Campus Life Technology
Dorm Ordeals e-Clean
Year XIII, Vol. II, No. II
I L**e My Teacher
By Sahar Moukaddem
LAU Tribune staff
Once upon a time, a girl had
a consuming crush on a guy.
He had green eyes, a bril-
liant smile and a striking
voice. He taught her things
related to existence, knowl-
edge, values and mind. But
this was fitting. He was, af-
ter all, her philosophy teach-
er.
Nellie A., a political science
student at LAU, does not see
her philosophy instructor
just as a university professor
but as the “perfect full-pack-
aged man.”
“He is smart and hand-
some at the same time,” she
said with winking eyes. The
whole story began when Nel-
lie heard his name from ran-
dom people on campus. Cu-
riosity led her to search him
on Google, and she found out
that he is a music composer
as well –a detail that made
her like him more and more.
“I listen to his songs when I
wake up and before I sleep,”
Nellie said while the sound
of her teacher’s song played
out of her laptop.
“I think he can tell I have a
crush on him because my
face lights up when I see
him,” she laughed. “But any-
way, he wouldn’t care for me
Coffee Shop or Library
TRIBUNE
Page 5
The Official Student Newspaper at the Lebanese American Universty
Friday, April 1, 2011
because 70 percent of the
Lebanese population has a
crush on him.”
Stories of student-teacher
relationships, considered by
many as inappropriate, cer-
tainly raise some eyebrows.
But most of the time, a crush
on a teacher is innocent and
unrequited.
Nellie believes that her like-
ness to her teacher has not
reached the stage of obses-
sion. She just sees him as
someone who attracts her
intellectually and physical-
ly. “I really wish I get the
chance to sit and talk to him
for hours about philosophy,
history and other issues,”
she explained. “But he is a
busy person he won’t have
time for me.”
Students like teachers be-
cause of their personalities
and the authority they have,
rather than their looks, Nad-
im Mohsen, a cultural stud-
ies instructor at LAU, said.
He believes that students’
crush on teachers is normal
and understandable.
“It is a natural situation, we
all get attached, impressed
or we have a crush on some-
body at some point in our
lives and the crush doesn’t
Culture People
Meet Ali
Page 6
Photo by: Yasmine Dabbous
go anywhere beyond this,”
Mohsen explained. “It is
light unrestricted and very
innocent.”
Mohsen sees students’ crush
on teachers as something
productive and positive. “It
makes everybody happy and
it makes you want to go to
class,” he said. Mohsen add-
ed that it would not bother
him to know that students
like him. He would feel re-
warded but understand the
responsibility that comes
with such situation. “I have
to make sure that I keep the
image of instructor, father
and friend combined,” he ex-
plained.
According to an online dic-
tionary, a crush is a “pain-
ful experience.” But Dr. Nor-
ma Moussally, the student
counselor at LAU, said that
having feelings for one’s
teacher may have positive
effects. It helps students
build their identity and dis-
cover what their interests
in life are. “Students will be
more outspoken and interac-
tive in class,” she said. “They
all want to impress their
teacher.”
Continued on page 9
Opinion
Beirut, I love you. Not
Page 7 Page 8
TribuneLAU@gmail.com
Crowded Campus
By Diaa Aljurdy
LAU Tribune staff
“Look, I don’t have space to
put my books,” Mona Knio,
an associate professor of dra-
ma and the chairperson of
LAU’s communication arts
department, said with a gen-
tle smile.
Knio’s small office is full of
books. Some are on shelves
and some on the floor in box-
es along with papers and
files. One can barely walk in.
Behind her office is a window
that makes the room livelier.
LAU is 24,525 square me-
ters with eight main build-
ings. The number is impres-
sive, but it is not big enough
for LAU’s instructors, stu-
dents, staff members and
administration. Space at
the LAU Beirut campus is a
problem that bothers every-
one, including instructors in
offices and class rooms.
“We need space, all teach-
ers need space,” Knio said.
“There is no place for people
to come and participate in
theater activities.”
There are around 302 facul-
ty and staff members, spread
across a small number of of-
fices. In the Fine Arts build-
ing, an office next to Knio’s
(no. 103) houses seven in-
structors with varying office
hours. Nicol and Irwin Hall
faculty members also share
few offices.
“The problem is obvious and
is reflecting on us as instruc-
tors and on students,” Yas-
mine Dabbous, an assistant
professor of journalism and
media studies, said. “Many
classrooms have an exces-
sive number of students and
some offices have more than
three instructors.”
The LAU Beirut campus
accommodates 5,427 stu-
Page 10
dents, many of which ma-
jor in Business. Accounting
II is one of the most difficult
courses at the department
yet the number of students
exceeds the limits. Already
comprising 40 students, the
total is raised to 44 due to by-
force add-ins.
“The number of students is
large and it’s sometimes dif-
ficult to deliver the lectures,
especially during problem-
solving sessions,” Rima El
Hakim, an accounting in-
structor, said. “Students ask
a lot of questions and, since
time is limited, we can’t al-
ways answer them all.”
Dabbous faced a similar
problem. She teaches Media
and Society, a discussion-
based class, but the number
of students is 40 and class-
rooms are small. “This can
transform the class into a
lecture-based session,” Dab-
bous said. Three sections of
the class were opened to ac-
commodate the student flow.
Students also complain from
lack of space in the cafeteria,
classrooms and the gates ar-
eas. “I don’t like small spaces
because we as students can’t
concentrate in the class and
we always get distracted by
any whisper or movement,”
Tamara Farhat, a 19-year-
old political science student,
said.
Farhat added that instruc-
tors are sometimes unable to
properly explain the materi-
al. “I go to class earlier so I
could find a place in the front
and a chair near my instruc-
tors,” Farhat said.
George Sadaka, an instruc-
tor of English and cultural
Continued on page 9
2 Tribune
CAMPUS NEWS
Jordanian Cultural Club Cervical Cancer Preventable
By Noor Monajjed
LAU Tribune staff
Bashar Al Sheikh Ali, an
LAU freshman at LAU, was
voted president of the Jor-
danian Cultural Club dur-
ing a meeting at the facul-
ty lounge in Irwin Hall last
March.
“Mabrouk istilam el-ho-
kom,” a young man in the
back yelled. The atmo-
sphere was friendly and
loud, with people catching
up and joking around.
“The club was established
in 2002 and every fall we
have an election where we
elect the club’s committee,”
Ali explained. The commit-
tee consists of a president,
vice president, secretary
and treasurer.
“Anyone can join the club;
not just Jordanians,” Ali
continued. “We have Leb-
anese, American, Spanish
people and lots more.”
At 6 p.m., people start-
ed pouring into the lounge.
Groups of close friends came
in and greeted the presi-
dent, talked with each oth-
er and chattered away with
laughter filling the room.
Ola Khalifeh, the club’s new
vice president, explained
that club members are
quite close and the atmo-
sphere is generally relaxed
and friendly. “I have been in
the club for two years now. I
started off as secretary last
year and this year got pro-
moted to vice president,”
Essentials for the New Generation
By Lyn Abu-Seraj
LAU Tribune contributor
According to the Oxford Eng-
lish Dictionary, the longest
word in the English language
is pneumonoultramicroscop-
icsilicovolcanoconiosis. It re-
fers to a lung disease caused
by inhaling very fine ash and
sand dust.
LAU and the Levant Insti-
tute hosted an event at Ir-
win Hall last week to in-
troduce helpful books with
useful theories and current
research to new students and
teachers. Levant is known
to be the leading distribu-
she said, smiling.
The meeting began at
6:30 p.m.. All chairs in the
lounge were filled and the
environment was calm.
With a Jordanian and Leba-
nese flag in the background,
Ali stood up to introduce the
club to its new members.
“Our most important focus
now is heritage day coming
up in April. We must have
costumes. Music. A projec-
tor and, of course, mansaf,”
he said, prompting an up-
roar in the audience.
The president discussed
possible events this spring.
Among the suggestions
were a mini football com-
petition against other clubs
and an LAU vs. AUB paint-
ball competition.
Ali also invited the club’s
members to propose other
options.
“You’re a part of this club
too. Camping? Hiking? Any
thoughts or opinions at all
just let us know,” he told his
audience.
Ali also revealed that a trip
to Jordan would be orga-
nized during the Easter va-
cation and invited people to
sign up.
“We are honored for
having you all and hope
you enjoy being in our
club and thank you all
once more for coming to
the reception,” Ali con-
cluded.
tor of books for universities,
schools, bookstores, librar-
ies, and other educational in-
stitutions.
“This is just a small exhibi-
tion that we do every year,”
Siham Abboud, a represen-
tative at Levant explained.
Students and faculty mem-
bers at LAU’s Beirut campus
participated in this event.
