8/3/2019 Tribune Issue 2
1/12
RIBUNEThe Official STudenT newSpaperaTThe lebaneSe american univerSTyyear Xiii, vOl. i, nO. ii Monday, nov.14, 2011T [email protected]
campuS life peOple
page 3 page 4&5
Masters DeciencyBy Zeina ShehayebLAU Tribune staff
Chelsea Special Finders keepers
Girls, Frost YourselvesBy Lyn Abu-SerajLAU Tribune staff
The match began and the
ball passed from one play-
er to another when I asked
about the reasons behindthe few graduate degrees of-
fered at LAU. Two sources
from the universitys upper
administration blamed the
departments for not send-
ing a proposal to found more
graduate programs while
chairpersons blamed LAU
for lacking the requirements
needed to implement such
programs. The ball kept
turning.
LAU currently offers a total
of ten masters degree pro-
grams, falling short of the
options at other major uni-
versities in the country. In-vestigations of the reasons
revealed a variety of factors,
according to a variety of peo-
ple all of which seem to lead
to the quasi halt.
According to its ofcial web-
site, the American Universi-
ty of Beirut offers about 56
Her skin is gold and aw-
less, her hair is soft and full
and her body is comparable
to that of a model, but RaniaHamoud, a business major at
LAU, is dissatised.
Every time I see an adver-
tisement, it makes me feel
ugly and useless, she said.
Hamoud goes to Cherry, the
beauty salon across the low-
er gate, at least twice a week.
She usually asks for nail-,
hair- or eyebrow-related ser-
vices. I always prefer spend-
ing my allowance on my
beauty rather than on food
or phone bills, Hamoud ex-
plained.
Universities are usually sur-
rounded by businesses thatcater to students. Snack
shops and restaurants, sta-
tionary stores and the occa-
sional bookshops are com-
mon sights around campus.
But have you ever wondered
why LAUs lower gate area
features up to three beauty
salons and spas? What does
this tell us about our com-
munity?
Diana El Cheikh Abboud,
the owner of Cherry, con-
rmed that 70 of her custom-
ers are LAU students. Therest are neighborhood resi-
dents.
Cherry offers its clients laser
treatment, tattoo and pierc-
ings, nail treatment, hair,
make-up and massages. Al-
though most visitors are
students, the beauty salon
relies mainly on its neigh
boring community to sur
vive.
Abboud explained that th
services students use, such
as hair and nails, cost very
little. The 30 percent is threason we are still going for
ward with our business an
we count a lot on these cus
tomers, she explained.
But why do women feel they
dont measure up when i
SpOrTS
page 6
To sing for a cause
continued on page 10continued on page 10
masters degrees, ranging
from anthropology and agri-
cultural economics to epide-
miology and neuroscience.The St Joseph University
website, meanwhile, reveals
that the universitys various
faculties offer more than 94
masters degrees and more
than 19 PhDs. The programs
vary from conference trans-
lation and counseling to
family communication and
health management.
I wanted to continue my
masters studies in English
literature or political sci-
ence at LAU, Zahi Sahli, a
senior journalism student,
said. Since we do not have it
at LAU, I am probably goingto AUB instead.
LAU offers ve masters de-
gree programs under the
school of arts and sciences:
MA in comparative litera-
ture, MA in education, MA
Tuesday and no one is inno-cent. Until and unless polit-
ical and sectarian differenc-
es no longer dene us, we are
all losers. This is a Universi-
ty, not a government or a na-
tion. Violence has no place at
LAU and there are no excus-
es.
Despite enlightened cur-
ricula and extracurricular
events that promote respect,
democracy and conict res-
olution, there is still the
pull here, in Lebanon andat LAU, to resort to slogans
that divide and antagonize.
How do those labels deter-
mine whether a student rep-
resentative will lobby for
better labs, longer library
hours, increased parking
or more nancial aid? We
should be here to improve
on what we have inherited
not to emulate what has not
served us well.
Last week, as we tried to-
Lebanon, LAU Deserve Better
Nov. 1, 2011 was a sad dayfor LAU. A pre-election rally
just outside our gates turned
into a political and sectarian
battle that harmed our stu-
dents, our staff, our campus
and our name.
While there is plenty of blame
to go around, there is also
praise. To our students and
staff who tried to control the
ghting, thank you. Howev-
er, we are all lesser today be-
cause of what happened last
gether to control and thenunderstand what trans-
pired, we were sad and dis-
appointed: so much collec-
tive good work seemingly
wasted. But this is anoth-
er week and we all have im-
portant work to do. Student
elections will be postponed
to give us time to analyze
and repair, and many will
aspire to what our mission
calls for. But we are work-
ing against the tide and will
need the vision, couragand creativity that only ou
youth can provide. LAU ha
hope in its students to forg
a better and different futur
for their children. We can
afford to stay the course.
LAU deserves better. Leb
non deserves better. You d
serve better.
Elise Salem is LAUs vice pres
dent for student development
enrollment management
By Elise SalemSpecial for the LAU Tribune
OpiniOn
page 9
College for dummies
8/3/2019 Tribune Issue 2
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CAMPUS NEWS2 Tribune nov. 14, 2011
Healthy Halloween
By Farrah BerrouLAU Tribune Contributor
MP Criticizes ParliamentBy Omar El-TaniLAU Tribune staff
To celebrate Halloween
and World Food Day, LAUstaged a healthy masquer-
ade party in front of the Fine
Arts building on Oct. 31.
The menu included assorted
vegetables with sauce, muf-
ns, pumpkin jam skewers
and grape-cheese skewers.
The skewers were the most
popular and the rst to go.
The DJ used the infamous
insane laugh from Michael
Jacksons song Thriller
to start of the event and fol-
lowed it with a set of elec-
tro-pop music, which in-
cluded a remix of I am sexy
and I know It by LMFAO.A young woman swayed her
body to the pulse of the mu-
sic and shouted enthusiasti-
cally for the crowd to join in.
Stands covered with orange
cloth, multicolored pump-
kins, miniature brooms and
amorphous helium lled bal-
loon art bordered the court.
In the middle of the court, a
centre piece featured three
short scarecrows with cheer-
ful faces painted on fake hay,
some sorcerer hats and a
cauldron.Some stands were informa-
tive; one had the food pyra-
mid on display with various
healthy and unhealthy foods
and another indicated how
you can calculate your body
mass index (BMI).
For some students, the
healthy menu was disap-
pointing. This is Hallow-
een! There should be candy,
chocolates and sweet corn!
B. H., an LAU student who
refused to be identied, said.
Two students were already
in costume for the parade.
Jida Jaroudy, an account-ing student at LAU, wore a
pink wig while Grim Reap-
er showed up to remind ev-
erybody that life is short. I
wanted to do something dif-
ferent, he said.
A make-up competition was
organized, where students
competed for the scariest or
most liked face on Facebook.
The winner, announced lat-
er, got a romantic dinner for
two at Le Commodore Hotel.
MP Albert Moukheiber crit-
icized the Lebanese Parlia-
ment for putting too much ef-
fort into social events, when
the country needs an equal
amount of sweat behind more
important issues such as leg-
islation, representation, and
managing the countrys bud-
get.
Speaking on Nov. 4 during
Imad Salameys Lebanese
Politics and Administration
class, Moukheiber observed
that politicians speak on TVor radio every day. Mean-
while, parliamentary meet-
ings with all involved togeth-
er occurred only three or four
times in the past 18 years,
he said ironically.
In the past 18 years, Par-
liament has met 86 times
for legislation, Moukheiber
Moukheiber explained tha
such issues include victim
of enforced disappearance
the rights of foreign work
ers, womens rights and env
ronmental protection for th
handicapped among other
The plan is to be ofciall
published on Human Right
Day (Dec. 10).
Interestingly, the documen
can be accessed online an
comments can be submi
ted. This is in order to estab
lish a dialogue with partnerand the public, Moukheibe
said.
Partners involved in the pla
include the Lebanese Parlia
ment, the ministries, the Hu
man Rights Organization a
well as international organ
zations. To read more abou
it, check www.lp.gov.lb.
added. This ultimately boils
down to barely ve meetings
a year.
In developed Western coun-
tries, Parliament members
meet every weekday year-
round.
Moukheiber explained that
the concept of a parliament is
to take debates off the streets
and put them into a chamber.
Individuals could represent
the public and discussions
could occur where all voic-
es would participate, the MPadded.
In his lecture, Moukheiber
also revealed that the Par-
liamentary Human Rights
Committee had recently es-
tablished the National Hu-
man Rights Action Plan
(NHRAP), with emphasis on
23 human rights issues.
Eight students and the head
of LAU security, Major Raed
Hassouna were injured in theviolent clashes that erupted
between supporters of vari-
ous political parties early No-
vember.
