All Around
Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar student newspaper since 2004
May 20, 2007
Vol. 4 Issue 5
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
1
5
3
2
8
4
Making a difference through Alternative Spring Break
By Sahrr Malik & Mehrunissa Anis
Contributing Writers
Our trip began late on a Friday
night. We all sat in front of Costa Coffee at Doha International Airport filled
with fear and anticipation for what
was to come on our first Alternative
Spring Break. The fear began after an
unnamed individual showed up half
an hour late.
However, after multiple checkin and visa issues, we were all able
to get through and take our tedious
plane ride from Doha to Amsterdam to
Detroit and on to our final destination:
Pittsburgh.
We were all exhausted by
the time we arrived. When we finally
reached the hotel, we were told we had
half an hour to get to our first event.
While we complained at the
time constraint, the first event, Greek
Sing, was amazing. The energy of all
the students who surrounded us gave
us goose bumps.
Every crack and wall in the
building shook with energy as the Carnegie Mellon sororities and fraternities
performed musicals in a very tight 13
minutes. Some were hilarious, while
others were a work of art. We did not
realize how tired we were until we got
on the bus, and one by one passed out.
The next day in Pittsburgh
started a bit too early for some of us,
but little did we know what was in
store. Our driver, Jim, picked us up
to take us to a service at Mt. Ararat
Baptist Church. It was way more exciting than we expected it to be. We were
both thinking to ourselves, “It’s just
like the movie Sister Act.”
The atmosphere was so welcoming, everyone seemed so happy,
the voices so beautiful and the memory
of it, priceless. While that event alone
would have kept us happy all day, the
day hadn’t ended just yet.
We were to see the city via Molly Trolleys’ city tour. We were taught
some of Pittsburgh’s history; what it
used to be and what it had become.
After the tour, we arrived at the Pitts-
Students from Carnegie Mellon Qatar enjoyed a week in Pittsburgh, PA as part of Alternative Spring Break. Below, painting the basement of a pizza shop with waterproof
paint got a bit messy for some..
burgh History Center.
There were five levels each consisting of something that interested at
least one of us. We personally loved the
fact that they had games on each floor.
Before leaving we made a quick stop
at the history center’s store, where a
couple of us attempted to learn Pittsburghese and completely butchered
it.
On Monday we were finally able to
see our main campus. It was a sight to
see. So much history is held in the old
buildings, the gorgeous architecture
and the widespread lawns, not to mention the “most widely painted object in
the world:” the fence.
Before leaving the campus that
day, we did what every Carnegie Mellon Qatar student does when they go
to the Pittsburgh campus: raid the entire bookstore.
After a few days of adjusting to the
Pittsburgh life, we began our real goal
for this trip: community service. We
were to do our community service in
the small town of Carnegie, Pennsylvania.
We were to work on projects
started by the Seventh Day Adventist Church. Around three years ago
the town of Carnegie was devastated
by Hurricane Ivan. A large number of
buildings and homes were completely
destroyed.
This event caused Carnegie to
suffer a massive economic loss from
which they are still trying to recover.
The Seventh Day Adventist Church
still saw hope in this little town and
has been trying to rebuild it ever since.
Andrew Clark, our liaison with the
church, let us know that our first project would be right up our alley.
We were to devise a business
plan for the Internet café they wanted
to open on Main Street. The catch was,
the plan had to encompass numerous pieces of computer equipment for
a low budget of $10,000. Needless to
say, many nights were spent perusing
Web sites to satisfy the amount and
capabilities quota given to us.
Continued on page 2
May 20, 2007
All Around
Page 3
Science and technology park will help shape Qatar’s future
Hanadie Yousef
World Events Editor
With the country booming in economic investment and growth based in natural gas and oil
reserves, an opportunity has arisen to industrialize
Qatar
The economy is growing rapidly, with investment across the economy forecast to exceed $100
billion in the next six years,.
With the influx of capital investment, the Qatar
Foundation for Education, Science and Community
Development is seeking to metamorphose Qatar into
a knowledge-based economy. The foundation has
devised a plan to lay the groundwork for economic
transformation.
Qatar Foundation is investing in the Qatar
Science and Technology Park, which is a multi-billion dollar project. The QSTP project will extend over
several decades and will be a cushion of support for
multi-national, technology-based companies and
start-up enterprises to come in.
“QSTP will continue to grow for decades - as
long as Qatar’s knowledge economy grows. We are
building on 35 hectares of land now but have dedicated around 120 for the long term,” said Benjamin
Figgis, Marketing Manager of QSTP.
Why should this be of concern to students
in Education City? The park is being built right at
our doorstep. Job positions for skilled and talented degree-holders will increase as more technology companies are brought in. The graduates of the
American colleges in Education City will have the
background knowledge and skills these companies
are looking http://www.qstp.org.qa/output/page7.
asp for.
