“Bara ho kar truck banoonga”

By Kanwal Naz

Karachi University has many unique features, some of which have been discussed earlier on Sahafionline. I have always felt proud of this fact, seriously, tell me which university has places like P.G., Arts Lobby, and a ‘dhaaba’ where you can enjoy the traditional milk beverage “lassi”?  These are the exclusive features of our beloved K.U. where education along with entertainment is guaranteed. But in today’s post I would like to tell all the non-K.U. students about our system of Rickshaws inside the university.

It sounds funny and shocking at the same time to have rickshaws at your campus. At least to the students from DUHS, SSUET, and Agha Khan and for all the college students who come to visit KU before applying to any department, it is surprising to see rickshaws zooming from one place to another. But the presence of this noisy vehicle confirms the long distances any KU student has to cover everyday. Also, our inefficient shuttles (which are supposed to do the job these rickshaws do) encourage the rickshaw drivers to ask for ‘unfair fares’. They know that at KU, if a student is asking for a ride in a rickshaw, he is helpless and desperate. They take full advantage of the absence of our shuttles.

These rickshaws are running a good business. Especially when there is a clash, they double the fares and drive away if you try to strike a bargain with them. Then you are left at the mercy of lifts, which by the way is not a safe option.

A student of mass communication who has a subsidiary, say psychology, has to walk a long distance of about 1 km everyday…everyday!!! With no shuttles to be sighted and too scared to take a lift, that poor student is forced to stop a rickshaw. The driver gives you a devilish smile and you reluctantly agree to his desired fare.

Sometimes, it so happens, that five or six girls jump into a single rickshaw. This a common practice at KU. Often you would see a rickshaw with seven girls over-loaded inside. This is quite hilarious and dangerous since the vehicle is not designed to carry loads that of a bus. Students, please be careful.

We also have a reservation system of these rickshaws. Students often call some drivers they know, to pick them up at a certain time. No one else, other than the student who has reserved the vehicle, is allowed to use it. If anyone dares to bid a higher amount, a conflict over this tiny vehicle, is likely to emerge. Believe me!

In the end, I would like to mention that these rickshaws prove to be an asset during Ramadan. Seriously, you save a lot of time and energy. I will not say money since these drivers ask for double fares, knowing that the students have no choice but to opt for them only. Some business it is.

Attendance saga. . .

By Nadia Zarif

I still remember the orientation day when our chairman, with so many other things, announced that our daily presence is required in the class or at least we should have a 75% attendance or else we would have to pay a fine to sit in the examination and if the attendance is below 50% we will not be able to attempt the paper at all.

But like so many other rules of our prestigious university this rule is also ignored or it would be right to say that our chairman at that time forgot to mention that those who have affiliation with any of the political parties and those who have good PRs with varsity officials are exempted from this rule.

We all who tried to make our presence sure in every class, in any circumstances had a great shock to see all those people taking exams who didn’t even attend a single class throughout semester. That day we came to know that these students bunked classes the whole semester and in the end they come to the teachers, very sweetly offer ‘salaam’ to them, inform them about their connections with some officials and very bravely attempt the paper without any hesitation. WOW! What a benefit of having friends in high places.

Also, if you are a bunker and unfortunately you neither are a political worker nor have any of the officials as your ‘chacha’ and ‘mama’,  then don’t worry, you just need to make good links with the above mention students, they will definitely help you in your bad times...for sure.

Then the most interesting part of the story is that those who are not blessed with such status and their names are in the short attendance list then they should prepare themselves for total BHEJA FRY in the process of the submission of fine (several long walks for several times), and don’t dare to expect any kindness from the teachers because you might get this answer: “We can’t do  injustice to those who are regular (as one of our subsidiary teacher said to us) but no one told her that she did HALF JUSTICE by not charging fine to those who came up with a “parchee” (source).

In the end I just want to say that although it is the prime duty of our administration to make the students follow the rules still they prove to be a failure since the growing influence of political parties in the varsity does not let any rule to do well. They not only stand against every regulation but also encourage others to do so.     

Mid terms (are/our) appetizers. . .

By Summya Khan

The situation of mid terms at Karachi University could be well-expressed in Shakespeare’s famous quote: to be or not be…that is the question. It sounds funny but it’s the truth. We have a very interesting system of mid term papers. Let us take a look at it.

Normally an examination schedule is always issued by the chairperson. But when it comes to our mid term examination a.k.a. MIDS, the concept of a schedule fades away somewhere in the dark. DEMOCRACY rules. The students get to decide when, where, at what time, what topics and sometimes even the classroom is decided by the students. The teacher absolutely has nothing to do with the MIDS except for the grading of course.

The most interesting part is the choice of topics that are to be given in the examination paper. It seems as if the students are deciding a theme for a welcome party instead of topics for an examination paper. Everybody who is anybody takes part in the discussion. Even the ones who rarely bother to show up in class suggest, “Sir! Please conduct the test on Monday; I have a lot of preparation to do”.

Its funny to hear this since people who never take lectures and demand time for preparations are the ones who never bother about grades be it the MIDS or the finals. Because of these “CHARACTERS”, sometimes serious students face problems in their timetable.