Publishers and professors
from around the world at-
tended the event to speak
about the importance of
learning and the role of such
By Diana Bachoura
LAU Tribune staff
Cervical cancer, the second contamination.
most common type of cancer Non-sexual exposure in-
among women, is prevent- cludes mother to newborn in
able by vaccination, Dr. Wis- cases where birth is natural.
sam Ghandour, gynecology Most people who are infect-
and basic health instructor ed with the virus are carri-
at LAU, said during a lec- ers and show no symptoms.
ture last March. “This is more fearful,” Ghan-
Organized by the depart- dour said. “A person who
ment of natural science as shows no signs of the virus is
part of the “Healthy Mind, still infectious and may de-
Healthy Body” campaign, velop symptoms sooner or
the lecture aimed to raise later.”
awareness about factors If exposed to HPV only once,
that lead to cervical cancer there is a high chance that a
and to inform people about person can heal alone. “Re-
the benefits of taking the peated exposure over the
vaccine. years may lead to what we
Human Papilloma Virus or call cervical cancer in wom-
HPV, also known as geni- en,” Ghandour explained.
tal warts, is the sole cause of In a lifetime, over 50 percent
cervical cancer. of men and women will be ex-
There are over 100 subtypes posed to HPV.
of HPV virus. “It’s not one The peak incidence of con-
simple virus, it’s a family of tracting HPV is between
viruses that have similar- ages 15 to 24 while the peak
ities and differences in be- incidence of contracting cer-
tween each other and that vical cancer is between ages
are referred to as the HPV 35 to 55.
group,” Ghandour said. “Imagine a young lady mar-
Out of the various HPV sub- ried with two kids developing
types, 15 to 20 are oncogen- cervical cancer and dying at
ic –meaning they lead to cer- such a young age,” Ghandour
vical cancer. HPV 16 and 18 said.
are also associated with cer- Because HPV is a sexual-
vical cancer. ly transmitted disease, the
While other HPV subtypes cervical cancer vaccine is
are not cancerous, they lead considered controversial in
to genital warts. Lebanon. “People refuse to
The virus is spread through acknowledge the existence of
all forms of sexual contact. premarital sex,” Ghandour
Using a condom may be not said.
be sufficient to prevent viral Husbands may also infect
variety of books in different
Photo by: Lyn Abu-Seraj
categories such as dictionar-
ies, mathematics, English,
science, stories, literature,
playbooks, and language.
“Our school could really ben-
efit from the new studies and
researches, it’s an experience
I would like to be part of,” Ha-
nadi, a graduate from Mary
Immaculate College (MIC)
and currently a professor in
new books in educating new English and science, said.
generations. Another representative at
On the shelves of the exhibi- Levant, Said Fawaz, ex-
tion, one could find the vast plained how the institute
April 1, 2011
their wives for adultery is
another factor to take into
consideration, he added.
Doctors recommend the vac-
cine be given to females be-
tween the ages of 10 and 55.
“Parents ask me all the time;
‘why would I get my 12 year
old daughter vaccinated so
young? It’s not like she will
have sex at 12,’” Ghandour
said. “The answer is because
at such a young age, the
body has a better immune
response to the vaccine.”
The cervical cancer vaccine
can also be given to young
men to decrease the chances
they have of passing on HPV
to their female partners.
Dr. Mirvat El Sibai, assis-
tant professor of biology at
LAU, supports the idea that
prevention is better than a
cure.
We really should start
thinking about prevention
of certain cancers as Dr.
Ghandour discussed “it’s
the silver bullet, ” Sibai
said.
“The government is not in
contact with what’s hap-
pening; it’s not in tact
with our needs and this
is where I think univer-
sities have a very im-
portant role” said Sibai.
“Our role is to educate,
we have to educate our
community and society.
We start by educating our
students,” Sibai concluded.
has flourished over the last
22 years. Just recently, Le-
vant gave buyers the liber-
ty to purchase books online.
“We advertise these books
to schools, universities, and
students themselves,” Fawaz
said. “Just last week, we did
the same exhibition at Riv-
iera hotel and we had more
than 200 visitors.”
Levant built its reputation
based on trust, quality and
respect. It was created to im-
port press to Lebanon from
abroad.
 April 1, 2011
CAMPUS NEWS
Religious Co-existence MCF: The May Chidiac Foundation
Is Beneficial for Media Studies
By Zahi Sahli
LAU Tribune contributor
Photo By: Zahi Sahli
Journalist Nada Raphaël’s
documentary, “Hyphen Is-
lam Christianity,” and an in-
spiring performance by Al
Fayha choir generated a joint
call for co-existence on March
17 at LAU’s Beirut campus.
Raphael, introduced to the
stage by Vice-President Elise
Salem, bemoaned the pri-
oritization of politics and
religion in Lebanon, em-
phasizing the role of the of-
ten-forgotten citizen in the
country.
“I am not scared of tackling
an issue that involves politics
and religion because there
is something more impor-
tant, and that’s humanity,”
Raphaël said.
Raphaël then pointed out co-
existence is almost an exclu-
sive phenomenon of Lebanon
at a time where prejudice is
growing around the world.
“Abroad, people are amazed
with the co-existence in Leb-
LAU’s Got Talent
By Lama Al-Haqhaq
LAU Tribune staff
Auditions for LAU’s Got Tal-
ent took place on the Wednes-
day the16th, Thursday the
17th and Friday the 18th of
March in Nicol 221, LAU’s pi-
ano room. The auditions in-
cluded a wide range of tal-
ents, and also included the
traditional talents such as
singing and dancing.
“There was a priority on the
singing,” Zeina Shehayeb, a
journalism student with the
communication arts depart-
ment at LAU and one of the
event organizers, said.
Some of the judges at the
LAU’s Got Talent event in-
anon,” she affirmed. “I under-
stood that it is a great deal to
have a church and a mosque
side-by-side.”
Meanwhile, Al-Fayha gave
the audience an idea of songs
they will present at the next
Arabs Got Talent.
Raphaël thinks that the inte-
gration of the eighteen sects
sets the ground for future ac-
complishments. She urged
Christians and Muslims to
search for shared features.
“When we talk about Islam
and Christianity, we some-
times think about the differ-
ences and the (civil) war. We
should rather think of the
similarities,” Raphaël said.
Raphaël explained the signif-
icance of propagating a uni-
fied proper image of Leba-
non, with the Lebanese Al
Fayha chorus, led by conduc-
tor Barkev Taslakian, at the
core of her documentary’s
success.
Raphael explained that she
was warned of aggression
from interviewees but was
pleasantly surprised. “Out
of all the people of the 1,270
villages we talked to, no one
said ‘no’ and there was no ag-
gression,” the Lebanese jour-
nalist said.
clude both students as well
as faculty members, two of
whom are going to be LAU
theatre coordinator Hala
Masri and music instructor
Rima Kcheich.
The event is set to take place
on Beirut campus on Friday
April 29. The prize to be pre-
sented to the winner is yet to
be decided.
LAU’s Got Talent is the first
event of its kind at the uni-
versity and is organized by
a group of students from the
Introduction to Public Re-
lations course taught by Dr.
Ramez Maaluf.
Tribune
By Diaa Aljurdy
LAU Tribune staff
Famous Lebanese journal-
ist May Chidiac introduced
the May Chidiac Foundation
(MCF) to enthusiastic jour-
nalism and radio/TV/film
majors during a lecture at
LAU on Tuesday March 22 at
Beirut campus.
“The media became a tool for
many, but it is a science after
all,” Chidiac said. She add-
ed that there is a difference
between writing and editing
for literature and doing so for
news.
News writing requires the
writer to stick to the facts
whereas, in literature, a
writer does not have to be
faithful to reality in any way
whatsoever.
Chidiac’s lecture was main-
ly about her MCF institute
which helps aspiring stu-
dents become active in the
media field in a mere 20
hours. “MCF is a nonprofit
organization, and it bridges
the gap between academia
and industry,” Chidiac said.
Chidiac added that MCF
helps new graduates en-
hance their market and
helps professionals improve
their skills through capacity
building.
Chidiac additionally shed
6000 Nurses for Four MillionPeople
Tala Osseiran
LAU Tribune staff
“It’s predicted the nursing
profession may disappear by
2020,” Rita Doumit, a nurs-
ing faculty member, said
during Nursing Day at LAU.
Celebrating the event, the Al-
ice Ramez Chagoury School
of Nursing invited high
school students from around
the country to learn about
the school’s undergraduate
program.“Our purpose is to
teach about the role and re-
sponsibilities of nursing in
today’s society,” Dr. Nan-
cy Hoffart, founding dean of
LAU’s Nursing School, said.
“We want to make a differ-
3
er Abbas Nasser from Al-
Photo via Creative Commons
Jazeera will teach this course
and this would be a good op-
portunity both for us and
also for the trainees,” Chidi-
ac said.
Another course teaches film-
making students to shoot the
right footage and how to do
so accurately with minimal
room for error, if any. Other
courses for film editing, pro-
duction and investigative
some light on the training journalism are also available
program and the well-re- in the training program.
nowned instructors who will Chidiac then also mentioned
teach the courses. Among the courses related to the radio,
classes offered is a TV ap- journalism and broadcast
pearance course that focus- technology and industries.
es on how to present news. New media has its space in
It revolves around the im- MCF and courses related to
provement of looks, pronun- this field will be taught by
ciation and breathing. “Some Ayman Itani, a digital media
people are just born talented instructor at LAU.
in dealing with the camera, Chidiac concluded the lec-
however they along with ev- ture with the fact that me-
ery other journalist should dia in Lebanon has become a
learn verbal performances, tool in the politicians’ hands
gestures and other principals and thus, journalistically,
of TV journalism regardless,” is disappointing. She hoped
Chidiac said. that her institute would help
Another course is about mas- counter this trend.
tering the techniques of news “Every politician has his own
delivery. It includes many TV channel to spread the
different aspects but concen- news as he wants,” she said.
trates on reporting live news. “I honestly hope this will
“The well-known report- change some day.”
ence for nursing by improv- During the session, Doumit
ing its status in Lebanon.” explained that the objective
The school of nursing at LAU is to market nursing as a ca-
includes a curriculum which reer. “We’re trying to change
is the first of its kind in the the concept of nursing,” she
Middle East. It gives stu- said. She also noted that, in
dents the opportunity to Lebanon, we only have 6,000
study with medical and phar- nurses when this should be
macy students. The school quadrupled to fit the coun-
offers incomers a special fi- try’s needs.
nancial aid package, with re- “The unemployment rate in
duced tuition fees, a high fi- Lebanon is 40 percent and
nancial aid rate and the 25 percent are young peo-
chance to practice nursing at ple under the age of twenty
the Rizk Hospital after grad- five,” Doumit added. “Why
uation. don’t these unemployed peo-
“Our goal is to recruit,” Hof- ple head for the nursing pro-
fart said. fession?”