Or, if a student is ambitious enough he or
she could think about starting a new technologybased company in Education City.
“As undergraduates they can approach our
companies for summer internships and industrybased research projects. As graduates the companies at QSTP will have some challenging, highly-rewarding jobs to offer,” said Figgis.
“And for the more ambitious graduates, we
can help them learn how to be entrepreneurs and
start their own technology companies.”
The science and technology park will be designed to provide office and laboratory space, support services, programs to accelerate the commercialization process and economic assistance, which
is the waking reality of any entrepreneur’s dreams.
QSTP will attract a broad
range of technology companies,
adding to the diversity of the
economy.
“The six areas we focus
on are gas & petrochemicals,
aircraft operations, IT and telecoms, the environment, water
technologies and health care.
But companies in other areas
are also welcome, provided they are developing and
commercializing technology,” said Figgis.
The development and application of worldleading technologies in an academic environment
that fosters knowledge acquisition and supplies a
talented workforce will add to the value of the Qatar Industry. A new community for applied research
will be in full swing by the opening of the technology
park.
Companies from all over the world are being attracted to QSTP. These include EADS, ExxonMobil,
Gartner Lee, GE, iHorizons, Institut de Soudure, Microsoft, Rolls-Royce, Q-CERT, Shell and Total. And
the number is growing.
“We are aiming that by
2011 there will be 50 companies at QSTP employing
1000 people, and that many
of those staff would be science, engineering and business graduates from the
universities at Education
City. We also expect to see
a number of start-up technology companies launched
and active in our business
incubator,” said Figgis.
If you are hoping for a great internship next
year or job in the future, then Education City’s Qatar Science & Technology Park may be your perfect
choice. We open at the end of 2007 and encourage
students to consider the companies at QSTP for internships, research projects and jobs,” said Figgis.
Sophomore business administration student Marium Chandna says goodbye
By: Marium Chandna
Staff Writer
“The road of life twists and turns and no
two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons
come from the journey, not the destination.”
- Don Williams Jr., American novelist and poet
As I bid farewell to the community of Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, the above quote best
describes the message I wish to convey.
I still remember the very first article that
I wrote for the All Around. It was an account of a
freshman’s experience of the Orientation Program
two years ago. As I expressed in my first article, I
came to Carnegie Mellon with my eyes full of dreams
and aspirations.
Sharing them with my fellow peers, professors and all my well-wishers at Carnegie Mellon Qatar, my dreams became more beautiful and
much stronger. Though as of today I have decided
to change my path, the dreams I beheld have not
changed.
They have been further nurtured by everyone
who has supported me including my family, friends
and professors at Carnegie Mellon, and the scattered
dreams have been transformed into one vision: A vision of accomplishment, a vision of sheer success.
Carnegie Mellon, on the whole, has truly been
a wonderful and enriching experience. No matter
Miriam Chandna bids farewell to Carnegie Mellon Qatar to
study at Georgetown University.
where destiny leads me, I hope to take forward with
me all the skills and qualities that this institution
has instilled in me and apply them adequately to
benefit myself and everyone around me at all times.
While I share something in common with every individual on campus from the staff and faculty
to the students and TAs and will really miss each
one of them in their own special way, there are a few
remarkable people I would like to thank for making
more than just a significant difference in my life.
I sincerely appreciate and pay gratitude to
my ever-supportive parents and my brother, Ysa.
Also to Professor Marion Oliver, John Robertson,
Amal Al-Malki, Dr. Salam Mir, Professor Patrick McGinnis, Professor Ben Reilly, Gloria Khoury, Khadra
Dualeh, Cleah Schlueter, ‘Funke Ilori and Isabelle
Eula.
And to my peers Noor Al-Athirah, Noor AlJassim, Maha Mahmoud, Basheera Banu, Dana
Hadan, Fatema Farghaly, Qabas Al-Ward, Maha
Khulaifi, Asma Al-Nasser, Amna Al-Thani, Noor AlMaadeed, Jinanne Tabra, Sahrr Malik, Mohammed
Abu-Zeinab, Omar Khan, Basit Iqbal and late Fahad
Al-Jefairi.
Thank you all for everything you have given
me, shared with me and taken from me in order to
make me a better student and a better individual.
I will always remember each one of you and I
hope that I will be able to repay your love, care and
kindness with the best I can.
All Around
Page 2
May 20, 2007
Alternative Spring Break was a week to remember
Continued from page 1
We did reach our goal and were able
to provide Clark with a business plan
that would work, and hopefully work
well. Later on that day, we were able to
attend Riverdance, a theatrical show
held in Heinz Hall.