Supporters of March 8 and
March 14 forces clashed af-
ter Future Movement stu-
dents celebrated the birth-
day of late Prime Minister
Rac Hariri outside the gates
of the LAU Beirut campus.
Stones and rocks were
thrown, injuring those ght-
ing as well as people who
stood to watch. A witness
said she saw a bench ying.It was chaos, stones were
dropping like rain on us from
outside, Nadine Daouk, an
interior design senior, said.
Yasmine Tabsh, a business
senior who witnessed the
event, explained that Future
Movement supporters were
divided in and outside the
gate while Amal Movement
students remained inside,
chanting in support of Speak-
er Nabih Berri. The dean of
students Raed Mohsen wa
at the ceremony from the be
ginning, Tabsh added.We really did not know ho
it started, everyone has h
own story about that, Tabs
said. But I believe its th
mistake of LAU since the
didnt stop the political activ
ity in the rst place.
According toAnnaha
Mohsen declared that th
university is not responsib
for any off-campus event
LAU closed its doors as of
p.m. to contain the incident
Chaos at LAUs Upper GateBy Assaad HawwaLAU Tribune staff
Interested in havingyour event covered by
the LAU Tribune?
Send us an email several
days earlier to
Photoby:NataliaElmani
8/3/2019 Tribune Issue 2
3/12
SPORTSnov.14, 2011
By Zahi SahliLAU Tribune staff
Quote of the Issue
AVBs Chelsea Special?
Never mind Andre Villas-
Boas rants about refereeing
mistakes and his insistence
that lady luck is unwilling
to smile for his team; the
fact remains that Chelsea
are currently way below the
standard required of them if
they are to compete with the
Manchester clubs or Spains
dominant duo for the Pre-
mier League and Champions
League crowns.
To be fair with AVB though,
he inherited an aging squad
whose spine had already
peaked years ago during JosMourinhos tenure. And for
the former Academica and
Porto manager, the boards
failure to land his main
transfer target intensied
the difculty of an already
complicated job.
At the beginning of the sum-
mers transfer window, Chel-
seas plan was obvious; the
club intended to make Tot-
tenham Hotspurs Luka Mo-
dric their marquee signing.
It all added up: Frank Lam-
pards age meant that he
would not be able to main-
tain the form of his previousseasons this term.
Lampard would have become
the West London clubs ver-
sion of Paul Scholes a top
class and experienced per-
former who can turn games
around coming off the bench.
Meanwhile Modric would
have replaced the 33-year-
old as Chelseas main cre-
ative midelder.
But when Modrics trans-
fer was blocked by the sur-
prisingly resilient Spurs,
Chelsea rushed to complete
How will I react whenGuardiola comes to SanSiro? I will greet him. Wewill then see how he re-sponds and what hap-
pens, Milans Ibrahi-movic was quoted assaying by La Gazzettadello Sport ahead of hissides clash with Barcelo-na
3Tribune
Upcoming gamesLa liga19/11
Barcelona V Real Zaragoza
Valencia V Real Madrid
20/11
Sevilla V Athletic Bilbao
Atletico V Levante
Upcoming gamesChampions League
22/11
Bayern V Villarreal
Napoli V Man.City
Man.Utd V Benca
Real Madrid V Dinamo Zagreb
Trabzonspor V Inter
23/11
Leverkusen V Chelsea
Arsenal V Dortmun
Milan V Barcelona
a deadline-day deal for Liv-
erpools Raul Meireles a
signing destined to fail, re-
gardless of Meireles obvious
talent, given the pressure
that the comparison with the
world-class Croatia interna-
tional brings along..
With Ramires yet to fulll
his full potential and Meire-
les proving his similarity
with Modric does not go be-
yond the rst letter of the
two players surnames, Lam-
pards below-par perfor-
mances this season have re-
vived talk about the lack ofcreative talent in the Blues
mideld.
Another pressing issue is
Chelseas seemingly falter-
ing center back pair. The ag-
gressive-but-slow John Ter-
ry has shined in previous
seasons when he was aided
by a quick, world-class de-
fender.
The quality of Ricardo Carv-
alho and William Gallas has
been missed as individual
mistakes of David Luiz, Alex
and Branislav Ivanovic have
let the team down on many
occasions.Luiz has shown glimpses of
his talent which can eventu-
ally lead him to becoming a
consistent performer. By the
time that he nally proves
his worth, the versatile Bra-
zilian can compete for the an-
chorman sport with John Obi
Mikel who put in a poor per-
formance in his sides 5-3 de-
feat against Arsenal.
If he lls in the defensive
mideld spot, Luiz would aid
Terry and Ivanovic as a third
central defender when off the
ball. Since AVBs Chelsea fa-
vor a high-pressing game,
a defenders shift into mid-
eld could add to the teams
defensive vigor a tempo-
rary x for the Blues current
struggles.
AVB might as well learn
from none other than RealMadrids Mourinho who con-
tinues to get the best out of
his thin squads by tinker-
ing with the positions of his
players. Madrids Pepe has
served as both a defender
and a defensive midelder,
and Luiz does not fall short of
Pepes positional exibility.
Another issue is the stan-
dard of wingers at Stamford
Bridge. Surely, Chelseas
squad bolsters good wing-
ers, but these arguably fall
behind their counterparts
quality at rival clubs.
Premier League leaders
Manchester Citys squad in-
cludes the likes of Samir Nas-
ri, Adam Johnson and Da-
vid Silva while Manchester
Uniteds Sir Alex Ferguson
usually starts the explosive
Nani alongside the youngand potent Ashley Young.
Although the addition of
Juan Mata boosted their
squads quickness (some-
thing which must have
pleased Fernando Torres),
Chelsea still lack genuine
talent on the opposite ank.
Daniel Sturridge remains in-
experienced, Salomon Kalou
nowhere near the required
level and Florent Malou-
da past his best while Nico-
las Anelka, a good makeshift
alternative on the wings,
thrives in his usual striker
role.
Lilles Edin Hazard is ex
pected to move to Stamfor
Bridge in the summer whi
Chelsea will surely bid fo
Modric once the transfer win
dow reopens in July.
With the Premier League ttle nine points away from th
Blues grasps and the Man
chester clubs proving the
are Englands elite force
AVB has every right to wo
ry that he might suffer th
same fate as sacked mana
er Carlo Ancelottis.
But if club owner Roma
Abramovich can give AV
time to change his teams fo
tunes, and if the manage
can push for a few signing
Chelsea will be back to th
top of their game soon.
Upcoming gamesPremier League19/11
Norwich City V Arsenal
Man.City V Newcastle
Swansea City V Man.Utd
Sunderland V Fulham
20/11
Chelsea V Liverpool
21/11
Tottenham V Aston Villa
Upcoming gamesSerie A
19/11
Inter V Cagliari
Fiorentina V Milan
Napoli V Lazio
20/11
Juventus V Palermo
Roma V Lecce
Parma V Udinese
8/3/2019 Tribune Issue 2
4/12
CAMPUS LIFE4 Tribune nov. 14, 2011
Foreign Students Social StruggleBy Natalia ElmaniLAU Tribune staff
As he positioned himself in
the back of the class, Fran-
cesco Laurenti looked quite
comfortable. His facial fea-
tures couldnt be distin-
guished from those of the
surrounding students at the
LAU newsroom. But once he
asked a question, Lauren-
tis Italian accent, and origin,
immediately broke through.
Eyebrows were raised and
mumbling could be heard
from different areas of the
lab as Laurenti responded to
the instructors question. A
number of students turnedtheir heads to see where the
voice came from.
Laurenti was born and raised
in Rome, Italy, and eventu-
ally moved to Beirut to com-
plete the last two years of
high school at the Interna-
tional College. Today, he is
a third-year journalism stu-
dent at LAU.
It was fun, the young man
recalled as he described
his rst years in Lebanon.
There were some interna-
tional friends that I made,
but most of them were Leba-
nese.
Today, however, things
have somewhat changed. I
wouldnt befriend as many
people at LAU, Laurenti
said. Making friends or be-
longing to a new social group
during university years is
challenging for many teen-
agers. For foreigners at LAU,
the task is even more compli-
cated.
Laurenti explains the confu-
sion on students faces when
they hear his accent.
Maybe its politics, religion,
how they dress, upper gate,
lower gate, its very random,he explained. Maybe I dont
look that friendly. It could be
anything.
Lara Joumaa, a Lebanese in-
terior design student, notic-
es the breakup that occurs at
university level but relates it
to the social dynamics in the
country.
I feel like Lebanese people
are so isolated within their
own communities that its
hard for them to let other
people in, she said. To min-
gle with different political
groups is difcult for some of
them, so mingling with for-
eigners is even harder.
Foreigners at LAU who par-
ticipate in SINARC, an Ara-
bic language program offered
here, describe the same feel-
ings of exclusion from the
normal social routines.