4 Tribune
CAMPUS LIFE
Culture Shock
By Ranim Hadid
LAU Tribune contrtibutor
When Dana Joulani, a Jor-
danian who lived in Alberta,
got her LAU acceptance let-
ter, she was a bit hesitant. “I
then realized that it’s not as
dangerous as the news makes
things seem,” she said. She
has been in Beirut, happi-
ly studying at LAU, for a few
years now.
Culture shock is a common
feeling among immigrants,
including international stu-
dents.
With Lebanon’s increasing
instability during the last few
years, the problem acquires
an additional dimension.
A Lebanese-American jour-
nalism student who asked to
remain anonymous said that
she highly disliked the coun-
try. “I don’t like the corrup-
tion. I don’t like the insta-
bility. I don’t know why my
parents sent me here,” she
complained. The young wom-
an said she tries to travel to
Dubai as often as she could
because it feels more like her
The Truth about Muscles
By Tala El Riz
LAU Tribune staff
A month ago, the young LAU
student looked like Tintin,
the famous skinny detective,
but today, he’s Johnny Bra-
vo’s twin brother.
Sitting on the bench in front
of him, a young woman ad-
mired his biceps and the
enormous, confident laugh
on his face. “What’s the rea-
son for this change?” she
wondered.
Behind the young man’s
phenomenal shape-up were
harmful yet popular fat-sol-
uble organic compounds; ste-
roids.
Protein and steroid shakes
are quite popular among
LAU’s male students. They
help them develop a mus-
cular, body-built shape in
less than a month and often
increase their virility. Al-
though legally sold at vari-
ous pharmacies and vitamin
American hometown.
Most students, however, find
it easy to adapt to Beirut’s
wild life –and more impor-
tantly its infamous nightlife.
Razan Zananiri, a Palestin-
ian finishing her freshman
year, describes Lebanon as
“unbelievable.”
“There’s always something
to do and somewhere to go, if
there isn’t a plan, the easiest
thing to do in Beirut is make
one!” she said.
Students from the gulf, usu-
ally raised with more restric-
tions imposed by their native
culture, find alcohol, clubs,
pubs and similar distrac-
tions readily available. “All
I did my freshman year was
club,” Lara Jomaa, an interi-
or design junior, said. “It was
the only thing I did when I
came and all my friends were
doing it too. So it just made it
all the more fun.”
Khaled Nasser, PhD in in-
terpersonal communication,
discusses cultural shock.
shops such as GNC, proteins
and steroids may lead to se-
rious illnesses, especially
when taken in abusive quan-
tities.
Protein shakes replace
one’s regular intake of pro-
tein in foods but in excessive
amounts. Among the most
popular supplements is Hy-
per Mass 5000. Equivalent
to one burger meal, it comes
in various flavors. Caramel
Cappuccino is widely used on
campus.
Coming in 5000-gram con-
tainers, Hyper Mass 5000 is
found in gyms and pharma-
cies. Most LAU students buy
it from the supplement store
because it is cheaper. Hyper
Mass 5000 costs around 100
dollars.
Ziad H., an MIS major at
LAU, admitted to surviving
on proteins shake –which
“The shock comes from uncer-
tainty,” Nasser said. “Step-
ping into a new culture that
is different, the structure of
formulas changes and ev-
erything becomes unpredict-
able.”
“Everything new creates this
idea of the unknown, which
you fear. Your way of think-
ing, your references change,”
Nasser added.
But this change is not en-
tirely negative and the anxi-
ety soon fades away, allowing
people to experiment and try
was obvious from the huge
shape of his biceps. “I’ve
been taking proteins over
two years now; I had a lot of
health problems. It hurt my
liver and had a lot of acne,”
he said. “But all this was
solved later. If it weren’t for
these shakes I wouldn’t look
like this.” He smiled proudly.
Coach Omar Alaiwan ex-
plained there was no harm in
taking small amounts of pro-
tein but cautioned against
the abuse of such supple-
ments.
“The healthy way out is to
follow a diet that maintains
your weight,” Alaiwan said.
“Eat healthy food that keeps
you in good shape and always
work out at the gym so that
all residues get out of your
system.”
Research suggests that ex-
cess of proteins can lead to
new habits. “As long as you
are willing to try, you adapt
better,” Nasser explained.
Nasser advised students
on how to deal with culture
shock. “The best way is to
have two side-by-side pro-
cesses; enculturation and ac-
culturation,” he said. “Encul-
turation is the enjoyment of
your original culture and ac-
culturation is the enjoyment
of your new culture. They
should occur at the same time
to reduce culture shock.”
Iman Soufan, an American
kidney and digestive prob-
lems. “Too much protein can
make you gain weight,” Alai-
wan said. The average adult
requires between 46 and 56
grams of proteins per day.
Dr. Walid Alayli, a general
health doctor, agreed with
Alaiwan. “As long the guy is
aware of the amount of pro-
teins he is taking, there’s no
problem,” he said. “But never
use steroids. They are fatal
and can lead to a lot of body
damage.”
Two types of steroids exist.
Corticosteroids, such as cor-
tisone, are often prescribed
by doctors to help control in-
flammation. Anabolic ste-
roids, on the other hand, are
synthetic versions of testos-
terone, used to treat the loss
of lean muscle mass.
When used for non-medical
reasons, anabolic steroids
April 1, 2011
Photo by: Ranim Hadid
Jordanian living in Qatar,
expresses her opinion on cul-
ture shock. “Moving to Leba-
non after living in Qatar my
entire life, I could really see
the differences between their
culture and ours,” Soufan
said.
Fortunately Soufan did not
suffer from culture shock for
a long time. Instead, she be-
came more faithful to her cul-
ture. “We must learn to over-
come culture shock in order
to be more accepting toward
others,” Soufan said.
are illegal in most sports or-
ganizations. In January
2005, the Controlled Sub-
stance Act made the posses-
sion of anabolic steroids a
federal crime in the United
States. Still, some athletes
continue to use them and so
do several LAU students on
the Beirut campus.
The appeal of steroids comes
from the fact that they beef
up muscles, increase virility,
delay fatigue and often cre-
ate a feeling of euphoria.
Basketball player Al-Hassan
Dandash, a business man-
agement student at LAU,
said he would never consid-
er steroids or proteins as an
option. “I believe I help my
body get stronger by practic-
ing on a daily basis and eat-
ing healthy,” he said. “I’m a
Continued on page 9
 April 1, 2011 Tribune 5

CAMPUS LIFE
Flushed Out: The Life of a Dorm Girl
By Caroline Hodroj
LAU Tribune staff

A 20 year-old-female stu- week and the food in the re- and dryer are quite old and

Photo by:Lyn Abu-Seraj

dent dressed in a pink pa-
jama hides a tissue roll un-
der her armpit as she tiptoes
through the Orme-Gray resi-
dence hallway to answer na-
ture’s call. As she opens the
bathroom door she stands in
utter shock and disgust at the
foul smell that creeps into her
nostrils.
While it might be convenient
to live in the middle of the
LAU campus surrounded by
lush green gardens and con-
stant friends, hygienical-
ly, the living conditions of an
LAU dorm girl aren’t easy.
The Orme-Gray building is
located just across the Busi-
ness Building and the Riyad
Nasser Library has 34 dorm
rooms for women. According
to the LAU housing depart-
ment, the accommodations
are comfortable and meet the
student’s academic and social
needs.
Lyn Abu-Seraj, a 20-year-
old journalism major, made
it a point to make her dorm
room as homey as possible.
She has her own tiny refrig-
erator and decorates the room
with stuffed toys and pictures
of her loved ones. She tries to
make herself comfortable so
that she can disregard the oc-
casional difficulty of sharing
bathrooms and dealing with
the clutter that comes with
too many people living to-
gether.
“It’s not easy but I try to
make it better,” Abu-Seraj
said. “Cleanliness and lack
of privacy is what we suffer
from. The tables are left un-
clean and the sink is always
filled with dirty dishes and
some girls in the bathrooms
don’t clean after them-
selves.”
Sticky yellow stains or un-
flushed smelly toilet bowls
are still a common sight.
They come accompanied by
a cluster of stained tissue pa-
frigerator was left to rot.”
A member of the cleaning
crew who also refused to be
named confirmed the sto-
ry. She assured us, however,
that everything in the refrig-
erator is thrown out once a
week to avoid all forms of de-
cay. She also said all rooms
are properly and sufficiently
cleaned.
The Jordanian student dis-
agreed. “The floor gets
cleaned but sometimes the
same mop is used,” she said.
“You feel like it’s never ful-
ly clean and you feel disgust-
per decorating the bathroom ed.”
floors. Hiam Mucharrafieh, the
“I was shocked when I en- manager of the dorms in
tered the bathroom. I won’t LAU Beirut and Byblos, was
say more but I’ll leave it to unavailable for comment.
your imagination,” Leen In addition to the com-
Haddad, an interior archi- plaints over the lack of hy-
tecture major, said. giene, some students criti-
A Jordanian student who cized the shortage of laundry
refused to be named sheds machines which do not suf-
some light on what she be- fice the 18 to 25 girls sharing
lieves is the main problem in each floor.
dorm life. “We’re many girls and there’s
“Some girls are unhygienic, only one iron, one washing
it’s crazy,” she said with frus- machine and one dryer on ev-
tration. “We all share bath- ery floor,” the Jordanian girl
rooms, one kitchen and one said.
laundry room. The kitchen The laundry room is less
once had twenty unwashed than half a bedroom in size
dishes that were left for a and the washing machine
they occasionally break
down accordingly to many
dorm residents.
Some students have experi-
enced more drastic issues in-
volving medical problems.
