By Seif Zahran
Seif El Attal made every sports team possible in his four years at Schutz. He is one of the most athletic students in High School, with an award “Athlete of the Year” received last year in addition to a good academic standing. On top of all that, Seif also has the appetite of an elephant! He does not eat to live, he lives to eat!
Seif has many plans for his educational future because he believes that he is a successful person with many achievements in life. He plans to get a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering and later on an MBA. All of this studying and hard work he will pursue will be in the United States with his friend Ali Seif. Seif has high hope to get accepted in a good college there. His favorite subjects in school are Math and Physics.
His favorite sport of all is Volleyball. He wishes to continue doing various sports in college, just as he did in school. The EMAC and ISAC tournaments that are held are the two things he will miss most.
Pasta and chicken panne are his favorite food. He could eat his three meals a day with just that. If there is no pasta and chicken available, sushi is an alternative. If he were to change one thing in Schutz, he would change the canteen for it does not satisfy his big appetite.“I would take the canteen so that they can get a new one,” he stated as the only thing that he would take with him from Schutz when he graduates.
He seems to be a busy student with a lot of things on his hand, but he manages to do more. Not only does he keep up with school and sports, but with friends and family as well. Socializing is on his list too. He likes to go to his friends’ houses, to the movies, or just to chill somewhere with his group of friends. Aly, his brother, and Zeina, his sister, are the two people that he will miss when he leaves Schutz. Seif is planning to visit Schutz occasionally so that he remembers the days that he cherishes.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Smart and Athletic
Long Journey Comes to an End
By Omar Zahran
Kartikya began his journey in Schutz when he was in the second grade. Now he is a senior, and it is his eleventh year at Schutz. When he first joined Schutz, many people described him as shy and quiet. I think we all agree that he has changed a lot since then. He has become very outspoken and is often one of the loudest voices heard on campus.
Most people would even call him the school's jester. You could always see him running around campus energetically telling jokes. Many people will remember this about Kartikya after he is gone, and Kartikya will also miss many things about Schutz. However, the thing he says he will truly never forget about Schutz is the fact that it is such a small school and that he knew everybody and everybody knew him. He has many things he says he loves about Schutz. He said that he would miss things like participating in extra-curricular activities and goofing off at lunch.
He plans to continue his education in Canada where he could be closer to his older brother, Vinayak, a Schutz alumni. He said he would like to go into the field of Engineering. Even though he was lazy during the first three years in high school, he is working hard to get into a college in Canada. We all hope the best for him as he goes on into college life. Now as he is finally leaving Schutz, he will be remembered for many things mainly his fun-loving attitude.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Roba's Diaries: On Bullying and Bullies
By Roba Mahfouz
Special to The 83rd
A lot of young people have a good idea of what bullying is because they see it every day! Bullying happens when someone hurts or scares another person on purpose and the person being bullied has a hard time defending himself or herself. Usually, bullying happens over and over. It can take many forms such as punching, shoving and other acts that hurt people physically, or spreading bad rumors about people, or keeping certain people out of a "group", or teasing people in a mean way, or getting certain people to "gang up" on others. There are all kinds of reasons why young people bully others, either occasionally or often. Does any of these forms sound familiar to you?
- Because I see others doing it
- Because it is what I need to do if I want to hang out with the right crowd
- Because it makes me feel, stronger, smarter, or better than the person I'm bullying
- Because it is one of the best ways to keep others from bullying me
Think about what you are doing and how it affects others. If you think calling others names is really harmless, or if you think pushing, hitting or stealing from other kids is funny, you probably have forgotten what it feels like to be hurt yourself! Teasing, hitting, and keeping others out of a group, all of these things are examples of attempts to harm someone. All of us have been hurt at one time or another and we all know how it feels - awful!
If you have ever heard an adult or anyone else say that bullying is "just a fact of life" or "no big deal," you need to know that they are actually wrong! Too often, people just do not take bullying seriously until the sad and sometimes scary stories are talked about. According to facts, it can mess up a kid's future. Young people who are bullied are more likely to skip school and drop out of school than those who do not get bullied. They are also more likely to smoke, drink alcohol and get into fights. According to established research done in the United States, as many as 160,000 students may stay home on any given day because they are afraid of being bullied. It can lead to huge problems later in life. Children who bully are more likely to get into fights, vandalize property, and drop out of school. Sixty percent of boys in the United States who were bullies in Middle School had at least one criminal conviction by the age of 24.