Lorene Fouquet, a SINARC
and LAU student from Par-
is described how much she
enjoys life in Lebanon. Peo-
ple are warm and welcom-
ing but, at LAU, its difcult,
she said.
Fouquet recalled that she
once sat alone on a bench on
campus for some time beforea young Lebanese woman ap-
proached her and started a
conversation. She asked her
if she needed anything and
eventually exchanged phone
numbers. Its nice, but its
not usual, Fouquet said.
Intercultural communica-
tion scholars explain that
newcomers into a given cul-
ture often nd it hard to t
in before they socialize them-
selves into the rules govern-
ing the community in ques-
tion. The responsibility of the
hosts, in this case, is to com-
municate about the stan-
dard social norms and help
explain them to the newcom-
ers. Such norms include basic
rules such as choice of cloth-
ing, patterns of dating and
approach to relationships.
Another SINARC and LAU
student from Paris, Victor
Vallin, explained what its
like to be a foreigner at LAU.
They kind of stare, like oh,
hes a foreigner, hes asking
questions, he said.
Although the foreign student
population at LAU amount-
ed to 1,578 students last fall,
some feel slightly excludedfrom campus life simply be-
cause they come from differ-
ent cultures, are unable to
speak Arabic or cannot nd
the proper social events that
help integrate foreigners and
Lebanese students.
I went to a basketball get-
together and no one really
showed up, Tommy Beard,
a SINARC student from New
York, explained.
But regardless of the differ-
ences some students may
witness on campus, Dean of
Students Raed Mohsen ex-
plained theres nothing in
terms of conict with int
gration.
Most international student
have dual citizenship so the
have visited Lebanon b
fore, Mohsen said. There
really no culture shock.
Laurenti tries to distinguis
what brings out such a di
ference on campus but, lik
many others, he is unsur
about the diagnosis.
There is a barrier betwee
students, he said, But may
be there are other factor
that unite them.
Nadine Nakad, a Lebanescommunication arts stu
dent, believes its difcult t
nd a group that is culturall
mixed at LAU.
Its not their home countr
its known as an unstab
place, she said. Like man
Lebanese, she welcomes fo
eigners and hopes to have
more culturally diverse cam
pus life.
Laurenti agrees. Overal
there are good and bad peo
ple anywhere, but it would b
much better to have more o
an international atmospher
at LAU, he said.
Finders, KeepersBy Rouba JaafarLAU Tribune staff
Shelves full of books, copy
books, calculators, umbrel-
las, sunglasses, brushes, sta-
plers, hats, iPads, laptops,
wallets and golden rings.
The scene resembles a ga-
rage sale but actually de-
scribes LAUs lost and found
ofce.In a rush to get to class, you
may forget your iPhone on
the cafeteria table.
Suddenly aware of your over-
sight, you go back but cannot
nd the item in question. In
such a situation, remember
to rst stop at LAUs lost and
found ofce.
Originally in Shannon Hall
and now across the street
from the lower gate, the lost
and found ofce amasses
loads of peculiar items for-
gotten around campus.
As I walked into the room
where all the precious little
treasures are stored, I was
amazed by the number of
copybooks and books on the
shelves. I counted 276 of dif-
ferent kinds and colors. Theymade the wall look like an art
piece or a rainbow.
Also on the oor were draw-
ing pads, rulers and some
books. CDs were everywhere.
I also found hats and even
lights bulbs.
We keep valuable stuff
aside, Bassem Dandan, the
head of the security guards,
said. He explained that some
students lose expensive prod-
ucts like golden rings, wal-
lets, laptops and iPads. We
keep valuable items even if
no one comes and asks about
them, Dandan said.
Nour Al-Mokdad, an interna-
tional business student, lost
her accounting book. They
asked me about the day I lost
the book and the time, theytook my ID, they gave me
back the book, and I had to
sign, she explained.
Dandan revealed that unso-
licited books, both copied and
original, usually go to library
during the trade-in-day. He
explained that some peo-
ple, including those who lose
valuable items, never visit
the lost and found ofce.
Major Ahmad Hassouna ex-
plained that most items lost
are of little monetary value.
Most of what we nd is nor
mal stuff, he said. If we n
something expensive, we d
an investigation. Hassoun
explained that, when a sig
nicant lapse of time passe
the lost and found ofce sell
unsolicited valuables ansubmits the money to th
business ofce, which in re
turn gives it to the nancia
aid ofce.
Some forgotten items nev
er make it to the lost an
found ofce. I lost my inter
nal hard disk last summer a
Sage Hall and it wasnt at th
lost and found ofce, Fara
Shami, a radio/TV/lm se
nior, said. I kept asking fo
two weeks but it was gone.
Photoby:AhmadYassine
8/3/2019 Tribune Issue 2
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5
CAMPUS LIFETribunenov. 14, 2011
Stand High, Dine LowBy Caroline FeghalyLAU Tribune staff
When you stand at the up-
per gate, you see students
pass by with fancy cars that
cost a fortune. And if you vis-
it the parking lots surround-
ing LAU, you nd yourself at
a car show, full of the brands
you dream of: Ferrari, Bent-
ley, Mustang, Porshe, and
the newest Mercedes and
BMW.
There are very rich and
prestigious students at all
universities, but most are
concentrated at LAU. Every-
one knows it, Malak Jaafar,
a 20-year-old journalism stu-dent at the Lebanese Inter-
national University, said.
But when it comes to the res-
taurants in which they fre-
quent, LAU students choose
places that are affordable to
any middle-class person.
To test the matter in a more-
or-less scientic way, I asked
50 students on campus where
they dine most, what they or-
der, and how much they pay
per person. Around 42 per-
cent picked Roadster diner in
Hamra.
The most expensive plat-
ters at Roadster are the Fa-
jitas, which can reach up to
29,750 Lebanese pounds.
But most students said they
order burgers and especial-
ly the Mighty Chicken Burg-
er that costs 10,250 Leba-
nese pounds.With french fries and Coke
on the side, the meal costs
around 20,000 Lebanese
pounds.And for those who or-
der pasta, the most expen-
sive plate costs 14,750 Leba-
nese pounds.
Eight percent of the students
prefer Deek Duke, and an-
other eight percent dine at
Chopsticks. Like those who
dine at Roadster, students
who eat at Deek Duke most-
ly order burgers with fries
and Coke, paying between
20,000 and 25,000 Lebanese
pounds.
When I look at the way LAU
students dress up, and all the
brands they wear, I imagine
that they dine at very expen-
sive and high-class restau-
rants, such as hotels, Me-
lissa Sherfane, an interiordesign student at the Amer-
ican University of Science
and Technology, said.
Six percent of the students
chose expensive restaurants
such as those at Phoenicia
Hotel, or Square and Hem-
mingways at the Movenpick.
They picked Yumi, in Monot,
and O&C seafood restaurant.
Marwan Abou Ghayda, a
23-year-old internation-
al business major, dines at
Yumi. I order about 30 piec-
es of sushi, with an alco-
holic drink, and I pay about
100,000 Lebanese pounds,
he said. This is for one per-
son only.
Rajy Radwan, a 24-year-old
management student, pays
40 dollars per person at
Mondo for a salad bar, a plate
of pasta, and a soft drink.Malik Jaafar, a chemis-
try graduate student at the
American University of Bei-
rut, thinks that during
classes, LAU students dine
at Roadsters, Crepaway or
any restaurant that is close
to them. But on a weeken
when they have no clas
es, they most probably go t
much more expensive pla
es.
The remaining 26 percent i
my survey are scattered b
tween Crepaway, Scoozi, Fr
days, McDonalds, Hardee
KFC, Burger King, Burge
Joint, and Universal Snack
The prices of the variou
meals at the rst three ar
more or less equivalent t
Roadsters while the re
have less expensive choices
LAU students have thsame taste others have.
And that the prestige of th
university isnt related t
where its students dine, Na
dine Salam, a 20-year-ol
marketing and advertisin
major, said.
Cooking: An Art at a Distinct ClassBy Maria FellasLAU Tribune staff
Is it the Food Channel fe-
ver, the escape from difcultclasses or simply the joy of
cooking your own food?
As surprising as it may seem
for an international business
student, Jean Maalouf is in-
terested in Food Preparation
I, a class offered by the hospi-
tality and tourism manage-
ment department at LAU.
I look forward to it, he said.
The same department also
offers a class for those inter-
ested in baking. Mariana
Khayyat, an accounting stu-
dent at LAU, nds the course
entertaining.
I decided to include this elec-tive in my choice of courses
for the spring semester after
a friend of mine recommend-
ed it, she said. He described
it as an escape from all other
hectic classes.