Dima Zeituni, a 21 year-old
chemistry major, shared her
experience. “When I was
studying, the dorm chair
wasn’t comfortable and I got
severe back pains,” she said.
Zeituni was told she need-
ed a medical report faxed
from Syria to be allowed to
bring her own furniture. “If
my mom wasn’t here I don’t
know what I would have
done,” she remembered.
Haddad, at one point, had to
depend on herself for med-
ical assistance. She needed
hospitalization but no emer-
gency driving was available.
“I went by myself to AUH”
she related.
But, regardless of the un-
happiness some feel about
living conditions, the girls
unanimously agreed that the
friendships they made at the
dorms help them cope with
all difficulties. “I love living
here because the girls make
it easier,” the Jordanian stu-
dent said. “If they weren’t
here I would leave.”

Expensive Apartment Rents in Hamra

Iman Soufan
LAU Tribune contributor

When Ruba Abu-Shanab-
first moved to Lebanon to
study at LAU in 2006, she
paid 1,200 dollars for a stu-
dio in Siran Towers. Today,
she lives in the same apart-
ment but spends a monthly
1,800 dollars on rent.
With the sky-high prices of
housing in Hamra, interna-
tional students who study
at LAU or AUB cannot live
nearby without spending a
fortune.
“If you’re looking for a decent
apartment to live in around
Hamra, you will not find one
below 1,500 dollars,” Mo-
hammed Bijjani, a real es-
tate agent, said. “Five years
ago, the most expensive
apartment would have been
less than 1,500 dollars.”
The cost of living in Leba-
non increased immensely;
expenses multiplied and it
is now difficult for a middle
class family to afford buying
a house without a bank loan.
Bijjani has been a real es-
tate agent for over 15 years.
He witnessed the dramat-
ic inflation during the last
few years. “The prices of the
lands have risen drastically,
that’s why apartments are
so expensive,” Zayed Arafeh,
owner of two residential
buildings in Hamra, said.
Arafeh explained that the
expenses of maintaining the
buildings has also risen.
Ameera Al-Felaij is a Bah-
raini LAU student. Her old-
er sister, who studies in Par-
is, lives in a one-bed room
apartment that is quite sim-
ilar to hers. “But my sister
pays 100 dollars less than I
do,” Al-Felaij complained.
Al-Felaij said that the dis-
trict her sister lives in is
more luxurious and more
modern than hers. “Why do
we pay the same rent? Ham-
ra is overpriced,” she said.
Surrounded by AUB and
LAU, Hamra is a central res-
idential and commercial dis-
trict in Beirut. It has always
experienced a very high de-
mand for apartments.
Most international students
prefer to live within walking
distance of their universities
and find themselves forced
to pay high rents for accom-
modation.
“I would live in cheaper ar-
eas like Mar Elias, but it’s
way more convenient to live
by the university,” Loulwa
Salatt, a Qatari LAU stu-
dent, said. “Plus it’s as if
Hamra is designed for inter-
national students.”
“All the apartments in both
of our buildings are taken up
by international students,”
Adnan Jabado, owner of two
residence buildings, said.
La Bella One and Two are
mostly cost around 2,000
to 2,700 dollars month-
ly. “I have received sever-
al complaints regarding the
high prices, but nothing will
change as long as everything
is this expensive,” Jabado
explained.
6 Tribune
SOCIAL MEDIA & TECH
Are You e-Clean?
By Nour Monajjed
LAU Tribune staff
Scan. Clean. Secure. These
are the three words I read
when I first signed into So-
cioclean. What exactly did
this mean though? Well, ex-
actly as it suggests. This pro-
gram alerts you to anything
offensive on your social net-
work pages and sends you
links to the words in ques-
tion so they can be easily de-
leted.
Why is such a program need-
ed? Think back with me now.
We’ve all heard stories about
companies not hiring people
because of their social net-
work profiles. Whether it’s
embarrassing drunk pic-
tures of crazy nights with
friends, inappropriate wall
posts by exes or whatever.
People’s careers and futures
are seriously being affected.
In 2009, a Harris Interac-
tive study for CareerBuild-
er.com found that 45 per-
Ayman Itani: the Man Behind the Tweets
By Tala Osseiran
LAU Tribune staff
“My passion has always
been for how the Internet
and technology can be used
to enhance our day-to-day
lives and how we are doing
things differently and to our
advantage,” Ayman Itani,
digital strategy consultant
and LAU new media instruc-
tor, said.
He remains up-to-date with
the social media environ-
ment by reading, learning
and engaging with users dai-
ly. Itani is also the reason be-
hind the fact that many com-
munication arts students at
LAU are well-equipped to
face the new media world to-
day.
Itani occasionally lectures at
various universities but re-
mains a part-time instructor
at LAU. Among his achieve-
ments is the LAUSocial, a
virtual platform where stu-
dents discuss the univer-
sity’s activities, cover live
events on and off campus
cent of employers used social
networks to screen job can-
didates. Thirty-five percent
of them decided not to hire
a candidate based on what
they found.
Imagine not getting a job be-
cause of one stupid post from
freshman year and poof. Just
like that. There goes your ca-
reer and, most importantly,
there goes your reputation.
After all, employers want
squeaky-clean fresh new fac-
es on board. Socioclean can
help.
Priyanshu Harshavat, who
founded Socioclean, concep-
tualized a way to help job
candidates get their social
profiles in shape before they
were inspected by potential
employers. He invented this
program which scans social
profiles, searching for 5,000
words and phrases that are
racial, profane, drug-related
and remain connected to the
Lebanese online community.
“It was really interesting,”
Lama Al-Haqhaq, an LAU
journalism senior said about
Itani’s class. “I thought I al-
ready knew a lot about social
media but he taught us a lot
more.”
Al-Haqhaq already had
Twitter, Facebook, a You-
Tube account and wrote
on her own blog before she
joined the digital media
class. Today, she added a
FourSquare account to her
collection.
Unlike Al-Haqhaq, jour-
nalism senior Ivana Hin-
di was not very active on-
line. Her daily regime only
included Facebook. Today,
however, she blogs and has
FourSquare and Twitter ac-
counts.
“We attended many events
and got to know many social
media geeks,” Hindi said.
“We became part of Leba-
or alcohol-related.
Now what if your career isn’t
on the line? What if your em-
ployer is cool and believes
that what happens in col-
lege is not a big deal? Is So-
cioclean worthless? Nope.
Quite the opposite. If em-
ployers are understanding,
what can one do about future
or even current spouses? So-
cial networks are known to
be a source for growing num-
bers of break-ups related to
cheating.
For instance, say you’re a
guy who likes this girl. Even
back at sixteen, you thought
she was the one but she left
you and now you’ve moved
on.
If your new partner finds out
that you guys are still Face-
book friends and are “casu-
al,” this could result in mixed
feelings. The girl would feel
you haven’t really moved on
non’s active social media
community.”
Itani’s brainchild and his
personal business is Think-
Media, a company that helps
existing mass media con-
glomerates and other Mid-
dle Eastern businesses build
their emerging digital media
eco system to attend to the
growing online user needs
and expectations.
Itani received his BA in com-
puter and communication
engineering from the Ameri-
can University of Beirut and
his masters in business ad-
ministration from the Leba-
nese American University.
He has been working in the
Internet Services industry
for more than a decade now,
across different job respon-
sibilities throughout his ca-
reer.
“Growing into Digital Media
was a gradual extension as
it has the user at its core in
terms of interests, needs, de-
or whatever. She may leave
too.
It’s the same for the girls. If a
guy you’re with sees a picture
of you on the beach with this
other guy last year and gets
all jealous, then what?
sires, expression, consump-
tion, generation,” he said.
Itani does not have a favor-
ite social medium but, when
pressed, he said he’d choose
Twitter if he had to “because
of the great community that
is active on it.”
Itani plays an important role
in the Lebanese social com-
munity and says he in turn
has been affected by their
warmth. “Being part of such
a lovely online community
that gives without asking for
anything in return continues
to have such a profound ef-
fect on me,” he explained.
Recently, the social entre-
preneur became a proud fa-
ther to six-month-old Lea
who already has a twitter ac-
count and is a shining celeb-
rity in Itani’s expanded so-
cial network. “I consider this
to be my most important job
and hardest so far,” Itani
said. “You can find her on
twitter as @leaitani.”
April 1, 2011
Photo by: Yasmime Dabbous
Now of course I’m generaliz-
ing. You can say no, I won’t
do that or no, I’ll understand.
But do you really want to
risk your spouse or fiancé or
love or whatever? Is it really
worth the risk?
Caught between his numer-
ous jobs and his family life,
Itani tries to balance both re-
sponsibilities reliably. “It is
very challenging to attend
to the growing family needs
as well as the growing work
needs,” he explained. “I do
what I can to make sure that
a balance is maintained,
which inevitably leads to
working harder and smarter
on both fronts.”
Like everything else in his
life, Itani looks at the chal-
lenge with a positive light.
“The internet has become
such a pervasive medium
that is all around us and in
everything we do,” he said,
with a convinced tone. “For
example, when you use your
BlackBerry device for email,
messaging, and Facebook,
you are using the Internet
for that.”
“In a way, we are all online
all the time,” Itani conclud-
ed.
 April 1, 2011
CULTURE & FASHION
Coffee Shops vs. Library
By Lama Al-Haqhaq
LAU Tribune staff
A mess of books, pens and
laptops tops the tables at
Starbucks Koreitem. Some
students silently read while
others work in groups, ask
questions and share notes
noisely.
When midterms loom and
the time comes for serious
studying, LAU students tend
to leave the campus. The Ri-
yad Nassar Library, located
at LAU’s Business Building,
is one of the biggest libraries
in the Middle East. Although
many students do frequent
it, most prefer to work on pa-
pers and exams at the coffee
shops around LAU.
