i 12, v 42

O ewspaperNutlOOkThe American UniversiTy of BeiruT

vol. Xlii, no. 12 | TUesdAy, JAnUAry 5, 2010 | The IndependenT sTudenT PublicaTion since 1949

For the second year running, the leba-nese Medical stu-

dents International Com-mittee’s (leMsIC) standing Committee on research ex-change (sCOre) is offering a research workshop to Med-

ical students. the workshop is entitled “Becoming Good Conductors and Consumers of research.” It is offered as a result of voluntary effort on behalf of sCOre and its diligent National officer on research exchange, Medi-cine III student Mohammad Dahrouj.the highly in-demand work-

Continued on page 4

research workshop IIwajiha Jurdi kheir staff writer

WELCOME, 2010!

shop’s predecessor was a suc-cessful venture on behalf of sCOre last year, which ex-plains the big number of ap-plications that were received this year. In fact, interviews had to be held in order to choose the participants. It is worth noting that the work-shop is offered by sCOre free of charge.

the workshop meets once week for an hour, and there-fore does not interfere with Medical students’ hectic schedules. Half the sessions will be given by the course coordinator, Dr. kim smith abouchakra, and the rest will be given by guest lectur-ers. Dr. George Nemer will contribute by providing two

sessions regarding research in the basic sciences.when smith abouchakra was first approached by SCORE to give this workshop, she had already been giving a more comprehensive version

photo from Facebook.com

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Movie review

11Fea, Bss, envi-romental Health

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entertainmentOut of the Box

10-1112

Comparing differ-ent types of Black-berry 7

BB’s

eDItOrIal & OpINION

so over the break I watched a dozen or so movies, among them classics like Gone with the wind, pride and preju-dice, and of course, the lOtr trilogy. I also happened to watch a MtV link my friend sent me that compared the relationship of edward and Bella to those of Mr. Darcy and elizabeth, Mr. Butler and scarlet, or even Hermi-one and ron! when spark-ly vampires get ranked with the greats, seriously people, there is a problem. I refuse, absolutely refuse, to be part of a generation known

for its vampire obsessions. I mean, what happened to dig-nity, popular works of liter-ature written by competent authors, and movies that don’t make my eyes bleed? I find the entire Twilight se-ries completely and utter-ly overrated, so much so that the next person I hear rav-ing about how hot robert pattinson is shall get avada kedavara’d in the face. the obsessions of teenage girls (and even some boys) fall into absolute ridiculousness – to the point where I have seen shrines dedicated to edward and lockers covered with his face. the thing that really gets to me is when girls mold their entire perception of the male population after edward Cullen. I have seen people go for pale-skinned, bronze-haired guys that they don’t even know- the sole reason being his resemblance to a vampire. Okay chivalry is hot, but that doesn’t mean you need to look for a guy who

will stalk you night and day for your protection. Oh and people, listen up. Yes, taylor lautner is good look-ing. we know. so stop tell-ing us every five minutes. we don’t need to know if he is your screen-saver or pillow or whatever. Hopefully, this insane vam-pire craze will ride itself out. Hopefully people will start re-focusing on normal obses-sions, like lOtr, Harry pot-ter, or even star trek. so I ask you, people of auB, let’s try and forget about glittery bloodsuckers – at least for a little bit. Make it your New Year’s resolution to read some decent novels, watch some decent movies, and fix your male expectations. so don’t ask me if I am team edward or team Jacob, or I will start screaming team Harry potter till your ears bleed. But hey, I’m sure ed-ward would go for that – and who am I to judge shiny, sa-distic, pedophilic vampires?

Op-edFrankly my dear, I don’t give a damn. About Twilight, that is

Lojine Kameleditorial

Mohamad Yahia Hamade editor-in-Chief

For the past month or so, all I could hear every-one talk about was the

brand new person they want-ed to be in the next year, a New Year’s resolutions that sounds very familiar- proba-bly the same ones from last year, if I’m not mistaken.Most people are looking to be-come better human beings, have a new attitude, and may-be have a changed outlook (no pun intended). Is there a point behind all this?well, yes and no. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean that set-ting goals is cliché; I always draw out plans before execut-ing a decision. However, the way I see it, New Year’s reso-lutions have turned into a tra-dition, among many others, that I no longer respect any-more.How do you expect me to take anyone seriously if they wait for a new year to have a reso-lution? all they end up with is having no resolve in the first place.according to a study in the Journal of Clinical psycholo-gy, after six months, less than half of adults with resolu-tions actually follow through on them. that’s nothing; this just gets better because after the first week in a new year, a quarter of adults with reso-lutions don’t even remember them. shocking, no?unlike those poor adults, I remember every New Year’s

eve list of resolutions I wrote with my best friend. I occa-sionally followed my list, while his sat in a drawer with his lost usBs.I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there isn’t any metamorphous between the last night of one year and the first morning of the next that magically transforms the person you are into the one you want to be, knocking and fulfilling your wishes. You’re essentially still the same per-son with the same capabili-ties as you had the night be-fore.so the question remains, why do we put so much empha-sis on changing ourselves to keep in time with the chang-ing of the calendar year?why not work on perfecting yourself everyday and not just at the beginning of the New Year? sounds better, doesn’t it? This will definitely stop putting pressure on you to improve something about your life starting at the very beginning of the year. You’d end up becoming the person you want to be at the end of the year.I’m not saying New Year’s resolutions are a bad thing. I just think that if you work on eliminating your faults and improving yourself through-out the year is much bet-ter than letting it all pile up at the end of December, and then bludgeoning everyone around you with your short-comings.this is the part of my mono-logue where I remind you that we only live once. so in immortal words of alan shore (which also happens to be my recent Facebook sta-tus), “in the meantime, live big my friend. live big” and improve yourself. today, not in 2011.

a New Year’s resolution: live big

2

Comic strip Deedee El-Jilani

3

eDItOrIal & OpINIONOp-ed

I have noticed that when it comes to people picking their majors, prejudice plays a huge and obvious role. when

I ask my friends about their choices, it seems as though each time I’m addressing the same person, since very often I get similar answers includ-ing “Bio pre-med,” “engi-neering,” or “Business/eco-nomics.” Before you get the wrong idea, I am majoring in Civil engineering. Now, why do we all have a similar choice? I don’t think the an-swer is that we all share the same passion; I would rather blame society. One thing we’re concerned about is the infamous reputa-tion. Many would rather live the life they never wanted because of the simple repu-tation matter. this is actual-ly caused by the look1. Here’s something you’ve got to try if you’re 18 or above, and some-one asks you, “what do you do in life?” or “what are you

going to be?” try to answer, “a basketball player” or “a writ-er.” the second step is that famous question, as though you missed the whole point of the discussion, “Yes that’s a great hobby, but what do you work?” Now, when you’ll ex-plain that your first answer is actually your “work,” you will eventually get the look1, because in this society and in many others, arts and sports aren’t considered as decent jobs since people assume that they reflect a low level of in-tellectuality. Moreover, any artistic or sports job is rarely paid enough-they are proba-bly the least paid in the coun-try and all those domains are relatively poorly financed.Now why would this be a problem? Mainly because this country has many ded-icated athletes and artists

