Third Anniversary Special : Winds of Change

http://thedailystar.net/campus/2009/08/05/camspotlight_power.htm

Photo: Md Akhlas Uddin

ONE of the major drawbacks that has been holding us back as a nation is our inability to think on a collective scale; most of us tend to be self-centred, if not selfish, and fail to understand the power of WE and concentrate in our personal gains instead. All the problems, it seems, have the root in the mindset of ours, which, I believe, is desperately in need of a change.

Corruption, one of the most talked about problems on talk shows, newspaper articles and in high profile seminars, can hardly be solved with new laws and drastic actions unless we are able to come out of the box of ME. Those of us in power, the power to make important decisions on a national, or even a smaller scale, tend to think of our personal benefits that can be derived while making those decisions. We tend to assign the contract of making a bridge or a road not to the lowest bidder or one who can assure the best quality, as it ideally should have been, but to someone who has taken advantage of our low morale and has bribed us into believing that he would be the best person for the job. Little do we understand that in doing so, often enough, we bring about our own doom, with underquality constructions often resulting into dire consequences that can hardly be prevented.

In the job market, nepotism seems to be prevalent as an overwhelming number of employers seem to think that their shalas and bhaginas are more aptly fitted for a certain job compared to someone who truly has the merits and the required skills for the job. In hiring someone less able, the organization loses the brightest of minds who had a higher probability of performing better and thus taking it forward. Here too, ME seems to be the predominant factor.

Many streets in Dhaka, and in other parts of the country are made dirty mostly by its local inhabitants rather than from outsiders. If we cannot keep the streets in front of our homes clean, how can we really expect the city to be clean and spotless? All of us should play our individual roles in the society to bring about the collective change that we so desperately need!

Examples like the above seem to be countless and unending but I believe my message has been well explained already so this article would no longer be prolonged. It is high time that we change our mindsets in order to take the country forward or lag behind everyone else in this fast paced world. Change, as they say, seems to be the only constant!

mahdin@thedailystar.net

What exactly is a ‘Jakaater Shari’?

http://www.thedailystar.net/magazine/2009/08/04/perceptions.htm

Come Ramadan and you will be able to see good old Dhaka with a festive look. Shopping malls getting all decorated with lights, the vast majority of the people attending the Jumma prayers in huge congregations and thousands of Iftar Shops springing up, all of them equipped with the ‘authentic’ recipes of Bombay Jilapi, Shahi Haleem and Doi-bara. But among all these festivities, there is an enigmatic label in some banners which is seen all across the city. ‘Ekhaney Jakaater Shari O Lungi Pawa Jai’(Sarees and Lungis for Zakaat are available here) is what it says. Perhaps because of my ignorance in such matters, I fail to comprehend what exactly this means!

So I went forward and did a little research on ‘Zakaat’. Here is the summary :

Zakaat is one of the five pillars of Islam. It has been mentioned, along with daily Prayers (Salaat), over seventy times in the Holy Qur’an. Linguistically, Zakaat has two meanings: purification and growth. Technically, it means to purify one’s possession of wealth by distributing a prescribed amount to the poor, the indigent, the slaves or captives, and the wayfarer. Zakaat has many benefits on the socio-economic scenario but I’ll try to highlight the two key features. Firstly, it functions as a social security for all. Those who have enough money today pay for what they have. If they need money tomorrow they will get what is necessary to help them live decently.

Secondly, and more importantly, Zakaat is the best check against hoarding. Those who do not invest their wealth but prefer to save or hoard it would see their wealth dwindling year after year at the rate of the payable Zakaat. This helps increase production and stimulates supply because it is a redistribution of income that enhances the demand by putting more real purchasing power in the hands of poor. Zakaat becomes obligatory for a Muslim for a minimum amount of money or other assets he/she possesses. After adding up the cash values of the assets, a 2.5% /year Zakaat has been prescribed for all the able Muslims.

Now, coming back to the original question, what could probably describe a ‘Jakater Shari’? Something which is of such a low quality that we cannot give to our mothers, sisters or daughters? Something which won’t even last till the next year’s Eid? Why do we tend to discriminate the poor even while donating? If our sister wears a sari worth 6000 Taka, why can’t we give someone poor the same Sari instead of getting 30 low quality, unwearable Saris worth 200 Taka each?

On second thoughts, we the so called privileged classes of the society deserve to wear those cheap lungis and Sari more than the underprivileged. Might sound like a crazy thought at first, but digging a little deep, this idea becomes quite comprehensible. Firstly, we have a closet full of clothes, so if one of them (the Jakater Shari or Lungi) becomes unusable soon, we can always look for alternatives. Secondly, the people who are on the receiving end of these clothes are usually day-labourers and maid-servants which involves strenuous hard work and thus demands strong, long lasting clothes.

We have seen quite a few times in newspapers on how poor people have died in stampedes after going to collect their lungi or Sari for Zakaat. We tend to forget such loss of lives very easily, and the number of deaths become nothing more than a statistic! There should be dependable government and non government organisations involved in this. The floods last year have shown how government organisations like the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund and non government organisations like BRAC and a newspaper Prothom Alo have efficiently collected and distributed huge amounts of money and relief goods. This can well be applied to Zakaat as well. It is said that if everyone gave their Zakaat in a proper, systematic way, there would be no poverty left in the country. We are taking different steps in poverty reduction. So let us try to attain a Bangladesh free of poverty through Zakaat.