The show consisted of Irish
step dancing and many other dancing
talents. We left Heinz Hall that day utterly amazed that people could bend
and twist that way. Of course one of
the members of our group became so
inspired that they even took up opera
singing for a day.
Our second day of community
service in Carnegie was one of the most
entertaining, yet most tiring. Our mission for the day was to clean up and
repaint the basement of a local pizza
shop with water-sealant paint that
would prevent damage if another flood
hit Carnegie.
The pizza shop owners were a
Turkish family who opened their doors
Getting
their hands
dirty
was just
one part
of Alternative Spring
Break.
just two days before the flood hit.
Shadi, the owner, told us his story and
truly moved us. The devastation and
loss he experienced was evident in his
eyes as he spoke of the tragic event.
He was so kind and grateful to us. It
was inspiring to see that our service
that day would make such an impact
on someone.
His tragic story inspired us to
make sure we did the best we could.
First, we spent hours taking the mold
off the walls by scraping and sweeping the dust out of the room. Next
came the fun part. We had to paint
the whole room. It got messy, but was
nonetheless fun. I remember some of
us had more paint on ourselves than
the walls.
After finishing up, we ran to
our hotel to clean up and go to dinner with some alumni. It was quite a
sight as most of us were still ridden
with paint.
Our last day in Pittsburgh was
spent at the Andrew Carnegie Free Library. This was pure manual labor.
We helped to clear rubble that had
piled up in the adjoining theater. I was
told we cleared up to 30 years of debris
that day.
Overall, the Alternative Spring
Break was a trip I am sure none of us
will ever forget. We became closer as a
group and were able to leave Pennsylvania knowing that we had made a difference that week. We gave some hope
for a better future, some peace of mind
and some a new friend.
Are you spending the summer at Carnegie Mellon Qatar?
Wesam Said
Features Editor
Carnegie Mellon University
in Qatar is offering its first summer
classes this year. The summer is a
great time for students to catch up on
their classes or get ahead.
As junior students are becoming seniors next year, this is a time
when they start to think of how many
credits they have left, and how they
will divide their time as they approach
graduation.
John Robertson, Assistant
Dean for Academic Affairs and business administration advisor, explains
how the school went about organizing this year’s summer program. “The
school is offering six classes,” he says.
“This is the first time that we offer
summer courses, and we plan on doing it every summer.”
Robertson also explains that
the goal for this summer is for the
school to offer classes for some students to be able to catch up, and for
other students to have the opportunity
to get ahead.
“Summer classes are also a
chance to get different faculty here,”
he says. This provides an opportunity
to have more interaction with the Pittsburgh campus through its faculty.
“For this summer, we have a
broad mix of classes; a couple of CS &
BA elective courses and general education courses. We are also offering a
math trailer class; a prerequisite for a
class that is offered in the fall.”
“Almost all CS juniors are taking summer classes here at Carnegie
Mellon Qatar,” says Nora Al Moughany
(CS 2008).
“A lot of us are taking Organizational Behavior and Introductions
to Modern Chemistry because it fills a
science requirement.”
Many of the students are excited to now have the option of taking
summer classes here at campus as it
may be hard to leave Qatar for varying
reasons.
“This is really good. We’ve always wanted courses here during the
summer. It’s easier because we just
stay here. We’d catch up with what
we’ve missed, & we relax more, not as
much pressure as when we have to
leave home,” says Mohamad Abou Zeinab (Tepper 2009)
However, some students feel
that the classes do not have that big of
an affect. Some students say that they
do not need to take classes as some
of those classes are repeated again, or
they have already taken them.
“We need more fun and electives classes that we can kick start the
summer with.,” says Anas Abu Qamar
(Tepper 2009)
The course fees for the summer program fall outside of the normal
system in which students are financed
or are provided with scholarships.
Students who take summer courses
will have to pay full tuition. Students,
however, are not required to take more
than one class.
At this point the school will
have only one six-week summer session. Classes run from May 22nd July 1st. Each class will run for one
and a half hours, five days a week.
Registration for summer classes has already begun. Space will be
first-come, first-serve.
John Robertson can help you
with questions that you have. You can
e-mail him at jgr@qatar.cmu.edu.
Tips and tricks for achieving perfect ocean-looking eyes
Steps to getting ocean-like eyes:
1. Apply eye concealer lightly around your
eyes. Do not be excessive in applying the concealer
and make sure you cover black circles under your
eyes. Also, apply concealer to any pimples or spots
in your face in order to cover them. Lancôme -Palette Mix is my personal favorite; it consists of three
shades of brown that can be applied depending on
your skin tone.
2. Use a makeup sponge to distribute foundation compact powder on your face. Channel-Double Perfection Compact is highly recommended since
it is light on the skin and gives a natural look.