Op-ed

as I discuss my theory of how about 10 years have passed now since the issue of how “the year 2000 will bring the world to its doomed end” was first brought up, I can’t but laugh and wholehearted-ly admit that, for a moment there, even I was close to be-lieving that nonsense junk. Indeed, worrying about that entire end-of-the-world-in-the-year-2000 scenario was all a heck of a waste of time, don’t you agree? so, here I am making fun of myself when one of my friends goes like “you might be right, Maya, but there’s no doubt about it, this time it’s for real, 2012 is indeed the end of the world I

tell you.” Oh brother, here we go again! the whole 2012 and the end of the world scenar-io... again!Okay, so suppose that I’ve gone completely haywire and that this time you are ab-solutely, positively, a 100% right that in 2012 we humans will cease to exist. allow me to tell you this, “so what?” should I like be writing down my list-of-what-to-do-before-I-die-in-2012? Nope. perhaps cut down on my carbon fin-gerprint (i.e. my carbon diox-ide contribution to the atmo-sphere)? Yeah, right.apart from 2012, a couple of years ago, the issue of “cli-mate change” rose and with

it a series of relevant pre-dictions. to the public, cli-mate change was as distant a thought as the possibility of living on planet Mars has and still is for us humans. af-ter the renowned movie the Inconvenient truth hit the movie theaters, all of a sud-den everyone, everywhere became aware of climate change and its impact on our beloved planet Earth. Define beloved?Now while take pride in be-ing a tree huger, I sometimes hate the fact that sometimes, even saving planet earth has become a major market-ing tool for major corpora-tions rather than a purely

environmental issue that re-quires immediate interven-tion on everybody’s part. Co-penhagen people can talk all they want (and indeed, that’s exactly what they ended up doing- plain talking), but se-riously, is it me or are we be-coming more naive. Do you seriously think that China would give up on one of its major GDp generators, this being industry. and why? For Mother earth’s sake. Come on, who are we kidding here?excuse me, but last time I checked, saving planet earth wasn’t on any developed countries agenda, or was it. No sir, it was not. I rest my case.

The UNSEEN potentialEmile Zankoul

‘‘We’re ALL gonna die!’’ Yeah, right. As if I hadn’t heard that one beforeMaya Terro

who possess true passions, at which they excel. lebanon is a country with huge poten-tials in these domains, how-ever, they remain uNseeN and underexploited. arts and sports require inspi-ration and talent, two things that cannot be acquired easi-ly. Here, in lebanon, we have plenty of those, but for some reason, rarely are those who see or at least appreciate them. what I can say in this situation is the very unfortu-nate French saying which is a perfect clarification, “C’est Mozart que l’on assassine,” loosely translated to “It is Mozart whom one assassi-nates.” so to avoid big losses of tal-ent, let us try to bring arts and sports to their real level, by encouraging those gifted morally, financially and ma-

terialistically, or at least by showing them appreciation. I hope that soon enough, those underestimated domains will be valued as much as they truly deserve.this article is dedicated to all those who have a pas-sion but facing the obstacles of prejudice and reputation and all those who stand for this cause, but mostly to all the athletes and artists out there.look1: It is used by the rela-tively older people to replace the interjection “oh…” when it expresses indignity. some-times this look reaches a point where it might actual-ly express pity.

Outlook Wishes Everyone a Happy New Year

4

CaMpus Newsresearch workshop offered to medical students

of it to the residents in the Di-vision of Orthodontics for 5 to 6 years. “I was prepared and had enjoyed the benefits and outcomes of such a workshop from residents,” says smith abouchakra. “It is a plea-sure to give it to Medical stu-dents.”research education is very helpful to students, especial-ly this early in their Med-ical careers. though they may not become research-ers themselves, they will al-ways need to consume re-search. One of the aims of this workshop is to help stu-dents “recognize scientifi-cally sound research,” adds smith abouchakra.Of course, the research work-shop was first established for students who are interested

in participating in research activities. “I was not exposed to research in my under-graduate years,” says Med-icine I student and research workshop participant Farah amro. “when I began Med school, however, I realized how pertinent it is for phy-sicians not only to practice medicine but also contribute to its progress.”this interactive workshop is the ideal medium for begin-ners in research like amro. It will provide them with a strong foundation in the re-search process, helping them conduct research in the fu-ture. In fact, a final project, in the form of a research pro-posal, will be required from every participant. some may even present these propos-als in the annual leMsIC sCOre research Day, as

was the case last year.Other requirements students need to fulfill in order to get their certificate include com-pleting a web-based Nation-al Institutes of Health (NIH) training course entitled, “protecting Human research participants,” in addition to completing the student sec-tion in the Collaborative In-stitutional training Initia-tive (CItI) program. this provides them with informa-tion about research ethics. It also serves as an introduc-tion to the history and pur-pose of Institutional review Boards (IrB), whose approv-al is needed before ventur-ing into research involving human subjects. the work-shop has the full support of the Faculty of Medicine. “Mr. Mahmoud Harb is kind enough to provide coffee ev-

ery session and the Internal Medicine Department has of-fered us the use of their con-ference room for the entire course,” says Dahrouj. these are just two small examples of the faculty reaching out to a student organized activity.

leMsIC subcommittee SCORE is definitely a pio-neer and an advocate for re-search by Medical students. It is providing students with a course their curriculum lacks but one that it is in dire need for.

Continued from page 1


after having held a suc-cessful Happy Hour for the Civil engineer-

ing society (Ces) at Bech-tel’s wing D on December 17, yet another successful event was hosted by the Faculty of engineering and architec-ture. the entire Fea enjoyed the Christmas gala dinner held at Hotel le Commo-dore (Hamra) on thursday, December 22. this semi-for-mal dinner was organized by the Fea-srC, Ces, Ieee, asMe, ess, asHrae, and sMe. the tickets to the event were restricted to 320 be-cause of the limited capacity of the hotel dining hall, which was set up to accommodate 32 round tables of ten. tick-ets were available one week prior to the dinner and were sold for $30, a price which in-cluded dinner and an open bar. Despite the fact that the event was sold out in only two days – or perhaps because of it – many Fea and non-Fea students tried to get last min-ute tickets by contacting peo-ple “on the inside.”On D-Day, the event start-

ed at 9:00 pM as planned and people started to arrive pro-gressively to the five-star hotel, all looking sharp and elegantly dressed for the oc-casion. a valet-parking ser-vice was secured for all the guests to assure a safe place for their cars. sophomores, juniors, seniors, and grad-uates all attended. In fact, not only students showed up as there were also professors present including Dr. salah sadek, Dr. Mounir Mabsout, Dr. Habib Basha, Mr. khaled Joujou, and Chairman of the eCe Department Dr. ka-balan, who readily shared the fun of the event and con-tributed to its success. Once everybody took their place at their assigned tables, the waiters served delicious leb-anese appetizers and hot plates, which were then fol-lowed by the main course, consisting of both meat and chicken breast, along with various steamed vegetables on the side, as well as various drinks of choice. as dinner was being served, Mechan-ical engineering student

and president of the Fea-srC richard aoun, accom-panied by Civil engineer-ing student and president of the Ces,Georges el-Nach-ef, headed to the podium to welcome guests and wish them a good time, promis-ing many similar upcoming events between now and the end of the academic year. af-ter the main course, it was

time for dessert. two cakes were cut, one of them offered by the Ieee, in celebration of the association’s 125th anni-versary, and the other by the Ces. Once all were well-fed and had had their drinks, it was time for the DJ to turn the calming Christmas mu-sic in the background into the exciting dance beats every-one was awaiting. the dance