Helping Primary School Teachers Teach English

http://thedailystar.net/campus/2009/08/03/feature_cfl.htm

Cfl-BRACU comes forward
THE Center for Languages at BRAC University (Cfl-BRACU) has recently launched a program to help primary school teachers at the BRAC schools, spread all across the country, to better teach English to their students. Still in the phase of being a pilot project, the department now plans to go full scale, covering teachers from all the primary schools of BRAC, spread all across Bangladesh.

BRAC, the largest NGO of the world in terms of the number of employees has established a network of 35,000 schools all across the country. These one-room schools usually have one female teacher who has passed the SSC (Secondary School Certificate) examinations and teaches 30-40 children. Through extensive research conducted in these schools, it was found that most of these teachers lack the basic communication skills and English language skills that are necessary in a school teacher.

To resolve this problem, Cfl-BRACU has launched this unique programme to enable the teachers to teach English better to students. Several faculty members from the department trained the school teachers in different aspects of English language including speaking, reading, writing, grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. Through a 12 week training started in January this year, divided into 4 phases, the teachers were equipped with all the necessary skills to teach English better to their students. Emphasis was given on language, speaking grammar, methodologies (CLT Method), content based learning, drama performances and others.

In the drama performances, participants (trainees) were asked to write scripts about different socio-economic scenarios and much to the amazement of the trainers, all these dramas were of superior quality. The participants were also provided diaries to write their personal journals, with the topics to write about being of increasing difficulty over the weeks.

The seven teachers of the department who coordinated this training program tried to ensure that the primary school teachers who attended the program had the following necessary skills after the programme ended:

– be able to speak English well

– be able to teach English well and explain subject matters in a clear and concise manner

– be able to teach through different methods and be flexible about the ways of teaching.

Most of the trainees showed marked improvement after the training and became more confident in delivering their lessons. The department hopes to soon go to the next stage of this training programme and train teachers from all the 35,000 schools of BRAC countrywide.

Quality growth is essential for universities (Says SUB VC )

http://thedailystar.net/campus/2009/08/03/feature_quality.htm

WITH a vision to emerge as a leading university in the South Asian region by providing need-based education to meet the ever-increasing demand for quality professionals at home and abroad, the State University of Bangladesh (SUB) started its journey in mid 2002. The people behind it wanted to build skilled professionals in different fields ready to join the industry. Starting small with undergraduate and graduate majors in the field of Business Administration and Computer Science, the university has today grown to be home to more than 2000 students in its own building in the prime location of Dhanmondi, Dhaka. In an exclusive interview with Star Campus, Professor Iftekhar Ghani Chowdhury, Vice Chancellor of the university, has shared the university’s story of growth, its key achievements and its future plans.

Prof. Chowdhury mentioned that the university is an outcome of the passion of two entrepreneurs, Dr A.M Shamim and Dr M Mahbubur Rahman, for expanding into the tertiary sector of education as they faced shortage of qualified professionals in running their health enterprises. They took expert help and had discussions with the academics and the professionals, at home and abroad, to decide on an ideal enterprise they could venture. The outcome was the State University of Bangladesh. The formal permission to launch the university under the Private University Act (Act 34) 1992 of the Government was received in June 2002.

BIMDT, a sister concern of LABAID GROUP, paved the way to what is today known as SUB. The organization had been working in the field of education since 1996 with a vision to develop skilled professionals in the field of Medical Technology and Science. Initially BIMDT Ltd. offered three-year Diploma courses in Health Technology. With its success and growing reputation in imparting custom designed education, BIMDT ventured into the university to promote innovative approaches in nurturing academic and professional skills in people with potential.

Starting with Business Administration and Computer Science, different departments were later added to the repertoire of the university with the target of making a full-fledged institution of higher studies. Health Sciences Department was started in January 2003 with both undergraduate and graduate programs. More departments were added as the university grew over the years. Currently there are 10 departments spread under 3 faculties including Business and Social Science, Health and Computer Science & Engineering.

With the rapid expansion of the university, the stakeholders understood the need for good infrastructure and soon enough, construction of the SUB campus in Dhanmondi started. Dr Chowdhury said that SUB is the first private university to have its own independent campus; the building is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities such as digital and computer labs and on-line surveillance.

Dr Choudhury mentions that the mission of SUB has always been to create human human resources that the market will eagerly embrace once they graduate from the university. This, he explains, is done through the creation of a teaching and learning environment that encourages students to stretch their abilities, both intellectual and physical. A blend of national and international curriculum adapted to the local needs prepares students for the most challenging professions in a cross-cultural environment, he adds.

When asked to name the things that he feels proud of, the VC mentioned the library, which has a rich collection of books and online journals, state of the art laboratory facilities, the modern surveillance system to ensure security and a whole range of different scholarship schemes for meritorious students.

Professor Chowdhury hates to term the different forms of student activities as extra-curricular activities; he says that an ideal university curriculum includes what we commonly term as extra-curricular activities. In order for a student to have complete university education, he must participate in activities like sports, debate, quiz competitions, cultural programmes and things of the sort.

The Vice Chancellor informed that the university encourages the faculty to engage in research and publish their findings in scholastic writings. Two journals are regularly published by the university; the Journal of SUB and SUB Journal of Public Health, Both of which are available in hardcopy and in e-version.

