al l
A R O U ND
Carnegie Mellon Qatar Campus
Issue 6,Vol. 2
BOO!!
Keeping all hearts aside, the staff here at All Around has decided to scare our readers out of their seats! We bring to you our latest issue devoted to the paranormal
and mystical unknown. This particular news letter is fun-filled with ghost stories, our
student body Q & A and a peek inside the world of weird! Also, don’t miss the
cmBA’s supernatural outlook on the business world and our tweaked and chilling
Entertainment Weekly!
Special Points of
Interest:
• What’s your biggest
fear?
• Are gemstones controlling your life?
• The scary side of business!
• Demonic Anecdotes!
Inside this issue:
In World News This Week:
Over the last few years, much of world news is being dictated by news of the Arab
world, which sadly has been nothing other than disappointing. Unfortunately, the
turmoil throughout the Arab region shows no sign of abating. Amid the furor over
the publishing of caricatures of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH); February
14 brings back a shocking reminder of the Hariri assassination that took place last
year. Even as Lebanon is still struggling to find its foothold, we hear of Iran having
resumed its work in nuclear enrichment accompanied by fear of possible UN sanctions against Iran. The ever present unrest in Palestine and Iraq further darken the
somber picture. These tense moments are a testing time for the Arab region. If
peace is ever to prevail in the Arab world, Arab nations must be just, sincere and
sensible when dealing with world affairs. To elaborate, the Arab nations must
strongly condemn any attack on the culture or sensibilities of their region. On the
other hand, the Arab world should also seek to know the truth behind the despicable acts like Hariri's assassination. Being the responsible player on field can only
reduce much of the friction between Western and the Arab regions and bridge
gaps for everlasting true peace.
YOUR FEARS
UNLEASHED
2
SPOOKY
3
Basheera Banu
Acting Editor In-Large
5
A Word from the Editorial Board
ISLAM
6
Now that we are publishing our second issue, we are crossing new borders with
our business organization. There have been additions to the newsletter team both
human and digital wise. We hope that we are satisfying our readers and we welcome you all to send us your comments which we greatly value.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
8
FEATURES
WHATS YOUR
ZODIAC?
JINN IN
Yasmine Abdelrahman
Acting-Editor-In-Chief
2
All Around, Issue 6, Vol. 2
Fears
at CMU-Q
Fearlessly assembled by: Amun Bashir (Theme Editor)
Hold on to your seats ladies and gentlemen because our staff at the newsroom has done a little research
into the fear factor of our campus community! Whether it’s creepy, crawly bugs or falling to your doom,
we gather that quite a bit can scare the living daylights out of us! Continue reading the strange, but true
“Fears Unleashed” for a general insight into what scares your friends the most. Warning: Do not try at home.
Samiha Kamel: Naturally after an unsuccessful java class Samiha sighs, “failing java is my
worst fear.” After a little more prying however,
she admits consciously, “drowning.” Yet another reason to live in a desert, eh Sam?
Jinanne Tabra: “Subai.”
Mohammed Khan: “Being paper-cut to
death.” After a moment of thought he includes,
“yeah, that would ^@&%$ suck!”
Anas Abu-Qamar: After a moment of
thought Anas replies, “being backstabbed by
someday I care about,” with a rather wise grin!
Mustafa Hasnain: Our very own genius replies, “failing university!” Says the man with a
4.0 GPA!
Marion Oliver: “Being buried alive!”
Omar Alouba: “Heights,” Omar replies
calmly, but then rethinks his answer and ponders, “wait, if Britney Spears dies, it would be a
lot scarier than heights!” This is followed by the
“someday, you will understand” look.
Karim Watfa: In a thick Qatari accent he
claims, “my greatest fear is Fahad (AlMahmoud).”
Amun Bashir: “Being cut up with a chainsaw.”
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Basit Iqbal: Thank God we’re nowhere near
the Everglades because Basit claims, “I’m scared
of crocodiles!”
Khadra Dualeh: “Heights!” You’re a much
better dancer on Earth anyways Khadra!
Mohammed Hajaig: NO COMMENT
Rasha Mkachar: “Hmm…maybe cockroaches,” looking around instinctively to see if
we’ve brought a family of cockroaches to bestow upon her.