Fea enjoys Christmas dinneremile Zankoulstaff writer

floor was instantly filled with students from e1 to e4, in addition to a few professors. the smiles and excitement on people’s faces were proof of the friendly mood and suc-cess of the event. the dance floor remained packed till 1:00 aM. this event was also covered by Mondanité maga-zine and Beiruting.com.

photo Courtesy of John Hajjar

5

CaMpus News

though the main pur-pose of the environ-mental Club’s Christ-

mas dinner was to celebrate the festive season, it also car-ried an underlying message of saving the earth from the catastrophic consequences of global warming.the dinner, which was held on tuesday, December 21, at the Orient Queen Homes, mainly attracted environ-mental Health students and professors, as well as stu-dents in related disciplines. also in attendance were sev-eral representatives from the sponsoring companies procter and Gamble, uMB, Coldwell Banker, and Deek Duke. the number of attend-ees did not exceed 30, result-ing in a very relaxed and friendly setting.the evening also featured the Best poster on Climate

environmental Club hosts unique Christmas dinner

Change competition where several students had de-signed eye-catching post-ers on the matter at hand. these were exhibited dur-ing the whole night and re-ceived praise for their inge-nuity and creativity from the attendees.after refreshments were served and everybody had a chance to mingle, environ-mental Club president Maria saidy offered a word of wel-come in which she thanked everyone for coming and the sponsors for all their help and support. she then pro-ceeded to announce the win-ners of the contest and called upon the representatives to present the awards and certif-icates of participation.those in attendance enjoyed a menu full of lebanese “mez-za” while music and Christ-mas carols played in the

background. live entertain-ment was provided by two environmental Health stu-dents, senior sara Obeid and sophomore louai Merhi, who sang a collection of old ara-bic favorites. they were met by loud applauses and cheer-ing, prompting them to take requests from the audience.

the night also included a draw for dinner vouchers courtesy of Deek Duke and Orient Queen Homes. Despite all the fun, a senti-ment that all seemed to agree on, the true purpose behind this event did not go by un-noticed. On all the dinner ta-bles, this issue, along with

the failures that resulted from the Copenhagen sum-mit were discussed, in hopes that such events could lead to furthering the cause and raising awareness of the problems resulting from cli-mate change.


tala kardasNews executive

photo Courtesy of tala kardas

this Christmas, auB’s Biology student soci-ety (Bss) took its ka-

raoke spirit to a whole new level, at the newly opened lebanese dining parlor, leb-nenyet. the roaring music could be heard meters away from the Downtown parlia-ment square. the restaurant housed a diverse mesh of a hundred or so glamorous Bi-ology majors on tuesday, De-cember 22. radio One’s wednesday night rock & roll/Metal Mu-sic special host, randy and his trusty colleague, Joe (the man “with a voice as silk is to touch”) played a huge selec-tion of all time favorites, in-cluding english 80’s rock bal-lads, spanish classics, and arabic hit singles. songs such as Danger Zone by kenny loggins and eye of the tiger by the famous american group survivor where chanted out loudly by the throngs of junior Biolo-

gy students and national pa-triotic songs were re-voiced, particularly by Biology se-nior tarek el Helebi, as stu-dents argued eagerly over what to sing next. pia Maalouf and Cedric kseib performed another duet named Vivo pour ella by the famous Italian tenor andrea Bocelli, while lively partygo-ers Fouad Badaoui and am-jad kanj took to tirelessly yelling about at a decibel lev-el only few could bear to han-dle, “I get knocked out, when I get up again, you’re never gonna keep me down…” Nev-er before has there been wit-nessed such explosive zeal amongst Biology students. surely those who didn’t make it on that night could not have started off their Christmas vacation on the right foot. Screams and laughter filled the air when Bss’s very own president paul ramia decid-ed to couple up with Officer of events planning (and pri-

mary organizer of the Christ-mas dinner), rita toume to sing “I’m a Barbie Girl in a Barbie world…” which is something that isn’t seen ev-eryday! “this annual oppor-tunity is meant to embrace jolly experiences with our fel-low colleagues, whose mem-ories will stay with us when

these golden college days are long gone,” said ramia. Junior sara el Baba spoke with fiery charisma, “I can’t recall the last time I’ve had so much fun; the clock has struck midnight and the par-ty is just beginning!” that’s right, auB’s bubbly bunch of Biology students

have yet again come to prove that they’re worth far more than a few lousy lines of hu-man and animal physiology. No doubt, some awesome tal-ent was discovered during that night. when it comes to auB’s Biology students, see-ing is beyond believing!

Bss: Christmas Dinner Galarami Diabstaff writer

photo Courtesy of rami Diab

6

CaMpus News

after winning the 2002 academy award for Best Original screen-

play and the 2003 Golden Globe award for Best For-eign language Film, the Cine Club at auB thought it would be appropriate to pay pedro almodovar a tribute, by screening this very movie that claimed those prizes and critical acclaim. The film, en-titled “talk to Her” or “Hable con ella” in Spanish (the flim’s original language), is a story of love, death, and faith. the movie begins with a theatri-cal display introducing the lead actors Benigno and Mar-co. after an initial encounter at the theater,the two men meet at a hospital where Be-nigno works as a nurse. Mar-co’s girlfriend, lydia, a bull-fighter by profession, has been knocked down during one of her bullfights, causing severe head injury and con-sequently a coma. It so hap-pens that Benigno is look-ing after another woman in a coma, alicia, a young ballet student whom he showed in-terest in before a car accident four years earlier that led to her current situation.Grieving for a love affair that tragically ended ten

years ago, Marco finds him-self in the same position sit-ting next to lydia’s hospital bed. till now, it only seems like a normal movie but as the events progress, it is no-ticed that fate has a weird way of telling us that desti-ny is hard to predict. let’s take Benigno for example. He seems like a caring, non-violent person, full of faith and devotion to do the best he can. He attends mov-ies and theatrical events, then goes back to alicia and talks to her about what he’d seen, reads to her, and holds photographs in front of her closed eyes, with solid faith that she can hear him and that one day she’ll wake up and know what he has done for her. Moreover, after Be-nigno meets Marco at the hospital again, they become friendly, and Benigno en-courages Marco to talk to lydia and hope for a miracle. In a sad twist of fate, how-ever, alicia becomes preg-nant and Benigno is accused for raping her, and gets sent to a state-of-the-art prison where he overdoses on some pills and dies.as for alicia’s destiny, she miraculous-ly wakes up from her coma

pedro alModovar, “talk to Her” /”Hable con ella” movieMohammad al Medawarstaff writer

ومن كثٍب, عن أراقبهم نفسي ...وجدُت خالل كّوٍة حملُت بوتقًة من األشباح البيضاء رؤوسهم ناحية, كّل من أحاطتني قد الّلون. أخضر قماٌش يغطّيها وأقدامهم في مقّدمة هؤالء, رئيس العصابة, يسحب ً بعيًدا عن جسدي, فأجدها ملّطخًة يديه باألحمر القاني ثّم يصفعني بقّوٍة وبال رحمٍة فوجدُت نفسي أصرخ من كّل قلبي, ما أثار وأثار غضبي القهقهات إصدار على رفاقه

عليهم ...صوته لم يكن غريب الوقع في أذنّي بل أدركُت زادت حّدته في وقد رافقني منذ شهورٍ أّنه األّيام األخيرة الّتي سبقت رؤيتي لَه... ال بّد أّنه رجل الهاتف! ال بل هو الّرجل بالّتأكيد,

فما سمعُت رماه رجالً يناقش موضوعي.- سامية! سامية! استيقظي,

فقد انتهينا.جّراء من عليها أغمي قد وسامية

تراني بني أن صمودها هذا, فما استطاعت أياديهم.