Although catering for a spe-
cic major, hospitality man-
agement courses seem to at-
tract students from around
campus. Classes like Food
Preparation, Baking Pas-
tries and Chocolate, and
Wine, Spirits and Cigars are
among students favorite
electives. During fall 2011,the department offered four
sections of the rst, four of the
second and six of the third.
Although we live in a large-
ly patriarchal society where
cooking is often the responsi-
bility of women, LAUs macho
men still ock to these class-
es. I would love to learn some
new skills, Maalouf said,
Why not cooking? I havent
received any news saying
that its reserved for girls.
Course offerings reveal that
all instructors teaching this
course are males usuallyhighly trained professional
chefs. Georges Tamer, hospi-
tality lab supervisor and in-
structor, teaches Wine, Spir-
its and Cigars.
We teach students tast-
ing techniques, and how to
differentiate between each
genre of wine, he explained.
We also cover the various
types of grapes available.
Baking classes teach stu-
dents the techniques of pre-
paring delicious and visual-
ly appealing desserts. Pupils
are then asked to apply whatthey learned in the kitchen
lab. In Food Preparation I
and II, instructors give stu-
dents recipes and demon-
strate the process by cooking
during class hours.
Tala Khansa, an education
major, explains that cooking
classes are interactive.
They require participation
from all the students who are
involved in the process, she
said. Its really fun.
Kitchen labs are equippe
with professional uten
sils, simulating commercikitchens at hotels and re
taurants.
Like other courses on cam
pus, cooking classes involv
tests and exams.
They still seem, however, t
attract students from acros
campus. I always had th
hobby, but to learn the tech
niques and secrets of th
trade from professional in
structors seems very appea
ing, Khayyat said.
P
hotoby:AhmadYassine
8/3/2019 Tribune Issue 2
6/12
6
PEOPLEYoung InstructorsAim Big
It was the rst day of the ac-
ademic year. She entered the
classroom casually like any
other student.
She wore tight trendy jeans,
a grey and white v-neck
shirt and a funky green scarf
around her neck. Incon-
spicuously, she spread her
books, papers and laptop on
her desk, yearning for a way
to get attention among the
clamor and chitchats of stu-
dents.
Five minutes passed. Pu-
pils looked at their watches,expecting the instructor to
come in anytime.
OK guys, so the class has be-
gun. My name is Wafaa Ha-
lawi and I am gonna be your
Art of Film teacher for this
semester, the young woman
said with a clear voice, as she
placed her palms on the desk
to lift up her body.
Around 37.5 percent of
LAUs instructors are below
To Sing For a Cause
By Layan DoueikLAU Tribune staff
May Nasr graduated from the Lebanese American University as a social work-
er. Today, she is also a singer. As a child, Nasrs dream was always to sing on a
stage, playing a guitar. She never truly believed this dream would come true.
1.Who supported you in the music eld?
The people who supported me in the most profound ways were music artists
Farid Abul Kheir and Zaki Nassif as well as Badia Sabra (former voice teacher
of Fairuz). May they all rest in peace. I continue to receive much moral support
from my closest friends who have always provided me with valuable input and
guidance and have helped me remain on the right track.
2. Why dont you accompany your songs with video clips for wider spread?
I would love to have video clips for some of my songs. However, I cannot afford
it nancially since the music work I do does not generate sufcient income. My
concerts throughout the past 12 years have mainly been fundraising for charityand humanitarian causes..
3.What do you think about todays art? Are you fond of any modern art-
ists or music?
I am very fond of several modern musicians whom I categorize as very talented
and committed to producing music of great positive and lasting inuence on lis-
teners. Some of those contemporary and modern musicians whom I personally
admire for their genuine work: From Lebanon, Tania Saleh, Charbel Rouhana,
Jaheda Wehbeh, Mashrou3 Leila and Issa Ghandour. From Palestine, Rim Ban-
na, Weh Wlad el hara. From Syria, Lena Shamamian, Rasha Rizk. From Jordan,
The Team
Tribune nov. 14, 2011
Makadi Nahhas, Al Fari group. From Morocco and Tunisia, Souad Massi, Dh
fer Youssef.
5.We all know that respectable art does not generate enough mone
these days. Whats your main career?
My professional career is in the eld of micronance (i.e. programs giving ve
small loans for women and men managing income generating business activ
ties) and economic development.
It is very unfortunate that the existing music production companies in our r
gion show no interest in supporting respectable rising non-mainstream an
or non-commercial music. This forces dedicated musicians to rely on their i
dividual efforts through professional career jobs in order to nance music pro
ects. For this reason, it took me ten years to produce my rst album Lil Gh
ly (2008).
6.Do you have a new single or album in process? And what do you hop
to accomplish this year?
A new album is on the way, to be released later this year. It is a live recording
a joint concert which I was honored to perform with my friend, the great Pue
to Rican musician, Lourdes Perez, in San Antonio, USA. We both sang each ot
ers songs, combining Arabic and Spanish. Three songs were released durin
our joint concert in Malaga-Spain this past July 2011. The full album will be r
leased in March 2012 when we perform together again in San Francisco, USA
We were planning to give a concert tour in the Arab region this year but decide
to put this plan on hold due to the current instability the region.
By Farah Al SaatiLAU Tribune staff
Editors-in-Chief:
Farah Al Saati, Ranim Hadid,
Zahi Sahli
Staff:
Iman Soufan, Carla Hazarian, Lyn Abu-Seraj, Layan Doueik, Omar El Tani, Zeina Shehayeb, Mohamed Al-Oray
Mayya Al-Ogaily, Natalia Elmani, Assaad Hawwa,Caroline Feghaly, Rouba Jaafar
Adviser:
Yasmine Dabbous
37. Students here seem di-
vided in their assessment of
instructors based on age and
its relation to teacher credi-
bility.
Halawi is only 28 years old
and holds a masters degree
in lm studies.
I enjoy being a young in-
structor and feeling the nov-
elty of being in the teachers
shoes, she said.
Many students shared Hala-
wis opinion that age is not a
factor and that credibility de-
pends on the character of theinstructor and the way he or
she delivers the message.
They also believed that
younger instructors are live-
lier, joke around and have
more patience. I try to
choose young instructors be-
cause they are enthusiastic
and more familiar with our
modern way of thinking,
Hussein Sheet, a business
student, said.
But some believed that
young instructors lack the
experience and ability to
manage a class. Old instruc-
tors give the feeling of cred-
ibility and assurance that
they know the material very
well unlike the young ones,
Lara Abu Chala, an English
major, said.
Khaled Nasser, a lecturer
in interpersonal communi-
cation, studied this very is-
sue in the United States. He
found that age and humor
signicantly affect the credi-bility of instructors.
Age, he said, is associated
with being wise. According-
ly, his research revealed, stu-
dents tend to choose the older
instructors.
The ideal teacher is the one
who has the competence and
the understanding of stu-
dents, Nasser, who is him-
self 35 years old, explained.
Reine Azzi, a 29-year-old
English and moral reasoning
instructor, refers to Aristot-
les rhetoric theory to explain
her point.
She believes that credibility
is not simply about age but
is more related to ones abil-
ity to establish the ethos
through the substance of
ideas and their presentation.
I am not the only source of
information, students as well
help me through their re-
searches, Azzi said.
Azzi agrees with Halawi that
the techniques she uses to in-teract with her students may
give her an edge over old-
er instructors. I love using
Facebook. Sometimes I ask
students to post their class
reports on our group wall,
she said.
When asked about the rea-
son for choosing teaching
as their rst profession, a
number of young instructors
pointed to the challenge to
prove themselves and the
passion for educating st
dents.
Hussein Hassan, the youn
est part-time instructor
the school of arts and sc
ences, said he invests in h
young age, acting as an ol
er brother for his student
I had many opportuniti
to work in the industry but
believe that I am born to b
a teacher, Hassan adde
I have the communicatio
skills, knowledge and pa
sion.Halawi, Azzi and Hassa
share the same teaching a
proach mainly relying o
the balance between disc
pline and trendy ways of i
teracting with the class.
I was a student not that lon
ago so I try my best to be a
pealing and fun, bearing
mind all the cheating tec
niques, Halawi said with
smile.
8/3/2019 Tribune Issue 2
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7
CULTURE & FASHIONTribunenov14 , 2011
The Lady Behind Vintage StoryBy Mohamad Al-OraybiLAU Tribune staff
Yasmeen Borro, the proudowner of Vintage Story, is
hard to miss in a crowd. Apart
from being mtisse and mod-
el thin, she always wears a
pearl-white smile and color-
ful outts.
Born into a Lebanese-Moroc-
can family, Borro is all about
diversity. I was raised in a
home that hosted many dif-
ferent traditions, cuisines
and languages, she said. She
would have labneh for break-
fast and couscous for lunch.