In order to provide education of the highest quality, the university has set up collaborations with world renowned universities including Mahidol University, Bangkok, McMaster University, Canada, Kyrgyz Republic Chui University, Kyrgyztan, ORBIS International Wah Medical College, Pakistan

Tribhuban University, Purbanchal University & Katmandu University, Nepal and Masachussettes University, USA.

Prof. Chowdhury mentioned that he wanted to see the university grow not only in size but in the quality of education it renders. This would be measure in how fast the university’s graduates are employed in the industry, both inside and outside the country. This would also be reflected by the number of times the publications brought out by the teachers and students of the university are cited by other papers of the field.

The major achievements of the university, Prof Chowdhury believes has been its controlled growth over the years, in terms of the number of students that have been admitted and maintaining high standards of faculty members across all departments.

[StarTech] TechViews: Budget 2009-10 (What’s in for IT, telecom and science?)

http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=93173

On June 11, Finance Minister AMA Muhith unveiled the proposed budget for fiscal 2009-2010. In addition to the pressure of having to meet demands of different key sectors with limited resources and great expectations, the minister also had to take into account the demands of the people from ICT industry, and anyone and everyone remotely or directly connected to it.

The promise of a digital Bangladesh by the year 2021 made the expectations even higher from this year’s budget. In this issue of StarTech, we have looked into the pros and cons of the proposed budget and what experts are thinking about it.

The proposed budget for fiscal 2009-10 aims at making technology accessible to all and this was sharply reflected by the allocation of Tk 563 crore in ICT and telecommunication sectors, which is a giant leap from the Tk 265 crore in the revised budget for fiscal 2008-09. The allocation includes Tk 142 crore in Annual Developed Programme for science and ICT ministry, Tk 221 crore for post and telecommunication ministry, a special allocation of Tk 100 crore for ICT development and Tk 200 crore for equity and entrepreneurship fund for ICT promotion.

The finance minister also said that automated system would be introduced in the administration, educational institutions, land and health sectors and tax administration phase by the phase within a few years. If successfully implemented, an automated system would increase transparency and reduce corruption and hence fulfill the government’s pledge of a digital Bangladesh.

The commitment to connect the country with the second submarine cable for providing internet service to more people is likely to give ICT a major boost.

“We have to use information and communication technology extensively for accelerated development. Therefore, we are moving ahead with a dream of establishing digital Bangladesh by 2021. The transition to digitisation process will, on one hand, help accelerate production and on the other hand, facilitate curbing corruption,” said Muhith. The minister was also hopeful that the employment in ICT sector will rank second only to textile sector by 2021.

Mustafa Jabbar, president of Bangladesh Computer Samity, has termed the proposed budget a milestone — a great achievement of Bangladesh for being able to leap from the ‘Agricultural Age’ to the ‘Digital Age’, bypassing the ‘Industrial Age’. He was particularly impressed by the government’s massive plans for power sector, the current state of which many consider to be the single largest obstacle to bringing about digital Bangladesh. The finance minister informed the government’s decision to increase power generation by 950 MW this year and 2810 MW more by 2013 under different public and private initiatives. Jabbar appreciated the decision of withdrawing tax from internet usage at educational institutions but failed to understand why it did not apply for home users. The increased taxes on monitor, printer, toner and refill have also worried him and he suggested that they should immediately be withdrawn.

The proposed tax on mobile handsets and non withdrawal of tax on SIM cards is likely to hinder the growth of the fast growing telecommunications industry in Bangladesh, fear industry people and experts. In the proposed budget, a whopping 25 percent customs duty has been imposed on the import value of each set, scrapping the existing flat import duty of Tk 300 on each set. Bangladesh Mobile Phone Importers’ Association (BMPIA) has opposed the new duty structure saying they will have to pay at least Tk 800 for import of each low-priced handset. This decision will make a new handset and connection more expensive and perhaps deter first time buyers availing this service, people who need it the most.

Habibullah N Karim, president of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services, has welcomed the allocation of Taka 500 crore for ICT development but hoped to see the allocation of more Tk 500 crore in the revised budget.

“We are happy to see that the finance minister has rightfully emphasised the use of indigenous software and IT enabled services for the sustainable development of this sector. We also hope that the government will undertake all possible e-government projects in line with the action plan given in the ICT Policy 2009,” says Karim.

Although highly applauded by ICT people, Prof Haseena Khan of the department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of the University of Dhaka has described the proposed budget by saying “Our frustration stems from the fact that to our policymakers ICT is the only science and technology worth pursuing” and like to see specific allocations in the biotechnology research sector in the revised budget. She said it was high time to grow this promising technology which could improve the quality of human life by leaps and bounds.

All in all, the proposed budget for fiscal 2009-2010 has had a mixed bag of responses from people related to ICT and other scientific fields and industry. With recommendations and suggested changes from the experts and people the final budget is expected to bring about positive change in the country.

mahdin@thedailystar.net

[StarTech] TechSpotLight: The USB story

http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=92258

Many of us have recently seen the Intel’s TV advertisement which shows Ajay Bhatt, the co-inventor of the USB, aptly termed as our rockstars aren’t like your rockstars walking and moving like a celebrity would. Interesting advertisement, to say the least. To those of you are thinking that this article is about Intel or the advertisement industry in general, behold! It’s about neither and is about the Universal Serial Bus or USB in short.

For most of us using personal computers in our day-to-day lives, whether it be for office or college work or simply checking emails and facebooking, the USB port is a common device about which we barely ever think about.