3. On your eyelids, gently apply Mac’s Swimming eye shadow which is a greenish color with soft
sparkles.
Blend Mac’s Freshwater eye shadow with the
Swimming eye shadow on the outer tip of your eyes
to give an ocean-like color with a faded look.
Maha Obaidan
By Maha Obaidan
News Editor
Ocean looking eyes brighten your face, widen
your eyes and give a glamorous look that every woman would love to have. Applying ocean-like makeup
is best for night outings.
4. Apply Mac’s Hyacinth Blue eye kohl to outline the
lower lid of your eyes but be sure to apply the eyeliner on the outer skin layer so as to have it spread
evenly on the bottom eyelashes. Also do NOT draw
the line all the way to the inner tip of the eye.
5. Reuse the Freshwater eye brush to spread
blue eye shadow on the inner tip of your eye, and
then lightly pat the bottom kohl with the blue eye
shadow to have a faded effect.
6. Add white eye shadow on the tips of your
eye to create a wash out effect. I recommended using
Christian Dior’s white eye shadow.
7. Put some Mac – Nylon on the tip of your
finger and gently spread it under your eyebrow. This
will add a shine and make your eyebrows look longer
and darker.
8. Apply black mascara to both your upper and lower lashes. Make sure you get rid of any
eye shadow on your lashes. As you apply mascara
to your upper lashes, pull your hands upwards to
make sure your eyelashes curl. L’Oreal-Double Extension or Christian Dior- Show are both highly recommended.
9. Use The Body Shop’s Matte and Shimmer Square as a blusher. Apply the blusher on your
cheek bones and nose and the sides of the nose.
10. Apply some light-colored lip gloss to your
lips. Lancôme’s Peach gloss and Lancôme’s Marshmallows both give the perfect shine and also have
great flavors.
With a big smile and great confidence, you
can now leave your house looking and feeling like a
star… a star with ocean-like eyes.
You can visit http://www.maccosmetics.com
for all the different Mac eye makeup colors.
All Around
May 20, 2007
Page 5
Formula One Grand Prix 2007 Season
A temptation you can not resist
Noora Al Ansari
Business Editor
Formula One is the dream car of any driver
who appreciates speed and thrives for adventure.
Formula One has a great history and generations
have enjoyed watching this sport. Today, one of
the most well-known legacies of Formula One is its
Grand Prix race.
Personally, I have always had a passion for
sport cars but Formula One is another thing. It’s
not just a racing car, it’s a masterpiece
demonstrating what the human
mind is capable of. Needless to
say the Grand Prix race is one of
the events that I wait for and enjoy watching every year. I decided
to share my passion with All Around
readers. I hope you enjoy reading
and learning more about the Formula One Grand Prix race.
How did it start?
In the language of Formula
One there are two historical eras for
this race, the classic era of Grand Prix
racing and the modern era.
The classical era started as early
as 1901. The first Grand Prix race took
place in France and covered 700 miles at
the speed of 63 mph. The main problems
that faced Formula One drivers back then
were that Formula One cars were both
very heavy and very fast due to the tires
that were used. Christian Lauteschalnger’s
winning Mercedes shredded 10 tires in the
1908 French Grand Prix at Dieppe.
The modern era started at the beginning of the 1950s. Formula One cars have
changed rapidly ever since and so has the
Grand Prix race. Formula One lovers started seeing cars with faster engines, stronger exterior bodies and more technologically savvy interiors. In addition, many car manufacturers started producing
Formula One cars. Formula One drivers gained fame
and were looked upon as if they were super heroes.
When is it held?
The Grand Prix race, where drivers and car
manufacturers compete for the prestigious title of
Formula One Grand Prix World Champion, is held
annually as a series of races.
Where is it held?
This year the Grand Prix race will be held in
the following cities on the following dates:
Date
May 13
May 27
June 10
June 17
July 01
July 08
July 22
Aug 05
Aug 26
Sep 09
Sep 16
Sep 30
Oct 07
Oct 21
Track
Barcelona, Spain
Monte Carlo, Monaco
Montreal, Canada
Indianapolis, USA
Magni-Cours, France
Silverstone, Great Britain
Nurburgring, Germany
Hungaroring, Hungary
Istanbul, Turkey
Monza, Italy
Spa-Francotchamps, Belgium
Fuji Speedway, Japan
Shanghai, China
Interlagos, Brazil
What happens in each series?
Each series takes place over the weekend.
On Friday there are two practice sessions each 90
minutes long in which all teams practice their driving skills in front of thousands of Formula One fans.
The main purpose of these practice sessions is to
give each team the opportunity to experience driving
on particular racing tracks and make any adjust-
ments necessary to ensure the success of the team.