Now coming to the part where MIDS, metaphorically, become appetizers. Taking the MIDS or not mostly is a choice that is left upon the students, as I mentioned earlier. Although most of the time students never take their mid terms seriously, they are, anyhow an important part of our final exams and our GPA. The real purpose of our MIDS is to provide an understanding of how the ‘real deal’ i.e. the final paper would be like. They are meant to stimulate our neurons before we take the actual paper. Teachers never mention this point and mostly never force the students to take their MIDS. It is a sort of trick they play on us I guess, because the students who tend to ignore the MIDS often fail in their finals too. The reason is simple: they never have any idea about what questions could be asked in the paper.

I suggest students ought to take their mid term examinations. It provides us a good understanding of our syllabus. Even if we fail, there is a choice of a ‘make-up test’. But we all know that this article is only beneficial for those who care what their GPA looks like on their mark sheets and not for the ‘CHARACTERS’ I mentioned. Isn't it?

Some points regarding 'Points'. .

By Sehar Azhar.

University of Karachi is one of the largest institutes of Pakistan.It offers the most attractive opportunities such as courses and degree programs.Along with many appealing facilities provided by Campus ,transport facility is also one of its own kind.

A large number of students of UoK have no personal means of transport and travel by the University points.Students prefer travelling in points rather than public transports ,one reason of which are the reasonable charges of the University point service.These points provides pick and drop services.This transport service is provided all over the city.

In spite of so much 'hujoom' in the points ,students find it safe and affordable to use points rather than public or private transports.But there are issues regarding the service that should be resolved.
The points are very less in number as compared to the number of passengers using the service on daily basis.Students who get the opportunity of being seated are considered lucky.

This transport service is unavailable at the time of strikes and bad city conditions and due to their unavailability,students face problems.Sometimes there is a strike call by these 'points' ,this usually happens when they have issues with the administration. Every year increases their budget and announce new programs but no improvement can be witnessed even after announcements of new budgets for this service. If Administration  resolve these problems ,students can safely travel in these points as its one of the best facilities provided by the Campus.

A Paradigm Shift

BY ZUBIA NOOR

Third-year (Previous) and Honors Program: both courses are like two different rivers which flow together but never meet. Same is the case with the students of Honors and Previous who study together in the same class but find it difficult to connect with each other. A reason could be that the students of Honors already adapt themselves to the university life whereas the students of Previous have to face a very different and a new environment.

For a student, who has just joined a two-year old lot, it takes approximately half a year to settle down. There are several situations this student has to confront like coping with the syllabus and getting accustomed to the daily attendance routine (since at colleges there is no such thing called regularity). Making friends is a major issue. Somehow, the Honors students also take advantage of their ‘slight’ seniority too.

Moreover, the Honors students are familiar with their courses, examinations, classes, assignments etc and develop a good know how with their teachers. We all know that acquaintance with teachers is very important , it not only affects our grades but also helps in several other matters such as getting letters of reference if a student applies for a scholarship etc. Unfortunately, some of these ‘new admissions’ find it difficult to understand the nature of their teachers, therefore face issues.

It would be sufficient to say that the Third Year (previous) students experience a paradigm shift. The university life brings a lot of challenges for them be it social or academic. The key to deal with this paradigm shift is to be proactive and determined. It’s a ‘survival of the fittest’ situation for all the new entries especially for the ones who compete with the ‘all-ready’ Honors students. Beware!

Maybe. . .Never the twain shall meet. . .

By Fatimah Mazhar

Ever since I joined this department, I was hopeful that I would learn new things and meet new people, and I did, you know. But one thing that always has bothered me is that despite the numerous attempts to associate with my classmates, I have always felt a gap (rather a “vacuum”) between them and my GROUP (as a fellow BLOG, which uncovers truth, mentioned).

‘Sahafionline’ isn’t trying to get away with anything. Yes, one of the group members did copy material from a particular website, a well-revealed, shouted-out-on-the-loudspeaker issue this has been. But I would again, through this platform, want to make it clear that the issue (as the administrator of the ‘truth uncovering’ blog has propagated to be an intended attempt of plagiarism) has been discussed with our major teacher Ma’am Sadia Mehmood and solved. She was immediately notified. Repeat, immediately notified.

It’s a pitiable sight to read harsh articles relating to the incident that has been solved for good. It seems like a “LOBBY” has started working against Sahafionline. All those classmates, who share a vacuum with us…are now executing a behavior that was just a part of my imagination. I only used to think that we will never be able to connect with each other, and now I am being forced to think that both of us, our honorable classmates and Sahafionline, would never reach to any agreement.

About the post in which various “qaseeday”, (Urdu for admiration), were written for Ma’am Sadia Mehmood, I would like to clear: it’s quite obvious that Ma’am will certainly not grade us higher even if we write a 786 pages book in her admiration and then write a sequel to it. After all, she a university teacher, and knows how to grade students. That article was just an expression of joy over our blog’s “tareef” just like our class fellow from the ‘truth uncovered’ blog published his viewpoint.

My request to my class fellows is to calm down. It certainly does not reflect a good image of them by creating propaganda against this blog. We apologized as soon as we found out that the post was copied.  The interesting part is that some of my class fellows from the ‘truth uncovered’ blog notified us of the incident. We are and will be, thankful to them indeed. When the problem was pointed out, it was looked into and solved. The end. Finished. No one got hurt people!!!