Kids who bully like to pick on kids who are by themselves a lot; it is easier and they are more likely to get away with their bad behavior. If you spend more time with other kids, you may not be an easy "target" and you will have others around to help you if you get into a difficult situation! If the person who is bullying you thinks you will not do anything about it, they are more likely to keep picking on you. This does not mean you should fight back or bully them back. Instead, tell the person bullying you that you do not like it and that they should stop! Keep it simple. You might just say, "Cut it out!", and then walk away. If possible, try to talk to them in a calm voice. Kids who bully often like to see that they can make you upset. If you are afraid to talk directly to the person who is bullying you by yourself, then you might want to ask someone else to be there with you.
Bullying should not be mistaken for a show of power over someone else. It is an act of fear, a feeling of inferiority and low self-esteem that pushes someone to bully someone else to prove they are stronger and to draw so much attention.
Schutz’s Pride in a Blonde
By Marina Guirguis
Kara Michelle Newell is probably known by being the significant blonde in Schutz’s high school, but she is anything but the stereotypical blonde. She is a smart girl enrolled in AP classes, such as AP US History. She enjoys reading in her free time, hanging out with friends, as well as listening to music.
She spent the first nine years of her life in Charlotte, North Carolina, before moving to Alexandria, Egypt. As a young girl, ballet, dance, gymnastics, and piano lessons dominated Kara’s elementary years. The first school she attended was called Covenant Day School. Her first memory involved “My best friend Shanna sleeping over. So much fun!” Kara and Shanna Van Beek have known each other since the day Kara was born, and were often mistaken for twins. “We still joke about that now. In fact we refer to each other as twin or sister sometimes, “Kara explained. In 1994, her family and a few other families started a church in uptown Charlotte called uptown Christ Covenant Church. This is where Kara goes to visit when she returns to the United States and where she spent last summer tubing, wakeboarding, swimming and water fighting at Lake Norman.
The Newells moved to Egypt in 1999. The hardest thing about moving according to Kara was, “not seeing friends and family on a regular basis.” Her dad wanted the family to have an overseas experience.
In time though, all good things come to an end. This is Kara’s senior year, meaning soon she will pack up her bags and leave what she loves once again. Her first choice for college is Elon University, about twenty minutes away from the university her brother attends. She dreams of one day being a kindergarten teacher because she “loves kids and wants to help them grow and discover new things.”
Kara is known among her friends for giving great advice and being a caring shoulder to cry on. You are surely guaranteed hours of fun if you spend time with this girl in or out of school. Some advice that Kara leaves with us is, “Let go, jump into life! Try something new at least once a day, everyday. Don’t let anyone say you can’t do something. Try and you might prove them wrong!”
Dubai Leadership Conference: Bringing International Night Back
By Ingy Fahmy
Schutz students attended one of the most stimulating Leadership Conferences in Dubai (October 3-6). Schools from all around the Middle East flew into Dubai, and heads were put together in order for each school to create a strategic plan. Through the conference, a strategic plan was created to resume the festive tradition of International Night to Schutz American School. The Schutz students who attended the conference felt the urge to liven up the school by showcasing the diverse cultures that exist in Schutz.
In order to be able to come up with a strategic plan for each school, the conference organizers arranged for the participants to visit the Wild Wadi water park. During the time spent at the park, conference participants were separated teams to work on building the bridges from person to person and learning to be part of a squad. The objective was to have the ability to work together and cooperate within a group in order to have an effect on a greater cause.
Returning to the hosting school, the American School of Dubai (ASD), participants were sent off to find out more about their personalities and identities and getting acquainted with oneself helped with the developing of strategic plan through teamwork. Mr. Thomas Lungrin, a keynote presenter, talked about becoming true leaders and learning to work with what is available. Mr. Lungrin holds no college degrees yet he has managed to open one of the most leading retail furnishing stores, THE ONE (Total Home Experience), located all over the countries of Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Sweden, and the United Arab Emirates. Through his presentation, he gave the following message that participants should follow for the rest of their lives, “Nothing great has ever been achieved without passion.” He taught participants to look for what would make them happy in the end, not what would make them successful.
The HSSC Treasurer, Aly El Attal, reflected on what he learned, “A fine leader is a fine servant.” The HSSC President, Youssef Talaat, added, “In order to be a true leader, one must discover the potentials of one’s team and execute them through a methodical and meticulous plan.”