Eight coffee shops within the
university’s vicinity seem to
attract most students: Star-
bucks (Koreitem and Ham-
ra), Caribou Coffee, Gloria
Jeans, Lina’s, Cafe Younes,
Buttermint and Costa. “Ev-
eryone I know comes to Star-
bucks Koreitem, so I usually
study here,” Mohamad Al-
Zaben, a business-finance
student, said.
Students spend long hours
at these coffee shops during
exam periods. Yousef Al-Wa-
Old, New and Revolutionary Poetry
By Eleena Korban
LAU Tribune staff
“Any piece that lacks rhythm
and rhyme is not poetry, to-
day we heard prose,” poet
Henry Zogheib explained, as
he accused the participants
in a poetry competition –in-
cluding the winners– of ig-
noring the beautiful imag-
es poetry is meant to have.
Zogheib, along with fellow
poets Bassima Botlouly and
Josef Abi Daher, formed a
rather intimidating panel of
judges.
The UNESCO club held a
student poetry competition
yesterday night under the
themes of “peace, justice and
freedom.” Vivianne Allam
won first place for her pas-
sionate revolutionary poem,
zir, a radio/tv student, said
he spends three to five hours
in one stretch at Starbucks.
“I usually have one coffee,
but since I stay there for so
long. I feel like I need to or-
der more,” Saad Kanaan,
a business-marketing stu-
dent, said. “I end up having
more coffee.”
Coffee shops around LAU
have accommodated stu-
dent needs, encouraging the
constant flow. Lina’s, Star-
bucks, Caribou Coffee and
Gloria Jeans all have des-
ignated areas with desks,
creating an academic atmo-
sphere. Some coffee shops,
such as Starbucks Koreitem,
even extend closing hours
from 10 p.m. to midnight
during exam periods to give
students more time.
“I prefer studying at Cari-
bou because I’m a smoker,
and you can’t smoke in the li-
brary,” Kanaan said. “They
have big tables that are
made for studying, so it’s not
hard to organize myself.”
Coffee shops seem popular
among students because of
their proximity to the uni-
and Mohammad Hdaib won
second place for his similarly
revolutionary piece.
After the winners were an-
nounced, the night took
an unexpected turn when
Zogheib declared his flagrant
disappointment in the prose
style that participants used.
Hdaib, however, did not let
Zogheib’s objection go unat-
tended. “We were asked to
write about certain themes
that lead us to this style,” he
clarified and then boldly re-
cited another poem.
The evening started when
Vahid Behmardi, the chair-
person of Humanities De-
partment in LAU, spoke
about old poetry. Behmardi
Tribune 7
et as possible to preserve a
Photo by: Lama Al-Haqhaq
studying environment. Yet
this seems to be a factor push-
ing students away.
“The library gets boring be-
cause it’s too quiet,” Kanaan
and Al-Wazir agreed.
“When I study in coffee shops,
there are things going on
around me which don’t make
me feel the time pass by.”
Kanaan said.
Still, LAU’s library sometimes
appeals to students because
of its strong Internet connec-
tion. While most coffee shops
offer Wi-Fi services to cus-
tomers, the library’s Internet
proves to be more efficient. “I
only study at the library when
I have a big research project to
work on, because the library’s
Internet is much better than
versity. Starbucks Koreitem more than half are there to the internet in coffee shops,”
is about a minute away from study. Kanaan said.
LAU’s upper gate, and the rest Students aren’t the only ones But for students who do not
are scattered around Ham- who use coffee shops as their need to be constantly online,
ra Street. “I prefer to study in study-spot. A number of tu- and for those who are look-
Starbucks because it’s close tors frequently visit these ing for company, coffee shops
to the university and where I places. “I have a session with around LAU still attract stu-
live,” Al-Wazir said. a tutor here in Starbucks to- dents with a wide variety
According to a barista at Glo- morrow,” Al-Wazir said. of snacks and drinks, study
ria Jeans, over 90 percent of Like any other library, LAU’s desks and a familiar, friendly
customers are students and requires students to be as qui- atmosphere.
Photo by: Sahar Moukaddem
In response to Behmardi, As- Harkous, Ali Atrash, Moha-
saad Kheirallah, professor at mad Hdeib, Kamal Takied-
the American University of dine, Ali Shreif and Hassan
Beirut and editor of “Al-Ab- Shamas.
hath,” spoke of new poetry. Alissar Bakri, UNESCO club
He distinguished between member, said that “partici-
what the reader perceives pants seemed to be highly in-
and what the poet intends. fluenced by the Arab world
“We cannot understand what revolutions, although the
the poet is referring to with- winners were outstanding.”
out trying to understand the Abdo Salam Hamade,
world he creates for himself,” the club’s vice-president,
Kheirallah said. summed up the night elo-
He read out passages and in- quently. “UNESCO stands
vited the audience to think for United Nations Educa-
about whether or not they tional, Scientific and Cul-
can identify what he is talk- tural Organization,” he said.
ing about. “Today we implement and so-
explained that the debate be- Participants in the compe- lidify one the pillars of the
tween old and new poetry has tition were Diaa Al Jurdy, culture of the Arab world,
been around since old ages. Vivianne Allam, Mustafa and that is Arabic poetry.”
8 Tribune
PEOPLE
A Generation of Coffee
By Layan Doueik
LAU Tribune contributor
It is 6:30 a.m.. LAU’s upper
gate expects no visitors yet.
However, something gently
yawns and ruminates right
behind the campus’ entry. It
is nothing but the ritual of
Ali Hamade’s famous “white
van” as it opens its trunk.
Hamade begins a typical day
with his “buddy,” the auto-
mobile that cannot cross the
borderline of LAU’s entrance
but that can certainly pene-
trate students’ hearts.
He cleans his vehicle, places
countless cigarette cartons in
its rear, and unleashes an old
coffee machine out of it.
By 7:30 a.m., Hamade be-
comes invisible as he drowns
in student laughter, chit-
chats, and hasty orders. “Al-
loush, three Nescafe with
Nestle! …Two packs of cig-
arettes, one hot chocolate!”
several hurried students
shout at once, as Ali’s char-
acteristic cheery face promis-
es to fulfill the orders with no
mistakes.
Behind Lea’s Gentle Smile
By Ivana Hindi
LAU Tribune staff
She met up with me on a sun-
ny afternoon, in a busy café
at the heart of Beirut. With
her wide smile, bubbly atti-
tude and petite, slim figure,
it is hard to believe that Lea
Giusti is a taekwondo third-
degree black belt. She or-
dered a fresh drink and com-
fortably began the story of
her journey in the world of
martial arts.
Giusti went back to her ear-
ly childhood to describe
her first encounters with
the sport. “I used to live in
Egypt, where I played ten-
nis,” she said. “Upon moving
to Lebanon my mother still
wanted me to pursue sports,
even if it meant trying some-
thing new.”
Now 21, Giusti became famil-
iar with taekwondo when she
first joined her school’s team
as a child. It wasn’t serious
Mohammad Abouchala, a
21-year-old business stu-
dent, holds the signature
brown cup of coffee from
Hamade’s van. “No one can
ever take Ali away from us.
He has become part of our
daily lives and part of the
university,” Abouchala says.
“His van has become the uni-
versity’s second cafeteria. My
usual morning talk with Ali
is the kick start of my day.”
Hamade shares students’
communal feelings. “Do not
ask me about how I feel to-
ward students,” he tells me.
“Ask them about it and let
them tell you. If I didn’t love
students and love this job, I
wouldn’t be here.”
Technology turned every-
thing upside down, but did
not seem to affect Hama-
de or the modest and tradi-
tional aspect of his van, even
with the emergence of many
competitors around his little
world.
Despite the controversy that
until she was introduced to
her mother’s good friend; a
taekwondo trainer who en-
rolled her in his club.
Giusti recalled the thrills
she felt during her very first
championship. “I was part
of the first Lebanese delega-
tion to a taekwondo world
championship. That was in
2004, in Italy, after I earned
my first black belt,” she said.
“I started training very hard
for two to three months, and
when I went to Italy we were
only two people from Leb-
anon; the daughter’s coach
and I.” They lost due to little
experience in world competi-
tions.
But things soon became
more positive. Giusti partic-
ipated in a championship in
Florida, USA, later in 2004.
“This time we were more de-
termined and familiar with
hung over the presence of
an old unappealing “truck”
in front of a prominent cam-
pus’ entrance, Hamade’s nu-
merous loyal clients believe
that it is what’s inside of it
that counts: the good coffee,
the great prices that nev-
er change, and the excellent
service.
Hamade says –and witnesses
confirm– that he remembers
what most students order
the competition’s format. We
therefore trained even hard-
er than the first time,” she
said. Giusti came out of this
competition with two med-
als: First place in the fight-
ing category and third place
in the pattern category.
Not only does Giusti practice
taekwondo, she teaches it as
well. Giusti gave courses at
the Avalon in 2007 for almost
a year. Right now, she teach-
es at the Cercle Sportif Fran-
cais. “I like to teach because I
like to share my talent with
other people,” Giusti ex-
plained. “Moreover, I believe
I’m a nice teacher, young stu-
dents like me.” She laughed
light-heartedly.
The petite, lady-like Leba-
no-Italian taekwondo star
rememembered a 2008 com-
petition in Italy where the
jury was very strict. “The
April 1, 2011
has been a student here
Photo by:Yasmine Dabbous
since 1982. “It was Abou Bra-
him back then who owned
the van. His free spirit used
to gather so many students
around him, especially the
ladies,” she remembers.
Masri takes a thoughtful
glance towards the fence be-
hind which the van rested.