Yousef Al-Sabeeh: “God.”
Sahrr Malik: “I have no fears, I think, wait,
I’m fearless,” says a cautious Sahrr. After some
digging she finally succumbs and admits, “failing
everybody.” Well, you’re an ace so far Sahrr!
Marium Chandna: Our ever-romantic Marium claims, “losing a loved one,” is her greatest fear.
Maha Henzab: Our Golden Girl Maha Henzab gives us her million dollar smile and says,
“The Day of Judgment.” It won’t exactly be a
day to smile, but who knows? Those pearly
whites might give you some extra points!
Wesam Said: “The…umm…the paranormal
stuff!” Well Wesam we’re afraid this issue isn’t
for you!
All Around, Issue 6, Vol.2
Superstition
Years ago, one of my friends told me: be
careful with the black cats! At that moment I
stared at her and said, "Why? What could a
black cat possibly do to me?" She replied by
informing that black cats bring you bad luck.
Later on I discovered that people believe in
many things that could be coincidently true
sometimes. I still remember the day when
my high school teacher gave us an English
lesson about superstitions. After that lesson,
I found that there are some similarities between Eastern and the Western superstitions. I think that this is an interesting thing
due to the differences in the cultures and
traditions of the two sides. I guess that if you
believe in a superstition, it will always follow
you no matter where you are! So be careful
CMU-Q students. Here are some of the
most famous superstitions:
• An apple a day, keeps the doctor away.
• If your ear is burning, then someone is
talking about you.
• You must knock on wood three times
after mentioning good fortune or the evil
spirits will ruin things for you.
• Don’t break a mirror, or you’ll have
seven years of bad luck!
• Don’t walk under a ladder, or somebody
will have an accident.
• For a child to be born with an open
hand, however, is a sign of great generosity.
• Having your fingers crossed brings good
luck.
• Putting a dress on inside out means good
luck.
• Friday the thirteenth is the unluckiest
day of the year.
• A bat flying into the house means bad
luck.
• Opening an umbrella indoors brings you
bad luck. With the great amount of rain we
get in Qatar, you shouldn't worry too much
about this one!
• It is unlucky for the groom to see the
bride in her wedding dress before she arrives
at the ceremony.
Noor Al-Jassim
Business Manager
Having a
Rocky Time?
Gemstones can have quite an impact on your life.
Sound familiar?
Has it ever happened, that you finally purchased those pair of
turquoise stone earrings you desired in the showcase of the
jewelry store, and upon wearing them, found yourself utterly
down in the dumps? Not necessarily, but quite likely.
Firstly, let’s dig up a brief history of why we all have different
birthstones. During each particular month of the year, there are
specific planets that keep distancing themselves from the Earth.
Whilst doing this, each planet sheds a particular color that is
surrounded by the Earth’s surface from time to time. As each
month passes, these planets keep isolating themselves from the
Earth. The planets furthest from the Earth in a certain month
will not allow their cosmic color to be reflected during that
month, thus causing a deficit of that color during that month.
Therefore, any person who takes birth during that month will
possibly have the deficiency of that color, which is not being reflected. As a result, the person may not receive this color released by the planet, and it is this color that forms your birthstone! In other words, because this color was not mirrored, it
remained trapped and got absorbed into your birthstone. While
wearing your designated birthstone may give you all the positive
vibes in the world, wearing the wrong kind of stone may just
have adverse effects such as leaving you with negative thoughts
and deep depression. The effect vanishes as the stone is removed from the human being’s body. Gemstones are also used
in various parts of the world for healing illnesses and other incurable conditions, and are well-known for their therapeutic
effects. So whether we believe it or not, there seems to be an
inevitable link between our birthstones and our human existence.
Now since you all have an idea of what we’re talking about, we
should all know our correct birthstones and not be subjected to
unforeseen dilemmas due to a wrongly chosen gemstone.
January : Garnet
February: Amethyst
March: Aquamarine/Bloodstone
April: Diamond
May: Emerald
June: Pearl
July: Ruby
August: Peridot
September: Sapphire
October: Opal/Tourmaline
November: Yellow Topaz
December: Turquoise/Blue Topaz
Marium Chandna
Staff Writer
3
4
All Around, Issue 6, Vol. 2
cmBA Business Club
Scary Business
Do you believe in the saying “You can turn anything to a
successful business.” When it comes to horror or scary
things the first thing that comes across your mind is horror
movies and the billions of dollars each one of them makes.
