success in the continuing tradition of remarkable exhibitions.

No Shave November Mohammad Yaghi Contributing Writer

N

ovember is famous for a variety of traditions and holidays such as Thanksgiving, Lebanese Independence Day, the failed Gunpowder Plot and the Armistice that ended World War I. However, few would associate the month of November to prostate and male cancer awareness. In light of this, men around the world have pledged either not to shave entirely or not to shave their moustache during the month of November to increase awareness of prostate and all forms of male cancers.

Currently, there are two sep-

arate campaigns that are taking place: “Movember” and “No Shave November.” “Movember” is a campaign that started in Australia and New Zealand and is based upon the Australian and New Zealander slang word for moustache, “Mo.” The objective of this campaign is to highlight all types of male cancers.

The campaign started in 1997 with seven friends vowing not to shave their moustache to highlight awareness, and eventually recruiting many people in Australia and New Zealand that joined their cause.

The “Movember” campaign has grown over the past years and is now a recognized health foundation that has offices in Australia, Ireland and the United States.

Although the “Movember” campaign is not as popular in mainland Europe, Africa and Asia,the Movember Foundation hopes to expand globally over the next few years. If interested please visit http:// us.movemberfoundation com/ for more information.

Globally, the more popular movement is “No Shave November.” The idea behind this campaign is to highlight

issues with prostate cancer because men around the world are susceptible to it.

Also, men consider communicating about their prostate as a taboo or private matter In addition misdiagnosis of the disease is frequent because of men ignoring signs and symptoms. The aim of this campaign is not to shave either facial or body hair during the whole month of November. The “No Shave November” campaign is more of an underground movement but is the more well known of the two.

Currently more than a doz-

en students around the AUB campus are volunteering in this campaign. Mazen Makkawi, a freshmen expressed, “It’s a good cause and I wouldn’t mind looking like Santa Claus in December.”

While Nader Hobollah, a student at the American Community School in Beirut said, “I wish more people joined this movement. Looking like neanderthals for a month wouldn’t be that bad and it would highlight a good cause.

Prostate cancer is a topic that should be talked about and not hidden in a drawer.”

8

Outlook

one on one

Nov 9, 2010

Focus on Business Student Society Timmy Malkoun Associate Editor

O

n Friday, October 29, at 11am an interview was conducted with Hassan El Rifai and Lilia El Habr, the President and Vice President (respectively) of the Business Student Society.

What is new about the Business Student Society this year?

Hassan: Well, most importantly, we started preparing for the society from last year and got an early start. This way, we were able to hold the first event only two weeks into the semester! In previous years, the society took time to form itself. Lilia and I were an important part of the BSS last year, and we’re very excited to start working and making improvements this year. For example, entrepreneurship had no competitions last year and nothing to encourage entrepreneurs to take their ideas and implement them. This is why we are working on an entrepreneurship competition.

What events have you held so far?

Lilia: To introduce members to the Business Student Society, we held a reception for all members who joined to explain about different committees which are: Marketing and Management, Social, Finance and Accounting and Entrepreneurship. Also, we had the Soap Football competition and it was the first time the university holds such an event. It required a lot of organization, and was successful, as every part of the team was able to add to the event and help out. Around 120 people attended.

H: With the Soap Football competition, we wanted to try and bring something new to AUB, and I believe we succeeded. It was a fun event that attracted many different people, be they teachers or students. We intend to keep up the creativity for the future and always try and find new things to do.

How many members are there this year, and what are their responsibilities?

H: We have 170 members and a big chunk joined committees that will start to meet at the beginning of November, and work directly with coordinators and OSB professors on projects.

What events are you planning this year?

L:We are planning many events. We have workshops, competitions, lectures by important speakers, and charitable dinners will be held soon. The biggest event of course is the BSS Gala Dinner.

H: Also, we are always welcome to new ideas for events from professors and students.

Anything else to add?

H: This year, we want to count more on the members, because the members are a good source to tap into and we want to incorporate them into the society more. We believe that the members can add value to the club. Also, the cabinet this year is very

Right to left: Hassan El Rifai and Lilia El Habr

strong and devoted to working and coming up with new ideas. The program at AUB focuses on academics, and has no real case projects that

expose you to competitions which are part of real life.

We think it’s important that we hold this kind of competitions.

Stay tuned for more interviews with clubs and societies coming soon!

Full Nursing Scholarship in Honor of Gladys Mouro Yumna Ghandour Staff Writer

O

n Tuesday, October 5, AUB’s new nursing scholarship was announced at a dinner hosted by Dr. Mohamed Sayegh, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, in the presence of The Board of Trustees. The scholarship was created as a legacy to Ms. Gladys Mouro, the current assistant hospital director at AUB Medical Center (AUBMC).

The scholarship is to be offered once a year to the nursing student of highest merit, covering their AUB tuition until graduation. Conse-

quently, it motivates students to further improve in their training and entices them to attain the highest levels of education. Indeed, for those particular reasons, the scholarship is in honor of Mouro; she has worked very hard over the years to improve the nursing school.

Since 1981, Mouro has significantly contributed to the AUBMC by working in nursing. Having graduated from AUB at the beginning of the civil war, she went on to get her masters degree in Pennsylvania. She returned to AUB as a faculty member upon feeling the need to improve health care in the re-

gion.

“At the time, people thought I was crazy because improvement was my dream. When everyone was giving up on the hospital, we insisted on working harder,” she says.

“During the war, with everything unstable, people think that things don’t happen, that they can’t happen. The thing is, they do happen.”

Ever since Mouro’s return, the nursing school has greatly augmented the quality of its education and application. However, Mouro insists to point out that this progress was not implemented solely by her, but was the result a team effort.

From the very beginning, Mouro has been aiming to create a sense of pride in the nursing department. With the nursing scholarship and the rigorous student activity, one can easily appreciate AUBMC’s distinguished standing today and hope it will maintain its status in future endeavours. As Mouro decides to leave her position, she also leaves behind encouraged AUBites.

“The legacy I have left behind will hopefully keep inspiring young nursing students to work towards having their achievements being acknowledged. We came out of the war with no standards,

but the standards we have achieved today are of the highest level in the world, that no other place has in the Middle East.”

The new scholarship proves to be a fantastic opportunity for students, challenging them to academically compete harder within the department. For the rigorous student who gets the scholarship every year, it is also a marvelous opportunity to continue walking the path that Mouro has paved and influence others by acquiring the highest nursing standards and applying them at AUBMC.

Nov 9, 2010

Outlook

one on one

9

Momentous Geographical Discovery Could Help Protect Lebanon’s Future Lojine Kamel News Executive

F

ew people are aware that Lebanon is party to a cyclic flow of earthquakes, occurring once every couple of hundred of years. This September, Dr. Ata Elias and his colleagues discovered a scientific breakthrough, a fault line running the length of Lebanon that could essentially predict the earthquake pattern of the country.

Elias has been teaching Geography at AUB for the past three years, and spends much of his time excavating and researching geographical findings. Elias, along with colleague Dr. Yann Klinger and AUB students Rami Farhat and Sami Sheikh Houssein, were all members of a geolog-

ical excavation September of this year. They spent nearly two weeks in Hermel, digging trenches and recording their observations.

Together they determined a part of a large fault that cuts Lebanon in two. A fault is an imaginary plane that separates two blocks of the earth’s surface, such that the blocks move in respect to each other. By mapping the speed and movements of the blocks geologists can effectively predict future movements, and thus, any potential earthquakes.

This discovery has extraordinary implications for Lebanon, for predicting a future earthquake allows for safety precautions to be imple-

mented. Buildings and public areas could be improved or renovated to account for potential hazards. “When you find such an object and when you study it, we can improve our living conditions, prepare buildings, and help the country with how to deal with catastrophes,” remarked Elias, “We are helping to improve overall welfare.”