Initially designed to replace the many varieties of serial and parallel ports that were jumbling up our PCs with every new gadget, and thus making the production of standard devices increasingly difficult, it has today become the quintessential bridge to connect computer peripherals like mice, keyboards, PDAs, gamepads and joysticks, scanners, digital cameras, printers, personal media players, flash drives, and external hard drives.

Although it was designed to be used for personal computers, USB has today become commonplace on other devices such as PDAs and video game consoles, and as a power cord between a device and an AC adapter plugged into a wall plug for charging. According to a PC World report published in 2008, there are about 2 billion USB devices sold every year with total about 6 billion sold to date!

The history of the USB dates back to 1994 when the specifications for the first generation of USB or USB 1.0 were introduced. The intention was to replace the multitude of connectors at the back of PCs, as well as to simplify software configuration of communication devices. The original USB 1.0 specification had a data transfer rate of 12 Mbit/s.

The creation of USB was a result of research conducted by a core group of companies that consisted of Intel, Compaq, Microsoft, Digital, IBM, and Northern Telecom. Intel produced the UHCI (Universal Host Controller Interface) host controller and open software stack; Microsoft produced a USB software stack for Windows and co-authored the OHCI host controller specification with National Semiconductor and Compaq; Philips produced early USB-Audio; and TI produced the most widely used hub chips.

Six years later, the USB 2.0 specification was released in April 2000 and was standardized at the end of 2001. Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Lucent Technologies (now Alcatel-Lucent following its merger with Alcatel in 2006), Microsoft, NEC, and Philips jointly led the initiative to develop a higher data transfer rate, 480 Mbit/s, than the 1.0 specification of 12 Mbit/s.

The latest in line, the third generation of USB, or USB 3.0 specification was released on November 17, 2008 by the USB 3.0 Promoter Group. It has a transfer rate of up to 10 times faster than the USB 2.0 version and has been dubbed the SuperSpeed USB.

The benefit of USB is equipment conforming with any version of the standard will also work with devices designed to any previous specification (a property known as backward compatibility).

Every USB system has an asymmetric design, consisting of a host, a multitude of downstream USB ports, and multiple peripheral devices connected in a tiered-star topology. A USB host may have multiple host controllers and each host controller may provide one or more USB ports. Up to 127 devices, including the hub devices may be connected to a single host controller.

USB devices are linked in series through hubs and there always exists one hub known as the root hub, which is built into the host controller. This sharing hubs, as they are popularly know to be, allow multiple computers to access the same peripheral device(s), also exist and work by switching access between PCs, either automatically or manually. They are popular in small-office environments.

A physical USB device may consist of several logical sub-devices that are referred to as device functions. A single device may provide several functions, for example, a webcam (video device function) with a built-in microphone (audio device function).

When a USB device is first connected to a USB host, the USB device enumeration process is started. The enumeration starts by sending a reset signal to the USB device. The speed of the USB device is determined during the reset signaling. After reset, the USB device’s information is read by the host, then the device is assigned a unique 7-bit address. If the device is supported by the host, the device drivers needed for communicating with the device are loaded and the device is set to a configured state. If the USB host is restarted, the enumeration process is repeated for all connected devices.

The host controller directs traffic flow to devices, so no USB device can transfer any data on the bus without an explicit request from the host controller. In USB 2.0, host controller polls the bus for traffic, usually in a round-robin fashion. In SuperSpeed USB, connected devices can request service from host.

Technical jargon aside, the Universal Serial Bus or USB has come as a blessing for PC users all over the world and in the coming days, it is all set to become even more faster and convenient for the users.

Information Source: The Internet.

Spotlight: Earn While You Learn

http://www.thedailystar.net/campus/2009/05/03/camspotlight.htm

Photo: Wasama Doja

Sarah Z H, Tanzina Rahman, Mahdin Mahboob, Tawsif Saleheen, Nazia Ahmed, Tabassum Mokhduma, Fariha Ishrat Khandaker & Ridwan Karim

Part time jobs have always attracted university and college level students for more reasons than one. We have heard from our fathers and grandfathers about lodging-masters, brilliant students who used to stay in the houses of well-off people in big cities and teach their children while pursuing their own studies in colleges and universities. This practice started in this region in the British era and survived through the Pakistani rule and continued after the independence as well. For many of them, choosing to be the full time home tutor was not an option, but a necessity.

Today, in the twenty first century, many other avenues of part time jobs have opened up for the students of colleges and universities. Starting from good old home tuition to teaching in schools and coaching centres, to becoming call centre executives and to the more recent trends of becoming online bloggers and radio jockeys, opportunities seem to be unlimited and ever growing.

Photo: Tanzina Rahman

LOOKING into most popular part-time jobs among the university students, private tuitions have taken its stand to attract significant amount of individuals. To some it is the flexible timing, while to others it’s the notion of the profession that appears to be the most convenient way of earning money.

“It’s easier for a university student to get these tuitions and manage them rather than to get fixed part-time jobs. We arrange the timing with the students according to our timetable. And there are other reasons as well, I feel independent and I can also bear my expenses rather than being a pain for my parents” explained Nazia Sultana, 21, student of Independent University Bangladesh, School of Business.