Young couple Rita and Ed living in Pennsylvania decided to
join the business world by creating “Krypt Kiddie”, which
is not a new scary move. It’s their own line of scary dolls.
The idea of this invention came from the fact that both Rita
and Ed are artists. On an
interview posted on
www.horror.com Rita said: “I was a doll collector, and just
had learned how to make "reborns". That is where you take
a normal doll, and make it look and feel like a real baby.”
Than they both mention how they came up with the first
“Krypt Kiddie”. Rita remembers that she was making a
reborn when Ed came in and said I want to make one. She
then asked him, “Why do you want to make a doll when you
are an artist who specializes in scary art?” Then the idea was
born and they both combined forces to come up with what
is known to be “Krypt Kiddie.” Today there are three collections of “Krypt Kiddie”, which you can buy from
www.ebay.com or order your own “Krypt Kiddie” by visiting Rita and Ed’s web site: www.kryptkiddies.com
Two dolls from the 2006 collection of “Krypt Kiddie”
Pictures are taken from:
www.horror.com
www.kryptkiddies.com
Noora Al-Ansari
cmBA President
The Scary Side of
Student Govt
It's a scary thing, Student Government. Every
Saturday, fourteen unsuspecting students
brave the weekly meeting. They know not
what the meeting will hold. They know not
what the next hour will bring. Yet somehow,
these fourteen students walk towards the
yellow lounge with a decided amount of caution. The closer they get to the meeting
place, the more unsettled they become.
There's an unspoken understanding between
these poor, poor folks that every step they
take towards a meeting, is a step away from
their sanity. So what is it they're so afraid of?
Subai awaits them in the yellow lounge. And
as each member finds a seat, they wonder
what she’ll do today. Usually the first sign
that she has chosen her victim is the look
she'll exchange with Imran before pulling him
into the corner to enroll him as her sidekick.
It's often mid-whisper that she can be heard
laughing hysterically, and anyone who has
spent much time in the yellow lounge knows
that hysterical laughter is a bad, bad sign. It's
a sign that the latest prank is well underway
and some poor soul is at her mercy. It's no
wonder then that her colleagues have
learned to be so cautious. There has already
been a fake (yet very convincing!) impeachment, petite CS girls jumping out of cardboard boxes has become the norm, and then
of course there was the day Ms. President
thought it would be funny to venture outside
and bury her colleague's shoes under a tree!
Nevertheless, official business must be taken
care of and there have been some big
changes to the Student Government lately.
Our Vice President has changed, and new
Activities and Academic Coordinators have
jumped on board to make things happen this
semester. Of course we'll welcome them
with a series of pranks in traditional Student
Government style, but then the tables are
going to turn. The messers will become the
messees. So Subai, you have been warned....
Jinanne Tabra
Student Govt Vice President
All Around, Issue 6, Vol.2
What Your
Zodiac Sign Tells Us About You
•
Virgo: Don’t break the
rules in front of them.
•
Libra: Do not argue
with them.
•
Scorpio: Do not try to
analyze them too much.
•
Capricorn:
Aries: Do not ignore
them, give them what
they like, and treasure
them.
•
Aquarius: Don’t show
•
Taurus: Do not disturb them while they are
working.
•
Pisces: Don’t ask them
too much about their private lives.
•
Cancer:
•
Gemini &
Sagittarius:
Do you believe that horoscopes are a good
source of information telling you about your
future? Wesam Said, BA sophomore tells us
about her opinion regarding horoscopes.
She started reading up on horoscopes in the
previous year, as her over "curiosity of what
the future might hold for us" grew. Though
she does not believe in their ability to accurately define your future, she finds it fun to
read about possibilities of how her day might
shape. She does not approve of how they are
sometimes used on daily basis, assuming that
the position of your sign will controls aspects
of your life. On the other hand, she has
strong beliefs regarding zodiac signs and their
affect on personality types. According to her
research, she found that the personality traits
of her sign, Leo, apply to her very well. Here
are Wesam’s words of wisdom helping you
deal with people’s different zodiac signs:
•
•
Do not hurt
their feelings, and do not
be disloyal.