However Elias lamented that the main interest of students in AUB who seek a bachelor’s in Geology is to work in oil companies. In fact, Geology is ranked among the highest salaries in the U.S, although it is too often undervalued in Lebanon. Speaking about the ambiguity concerning geology in Lebanon, Elias stated,

“Most people imagine that a geologist’s job is to just look at rocks for a living.”

Compared with Archaeologists, Geologists try to understand much more about nature in the past than civilizations. Archaeologists deal with their findings by attempting to reconstruct more information about the culture and sociology of the concerned period of time. Geologists try to understand how nature interacts with the environment, such that their overall view very often impacts how we understand and view the universe based off of historical findings. “It’s not just about man, we try to understand the universe as a whole,” remarked Elias. In

fact the etymology behind geology is that of geos, which is the study of planets and the universe. “Geologists need to understand the climate, biosphere, evolution and fossils, the physics of the earth, and laws the govern the world.”

This discovery will hopefully pave the way for several more in the future, and a new appreciation for geology as an occupation and as a science.”Working for an oil company improves your bank account, not the people at all.

They are two very different outcomes” remarked Elias, “I believe my work makes a difference in my life and others’.”

The Mechanics of Smoking Shisha Jackie Daoud Contributing Writer

A

ll of us are familiar with the concept of smoking shisha, a practice that is renowned in Southwest Asia and North Africa more than anywhere else in the world. It is becoming an increasingly widespread habit, yet we are not sufficiently informed about the repercussions of such a common custom. Aware of this essential gap in our knowledge, our very own professor of mechanical engineering Dr. Alan Shihadeh opened his own research lab in collaboration with AUB’s Arts and Sciences and Public Health departments, as well as AUBMC, specializing in the potential health consequences of smoking the narghile waterpipe, referred to today as the “Beirut method.”

In the past ten years, Shiha-

deh’s research has received various research grants, the most prominent of which was the NIH (National Institute of Health) grant of three and a half million dollars, divided between AUB and Virginia Commonwealth University, which studies the effects of narghile in collaboration with AUB. His approach on this issue involves closely studying the chemical and physical properties of mainstream and sidestream smoke from a molecular to a physiological level. In addition to this, the team looked into the second-hand smoke effects which involved developing new instruments.

Several instruments Shihadeh’s team developed include the “smoking topography machine,” a portable device attached to narghile which they

used to record the manner in which people smoke, such as number of puffs and intervals between each puff, by measuring the flow of smoke in the hose. They developed the “playback smoking machine,” which accurately replicates the given smoker’s puffing behavior and an “automatic control isokinetic sampling” device that attaches to the mouthpiece of the waterpipe and samples a small fraction of the smoke, generated by smokers in their natural environment. These instruments are not only currently being used

by AUB’s research team, but have also been implicated in collaborative research teams’ research, such as the Syrian center for Tobacco Studies and Virginia Commonwealth University.

Moreover, Shihadeh explores second-hand waterpipe smoke, which involves quantifying toxicants found in exhaled and sidestream smoke components, among which are carbon monoxide and nitric oxide. His interest here, lies in the characteristics of the emitted particle size distribution and its evolution over time, measured in near real-time. Shihadeh’s niche is more focused on developing methods and building evidence in order to increase awareness of the implications of smoking shisha the way we do. For example, his research team found that using leather instead of plastic hoses for the waterpipes was less detrimental because of the more porous nature of leather, which led to more absorption of carbon monox-

ide and air comprising the fraction of the smoke being inhaled.

Dr. Shihadeh hopes to alert consumers about succumbing to the harmful misconception that PREP’s (potentially reduced exposure products) such as the products that advertise fewer chemicals (e.g.

Marlboro lights) are less harmful, when in fact they are more damaging since people automatically smoke them in greater amounts and compensate by taking larger puffs. He hopes that his findings will alert policy makers and consumers in the future, thus setting the ground for more in-depth research and a greater awareness on behalf of the general population.

10

Outlook

Spotlight

Basketball tournament at Charles Hostler Student Center (CHSC)

“Drawing 111” students sketching across from the Charles Hostler Cafeteria

A cat sniffing a dead bat just across from Nicely Hall

Nov 9, 2010

Soccer tournament at the Green Field

Students lounge revved up and renovated by the a kind donation from the President’s Club

Nisreen Homeidan live in concert at the AUB Assembly Hall

‫‪11‬‬

‫‪Outlook‬‬

‫‪arabic Opinion‬‬

‫‪No v 9, 2010‬‬

‫محجبة‬ ‫مثلك‪،‬‬ ‫حبيبتي‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ِ‬

‫مرمي العلي‬ ‫مح ّررة‬

‫محجبة‬ ‫هل تستطيع فتاة‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫أن تتّخذ زميلاً في اجلامعة؟‬ ‫أن تتواصل معه‪ ،‬لغة وإشارة‬ ‫ونظراً‪ ،‬بال تك ّلف؟ هل لها أن‬ ‫تأخذه من ساعده وتقول له‬ ‫“ي ّلال! خ ّلينا منشي”؟ سألني‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫كل هذه األسئلة واقفا ً من وراء‬ ‫مكتب الدائرة العرب ّية‪ ،‬ساعة‬ ‫الظهر‪ .‬كان الوقت وقت غداء‪،‬‬ ‫وإسراء‪ -‬صديقة الدراسة‪-‬‬ ‫وأنا منأل املكان‪ .‬كنت جالسة‪،‬‬ ‫وإسراء خلفي‪ .‬هو‪ ،‬كما قلت‪،‬‬ ‫كان يقف قبالتنا‪ .‬إسراء لم‬ ‫تنتظر أحدا ً‪ .‬أجابته صاروخ ًيا‪:‬‬ ‫“إيه‪ ،‬طب ًعا‪...‬عادي”‪ .‬ونظرت‬ ‫إلي‪ .‬يريد‬ ‫إلي‪ .‬هو ً‬ ‫أيضا التفت ّ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫أن يسمع جوابا ً مغايرًا‪ .‬هذا‬ ‫ما فهمته إسراء وفهمته أنا‬ ‫وقصده هو من التفاتة واحدة‪.‬‬

‫كنت جائعة‪ ،‬وأشعر بالصداع‪.‬‬ ‫مباذا أجيب؟ وفي داخلي يقني‬ ‫الشاب‪ ،‬املغ ّلفة‬ ‫أ ّن أسئلة‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫بالصيغة العموم ّية الفاترة‪،‬‬ ‫شخص ّية‪ ،‬شخص ّية ج ًدا‪،‬‬ ‫تخصه هو حت ًما‪.‬‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫جمعت ّ‬ ‫كل التعابير‬ ‫حسنًا‪ّ ،‬‬ ‫الدبلوماسية احليادية الرمادية‬ ‫في رأسي‪ ،‬ووجدتني أقول له‪:‬‬ ‫سب”‪ .‬وحسبي بهذه‬ ‫“ح َ‬ ‫َ‬ ‫الكلمة أن تكفيه‪ ،‬وأن ينثني‬ ‫بأي تفصيل‬ ‫بها عن البوح ّ‬ ‫آخر‪ .‬لكنّه صمت حلظة‪ .‬وأعاد‬ ‫صياغة السؤال‪ .‬قال أنّه ال‬ ‫يعرفنا‪ .‬وأنّه ربمّ ا ال يجدر به‬ ‫كشف هكذا مسألة شخص ّية‬ ‫أمامنا‪ .‬لكنّه بُعيد ذلك قال‬ ‫الكثير‪ .‬الكثير‪ ،‬الذي ك ّله‬ ‫خصوص ّية‪ ،‬صارت اعترافاته‬ ‫املتع ّثرة باالرتباك والتشتّت‬ ‫جت ّر معها أجوبة تلقائ ّية من‬ ‫إسراء ومنّي‪ .‬هو يحكي‪ ،‬ونحن‬ ‫نطلق االنطباعات‪ ،‬في اجتاهات‬ ‫متباعدة ومتقاربة ومتصادمة‬ ‫ربمّ ا‪ .‬وهو يسمع‪ .‬يسكت‪ّ .‬‬ ‫يفكر‬ ‫ثم يحكي‪ .‬يزيد خبرًا‪،‬‬ ‫لبرهة‪ّ .‬‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫بخط زمني‬ ‫أو يسرد مشه ًدا‬ ‫متخ ّبط وعشوائي‪ .‬وما حكايته‬ ‫يحب‬ ‫شاب‬ ‫بالترتيب إلاّ حكاية‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫يحب وفي رأسه موروث‬ ‫أ ّول م ّرة‪ّ .‬‬ ‫ضخم عن ّ‬ ‫كل شيء‪ ،‬مخلوط‬ ‫فيه الديني بالشعبي بالتقليدي‬