- أنِت تعالي! خذيه إلى الّداخل وقومي مبا ينبغي القيام به!

- حاضر! أخذتني إحدى الّنساء احلاضرات ورمتني ودًما ماًءا احلوض فأصبح ,ِ احلوض في حّتى جسدي, عن ويتباعدان ينخلطان

دخلت في سباٍت عميٍق حسبُته موتًا.وجهي, يداعب بأحٍد أحسسُت بعدها فتفّتحت عيناي بني أحضان سامية وجهها باألمان فأحسسُت ,ِ البسمة عرين بات وتالشت شآبيب الهول من حولي. أطلعتني أسرارها... رأيتها تقول لي: صرموا حبالنا لكّني اآلن أشعر بك أكثر من أّي وقٍت مضى, فأنت حلم األمس ورجاء الغد... أنت الّدموع

وأنت االبتسامات...ثواٍن معدودٌة, تالها دخول زمرٍة من معارفها,

وذاكرتي ال تخونني أبًدا...موسى شلح

كاتب صحفّي

but loses the fetus. she also resumes her ballet classes, while the other coma patient lydia, meets her end as ex-pected. she had it coming, but the catch here is that al-though Benigno urged Mar-co to involve her in a daily conversation and keep her connected to the world, Mar-co refuses to accept that kind of faith and tries to inject re-ality instead.therefore, despite all the unnecessary details and the scenes of nudity portrayed repeatedly in the movie, the message to be inferred here is that one should hold on to faith and never let go be-cause God works in mysteri-ous ways and has unpredict-able plans for each of us.like any other lebanese event, the movie started 20 minutes after the stat-ed time. the number of at-tendees, however, was re-markable considering the fact that this was the club’s first “baby” as Cine Club president, Jamal srouji ex-plained. Moreover, the au-dience interacted with the different scenes in the mov-ie- laughter and sympa-thetic sighs could be heard throughout the screening.

when asked about the aim of the club and what mov-ies it plans to screen srouji stated that they “aim to shed the light on new stuff, not on mainstream Hollywood movies” and added that they “aim to introduce many ac-claimed directors that we don’t know of.”as for the choice of the mov-ie, he explained that “Hable

con ella perfectly describes the work of padro almodo-var(...)It tells us a bit about spanish cinema.” Finally, when asked about future movies, Jamal re-plied, “Nothing specific yet, we will display foreign, old, reputable, but not well known among students”

كافة من حولنا, من يتجمهرون وشرعوا يرتدون صغارٌ أطفال األمام في األعمار. املالبس امللّونة, ويحملون في أيديهم بالونات عجوزٌ أمرأٌة جانبهم إلى عالًيا. ترتفع لكانت األسعد في الغرفِة, وفي ظّل عبارات البسملة واحلمدلة, إذا بأحد الّرجال احلاضرين

يصيح:- حمًدا لّل على سالمتك يا

حبيبتي!- أعدَت من الّسفر؟

- نعم يا سامية, أو أناديك أم جاد؟!

واقترب من كالنا قالها, فابتسمت سامية كان هكذا مقّدسة... ببهجٍة يحتضننا يوم أتيُت إلى هذه الّدنيا, فهذا والدي وتلك ردهات بني يهرعون أطّباء وأوالئك جّدتي, يتّقنعن ممّرضات وأولئك املستشفى, لثواٍن تدوم دهشتي... أثارت بابتسامات

عرفت وما وسنني وأّيام وساعاٍت ودقائق شفاههّن الكمد املعلن...

ما بشريٍط الصٍق مينعني من الكالم, لكّنني التزمُت الّصمت...

لكّنني أقدامي أو يدّي تكّبل بسالسل ما عشقُت الّسكون...

ما من جرميٍة ارتكبت لكّنني كنت في مسرٍح ما...

خاّلب ملسرٌح لكّنه اجلرميِة, مبسرح ليس البالد كافة ومن كّلهم, الّناس يصعده واألديان واألعراق واجملتمعات واألقاليم أغنياء وأعاجُم, عرٌب والفئات... واملذاهب ظاملون وأحرارٌ, عبيٌد وسوٌد, بيٌض وفقراء, ومظلومون, متدّينون وعلمانّيون وملحدون,

عظماء وحقيرون, شرفاء ومعربدون...املنّصة, رهاب خالله من يختبرون مسرٌح جفونهم عبر األضواء وتأثيرانعكاسات الّدامسة, وحرارة تصفيق اجلمهور اّلذي ال

يبتغي سوى املزيد واملزيد بال هوادة.الفريق أعضاء على وما الّستار, تُسدل سوى أن يؤّدوا أدوارهم كما ينّص الّسيناريو باحتراٍف, وفي الّنهاية انحناءٌة مهّذبٌة تكفي إلمتام املهّمة, مع قليٍل من اخلجل هنا, واجلرأة منهم بكّل املنوط الّدور فيؤّدون هناك,

بنجاٍح...سمعُت اليوم, ذلك في عيني بأّم رأيتهم تأملت أذنّي, في يتمتمونها مباركاتهم انفعاالتهم في الّرؤى وفي األحالم, شممت بتعاسة املمّوهة أزهارهم أطيابهم وعطور الوجود, تذّوقت ُحلوهم املكّفن باملّر, وبعد كّل ما رأيت وسمعُت وتأّملت وشممت وتذّوقُت, تذّكرُت الّلحظة كما كانت في حينها... يوم

والدتي, وذاكرتي ال تخونني أبًدا!