The Schutz participants succeeded in completing this task of planning for an International Night and proudly presented the action plan in front of all the other participants.
The International Night will be taking place shortly to Schutz, and all people attending will witness the effects of the Dubai Leadership Conference that impacted the organizers of this event. Finally, the Schutz Coach, Kelly Sullivan stated, “I was proud to accompany the Schutz delegation, and I was pleased with their participation and with what they learned. They represented Schutz very well.”
Science Genius Inspires Schutz Audience
By Shereen Hassan
Susannah L. Clary, a senior in Los Lunas High School, NM who was scheduled to give a lecture at the Biblitheca Alexandrina on October 24, met the Schutz students to talk about her motivation and success in her research. The beauty of nature, which attracted her to science at a young age, has captivated her. Her parents are the two people who inspired her the most. They supported her in conducting research and collecting data in institutes in Canada, where she was allowed to use the facilities.
In fifth grade, she started writing research papers on salmon. She was trying to distinguish between the male and female salmon because their growth rate was declining. The only way until now to figure out whether they were male or female was to dissect them, but dissecting them decreases their number which was endangering their species. However, with her discovery it is possible to distinguish between the male or female salmon by using the scale she patented, which was her first discovery. This scale measures the ratio between the head length and the body length, this determining the gender of the salmon.
She won several awards from 2003-2007, and she published 5 research papers, the first one in 3rd grade. Some of her significant achievements were Intel Foundation Achievement Award and Intel ISEF Finalist & Second award in Zoology in 2005. She also won Grand award in Life Sciences from 2003-2006, and then in 2007 she won full tuition scholarships from University of Alaska Fairbanks and University of New Mexico. She did SATR Summer Research Intern at Sandia National Laboratories last summer. She would like to go to the University of New Mexico to study Biology & Engineering.
The advice she likes to give to all students is, “Do not let little failures discourage you. You have to do things over and over. Have good background knowledge of the stuff you are dealing with and do something you are interested in.”
As Direct as it Gets
Dr. Martinez Meets the Schutz Community
By Marina Guirguis
The search for the new Head of School is on, and the first candidate introduced to the student body publicly was Dr. Joyce Martinez. Her short stay in Egypt (October 20-24) was packed with hours of meeting new people including Board members, teachers, students and parents.
Dr. Martinez has always had a dream of coming to Egypt. She stated, “This is where I want to be”. Currently working as Head of the American School of Las Palmas in the Canary Islands off the shore of Spain, Dr. Martinez would like to move on to another international school. She declares that her main qualities are flexibility, patience, love for other cultures, and pursuit of visions. These are also qualities that Dr. Martinez claims every head of an international school should have.
She took a year off her busy schedule in Florida, and wrote Eight Steps to a Financially Successful School before resuming her career in international education. In her past, she has worked in cities from Miami to Denver, Los Angeles to Mexico City. This has influenced her views as a leader due to her work with different environments and cultural backgrounds. She describes herself, “What you see is what you get, blunt, direct, consistent, and open-minded.” Her leadership style is collaborative, but Dr. Martinez does not hide that she can be a dictator when certain decisions need to be made.
Dr. Martinez left behind her a strong impression of a tough leader who loves to work on a vision and excels in the international crowd. She definitely came across as someone who naturally fits in a multi-cultural environment.
Largest College Fair Had Great Turnout
By Ibrahim Fathelbab
Schutz American School hosted its largest annual College Fair on the 4th of October. This year’s fair was very special because there were as many as ten colleges. An assorted number of students showed up. This fair was very significant in giving the student body a clear prospect of college life. Colleges such as Suffolk and Villanova had representatives giving out handbooks and answering questions.
The fair was very helpful in guiding students on the path towards college life by giving advice on how they could make the college experience the best years of their life.
Students asked questions, such as “What are some of the requirements I need in order to get accepted to this college?” and “What are the SAT scores needed for this college?”
Kristen Kammarata, the Amideast representative, stated, “I am very happy to see that the students are excited.” Kristen Kammarata has been to many college fairs in the past and knows how much work really goes into setting up one such event.
The High School Principal, Massimo Laterza, had even higher expectations of the students. He stated, “I just hope that the people who are here are getting what they came here for”.