‫محجبة أن ت ّتخذ زميلاً في‬ ‫هل تستطيع فتاة‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫اجلامعة؟‬

‫بالريفي وربمّ ا أكثر‪.‬‬ ‫هو بقاعي املنشأ‪ .‬هي من بيروت‪.‬‬ ‫هو نزل من البقاع إلى بيروت‬ ‫للدراسة‪ ،‬لكنّه ّ‬ ‫ظل يحمل من‬ ‫البقاع دون أن يدري‪ ،‬في احلقيبة‬ ‫أمه ّ‬ ‫كل أسبوع‪،‬‬ ‫التي ّ‬ ‫توضبها له ّ‬ ‫ما يجاوز ذكرى الهواء النظيف‬ ‫املهم‪،‬‬ ‫والشجر األخضر‪.‬‬ ‫جمعتهما الصدفة في مصعد‬ ‫البناية‪ .‬في بيروت‪ .‬قرب اجلامعة‪.‬‬ ‫ينس وجهها‪ .‬وصار بيتها‬ ‫ولم َ‬ ‫“مشتالً لزهور” كثيرة‪ ،‬صار‬ ‫يرسلها ك ّلما سنحت الفرصة‪.‬‬ ‫بعد فترة‪ ،‬هو انتقل إلى جامعة‬ ‫أخرى‪ .‬لكنّه ّ‬ ‫ظل وف ّيا ً لفتاة‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫يتذكرها أكثر‪.‬‬ ‫الزهور‪ .‬صار‬ ‫زارها في جامعتها م ّرة‪( .‬ومن‬ ‫هنا أصل سؤاله األ ّول)‪ .‬رآها‬ ‫مع زميل‪ ،‬ومع آخرين‪ .‬لكنّه لم‬ ‫يرَ غير الزميل‪ ،‬الذي كانت هي‬ ‫غير متك ّلفة أبدا ً في تواصلها‬ ‫معه‪ .‬سألها‪ :‬من هذا؟ قالت‪:‬‬ ‫“زميلي”‪ ،‬وربمّ ا قالت غير ذلك‪،‬‬ ‫أصمه‬ ‫لكنّه قال لي أ ّن غضبه‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫عن سماع اجلواب‪ .‬فسأل م ّرة‬ ‫أخرى‪ .‬هنا ضاق صدرها هي‪.‬‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫تعقب‪.‬‬ ‫“أخبرتك” قالت‪ ،‬ولم‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫اخلط‬ ‫لكن التوتّر صار على‬ ‫ّ‬

‫العالي‪ .‬لم ينم تلك الليلة‪،‬‬ ‫ولم يسمع منها شيئا ً منذ ذاك‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫بكل‬ ‫احلوار املشؤوم واملشحون‬ ‫ما هو سلبي‪.‬‬ ‫ملاذا اختار أن يحكي لنا حكايته‬ ‫معها ساعة الظهر في مم ّر‬ ‫دائرتنا الساكن؟ ألنّه وجدني‬ ‫وإسراء‪ ،‬كما حبيبته‪ ،‬نضع‬ ‫للمحجبات‬ ‫احلجاب‪ .‬في باله أ ّن‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫“كود سلوك” متطابق‪ .‬شريعة‬ ‫واحدة‪ .‬للعالقات واللقاءات‬ ‫واحلب‪ .‬فالظرف والتقدير‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫الفردي‬ ‫الشخصي‬ ‫والتفكير‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫واحلدود التي تختار ّ‬ ‫إما‬ ‫كل فتاة ّ‬ ‫وإما أن تتجاوزها‪،‬‬ ‫أن ترسمها ّ‬ ‫محجبة كانت أم لم تكن‪ّ ،‬‬ ‫كل‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ذلك يختصره هو‪ ،‬باحلجاب‪.‬‬ ‫ليس الدين هو ما يجمع الفتيات‬ ‫احملجبات في رأسه‪ .‬الشريعة‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫توحد‪ -‬نظر ّيا ً‪-‬‬ ‫الدينية‪ ،‬التي‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫كل األفراد حدودها‬ ‫سلوك‬ ‫معروفة‪ .‬والفرد ح ّر‪ .‬والدين‪،‬‬ ‫يسري على البنات‪ ،‬ويسري‬ ‫على البنني‪ .‬أنا لم أسأله ملاذا‬ ‫ال تعكس السؤال‪.‬أأستطيع‬ ‫للشاب “امللتزم”‬ ‫أن أسأله‪ ،‬هل‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫أن يتخذ فالنة صديقة؟ وما‬ ‫يصح‬ ‫حدود تواصله معها؟ ال‬ ‫ّ‬

‫ّ‬ ‫تذكرت‬ ‫السؤال‪ .‬لم أسأله‪.‬‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫صف الدكتورة كرما بيب ي ( ‪os‬‬ ‫‪ )ciology 201‬وفي رأسي‬ ‫ابتسمت‪ .‬ألنّني كنت أشعر‬ ‫بالغرابة عندما كانت د‪ .‬بيبي‬ ‫تتحدث عن احلجاب‪ -‬الظاهرة‪.‬‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫وتتبعه بانطباعات مسبقة‬ ‫قد تربطها عقول البعض به‪.‬‬ ‫كنت أعتقد أنّها تبالغ في ذلك‪.‬‬ ‫الشاب الفلسطيني‬ ‫لكن ذلك‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫األصيل عندما اختار حبيبته‬ ‫ظن أ ّن حجابها وحده يجعلها‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫مطابقة لصورتها في ذهنه‪.‬‬ ‫هو أيضا ً اختارها “الجئة”‬ ‫مثله‪ .‬فتناقل املأساة بني أهل‬ ‫املأساة ال تشبه روايتها ملن هو‬ ‫خارجها‪ .‬لن يروي لها حكاية‬ ‫فلسطني الطويلة‪ .‬تعرفها‪.‬‬ ‫لكن وسم‬ ‫وهذا أ ّول ما يجمع‪.‬‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫الفتاة بانتمائها الفلسطيني‬ ‫وبحجابها لن يكفي لنهاية‬ ‫شاب‬ ‫حب سعيدة مع‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫قصة ّ‬ ‫فلسطيني‪“ ،‬ملتزم ومحافظ”‪،‬‬ ‫صحيح؟ أعتقد أنّه سيوافقني‬ ‫بعد تفكير‪“ .‬قل لها أح ّب ِك”‪،‬‬ ‫قلت له‪ .‬قال‪“ :‬أل أل‬ ‫ببساطة ُ‬ ‫ما بتطلع مني”‪ .‬قد يكون ذلك‬ ‫حلاً للعقدة األولى‪.‬‬ ‫أقول له اآلن أيضا ً‪“ :‬قل لها‬ ‫أح ّب ِك”‪ ...‬وللسماء أن تفتح‬ ‫أبوابها!‬