“You cannot refer to LAU
without referring to this
van,” she says. “It has be-
come part of LAU’s tradition,
and Ali in fact inherited not
only the van but also his fa-
ther’s secret recipe of dealing
daily. “You want the usual, with customers.”
right?” he asks one of them. Abouchala points out that he
The van has been firm and has already spent more than
stable in front of the LAU 10,000 Lebanese pounds buy-
campus for more than three ing morning supplies from
decades, giving Hamade a Hamade within one hour of
decent income to open a shop his arrival on campus. “For
if he wanted to. But never the past three years, I pass
will he get rid of his all time by him every morning for 20
“companion.” minutes. We chat, smoke,
Hala Masri, drama coordi- drink coffee, laugh and even
nator in the department of sing sometimes,” he says,
communication arts at LAU, with a pensive side smile.
judges looked at the slight- Giusti described taekwondo
est mistake. I won the first as a great substitute to gym
round, but lost the second for a fit body. “I am used to
one because of a tiny inaccu- what I do, and I don’t think I
racy, which got me disquali- can ever stop practicing tae-
fied,” Giusti complained. “I kwondo,” she added with a
still managed to achieve fifth thoughtful smile.
place despite the difficulties.” The martial arts devotee,
One of Giusti’s recent suc- however, plans to travel in
cesses came in October of the near future, to pursue
2010 in Slovakia. “In this her career goals in journal-
competition, I did three ism or marketing. Giusti
rounds of the ‘pattern catego- feels guilty about leaving a
ry’ and won third place,” she coach who has taught since
recalled. childhood. “He is the one
Giusti does not like the way who made me go this far,”
her compatriots are treat- she said. “I am worried about
ed in international champi- what kind of new coach I will
onships. “People often look be training with while I’d be
down at the Lebanese,” she away from my homeland.”
said, obviously revolted. “Eu- The now confident and proud
ropeans are usually so much 21-year-old champion was
more involved in what they once a shy person who did not
do. We Lebanese competitors know what it was like to fight
do not have enough support for her rights in front of mil-
or even enough will at times.” lions.
 April 1, 2011
CONTINUED
I L**e My Teacher
Continued from page 1
Few instructors at LAU seem to particularly grab students’ at-
tention. Their names have repeatedly been mentioned to us.
All share the same combination of traits; charisma, compe-
tence and sense of humor.
Psychologists suggest that people don’t get crushes on the peo-
ple they want, but rather on the people they want to be like.
Most of the times, students’ crush on teachers is not about ac-
tual romantic or sexual desire, but is rather related to a quali-
ty the young men and women want to bring out in themselves.
Aya, an economics student who refused to give her full name,
gets butterflies in her stomach whenever she sees her politi-
cal science teacher outside class. She describes him as “charis-
matic, smart and good lecturer.”
“I get too shy when I talk to him and, most of the time, I go
to his office and ask him dumb questions I already know the
answers to,” she laughed. While Aya only thinks about her
political science teacher as someone she admires, Leah, who
also refused to give her full name, see things otherwise. “If my
teacher asked me to go on a date with him I would definite-
ly agree,” she said. Leah does not know the right term for de-
scribing her feelings toward her communication arts teacher,
but what she knows well is that she loves discussing various
issues.
Although the class Leah took with this instructor ended in Jan-
uary, her visits to his office didn’t come to an end yet. “I even
know where he goes on his lunch break,” she said. “I would al-
ways be there waiting for him.” Students’ crush on teachers
is not only restricted to girls. Young men also expressed their
likeness to some female teachers on campus. Raed B., a bank-
ing and finance student, described his business instructor as
a “mesmerizing lady.” “I really admire her, she is the kind of
women I want to marry in the future,” Raed laughed. “But I
just admire her, nothing more.”
Several films and songs address students’ love for their teach-
ers, attesting for the universality of such a phenomenon. Rena
Del Cid’s “To the Teacher Crush,” for example, speaks of the
huge crush a student has on his math teacher, describing
how much he wants to be “the numbers in her mathematical
world.” The movie “Notes of Scandal,” tackles a similar story.
Nadine Ayoubi, a political science instructor at LAU, be-
lieves there is a fine line between admiring a teacher and hav-
ing emotions for him or her. “The student has to know where
this line is and define it,” she explained. “When you go beyond
this line in a very obvious way, you can say that there is some-
thing wrong.” Ayoubi herself is familiar with the issue. Many
years after she graduated, she married a teacher she once had
a crush on; now Dean of Students Raed Mohsen. When asked
whether it would bother her to know students may like her
husband, Ayoubi said she sympathize because years ago, she
passed through this phase and was a fan of him too. Although
some instructors believe that, most of the time, a crush is in-
nocent, others think that talking about this topic is taboo and
unethical.
Bassam Doughan, a business instructor at LAU, believes that,
in university setting, a student’s crush on a teacher is not inno-
cent anymore. He said instructors shouldn’t allow it to happen
and should draw clear limits when interacting with students.
But that does not deter Nellie A.. Ten years later, when her
philosophy instructor’s hair will start to thin and wrinkles
will form around his eyes, her appreciation for him will always
stay the same. “I really wish all LAU guys were like him,” she
smiled.
Adviser: Editors-in-Chief:
The Team:
Yasmine Dabbous Mohamad Yahia Hamade
Caroline Hodroj
Tribune 9
Crowded Campus
Continued from page 1
studies, said that, in two of his classes, students drag chairs from other classes to be able to sit
down.
At , the red and blue tables in the cafeteria disappear under the hoards of students that flock in
during lunch breaks. “We don’t have enough space to shoot our films, and we only have one small
cafeteria and it is always crowded,” Hassan Mohajer, a 22-year-old radio/TV/film student, said.
When LAU was built in 1835, the land was affordable and the space sufficient to fit the universi-
ty’s first generations of students. But the number of Lebanese and foreign students has dramat-
ically increased since.
“The main problem is that the university is adopting new majors and the number of students is
getting bigger,” Samar Moujaes, an assistant professor of Arabic, said.
Now the lands surrounding LAU in Koreitem are quite expensive and highly populated, which
prevents LAU’s expansion. “From now till we have more space, there should be a precise study
for the number of applicants every semester to control the huge number of students,” Moujaes
said.
According to a study done by Sally Farra, an interior architecture student, Nicol Hall is old and
unstable but the university can’t restore or rebuild it for security reasons related to the presence
of the Hariri family next door. “The cafeteria has high ceilings so they can build an addition-
al floor inside it to add more space for students,” Farra said. She noted that even janitors don’t
have enough room to rest during break hours. “They all sit in small rooms,” Farra explained.
Several instructors said that they heard about plans to build a new building for the arts and sci-
ence school within the coming six years. Members of the administration, including Dean of Stu-
dent Affairs Raed Mohsen, Dean of Arts and Sciences Samira Aghacy and Assistant Provost
Sami Baroudi, were unavailable for comment.
Meanwhile, as the university tries to solve the space problem, the number of students increas-
es with time. “We are lucky that we got a TV studio, so we should give credits for the universi-
ty for that,” Knio said. She added, however, that classes are growing in numbers not in meters.
The Truth about Muscles
Continued from page 4
Photo via Creative Commons
professional basket ball player and if I take any of these shakes it will put my career down the
drain.”
Steroids cause a variety of serious problems including infertility, severe acne and cysts, tendon
rupture, increased LDL cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart attacks, cancer, delusions and
mania, and HIV/AIDS –among others.
J. D., a business management student at LAU, confessed to using steroids. “I loved the humon-
gous shape that I was getting, the major change that my body went through was amazing and so
I started increasing the dosage,” he said.
J. D. paid dearly. “I suffered from kidney failure,” he said. “Every two weeks, I have to undergo
dialysis and have my kidneys checked up.”
Dr. Alayli said that steroids may also increase erectile dysfunction and gynecomastia (growth
of the breasts), a condition that is irreversible without plastic surgery. Atrophy, or shrinkage of
the testicles, may also occur in cases of high steroid intakes.
A survey of LAU female students revealed that 60 percent objected to the use of protein shakes
and steroids and disliked “the fake image it gives to guys.”
“I don’t believe in extremes and that is why a guy has to have a normal shape that best fits him,”
Maya Ibrahim, a pharmacy major, said. “I love the muscled shape but not to the extreme of hav-
ing a very small waist and extremely huge muscles. Proportional body is bliss.”
to leave our coach,” she said. “I am worried about what kind of new coach I will be training with
while I’d be away from my homeland.”
Staff:
Lama Al-Haqhaq. Diaa Al Jurdy, Diana Bachoura, Tala El Riz, Maria Fellas, Lea Giusti, Ivana Hindi, Eleena Korban,
Sahar Moukaddem, Nour Monajjed, Tala Osseiran, Reem Swaidan
10 Tribune April 1, 2011

OPINION
Beirut, I Lo(ve)athe You Treasuring Health
By Mohamad Yahia Hamade By Sahar Moukaddem
LAU Tribune staff LAU Tribune staff

I was born in the wrong era. I
long for the pearl of the Med-
iterranean that was Beirut. I
miss her blinding lights, the
warm summer nights, the
immaculate architecture and
walking in the rain along ce-
rulean shores. All were once
upon a time the makings of a
fairytale city.
These days I dread going to
Beirut. I hate having to face
the heartbreakingly unorga-
nized city overrun by hooli-
gans posing as police officers
and never finding a proper
parking spot.
Alas, the blinding lights are
no longer the shiny lure of
Beirut; no, they are the faux-
xenon headlights of corrup-
tion and the sleazy old guys’
BMWs zooming down the
streets, trying to impress (or
more appropriately seduce)
girls. The weather now is bi-
polar. The rain is a product
of toxic fumes enveloping the
atmosphere over Beirut.
Long gone are the days of the
old-fashioned buildings and
traditional quarters. All I
can see now are pubs, clubs
and brothels.
This makes me wonder, what
the fudgemuffin happened to
the city everyone admired?