While Z Z Khan, a 3rd year student at North South University said she has been teaching students of different age groups since the days of her A levels. “Teaching is all about learning how to deal with different kinds of people. By getting a chance to interact with students of different age groups, one can learn about the psychology of students and how they react to certain situations. If someone is interested in taking up teaching as a profession in the future then part time tutoring gives you a great opportunity to guide other people and master a sense of responsibility. One can tutor up to 20 to 30 students in a batch depending on his or her capacity. For much younger kids, one mustn’t try to tutor more than 6 at a time. Khan believes teaching makes her a better person and is a fun job at the end of the day. The amount of money that is earned through part time teaching is fairly decent. The only drawback about this job would be at times it could make you tired and not want to do your own studies!”

Furthermore, female university students tend to take junior level classes at private English medium schools as well. It appears that, for most of them it is a more convenient way of earning money, since the timing of their work is more suited with their university schedules. The pay is not so bad either.

According to the school administration, university students can relate more to the classes they teach. When asked, a bunch of fifth graders seemed pretty excited to have a teacher who was not so old and taught them with more enthusiasm. From the perspective of these part-time teachers, it’s an easy and fun way to make money, gain experience, and add another line on their resume.

Thus, it seems that there is a well-balanced symbiosis.
Teaching Assistantship in universities is another such profession. During the course of their studies, high CGPA holder students secure employment as TAs. The profession enhances their comprehensive reading skills as well as adds value to teaching profession if they consider pursuing in the related field.

After completing his A Levels, Azeezur Rahman Khan joined Chittagong Grammar School, Chittagong (CGS) as an Assistant Physics Trainee Teacher last August, the school from where he completed his A Levels. Now enrolled in Physics in University College London (UCL), he firmly believes that what he learned all these days while teaching actually helped him a lot to increase his knowledge and go in-depth about Physics. He said, “My classes will start within a couple of months and I am happy that because of my job I have learned a lot which will help me in my undergraduate programme. Moreover, because of this job I got both economic independence and experience, which is priceless as this experience will boost my chances of getting scholarships in future”.

Call Centre is another field that is becoming one of the most progressive industries in Bangladesh. It’s also an industry that relies heavily on part timers. Many private Call Centres in Bangladesh are staffed by university students and in some cases fresh A level/ HSC graduates. While it gives the students an exposure to the international market, due to the late working hours in a call centre it also acts as an added stress.

Nur-Us Shams who is associated with Orbit Communications, one of the leading call centres in Bangladesh has talked about the reason why many call centres prefer recruiting part timers.

“One of the major problems faced by the call centre industry of our country is that we don’t have well trained man power. As a result the industry has to depend on part timers. Due to time difference with the western world, students employed in the call centres have to work in the night shift. This might create imbalance in the student’s life. As a result, call centres that employ students as part timers should adopt practices that reduce their work stress,” he said.

Thanks to the steady growth of private television and radio channels in Bangladesh, opportunities are now opening up for students as newscasters and radio jockeys.

Frizea Talukdar is an MBA student who works as a part time newsreader at Bangladesh Television. She said it’s a lot of pressure when she has exams and a news reading schedule at the same time. Her job is otherwise rewarding as she can learn about what is happening around the world and from such a reliable source. She has been working for two years and sometimes had to miss classes because she had schedules set earlier for the day. However, Frizea is not satisfied with the amount of money she earns from her job.

Nafeez Karim studies BBA at Independent University Bangladesh. He said, “I’m working as a part time Radio Jockey for the last six months. After a rigorous 25 days of training from the producers and the more experienced RJs, I joined Radio Aamar as a part time Radio Jockey. I have my own show on air and have to work 2 hours a week. My employers are very understanding if I can’t make it to the office due to exams.”

Sometimes the part timers have a chance to work extra in shifts. Nafeez stresses on the fact that the working environment is worthy. Although they are given a basic guideline on how to make things work the RJs are always encouraged to explore creativity and bring in new ideas to transform the programs into something better. When asked whether he is satisfied with the amount of money he earns from his job, he said the level of his satisfaction waivers somewhere in between.

Omer Nashaad a private university student shared his views on his part time job as a DJ and studying at the same time.

“I started off as a mobile DJ back in Canada at Windsor. When I came back, I continued being a DJ beside my studies. The key is to keep yourself updated on the latest as well as the old music as much as you can. Once you have that rolling, you’re a hit!

“From the financial point of view, being a DJ brings in fast money. As for bridging between studies and the job, frankly, it all depends on how you divide your time. I, for example, chose weekends to do DJ shows, which never clashed with my classes,” he added.

Photo: Tanzina Rahman

Sabhanaz Rashid has been working as a part time photographer for the last 8/9 months. Most of her works are assignment based. She has worked for a popular English teen magazine called Rising Stars and Cotton Bangladesh group. Sometimes she sells her photos, which give her an opening as an aspiring artist. She sells them depending on the usage of the photo and the level of copyright. Photography for her is about exercising a level of creativity with much fun and excitement. She proudly pronounced that her part time job as a photographer hasn’t affected her studies as she carefully kept the two things separate. She likes to call her job surprisingly refreshing and exciting in a very positive way.

Nowadays many of the students go into the field of event management. According to Saif of Game Theory (A new age innovative media solutions company): this particular field is not suitable for students who want to achieve a good grade and graduate in time. This is because of the long hours and tedious workload. It mainly includes organizing events, making sure the banners, caterers, MCs, and decorations are in place to run a successful event.