Leo: Do not make them
feel like they are not the
centre of your world.
Pictures taken from www.waaah.com/icons.htm
Don’t
mess with their tidy environment.
them too much emotion.
Do not obligate
them.
We hope you all find them useful though again
we don’t believe that they are a real source
for you to base your behavior upon. However, it is always interesting to find out if people’s personalities match their signs. We thank
Wesam Said, our campus fortune teller, for
sharing her valuable knowledge with us.
Yasmine Abdelrahman
Acting-Editor-In-Chief
5
6
All Around, Issue 6, Vol. 2
A Brief Look at
Jinn in Islam
Excerpt from “Genie” article at Wikipedia.
Muslims believe that jinn are real beings. The
jinn are said to be creatures with free will,
made of smokeless fire by God, much in the
same way humans were made of clay. In the
Qur'an, the jinn are frequently mentioned
and even Surat 72: Al-Jinn is entirely about
them. In fact, the prophet Muhammad was
said to have been sent as a prophet to both
"humans and the jinn."
The jinn have communities much like human
societies, they eat, marry, die etc. They are
invisible to humans, but they can see humans. Sometimes they accidentally or deliberately come into view or into contact with
humans.
Jinn are beings much like humans, possessing
the ability to be good and bad. […] According to the majority of Islamic scholars, clear
evidence exists in the Qur'an that the Devil
was not an angel (as thought by Christians),
but a jinn, citing the Quranic verse "And
when We said to the angels: 'Prostrate yourselves unto Adam.' So they prostrated themselves except Iblis (The Devil). He was one
of the
jinn..." Surat Al-Kahf, 18:50. According to Islam, angels are different physical beings, and
unlike the fiery nature of jinn, they are beings
of goodness and cannot choose to disobey
God, nor do they possess the ability to do
evil.
In Islam-associated mythology, the jinn were
said to be controllable by ‘magically’ binding
them to objects, as Suleiman (Solomon) most
famously did; the Spirit of the Lamp in the sufi
story of Aladdin was such a jinni, bound to an
oil lamp.
In the Qur'an, Suleiman had members of his
army belonging to the race of jinn. Suleiman
had the ability to communicate with all creatures, thus he could communicate with the
jinn as well.
Evil beings from among the Jinn are roughly
equivalent to the demons of Christian lore. In
mythology, jinn have the ability to possess
human beings, both in the sense that they
persuade humans to perform actions, and like
the Christian perception of demonic possession.
Noor Al-Maadeed
Staff Writer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/jinn
Her son used to have the same
nightmare every night. Every night
he would suffer the pain of living
forever. Outliving family and
friends, current rulers and technology, he would walk young and
alone forever. He decided to avoid
sleeping, for just one night, and
maybe the next day, sleeping
would be better. He would be so
tired, he would not dream at all.
Finding him awake, his mother
went to him and asked, "What's
wrong?" Telling her about his
nightmare, he started to shake and
No Tomorrow
hug his knees to his chest. His
mother's eyes sparkling with tears
over his worry, she told him, "We
can't live forever. We will all die
one day or another. No one's that
special." He didn't believe her so
she suggested, "You know how if
you wish hard enough for something it comes true? So just wish
that in your dream you don't live
forever. Better yet, wish that you
have a different dream altogether."
He smiled at her as if she
had saved his life and hugged her
goodnight. Climbing back into his
bed and under his covers, he
closed his eyes and softly said, "Let
everyone I love live forever. Let
everyone I love live forever. Let
everyone I love…" until he finally
fell asleep. True to his mother's
advice, in his dreams, his wish did
come true. Now that he was lost
in the perfect dream, he felt no
touch, heard no sound and made
no move. And so the mother's
worst nightmare came true. Her
son never woke up the next day.
Mona Maher
Editor
All Around, Issue 6, Vol.2
7
Poem of the Issue:
One Art
By Elizabeth Bishop
The art of losing isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.
Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.
Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.
I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.
I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.
Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident
the art of losing's not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.
Elizabeth Bishop. "One Art". The SEAGULL READER
POEMS. Joseph Kelly. First Edition.