Varsity Volleyball Tournament Ends in Girls’ Disappointment
By Moustafa Barakat and Aya Kordy
Schutz American School hosted this year the Varsity Volleyball tournament (October 24-28). The Schutz players showed that both teams have made great improvements and excelled. The girls won the first two games but lost the final games to rank in fifth place which was quite a disappointment to the general team and the school. In contrast, the boys played with great teamwork and cooperation crowned by achieving third place.
Hannia Zanana and Laila Afifi were the girls’ captains while the boys’ captains were Seif El Attal and Khaled El Naggar. They were great role models for the rest of the teams and they showed great compassion at the time of their losses.
Five different schools from the Middle East competed in the tournament. In addition to Schutz American School, there were the British International School of Cairo, the American Community School of Amman, the American Community School of Beirut, and the American School of Doha. All teams showed great enthusiasm; nevertheless, sportsmanship was not fully achieved between teams. Some players unfortunately displayed inappropriate behaviors.
The coaches of Schutz’ teams are Clay and Susannah Huggins. They encouraged their teams to keep doing the best they can at the times of a loss. Mrs. Huggins declared, “I like how creative the players are because they always have solutions to problems.” Clay Huggins added, “There was a lot of chemistry between players, and I think they worked well together and had a great time”.
Doha won first in the girls division. After a final game between Doha and Amman, Amman won the boys division.
The Schutz Athletic Director, Mindi Dryer, performed really well in organizing the festivities and working out any tribulations.
Determination Brings Forth Great Achievements
By Omar Zahran
Name: Arnab Chaudhuri
Born: January 22, 1992
Hometown: Calcutta, India
Plays: Right-Handed
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Dark Brown
Hobbies: Computer Games, Cricket, Guitar
Arnab has been playing cricket since he was eleven years old. At first he played for fun and did not realize that soon he was about to play cricket for national teams. Arnab kept on practicing to perfect his skills in cricket. While studying in Thailand he was picked for the National Team of Thailand. He has traveled to international competitions in Malaysia, Dubai, and India. Arnab proved to be a valuable player in Thailand and played for them for three years till he moved to Egypt in 2005.
Arnab is a hard working person as he works just as hard at school as he does on a cricket field. Arnab joined Schutz just two years ago. Arnab decided to join the Alexandria Cricket Team and has now become one of the permanent team players. The Alexandria Cricket Team which plays under the first division includes six teams. Arnab stated that “The Alexandria Cricket Team still needs a lot of practice as the players managed to win only five matches out of eight matches last year." This year Arnab believes the Alexandria Cricket Team may have a chance to win the league.
Arnab has received many awards for his cricket skills. The biggest award in cricket is the Man of the Match Award. This award is given to the best player of the winning team. Arnab has received two man of the match awards. He received these awards when he played for Thailand against Singapore and Hong Kong. He has won a third place trophy and a third place medal during his career in other tournaments. With Arnab working hard both in and out of the cricket field it is possible he might have a future to maybe play in a national team at a higher level in the future.
iBust!
By Tarek Talaat
The iPod Nano is Apple’s mid-range portable media player. It originated on September 7, 2005. Apple surprised everyone with the iPod Nano as no one expected a sudden decline in the popularity of the former iPod Mini.
Many people say that the only disadvantage of the iPod Nano is that it does not connect or synchronize over a FireWire connection. That was not the case when it came to Danny Williams. Despite the iPod originating in 2005, another disadvantage was only discovered in 2007. "I look down and I see flames coming up to my chest," Williams said. He also explained that if it was not for the piece of glossy paper in his pocket with the iPod, he would have had a 15-second burn.
Apple wanted to send him a brand new iPod in exchange for his old burned one. Williams' mother refused and instead took the story to the Channel 2 news. She explained that this was not just about one iPod bursting into flames; it was about what could have happened. This led Elaine Williams to think, "It could have happened when we were sleeping, or when he was driving, and the outcome would have become much worse." When Channel 2 sent Apple the pictures, Apple refused to comment on the incident at all.
It was said that the iPod uses a lithium ion battery, the same battery under recall for setting laptops on fire. Use over a long time may be risky. Young people love the latest technology trends; however, they need to be aware of their potential downsides.