Meanwhile, many students from Computer Science background, and others from non-technical backgrounds who have trained themselves in different web-developing software are finding web-development projects and making good money out of it. Some students are writing articles and taking pictures for different websites while some students have even gone onto the entrepreneurial level by opening local ISPs (Internet Service Providers) themselves.

Hussain M. Elius has been web designing for sometime now. It started out as a hobby but when he realized that he was growing a very keen interest in the job, he decided to make it his part time source of earning. He is a first year student at a private university in Dhaka and has already worked for One Degree Initiative, The Daily New Age, Business Report and a Norwegian cosmetic company. Hussain thinks web designing is particularly linked with personal development. It requires a certain kind of mental skill and a great deal of patience. It’s true that at times he got carried away by the huge amount of money this job offered him and as a result flunked in his studies; he also became conscious about not overworking himself. He has promised to himself that he will not work on more than one website in a month.

While, Rajiv Ashrafi loves writing and is currently enrolled at a well known private university of the country. He has been working as a part time blogger for the last 2 years. He works for two sites, Digital Battle and Screenhead which regularly offers reviews, news and interviews on games and movies. He believes, it is worth it because you can sit at home and stay connected doing exactly what you’re required to do. This experience will earn him acceptance later in life when he wants to move into something more serious. The only difference is, working for an online magazine or a site doesn’t allow you to meet the people physically. So far it hasn’t affected his studies since he can do it all without having to travel anywhere and the payment he says is quite good. Md. Sarfaraz Khan is a student at the Jahangirnagar University. Since last October he coupled with some of his friends has been working part time as Internet Service Providers in Uttara.Some parts of the outskirts of Uttara had no access to Internet services and Sarfaraz thought it would be great if he could make arrangements by providing broadband Internet services especially to the students who lived in that particular area. So he went on with his plan and now successfully runs Clicknet online services. He has divided his time with his other friends to look after their venture. He mostly works 2 to 3 days a week and enjoys it very much. The amount of money he makes from his job is quite enough to keep him going for the month. He gladly shares that his job has only helped him in his studies as he can learn more about business and other practicalities from his experience.

On a different note, between the past few years, many foreign franchises such as KFC, Pizza Hut and A&W have started their business in Bangladesh. Restaurant business, which is also considered as one of the promising business here, continues to thrive as well. However, working at fast-food chains and restaurants is somewhat a taboo in this country. It is unlikely to find high school or university students working in fast-food chains, which is a usual custom in western countries. During summer vacations and semester breaks, fast-food and restaurants opens temporary employment positions. Since students tend to seek for temporary job placements, these positions stand as the perfect match. “I chose to serve in a restaurant because I knew it was fast money, I can make large amounts of cash tips in a few hours to help pay for bills, tuition and my lifestyle,” said Danielle Renee Jones, 21, a student of paediatrics in Ohio State University (US). “The hours aren’t typically too bad, and I can have a flexible schedule for the most part. I can earn what some people make working 20-40 hours a week, in only three days!” she added. Unlike United States, society here downgrades these jobs plus swingeing unemployment makes it difficult to get into such placements.

Shama Zainab Ali of BRAC University a professor of Architecture said, “In my department I see students working in firms as part timers helping out in making models, drafts and drawings. This not only enhances their capabilities as architecture students but also provokes them to take up responsibility in their own works.

A few days ago I saw an undergrad student of Titumeer college (as she said) selling encyclopaedia at my door. I really appreciated such efforts by these young people who are eager to help their parents support their education. I hope to see that someday this country, like India and other developing countries of the subcontinent cater students to work in bookshops, restaurants, coffee shops and so many other places where we normally expect to see uneducated or middle aged people from underprivileged backgrounds.”

Few students can now deny the self-dependence that comes with being able to earn their own pocket money and not having to take it from their parents. For many, the work experience gained while they are still students make their résumé stand out while applying for jobs at the end of their studies. However, some seem to get indulged in their work a bit too much, which at times result in falling grades at the cost of earning more.

Globalisation – The Bangladesh Scenario

http://www.thedailystar.net/campus/2009/04/03/feature_globalisation.htm

JUST the other day, I was browsing through the newspaper and I came across this interesting advertisement for a job in a managerial position in a certain company. One of the requirements was ‘the incumbent must be a foreign national’. Thought-provoking to say the least! Why a foreign national is a must (and not any particular skills) for any job continues to baffle me, but one thing is for sure; globalisation has started to make its presence known in Bangladesh.

Towards the end of last year, US President Barack Obama was speaking about how an American university graduate from Boston today has to compete for a job with someone from Bangalore. Thanks to jobs being outsourced and most finished goods being imported rather than being produced in US, an acute shortage of jobs has been created and this has gradually pulled down the economy. Although this has come as a form of blessing for countries like India or Vietnam (which has benefited most from the outsourcing) and China or Mexico (which has benefited from the overwhelming imports), it still remains to be found where this leaves a country like Bangladesh.

The world wide web, once designed by the American Defence to ensure smooth, uninterrupted and secure communication between US military personnel spread out all over the world has today become the tool of communication for business, news, academics, research and anything and everything between heaven and earth. Using a computer or internet is no longer considered rocket science and from villages like Ta Van in Vietnam or Shagatha in Bangladesh, people are using the easily available information for many different purposes.

