utlookThe American UniversiTy of BeiruT

vol. Xlii, no. 24 | TUesdAy, MAy 18, 2010 | The IndependenT sTudenT PublicaTion since 1949

readoutlook@gmail.comBliss Street, West Hall 208 tel: 01 350 000 ext.3193www.aub.edu.lb/outlook

Editorial & opinionEditorial

Mohamad Yahia Hamade Editor-in-Chief

i write in shock and awe of the irrational and almost disrespectful future re-

quirement to make students pay an extra 25% on tuition fees. this business decision is almost a disgrace to how much our university boasts about being “an institution of higher learning founded to provide excellence in edu-cation, to participate in the advancement of knowledge through research, and to serve the peoples of the Mid-dle East and beyond.” How are you better serv-ing the peoples of the Middle East when you are charging an unfathomable price that the majority of people cannot afford? We have to remember that some students are sup-porting themselves through college, how will this decision affect them?this increase means we might have to pay up to $3000 extra, which is a lot of hard-earned money for some people. about 8,000 call auB home. Multiply that by $3000 each and that equals $24,000,000. now, that’s a heckload of money.as students of auB, we real-ize that the university offers us many unique and gener-ous privileges, but how much must we pay to receive them? this is almost a sort of black-mail. Everyone has to be paid, but we can’t be expect-ed to pay such an astronomi-

cal amount.it is not the faculty or the ad-ministration that make up the university, it’s the stu-dents. When you decide to increase tuition by such a co-lossal percentage, you are mitigating future students’ chances of continuing their education.Education isn’t a luxury, it’s a right. there are schools in africa that cost less than $10 per semester, and they are offering those children an ed-ucation and the opportunity to succeed in the world. now, i’m not saying you should de-crease the tuition to single digits, but at least, make it a reasonable amount that ev-eryone can pay.it should also be noted that not everyone who requests fi-nancial aid gets it, and some-times, people who do receive financial support don’t real-ly need it. So, what happens to all those students who are working three jobs and pay-ing through the nose for their education? are we to cast them out of the university, because they can’t pay up? Maybe we could just tell ev-eryone who can’t pay to get a loan, because that’s what ev-eryone needs, more debt.

Join the Яevolution: United We Stand, Divided We Fall

2

i like to be the devil’s advo-cate in arguments, so i tried to look at Mr. “i-like-to-make-students-pay” AUB official’s point of view. nothing... was what i found; except an elo-quent email from the Finan-cial Aid office sent out yes-terday morning. the email stated that the increase will “generate additional funds that will be used to strength-en academic programs,” be-cause “students [enrolling] for as many as 18 or 20 cred-it hours with no additional charge... imposed a consid-erable burden on faculty in-struction time.” does that mean students who overload out of necessity are a burden? I find that to be an interesting choice of words to describe an auB(urden)ite.last time i checked “the uni-versity believes deeply in and encourages freedom of thought and expression and seeks to foster tolerance and respect for diversity and di-alogue,” ever-so-eloquent-ly read the auB website. So stand up, united, for your rights on Wednesday, May 19 and dissent - or you’ll be re-ceiving a fat bill on SiS, with an eloquently written email attached to it.

image source: Yahya oueini USFC Treasurer

3

opinionWhy?

this college is for all conditions and classes of men. know who said

that? You probably do now, since numerous students have been sporting this line with the clinched fist as their Facebook profile picture. In case you are one of the few that don’t have Facebook, no other than the founding fa-ther of a.u.B, daniel Bliss, said that, while laying the cornerstone for A.U.B.’s first permanent building. Why did he say that? Simple. it’s a statement of truth. a.u.B. has always been a college for all the conditions of man; whether this student is poor to the extent of literally beg-ging on the streets to pay for his education, if not perform-ing more humiliating acts, or whether this student is filthy rich where he and his great great grandchildren can live off his daddy’s mon-ey. it didn’t matter back then to Bliss if you were from the upper class, middle class or lower class people. Everyone deserves an education, it’s as much as a right of human be-ings as is the right to eat and drink.But, the Board of trustees in a.u.B. don’t seem to agree with Bliss anymore. as you also may have heard (or not,