Hang out at the coolest place, where all the action takes place:
1. Carrefour
2. Sporting Club
3. Starbucks
4. Green Plaza
5. San Stefano
Porto Marina Powerboating Championship
By Karim Maksoud
The fifth race of the 'Class I' World Powerboating Championship was held at Porto Marina from October 25th through the 27th. This event was hosted by Amer Group. The world class event was described to have been an experience similar to "driving a Formula 1 car and flying an air plane."
Amer Group signed an agreement with the World Professional Power boating Association to host the Powerboating Championship in Egypt for at least the next five years. The teams that were present were from UAE, Italy, Qatar, Norway, and England. This event was covered by 142 international TV channels.
The Championship was advertised on Egyptian TV and on different channels. This event was a way to invite tourists to Egypt. The event was attended by thousands of viewers as it was free of charge, but many of the viewers attending had no background on the sport. People who attended found that there was poor organization. Some people were not informed that the races would be held at another gate in Marina. Hosting such an event in Egypt is a great step towards attracting more tourists to Egypt. It is also a good way to utilize the beautiful Egyptian beaches to make new water sports more popular.
Miss Karra Simpson: Lively and Enthusiastic
By Moustafa Barakat
Miss Karra joined Schutz this year, and she really enjoys it here. Not only is she an enthusiastic teacher, but she also shows great involvement in our school. Miss Karra Simpson lived practically all her life in British Columbia, Canada. Before she came to Schutz, she was in South Korea teaching for four years. She considers the greatest thing about high school years is having friends, she said, “I had great friends, and I am really thankful for that”.
Miss Karra Simpson has been a teacher for nine years. She considers the people in Schutz friendly and nice. Miss Karra teaches Drama and Social Studies, two subjects that she used to enjoy in high school.
Miss Karra has two major hobbies, sewing and cooking. Miss Karra Simpson is just appalled when someone is being fake or “phony” by Holden’s words. When you talk to Miss Karra, be yourself and you will have a great conversation.
Miss Karra Simpson has a natural difficulty with Math, or just that she never really understood Math. This year was her first time to visit historical places in Egypt. She really enjoyed the medieval places in Egypt. She says that her utmost enjoyment was visiting the Pyramids.
Miss Karra is one of the two co-sponsors of the Middle School Student Council (MSSC). She was the organizer of the MS Iftar along with Miss April.. The MS Iftar was a great success for the MSSC. All the Middle School students enjoyed this social gathering at Schutz. The goal of the MS Iftar was primarily to have fun; it also resulted in the collection of substantial money for the financing of future social activities in Schutz. Miss Karra Simpson has already made great contributions to Schutz. Her liveliness and immensely enthusiastic personality have already marked her beginning months at Schutz.
Rainbow for a Friend
By Suraj Baadkar
Keep looking for a rainbow
It soon will fill the sky,
You never have to worry
When friends are standing by.
Love in life will gather
In times when you are blue,
With all the rain that's falling
The rainbow's there for you.
So here we are just waiting
For a storm to go away,
Knowing that our friendship
Always brightens up the day.
No wonder I feel happy
No matter what the weather,
You cover me with sunshine
Whenever we're together.
Arrivals from Burkina Faso: Introducing the World of the Collins
By Ibrahim Fathelbab
The Collins have been to so many different places, seen so many different things and interacted with a diverse number of people and cultures around the world. I got a chance to better understand the “world” of the Collins. My experience was very fascinating, and I had a great time getting to know them much more.
Where are you from?
Mr. Collins: Philadelphia
Mrs. Collins: Tennessee, but Philadelphia is home for both of us.
Is this your first overseas assignment?
Mr. Collins: No, our first overseas assignment was in Burkina Faso.
What are some of your hobbies?
Mr. Collins: Traveling
Mrs. Collins: Reading, traveling and playing with our cat.
What do you do on your free time or weekend?
Mr. Collins: Though we are still exploring Alexandria, the place that we have been to so far has been the Opera house to watch Flamenco Dancing, which we really enjoyed.
Mrs. Collins: I go to the beach and watch television.
Do you have any favorite eat outs in Alexandria?
Mr. Collins: We have not eaten out that many times, but we really liked Zefirion in Abou Kir.
Mrs. Collins: My favorite restaurants so far are sea food restaurants.
Where have you traveled before, and how did you like where you went?
Mr. Collins: We have traveled to Morocco, Tunisia, Spain, France, Luxembourg, Gibraltar and Andorra. We like seeing new places and trying new things.