Bidding for a book or a musical accessory is now possible over the Internet, no matter where you are or what nationality you belong to. Job hunters in Chittagong are looking for available job opportunities in Dhaka, or elsewhere in the country simply by logging onto their bdjobs or prothom-alo jobs accounts online. No longer do we have to wait for the weekend show on TV for the US or UK movie or music Top 10. Everything, it seems, is just a click away, in the truest sense of the word. Communications and the free flow of information is now no longer a luxury, but a necessity.

The fact that many Bangladeshi students are going to different countries in the world for higher studies are also influencing the global culture that we seem to have today. The USA and UK were always places sought after for university education, but today, you will hear people going for their Bachelors, Masters or PhD to Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Finland, Netherlands, Germany, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia, China and even Thailand and South Africa for that matter! Although many opt to stay back after their studies, the majority of these people come back to Bangladesh, and with them, brings back not only their education, but a rich cultural experience.

In addition to the students, there are Non Resident Bangladeshis who keep coming and going in and out of the country are also slowly and decisively shaping the cultural pattern of the country. Although the demand for skilled professionals will always remain high in the developed countries, this has also led to certain individuals taking advantage of the situation and fooling the less privileged and educated classes of the society into complete doom with offers of lucrative dream jobs in Malaysia, UAE and other middle eastern countries. These people, who contribute to the bulk of our foreign currency income, get minimal importance and priority and the government should take stern actions to stop the human traffickers and cheats who rob the common people of all their belongings.

Add to that are all the foreign nationals that reside in this country because of many sorts of different jobs and business in the development field, foreign missions and many other purposes. Dhaka, if not the whole country, has truly become a melting pot of people of all different nationalities and races. This has effected the demand pattern of Bangladeshis as well; demand for different international branded cars, clothes, shoes, lighters and perfumes is thus high paving the way for bulk imports of such products. This comes at the cost of hard earned foreign currency essential to buy important products like powdered milk, fruits, fuel and different other raw materials required for our factories and industries.

Whether we see a glass of water to be half full or half empty depends on our perception and attitude. The effects of globalization can have equally positive and negative impacts. We as a nation should try to make best use of the situation like our neighbouring countries of India and China and not delve into the luxuries that come with globalization.

Australian National University

http://thedailystar.net/campus/2009/03/05/abroad.htm

THE Australian National University, commonly abbreviated to ANU, is a public teaching and research university located in Canberra, Australia and has a motto of Naturam Primum Cognoscere Rerum

(Latin for ‘First, to learn the nature of things’). This university was established by an act of the Parliament of Australia on 1 August 1946, with the legislated purpose of conducting and promoting research in Australia.

Today, the university is consistently ranked as the best university in Australia, and is one of only three Australian universities in the top 50 worldwide in several international surveys, including the Newsweek Top 100 and the annual Times Higher Education Supplement rankings. Its notable staff and alumni include five Nobel laureates.

The university is a member of several university alliances and cooperative networks, including the Group of Eight (Australian Universities), the Association of Pacific Rim Universities, the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy and the International Alliance of Research Universities.

After its establishment, the university conducted research and provided only postgraduate education. The former Canberra University College was amalgamated into the Australian National University in 1960, as the School of General Studies, to provide for the education of undergraduate students.

The university is split into seven colleges and the Institute of Advanced Studies. The colleges undertake both undergraduate teaching, postgraduate studies and research. The Institute of Advanced Studies comprises of nine research schools which focus exclusively on research.

The ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences consists of over 20 teaching and research disciplines in the fields of arts, humanities and social sciences. The College is particularly strong in Political Science. Also part of this college are the ANU School of Music and ANU School of Art.

The ANU College of Asia and the Pacific focuses on study relating to Asia and the Pacific region.

The College houses a great number of scholars working on Asia-Pacific outside the region.

The ANU College of Business and Economics carries out research and teaching in accounting, finance, statistics and economics. The college is a leader in economics research in Australia.

The ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science comprises the School of Computer Science, the School of Engineering and the Centre for Sustainable Energy Systems. Some staff and postgraduate students from the two schools are also affiliated with the Research School of Information Sciences and Engineering which exists within the college as part of the university’s Institute of Advanced Studies.

The ANU College of Law is an academic leader in several areas including International Law, Tort Law, Constitutional Law and Public Law, having been ranked first in these subject areas compared to all other Australian universities.

The ANU College of Medicine and Health Science is home to the newest of university’s schools, the ANU Medical School, which runs a four-year postgraduate entry course.

The ANU College of Science is the largest of the university’s Colleges.

The Institute of Advanced Studies is focused on post-graduate education and research and comprises nine research schools and a research centre:

*Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics
*Research School of Biological Sciences
*Research School of Chemistry
*Research School of Earth Sciences
*Research School of Information Sciences and Engineering
*Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies
*Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering
*Research School of Social Sciences
*The John Curtin School of Medical Research
*The Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies
More information can be found at the university’s official website:
www.anu.edu.au

Information Source: Wikipedia

Interview of Zeinab Badawi of the BBC World Service Trust

http://www.thedailystar.net/campus/2009/03/02/feature_interview.htm

THE BBC World Service Trust is the BBC’s international development agency. It uses media and communications to reduce poverty, promote human rights and improve people’s lives. It has worked in over 40 countries worldwide, implementing projects in health, education, environment, governance, human rights, livelihoods and emergency response. The BBC World Service Trust launched its first significant programme in this country through “Bangladesh Sanglap” in November 2005. Sanglap is a weekly political debate program produced by the BBC Bengali Service in conjunction with the BBC World Service Trust. In May 2008, the BBC World Service Trust launched its second major program in Bangladesh “English in Action,” using television, radio, mobile phones and the Internet to improve English language skills.