On Saturday one more practice session is
held, followed by two qualifying sessions because
of the knocking out system implemented in 2006.
Each qualifying session is 15 minutes long.
In the first qualifying session all 22 cars race
and the slowest 6 are knocked out. In the second
qualifying session the remaining 16 cars race for another fifteen minutes and the slowest 6 are knocked
out.
Sunday is the
big day because it’s the day when the
actual race is held. The race starts with a warm up
lap and after that all 10 qualified cars race for 15
minutes. The eight fastest cars receive the following
points 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 from fastest to slowest.
At the end of the season the driver with the
highest number of points is named the Formula One
Grand Prix world Champion for that year.
Who are the teams participating in the 2007
Grand Prix?
There are 11 teams and 22 drivers participating in this season: Ferrari: Felipe Massa & Kimi
Raikkonen; BMW Sauber: Robert Kubica & Nick
Heidfeld; Honda: Jenson Button & Rubens Barrichello; Williams: Alexander Wurz & Nico Rosberg;
Renault: Heikki Kovalainen & Giancarlo Fisichella;
Toyota: Jarno Trulli & Ralf Schumacher; Toros
Rosso: Scott Speed & Vitantonio Liuzzi; Spyker:
Christijan Albers & Adrian Sutil; McLaren: Lewis
Mamilton & Fernando Alonso; Red Bull: Mark Webber & David Coulthard; and Super and Aguri: Anthony Davidson & Takuma Sato.
What is happening so far in the 2007 season?
So far, two races out of the 17 series for this
season were held and the results were as follows:
The Melbourne, Australia race: First Place:
Went to Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen who finished
the 58 laps in 1 minute 25 seconds and 28.770
parts of the second. Second and Third place went
to McLaren drivers Fernando Alonso and Lewis
Hamilton, respectively. Both drivers finished the 58
laps.
The Sepang, Malaysia race:First and Second
place went to McLaren drivers Fernando Alonso and
Lewis Hamilton, respectively. Alonso finished all 56
laps in 1 minute 32 seconds and 14.93 parts of a
second. Third place went to Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen, who also finished all 56. The difference in
the timing between Raikkonen and Alonso was 18.3
seconds.
In general the competition is really heating up between McLaren and Ferrari. Fans are cheering and
keeping their fingers crossed for their favorite team
as the season unfolds.
The third series will be held at Bahrain International Circuit. In the light of this event the BIC
received the Center of Excellence award from the FIA
institution. It is important to mention that Bahrain
International
Circuit is the first Grand Prix venue
to receive this prestigious award, as
described by formula1.com
The award is given to circuit
facilities which exemplify the high
standards expected by the Institute in terms of technology and
the way it relates to best medical, marshalling and race control safety.
More about Bahrain International Circuit. The construction
of Bahrain International Circuit started in 2002 when the
government of the kingdom of
Bahrain signed a long-term
deal to host the Grand Prix
race. The total cost of the
project when completed in
2004 was estimated to be
around 150 million US dollars/ 56.2 million Bahraini
Dinars.
The 5.411 km circuit
is located in Sakhir, 30
km south-west of Manama, Bahrain’s capital. The circuit has 50,000
grandstand seats with excellent views and
100,000 standard seats. In addition, more than 500
journalists can cover the event from the venue’s purpose-built media center.
The BIC also has a wide range of facilities including premium lounges and conference rooms as
mentioned in the circuit official Web site www.bahraingp.com.bh
The capacity of the circuit to provide these
facilities is not limited to motorsport events. The fivestar catering and premium quality environment has
made the Circuit one of the most popular venues for
corporate functions and social occasions. Not only
that, but in fulfilling its role to bring positive benefits
to the community the Circuit hosts many key charitable and community events.
If any of you are a Formula One fan I would
say: keep cheering for your favorite team. For me it’s
Ferrari so I will end this article by a big GO Ferrari.
Citation: Information and pictures were
taken from: http://www.formula1.com and http://
www.bahraingp.com/bh.
Interesting Facts about Formula One:
•A formula One car can be driven at a
speed of up to 300km/h which is around 190
mph.
•Thanks to the aerodynamic techniques
used in a Formula One car at the speed of
160km/h the car can theoretically be driven
upside down on the roof of a tunnel.
•The circuits that host the Grand Prix
race are designed and built specially for this
purpose.
•Michael Schumacher has broken many
records in this sport: up until his retirement
in 2006 Schumacher won 91 Grand Prix victories, the highest in the history of the sport.
•Fernando Alonso, World Champion in
2005 and 2006 is the youngest world Champion to date. Currently Alonso is a member of
the McLaren team, but he was in the Renault
team when he won in both 2005 and 2006.