The blend of cultures made
Borro appreciate differences
and nd beauty in combiningthem. Having the privilege of
touring Europes cosmopoli-
tan cities as a child, she learnt
to respect different cultures,
sexual preferences and racial
differences.
Borro opened her business at
the age of 24. Vintage Story, which sells
vintage clothing, shoes, ac-
cessories, bags and sunglass-
es, is among the rst of its
kind in the Middle East.
It feels like yesterday when
I rst sold vintage pieces in
an open house in Beirut, back
in 2008, Borro said. She sold
all the pieces she had hand-
picked from across Europe in
only three days.
I came from Europe with a
suitcase and ideas, Borro ex-
plained. She named her store
Vintage Story because every
piece at the shop tells the taleof a journey, a designer or a
trend.
Borro realized soon the ab-
sence of luxurious vintage
shops in Lebanon. My fa-
vorite pieces in store today
would be a Dior scarf from
the 70s and Yves Saint Lau-rent earrings from the early
90s, she said.
Borro travels every two
months all over Europe
scavenging for unique vin-
tage pieces. The samples she
picks are always of excellent
quality and in perfect shape.
Vintage is all about quality,
its a culture of timeless piec-
es, Borro said.
Borro also has her own line of
vintage-inspired couture. I
take my time with every cus-
tomer and customize vintage
inspired outts depending on
the style and vision of my cli-ent, she explained.
Born in Abidjan and raised in
Belgium, where she studied
fashion at Atelier Lannaux,
Borro eventually settled in
Paris and worked with famed
designer John Galliano.
Working with Galliano wathe best learning experienc
I have ever had, she sai
He is a genius.
The young woman star
ed collecting vintage pie
es when she was only 14. A
companying her father, a
art expert, to auctions a
around Europe, Borro gre
a special bond with antiqu
ties.
Collecting antiques and vin
tage clothes as a child mad
my store today my destiny
she said. It is what I love d
ing and what I do best.
As proud as she is for beinLebanese, Borro stands ou
effortlessly. Her cosmopol
tan upbringing and Europ
an life style formed a youn
woman who is diverse fo
combining the beauties of ev
ery culture that touched her
each others work and helped
ne-tune their abilities.
Over time, Mouallem devel-oped his own style.
Some of his most known slo-
gans are Badna Balad,
Cha3eb Ne3sen, and Free-
dom never comes for free.
Lebanon is the best country,
without them was another
powerful message; the Leba-
nese people managed to nd
religious or political meaning
in it.
While the slogan was orig-
inally intended as a politi-
cal pun, it ended up mean-
ing many different things,
Mouallem said.
In his early work, the youngartist used his talent to deliv-
er messages but, over time,
he felt tired with the nega-
tive emphasis in his art and
decide to try a different direc-
tion.
I wanted to focus on the pos-
itive and introduce the art of
grafti to people, Mouallem
said.
Word of his ability soon
spread, and he became quite
well-known. His art moved
paint is granted, this ur-
ban art has become more ac-
knowledged and marketed in
recent years.
Mouallem, still 24, stud-ies architecture at the Leb-
anese University. Grafti is
his part-time job, but he con-
siders it more a hobby than a
profession.
Yes, I do get paid to do it
most of the time, but I dont
do it for monetary reasons,
he explained. I do graf-
ti because its a passion and
a hobby, and I want to intro-
duce it to the Lebanese peo-
ple.
Across grungy warehous-
es and old residential build-
ings in Lebanon, words of po-litical meaning and colorful
pictures decorate the once-
blank wall a scene that is
becoming more and more fa-
miliar as each year goes by.
One man, who has played a
signicant part in the rise
of this subculture, is Rami
Mouallem, a well-known
Lebanese grafti artist.
Dark and reserved, he speaks
of himself quite humbly but
pride shines upon his face as
he talks about his art.
He is a man whose passion
and career have taken him to
places across the globe. Whatwas once a hobby has now be-
come a business and a life-
style.
I [originally] decided to do
grafti to transmit a message
to people through an original
art. That was my concept at
rst, he said.
Grafti is the art of spray
painting lettering or imag-
es on property such as build-
ings. Traditionally deemed
illegal if no permission to
An Urban Art FormBy Carla HazarianLAU Tribune staff
The spark that started his
passion came in 2006, when
he was just 19 and the Leb-
anese grafti scene was still
uncommon.Driving by some street
art, he found it interesting
enough to further research
the subject in books, online,
and through video clips of
hip-hop and break-dancing.
Mouallem also download-
ed informational videos that
taught him how to paint with
spray cans.
In 2007, he met up with oth-
er local grafti artists every
Sunday. Artists critiqued
Photo
by:RamiMouallem
from the sides of buildings t
magazines, newspapers an
television.He worked on advertisin
and awareness campaign
and got to illustrate for majo
companies such as Porsch
Adidas, Pepsi, Smirn
Heineken and Vespa t
name a few.
He is also in demand to elab
orately design the walls o
homes, buildings, restau
rants, galleries and pub
giving them an urban twist.
Mouallem created a new
business venture, Pimp M
Room, which consists of cre
atively painting children
bedrooms.He does not advertise, re
lying instead on word-o
mouth and Facebook to rais
awareness about the art.
Grafti has taken him t
Brazil, Turkey, France an
most of the Middle East.
I asked Mouallem if ther
was anything he would rath
er be doing right now, if h
got another chance.
It would still be grafti, h
said.
CourtesyofYasmeenBorro
8/3/2019 Tribune Issue 2
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8
MEDIA &LITERATURETribune nov. 14 , 2011
NDU Film FestivalBy Ranim HadidLAU Tribune staff
Reaching for the StarsBy Nora KamareddineLAU Tribune contributor
pleased to see the amountof supporters who showed
up on the night her lm was
screened. A week after she
uploaded her trailer on You-
Tube, she registered over
10,000 views.
Showing my lm at NDU al-
lows me to present my work
and represent LAU to other
universities and lm makers,
she said. I was able to com-
municate with other direc-
tors and enrich my lm expe-
rience.
The idea of Shaers lm a
look at temporary marriage or
zawaj al muta is more or less
Six lms directed by LAUcommunication arts stu-
dents were selected to join
the Fifth Annual Film Fes-
tival of Young Filmmakers
Making the Future of the
Lebanese Cinema.
Hosted by Notre Dame Uni-
versity every year since
2006, the festival aims at
helping lm students from
different universities come
together, encouraging their
talents and fostering their
creativity.
According to the festivals
website, organizers hope to
set a new foundation for fu-ture generations of lmmak-
ers. The event publicizes the
works of talented students
and recent graduates to
thrust them into an already
difcult industry.
Students who receive the
greatest number of votes
from the festival audience
receive trophies. The over-
all top winners are awarded
3,000, 2,000 and 1,000 dol-
lars for the rst, second and
third places respectively.
Farah Shaer, director ofI Of-
fered You Pleasure and win-
ner of the public vote, was
a taboo in Lebanon.My message was to portray
my idea about it, she said.
Although I was criticized on
many blogs and on Facebook,
Im glad the rst screening of
this lm was a success.
Natalie Kreidieh and Sari
Shrayteh, co-directors of
Arak Baladi , a documentary
about urbanization in Leba-
non, are both happy to have
made it to the NDU lm fes-
tival.
We tried to connect all the
problems in Lebanon but
they were too many, Shray-
teh said with a giggle.
Have you ever dreamt of go-
ing to space?
Richard Branson, the found-
er of Virgin Group, has made
this dream come true.
A 209-million-dollar project,
which had its early begin-
nings in the year 2004, is now
approaching the end phase.If everything progresses as
desired, starting late 2012,
commercial ights into space
will be available for 200,000
dollars per person.
They will be offered once a
week and will cater to a max-
imum of six passengers per
ight.
There are already 450 tick-
et holders waiting to be
launched into space. Ranim
Hadid, a communication arts
They chose the topic, theysaid, because farmers suf-
fer from urbanization, yet
people are largely unaware
of the problem. We real-
ly wanted to share this and
shed light on certain issues,
Kriedieh said. In the name
of prosperity and progress,
Lebanon has caused an in-
crease in poverty and envi-
ronmental damage.
This festival would be the
rst for Fuad Halawani, di-
rector ofSoura. It feels good
to have made it to the fes-
tival, Halawani said. Hes
glad that people got the
chance to view his lm.Other LAU participants at
the festival include Joseph
Rizkallah, director ofDream
for Me, Bob Hamandi, direc
tor ofNagham, and Ibrahim
Badran, director ofPerso.
Adam Simon, a business ma
jor and audience member,
said he enjoyed the festival.
You get to see other people
work and their ideas of life,
he explained. Its really in-
spiring.
Some lms make you laugh
others make you sad, Simo
said. In both cases theres a
message being portrayed.
student at LAU, thinks the
idea is really cool. Although
way overpriced, she said, the
experience of looking at the
earth from space should be
great.