7

arts & Culture

It’s this simple: you ei-ther have a Blackber-ry, or you’re getting one

(even if you don’t know it yet) as the need to be a BlackBer-ryer and be on BBM (Black-Berry Messaging) is almost as infectious and addictive as the need to be on Facebook, giving rise to its nickname “CrackBerry.” so seeing as you’re going to be the owner of a BlackBerry, you might as well make an educated deci-sion about which BlackBerry you are going to own.The first question to an-swer is, why be a BlackBer-ryer? the two main reasons that people are getting their BlackBerries, according to an alfa salesperson, are the internet and BBM. For $40 on top of your current phone plan, you receive direct in-ternet access through your phone line – for alfa us-ers, this includes unlimit-ed megabyte usage, but for MtC touch users it is limit-

ed. also included in the $40 is BBM, a free instant-messag-ing application where replies are listed above one another like a conversation, with the added service of being able to see when the recipient has read your BBM. these ser-vices mean you save on your phone bill.the second question to an-swer is, which should I get? although there are a number of variations, the main three

(and their latest versions) will be compared here; the Bold 9700, Curve 8900, and storm2 9550.a chart from the BlackBer-ry website lists and compares the features of all three, in a simple and easy-to-view way (from left to right, BlackBer-ry Bold 9700, Curve 8900, storm2 9550);all three devices also offer Gps and a 3.2 megapixel cam-era. as well as size, weight,

battery life, and features, prices should also come into consideration when choosing your phone.From the BlackBerry store in Down town, the pric-es of the various phones are as follows, the new Black-Berry Bold (9700) sells for $699, the previous version of which (Bold 9000) was in the range of $650. the Blackber-ry Curve 8900 is worth $550, and the preceding type charg-

BlackBerry smartphones – a ComparisonYasmine saabstaff writer

whale killing in Denmark: truth or rumor?rita Obeidstaff writer

Charts from blackberry.com

es $360. Finally, the Black-berry storm 2 9550 is the all touch-screen device, which looks somewhat cooler, but annoys most people as it is said to be less user-friendly. the demand for it in this re-gion is notably lower than for the other models; the Black-Berry store does not car-ry it, and according to the Class store in Down town, it was discontinued after sales proved it to be an unprofit-able item. prices include one-year guarantee, but this varies from one vendor to an-other depending on demand and profit margin.More information (as well as cool 360° views) about the ubiquitous handheld de-vices can be found on the BlackBerry website <http://na.blackberry.com/eng>. Hope you had a BlackBerry Christmas!

Many of us have re-ceived the chain let-ter addressing Den-

mark and the disgrace it has caused mankind, because of its annual slaying of whales. the e-mail states that inhab-itants of the Faroe Island in Denmark kill thousands of the friendly whales yearly, as a ritual of passage into adult-hood for the men participat-ing in the massacre. BBC News addressed this contro-versy and stated that the is-land’s inhabitants have been hunting these pilot whales for centuries.the claim fal-sifying the emails is that the hunt is for reasons of surviv-al. while these animals are used as food stocks for the winter to feed the islanders, it is certain that for animal rights activists, this kill is brutal and unnecessary. Animal right activists affirm

that these whales are endan-gered species and the man-ner in which they are killed is inhumane. while the way these whales are slaughtered is obviously vicious, the is-landers’ defense is that the whale population is not un-der threat and, just like farm animals are consumed in most countries- these whales are hunted for food and con-sumed over the winter sea-son.Ironically, both the animal right activists and the Faro-ese agree that recent discov-eries of high levels of mer-cury, insecticides, and other toxins in these pilot whales mean that consumption should be reduced. pregnant women on the island have been advised not to eat the meat since it contains such harmful substances.personally, I decided to ad-

dress this topic as soon as I received the e-mail and saw how brutally these whales are being treated for no logi-cal reason other than the ful-fillment of traditions. After research and study, I found that this is the country’s way of obtaining food, but, surely, this is no reason to support the occurrence of such mas-sacres! people all over the world brutally kill animals for the sake of obtaining food and this would be an end-less battle to pursue. thus, the matter is a question of opinion and belief; wheth-er you think killing these friendly whales for the sake of obtaining food is unjust or whether it is acceptable and should not be tallied by ani-mal rights activists remains your choice.



8

arts & Culture

It is a truth universally ac-knowledged, that a sin-gle man in possession of a

good fortune, must be in want of a [girlfriend?],” slightly ac-cording to Jane austen. lit-tle did she know about leb-anese men, and women, and she forgot to mention any-thing about where love fac-tors into the equation.If we pay attention to how the term “love” is used in today’s conversations, it is obvious that the word is used, abused, and tossed like a road kleen-ex from the mouths of those who utter it so lightly. why did austen neglect to include the notion of love in her the-ory on how men choose their ladies, and vice versa? per-haps she implies that love may be one thing, but rela-tionships something alto-gether different.what about those men who are not in a possession of a “good fortune”, are they not allowed to venture to the promises of love and its af-terlife? In our (just slightly) materialistic context, how in

heaven’s name is a normal guy supposed to appeal to the ladies if he doesn’t have a nice ride, conspicuously brand-ed clothing, and the latest gadgets and devices (phone, ipod, etc)?One woman recently told me of her husband while laugh-ing, “I noticed him because of his car.” this is coming from a woman in her forties about her husband to whom she has been married for al-most a quarter of a century. It appears that flashy things have always been a means of gleaning attraction.while some tut and shake their heads, it can be ar-gued that materialistic os-tentation is just another way of putting your best foot for-ward. In the same way that we check our outfit and gen-erally look over our appear-ance before leaving the house to make sure that people are seeing us the way we want to be seen, we also make sure to keep our best belongings around us and on us to add to the image we want to project.

Dollars (and dimples) are a girl’s best friendsYasmine saabstaff writer

everyone knows, however, that appearances only last for so long. In the same way that a young man eventually bores of a beautiful girl that may say nothing, a young woman eventually bores of a pecuniarily flamboyant young man that may have nothing else to offer.

while stuck in the country’s infamous traffic, I have no-

ticed a great deal of humor-ous- though accidentally so- advertisements on the side of the road. as I innocently glance outside my window, I never know what I am about to read. I understand that other countries have done this very same thing, but I have seen more unique ad-

vertisements here than any-where else I have visited. let me give you some exam-ples of a few of the very effec-tive, though perhaps not in the way they were intended, advertising campaigns and signs of lebanon. Near my house there exists a salon Gigolo, with very small letters printed underneath, “for men.” This was my first memory of a questionable store sign in this country. I do not understand how a store could first, choose the name “gigolo” out of all the possible options for a name, and sec-ond, go through the process of naming a store without meet-ing objections from business associates, family, or friends. I can only imagine the poor soul whose friends congrat-ulated him (and I guess the

owner to be a man, due to his clever subtitle) on choosing such a unique and appropri-ate title for his hair salon. I have also encountered some less disturbing signs. some have just left me in pure con-fusion, like the store called Hi Baby, which sells chil-dren’s toys I believe. I do not know for a fact what they sell, because the sign fea-tured a strange laughing baby which I suppose was meant to be endearing and draw in customers, but only succeeded in frightening me from buying any baby-relat-ed products from that store. the name of this store was ei-ther ingeniously simple, or, as I suspect the case may be, just plain weird. Badly named stores, how-ever, are completely differ-

ent from incorrect grammar. while reading the different prices of chocolate bars at a supermarket whose name shall remain unnamed, I found that for only 1500 ll, I could purchase a “Chunky peanut Butt.” score! the store had obviously meant to write “Chunky peanut But-ter,” but it was too late. the damage was done. with some advertisements here, pictures seem to speak louder than words. as I drive to auB every day, I pass by a small meat market with a picture of an actual cow’s face, and the cow is smiling. I do not know how the own-ers found a picture of a smil-ing cow to be the perfect face of a meat market, but there the sign exists, atop of hang-ing slabs of freshly killed

meat every day. I don’t know about you, but I do not like to picture the smiling face of old Bessy lou when I’m purchas-ing my potential hamburg-er from the market. I like to remain blissfully ignorant to my hamburger’s prior feel-ings and photo shoots. the same concept applies to the store I have seen titled Hap-py Chicken. My buffalo wings were never happy, thank you very much. I write this not to poke fun at the owners of salon Gigo-lo, but to provide a warning to those of you excited Busi-ness majors. the next time you find yourself in the po-sition to name a business or create a sign, remember that concepts can easily be lost in translation.

lost in translation

Yet maybe these things, beauty and possessions, are a better reason to like someone than for ‘love’, since most will agree that love lasts even less than finances or beauty do. Others may claim that with-out good looks or advertised affluence, few will approach a person in the first step that

would lead to a courtship.still others, such as many of us out there, would like to continue believing that per-sonality is the only thing that matters. Yes, I’m sure we all dream after celebrity stars like Josh Hartnett because of their ‘personalities’.