About Zeinab Badawi
ZEINAB Badawi is the presenter of World News Today, one of BBC World News’hour-long news and analysis programmes. The programme features reports and discussions with leading BBC correspondents, and interviews and debates with people who are making the news around the globe. Previously a presenter of BBC World News’ The World, Zeinab has worked in British broadcasting for two decades. She has worked on a range of programmes reporting from Europe, Asia and Africa, where she covered the famine in the mid-Eighties. After a stint in reporting and presenting programmes on British politics live from the BBC’s Westminster studios, Zeinab joined BBC World News where she has become a regular face, presenting debates on major issues as well as being a presenter of HARDtalk, interviewing personalities such as the Dalai Lama and US General Tommy Franks.

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BBC World News, in association with The BBC World Service Trust, is producing a special edition of The World Debate from Bangladesh. Presented by Zeinab Badawi, the debate will ask ‘Are there too many people in the world?’ The debate has been recorded at Dhaka’s Lalbagh Fort on the 25th of February and it will be broadcast in April on BBC World News.

Experts from different sectors were included in the panel and they have considered a range of issues including:

* Is rising global population sustainable?
* Can technological advances and economic growth provide for all?
* Might migration help address population imbalances around the globe?
* Should population numbers be controlled and if so how?
* Should we worry about population shrinking?

______________________________________________________________________________

The following interview was taken a day prior to the Debate (on 24th February 2009).

Star Campus (SC): What is the main purpose and functionalities of the BBC World Service Trust?

Zeinab Badawi (ZB): The BBC World Service Trust is a charitable arm of the BBC and it uses the expertise of the BBC in terms of journalism and information dissemination. The fundamentals are based on Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (freedom of expression, freedom of opinion). We were always struck by the fact that the Indian Nobel Prize winning economist Amartya Sen said that ‘there has never been famine in a country where there is freedom of expression and freedom of information’. We always try to ensure that local people can disseminate information through whatever media, whatever form, to the people of that country. Mediums that can be used include the radio, or perhaps for a wider audience, sending a message through a dramatized program. It’s the power of the media to inform the public about different issues including public health and so on. Also, there are issues of governance, which is a very important issue here in Bangladesh and it is just not enough to say somebody has the right to vote. They have to understand about the candidate’s ability. But the organization is not only concerned with political issues, but rather it acts as a facilitator of local people.

We have many different programs, including the Active Literacy program in Somalia, Promotion of the English Language program, it doesn’t have a one-side fixed approach. It takes into consideration what the locally engaged people say about the needs of their country, for instance in Darfur, people were helped to find out where they could get help or humanitarian aid, since an emergency situation is in existence there. And in Khartoum, the Trust has helped train local journalists in order to give them a media framework and make them understand how to present important news in a balanced fashion. The main objective is to help people help themselves. It doesn’t really do or build things like build a hospital but makes people aware that they need one. We have different programs about the prevention of malaria and HIV-AIDS. In Bangladesh, we have a program called Bangladesh Shonglap. We are a new organization and we have had discussions about whether we should keep the word ‘BBC’ with the name of the trust or not. But keeping in mind that we have the same values as that of BBC, we finally decided to keep it.

SC: The topic for the debate at Lalbagh is about different issues related to population. What made you choose Bangladesh as the country where this will be discussed?

ZB: The question that we are going to ask is, is there an impending global population crisis? I don’t want to give anybody the impression that we are asking if there are too many people in the world? And that there are too many people in Bangladesh! We came to Bangladesh to discuss if there is a thing as population crisis globally and for some countries it could mean a shrinking population as well as ones which are expanding too rapidly for their governments to cope up with. Australia, Japan and some countries in Europe are facing severe problems because of their steadily aging population. In Bangladesh, the population growth has long been a problem specially because of global warming, floods and other problems which is claiming your land. So Bangladesh was a good place to discuss the issue.

SC: Is there any reason behind choosing the Lalbagh fort for the debate tomorrow?

ZB: The only reason is it’s a beautiful fort and it’s going to look even better when it gets floodlit. The weather too is very good at this time of the year and it sure is going to portray a positive image of Bangladesh. Enclosed auditoriums and conference rooms are present everywhere; this is what is going to make the country look different.

SC: How important do you think debate is as an extra curricular activity in schools, colleges and universities? Students of today will become future Presidents and Prime Ministers. Does it help in their grooming up?

ZB: The format of debate is a very good discipline to make young people aware of what’s happening around them at a very early age. Sometimes in the media it is said that you are trying to oversimplify issues by saying that something is for and against, the world is not black and white, it’s grey. I have sympathy with that point of view, however I believe that a debate, in the true sense of the word, helps to clarify your thoughts when you have to take a stance for or against an opinion. It is not just a superficial exercise. It forces people to think hard.

SC: You’ve been very successful in terms of journalism, news presentation and conducting the debates and also in the World Service Trust. What would be your advice for young girls, budding journalists who are coming into this profession these days in Bangladesh?

ZB: There is no step-by-step guide to do this. I have been in this profession for a while now. The key thing I’d say is to be interested. Be interested in people around you. You must have that curiosity which you never ever lose. Freedom of expression is very important and many people in the world do not have that. So one has to ask if there is something more than just showing my face on TV!