The worlds rst commercial
spaceport called Spaceport
America is located in Mo-jave, New Mexico.
White Knight Two, the
mother ship, will carry the
spaceship SpaceShipTwo
alongside with it into the up-
per atmosphere from where
the latter then rocket launch-
es into the sub orbit at a speed
of 3,200 kilometer per hour.
After reaching a maximal
height of 100 kilometers and
a short period of weightless-
ness, the spacecraft will drift
back towards the earth with-
out any motor power, based
on the concept of a feathered
re-entry.
The rear wing will tilt at a
certain angle and the craft
will slowly glide back into
the atmosphere similar to a
feather gliding in the wind. According to latest technol-
ogy, this is the safest way of
returning to the ground.
I would wait for some time,
until its cheaper and safely
tried, Raja Sidani, a painter,
explained. When you have
more competition, the ser-
vice tends to improve.
Space Ship Two is equipped
with two windows, one to
the side, and one above ev-
ery seat on the space plane.
In addition to these viewing
possibilities for passengers,
every individual receives a
recording of his or her per-
sonal pre-ight and in-ight
experience.
In order to y with Virgin Ga-
lactic, every passenger must
undergo a two-day pre-ightpreparation, which includes
training sessions compara-
ble to the ones astronauts
take.
Passengers will be tested to
make sure their bodies can
endure the stress of under ze-
ro-gravity.
Travelers will also learn
some basic emergency re-
sponses and how to operate
some of the machinery on
board of the ship.
Virgin Galactic is not t
only company working o
space travel for ordinar
tourists.
Alongside this project a
eight more private compa
nies working towards th
goal. The company Xco
Aerospace is offering a ighaboard their spaceshi
Lynx for around half th
price of Virgin Galactic.
Will the ight to space b
come as affordable as one t
Dubai?
Until then, Ahmad Yas
ine awaits. I am sure I wi
be scared but I have enoug
curiosity to do it, he said.
people tell me its nice, I wi
denitely get all excited an
try it.
8/3/2019 Tribune Issue 2
9/12
OPINION9Tribune
Note: The LAU Tribune is not responsible for theopinions expressed on this page.
College for DummiesBy Ruba Haj HassanSpecial to the LAU Tribune
nov.14,2011
When the 2008 economic cri-
sis occurred, only a minori-
ty of the worlds economists
managed to forecast its oc-
currence; it was complicated
and uncertain.
But today, most of the worlds
economists agree on the like-
lihood of another recession
soon with the political lead-
ers failing to introduce a per-
manent solution to the risks
of the world economy.
With the growing pessimism
in the stock markets, high
levels of unemployment,sharp decrease in housing
prices, high prices of food
and gas taking over most of
the relatively low wages and
salaries, unstable dollar cur-
rency, the dramatic devasta-
tions in the Euro zone, and
the heavy debts of most de-
veloped countries, it doesnt
need an economist to fore-
see another recession yet to
strike.
Going further, it doesnt need
an economist to claim that
two consecutive recessions
will eventually lead to de-
pression.
Eighteen leading experts
not to daunt you with facts
and gures reported in a re-
cent CNN money survey that
they believe there is [only]
about a 15% chance of a new
recession. Of course, this is
pretty much the same group
of individuals who told every-
one that the economic slow-
down in early 2008 was just a
soft patch as well.Following the daily news of
the Euro crisis, or what Nico-
las Sarkozy (the French pres-
ident) and Angela Merkel
(the German PM) tend to call
the Greek crisis, its start-
ing to get clearer that the fail-
ure of the Euro zone to deal
with Greece, Italy, Ireland,
and Spain (high levels of un-
employment, massive debt,
negative economic growth)
will be the prelude to a world-
wide devastation and global
economic crisis.
Then, Barack Obama shows
up, the rst black president
in the history of the United
States, who carried with him
hope for change to a hopeless
American society struggling
to survive their countrys un-
stable economical situation.
Finding himself helpless to
stand against some business
giants in his country, Obama
focuses on decreasing his
countrys 9% unemployment.
And the only way to do so isby protecting those business
giants from bankruptcy. If
any of those giants fall, they
will eventually fall after one
another in a dominos effect
like the one that occurred in
2008.
Thus, thousands of employ-
ees will lose their jobs lead-
ing to a straight recession.
Knowing that if the Euro
falls, New York stock ex-
change will fall instantly af-
ter it, and knowing about the
angry movements all across
the United States led by the
young activists of Occupy
Wall Street, Obama gave
Europe around six weeks to
deal with its crisis.
Unfortunately, the six weeks
are over and Europe has not
only failed to deal with its cri-
sis, but has created other cri-
ses as well. The only solution
they found is to beg China for
rescue. Greeces political sit-
uation is highly critical, It-
alys 1.9-trillion-dollar debtand -0.2% economic growth,
and Spains 18% unemploy-
ment, tell us something is go-
ing out of control.
Questions to be answered in
the upcoming articles: What
are the options left? What if
Greece leaves the Euro zone?
What is Chinas reply to Eu-
ropes call for help? What is
the role of the Middle East
and how would this crisis af-
fect us?
WRITE!
Do you have
anything youd like
to say?
Send us your
articles [email protected]
and well be
happy to publish
them
By Ibrahim Halawi
Special to the LAU Tribune
and your hair looks unusual.
No one does. (Except for me. I
understand).
Taking charge of your own
life for the rst time isnt
easy. In fact, you might just
nd yourself ipping out a
little and uttering things
like: What do you mean I
need money for that? Give
it to me! or Why are you
walking slowly when Im
late for class? or WHY ARE
THERE SO MANY BLACK-
BERRIES?!
In any case, fear not. I am
here to help you through thistough time by giving you an
idea of whats to come.
First; you must learn to ac-
cept that from this day on,
sleep will become a privi-
lege. Pulling all-nighters and
waking up at 6 a.m. after just
32 minutes of sleep only to do
the pants-dance before rush-
ing to class will become your
Growing up is a scary thing.
You nd yourself alone in
a dorm room with noth-
ing but an old blankie and a
years supply of instant noo-
dles to keep you from starv-
ing, when you suddenly re-
alize that you are expected
to keep yourself alive until
Christmas break without the
help of those strange, middle-
aged people who live in your
house and go by the names of
mom and dad.
So you bite your nails. Then
your toe nails. Then your
roommates nails. Then thenearest object that resembles
a nail.
Eventually, you decide that
the best way to express your
despair is by posting an om-
inous picture of yourself on
Facebook so that everyone
will feel the depths of your
teenage angst simply be-
cause youre looking down
everyday norm.
Caffeine will become your
new best friend. Embrace it.
You will often nd yourself
bumping into walls because
your eyes are closed and then
apologizing to every wall you
bump into. You will come to
discover a very thin line be-
tween consciousness and a
comatose-like state. (Are you
sleeping right now? Is this all
a dream?).
Procrastination is your worst
enemy. If you let your work-
load pile up even for a day,
your brain will very quicklyalter its molecular structure
causing you to break down at
the smallest inconvenience.
Like when nding out that
Tangled is the last Disney
princess movie. (Why God,
WHY?!).
You will also go around tell-
ing strangers that you think
black holes are portals for an-
gels. When you nd yourself
slicing pineapples yelling:
SPONGEBOB, I KNOW
YOURE IN THERE! Get
yourself to the nearest hospi-
tal.
Sometimes your roommate
turns out to be your soul-
mate, sometimes your room-
mate turns out to be a se-
rial killer. Either way, its
important to at least try to be
friendly. (Teddies dont hug
back, you guys).
So start by giving them some-
thing pretty, like France. If
youre ever annoyed of them,express your feelings using
Taylor Swift lyrics. And if
they get in a ght with a oor
mate, be neutral. (Be Swit-
zerland).
Theres a very big chance
that you will exist purely on
Twinkies and soup for the
next few months. Any form
of decent human nutrition
will soon become a thing o
the past. Although accordin
to the sticker on the cover
soup is supposed to be prett
healthy.
And Im not one to argue wit
stickers. It will take you ap
proximately 2.3 months t
successfully do your laundr
without turning your under
wear blue. Until then, yo
will most likely show up t
class in smelly socks.
You may also embarra
yourself in front of your pro
fessors by not knowing wha
the word reprimand meanDont beat yourself up for i
its not that great of a word. I
smells funny.
By now you should be fu
ly prepared for your rst en
deavor as an adult. Good luc
to you, and remember; it
not cheating unless you ge
caught. (Wink, wink). Se
you on the other side.
Economic Depression Certain to Occur
8/3/2019 Tribune Issue 2
10/12
10
CONTINUEDTribune nov. 14, 2011
Girls, Frost Yourselves
MA in international affairs,MS in computer science and
MS in molecular biology.