And if it is a retraction you want, please raise the issue in front of the concerned teacher. It would be more…what’s the word… ‘Professional’.

In the end, I would also like to mention that the members of Sahafionline are regular visitors of the two “FELLOW BLOGS”. But somehow Sahafionline is not frequently visited by them. I wonder why. Ma’am Sadia, you asked us to pin point the problems at the university, and trust me, this is a BIG problem.

When we are a class, we are supposed to act like one; I am really disappointed with the kind of reactions our blog is receiving and that too for no reason at all. I again remind our ‘truth uncovering’ blog administrator to investigate the matter and then play the blame game. In fact, in my post, I have reacted to an “Individual’s” action, and not criticized the entire blog. Think about it Mr. Administrator. Think about it.

Smoke-Kings. . !

By Kanwal Naz.

I wonder why there are no 'no smoking boards' in our University for alerting the smoke-kings of our Campus who are not only unfaithful to their own health but are also dangerous for others around them ..

In educational institutes these kind of warnings and boards should be used.

The favourite places of students for smoking at UoK is the PG canteen,backyards of Departments and several other places..

Almost 99% of the people of our country suffers from asthma(condition that affects the air passages of lungs).The biggest cause of this disease is inhalation of smoke which ultimately results in damaging of lungs and several other allergies..Smokers are the people who alongwith shortening their own life span,becomes a source of creating problems for others as well who unconciously inhale the smoke generated by the smokers around them.
.

Its very unfortunate that at present time,smokers mostly are youngsters less than 20 years of age..The reasons are unawareness,bad companies and depression..Among all these reasons the most common is depression..Researches have shown that highly depressed youngsters including male and female both, becomes drug addicts in no time,as soon as thier depression starts but if they get proper councelling ,or if given proper attention and awareness they can prevent themselves from drug addiction and other bad habbits..

Beside this if parents keep a check on their children regularly ,they can very easily save their children with this terrible world of 'DRUGS' but the unconcerned nature of the people of our society is the major source of all these problems..
The University students are addicted to smoking not after they get admiited in Universities and start considering themselves as adults but they become habbitual of such things at the very start of their teenage i.e from schools.

Once I was buying my luch from the canteen and a person passes by with a cigarette in his hand,polluting the atmosphere around me,I went to him and said 'sir,can you please do me favour and move away from here as I cannot tolerate the smoke coming out of the poisonous stick you are holding.' oh I am so sorry for the inconvienience ,he replied and threw his ciagrette on the floor .


By this incident you can figure out the positivity and the humble nature of our youngsters that the guy not only moved away from that place but also threw his ciagrette.This was just an example of an indivisual concern and issue but if we start giving awareness to such people on a large scale, that how they create problems for others around them,they will definitely realise the sitaution and would probably think of giving up..

University alongwith doing so much for the youth should also look upon the issue of giving awareness to them about the harmfulness of these addictions.Beside this, 'Smoking' inside the University should be strictly prohibbited and 'No Smoking boards' should be used for such purposes..But inspite of making possible efforts to stop this thing,cigarettes are being sold at every canteen inside the Campus and students are not at all worried about the strictness for such things as there is no such rule regarding this issue

..

The smokers should realize the fact that their life is on its way to become an ash just like the ciagrete becomes as the time passes..
At the same time I think the addicted people needs a helping hand and our support and guidance.If only, we start giving them a bit knowlegde and try to help them out in giving up this addiction,the problems can surely be reduced and educational institues should also play their part in this regard.

I will surely do my bit,..will you???

Do not force us please. . .

By Sameen Meher

The students of Karachi University come from different countries, provinces and religion. In view of these differences, some like minded people tend to form their political parties in order to support and help their kind. Though it’s not necessary to make these political groups, still it’s alright if this process is carried out peacefully. But peace, is something that is the least concern of these people who set up these students political platforms.

Here I would like to mention some facts about a very famous political group whose female activists are “haunting” the arts girls’ common room. It’s a matter of perspective. Some might think that they are doing a great job, but to me, it’s not a very pleasant sight when I see them criticizing girls, who are not like them, for no reason at all.

It’s good to know that there are some girls who work for a party just because they want to serve their religion. But it certainly doesn’t give them the authority to impose their beliefs on anyone. For instance, you are not allowed to laugh loudly inside the common room, no ipods or mp3 players are allowed. Cell phone chatters are gazed upon with laser eyes. And once you are there and if any spiritual “guftugu” is going on. You must attend it whether you have a class or not, have any interest or not and sometimes, whether you belong to the religion or not. Those laser eyes will slice you into halves if you sit idly and don’t attend their “guftugu”.

I know that this particular political party organizes a grand book fair annually, which is good thing by the way, but why are their activists act so unnaturally when it comes to their principles?

Everybody has a right to their ethics and morals, and no one has the right, I repeat, no one has the right to look down upon the ones who don’t follow your values. It’s not necessary to harass a girl, who wears a ‘hijab’ to join your group. Giving her unlimited calls and persuading her to join your so-called ‘noble cause’ otherwise she is going to suffer in her afterlife.

These spiritual ghosts have made it impossible for any ordinary girl to enter the common room. Same practices are being carried around the Zoology and Chemistry departments. It’s a shame how some people chant “read think learn” and do the exact opposite in their daily lives.