Page 4
All Around
May 20, 2007
STUDENT OPINION
The Virginia Tech Massacre - One of many great
losses, one of many violent acts in American history
By Marium Chandna
Staff Writer
As we all silently wipe away our tears in remembrance of the devastating Virginia Tech massacre victims, an almost suffocating air of sorrow
encompasses the world.
Wretched hearts of not only the families and
friends of the victims, but also the general public
who share no relation with them are filled with anger, revulsion and abhorrence towards the Asian
face that looks back at them in almost every newspaper, news channel and Web site they view.
Seung Hui Cho, the man who slaughtered 33
people including himself at the Virginia Tech campus, is perhaps the most detested person in the recent history of American crime.
Twenty-eight students and four professors
became the target of the ruthless, 23-year- old gunman on Monday, April 16. Pictures, accompanied
with profiles of the victims are widely spread across
the news media. Nothing can replace a life, though
I believe I speak for all of us here at Carnegie Mellon Qatar, when I say that our most hearty condolences are with the victims’ families and friends, and
that they will always be remembered in our prayers
regardless of the absence of acquaintance with the
deceased.
While the loss of 33 guiltless lives immensely
distresses the American community and the rest
of the world, bereavement of the mass execution of
almost 30, 000 men, women and children within a
short span of 2 years should have driven the entire
world into a state of acute depression.
While the Virginia Tech massacre claimed 33
lives in a day, the imposition of the Iraq War claimed
approximately 30,000 lives within just a month since
it began, making it roughly 1,000 casualties a day.
Since the commencement of the war in March
2003 through today, more than 600,000 Iraqis have
been butchered in this futile carnage and yet the
bloodbath has not come to a halt. I wonder if any
amongst us have come across even a 100 pictures or
profiles from the over 600,000 killed in possibly the
worst homicide in the Middle East.
Whereas the media labels Cho as a psychotic, coldblooded mass murderer, the instigators of the wars
and genocides around the world are tagged as
peace-makers, heroes and martyrs. The worth of a
human life is universal. The dreams and aspirations
of parents are universal. The love and companionship of siblings and friends is universal. The grief
and wrenching of the heart upon losing a loved one
is universal.
Similarly, the wrath deserved for blindly
butchering innocent human beings and giving rise
to suffering decades of unseen casualties is also universal.
Whether it is the Virginia Tech massacre, the
Iraq War or the slaying of human lives as a part of
any mass destruction, it is a psychotic, repulsive
and vicious act. The hands of the committers of such
vindictive violence are smeared with the same innocent blood and their faces are marred with equivalent contempt of the ones who have lost regardless
of who and where they are.
As my browser displays the updated news
page in front of my eyes, three new headlines in a
barely-readable, light-blue font appear on the left
hand corner margin of the page: 10 Iraqis killed by
US soldiers, A total of 24 men, women and children
were killed at Haditha by US marines, Palestinian
militants shot dead.
I have not even finished reading the first line,
when my eyes divert towards the large, bold black
font in the center of the page, announcing : WIFE
MOURNS OVER KILLED HOSTAGE AT NASA BASE,
while the bottom half of the page reads in similar
footage : TRAGEDY AT VIRGINIA TECH – A NATION
MOURNS. I read on…
Photo sources: http://abclocal.go.com, http://
www.worldproutassembly.org and http://questionitnow.com
RasGas inaugurates Train 5, making Qatar a top LNG producer
Noora Al Ansari
Business Editor
HH Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, the
Emir of the State of Qatar, officially inaugurated
RasGas’ Train 5 at an elaborate ceremony on March
20.
The inauguration ceremony took place in the
royal tent put up next to the company’s administration building in Ras Laffan industrial city. The
theme of the ceremony was the four leaf clover.
The organizers of this very prestigious ceremony created an extraordinary atmosphere in the
royal tent. The entrance of the tent looked like a
living garden. All Qatari employees and top management at RasGas were invited to this ceremony
in addition to key players in the Qatari economy,
representatives of educational institutions and the
media.
It is important to mention that RasGas Liquid
Natural Gas Train 5 has a production capacity of 4.7
Mta per yea, which is million tonnes. LNG, which is
liquid natural gas, from Train 5 will mostly be exported to customers in Europe. The construction
of Train 5 took 28 months, which is a world record
with respect to LNG trains construction.
With Train 5, Qatar’s LNG production capacity
rose to approximately 30.7 Mta per annum, firmly
establishing Qatar at the top of the list of global LNG
producers.
When asked about the secret of the success
of the LNG industry HE Yousef H Kamal, Finance
Minister, Acting Minister of Economy and Commerce
and Chairman RasGas Company Limited, said “Our
success in the LNG industry is due to our greatest
asset, our employees, both national and expatriate.