‫ثقافة احلقيقة املطلقة‬

‫مصطفى فضل اهلل‬ ‫كاتب صحفي‬

‫يدعي الكثيرون بثقة عالية في‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫النفس‪ ،‬وإميان مفرط حيازتهم‬ ‫احلقيقة الكاملة‪ ،‬أو احلقيقة‬ ‫األكمل على أساس أن الكمال‬ ‫البشري مستحيل ضمن احلدود‬ ‫املا ّد ّية‪ .‬فك ّلنا عندما ننطلق في‬ ‫حواراتنا هنا وهناك فانطالقاتنا‬ ‫هي على أساس تلك احلقيقة‬ ‫ا ّلتي نعتقد أنّنا منلكها وأن‬ ‫األخرين يبتعدون عنها‪ .‬وهذه‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫الطريقة في احلوار ترسم‬ ‫نهايته قبل بدايته‪ ،‬فتص ّلب‬ ‫العقول على أساس حقيقة‬ ‫ندعيها‪ ،‬سيح ّول احلوار إلى جدل‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫عقيم أو إلى مشاكل تنمو مع‬ ‫منو احلوار بسبب تص ّلب املراكز‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫فكل‬ ‫وتصاعد احلرارة الكالمية‪،‬‬ ‫هدفه “الهداية و التنوير” لآلخر‬

‫الضال‪ ،‬فهو جاهل مسكني‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫أو جاحد متك ّبر أحمق‪ .‬نعم‪،‬‬ ‫الوسطية في واقعنا عمياء‪.‬‬ ‫ال مكان حلوار بدون أرضية ينطلق‬ ‫الطرفان فيها على أساس‬ ‫البحث عن احلقيقة بقلوب‬ ‫مفتوحة وعقول متسامحة‪،‬‬ ‫وفهم علمي لآلخر‪ .‬فمن أكبر‬ ‫املشاكل ا ّلتي تلحق إدعاء‬ ‫ملك ّية احلقيقة‪ ،‬هي إطالق‬ ‫األحكام على فكر األخرين من‬ ‫خالل قراءات لفكرهم بغير‬ ‫ألسنتهم ووضع الكالم في‬ ‫أفواههم‪ ،‬فال تستطيع أن‬ ‫تفهم ماركس أن تقرأ كتابا ً عن‬ ‫تسب هتلر قبل أن‬ ‫حياته‪ ،‬أو أن‬ ‫َّ‬ ‫تقرأ مذكراته(منشورة في‬ ‫كتاب بعنوان “كفاحي”)‪ ،‬أو‬

‫أن متتدح أحدا ً أو تكره األخر من‬ ‫دون أن تسمعهم أو تقرأهم‪.‬‬ ‫فثورة اإلمام اخلميني(ع) هي‬ ‫ثورة لإلسالم املتط ّرف عند‬ ‫بعض الغربيني‪ ،‬وهي ثورة‬ ‫متهيد للمهدي (عج) عند‬ ‫الكثير من أطياف املسلمني‬ ‫الشيعة‪ ،‬فال يؤخذ احلق بدون‬ ‫قراءة لتفاصيل احلدث هنا‬ ‫وهناك‪ .‬أحداث ‪ 11‬أيلول هي‬ ‫مجزرة بأيدي اإلرهابيني على‬ ‫حد قول اإلدارة األمريكية‪ ،‬وهي‬ ‫مجزرة سياس ّية بأيدي اإلدارة‬ ‫األمريكية على حد قول مايكل‬ ‫مور‪ .‬احلقيقة ليست بهذه‬ ‫البساطة‪ ،‬وليس هناك مكان‬ ‫لألبيض واألسود في هذا العالم‪،‬‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫فكل ما تراه رمادي‪ ،‬حتى يثبت‬

‫غيره‪ .‬علينا أن ال نس ّلم عقولنا‬ ‫ألحد‪ ،‬فلنبدأ بصفحات بيضاء‬ ‫ال حتمل احلساس ّية مقابل فكر‬ ‫األخرين‪ ،‬وتنفتح على تفكيرهم‬ ‫ليتأصل‬ ‫وتناقش ذلك التفكير‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫فك ُرنا‪ .‬فلنتق ّبل‪ ،‬إن إ ّدعينا‬ ‫احلقيقة املطلقة‪“ ،‬ضالل”‬ ‫غيرنا وننفتح على عقولهم‬ ‫قبل أن نكتب مراسيم التكفير‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫بحقهم‪.‬‬ ‫هل سألنا أنفسنا يوما ً سؤال‬ ‫احلقيقة؟ هل احلقيقة هي‬ ‫ما علمناه ممَّن ع ّلمنا‪ ،‬وهل‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫الطريقة ا ّلتي تع ّلمنا بها هي‬ ‫طريق الوصول إلى احلق الواضح؟‬ ‫مقدسة‪ ،‬وهي أمانة‬ ‫احلقيقة‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫في أعناقنا‪ ،‬فال تقتلوا احلقيقة‬ ‫باسمها‪ .‬واهلل أعلم‪.‬‬

‫إن احملبة متى إتسعت صعب التعبير عنها بالكالم‪ ،‬والذاكرة إذا كثرت أحمالها سارت تفتش عن األعماق‬ ‫الصامتة‪.‬‬ ‫رسام شاعر وكاتب (‪)1931-1883‬‬ ‫‪--‬جبران خليل جبران‬

‫‪12‬‬

‫‪Outlook‬‬

‫‪No v 9, 2010‬‬

‫‪arabic news‬‬

‫العشاء السنوي للنادي الثقافي اجلنوبي‬ ‫مصطفى فضل اهلل‬ ‫كاتب صحفي‬

‫أقام النادي الثقافي اجلنوبي‬ ‫عشاءه السنوي في مطعم‬ ‫الساحة التراثي يوم الثالثاء‬ ‫الواقع في ‪ 2‬تشرين الثاني‬ ‫‪ .2010‬تقترب الساعة من‬ ‫الثامنة والعشر دقائق والناس‬ ‫تراقب املق ّبالت منذ أربعني‬ ‫دقيقة‪ ،‬وذلك برغم بسمات‬ ‫حلظيا ً‬ ‫الهاربني‬ ‫الطالب‬ ‫من ضغوط الدراسة‪ .‬علي‬ ‫مقدم احلفل يعلن‬ ‫النابلسي‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫أ ّن مراسم احلفل الرسمية تبدأ‬ ‫عند الساعة الثامنة والنصف‪.‬‬ ‫البداية قرآنية بصوت األخ عبدو‬ ‫يتقدم الطالب فضل‬ ‫حمية‪ .‬ثم‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫حمادة ملقيا ً كلمة النادي‪،‬‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫مؤك ًدا خاللها على التزام‬ ‫الطالب بهذا اخلط ا ّلذي أهرقت‬ ‫الدماء في سبيله قائالً‪“ :‬ك ّلنا‬ ‫للوطن‪ ،‬ك ّلنا مقاومة‪ ،‬هي‬ ‫املقاومة ا ّلتي افتتح رسالتها‬ ‫اإلمام موسى الصدر‪ ،‬هي‬ ‫املقاومة التي تدافع عن العيش‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫كل مواطن‬ ‫املشترك‪ ،‬وعن‬ ‫في لبنان‪ ،‬ومبا أن مداد العلماء‬ ‫أفضل من دماء الشهداء‪ ،‬فنحن‬ ‫نؤكد أن ليس هناك فواصل‬