Who let the dogs out???

By Fatimah Mazhar

Dogs are mostly found around the streets, slums, gardens, in front of butcher shops and mostly they are kept as pets. But have you ever heard about dogs residing at a university? If you are a dog lover and you want an admission in the Mass communication department, then Karachi University is the place to be.

The Mass Communication building is situated in a comparatively deserted area as compared to the other departments at the university. Numerous ferns and bushes with tons of grass growing wild make the ideal habitat for stray dogs. When I first had to walk all the way down to my department, I wasn’t aware of the fact that on my way I would have to face three untamed dogs (who looked as if they were hungry for days) and that too on my own. With not a single human being to be spotted on the road, I was almost about to faint when a student van stopped by and the girls inside offered me a lift. They really saved my neck…and I mean it literally. Ever since that day, I never dared to venture out on that road again…at least not alone.

As time passed by, I learnt that those dogs belong here more than I do. It was perfectly natural of them to feel threatened of new “beings” roaming about their territory. I guess they have been living around my department for years. Two years have passed and their population seems to be growing with time.

To all those aspiring students of Mass Communication I have one word of advice: If you hate dogs, you might settle down with time. But if you are afraid of dogs, think twice before you apply. Maybe by the time you arrive, they would become twenty from twelve.

To the authorities, as usual who are numb to everything outside their cozy rooms, it is my desperate plea to take notice of these vicious animals roaming freely about the campus. Dogs don’t like company. It’s better to track them down and move them some place else, before they harm any student. (After all they are four-legged carnivores having fangs not mucus-secreting amphibians). Wake up!

Constant vigilance!!! (Especially for these dogs)

WE APOLOGIZE.

By the Administrator of  SahafiOnline.


Few of our readers rightly pointed out that the matter written in one of our published posts was copied from a site. We apologize for the error and want to make it clear that it was not an attempt of intended plagiarism. Sahafionline wants to assure you all that this will definitely not happen again.

 Thank you for your concerns.

Cafe World. . .

By Sehar Dar.

What name comes into your mind when you think of an institution, where almost 24000 students are being served with various edibles at reasonable prices? The answer could not be other than the canteens of University of Karachi.

Regardless of whether you are a student or a teacher, if you want to have any sort of good food during the University timings then no place is more attractive than "KU Main Cafeteria"c (famous as PG within the campus). Surrounded by trees, a number of canteens are present in this impressive environment providing a variety of food to the students at reasonable rates.

According to an opinion of Sumbul Badar,a student from the Department of Micro-biology proper seating arrangement is needed as most of the students have no place to sit and have to stand while eating which seems quite odd.

Nonetheless, with no specific canteen for every department, students flock to the ones closest to their department at times for just food and at others to chill out or to exchange notes and study materials. Girl students in particular are very fond of the samosas and rolls and take dozen or two home in a raw form to serve at home with tea.

Whether it is the low cost samosas of the PG canteen, Jabbar bhai’s chat, Majiday hotel's daal Sufi's Biryaani or daal with paratha and , if one studies at the University of Karachi then these are the things that should never be missed out.. The food items including "Chinese Rice", "Biryani", "Chaat", "Chicken roll", "Fries" and famous "Aloo Samosa" etc. are usually available at PG. The famous "Samosa" and "Chaat" are specially liked by the students due to their splendid and delicious taste

It has been two years since Professor Dr Abuzar Wajidi has been made head of the team that monitors the canteens. Though he is unaware of the actual prices of food or the number of canteens on the university campus he claims that his team is competent and is taking care of the affair pretty well.

The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Dr Pirzada Qasim, maintains that he understood that the number of tuck shops on the campus are not sufficient for huge number of students of the University.

He shows his concern about the tuck shops and said "We are trying to improve not only the quality of the food but also the ambiance of the canteens".
The VC also  maintains that "The quality of food and prices are monitored and are looked after, and if someone tries to defy the rules, then he is penalised, fined or his licence is cancelled".

However, few students complained about the poor hygienic condition. Also few students said that though all the food items are sold here at a very reasonable and cheap prices but cleanliness of the place is usually neglected here..

However, the complains regarding the quality of food and hygienic conditions are something that should be considered by keeping a proper check by the KU administration.

But the very important thing is that these cafeterias, canteens and specially "Dhabaaz" are contributing a memorable part to the students' lives. The rush, the trees, and long lines of students buying food are something the students of KU want to remember.

My hats off to 'HER'. . .

By Sana Batool Naqvi.

When we (Members of Sahafionline) started working on Blog,our nervousness was at its peak..and we had two reasons behind this ..

First reason.!..We all were new to the world of 'Blog'
Second reason.!The group members except few did not have the comfort zone that allows to talk freely to each other...

Keeping in mind these major problems,we felt nervous ,troubled and fearful..and realized how difficult a team work can be .

Our biggest concern was to please our teacher who assigned us 'THE' task, as all of us are aware of her capacity for knowlegde and understanding and her ability to think abstractly and profoundly..

We still know that we can't reach upto the level of her knowlegde and there is still so much for us to learn if we want to please and amuse her with our abilities of writing.

For this blog assignment our class has been divided into three groups each having nine to ten members ..few days back our teacher made us aware of the reality that our blog group(Sahafionline) is by far at the third position and is surely going to get the lowest marks..after a prolonged discussion we realized the reason behind our slow progress and our weaknesses..