“


Heather Jaberstaff writer

9

arts & Culture

a Brief Distinction:

“romeo oh romeo, whence did your heart churn with a vengeance against greenery?”that’s shakespearean for: why won’t you eat those darn vegetables?!let us, before debating vegetarianism, take a moment to highlight a fundamental difference on the subject matter of vegetarianism. Vegetarians and vegans are like fruits and vegetables, although they relate to one another in more ways than one, their differences set them apart (Vegetarianism).Vegetarians are mostly non-meat eaters and may or may not consume eggs and dairy products whereas vegans have taken the spirit of vegetarianism to a new lev-el. Vegans for instance, not only refuse to eat food substances directly stemming from or even derived from animal origin, but they are so much against the killing of animals that they even condemn the luxury of dressing in clothing manufactured from animals of all species (i.e. silk, leather, or wool..). to make a long story short, our vegan friends are strongly opposed to all sorts of animal-products (Vegetarianism).

Green Beginnings: a History of Vegetarianism:

Encyclopedia Britannica defines vegetarianism as “the theory of living solely upon vegetables, fruits, grains, and nuts – with or without the addition of milk prod-ucts and eggs – generally for ethical, ascetic, environmental, or nutritional reasons” (Vegetarianism).Allow us to first consider the roots of vegetarianism. It appears that there is no one distinct, traceable point in time that marks the origin of vegetarianism. In our Mediterranean area however, it dates back to the renowned philosopher pythagoras of samos. It is no surprise to discover that the notion of vegetarianism has been well received and supported by a multitude of great thinkers from plato and the Neo-platonists that followed, to Voltaire, and Jeremy Bentham (also philos-ophers), to peter singer a Mid-20th century philosopher (Vegetarianism). this leaves one to wonder – with all these grand minds advocating the practice of vege-tarianism – do its benefits defeat its odds?

arguments regarding a Green revolution:

well, philosophers have their arguments but let us cut to the chase and present some crude facts arguing for and against the practice of vegetarianism.the way I have come to see it, the people who are most at risk of malnutrition are breast-fed infants of old-time vegetarian mothers. Newborns are at a critical age of development and need all the nutrition they can receive in their insipient stages of growth (G, B, and M 232-238). with exception of our cuddly toddlers how-ever, vegetarianism, it seems, is no life threatening matter that is to say, becoming a vegetarian is no reason to have a heart attack; on the contrary my friends, it may be a reason to prevent one.I’m sure it’s obvious to most people that increased deviation from animal-derived food substances can significantly decrease one’s risk of developing serious heart disorders (such as arteriosclerosis) as levels of cholesterol and unsaturated fats drastically attenuate (G, B, and M 232-238).You see, the nutrients lacking in vegetarians are vitamins B12, B2, Vitamin D, iron, and calcium. Any decent fifth grader will tell you that your body will boost vi-tamin D production so long as you give it its fair share of sun light. Iron-rich meats can be substituted by iron-rich vegetables of which there are quite a few, and as it turns out, those who don’t ingest so much as a microgram’s worth of meat need sufficiently less concentrations of calcium for a healthy well-being as calcium is more easily retained (renal calcium loss is reduced to minimum) by a body free of excess protein and especially protein of animal origin (G, B, and M 232-238).Great, so what remains are our precious vitamins (B1 and B2). Well if those are not received sufficiently from a strict plant diet, they can very well be received from fortified foods of plant origin, such as fortified whole grain cereals. One of the great rewards of going vegetarian is that you get to eat close to double the dosage of food (and stay hungry for more) while simultaneously keeping a slim waistline. In fact, a recent paper taken from Journal of american Dietetic association pub-lished last april 2009 solemnly sates that “current vegetarians may be at increased risk for binge eating with loss of control” (O’Brien, perry, wall, story, Neu-mark-sztainer, 648-655). well hey, that’s not so bad. Come to think of it, it could mean that you might actually meet your body’s requirements of those lacking nu-trients without any additional nutritional supplements (such as Vitamin tablets and the like).

what Now? where do we go from Here?

surely, I am not advocating that we start a green revolution; I am only suggesting that we start consuming more food substances from the plant kingdom and less of those from the animal kingdom.One example of a decent diet is referred to as the “optimized mixed diet” and succeeds in providing us with a well-rounded nutrition while simultaneously mini-mizing our need for iron. this diet recommended by the research Institute of Child Nutrition applies to all age groups (excluding infants) and comprises “gener-ous amounts” of plant foods, “modest amounts” of animal foodstuffs, and “small amounts” of fat (O’Brien, perry, wall, story, Neumark-sztainer, 648-655).truly, when it comes to health and nutrition amongst other matters, we can hear socrates’ loud cry of truth reverberating in our heads: “Balance is best!”so there you have it; a simple way towards a healthier more energetic you: cut down on meat and eat up your greens! Note to reader: the weekly Health Corner is in no way the Gospel of health, wealth, and well-being, and thus should not be treated as a legitimate replacement for professional medical advice.

Citations:

ramona robinson-O’Brien, Cheryl l. perry, Melanie M. wall, Mary story, DianneNeumark-sztainer. “adolescent and Young adult Vegetarianism: Better Dietary Intake and weight Outcomes but Increased risk of Disordered eating Behaviors. Journal of the american Dietetic association - april 2009 (Vol. 109, Issue 4, pages 648-655, DOI: 10.1016/j.jada.2008.12.014)G, scoch, kaiser B, and kersting M. “pros and Cons of Vegetarianism.” Monatsschriftkinderheilkunde 144.3 (1996): 232-238. web. 3 Dec 2009.“Vegetarianism .” encyclopedia Britannica. encyclopedia Britannica Online. encyclopedia Britannica, 2009. web.3 Dec. 2009 http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9074954>.

Vegetarianism: to (M)eat or not to (M)eat?rami Diabstaff writer

Did You Know?whereas carnivores have sharp teeth designed

for tearing through animal flesh, herbivores such as giraffes have teeth with a more flat-tened architecture cunningly calculated for

grinding food of plant origin.Now hear this: we humans have flattened

teeth, take a hint!