RasGas people consistently deliver first-class performance, work in innovative manner, focus consistently on safety and set the standards for teamwork
in one of our fastest growing sectors.”
Having had the opportunity to work for RasGas during the summer of 2006 I have to say that
this is indeed the case. RasGas highly appreciates
its employees and treats every single one of them as
a professional.
May 20, 2007
All Around
Page 7
A final word from the Editor-in-chief
Each semester has been a special semester since All Around’s establishment. This semester
marked the most eventful of all.
All Around’s major transformation to a newspaper took place this semester, and so did the first
event, which was a great success. I learned a lot by
being the Editor-in-chief and founder of All Around.
I think of the All Around as a business as
much as a newspaper. It is where management skills
come into play to make sure work is done time and
everyone is satisfied. It’s also where financial skills
are used to keep track of budget limitations, marketing needed to gain more readers and an understanding of production to ensure other logistics are met
properly.
More importantly, I learned how to organize
my time such that I study hard to keep my academic
standard, and work on continually developing and
promoting All Around.
Passing over the All Around to a new manager
is not easy given how much I care for the newspaper. However, seeing All Around flourish without me
working on it will guarantee its prosperous future.
I am very proud of my team for al their hard
work and time commitment. Establishing and maintaining All Around proves that Carnegie Mellon University students can do more than being academically smart. This is not a goodbye, but a note saying
“I will be watching and reading All Around always.”
As we grow older and get caught up by life’s
everyday cycle, many stages of
our lives starts to fade away and
we tend to lose so many things
that we have always valued.
It may be something as
significant as relationships or
something simple as the activities that you have always loved
doing like a morning walk in the
fresh air while enjoying the intense beauty of nature. Sometimes life slaps us in our face so
hard that eventually our hearts
and minds become so numb
and we don’t feel life’s pleasures
anymore. But amongst all the
things that we lose in this journey, the greatest loss would be
losing the willingness to live life
to the very last minute.
Mitch Albom, an Emmy
award-winning broadcaster and
a bestselling author of Five People You Meet in Heaven, presents
in his other best seller Tuesdays With Morrie a magnificent
chronicle of his visits to his
old and dying professor Morrie Schwartz. On these visits
Albom learns the greatest life
lessons, most important of
which is the art of living to
die.
Mitch Albom, like any
ambitious young man, got
used to so much success in
his sports broadcasting career, which eventually took
him away from his wife, his
roles as a husband and his
old professor Morrie.
He got so caught up
by his career that nothing else
in his life mattered anymore.
Albom had been a friend to
Morrie in his college years at
Brandies. Morrie didn’t just
give him classes, but also
planned his future with him.
Albom moved on in life after he
graduated and left that stage
of his life behind. He kicks off
the career world and becomes
one of the richest broadcasters in the field.
One night, after a long and tiring day at work,
Albom sits in front of the TV, changing channels, and
all of a sudden, there is his old professor on Nightline, telling Ted Koppel the story of his anguish with
Editor-in-Chief
Noor Al-Athirah
Business Manager
Noor AL-Jassim
Designer
Fatima Al-Rumaihi
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom: a book review
By Dana Hadan
News Editor
All Around
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
After knowing his old professor and friend is
dying and that the time in which he would leave the
world is imminent, Albom decides to visit him to catch
up with what he can get
from Morrie’s last days.
The one visit
turns into regular meetings between the two on
Tuesdays, as they used to
do in college. Those visits
radically changed Albom’s
life and he learned a lifechanging lesson from a
man who is departing the
world. As Morrie’s body
began to deteriorate more
and more, he glowed with
happiness every time he
saw Albom coming.
It’s Morrie’s time of giving, in which he gives his
loyal student his experiences in life and talks to
him about a new concept
every Tuesday. The core
of the lessons is how to
live a life that prepares
us for the last day of it,
and that when we look
back at every stage of it,
we see nothing that we
regret.
As Morrie puts it “When
you learn how to die, you
learn how to live”.
The idea of Tuesdays
with Morrie is very similar to that in Kahlil Gibran’s masterpiece The
Prophet. In The Prophet,
Jesus preaches his great
philosophies about life to
the people of Orphalese,
just as Morrie preaches
the lessons he learned
throughout his life to Albom.
One could wonder if Albom used The Prophet as
his inspiration to write
Tuesdays with Morrie
because the similarity
in which the two books
are developed is just too
much to be neglected.
Although drawing conclusions regarding this matter is problematic, one
fact imposes itself on all the readers of this superb
book - although reading the book doesn’t need more
than a week, but its everlasting impact will make
them view life differently.