Being the administrater of my blog group I felt bad ,not because of the criticism by her side,but because of the feeling that I could'nt do my job the way she wanted me to do.
She told me about issues that I should look into . I kept all those points in my mind that she highlighted.. .
With her guidance ,I discussed those issues with all my group members and asked them for suggestions as well as complains ...surprisingly all of them gave me a wonderful response and assured me of their support and co-operation..
Few lines for my team members..

Thank you for the good times.

The days you filled with pleasure

Thank you for those memories

And for kindness,I'll always treasure.



Since that day ,all the members co-operated like never before..all of them kept asking me about their turns,discussed their articles with me and assist me with my job.I got constructive ideas ,suggestions and plans from all the members.

Thank you all for all the things

That mean so much to me,

For concern and understanding ,

You give abundantly..

It was not our group discussion,ideas,plans or anything but it was the crticism  of our teacher that gave us the energy and enthusiasm to work for our progress.

We took her disappointment as a challenge and worked even harder to reach upto the mark of her satisfaction..

And now,we feel that our blog has gained a little bit of her attention and interest as she whole heartedly encouraged our members on their interesting articles and ideas behind them..All this made us feel that we have almost won her heart..

She motivated our team members to write and work even better.She explained the strategy of how to work in a group,how to manage things when we have so many brains and ideas that ultimately leads to arguements..
.
I would like to write a few lines for our repected teacher..

We really appreciate,

how you made us learn thro' fun

Thank you so very much,

for what you have said and done..

For the first time in my life I have realized the importance of criticism by a teacher and how their dissappointment can let  you move ahead with new spirits and challenges and ultimately helps you acheieve your goals..

My hats off to our wonderful ....Ma'am Saadia.

HEJ developed treatment of a disease.

By Zoobia Noor.

Researchers belonging to the University of Karachi (KU) Hussein Ebrahim Jamal (HEJ) Research Institute of Chemistry have developed a herbal ointment for the treatment of a common skin disease, leishmaniasis.

HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry Director Prof Dr M Iqbal Choudhary described the study on leishmaniasis as the first of its kind in the region. This research was conducted in collaboration with Jinnah Post Graduate Medical College Dermatology Department Head Dr Azam Samdani and Dermatologist and Larkana Leprosy Unit In-charge Dr Farooq Soomro.


Leishmaniasis is an infectious skin disease that looks like a wound and is caused by the parasite, leishmania. The disease is transmitted through the bite of sand files usually active in the evening and night. These flies breed in dense vegetation and caves or burrows of small rodents. The infection due to the parasite shows on the skin and the disease usually shows on the hands, feet and face, said Research Officer .

Cutaneous (skin) leishmaniasis is most common in Pakistan and is seen in the people of Balochistan, upper Sindh and northern mountainous areas, mostly in the winter. This disease is caused by a different species of leishmania, including leishmania major and leishmania tropica. In 2001, the biggest outbreak of this disease was seen in districts of Larkana, Sukkur and Dadu.


The treatment of the disease involves the drug pentavelant antimonials but as it has severe side effects as well as the fact that the parasite is becoming resistant to the drug is limiting its usefulness.
Administering the medicine via an injection is painful and the drug is expensive too besides it has side effects, whereas a herbal ointment extracted from garlic bulbs and different plant species has little to no side effects and can be easily applied to the patient's skin.


Sameen , a researcher maintained that five years of research have shown that this is the cheapest treatment, which all patients can afford.

During the primary study, when the herbal ointment was applied to 200 patients suffering from skin leishmaniasis, 150 patients responded positively. This disease can happen to people of all ages but it is usually common in the elderly.

Leishmaniasis affects the internal organs of the body including the spleen, liver and bone marrow. Visceral leishmaniasis is the second most prevalent type of leishmaniasis in Pakistan after cutaneous leishmaniasis," she further said. This disease is more common in rural areas while the parasites may also be spread through blood transfusions and sharing contaminated needles.

People who have cutaneous leishmaniasis have one or more sores on their skin. These sores can change their size and can become larger over time, while some of the sores are covered by a scab. These sores may be painful or painless. In some cases glands also form near the sores.
This herbal oinment do not have any side effects..

Walls that wail…

By Summya Khan.

One of my fellow bloggers wrote a post on how some students from the English department painted their walls and decorated their long-time ugly walls. It was good to know that at least some of the students are concerned about their atmosphere. But there is one department, where the students are, well, “over” concerned about the environment of their department. They are none other than our own, mass communication students a.k.a. MCDians.

I am certainly not going to criticize my fellows here. It’s just that, their intentions are pure, but they fail to realize that their efforts are damaging the look of the department. For instance, while celebrating “Earth Day”, several pictures of trees and plants were made with the help of newspapers and were pasted onto the walls of the department. The message was clear: keep your environment healthy. Everybody at the department praised the efforts of the students. I, myself, watered plants that day. And after doing that I took pictures of the walls and showed it to my friends from the other departments, proudly, telling them how much we cared.

Few days back, a friend from General History came to visit my department’s building. She instantly spotted the walls and cried out, “what have you done to the walls?” I was startled. When she left, I took a closer look at the walls and noticed that she certainly was right.