but you are going to hear it now), the Board of trustees decided on implementing a new payment policy for its students, where students no longer have the virtue of reg-istering for more than twelve credits and paying for just twelve. instead, the enrolled student must pay for all credits registered. in other words, the student registers for an average fifteen cred-its per semester; hence pay-ing an extra 25% in tuition fees. now if this is happen-ing in a country with a pros-perous economy with high-er salaries, one might accept the idea. However, this is lebanon. this is the coun-try where the greatest minds have to travel outside to get a decent living. this is the country where most of your average Joes make around $800 a month. this is the country where most families’ incomes come from a fami-ly member working overseas to keep the food on the table. this is the country where a lot of its residents depend on tourism during the summer to pay for their children’s ed-ucations. a.u.B. was distin-guished as the only presti-gious university in lebanon where the cost and quality of education was a perfect ra-tio. As of Fall 2010/2011, that won’t be true anymore. What could the Board of trustees

be thinking? don’t they know that with this system, a.u.B. students can barely afford to get an education here. For one, I get financial aid from A.U.B., FAFSA, have a job in the Work/Study program, yet still i have to apply for de-ferred payment in order to stay in this university. With such a move, what are they expecting the students to do? pay for more than twelve credits? What if they can’t af-ford it? What do they do, go to some other university? Why would the Board of trust-ees want to do such a thing? i want an answer , and so do thousands of students. also, isn’t it a coincidence that the Board takes such a controver-sial decision one week before registration of courses for the upcoming Fall semester, and two weeks before semes-ter finals? They know that students would be more re-luctant to act, knowing that there is much at stake.News Flash: Finals or not, registration or not, we will not let this pass. We will not hold our peace forever about this. this is not some deci-sion that will affect some stu-dents and some not. this de-cision affects EVErYonE, directly or indirectly. Grad-uating students are proba-bly relieved that this decision won’t affect them personal-ly. Well to them i say: aren’t

Joseph SabaStaff Writer

your younger brothers or sis-ters coming here eventually? How about your cousins or friends? Wouldn’t you want to do something about this if you were still working on your Bachelor’s? Wednesday, May 19 is the day to make our voices heard. there will be a sit-in at Main Gate starting at 12:00 pM to protest this abysmal decision and ques-tion the administration’s true incentive and whether they actually care about us. this is an obligation all stu-dents must fulfill if they have any respect to their standing as an a.u.B. student, where freedom of speech and democ-racy is all what this univer-sity is about. Going to class-es during the protest would be accepting the Board’s de-cision and encouraging them on making more irrational decisions. this isn’t some protest that will last ten min-utes and then everyone goes to class. this is an issue that cannot be taken lightly.oh, and this is how daniel Bliss’s statement finishes off: But it will be impossible for anyone to continue with us long without knowing what we believe to be the truth and our reason for that be-lief. a.u.B. believes that this decision is in favor of the stu-dent. Well, we can’t see any reason or truth behind that.

Join

tHE rEVo

lutio

n

4

opinion

When was the last time auB students did a protest? i am not talking about a few masked people opening a banner in a lecture by a bil-lionaire and an arab poli-tician (both happened this year). and i am not talking about a sit-in by around a hundred-something student. i am talking about this:=thousands of students, from all majors, ages and back-grounds getting out of their way to really show what auB students are made of. to show that the auB Spir-it is really not lost. to show that even if some stand up for communism or their political figure or even their favorite football team, here at auB we all stand for the right to learn. although some of us won’t be affected by the 25% increase in tuition, many oth-ers are. this is why increas-ing tuition by a colossal 25% takes out the chance of many lebanese students that are smart, ambitious and out-standing to get a really good education in lebanon. this fact coupled with the slow but steady change in auB’s policy in giving Financial Aid in the form of loanS really kills it for us students.ok, auB is lebanon’s best university. auB is the Mid-dle East’s leading universi-