Why did you choose to teach in Egypt?
Mr. Collins: We like teaching internationally and traveling.
How do you like your so-called home away from home so far?
Mr. Collins: I enjoy it, plus we do not have to travel far to see Egypt. I love it!
Mrs. Collins: It is nice living on campus, and there is so much culture and opportunity in Egypt.
What were your worst and best subjects in school?
Mr. Collins: I did not like handwriting, and I had a hard time in chemistry. My best subject was history.
Mrs. Collins: I did not really like math all that much. I also did not like music because I had to play the bassoon. Well, it is not really what class I liked the most, it is just that I liked any class which involved much discussion.
Mrs. Collins, is this your first time being a Principal?
No, this is not my first time working as a Principal. I was working at the Ouagadougou International School as the Elementary Principal and K-12 Counselor.
How do you like being the Elementary/Middle School Principal at Schutz?
I like it very much. It is a very neat environment. The kids are warm and positive,and everyone knows everyone.
How do you like your classes so far Mr. Collins?
I enjoy most of them, and the students seem very interested.
Are you excited about the upcoming soccer season? Have you coached soccer before?
Yes, I am very excited and hope that we will do very well this season. No, I have not coached soccer before, but I did play first string “goalie” in high school.
How is Schutz different from the school(s) you have taught at before, and is there anything that you would like to see change at Schutz? If so, why?
Mr. Collins: Students in our old school would stay on campus much longer than students here because there were not really any hangouts or anything like that.
Mrs. Collins: It is somewhat different, I guess I could say, since Mr. Collins and I never really see each much of each other like we did in our old school. There is not much that we would like to change. We would just like to support students to be successful inside and out of school. Also, we would like to prepare students for their later years in life.
Re-reading the History of the Last King of Egypt
By Aya Kordy
Approximately fifty five years ago democracy and freedom of speech were aspects that King Farouk I tried to implement, allowing people to "raise their voice" and ask for their rights and privileges. Ironically, the biggest proof of this was that during King Farouk's reign, a group of young revolutionaries known as the “Free Officers" called secretly for independence and for an end to the monarchy. Unquestionably King Farouk knew everything about them, yet he still granted them the freedom they wished for. On the other hand, if we look at Egypt in this present day, both democracy and freedom are minimal. Many people are against the current government. However, establishing a group like the “Free Officers" nowadays is a very remote possibility.
After re-reading history, people now know how much they have been deluded by Gamal Abd El Nasser. He appointed Muhammad Naguib as Prime Minister and Regent of the then one-year old King Ahmed Fouad II. Nevertheless, the Free Officers decided they had no need of a monarchy. They then appointed Muhammad Naguib as President of Egypt, only to be dismissed from his office and placed under house arrest very soon afterwards.
Gamal Abd El Nasser was loved by millions of people. His funeral stands as one of the largest funerals people have ever attended in the world. The question is "Were all these people deluded by Gamal Abd El Nasser?" If I were to answer just one month ago, I would have totally disagreed and said he was a gracious man. If I were to answer you now, my answer would be yes. In addition, it seems that the Egyptian people including King Farouk I and Gamal Abd El Nasser and his companions were deceived by British power.
Just before King Farouk was ordered to leave Egypt and abdicate his thrown to his one-year old son King Ahmed Fuad II, he met one of his private secretaries,
Dr .Hussein Hosny and told him, "I know they'll say a lot of horrible things about me, but please if one day you are able to write, write about the truth that you have seen with me, the good and the bad." Dr. Hosny has in fact written a book called "Years with King Farouk". However, during Abd El Nasser's time democracy and freedom of writing were non-existent, particularly after the Ministry of Education had released history books based on the history made up by Gamal Abd El Nasser and his companions. Other books were buried along with Karim Thabet's book called "My Diaries of King Farouk".
The truth was buried, and King Farouk left Egypt and eventually died without being given the respect and love he deserved. He died in a restaurant called "Ile de France" in Rome while he was eating. Some people even say he was poisoned. His body was flown to Egypt in the middle of the night in a coffin, and he was buried secretly in Muhammad Aly's burial site. He was buried as a stranger in the middle of the night in a country that he once ruled. Freedom and democracy were buried that night and until now Egyptians are digging and searching for them.