This city used to be “Imm el-
faqeer,” as my grandmoth-
er so eloquently put it. What
happened to the city that
was rebuilt seven times, ris-
ing from the ashes of the
war and oppression, soaring
like a phoenix into the blar-
ing sun of victory and all that
mumbo-jumbo? The city is
now mostly filled with un-
cultured, ignorant, morally
bankrupt, sorry excuses for
citizens.
These people are complete-
ly defunct in terms of culture
and intellect, but firmly be-
lieve that expensive mate-
rial possessions make them
the greatest people on earth.
Regrettably, Beirut has be-
come the next Los Angeles in
the making, filled with fake
noses, fake brands, and most
importantly, fake people.
I wonder how the city that
survived thousands of wars
could have, so easily, turned
into this miserable, lifeless
wannabe.
What happened to her cul-
tural heritage, to her intel-
lectual and artistic genius,
to her simple yet beautiful
visage? Who is the wrong-
doer here? What caused this
awful transformation, turn-
ing the mother of Europa of
Tyr into an insecure, soul-
less harlot?
It’s entirely our fault. We
stood by and did nothing
when our city was infest-
ed with all this corruption,
turning into an impassive
concrete jungle. Now it’s up
to us to fix what we broke.
Let’s bring back the good
old Beirut to life again. Let’s
give her years of dignity.
The colors in the children
cancer center of Beirut
(CCCL) create an imaginary
world for kids far from real-
ity.
I entered the volunteer team
for the CCCL with the pur-
pose of giving cancer chil-
dren hope, listen to their
talks and support them
throughout their fight with
the disease. But do they real-
ly need me? Do I really know
the meaning of hope? Am I
able to feel their pain?
Did God choose them be-
cause they are strong?
Or had the disease made
them stronger? Questions
I couldn’t find any answers
for.
They know that life is not
easy. They were not fed with
silver spoons. Actually they
were the ones to feed them-
selves with strength and
hope in time of pain and de-
spair. In their presence,
I’m in a continuous chal-
lenge with myself because
age. Before going to sleep,
their small brains are busy
wondering about the un-
known or about what might
be next.
It didn’t take them much
time to understand that the
big wealth in life is health.
A child with cancer does
not need a flying plane on
Christmas, nor will a fai-
rytale princess draw a smile
on his face. All he needs is
one more moment to enjoy
life with friends and fami-
lies.
There is no textbook path in
life to tell us what we should
do and what we shouldn’t.
And we are very good at
finding things to complain
about. I hope that we all can
learn from the experience
of children with cancer and
treasure what is most impor-
tant in life. We should know
how lucky we are to enjoy
our food without a feeding
tube. How lucky we are to go
whenever we want and stay

Citizen Journalism their strength makes me feel

By Lama Al-Haqhaq
LAU Tribune staff
Recently, citizen journalism
has been highly encouraged
and performed across the
world. This new phenome-
non brought life to the phrase
that I hear repeatedly; “it is
real news brought to us by
real people.”
While I am not complete-
ly against the idea of citi-
zen journalism, I would like
to bring forward a specif-
ic point: Most of us, as “real
people,” are biased by nature.
One-sided stories from news
outlets are among the rea-
sons why many have turned
to citizen journalists, yet the
same one-sided account can
be found in the content these
citizens provide.
True, citizen journalism
travels faster than tradition-
al news. However, it is usual-
ly fuelled by emotion rather
than objectivity.
If citizen journalists report
news in order to inform the
world of what is happen-
ing around them, what stops
them from showing only the
side that works in their fa-
vour?
This means that we have to
look at a number of different
sources when it comes to cit-
izen journalism in order to
find a mid-point where the
truth may lie.
This, however, can also be
done with professional news
outlets. The only difference,
in my opinion, is that citizen
journalists will happily pro-
vide graphic footage and pic-
tures that news outlets can-
not air.
A big problem that comes
with citizen journalism is
that their absolute freedom
on the Internet has opened
a door for incorrect informa-
tion to be reported as real
news.
The wide reach that the In-
ternet helps rumors spread
like wildfire. We, as viewers,
cannot tell whether a vid-
eo online actually came from
the event it claimed to come
from, or whether it is old foot-
age.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not
calling all citizen journalists
liars and fakes. I’m just say-
ing that the same flaws apply
in both cases.
I think the most effective fea-
ture of citizen journalism is
hearing the news before it is
presented by traditional me-
dia.
Do I personally think citizen
journalism should contin-
ue? Sure. Some of the footage
it has presented is valid and
could not have been brought
to attention if this sort of
journalism didn’t exist. Do I
think citizen journalism has
been overrated? Yes, to an ex-
tent, it has.
Before we can claim that
this is real news brought by
real people, we should take
a closer look at these people,
their backgrounds and al-
ways leave room to question
whether the information is
reliable or not.
weak. I feel the pain behind
with whomever we want
without the fear of catching
the beauty of their smiles a virus that might keep us
and I wish if I could ever in bed for weeks. We can fol-
promise them that one day low our dreams and have the
everything will be fine and faith to turn them into real-
okay. ity. We can stand up after
They talk about cancer and each fall. Do you know the
surgeries as if they are talk- real meaning of Faith? Hap-
ing about their own little piness? Miracles and Guard-
game. Their coloring pens ian Angels? Maybe learning
held by their little fingers from children with cancer is
chart a story of hope and the greatest tribute we could
faith. Their dreams are not all pay to these brave little
like those of children their kids.
WRITE!
Do you have anything you’d like to say?
Share your thoughts with the entire campus.
Tribune’s opinion page is designed to provide
you with a free forum where you can publish
your ideas and be creative.
Send your articles to
TribuneLAU@gmail.com
 April 1, 2011
OFF CAMPUS
“The People Want to Overthrow the Regime”
By Eleena Korban
LAU Tribune staff
“For sectarianism, exploita-
tion, favoritism and corrup-
tion… a revolution!” protest-
ers chanted.
For four consecutive Sun-
days, the secular citizens of
Lebanon marched through
the streets of Lebanon, de-
manding the overthrow of
Lebanon’s confessional re-
gime.
Assad Thebian, a social me-
dia consultant, nicely sums
up the movement’s demands.
“We want to get rid of the
mentality that judges peo-
ple based on their sectarian
identity,” he said. “Instead of
voting for a leader because of
his sect, we should judge him
on his leadership skills and
state-centric thinking.”
The first march took place
from Mar Mikhael to Adlieh
and comprised around 3,000
participants walking under
the rain. The second march
gained some momentum with
10,000 participants march-
ing from Dora to Lebanon’s
Electric Company. The third
march gathered a whopping
30,000 participants, who
walked from Sassine Square
to the Ministry of Interior Af-
fairs (MIA). The most recent
march began in Amchit and
ended in JbeiI with less than
2,000 participants.
“These marches act as a form
of recruitment at this point,”
Street of the Week: Manara, the Street that Never Dies
Reem Swaidan
LAU Tribune staff
The sun is rising. The Medi-
terranean Sea begins to glit-
ter, giving the skies and the
sun just the right colors of na-
ture to complement one an-
other. Men and women from
all ages enjoy their morn-
ing sports. Some walk, some
jog, some skate and some just
watch the few minutes of bliss
while they sip on their hot cof-
fee.
“It’s my second home, I’ve
been walking here every
morning for 20 years, every-
Bassem El Chit, a passionate
participant, said.
Mohammad Kazak, a partic-
ipant from LAU, thinks that
the reason numbers deplet-
ed in the last march is be-
cause there is too much time
between the marches. “When
there is a week between each
demonstration, arguments
happen, things interfere,
that’s what the sit ins are
for, to make it more of a daily
thing,” Kazak explained.
Last month, sit-in tents were
set up in Sidon, Tyre, Aley
and in front of the MIA on
Sanayeh. Shortly after the
tents, a sit-in was set up in
Riyad Solh square in Down-
town, Beirut.
“My mother used to say; if you
throw a handful of dough on
the wall, it may not stick, but
it will definitely leave a mark
and that is what we are try-
one that comes at this time
know each other. We’re like
a family,” Ibrahim Hijazi, a
58-year-old business man
said while walking.
Hijazi discussed the dras-
tic changes he experienced
on this one street in the past
20 years. “Other than the ap-
pearance, it used to attract
the older generation but now
you see all kinds of ages,” Hi-
jazi explained.
The “Manara” or “Corniche”
in the morning hours is a
Tribune
Photo by: Eleena Korban
ing to do,” Kamal Behlok, an
illustrator taking a shift at
the Sanayeh tent, explained.
“We might not overthrow the
regime, but we might get a
civil law for example.”
Scholar Ussama Makdisi ex-
plains that sectarianism in
Lebanon was literally manu-
factured during the mid 19th
century, when the Ottoman
Empire and colonial Europe-
an forces deliberately fueled
religious strife in an attempt
to impose their imperial and
colonial visions of modernity.
Sectarianism was institu-
tionalized in 1943 when inde-
pendence leaders introduced
the National Pact, an un-
written treaty that distribut-
ed the country’s positions of
power among major sects.
A major reason driving the
secular youth is the lack of
options youth have.
whole different world. Away
from all the conflicts that
Lebanon faces, around 500
people fleet the street.
Manara Street has become a
mixture of elitist luxury and
down-to-earth democracy.
On one side are the extrava-
gant apartments only the for-
tunate can afford. On the oth-
er is the sidewalk filled with
people from all classes freely
enjoying the outdoors.
The Manara is the western-
most district of Beirut. Ras
“There is no place for us ec-
onomically, socially, pro-
fessionally, we have had
enough,” El Chit exclaimed.
Kazak also confirmed the
widespread frustration.
“With this system, I need a
‘wasta’ to do anything, I am
graduating soon and I can’t
find work unless it is offered
by someone from the same
sect as me.”