Copy Editors
Amna Al Thani
Mona Maher
News Editors
Dana Hadan
Maha Obaidan
Features Editors
Lina El Menshawy
Wesam Said
Business Editor
Noora AlAnsari
Politics/World Events Editors
Walid Khwaja
Hanadie Yousef
Opinion Editor
Rooda Al Neama
Entertainment Editor
Aysha Siddique
Staff Writer
Marium Chandna
Web Editors
Yasser Khan
Shakir Hussein
Publishing Coordinators
Abdullah Al Othman
Iyed Jouini
All Around is a bimonthly
student newspaper.
It is Carnegie Mellon
University in Qatar’s
budding student body voice.
The first issue was published on the
28th of September 2004.
A team of four students were
successful in publishing
8 issues in the first year
along with the help of
Kristin Gilmore as their advisor.
You may forward any contributions,
enquiries, questions, or suggestions
to our official e-mail address
all-around@qatar.cmu.edu
All Around
Page 6
May 20, 2007
WCMC: the home we didn’t choose but learned to love
By Rooda Al Neama
Opinion Editor
Farewell to the Cornell building that, to
many of us, has been a home for three years. The
first freshman class in 2004 did not know that they
would be spending most of their days in
the building. The computer cluster became a bedroom for some individuals,
namely Nasser Rowhani (CS 2009), who
could be seen sleeping on two chairs
stuck together. When things got stressful
the chairs were rolled out into the corridor for a quick chair race.
The cluster holds many memories including meeting Jinanne Tabra (Tepper
2008) for the first time after she decided
she wanted to study at Carnegie Mellon,
having a creative photo shoot with Mohammed Al Mahmeed (Tepper 2010) using the projector, and Yasmine Abdulrahmen (Tepper 2008) and Nora Subai (CS
2008) wrestling at the back row.
The student lounges were also fully
utilized as bedrooms, dining rooms and
living rooms. The many deliveries of
Hardees, KFC, Pizza Hut, Turkey Central
and the list goes on. New lounge spaces were created as the community grew.
The downstairs lounge, also known as
the lounge behind the elevator, became
known as the spot to find the many computer science girls who we never see.
You could always find the business
administration and computer science
girls chilling out in between classes and
actually conversing for the few moments
they could. The topic that was most talked about was marriage.
Moving along to the small computer
cluster, you would find your computer
science guys sitting staring at the screen,
the guys that you don’t see wandering around, the
guys you need when you have a programming problem.
Although I do have some memories on the
balcony, I think it will be most missed by the smoking students who spent most of their breaks out
there.
Lecture Hall 1, also known as Professor Oliver’s territory, where many quizzes were passed and, well, not
passed. The lecture hall was also the home of movie
nights back in our freshman year, a memory Anum
Bashir (Tepper 2009) is most fond of for the popcorn, the blankets and the laughter and screams.
The classes will also be part of the unforgettable experience at the building. A156 will always be
remembered for that first business communications
presentation you had, trying to fit all your papers on
the desk for your exam and somehow trying to convince the professor to keep the lights closed because
they were always so bright.
Many of the places in the building also
marked the territory of many of the different groups
at the university. The sophomores had the cafeteria
lounge (when it existed) and the freshman had the
study room most of the time. Foosball lovers were
always in the game room and Omar Alouba (Tepper
2009) was setting camp anywhere he could find an
electrical socket, even in the corridors.
As we say goodbye to the place we have called
‘home,’ it is not where you are that counts, but the
people that you are with that create the memories.
LAS here we come, you better be ready for us.
What will students miss about WCMC?
Sara Al Asmakh (Tepper 2009) I can never forget when our football team
won the bet where they lost only by 3 goals against Texas. As a result they
won the bet and threw pie on Mir, Oliver and Mona. I still remember that
spot, it was outside near the main gate. This happened during fall 2005.
I will always remember the spot where we had the robotics competition in
spring 2006.
Maha Obaidan (Tepper 2008) I will always remember stuffing our face with pizza on late nights doing
Java then rolling down the corridors on the chairs.
Fatima Al Rumaihi (Tepper 2009) I am sure we will
all remember the two scary cars that never moved
from the parking lot.
Lina El Menshawy (Tepper 2008) I remember
during our freshman year Yasmine, Wesam
and I were sitting in class and losing hope in
life when we realized how hard this is going to
be!
Wesam Said (Tepper 2008) I think I will miss the elevators,
because I had a special dance for one of the elevators, so if
there are no elevators in the new building we are all in for
serious trouble. I will also always remember the bonding line,
which is an actual line on the floor that Mona, Rooda and I
used to stand on and vent out our frustrations, it was called
“the bonding line.”
Page 8
All Around
May 20, 2007
Art by
Saad Al-Matwi
(Tepper 2010)
Memories of three years in the Cornell building