‫بني مقاعد الدراسة ومراكز‬ ‫اجلهاد‪ ،‬فكلها ساحات انتصار‬ ‫ومقاومة” وختم متمنّيا ً النصر‬ ‫في اإلنتخابات لفريق املعارضة‪.‬‬ ‫ثم بدأ عرض فيلم “حبر‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫الشهادة”‪ ،‬وهو فيلم موجز عن‬ ‫حياة شهيد اجلامعة األميركية‬ ‫في بيروت علي عبد العزيز صادق‪،‬‬ ‫ظهرت فيه صوره بعضها في‬ ‫مقدم الفيلم‬ ‫اجلامعة‪ ،‬وصوت‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫يتك ّلم “وردة هو الشهيد تنبت‬ ‫في الصخر وتكبر في اجللمود‪،‬‬ ‫قد تراه هنا أوهناك‪ ،‬هو في ّ‬ ‫كل‬ ‫مقعد من مقاعد اجلامعة‪ّ ،‬‬ ‫يؤكد‬ ‫حضوره عبر السنني”‪ .‬ثم تظهر‬ ‫نسخة من “‪”Drop Quiz‬‬ ‫نال عليها العالمة الكاملة في‬ ‫الكيمياء ‪ .205‬العالمة عشرة‬ ‫من عشرة‪ .‬اإلسم علي صادق‪،‬‬ ‫واآلن‪ ،‬الشهيد علي صادق‪.‬‬ ‫حتضر األطباق الرئيسية بني‬ ‫الـ “روستو” والدجاج‪ .‬تقول‬ ‫سيرين إ ّن املقبالت غير وافية‪،‬‬ ‫لكن الطعام أفضل من العام‬ ‫املاضي بشكل عام‪ ،‬علي أعجبه‬ ‫األكل مع ّلقا ً “احلمد اهلل”‪،‬‬ ‫نور مبتسمة تقول “شبعت‬ ‫وزيادة”‪ ،‬علي أثنى على احلفل‬ ‫مشيدا ً بذكر الشهداء‪.‬‬ ‫الساعة اآلن التاسعة‪ ،‬الدكتور‬ ‫حسني احلاج حسن يعتلي املنبر‬

‫يصحبه تصفيق احلضور‪ّ .‬‬ ‫أكد‬ ‫احلاج حسن في كلمته على أن‬ ‫ليس هناك مشكلة مع الغرب‬ ‫كثقافة وكحضارة وكشعب‪،‬‬ ‫فنحن ال نعتبر الشعب الغربي‬ ‫عدواً‪ ،‬ولكن املشكلة هي‬ ‫في السياسات التي حتاول أن‬ ‫تفرضها اإلدارة األميركية على‬ ‫املنطقة‪ ،‬ونحن ال نقبل أن نبادل‬ ‫التعدي إلاّ بالرفض واملقاومة‪.‬‬ ‫يقول احلاج حسن “يحاولون أن‬ ‫يص ّوروا أ ّن لإلسالم مشكلة‬ ‫عقائدية مع الغرب‪ ،‬نحن‬ ‫نرفض هذا ونسأل بغض النظر‬ ‫عن هذا التصوير‪ ،‬هل الدول‬ ‫الغربية صادقة في شعاراتها‬ ‫حول احلرية والعدالة مع هذا‬ ‫الفرض الثقافي والسياسي‬ ‫الذي متارسه على منطقتنا؟”‪.‬‬ ‫وأكمل احلاج حسن نقده‬ ‫للسياسة األميركية في هدم‬ ‫مساعي التهدئة ا ّلتي حتاول‬ ‫بعض األطراف العربية أن‬ ‫توصلها إلى ب ّر األمان‪ ،‬ثم سأل‬ ‫حول احلوادث األخيرة املتعلقة‬ ‫بالتحقيق الدولي “ملاذا تؤخذ‬ ‫بيانات جميع طالب اجلامعات؟‬ ‫أهذا حتقيق أم سجل أمني‬ ‫؟!”‪ .‬ووجه دعوة للبنانيني لنزع‬ ‫فتيل التدخّ ل األمريكي وإبعاد‬ ‫هذه األيدي األمريكية اخمل ّربة‬

‫الدكتور حسني احلاج حسن يلقي خطابه‬

‫عن املساعي احلثيثة إلحقاق‬ ‫التوازن في املنطقة‪ .‬وختم قائالً‬ ‫“زمن الهزمية لم يكن في يوم‬ ‫من األيام موجودا ً عند املقاومة‪،‬‬ ‫بل بدأ تاريخ الهزائم عند‬ ‫اإلسرائيليني وحلفائهم‪ ،‬وإن أي‬ ‫رهان على سقوط املقاومة في‬ ‫أي مكان من املنطقة العربية‬ ‫واإلسالمية هو رهان فاشل أل ّن‬ ‫املقاومة إرث األنبياء والشهداء‬ ‫والصاحلني” ثم متنّى النجاح‬ ‫الدراسي جلميع الطالب‪،‬‬ ‫وتبسم‬ ‫والنجاح في اإلنتخابات‬ ‫ّ‬

‫قائالً “مع حت ّيزي الكامل طبعا ً‬ ‫جلانب املعارضة”‪ ،‬وو ّدعه احلضور‬ ‫بتصفيق حاد‪.‬‬ ‫وأخيراً‪ ،‬كانت اخلامتة شعري ًة‬ ‫مقاوم ًة‪ ،‬مع الطالبة الزهراء‬ ‫ماجد وقصيدة بعنوان “أخبرني‬ ‫عن اجلراح” وأنهى احلفل الطالب‬ ‫علي بدران بقصيدة “مبروك‬ ‫عليك”‪ .‬وتخ ّلل األجواء الشعرية‬ ‫حضور أبو علي بشرواله اللبناني‬ ‫التراثي وشاربيه املفتولني مو ّزعا ً‬ ‫القهوة بالهيل على الطلبة‪.‬‬

‫مساكن اجلامعة تفتتح العام الدراسي بحفلة تنكرية‬ ‫ماري نخول‬ ‫مساهمة صحافية‬

‫تتميز اجلامعة األمريكية في‬ ‫بيروت مبساكن عديدة حتتضن‬ ‫فيها الطالب الذين تهافتوا إليها‬ ‫من مختلف املناطق اللبنانية‬ ‫والبالد العربية واألجنبية‪ .‬وال‬ ‫تقتصر هذه املساكن على إيواء‬ ‫الطالب وحسب‪ ،‬وامنا تعمد على‬ ‫شد االواصر بينهم؛ وذلك على‬ ‫إختالفجنسياتهموانتمائاتهم‬ ‫الدينية والسياسية‪ ،‬فتشكل‬ ‫بالتالي همزة الوصل بني‬ ‫ومجتمع‬ ‫مجتمع صغير ضيق‬ ‫ٍ‬ ‫كما‬ ‫كبير فتكشف أسراره‪.‬‬ ‫أنها تفتح لهم األبواب لبناء‬ ‫صداقات تدوم إلى األبد‪.‬‬ ‫وفي كل سنة‪ ،‬ولتحقيق هذا‬ ‫التقارب بني طالبها‪ ،‬تنظم‬ ‫مساكن اجلامعة حفالً إفتتاحيا ً‬ ‫مميزاً‪ ،‬يحييه سكانها‪ .‬وفي هذه‬ ‫السنة حتديداً‪ ،‬لبس احلفل‬ ‫رونقا ً خاصاً‪ ،‬إذ أنه تصادف مع‬ ‫عيد جميع القديسني‪ ،‬أو ما‬ ‫يعرف بعيد الـ”هالوين‪ .‬وعليه‪،‬‬ ‫مت إفتتاح مبنى الـ”ماري دودج‬