All those posters, pictures, pamphlets etc. that were once put on for a purpose (which looked attractive then) were tearing down. All those posters pasted directly onto the walls, carelessly with countless scotch tapes, were now looking old and untidy. As a result, the walls of my department are giving an ugly and messy impression to the eyes.

Since, mass communication is my department; it is my solemn duty to make it look better. But this also goes out to all those students, who like painting walls and putting on posters, that not to paste any pamphlet or poster ‘directly’ onto the walls for it will damage the paint. It’s better to put this stuff on the soft boards provided by the administration.

In the end, I would like to mention that there are some other students, whom I like to call, ‘the troublemakers’. They are the ones who spoil the walls on purpose: mostly by scribbling and by spitting betel nut. My request to these troublemakers is that please do not harm the department’s look by your shameful acts. It not only creates an untidy look but also shows what kind of students resides at this department.

Love street or Food Street???

By Kanwal Naz

My fellow bloggers mentioned a lot of negative points regarding my alma mater. But I would like to mention that Karachi University is one place that has so much to offer other than problems and studies. We have sports, festivals, picnics, clashes (yes we do offer those as well) and last but certainly not the least K.U. has P.G. It is indeed the most exciting place at K.U.

“Prem Galii” means the “love street”. But I guess it is a pseudonym. “Prem Galii” has everything except for “prem” (love). Why? Well it is because of the overwhelming presence of students from each and every department. According to physics, matter always has a center of gravity, and P.G. is the center of gravity of our university. It’s the closest canteen to each faculty. All the students rush towards P.G. to enjoy their time off. Therefore, lots and lots of students can be found at this place throughout the morning shift. And as we all know that “prem” that is “love”, unlike misery, doesn’t like company. As a result, all the “love birds” prefer to fly north of P.G. i.e. the sociology department or east i.e. the Vallika Ground.

To tell the truth, it is simply a canteen where students come to enjoy or have lunch. But the place is really a blessing because it has all the junk food there is in this world. From oily ‘parathas’
to ‘bun kebabs’ to greasy spring rolls to mouth-watering “gol gappas”. You name it, you got it. They even have “biryani” there which is not commonly found at other universities. To be short and precise, if you ever get bored of your canteen’s club sandwiches, just come and visit P.G. and you will get all what you want.

Whenever there is a function at K.U. for example the Independence Day, P.G. is a must to be visited. You will find all the students together having the time of their lives. Even the outsiders love to come and visit P.G. whenever there is a special occasion. This place is a trademark of our university and we are actually very proud of it.

To all those people who haven’t visited P.G.: visit “prem galii” if you have “prem” for food and do not miss out on “sagar bhai’s” chicken chapati rolls. You will certainly not be disappointed.

We need Security…

By Syeda Nadia Zarif

Security is a big issue these days as the present situation of Pakistan is not at all satisfactory. Terrorists are targeting almost everyone and everywhere even the educational institutions and religious places are not safe from them and our Government has totally failed to control this situation.

In the light of the recent terrorist attempts, almost all of the public and private sectors, on their own, have taken strong measures to safeguard people from any kind of mishap.


But at the same time, our very own Karachi University, once again seems to be really cool about the whole situation. We all know that many educational institutions have been targeted by terrorists in the recent past but still our management is not doing anything appreciable in this regard.

First of all, the undersized boundary walls are welcoming anyone and everyone at all times, with open hands, facilitating terrorists to enter the premises of the varsity at any hour. Secondly, in the name of security we have a small number of security guards, on the four entry gates; they are mostly found having a chit chat or in a deep slumber even during these days when the security ought to be strict.

Also, there is a formality at K.U. that all the students have to show their student I.D. cards to a screaming lady who yells at us with all her might but never checks anyone.

In the end, I would like to mention that we need some reliable security arrangements to make our university a secure place. Firstly, a security staff of educated, sincere, dedicated (not to mention polite) members is needed and they should be provided with Metal Detectors for the proper checking of each and every person entering the varsity gates. There should be a certain building which could serve as the Centralized Security Control Room with necessary equipments and more security guards so that they constantly keep an eye out. CCTV Cameras should be installed at the exit and entry gates of the university. All these measures must be put into action as soon as possible.

One word of advice to our authorities: Let’s not wait for an accident to happen and then regret in front of the media using the words “if only we had enough security”.

Help yourself!!

By Sameen Meher

The University of Karachi is full of energetic students who are hard working and dedicated. (Please don’t laugh) We are indeed. When our esteemed administration fails to provide us anything, we adopt the “God helps those who help themselves” policy. For instance, the pitiable condition of the walls of our faculty is as old as the hills. And no one, I repeat, no one in the administration or in the management pays heed to the innumerable pleas coming out from the concerned students. As a result, it is “us”, the students who do the job ourselves.

It is noticeable that some departments of the arts faculty have become too old and their walls like those of Mohenjo daro. But the authorities still pretend to remain oblivious of the situation. It so happens, that when all attempts to get their attention, fail, students from their respective departments rise to the occasion and take the job into their own hands, using their time and cash to decorate their departments and classes all by themselves.

Last year, during the students’ week the students of Psychology, Education and English literature contributed their efforts to embellish their classrooms and walls. They paid for the oil paints and made colorful charts for the walls.