10

eNtertaINMeNt

shock Value II marks the long awaited return of the sharp beats and zappy hooks that helped shape timbal-and’s chart topping shock Value back in 2005. and this time around, tim brought a bunch of his friends into the mix.the album’s heavy synth in-tro and DJ Felli Fel on the mic, sets the listener’s ex-pectations high for what ap-pears to be yet another hip-hop classic. unfortunately though, sVII, as a whole, re-flects the producer’s intent to extend to a broader, more pop-oriented audience.Justin Timberlake flaunts his ego and jump-starts the party with the percussion driven “Carry Out,” followed by JoJo, who gets an impres-sive urban makeover with

“lose Control” and “Meet In the Middle,” which brings a much needed change of vibe, as it is the only non-timba-land produced record on the album. listeners are intro-duced to Brandy’s (the r&B singer) rapper alter ego “Bran’Nu”, who sounds like a natural and makes several other appearances on sVII, while Nelly Furtado taps into her feisty side on the al-bum’s lead single “Morning after Dark.”then come the acoustic-led tracks, with guests such as Onerepublic, with “March-ing On,” and the Fray, on “undertow,” providing me-lodic support while tim tries hard to convey a decent lyr-ical rap flow. By then, it be-comes obvious that the strength of shock Value II

does not lie in tracks, such as Nickelback’s Chad kroeger’s “tomorrow In a Bottle.” katy perry attempts reviv-ing the album with a funky rock injection on “If we Meet again,” however Miley Cyrus bursts in with “we Be-long to the Music” as a child on a sugar rush to spoil the operation and ban Mr. Mos-ley from hip-hop heaven.so all in all, while shock Val-ue II might not appeal to the die-hard timbaland fans, who were expecting anoth-er hip-hop masterpiece, the album definitely deserves a listen and is guaranteed to hit a home run with at least one of its tracks, due to the sound variety that is intend-ed to be the gift, but, turns out to be its curse.

album review


Quite possibly, the greatest band on earth, Opeth is a swedish heavy metal band. For those of you who got re-voked just by reading “heavy metal” then you have been mislead, for Opeth is no reg-ular metal band! Of course they do have all the growl-ing, heavy drums, and guitar effects, but they are great-ly influenced by progressive music, folk, blues rock, and jazz and have incorporat-ed these genres successful-ly in lengthy, breathtaking compositions that include acoustic guitar, piano, and

organ interludes with strong dynamic shifts. they have combined many contrast-ing styles and added transi-tions. with 9 albums out so far, their best three inter-nationally are Blackwater park, Ghost reveries, and watershed.Formed in 1990, the band has been through sever-al personnel changes, ex-cept their singer, guitarist, and songwriter Mikael Åk-erfeldt, who has remained since joining promptly after the band was formed.when hearing an album like Opeth’s Blackwater park, all preconceptions of what makes a truly great album are shattered, usually with-in a note or two. what is it about Opeth that sets them apart from the thousand or so bands? slipping any of their albums into a car’s sin-gle-port CD-player will make one feel content to know that no matter how long they will be stuck in traffic or how many bone-headed taxi driv-ers obstruct their way back home, they won’t feel a bit

bored nor irritated.as for why it’s the-all-time-band, in all the years of searching, finding, and ex-periencing heavy and at the same time relaxing music, they somehow come across the band that you’ll listen to till the day you expire from this spiraling planet. another reason is Opeth’s di-versity in styles used in songs with more instruments than you can ever imagine be-ing on a single song. For ex-ample, if you’re into long pi-ano interludes, listen to the beginning of “a Fair Judg-ment,” or to the last three minutes of the “the leper Affinity.” While if you’re into an enchanting melodic ex-perience that takes you out of this world for a couple of minutes then drags you back down so quickly once it ends, listen to “Hours of wealth” and honestly, those cou-ple of minutes will feel like hours! You can also listen to “atonement,” a lengthy acoustic guitar song with an attractive oriental “der-bakke” background. speak-

ing of oriental, be sure to check out “Closure” - espe-cially the last two minutes - for a catchy arabian Des-ert tune using oriental in-struments such as the “daf” and “derbakke,” in addition to the guitars and drums. For those who seek nostal-gia, drama, and emotions, Opeth has just the thing for you, listen to “Coil,” “In My time of Need,” and “Isola-tion Years!” as for pure in-strumental, lyrics-free song, listen to “Madrigal” for an unforgettable sensation!last but not least, for all the heavy metal fans out there, you are in for one hell of a treat! If you are in the mood for growling, heavy, core slamming music listen to “Masters apprentices”, or tune to “Ghost of perdition”, or better yet, “the Grand Conjuration!” However, for a pure adrenaline rush, while driving at 100 miles per hour on the highway, you can-not but listen to “karma!” as for a combination of both heavy and soft interwined in a beautiful transition, check

Band review Opeth Mohamad Al Medawar

Shock Value II Elie El Khoury

out “Blackwater park” and “Deliverance”unlike a lot of heavy met-al bands, Opeth do have songs that we call “sing-alongs” where you can actu-ally repeat the lyrics with-out having to look them up on the internet or in their CD pack, and not just hum along to the tune. Of course, not all their songs are such, but you have “reverie/Har-lequin Forest,” for example, and most of the songs men-tioned earlier.although the band is classi-fied in the “progressive met-al” category, Opeth have re-ally created - not a new - but a hybrid style that uniquely combines the basic styles we are familiar with!



11

For a movie that cost around $300 million to make, ava-tar delivers on every promise a movie should fulfill, wheth-er it relates to action, drama, or romance. avatar includes all three concepts and quite a bit more.the basic plot of avatar con-sists of the age-old concept of humans’ interference and destruction with nature and a man torn between fol-lowing the orders of his own race, while experiencing the truth and beauty of a purer world. It beautifully depicts the battle of an indigenous race to defend their right-ful land. Its story calls back to the invasion of the amer-icas and the slaughtering and “relocation” of the Na-tive americans hundreds of years ago. It can even relate to the more recent involve-ment of the americans with Iraq, as both deal with one group pushing forward into inhabited land in a manner unwanted by its people.Box-office success was ex-pected of director James Cameron, the man that has brought us titanic and the terminator. It is safe to say

that expectations were ex-ceeded upon viewing this vi-sually stunning film. Though the dialogue itself was a bit predictable and cliche at some points, this is true of many war movies. The film’s success lies in its ability to take the viewer on a breath-taking journey into a new world- a world where every-thing is still pure and origi-nal, that is, until the greedy, ignorant portion of the world decides to interfere.though it has been criti-cized for lacking perfect di-alogue, it has received am-ple recognition for its visuals and imagination. the sto-ry itself tugs on the viewers’ heartstrings, especially in the heated scenes of battle, or when sigourney weav-er’s character screams “mur-derer!” at the head of the sol-dier’s invading pandora. watching the main charac-ter and human, Jake sul-ly rally indigenous tribes into battle and watching the Na’vi people accept these good-natured foreigners into their world creates a sort of appreciation and impression wthin the viewer.

while the story itself may be simple, the graphics more than make up for this. the movie is a roller-coaster of special effects, color, and seamless transition between scenes and concepts. Camer-on created a visually stun-ning world in avatar, a place where movie-goer may expe-rience a 150 minute escape from the mundane real world and submerge themselves into the life and story pando-ra, the world of the Na’vi, a people truly at one with the beautiful world they inhabit.the movie successfully inte-grates various original crea-tures into its story, including the Na’vi people themselves, a race of beings each with smooth blue skin and a height of about ten-feet tall. A truly magnificent feat of Cameron and his team of vi-sual effects technicians is the realistic manner in which these animated people move, perhaps in the most realis-tic way that cinema has seen thus far. avatar does what any great movie can do and more. af-ter experiencing the visu-al splendor that is avatar, it