The LAU school of busi-
ness offers a masters de-
gree in business administra-
tion (MBA) and an executive
MBA.
Finally, three graduate pro-
grams are available under
the school of engineering.
They include an MS in civ-
il and environmental engi-
neering, an MS in computer
engineering and an MS in in-
dustrial engineering and en-
gineering management.
Chairpersons and upper lev-el ofcials at LAU had vary-
ing explanations for LAUs
disadvantage.
Mona Knio, the chairperson
of the department of commu-
nication arts, spoke of LAUs
relative young age as a uni-
versity. Were currently re-
viewing and developing the
BA and well be ready to work
on the masters program
when were done, she said.
Knio explained that former
communication arts chair
Ramez Maluf worked on a
proposal for a masters de-
gree in communication artsbut the effort was not pur-
sued after the end of his term.
She also mentioned the ques-
tion of space. The number
of communication art stu-
dents is increasing, she said.
The department already
faces problems nding emp-
ty classes for undergraduate
courses.
But a source from the uni-
versitys upper administra-
tion said that individual de-
partments are responsible
for the absence of graduate
degrees at LAU. Offering a
new degree starts with a pro-posal from the departments,
the source said. If we do not
have many masters degree
programs, thats because de-
partments have not asked for
them.
The establishment of a new
degree or a new major is a
complex, multi-layered step
that may take up to three
Continued from page 1
years. Departments or divi-sions submit a proposal to
the Academic School Council.
If approved, the document
must meet the requirements
of the University Curricu-
lum Council, the Council of
Deans and the University
Executive Council. Programs
leading to a new degree also
require the approval of the
Board of Trustees and reg-
istration with the Board of
Regents of the State of New
York and the Education min-
istry in Lebanon.
Vahid Behmardi, the hu-
manities department chair,said that having more mas-
ters degrees is a consider-
able project because it re-
quires more professors,
funding, budget and resourc-
es. I dont think we are still
ready for more MA programs
at LAU but the moment we
feel that we are ready we
wont hesitate, he said.
Behmardi is proud that LAU
established an MA in com-
parative literature in 2003.
The program attracts gradu-
ate students in the eld from
AUB, Balamand and other
universities.We started with an MA in
comparative literature and
we hope that, with time,
we will have more MA pro-
grams, Behmardi said. Its
better to have a well-built vil-
lage than a ruined city.
Ahmad Kabbani, the chair-
person of the natural science
department, pointed out four
important issues to be rem-
edied if LAU is to offer more
graduate programs: Space,
more faculties, a diverse fac-
ulty body and better infra-
structure and research sup-
port systems.He explained that the gradu-
ate school requires good lab-
oratories and space facilities,
which we lack on the Beirut
campus. As a chair, Im a
rm believer that graduate
programs should be delocal-
ized over all majors, he said.
But a source from the univer-
sitys upper administration
Masters Deciency at LAU
The LAU Tribune is seeking talented reporters and writers to join its team.
If youre interested, please send a writing sample to:
said that the market doesntrequire a graduate degree in
many elds.
So why bother to have more
MAs if students will get the
same salary with or with-
out the degree? the source
asked.
Still, students at LAU
seemed interested. In fact,
many of those who returned
to school after graduation did
so because they couldnt nd
jobs.
Why doesnt LAU have a
choice of master programs
other than international af-
fairs? A political science se-nior who preferred to remain
anonymous asked. Political
science students take cours-
es similar to those that in-
ternational affairs students
take. So why should we as
political science students do
a masters in internation-
al affairs when we have oth-
er choices at other universi-
ties?
Nour Daouk, an interi-
or architecture sophomore
agreed. The bachelors de-
gree in most majors is not
enough these days so LAU
should implement a masterprogram in architecture for
us to continue in the same
university we started with.
Some students were left
with no choice but to travel
abroad.
If I had the option, I would
have stayed at LAU and ap-
plied for my masters but
since this does not apply, I
am travelling to London,
Lara, a radio TV/lm junior
who refused to give her full
name, said.
Huda Abdo, chair of the so-
cial sciences department,
called for more masters pro-grams at LAU. She add-
ed that the effect of having
only few graduate programs
means that we remain
where we are, especially in
terms of research. I think
that, as faculty, we all want
to go forward and the admin-
istration is with expansion,
she explained.
comes to their looks? Feminist scholar Naomi Wolf providesome answers in her book, The Beauty Myth.
According to Wolf, women are manipulated by the media wh
make them feel insecure and unhappy.
Television, magazine and billboard commercials show models
extraordinary beauty, leaving out normal women and redu
ing females to sexual objects.
Because most of the women in most media are unbelievabl
beautiful, most women feel a pressure, consciously or uncon
sciously, to attain this ideal, Wolf explained.
Surprisingly, Cherry is frequented by men as well. We hav
males coming into our salon, their ages ranging between 20 an
40, Abboud said. Younger men come in to use the solarium an
laser treatment while the older ones come in to do manicure an
pedicure.
Right next to Cherry at the lower gate is Colormoods, a spa-or
ented salon. It offers nail treatment and spa and its target ag
group is 25 and above.We have a lot of students coming in from LAU because we offe
promotions, Tatiana El Kurd, the salon owner, said. They ar
encouraged to come in.
Most of Colormoods prot comes from the female population a
LAU. Many come at least twice a week.
Rasha Haddad, an English major at the American Universit
of Beirut, considers herself imperfect and tries to improve he
physical look by constantly frequenting beauty salons.
I see all these perfect models in commercials and it only drive
me closer to hating the way I look, she said.
Haddad indulges in spa treatments to relax and uses much o
her allowance to air-brush her hair every two days and x he
nail polish.
Wolf explains that, before the 1960s, commercials largely ad
dressed housewives. Products advertised included detergent
household equipment and the like. But with the rise of the wom
en liberation movement, the focus shifted to issues of beautyWith the women outside the house, all was left was the body
Wolf wrote.
Advertisements today focus on perfumes, facials, dietary prod
ucts and make-up. They feature women with ideal physic
suggesting to female readers that they will reach this beaut
standard if they buy such products.
Yasmine Dabbous, assistant professor of media studies an
journalism at LAU, nds the issue problematic. With the quas
absence of normal women in the media, and especially in adve
tising, it is normal that most readers will feel they have to com
pete with these models, she said. They are the only standar
available.
Norma Bou Nassar, the manager of Beesline The Shop on Sada
street, says that few LAU students frequent the store becaus
services focus on spas, body and relaxation programs and me
ical facials. They just come in and waste time looking aroun
at our products, she said. The only time students actually buBeesline products is when they want to buy a gift, a voucher or
sun tan oil.
Mona Al Abbasi, a business major, said she frequents the salon
around LAU every time she has a break between classes.
What I like about LAU is that it has beauty salons around it
she said.
During the ten days in which I reported on the issue, almost a
women interviewed said they go to the beauty salons aroun
campus. Haha! Of course I do, what are you talking about? on
of them laughed. Sometimes I feel like I live there.
I tried to play the devils advocate and sometimes argued tha
beauty comes from within, but many did not seem convinced.
Yes I do believe that beauty comes within, but the rst thin
that men see when they look at me is my looks, Nour Diab,
business major at LAU, said. Enhancing my beauty is just on
way to make me feel better about myself.
Continued from page 1
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11/12
1
OFF CAMPUSTribunenov. 14 , 2011
Have You Checked Your Vitamin D Level?
By the time she went to see
Dr. Ahmed Tayem for the
pain in her hip, Joumana
Aoun, a Lebanese housewife,
had reached a stage where
she could no longer walk from
her bedroom to her kitchen.
I cried when I even per-
formed the slightest move-
ment, she said. I stayed
bedridden for three days; my
home became a mess.
The doctor asked for blood
By Samia BuhulaiyemLAU Tribune staff
tests and x-rays of the legs,
the lower back and both hips.
To his astonishment, the
check-up revealed nothing
wrong. He put her on heavy
doses of sedatives, but they
were of no avail.
Aoun, it turned out, had neg-
ligible amounts of vitamin
D in her blood stream and
was diagnosed with Fibro-
myalgia. Now, I am on Cal-
cium and vitamin D supple-
ments and, for pain and the
secondary depression I had, I
am on Symbalta, she said. I
am back to normal life activ-
ities.
Laila Itani, a nutritionist
and lecturer at Beirut Arab
University, smiled when she
heard about Aouns case.
Yes, Hypovitaminosis D (vi-
tamin D deciency) is silent
and is spreading all over the
Middle East, she said.
Vitamin D helps ones body
use the calcium and phos-
phorus in the food intake. It
regulates normal cellular dif-ferentiation, thus prevent-
ing cancer and helps insulin
secretion. It also has other
functions related to the im-
mune system.