Students of the English literature department did not only paint the walls of their classes but also renovated their seminar library. Also, the students of Education and Psychology made beautiful charts related to their subjects that made the walls look attractive like never before.

Now the outsiders, get a good impression of the university (and mistakenly of the management) when they see all that decoration.

Therefore, I think the management of KU is totally useless and the students ought to make a committee to collect funds from chancellor and take care of their departments themselves.  

Praising my Education system..!

By Suleman Saadat Khan.

"Jo chala gaya usay bhool ja, yeh tere naseeb ki baat hai"

When my fate modulated that I have to be a journalist then the journey of this delectable voyage started like this..

After getting 51% in the intermediate, getting admission in any department of Karachi University was impossible except the Bengali where just teachers and the officials are seen with the empty classrooms. The only department I wanted to get in was Mass Communication, which was a wishful dream to me at first due to the lousy merit criteria. But the only good thing that is ever done by the government for the sportsmen like me is that we can easily get admission in universities on the sports quota in any field of our choice.

Eventually I got the admission, and I was happy and was flying high .Beginning was good due to the beautiful chicks and the idea of buying new shoes and clothes every month. But as the time passed, the idea of becoming journalist fainted and new clothes and shoes looked like a hearsay story: "once upon a time a boy got admission and he used to think like this but ….. Ab toh Sirf Ma’am Sadia Mehmood kay blog aur Sana Batool kay messages kay khayalaat hi atay hein".


Even after the delightful journey of 21 months I was unable to see the "D" of the delight. I came to know something extremely interesting and sizzling and I can’t resist sharing it with you. I will start from the gender ratio in the department that is 20/80, 20% percent boys and 80% girls ( Kaa yeh khula tazzaaad nai ) and majority of them are from sciences. Most of them those who failed to get the admission in some good medical college. So, what’s the point of raising this issue? Normal low-profile students in their (medical students who couldn’t make to the medical college) like me get low marks because we are studying Arts since we got our first official recognition as students from the government. But our "genius scientists" of pre-engineering and pre-medical are used to reading and mugging up heavy heavy, thick thick and non-understandable books, so ultimately they’re highest scorers due to this remarkable ability.

Now let’s praise some of our courses like Mathematics and the sciences which we’ve learned and will be learning in future because (insaan martay dam tak sikhta hai, zindagee ustaad aur hum shagird hotay hein) after all we are going to be journalists. Wow! I know our department looks like a chemistry or physics lab but it doesn’t mean that the authorities have rights to forcibly teach us the subjects which have no connection with the journalism at all.

These were the two lamentations that I think every second student from the department of mass communication; Karachi University has. People might call it frustration but not seeing a camera being a student of journalism & having done no practical work except writing blogs and searching Google for the assignment is enough to make any normal person frustrated. If you call it call frustration, then yes I am frustrated. But what about the teachers who have nothing for us except telling their personal experiences and doing criticism on the organizations they are working for, are they doing justice to their jobs? I hope fellow mates will catch my points rightly.

Well there is so much to write and criticize. From internal corruption and teachers’ lobbies to the mismanagement and pilfering of urinary duct, but I have to submit a new story every week in order to get good marks, so ill stop here.

QUIT please!!!

By Fatimah Mazhar


Once my major teacher declared ‘teamwork is good, all of you who think that doing an assignment individually is better, can quit the group you are in’. Well, I was the one who went for the ‘one man show’ policy and this sentence was targeted at me.

All this happened when our teacher was assigning us a blog…this blog actually.Sahafionline. A name that is, to some, childish and a not-up to-the-standard assignment for students in their second year mass communication degree.

I am writing this article because I am facing issues with such people who think that this assignment is too impractical. They are the ones who are ‘career-oriented’, ‘creative minded’, ‘aspiring’, ‘adventurous’ etc. but I wonder why do these ‘professionals’ skip assignments and classes, and in doing so, cause problems for the people who are here (at the university) to learn. They are the ones who want a rather ‘practical’ approach towards our assignments and curriculum. Well, if you want this, why don’t you use your ‘EXPERTISE’ and start a campaign against this program of study which you loathe so much???

                                                                          

This is one problem that is always confronted while working in a group: some people never take it seriously. They are too clumsy to do their assignments and give innumerable excuses to hide their failures. Actually they are the ones who are the aspiring “media people” of our country .Honestly, I will doubt the caliber of my country’s media if it will accept people who were not even sincere with minor assignments at their university.

My plea to students like these: “if you are ‘that’ career oriented, I guess these insignificant assignments should not be much of an issue to you. After all, if you have the moral fiber to report the Afghan War as a correspondent then definitely you can take out some time for this blog and stop creating problems for the group members (who were reluctant to have you in their group).

You are the would-be journalists; reporters etc. shouldn’t teamwork be one of your principles? And if you really think that you want to make a team with your kind, it’s my humble request to you: quit please!”

Working in a group for assignments is always a challenge if you end up with people who are not cooperative. In my opinion, such people ought to leave and form a group of their own. May be, they could create something big with their brilliant brains working together.

Constant Vigilance!!!

Time & Trouble..!..

By Zoobia Noor..

As the Holy month of Ramadan has now ended so.we would definitely observe a change in our University schedule..