New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.,
2001. 22-23.
Greeting Earthlings! Our usual gossip column has been
given a little tweak and twist. Keeping in line with our
gloomy theme, we are covering some strange yet true
celebrity encounters with bizarre paranormal forces!
Is Jacko Really Wacko!?!
Apparently, a nose falling
off in courtroom and adultery with 8 year old boys
isn’t enough for King of
Pop, Michael Jackson. The
superstar legend is allegedly
looking to expand his
“group of friends” by building an airport for aliens.
This proposed airport will
be built in the Nevada desert, with a convenient landing
strip and perhaps autographed t-shirts for the little
green men. His aim is to film the landing and be the first
to welcome the extraterrestrials to Earth. To top it off,
Jackson allegedly admitted to being from a different
planet himself and having psychic capabilities! Having
been involved in several paranormal situations, Jackson
admitted to Barbara Walters on the show 20/20 in
1997 that he had had a vision of Mother Teresa’s death.
In October of 2004, Michael Jackson was found bidding
for a “trapped Irish ghost in a bottle” over e-Bay. His
actions are definitely causing some head scratching.
Possible Looney Tune? We certainly think so here at
All Around!
Picture:http://entertainment.tv.yahoo.com/images/ent/
ap/20050404/la303_jackson_michael_jackson_trial.sff.jpg
Sting’s Midnight Visit
So the story starts one fine evening in 2003 with Sting fast asleep
in bed in his home (which is a
castle surprisingly). Sting is
awoken by the sound of a
woman and her child standing by
the doorframe and then entering
the room. Naturally, Sting believes it’s his wife (Trudy Styler)
and child entering for a little late
night cosy time. However, as he
begins to get out of bed he notices his wife is sleeping
soundly next to him! Both husband and wife agree to
this day that he had seen a pair of ghosts. That’s what
you get for living in a castle!
Picture:http://entimg.msn.com/i/mu/s/sting/sting_150_0811041.jpg
8
All Around, Issue 6, Vol. 2
G
a
r
f
e
i
l
d
Internet Source <http://www.geocities.com/EnchantedForest/Tower/1244/halloween/comic9.gif
Never make fun of the Ouija Board “Demon”
Back a few years ago, my friend started playing the
Ouija board. One night when she was playing, she
was constantly interrupted by a spirit claiming to go
by the name of 'Demon'. Since she was a sceptic of
the entire Ouija board experience, she brushed him
off by making fun of him. In response to her taunting
him, he told her, "I will show you at 2 a.m." Well,
she ignored it and told her friends that she was going
to bed. Her friends went into the living room to
watch some television, and she got ready for bed.
Her parents were due at home anytime from the bar
that they owned. After she lay down, she was almost
asleep when she heard someone walking down the
hallway past her room to the back door. She figured
it was her dad coming to lock the door after he got
home. But when the footsteps started back up the
hallway, they stepped over the threshold into her
room and she heard the creek in her floor. When
she rolled over to see who it was, all she saw was
nothing but a shadowy figure with red eyes that par-
alyzed her. She couldn’t move or scream. It was basically holding her down. All she could do was
breathe. She heard a demonic roar. She closed her
eyes and started praying to God that it would go
away, begging for it disappear. When she opened
her eyes it was gone and she jumped out of the bed
and ran into the living where her friends were, crying
hysterically. She looked at the clock and it was 2 am
exactly. The next day she got on the Ouija board
and contacted 'Demon' and he told her that she was
a bad girl and needed to be taught a lesson. Needless
to say, she's never slept alone in that bedroom by
herself ever again, and every time she plays the Ouija
board he always interferes with any conversation. I
know this because I played it with her and now, he
always interrupts any of my conversations. The same
goes for anybody who plays with me. It's like a chain
reaction. It's connected to each person who plays
with us.
*To make the article shorter, some sections have been omitted.
Source: http://www.wirenot.net/X/Articles/2005/N-O/
nevermakefunof%20theouijaboarddemon.shtml
All Around’s Directory
You may forward any contributions, enquiries, questions, or suggestions to
our official e-mail address
<all-around@qatar.cmu.edu>
Or to the Collection—Editor; Noora Al Ansari <naa@qatar.cmu.edu>