I interrupted Itani, sur-
prised. People in this re-
gion enjoy sunlight and dairy
products more than any oth-
er people; they get all the re-
quired amounts of vitamin
D, I said.
Exposure to UV B rays in
sunlight, fatty sh, egg yolks,
and fortied foods such as
milk products and breakfast
cereals are the main provid-
ers of vitamin
In fact, it is not only a mat-
ter of how much sunlight you
get or how much dairy prod-
ucts you consume, Itani ex-
plained.
Vitamin D deciency comes
from a combination of fac-
tors. Lack of sunlight or
dairy product and breast-
feeding are among the most
important, but they are not
the only ones.
You must sit enough in thesun while eating vitamin-D-
rich food, for example. Aging,
intestinal diseases and over-
weight may also negatively
affect vitamin D levels.
Eating habits make a lot of
difference here, Itani ex-
plained. Fat cells absorb vi-
tamin D and prevent your
body from using it.
According to the Bikhazi
Medical Group labs, healthy
vitamin-D level varies be-
tween 53 and 150 nmol/L.
Signs of vitamin D decienc
may be confused for typica
fatigue, which makes the dis
ease even more problematic
It is the responsibility o
people to observe them
selves. If they suffer unex
plained weakness, fatigue
muscle cramps then the
should consult their doctors
Itani said. Vitamin and min
erals deciencies might b
hiding there without them
knowing about it.
Farah Dabbous, a graph
ic designer, is health-con
scious and undergoes regulacheck-up tests. Last sum
mer, she decided to test he
Vitamin D levels. The result
came as a shock.
My level was around
nmol/L when it should b
above 53, she said. I was s
surprised. I expected som
deciency because I spend
lot of time in the ofce behin
my computer but I never sus
pected it would be so drast
cally low. I was not even fee
ing tired.
Cinderella, dressed in a rag-
like dark green dress, bare-
foot, moved on the stage in a
controlled manner that char-
acterized her innocent per-
sonality.
She stood out amongst
the dancers, who were all
dressed in beautifully col-
ored costumes and makeup.
The stark difference high-
lighted her simplicity andmade the audience sympa-
thize with her.
The stepsisters, dressed in
pastel colors wearing Pointe
shoes, pirouetted around the
young dancer to make her
feel uncomfortable.
The universally known tale
of Cinderella was brought
to Beirut in a ballet cho-
reographed by Jean-Chris-
tophe Maillot for Les Ballets
de Monte Carlo during the
weekend of Nov. 4.
Cendrillon, the two-hour per-
formance, played at Casi-
By Iman SoufanLAU Tribune staff
no Du Liban. Tickets were
sold out for the rst and sec-
ond night and very few seats
were available on the nal
night.
Maillot gave facial expres-
sions a very vital role in this
ballet: The sisters would al-
ways pull rude faces to Cin-
derella and cockily have their
noses risen around her, cre-
ating a sense of superiority.The stepmother was dressed
in a beautiful purple leotard
as she carried herself very
snobbishly around the stage.
It was apparent that she felt
threatened by the attention
Cinderellas father gave to
his daughter.
The evil step-mother tried
to steal his attention. Her
sharp moves and arm ges-
tures depicted her evil per-
sonality, her piercing eyes
emphasized her sinister vibe
and her sudden movements
always put the audience on
edge.
The minimal stage decora-
tions focused the audiences
attention on the dancers and
their movements.
Ive been teaching ballet
for the past 15 years and I
must say that their footwork
was beautiful, Akiko Jen-
ki, a Japanese ballet instruc-
tor who is visiting Lebanon,
commented.
The fairy godmother, covered
in glitter, danced in a joyful
and elegant way. Her move-
ments around Cinderella
voiced a caring and positive
mood that put Cinderella at
ease.
I love how he interprets act-
ing into his ballet moves with
the dancers arms in con-
trast with the feet that strict-
ly stick to pointing beautiful-
ly and elegantly, especially
with the fairy godmother,
Elena Sewell, a moder
dance teacher in Beirut, com
mented. One of my favorit
choreographers, I adore hi
work.
Now dressed in a white gown
Cinderella goes to the ba
and emphasis is brought o
her feet that are drenched i
glitter. Her feet are given im
portance as they are the ke
that leads the prince back ther.
Her arabesques were per
fect. She danced graciousl
on her glittery feet, Sewe
said.
Drawing the show to an end
the prince nds Cinderell
and saves her from her vicio
ous stepfamily, bringing jo
to this mistreated girls life
This classic fairy tale end
as the prince lifts Cindere
la and begins to dance joyfu
ly in celebration to the end o
his quest. He has now foun
her.
Photovia:CreativeCommons
Cinderella: A Ballet in Casino Du Liban
Photovia:CreativeCommons
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12/12
8
OFF CAMPUSTribune nov. 14 , 2011
Fawwaz Traboulsi: Revolt Motives Are Internal
An unprecedented wave of
revolts has swiped the Arab
worlds decades-old politi-
cal calm as citizens of Tuni-
sia, Egypt and Libya have al-
ready toppled their leaders
while efforts do the same con-
tinue in Yemen, Bahrain and
Syria.
Meanwhile, the United
States, a main feeder of the
toppled regimes, has been
caught off-guard as demon-
strators look to dismantle
governing monarchies and
dictators of supposedly-re-
public administrations.Fawwaz Traboulsi, a veteran
Lebanese political activist,
believes that the American
governments hesitant re-
action originates from glob-
al academias disregard for
certain aspects of the Arab
worlds complex political
landscape.
There were 25 years in
which the ideology of glo-
balization was implement-
ed and studies did not in-
volve sub-national identities
in any analysis, Traboul-
si said. Academically, the
whole effort was to explainthe Islamic exception, the
world war on terrorism and
why there is no democracy in
the Arab world.
The fact that studies about
the origin of authoritarian-
ism in the Arab world were
non-existent before the Arab
Spring underlines the Unit-
ed States real stance on de-
mocracy in the Arab world,
according to Traboulsi.
There was never a study
that explained the presence
of authoritarianism because
the United States has always
supported authoritarian re-gimes, Traboulsi, who most
recently published A History
of Modern Lebanon, said.
While some have hurried to
conclude that the revolts are
a proof of a resuscitated Arab
identity, Traboulsi believes
that the countries shared so-
cial and economic problems
and not a revived sense of
Arabism incited simultane-
ous demonstrations through-
out the region.
The link between these re-
volts is not the shared ethnic-
ity but awareness that inter-
By Zahi SahliLAU Tribune staff
ests and forces within these
societies are quite similar,
Traboulsi said.
According to a report pub-
lished in October 2011 by
the Arab League, 85 percent
of the Arab worlds popula-
tion is aged between 14 and
25 while the unemployment
rate has reached 26 percent
the highest in the world.
Amid highly-publicized fears
of liberals and leftists thatradical Islamic parties may
govern the region in the near
future, Traboulsi called for
respect of peoples right to
elect their representatives.
Democracy gives people the
right to elect their represen-
tatives and Islamists are
part of our population and
they have the right to be rep-
resented in their national
parliaments, Traboulsi ex-
plained.
Traboulsi, however, predicts
that Islamists rise to power
would signal the beginning
of a fall in their popularity astheir anti-democratic ideolo-
gy would then be exposed.
Traboulsi believes that Is-
lamists opposition should
exert sufcient effort to com-
pose an alternative progres-
sive agenda instead of dwell-
ing on the publics fear of
radical Islamic blocs.
Marxism gives a complete
alternative system to the Is-
lamic agenda since other ide-
ologies, like Arabism, do not
represent all the Muslims in
the region, Traboulsi, who
is one of the founders of the
PhotoviaFacebook
Communist Organization
Action, said.
Traboulsi pointed out how
the common slogan of the
Arab revolts, people want
to overthrow the regime, is
deeply-rooted in leftist ideol-
ogy and sees the occasion as
a golden opportunity for the
leftists to regain their pre-
mier political stance in the
region.
Meanwhile an attempt todrop the sectarian regime by
a portion of Lebanese youth
has seemingly failed after
several demonstrations and
an eventual sit-in camp at
Sanayeh Garden.
Following a 15-year-long
Civil War, the Taif agree-
ment called for the abolish-
ment of political sectarian-
ism.
However, ve post-Taif elec-
tions have already taken
place with parliamentary
seats divided among mem-
bers of different sects.
The current parliament isillegitimate and unconstitu-
tional and the natural ten-
dency is for the Lebanese to
request that their states con-
stitution is applied, Trabou-
sli, who played an advising
role in the civil movement at
the young activists request,
said.
The Arab Spring has incit-
ed similar demonstrations
across the globe; citizens
from different states of the
US, who have felt the strain
of the global economic credit
crunch, launched the Occu-
py Wall Street movement.
The wave of protests spread
across continents as citizens
of Euro