After revealing the truth of this episode of Egyptian history, will the Egyptians ever stand up to defend their history that has been misused? Will Egypt ever become a Kingdom once again if the Egyptians choose it? Or will it always remain a republic, with its rights lost? The answer is definitely inside every Egyptian. It is hard to answer since freedom and democracy were buried fifty-five years ago. Imagine. If King Farouk I were still alive till today, what would we possibly tell him after we have discovered the truth? Do you think he would ever forgive us?
Facebook- Connecting People or Minimizing Privacy?
By Shereen Hassan and Ingy Fahmy
“Facebook is a social utility that connects you with the people around you.” Or is it really? Facebook started out as being a fun and dependable way for high school and college students to stay in touch with each other, but now people across the globe have started to misuse this privilege.
Through Facebook, one could upload photos or publish notes, get the latest news from friends, post videos on profiles, tag friends, use privacy settings to control who sees personal information, join a network, and see people who live, study, or work around them. Nevertheless, one could say that people have started “stalking” other’s lives.
As of October 2007, there are 49 million active users on Facebook, and of those 49 million, 60% log in daily, 85% log in weekly, and 93% log in monthly. It seems like addiction has started and is still continuing to increase within the barriers of Facebook. The stalking and addiction that have risen within Facebook are starting to effect the real connection between people.
Although Facebook has privacy settings that can limit personal information , one can still never be in full control of people out there who get to see personal conversations between friends.
Facebook members can join or create groups such as study groups, common hobbies, culture, etc. This might seem like a good way to find people who have common interest in life, but people have misused this privilege. The content of the posts are most often offensive to different kinds of people, some might be offending or discriminating on the bases of religion, culture, ethnicity, etc.
In addition to the loopholes in Facebook, there is another problem of caching. Caching is a term used for temporary storage of updated files called cache. Once something is posted it cannot be erased completely.
The Journal of Consumer Research found out that “negativity is contagious” through studies. The behavior of people toward products and services are a lot of times influenced by the others around them. Facebook, as one of the largest social networks, will continue to be an important driver of individual beings’ attitudes as societies become more interconnected.
Now that the younger generations of middle and elementary schools have started to have active accounts on Facebook, there is no control over what these children will be exposed to and what experiences that might have a serious effect on their lives. What was originally launched to create a bridge between college and high school students that are sited away from each other is turning out to be potentially harmful.
Next time, think again before signing up to Facebook or logging into your account because no one never knows who is watching.
Social Networking; Technology’s No Return Point
By Suraj Baadkar
Technological advancement may be defined as inventions and discovery, but it actually reflects the kind of community and the society we live in. One of the major reflections comes from what we call today "Social Networking. There are millions of people using it everyday. Social Networking is the use of the Internet to interact with friends, family and to make new friends with similar personal interests, hobbies etc. This technology has advanced a lot for many simple reasons. It is cheap, easy to access, and it removes distance between people. For entrepreneurs, it has become a source of business. The founders of such platforms use advertisements that bring in money.
Platforms like these have become a place for marketing as well. Some of the famous social networking platforms used today are Facebook, My Space, etc. They make millions of dollars in annual revenue. Now with these platforms becoming the hangout place for teens, some of these sites have also been made accessible on their cell phones. These upgrades bring improvement for sure, but all good things are accompanied by bad things. Bad things here mean that more and more people are vulnerable to break certain laws, more and more children are vulnerable to explicit content like adult rated photographs or videos.
As the social networks like Facebook and My Space grow, so do the concerns of Internet security and privacy. According to the Center of Missing and Exploited Children, there have been 2600 incidents reported in which adults have used such networks to track down their potential victims. In another instance, a qualified graduate was turned down by a company because he had posted explicit photos of himself on Facebook. One of the cases was astonishing. Five students were arrested for using My Space to plan out an attack on a boys' hostel. One of the social networks called Orkut, which is famous in Brazil, reported arrests of two adults who used to look for potential child victims whom they could use for their pornography website.
Caching is the technology that monitors such illegal things on the net. Caching is a procedure with which file images are saved as cache in the search engine servers. For example, suppose you upload a photo on Facebook and then delete it. The cache of this photo will still be saved in the archive.
People today use social networking sites to represent themselves in the community by uploading photos and music, etc. While doing so, they should keep in mind not to produce false identity and not to portray any potential harmful stuff for the viewers.
With this pioneering leap of comfort in the field of information technology by which people now can get in touch with each other, it is obvious that there is no way back. In the years to come, there will be ad-ons to this technology, but we should keep in mind the requirement of privacy, personal space and safety.