‫هال” املقابل ملسكني الفتيات‬ ‫“جويت” و”موريكس” خصيصا ً‬ ‫لهذا اإلحتفال‪ ،‬بعد أن جهز‬ ‫كمركز ترفيهي للمساكن‪.‬‬ ‫فعمدت الفتيات املشرفات على‬ ‫املسكنني ( جويت‪:‬كلوديا متى‪،‬‬ ‫ليليان احلداد‪ ،‬ديانا حشيشو‪،‬‬ ‫جسيكا األسمر وزينة فهد‪-‬‬ ‫موريكس‪ :‬ساره صبان‪ ،‬راوية‬ ‫حماده‪ ،‬ريتا سرفني‪ ،‬هبة علي‬ ‫و سيرينا الشوفي)‪ ،‬على تزين‬ ‫قاعة اإلحتفال مبا يتناسب مع‬ ‫العيد ‪.‬‬ ‫فتحت أبواب املسكن في متام‬ ‫الساعة الثامنة مسا ًء‪ ،‬وفتحت‬ ‫معها الفرصة أمام الشبان‪،‬‬ ‫ولساعة واحدة فقط‪ ،‬للصعود‬ ‫إلى غرف الفتيات و إكتشاف‬ ‫أسرارهن‪ .‬وعند حلول الساعة‬ ‫التاسعة مسا ًء‪ ،‬توجهت‬ ‫اجلماهير إلى قاعة اإلحتفال في‬ ‫ال‪”-‬ماري دودج هال” وبدأ احلفل‬ ‫التنكري‪ .‬ولهذه املناسبة أيضاً‪،‬‬ ‫تعددت احلضارات واألجيال في‬ ‫القاعة‪ ،‬حيث لبس احلضور أزياء‬

‫عديدة؛ فمنهن من إختارت أن‬ ‫تكون “امللكة ماري أنطوانيت”‪،‬‬ ‫ومنهم من أراد أن يركب بساط‬ ‫الزمان ليرى نفسه رجالً عجوزا ً!‬ ‫وهناك من أصبح ساحراً‪ ،‬أو‬ ‫مصاص دماء‪ .‬نعم‪ ،‬مزيج‬ ‫من الشخصيات التاريخية‬ ‫واألسطورية اجتمعت في هذه‬ ‫املناسبة في القاعة لتضيف‬ ‫على رونقها سحرا ً‪.‬‬ ‫على ايقاعات املوسيقى‬ ‫الصاخبة متايل احلضور وإندمج‬ ‫في أجواء العيد‪ .‬وفي سبيل‬ ‫إضافة شيء من التشويق في‬ ‫احلفل‪ ،‬اقيمت مسابقة أفضل‬ ‫ثوب تنكري فاز بها شاب بزي‬ ‫روماني‪ ،‬وشابة اعتمدت لباس‬ ‫الـ”افرو”‪ .‬فكانت اجلائزة تعبيرا ً‬ ‫عن مزيج بني العرقني األسود‬ ‫واألبيض ‪.‬‬ ‫وفي تعليق عن أصداء احلفل‪،‬‬ ‫أكدت الطالبة ليليان احلداد‪،‬‬ ‫وهي من أول املنظمني لهذه‬ ‫املناسبة “أن احلفل التنكري‬ ‫كان ناجحا ً جدا ً” واضافت‪”:‬‬

‫انها فرصة أمام البنات للتعارف‬ ‫على بعضهن والتقارب “‪.‬‬ ‫وفي متام الساعة الثانية عشرة‪،‬‬ ‫غادر اجلماهير ساحة اإلحتفال‪،‬‬ ‫بعد أن قضوا أمسي ًة جميلة‬ ‫و احتفلوا سويا ً بعيد جميع‬ ‫القديسني‪ٌ ،‬‬ ‫كل بأسلوبه اخلاص‪.‬‬ ‫في النهاية‪ ،‬لقد كانت احلفلة‬

‫التنكرية في “جويت” و”‬ ‫موريكس “ إفتتاحي ًة لهذا‬ ‫العام‪ ،‬إفتتاحية لسلسلة من‬ ‫النشاطات التي تعمد مساكن‬ ‫اجلامعة على تنظيمها بغية‬ ‫تعزيز الروابط اإلجتماعية بني‬ ‫طالبها‪ ،‬الذين يعتبرون تلك‬ ‫املساكن مبثابة منزلهم الثاني‪.‬‬

‫طالب اجلامعة األميركانية يرقصون رقصة الدبكة معا ً‬

Nov 9 , 2010

13

Outlook

entertainment

Book Review Mothers, grandmothers, daughters and sisters, the women in Nada Awar Jarrar’s “Somewhere, Home” magnificently succeed in drawing readers, both male and female, into their world, which appeals to Lebanon and the world. Theirs is a realm of memory, loss, exile and war colored by transitory moments of happiness and a desperate longing to belong.

Characterized by a rare lyricism, complexity and profundity seldom found in postwar narratives, Jarrar’s book remains a distinctive voice among other Lebanese post-

“Somewhere, Home” The Civil War’s Other Voices

war works.

First published in 2003, Jarrar’s “Somewhere, Home” was well-received by critics and readers alike, and a year after its publication, in 2004, it won the Commonwealth Best First Book award for Southeast Asia and the South Pacific. Much of the novel’s success can be attributed to its compact, yet intricate, structure and style which successfully merge time and space to echo the book’s main concerns—memory and home.

“Somewhere, Home” is divided into three novellas, each of which centers on one her-

oine’s attempt to reconcile with her present, with her past and ultimately with herself. In the first part, Maysa escapes a war-torn Beirut to the Lebanese mountain to give birth to her daughter in her ancestors’ home. The visit to the house metamorphoses into a return to her own roots as she starts to reflect on the lives of her grandmother, aunt and mother.

The brutality of the Civil War forces Aida, the protagonist of the second novella, into exile. Away from Beirut, away from home, Aida remains in touch with her childhood

though the figure of Amou Mohammad, a Palestinian refugee her sisters and she had known during their prewar youth. The last novella relates the memories of a now-infirm Salwa from the Australian hospital where she is being taken care of.

“Tomorrow I will pack my bags and hope to run away again and find you in that place where my soul’s secrets remain, somewhere from which there is no further to go, somewhere home,” reads the last sentence of Aida’s story, thus summarizing the three women’s desperate

Maya Sfeir need to belong and fit in.

While the majority of Lebanese post-war narratives angrily depict the war’s brutality and inhumanity, Jarrar’s work distinguishes itself by voicing the silence of the women who did not fight. While most Lebanese discourses praise the adventures of male migrants, “Somewhere, Home” describes the loneliness and loss of the women, daughters and sisters forgotten in the homeland. Thus, for all its boldness and the freshness of its perspective, Jarrar’s book should not be missed.

Double Sudoku

“The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent full of doubt“ --Bertrand Russell (British philosopher, logician, essayist and social critic, 1872-1970)

14

Outlook

Nov 9, 2010

Sports Swimming Competition at AUB

Anis Kadado Contributing Writer

J

ust when everybody thought that the week was over and started to “thank God it’s Friday,” a number of other individuals couldn’t wait to get wet and set new records. On Friday, November 5, AUB held its annual swimming competition at its semi-Olympic sized pool at the Charles Hostler Student Center (CHSC).

Various schools from different parts of Lebanon including International College (IC), American Community School (ACS), Sagesse High School (SHS), Collège Louise Wegmann, Collège Notre Dame De Jamhour, Grand Lyceè Franco Libanais, Saint Mary’s Orthodox School, Makassed School, Al-Iman High School and Champville Collège Maristes took part in this competition, aiming at winning all that they can.