Lebanon is notorious for the
corruption inflicting govern-
mental offices and the private
sector. “Corruption in Leba-
non exists in all its forms in-
cluding bribery, nepotism,
favoritism, patronage, em-
bezzlement, kick-backs, and
vote-buying,” the Lebanese
Transparency Association’s
website says..
Facing the call for secural-
ism, a common concern
among Christian electorates
is the fear of being wiped out
by the Muslim majority.
Thebian replies. “The Chris-
tian leaders they elect to pre-
serve their voice are not rep-
resenting them, it’s a fake
representation,” he said. “If
you think about it they have
no ground influence, with a
secular system, leaders will
be chosen for their qualities
and the fulfillment of their
promises, so no one will get
left out.”
Religious Muslim leaders
Beirut literally translates to
“the head of Beirut” due to
its location on the tip of pen-
insula. The Corniche stretch-
es approximately five kilo-
meters around the entire
Central Beirut perimeter.
Each corner of this street
has a history. Some trees are
pockmarked with bullet holes
from the Lebanese civil war.
“I come here to play and
watch the sea,” Jawad Ab-
boud, a 9-year-old child, said.
“I love it, we come every Sun-
11
also oppose the movement
because they assume that
secularization will margin-
alize shariaa law and encour-
age civil marriage.
Mahmoud Kaaki, a student
at the Beirut Arab Univer-
sity, offered another objec-
tion. “These movements need
more awareness,” he said.
“Most people don’t even real-
ize they are going on.”
The movement’s partici-
pants admit there is a long
road ahead. Each has his or
her own suggestions. Ka-
zak believes demonstra-
tions should take place on
weekdays whereas Thebian
thinks the movement’s de-
mands should be organized
and priorities set. El Chit,
on the other hand, finds that
what the protesters need to
develop a political point and
analysis.
Nadim Haidar, a student at
the American University of
Beirut, explains why Leb-
anon’s revolution is differ-
ent from the rest of the Arab
world.
“There is no dictator enemy,”
he said. We are trying to get
rid of, sectarianism, which is
a mentality, an ideology that
cannot easily be changed. It
requires slow cultural ed-
ucation and should not get
caught up with the Arab
world revolutions.”
day.”
Abboud’s parents explained
that the Corniche presented
an affordable outlet for their
children.
Around 1,000 people fleet
Manara Street on a Sunday
afternoon. “I run here ev-
ery day,” Zeina Dakroub, a
24-year-old professional run-
ner, said. “The atmosphere
is beautiful, especially in the
morning.It clears the mind
and creates a healthy life-
style.”
 April 1, 2011
OFF CAMPUS
Piracy Destroys
Lea Guisti
LAU Tribune staff
On a lazy Sunday afternoon,
Lyn Jisr, a hospitality man-
agement student at LAU,
watched her favorite episode
of Gossip Girl on a pirated
DVD. When done, Jisr picked
up the phone and called her
favorite DVD shop, located
next to her apartment. She
wanted to know what hap-
pens in the following episode.
An employee took her order
and delivered the DVD to her
house. He is fast, efficient
and sells good copies.
“I always buy pirated DVDs
because they come out real-
ly early and they are cheap-
er,” Jisr said. Quality wise,
an original DVD would
be better. But DVD shops
found a way to the top of the
scale. “Sometimes the pirat-
ed DVD’s are of good quality
and you can’t see the differ-
ence,” Jisr said.
Sales of pirated DVDs have
changed people’s film view-
ing habits. Why pay double
for a movie when you can find
it for much cheaper with the
same options and quality?
Prices of pirated DVDs vary
between 1,500 and 5,000
Lebanese pounds. Buying a
DVD at Virgin Megastore,
one is likely to pay between
25 and 40 dollars per DVD.
But the major factor isn’t the
price for Anwar Jarmakani,
21 years old. “The real prob-
lem is that the good movies
take three to four months to
come out on DVD,” he said.
People have become impa-
tient. The first movies they
ask about at a pirated DVD
shop are the ones still show-
ing in theatres. “The prob-
lem with original movies is
that they take at least two
months to come out,” Jisr
said. “While copies are more
up to date and faster.”
Good copies are sometimes
hard to find. “I wouldn’t buy
the copy if the quality is hor-
rible,” Jisr said. “I’d rather
watch it in a better quality.”
And yet, the difference be-
tween a pirated and an orig-
inal DVD is sometimes bare-
ly noticeable. When asked
if he still buys original mov-
ies, Jarmakani replied “rare-
ly.” When he buys an original
DVD, he explained, it is like-
ly to be a classic or a block-
buster.
Ghada Alieh, 49 years old,
agrees with Jarmakani. “It’s
much cheaper and most of
the copies are of good quali-
ty,” Alieh said.
And what does the legal de-
partment think of all this?
“You are in Lebanon, my
dear,” Alieh said, laughing.
In March 1999, the Lebanese
Parliament passed a new
copyright law prohibiting
the reproduction of software
“without permission from
the owner of the copyright-
ed computer program.” Shop
owners who are caught sell-
ing illegal CDs or DVDs pay a
penalty up to 50 million Leb-
anese pounds. Their compa-
nies are shut down for a lim-
ited time and they may go to
prison for up to three years.
Nonetheless, pirated DVDs
are openly displayed at the
shops that sell them. Mega-
base, a DVD shop on Kore-
item, rents and sells a va-
riety of movies. The rental
price amounts to 2,500 Leba-
nese pounds while the cost of
a pirated DVDs does not ex-
ceed 4,000 pounds. To rent
an original DVD, one must
pay 50,000 Lebanese pounds
to open an account. No such
thing is required for sales.
Mohamad Zehri, the own-
er of the shop, is clearly not
worried to be caught. “I want
Tribune
the police to come to my shop
and see the copies,” he said.
“They can’t and won’t do any-
thing. This is Lebanon.”
At Megabase, the sale of pi-
rated copies exceeds that of
originals.
Zehri gets a hold of his pirat-
ed DVDs through a third par-
ty who in turn gets the cop-
ies by downloading them
from the Internet or record-
ing them directly from tele-
vision.
Wael Makarem, a loyal cus-
tomer at Megabase, only
rents original DVDs. “Orig-
inal movies get little finan-
cial support,” Makarem said.
“I certainly don’t want to en-
courage the pirated DVDs.”
For Makarem, quality and
sound are of prime impor-
tance. “The people who
work in the DVD business
should not encourage pirated
DVDs,” he said.
According to Now Lebanon, a
global survey on piracy, per-
formed in 2009,Lebanon is-
ranked as the fifth most im-
portant trader of pirated
DVDs in the Middle East.
Outside, the issue is tak-
en more seriously. Anne Ba-
hous, a student at Parsons
University in New York, is
against piracy. “I prefer orig-
inal movies by far,” Bahous
said. “It’s also more respect-
ful to the people who worked
hard on making the movie.”
No regular DVD shops sell
pirated copies in the US and
those who do hide them well.
“They are very strict on the
matter,” Bahous said. “The
only way to buy copies in
New York City is to go to Chi-
na Town or online.”
When in the US, Bahous nev-
er buys pirated movies. And
yet, she seems to change in
Lebanon. “Here I’m not wor-
ried because I know that’s
how everyone does it there,”
she said. “It’s not my fault the
stores offer pirated DVDs.”
The massive business of pi-
rated DVDs in Lebanon rais-
es a serious threat to the
shops that supply original
Photo by: Lea Giusti
DVDs. Chadi Saad, the own-
er of Video Master, speaks
up, revealing that his sales
considerably dwindled.
According to the 1999 copy-
right law, the Lebanese
government has a duty to
protect the rights of copy-
right owners. Saad, howev-
er, charged that behind ev-
ery shop stands a prominent
supporter. “The police might
shut a shop that sells copies,
but won’t be able to do so un-
til they know who owns the
business,” he said. many people predict possible
When asked if the prices of
original DVDs would de-
crease facing the competi-
tion, Saad explained that it
would be impossible because
of the costs involved in ac-
quiring them. “If you buy di-
rectly from the supplier, the
DVD isn’t expensive,” he
said. “If all suppliers would
open their own shops, things
would go differently.”
12
April Fools
Zahi Sahli
LAU Tribune contributor
April marks April Fools’ Day,
a universal holiday that tol-
erates foolish pranks, hoax-
es and practical jokes. Also
referred to as All Fools’ Day,
the public holiday is celebrat-
ed among friends and in the
media.
April Fools’ Day theory of
origin remains unclear but
the most popular hypothesis
dates back to the French cal-
endar reform of the sixteenth
century.
In 1564, France altered its
calendar, moving the end
of the year from the end of
March to January 1. It is
said that those who failed to
keep up with the change and
stubbornly clung to the old
system were ridiculed and
“fooled.”
Pranksters would stick pa-
per fish to the backs of the
“fools” and the victims of
these pranks were referred
to as “Poissons d’Avril,” the
French term for April Fools.
That is how the tradition was
born in accordance to the
most well-known theory. And
this is not another prank!
Today, April Fools is an in-
ternational holiday and in
Lebanon, people have for-
ever enjoyed the tradition of
making pranks and practical
jokes on April 1.
For students like Sarya Sar-
kis, who is in her final aca-
demic year at Saints-Coeurs
Sioufi, April Fools’ Day is
an occasion to enjoy having
space for unusual fun.
“Foolishness, childishness
and pranks are tolerated. It’s
not like April Fools is just any
other day,” Sarkis exclaimed.
But the trend of pranks is
not welcome by everyone, as
dire outcomes for the targets
of their practical jokes.
Mohammad El Khatib, 18,
believes that certain jokes
can be too much to handle on
April 1, and therefore he pre-
fers not to shock the victims
of his pranks.
“Some people can really get
shocked,” El Khatib said. “I
wouldn’t want to traumatize
them.”