The University timings always changes in the month of Ramadan..The timings for the first class changes from 8:30 to 8 o'clock despite of the fact that official timings for points is 8:30..

. .As most of the students in the campus use points as their mode of transport,so it becomes difficult for them to reach at 8 to attend the first class...every year,the changes in timings for the month of Ramadan becomes a reason for debate between students and the administration..
Students have to rush for their classes as mostly miss half of the lectures of the first class throughout the month..

In some departments teachers starts the class sharp at 8,without considering the issue of point timings..

Beside this, the students who come by public buses or by private transport wait for shuttles and lifts at the muskan gate as its a tough job to walk all the way long to the departments from muskan especially when one is fasting..

During Ramadan,point timings should also be chaged alongwith the timings and schedule of classes..
 This is an important issue for not only people who use points,but also for the rest as 8 o'clock seems very early for everyone and so we have 0% attendance in the morning classes in month of Ramadan...

At the end of this Holy month ,we again have a good hope for the next year and next Ramadan..

We hope that we will have no timing issues next year and will be able to attend our classes in the morning time..and will no more be irritated by the schedule.. ..

We have big hopes but their decisions seems bigger than anything else ..!

The not so SEMINAR libraries…

By Sameen Meher

The University of Karachi was built in June 1951. It consists of different faculties with several departments. More or less twenty one departments are administered in the faculty of Arts at K.U., each having five to eight classrooms in an old building including a spacious hall (as compared to the other classrooms) named as the “SEMINAR LIBRARY”.

                                               

The purpose of these libraries is to provide suitable research material for the students, relating to their subjects, in their respective departments. Though all departments of the arts faculty have a seminar library but only 10% of them are properly administered.

Here in the following article I am going to share some bitter but true facts about these libraries.

 Usually, a library is known to be a place where rich, informative and knowledgeable resources are provided, along with a librarian, to control that particular ‘pin drop’ silence and guide the students how to use the reading material and take care of the books and assemble them properly. But the librarians of these seminar libraries are irresponsible and do not perform their job efficiently. They are not punctual and not even guide you in search of any material. Once you enter the room, you find a mess all around.

Most of the seminar libraries are used as substitutes for classrooms. While there are students who want to utilize their time by studying in the library, the teachers ask such students to leave in order to conduct their classes. This is an inappropriate practice since the library is not for these purposes. The administration ought to plan the development of the rickety old buildings and accommodate more classrooms instead of gardens.

While on the other hand the most pitiable situation is that there is not enough library material such as books or research papers, for this very reason, students prefer the digital libraries for their studies.

The seminar libraries of department of economics, Persian, Bengali, philosophy, social work, women studies, English literature, education, and political science look like ancient ruins. Not a single librarian is present there and if luckily they show up then they do nothing but sleep or groan at students. Resources are not arranged as they ought to be and a situation of chaos is found all over.

Though there are some of the managements that look after the library assets properly, they remain exceptions, for mostly these seminar libraries are slowly turning into mid-day chit chat rooms. Something must be done immediately to improve the situation.

Till ‘grease’ do us apart…

By Fatimah Mazhar



The sociology department is a busy department. You find clusters of students sitting and standing here and there. The intriguing part is that this department is associated with the Bengali department which does not have many students and sociology itself is not a very popular subsidiary subject. Then how does it manage to be the second most cherished spot for people after the Arts lobby? Let me tell you the answer. It’s because most of the time, the corridors of this haunted department are deserted. And who, better than the ‘Love Doves’, knows the value of an empty branch on a maple tree. In short, the sociology department is the perfect meeting point for all the people-in-romantic-relationships aka ‘dates’ found in K.U.

The seating arrangement for these dates is a special one. The love stricken (rather thunder-stricken) souls place themselves comfortably along the corners of the raised pathway leading to sociology. Sometimes you can see a boy giving out a hand to his fair lady to help her sit on the stairs. Many a time you can witness both of them whispering among themselves and some are found holding hands, listening to the recent (pathetic) Atif Aslam track on their mp3 players, completely oblivious of the fact that someone or rather ‘some political activists’ are watching and observing their postures like a vulture eyes its prey.

Yes, it’s the same political party who thinks that a girl and a boy are nothing more than brothers and sisters in Islam and must maintain a “Shar-aee (according to Islamic principles) distance” when talking to each other or else the consequences are bound to be severe…and I mean it when I say “severe”, both for the male and female doves, since this particular party doesn’t discriminate between genders when it comes to spanking and beating. Sad but true.

So, whenever these “pseudo mullahs” see an overwhelming presence of love birds chirruping along the corners of the sociology department, they consider it as their solemn duty to correct them. What they do is, that they pour a handsome amount of grease along the corners of the pathway and on all those seats where the ‘dates’ enjoy their quality time. This makes the whole situation (and the pavement as well) too messy and filthy for anyone who wishes to have a seat there. The poor love doves have to find other places that can keep them far from the madding crowd.

Not only do these dates suffer from this idiotic ritual but also innocent singles like me get offended when our brand new pair of sneakers gets greased. This is wrong and must be stopped. Who has given “those who we don’t speak of” the right to step into the way of love/flirtation/time-pass/whatever –is- between those two people??? One word of caution folks, next time you wish to visit the sociology department, watch your step!



Constant Vigilance!!!