ty. However, auB is short for the american university of Beirut. last time i checked, Beirut was the capital of leb-anon where students from all over the country apply to. auB has a quota of lebanese students which is the major-ity. this is why auB’s appli-cation form does not require interviews, personal essays and portfolios. i personally spoke to an auB representa-tive who told me that this is the case because if otherwise, students from public schools in lebanon won’t be able to apply. Hence i can say that auB seems not to be inter-ested in increasing the qual-ity of students but the “quali-ty ;)” of students.i would like to quote here the universal declaration of Human rights, article 23, clause 1.“[…] higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.”also, to make my argument clearer, i want to give you this number from a study by the international poverty Center and supported by the undp in January of 2008:“nearly 28% of the lebanese population is considered poor and 8 percent can be consid-ered extremely poor”. this is why i feel free to say that auB, as lebanon’s

prize-jewel and beacon-of-knowledge is not fair in its decision to increase tuition by 25%. although auB is a ‘private and independent’ university, being lebanon’s symbol of academic impor-tance, hope and pride does not allow it to take decisions for private reasons and in-dependent of its surround-ing environment. if auB is in need of funds, i am sure it can find funding elsewhere than the pockets of leba-nese parents; the generation that survived the war, some that even found refuge in this university during those days that seem to be forgotten now have to survive an attack by their alma Matter. regard-less, i am proud to be a part of auB and constantly look-ing to find the AUB spirit that is making me stay here. I came here to find “life and have it more abundantly” and i want others to be able to do the same. this is why, next Wednesday, i will skip my Chemistry 202 class and stand at Main Gate as my auB ancestors did, expect-ing 25% of auB to show up. if you feel the same urge to do so please join me.

it takes 25% to Make a revolution

Sherif MaktabiStaff Writer

to all auB students, alumni, and graduates:

You might have heard of the 25% increase in tuition fees, and if not, well, i really don’t know where you’ve been. now it’s time to act fervently, and as soon as possible. ok, so it is true that not all people will be affected by this. only those with sib-lings who won’t be absolutely covered by financial aid will have to suffer an additional $2000 per semester for their tuition, but that’s no prob-lem because $4000 a year is nothing for auB students. We have all seen auB stu-dents with their “toys”: a car worth over $30,000 (that’s over 2 years worth of tuition), a $500 phone, and that oh-so-important BlackBerry ser-vice at $40 a month (not that there’s anything wrong with these). i don’t envy people with such valuables. How-ever, this doesn’t mean we should take auB’s tuition for granted.this is my third year living outside the united States. Having lived there doesn’t necessarily true that that person is wealthy. My finan-cial situation is, in fact, a tough one. My dad has been unemployed for about nine months now and we don’t

have enough capital to in-vest in real estate as pric-es have shot up incredibly. i can almost guarantee that in my college years, i won’t ever be able to own a car or even a moped. i had to get got a job at auB’s student-work program to cover person-al expenses. i have two sib-lings who are younger than me by only a few years, so in a few years, they’ll be ap-plying to auB (they can’t at-tend a non-american univer-sity because they’ve studied in american-system schools their whole life), and that’ll be an extra $8000 a year, a cost that is impossible for us to pay. We’re currently in a deadlocked situation. We could always return to the united States, but that’s another story. i didn’t write this op-ed so you’d sympathize with me, nor do i want you to shed any tears for me; i’ve had my fair share of that. i just want you to realize that there are auB students who suffer to get their degree and that as an auB student you should car-ry out your duty by coming to the protest on Wednesday. it’s a legacy that you’re pro-tecting.