Different swimming styles were part of the competition, including the breath-stroke, backstroke, free-style, butterfly, and medley. Corine,

the event supervisor, added that “this competition is open for all ages and happens twice a year, once for competing schools and another for universities.” When asked about the reason over which this event takes place, she stated, “this is an event that AUB organizes simply to offer individuals with a sports endeavour, as is offered with track, soccer, basketball and other sports competitions.”

Champions and record holders of the competing schools boasted their swimming skills in the 30 minute warmup period prior to beginning.

The results were as follows: 50m freestyle boys, 1st place Nami Asir (ACS), and for the girls, Nibal Yammout (IC); 50m breast-stroke boys, 1st place Hamza Kobrolsi (Iman) and for the girls Nibal Yammout (IC); 50m back-stroke, 1st place boys Maroun Waked (SHS), and Gabriella Doueihi (Champville); 50m butterfly boys, 1st place Mohammad Baghdadi (Makassed) and Sarah Khatib (IC);

Photo by Salim Batlouni

100m individual medley, 1st place boys Maroun Waked (SHS) and Lynn Doughan for the girls (Jamhour). A total of 46 points was collected for IC, with 38 points followed by SHS and 20 points

by Champville, placing IC at the top of the competing schools. Speaking of records and champions, the IC champion, Nibal Yamout, a swimmer since the age of 5 and currently in her final year of school, frankly predicted the results of her races. “Yes,”

was her answer when asked if she was expecting to win the races she took part in.

In fact, she did. On the other hand, Khaled Saab and Sinan Osman from ACS bluntly stated that there is no way they were going to win since they were only beginners.

Maroun Waked easily won the 50 m back stroke competition he was in, with a time of 32.92 seconds, the second coming in at 37.71 seconds. His father and personal coach, Mr. Labib Waked,

proudly stated that “the record you see is simply set for this competition. His real record is at 30 seconds.”At the end of the day, all swimmers went home as champions.

Whether coming in first place or last, it was evident from the looks on the competitors’ faces that they were all happy to be part of this competition hosted by AUB that provided them an opportunity at cheering, laughing, teasing and most importantly, placing their talents to the test.

AUB Hosts Succesful Cross Running Competition Rami Panayoti Contributing Writer

S

cheduled to start at 6 pm on Friday November 5, the cross running competition for school students organized by AUB’s very own Track and Field Coach Yehia Makki and taking place at the AUB Green Field was highly competitive. The tournament invited several teams from numerous schools and universities, however for reasons unknown, only the International College (IC) school students showed up, giving further evidence to the claim that IC presented a true and deep commitment to joining the competition when no other schools involved where able to make it. Showing up one hour early, both students and coaches provided

their an insight on the races.

When IC Coach Rabih Salah was asked why he thinks his students are qualified to run, he responded that the qualification to run does not have to mean the qualification to win, but that it really principal of participation that counts, saying, “to be qualified is also to be able to finish the race, and I am confident that my students have that ability.” When asked if he believes his students will succeed or not, he responded: “Yes, they are all enthusiastic and know they can finish the race.”

The contest consisted of 1500 and 2000 meter races for females and males respectively and was split into two parts.

The first part began at exactly 6:13 pm, and the second followed at 6:23 pm re-

spectively, with the firing of Coach Makki’s Field gun to start the race.

As in tradition, the females began the race with IC student Elena Grissom finishing first with an impressive score time of six minutes, five seconds and 10 milliseconds with runner ups Salam Zantout ranking second place at a times of seven minutes, three seconds and five milliseconds and Maya Zebian, ranking third only 10 milliseconds apart. As for the males, Karim Khatib ranked first with a score time of seven minutes, 41 seconds, and 80 milliseconds, followed by Rinaldo Itani who crossed teh finish line after seven minutes 42 seconds, and 80 milliseconds. Coming in third place was Karim Karouni who made it in nine minutes,

Photo by Salim Batlouni

two seconds, and 40 milliseconds. When asked about his general feeling concerning the tournament, Khatib stated that he felt the game’s was “completely normal.”

Coach Makki, regarded the tournament as a great success declaring that there was fervent participation amongst the athletes important sports is to everyone, he

concluded by saying that performing sports is not only a physical process, but a mental one too, especially in the form it is projected here in AUB. Finally, Coach Makki expressed his wishes that the sports clubs in other schools become more involved in sports competitions as AUB and IC have been.

Outlook

Nov 9 , 2010

editorial & opinion

Our Herd Culture

Rami Diab Editor-in-Chief Look at us, what have we become? A people throwing away generations of prized morality in pursuit of illusion. Delusional we are, all of us, to have ever blindly walked in the footsteps of politics, devoid of its consequences on our people; our brothers and sisters, our mothers and fathers. What has politics done for our country? What has it wrought us besides hatred and despair? And yet, here we are before the political altar baptizing ourselves in one-sided dogma, cheering for this faction and chanting for that party. Citizens, awake! Undo the knots in your hearts and come face to face with the unfaltering union of humanity. If we are indeed all after the same goals: peace, love and prosperity, what for do we need quarrelling politics? Shed off the blindfolds upon your eyes, we are one people, cast away the masks upon your faces, we are one nation. See this political fiend for what it is, a pestering wolf in sheep’s clothing, a monster of creation! Are we not wiser than to succumb to a herd culture, to reduce ourselves to powerless sheep, and our shepherd, a hero of lost causes? Enough of our rivalry. If we truly cannot resolve our differences, then let us at least prepare ourselves for diversity.

Divide and conquer. It’s the oldest trick in the book; and

to think that generations after the cycling of history, we still find its traces coursing through our veins pushing us, almost by instinct, to emphasize our differences over our similarities, each time more fierce and brutal than the last. We declare we want peace and then throw our country to the wolves; we cry out for freedom and then sell our liberty for lost battles. So long as man is ailed with a lust for power, no politician, voter, or nominee can expect anything short of corruption. Yes, there thrive those politicians who are good and gracious in character, but there is always amongst them a bad apple to spoil the basket, one spark to ignite the revolution, and one heretic to fan the flames of our inferno. This year, I challenge us to be brave as a people, to unanimously slay the overbearing political father and brace ourselves for the plunge of our lives, to fall for the good of mankind and rise up once more, stars of our humanity.

15

The Political Students of AUB If you can’t beat them, join them

Fouad Badaoui Senior Staff Writer Does it seem like we have a political scene in AUB? Well, you tell me. It’s a “yes or no” question and the funny thing is the answer is “yes and no.”

After all, AUB is indeed a part of Lebanon.

In the following two weeks, if you happen to be walking around the West Hall and Ada Doge areas, you’ll find several groups of students huddled up around charts, lists and hastily scribbled

notes. They will guard these notes with their lives and risk almost anything to get someone else’s notes. They will rack their brains with numbers and calculations that belong to a very distinct type of statistics I have never seen anywhere else. It’s like these students created their own branch of Mathematics strictly for this purpose (and believe me, it’s hard to follow them once they get started).

They will have to put on a salesman smile every morning and keep it up all day, because they need to make as many friends and supporters and as few enemies as possible. They are the most active students AUB has to offer, and will be devoting most of this month’s time to the Student Representative Committee (SRC) elections.

Most of these students belong to a type of club in AUB that doesn’t exist: political clubs.

Some of them actually get their orders from members of a Lebanese political entity while others have very loose and almost nonexistent re-

Letter to the Editor

The Corruption of Politics

lations with their respective parties, but still comprise of students sharing similar political affiliations. Yes, they do have political inclinations and may very often act upon them instead of thinking of the students’ best interest. But the large majority of SRC activists and candidates actually have a sense of purpose driven by their desire to prove themselves as proponents of student rights.