Movie review Avatar Heather Jaber


makes the viewer a little sad to return to reality. the only thing that the obviously tal-ented Cameron should wor-

ry about now is what he will do next.

eNtertaINMeNt

Book review Outliers: The Story of Success Maya TerroBy definition, an outlier is an extreme deviation from the standard or norm. For some, to be an outlier has a lot to do with individual effort, hard work, and talent. as such, in order to stand out, you have to be the smartest, savviest, most hardworking student in your class. For others, to be an outlier, you have to be plain lucky. sure you might have been the smartest kid in your school and worked your ass off while getting there, but as luck would have it, you were not lucky enough to make it to college, let alone graduate from high school. still for others, to stand out you might be smart enough, lucky enough, but as soon as

opportunity comes knocking at your door, you throw it out the window, which brings us to this, what exactly makes an outlier? In his latest book, the Outli-ers, Malcolm Gladwell hopes to share his theory of what someone would do to end up as an outlier as opposed to those who don’t.“It is not the brightest who succeed,” Gladwell writes, “nor is success simply the sum of the decisions and ef-forts we make on our own be-half. It is, rather, a gift. Out-liers are those who have been given opportunities — and who have had the strength and presence of mind to seize them.” throughout his book,

the writer offers examples – of which are the musical en-semble the Beatles, Micro-soft’s co-founder Bill Gates, and the theoretical physicist J. robert Oppenheimer- to back up this argument. ac-cording to Galdwell, it’s true that success had a lot to do with you, still there are a lot more variables involved in an individual’s success than society would admit of. In-deed, and in his words, peo-ple need to “move away from the notion that everything that happens to a person is up to that person.”throughout the book, Gladwell’s style of writing simply strikes you as be-ing rather exquisite— he

has a way of saying things (no matter how complicated they maybe) in the clearest and simplest manner pos-sible. to some critics, how-ever, this clarity and easy grace could be easily pointed to as possible achilles’ heels for Gladwell because of his oversimplification of com-plex sociological phenomena to condensed explanations. Moreover, although the sto-ries presented in the book are neatly pulled together, one could not but notice that some parts are merely re-petitive. Further on, the re-search presented throughout the book is highly enriching, unfortunately, there are a few instances with research

that casts doubt on the theo-ries being discussed.all in all, no one can deny that the book is well written and a pleasure to read and at some point, drives its readers to question things that are usually taken for granted in life. the overall message of the book is highly influential and is as simple as much as it is true: what you do for oth-ers is every bit as important as what you do for yourself, and that –though this might sound as trite- Yes, it really makes a difference to where and when you are born.

12

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a potentially disabling disorder which is characterized by unwanted repetitious thoughts and behaviors. a person with OCD is trapped in a repetitious pattern of obsessions (i.e. thoughts) and unwanted compulsions (i.e. behaviors) that are difficult to overcome. OCD is typically evident in the teen years and in early adulthood however research has also shown that many preschoolers exhibit OCD symptoms.the symptoms of OCD basically consist of the obsessions and the compulsions. Obsessions are un-wanted ideas and thoughts that frequently dwell up in the mind of the person with OCD. such ob-sessions might include, unreasonable fears of contamination or an excessive need of doing things to the perfection. the compulsions are usually repetitive behaviors in response to the obsessions that constantly bombard one’s mind. some common compulsions include; checking and washing and other include; counting, hording, repeating and rearranging.some people with OCD do recognize that their obsessions are bizarre and useless, in contrast to others who might strongly believe their fears. Most struggle to banish these unwanted thoughts and behaviors and many are able to keep their behaviors under control in work or school settings but unfortunately, over time this resistance becomes harder to control and the rituals become too severe and time-consuming. In many cases it takes over the patient’s life and makes it impossible for them to leave their home.It was a common belief that OCD results from life early life experiences, however this idea is not so popular nowadays and the focus on biological factors has grown tremendously. thus the search for causes of OCD focuses on neurobiological factors as well as environmental and cognitive influ-ences.the treatment of OCD consists of alterations between medication and behavioral therapy. some patients might show progress through the use of medication alone, other may rely solely on thera-py and others might use a combined approach of both. what is crucial is the support that the OCD patient might get from his/her family and this can help in the course of treatment.Finally, it is important to note that a person with OCD has obsessive and compulsive behaviors that are severe enough to impede the person’s life and it is important not to label just anyone “OCD” since this is a serious disorder. Many people are called “compulsive” for being highly or-ganized, but this type of “compulsiveness” might serve positive purposes in life and differs great-ly from the bizarre obsessions and compulsions that interfere with the life of a person diagnosed with OCD.

psyched Out

In a new study published in the Journal of Medical Internet research, 2,650 australian adults were asked about their levels of physical activity, internet, and computer use during leisure time and other sedentary activities (such as reading, talking on the phone, playing games, or watching television). what the researchers found was shocking as people with the highest levels of comput-er use were 1.5 times more likely to be overweight and 2.5 times more likely to be obese than peo-ple who did not use a computer at all. More interestingly, however, was the fact that adults who spent a lot of time at the computer and still had high levels of physical activity were 1.86 times more likely to be overweight or obese than people who spent no time in front of the computer.Now while this study found only an association between weight and computer use, the causal di-rection of this relationship is still not quite understood. as such, it is hard to say which causes what— is it that you become overweight because you use the Internet a lot, or is it that overweight people simply use the Internet more? according to the study, one possible explanation lies in that “people who use the Internet a lot also engage more in other sedentary behaviors, and that is like-ly the main cause of their being more likely to be overweight.” sadly, formal exercise can only par-tially compensate for all the time you spend sitting around –including regular activity as part of your everyday routine is equally important.Bottom line is, it’s all about striking a balance between sitting down and moving around. How? setting a timer for your computer use, for your television watching, or for anything that keeps you on the couch is real helpful. the less time you spend not moving, the more likely you are to get a healthy, and perhaps waist-shrinking, dose of physical activity. two, be an active viewer—while watching tV, spend at least some of the time doing something physical, whether it’s exercising or cleaning. aim for 250 minutes—the american College of sports Medicine recommends spending 150 minutes/week exercising to prevent weight gain (250 minutes/week to lose weight). Indeed, it’s a lot easier to get those 250 minutes of exercise if you cut back on the time you spend in front of the computer.

Heads up on Health

Out OF tHe BOxRita Obeid

It’s all about striking a balance

Maya Terro

Obsessive Compulsive DisorderMaroun kisrwani

rami khouri

antonios Francis

Mohamad Yahia Hamade

Marwan Jaafar

Mariam el ali

tala kardasrasha salem

John Hajjar

simon Barakat

rachid akiki

salim Batlouni

rawan abu salmanFouad BadaouiFatima BuhilaigahMoussa Chalahabraham Daniel Hajjarrami DiabYasmine FansaNadine GhaithMaryam HoballahMhd Izzat HusriehHeather Jaberwajiha Jurdi kheirlojine kamelelie el khourytimmy Malkounrita Obeidroupen OhannessianYasmine saabwally saadsandra sawayaMaya terroIlija trojanovictarek tutunjiMohammad el-Jabiemile Zankoul

Qater al Nada MohsenDima Barbirtariq BuhilaigahMohamad al Medwar

Deedee Jilani

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