Edrees rashidiStaff Writer

tuition increase:special edition

5

6

opinion

i received this E-mail about a protest being organized by the USFC concerning tuition increase and I got really excited hop-ing that this elected student organization is ready to initiate a historical student action equal in vitality of that action by auB.i opened that E-mail with great expectation, alas i was sur-prised to see that it was merely a student gathering at West Hall, just like any other done targeting every other universi-ty problem! a gathering that only attracts students who mere-ly wish to skip class and have a couple of laughs and finishing their 1 hour sit by saying “oh well we tried, what can we do?!”it is an actual shame to see the future of this country, stu-dents of auB, so careless, so hopeless and i can even dare to say spoiled! this is my 5th year in auB and i’ve seen so many elections with hundreds of people fighting over representative seats in USFC promising change and support for their fellow students. i am ashamed to say i was once one of those students fighting and cheering at the same time, I am also ashamed to say that i also was one of those students who did not believe in their individual influence over a decision such as the one took by auB now.i look back at the days when the student body of auB actu-ally had an influence over such decisions. I look back at the days where a protest was not merely a 1 hour sit in but weeks of student activities and confrontation! i also look back at the days when 7arakit sha3eb would ask the student body to pro-test and their movement used to paralyze auB completely! (i would just like to clarify that i was never and am not a sup-porter of 7arakit sha3eb)“this is my last semester in auB i don’t care about the tuition increase” sadly this is a statement i’ve been hearing a lot by many of my friends on campus... this is also MY last semes-ter as well, i have a younger sister and brother in auB who still have years ahead of them in this institute of knowledge. We are blessed to have parents who are able to pay such high tuitions though we rarely appreciate their effort to give us the life we have now. But what would less fortunate people do?i am simply ashamed to call myself an auB student... i hope that the USFC are ashamed to call what they believe to be a stand against what is going on currently in AUB... And finally i just hope that my E-mail does not fall on deaf ears...

letter to the Editorali Saleh

dear american university of Beirut leaders, decision Makers, Community,auB students have long stood silent as the tuition increase took its toll on them. it is true that auB is one of the most renowned and well-established universities in the region; however, it is going down a path most scholars cannot follow. auB, as an educational institution, must have education as its primary goal, the students’ well being as its primary goal; a goal that has seemingly been long forgotten. Sadly, as if giving very low financial aid to students in dire need wasn’t a bad enough blow, things aggravate to an immense unjustified tuition increase with the new 15credit pay policy. despite all the aforementioned points, students did not revolt and they engaged in various work/study programs in an attempt to uphold their status in this insti-tution. However, for those unaware, auB gives one of the lowest pay rates for work/study stu-dents in the region. the latter renders not only education a seemingly impossible task, but even the faith in education itself.a.u.B. takes pride in presuming its war against discrimination, a rather hypocritical presump-tion in false pride, when it is moving towards becoming an institution where only those from privileged backgrounds can pursue knowledge. a.u.B was and should always remain an insti-tution for those who are competent, hardworking and worthy of this education.one often forgets what he sees every day, the words engraved on the very entrance of its Main Gate. today, i remind those who hold the power to make decisions that a.u.B. students may have life and have it more abundantly- if they can afford it, that is.

letter to the EditorMostafa Shaaban

resist the EVil Sudoku

7

Maroun kisrwani

Cleo Cacoulidis

Antonios Francis

Mohamad Yahia Hamade

Marwan Jaafar

Mariam El ali

tala kardasrasha Salem

John Hajjar

Simon Barakat

rachid akiki

Salim Batlouni

rawan abu SalmanMohamad al MedwarFouad BadaouiFatima BuhilaigahMoussa Chalahabraham daniel Hajjarrami diabYasmine Fansanadine GhaithMaryam HoballahMhd izzat Husriehlynn itaniHeather JaberWajiha Jurdi kheirlojine kamelElie El khourySherif Maktabitimmy Malkounrita obeidroupen ohannessianYasmine SaabWally SaadJoseph SabaSandra SawayaMaya terroilija trojanovictarek tutunjiMohammad El-JabiEmile Zankoul

Qater al nada Mohsendima Barbirtariq Buhilaigah

deedee Jilani

The OuTlOOk Team

Chairperson

Faculty Advisor

responsible director

Editor-in-Chief

associate Editor

arabic Editor

news Executives

layout director

Member at large Business Manager photography Editor

Staff Writers

photographers

Cartoonist