This I Believe
By Laila Afifi*
Special to The 83rd
First day of my freshman year, I walked into the English class, bewildered and anxious. The seats were set in a U form, different from my middle school familiarity. I sat down and noticed a peculiar box sitting in the middle of the room. After everyone was seated the teacher lifted the box and revealed a pumpkin. He asked us to describe it. I was not sure if he was testing our descriptive skills or just measuring our writing but we all sat down and started describing. The pumpkin was orange, it formed a vase shape: fat at the bottom thin at the top, and it had a pink paper pinned roughly in the middle. Then the teacher asked two students to walk around the pumpkin. The second student then lifted the pumpkin top and looked inside it, chuckled and set the top back on.
After the time was up the teacher asked one of the students who walked around to describe what he saw. “There is a pink piece of paper pinned up on one side, a red balloon pinned up on the other side, and an X mark on the third side.” We all gasped because while concentrating on what we saw, we forgot that the people opposite us saw something else. The teacher then asked the second person who saw the inside of the pumpkin to tell us what he saw, and he said, “A red heart.”
At that moment I realized I was guilty of looking at things in only one perspective. I began looking at my life and realized that there were times when I only saw one side of the story rather than look for all perspectives. When my friends tell me a story, I only hear their side of the story. I never considered another side.
This point is emphasized daily. In Nagiub Mahfouz’s novel, Miramar, this idea is shown explicitly. The book contains seven chapters. Each chapter gives the same story. All the events take place at the same time, with the same people. However, each chapter is told from the point of view of a different character in the book. The only way to understand the entire story and the motives behind each character is to read the seven chapters. This book is stimulating in the sense that it makes you think and analyze your life.
As humans we owe each other the truth, and this can only be achieved by seeing the entire story, in full 360 degrees. I realized that we only see one side of everything, and as humans, we judge. We judge solely on what we see, which is only part of the story. This is a problem because its human nature. To understand the full idea or whole concept we must look at all angles.
I believed that I was a fair and unprejudiced person; however, this exercise showed me that we all need to work on our perception skills. Now, I believe that school is the ideal breeding ground for open mindedness and that all classes should integrate such ideals into their day-to-day learning because not only is limitation of perspective a problem in our school but also in our community, nation, and world.
*Laila Afifi is responding to the topic of the Near East and South Asia (NESA) Call for Papers for the 2007-2008 academic year. Teachers were asked to reflect on the essential things they believe in in their learning/teaching career.
Sleep VS School!
Students always object to schools for making them wake up early. In fact, some students skip breakfast just to get to school on time. The school schedule works well for some people but a nightmare for others. In average, four people out of twenty would be found sleeping during the first two periods of the day.
Parents usually like the idea of their children leaving home before they do. It has been studied that sleep-deprived children are grouchier, poorer learners, more prone to attention deficit disorders, and are more likely to skip classes. Some schools start early because school buses need to make three full cycles to bring elementary, middle and high school students to school. Starting high school later would mean buying more buses and hiring more drivers or even sending younger students to school earlier.
According to Michael J. Breus, PhD, MD; there are many consequences that result from sleep deprivation. Decreased Performance and Alertness (reducing your nighttime sleep by as little as one and a half hours for just one night could result in a reduction of daytime alertness by as much as 32%), Memory and Cognitive Impairment (decreased alertness and excessive daytime sleepiness impair your memory and your ability to think and process information), Stress Relationships (disruption of a bed partner's sleep due to a sleep disorder may cause significant problems for the relationship, examples are sperate bedrooms, many conflicts, etc.), Poor Quality of Life (you might not be unable to participate in certain activities that require sustained attention, like going to the movies, seeing your child in a school play, or watching a favorite TV show), Occupational Injury (excessive sleepiness also contributes to a greater than twofold higher risk of sustaining an occupational injury), and Automobile Injury (the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates conservatively that each year drowsy driving is responsible for at least 100,000 automobile crashes, 71,000 injuries, and 1,550 fatalities).
In this regard, parents play a big role in establishing sound sleeping habits. Parents are responsible for getting their children in bed earlier since it has been known that the brain is fresher in the morning, students should not criticize schools by saying that it is too early, instead they should take matters in their own hands and make the right and responsible decision of sleeping earlier.
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