The administration may pretend they’re not around, but you have to admit they work, and even if it’s for the wrong reasons, they do their best every year to make sure students get represented. As today’s SRC bylaws barely give students symbolic representation, one can’t help but hope that, one day, that group of divided squabbling activists will find a way to get organized in the SRC and change its reputation from “childish political games” to “something that helps students get what they want.”

Omar Nawfal

Dear Editor, Politics makes you a corrupt person no matter how much you sacrifice in your life over what you believe in. You succumb to this obsession of yours to grasp power even if it is with good intentions. Politics makes you break your promises, shatter your friendships, lie in the face of your fellow students. Politics ruins your credibility, your public image. (Believe me I know it from personal experience for I myself compromised the foundations of my beliefs when running as a secretary for the student biology society. It shatters your dreams of stepping into a world where change can really be achieved. So much dirt surrounds the words “politics”, “compromises”, and“deals”.

Is there such a thing as being “independent”? Does such a word even exist? According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, an independent person is one who is “self-governing”, “not subject to control by others”. Can we really be independent when we make underground deals? Aren’t we in this way “subjecting” ourselves to certain ground rules which we know we can’t break? Don’t we become puppets, manipulated by others, pulled by the strings to the right and to the left, up and down? Some would say: “According to this definition, no one can ever be independent because life is all about compromises and choosing sides.” I agree, but being independent is not about being in the middle of nowhere, unresponsive to what it is that is happening around you. Look around you people; can the situation become any worse than this? Are we even Lebanese anymore? Since the “making” of a country named Lebanon, we still disagree on what it is that makes us Lebanese. It is our patriotism?! Yet another problem, we were and still are being brainwashed!

We can’t even recognize friend from foe anymore. And still, we fight among each other. How ashamed I am to be Lebanese when we cannot agree on one simple matter except to keep on agreeing over nothing!

That is why my fellow students, the student elections this year should not be political at all. There should be no tension between the students for even if you gain experience by nominating yourself and even if you make new friends which really do care about you and believe in you, you get disappointed in the end and especially if you lose and blame it on all the people - even those who helped you - except yourself. That is why I urge all political groups not to be involved in the students’ elections this year and let the student be elected not based on what he is but on who he is, what he can offer others and how he can help those who need help and guide those who are lost and light the path for those who lie creeping in the shadows of the darkness.

Nov 9, 2010

Outlook

out of the box

The Outlook team Chairperson

Talal Nizameddin

Faculty Advisor

Cleo Cacoulidis

Responsible Director

Antonios Francis

Editor-in-Chief

Rami Diab

Associate Editor

Timmy Malkoun

Editor at Large

Yahia Hamade

Arabic Editor

Mariam El Ali

Photography Editor

Salim Batlouni

Layout Director

John Hajjar

Member at Large

Giovanny Reaidi

News Executives

Heather Jaber Lojine Kamel Mostafa Fadlallah

Web Master

Mohamad Al Medawar

Business Managers

Sally Khalifeh Lara Traboulsi

Staff Writers Kohodor Abou Daya Fouad Badaoui Samer Bu Jawdeh Elie El Khoury Edrees Elrachidi Yasmin Fansa Yumna Ghandour Maryam Hoballah Lynn Itani

Tala Kardas Wajiha Jurdhi-Kheir Sherif Maktabi Rita Obeid Yasmine Saab Joseph Saba Amer Sare Emile Fares Zankoul

Photographers

Mohamad Alameh Tariq Buhilaigah Dima Hajj Lotfi Al Salah

Cartoonist

Deedee El Jilani

Outlook is a weekly publication of the American University of Beirut (AUB) and represents the voice of the student body. It is an independent, non-affiliated publication that favors no ethnic, religious, or political group. All columns, articles, and reports are the property of Outlook and do not necessarily represent the views of Outlook or the AUB community. Outlook welcomes all contributions. Authors please include full name, major, ranking, and contact information for verification. Outlook reserves the right to edit all material. © Outlook 1949

Psyched Out

Insomnia

16

Rita Obeid

Insomnia is a very common topic. Although everyone has at one point in time experienced poor sleep habits, this fact does not imply that one has insomnia. If you have trouble falling asleep night after night, or if you always feel tired the next day, then you may have a sleep disorder and should see a physician.

Insomnia is the feeling of inadequate or poor sleep quality because of one or more of the following: trouble falling asleep, trouble remaining asleep, or waking up too early. Insomnia may lead to problems during the day, such as weariness, difficulty focusing and irritability.

These problems would prevent people from carrying out their daily responsibilities either because they are too tired or because they have trouble concentrating due to lack of restful sleep.

Insomnia is common among women, the elderly and individuals with a history of depression.

Factors such as stress, anxiety, medical problems or the use of certain medications might increase the likelihood for insomnia.

Insomnia is usually diagnosed by a medical history or a sleep history.

There are a number of possible causes of insomnia that include: jet lag, work shifts, grief, depression, stress, anxiety, alcoholism, taking a new drug, menopause, stroke, uncomfortable bed, the use of stimulants and caffeine, etc.

A number of techniques are used for the treatment of insomnia, and these include: relaxation therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and the practice of a good sleep hygiene such as going to bed each night at the same time.

Some interesting tips for a good night’s sleep include: - Setting a schedule: Set a specific time for sleep and waking up each day.

- Exercising: Daily exercise often helps people sleep. Just do not do it right before going

to bed.

- Avoiding caffeine, nicotine and alcohol: Such stimulants keep people awake and smok

ers tend to sleep very lightly. In addition, alcohol tends to rob people of deep sleep.

- Relaxing: Indulge yourself before bed with a warm bath or some soothing routine.

- Sleeping until sunlight: It helps the body’s internal biological clock reset itself each

day.

- Not lying in bed awake: Avoid being in bed without sleeping.

- Controlling your bedroom environment: Reserve the bed for sleep, maintain a comfort

able temperature and block out noise. temperature and block out noise.

Food for Thought

Rami Diab Sleeping in Class?

If you are sleeping through anything apart from your average CVSP General Lecture at Bathish auditorium, believe me, you are not one to miss out on this article.

Ever find it hard to get through your daily mornings? Ever feel like your pulling behind a dead carcass to class? Tired of energy drain, sleeping in class, and bailing out on your gym schedule?

Well you can kiss those crummy days goodbye as all that can be resolved right here, right now – so listen up! If there’s any one thing our bodies do and do well, it’s detoxify. In fact our whole livelihoods are based on this process of detoxification and elimination of waste material to keep us up and running. Instead of thwarting the process, why not facilitate it by making the right food choices, sound good? Great!

Let’s begin, I’ll mention two brief points. For starters, that whole “eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper” ideology is complete bullfish. As a matter of fact, we should be eating like paupers round the clock and here’s why: By increasing the number of meals consumed per day we boost our metabolic rates and get our bodies used to digesting in short bursts of energy, you know, like a good workout.

Second off, for heaven’s sake, let’s hold the protein in the morning! No more eggs and ham, no more turkey sandwiches, and most certainly, no more cereal and milk. No more milk? Really?

Yes, really, no more milk, none of that mucus forming substance anymore, try tea instead, not only is it herbal, but it’s a stimulant and rouses your energy rather than drain it. So what should you be consuming in the morning? I’ll tell you what to consume. Something so fresh, so whole, and so flawlessly designed as to pass through our digestive tract with minimal effort – eat fruit!

In short, your body is precious what you put in it (or fail to put in it) could cost you today’s lab assignment or maybe even next week’s exam as you fail to pick up on what’s important in your classes. Eat fresh, eat clean, eat modestly and most importantly eat frequently – stay hungry!

It’s your money, your food, and your energy and so if I were you, I’d think twice before throwing it away over a large bowl of egg-fried rice of the like.