Building tax

The Egyptian government imposed The Real Estate Tax Declaration Forum in 2008. The new tax strives for equalization between citizens in terms of tax paying, since not all geographies pay this tax.

The Real Estate Tax is not a new tax
The Real Estate Tax is an old tax which was firstly imposed in 1954 under the law 56, and lasted until the current new law. Before, taxes were paid as 'returning', where the government took 10% taxes for non residential units and 10 – 40 % taxes from residential units. 

Problems with the old law
The old law witnessed several problems that encouraged the government to seek a better one. Some of these problems are as the following:
The law required the outskirts of certain areas to pay taxes while others not, which created injustice and discrimination between citizens in terms of rights and commitments.
In additions to legislation interventions that interfered with the law. The legislation allowed exemption to some real state and not for other older ones, which was unfair and illogic. 

The difference
The old law allowed a range of 10 – 40 % of taxes to be paid, and 20% reduction on maintenance. While the new law fixed the amount of taxes to 10 % allowing reduction of 30% to residential and 32% for non residential units.
The amount of tax is fixed to a five year term, where the taxes should be paid every January. Two installments are maid for people who are unable to pay. One at the end of July and the second by the end of December. The tax is subjected to increase or decrease after each term.
Payers
The one responsible for the tax performance is the owner of the building. As for apartment payers the owner of the residence should pay the tax and not the tenant according to the law. 

Multiple buildings owner
A person who owns more than one unit will pay the tax of each unit separately and will have separate discounts deductions.
Further more, if a family house constitutes of more than one apartment, and then each apartment will be charged separately. 

Old system of rent
The old system of rent will not face any problems regarding the new law, since they already pay small amounts of renting. Thus they are exempted from the new canon.

Unregistered properties
The people who did not register their property will not be pay old taxes, but will start paying starting from the registered year. This will encourage unregistered units to be recorded.

One step towards proparity
31^st of March was the deadline for submitting real estate tax decleration, where 12 million forums were successfully proposed. However, the taxes are heavy for the poor people. According to Egypt's Minister of Finance Youssef Boutros-Ghali, 82 percent of Egyptians live on property estimated to be worth less than LE200,000; ten percent live on property worth between LE200,000 and LE400,000; while five percent live on property worth LE500,000 or more.
"The first two categories will be exempt from any fine if a declaration is not submitted," added Ghali.

Child Labor....a long time phenomena

Child labor is one of the most controversial issues in Egypt, since it started long time ago and it can be hardly eliminated. The problem with the dilemma is that children under the minimum age required work for long hours under inhumane conditions, yet we can not generalize the situation.

With a population estimated to be more than 80 million, 17.5% of the whole population is under 15 years old. Of this huge percentage, many children work under harsh circumstances in order to make ends meat. Putting in to consideration that the majority of the population is below medium wage earners. Which force children to work during summer times and sometimes with school or instead.

The Agriculture sector in Egypt is larger than other sectors like industrial and service sects. And because people who work in agriculture live in rural areas and earn peanuts, their children work with them, which has raised a new problem.

According to the annual activity report of 2007, 14.9% work in the agriculture sector, 6% in the industrial and 1.14% in the service sector.

The problem faced in Egypt is that children of age between 7 to 12 years old work in farms mostly cotton ones. During the harvest season, farming exposes them in to deadly pesticides. So children get exposed to heat and pesticides for very long hours that can reach eleven hours daily. They have no social insurance and by the end of the day, they get paid around 5 – 7 pounds only, while they have put all their health and life in to risk. These conditions violate Egypt's obligations under the convention of the child's rights, to protect children from hazardous and ill treatment employment. The young children spend long hours smelling the pesticides, looking after domestic animals and touching pesticide cotton, plants and crops.

On one hand, Paid jobs encourage children to drop out schools and sometimes by force. But on the other hand, it promotes other children to pay and receive education after saving money from their work.

The main reason behind child labor is poverty. Children give up their health for the sake of their tummies. And so children work to make their living conditions better and to raise the family. While it will temporarily solve the current issue but will open a new problem in the future, when these children face unemployment due to school drop outs.

Further more, the availability of children in the work force market may attract some companies where they hire children for being cheap labor, exploit them and leave the adults unemployed.

Not all children work in agriculture or have the same job. Gender plays a big role regarding the issue. Girls for example, work as house holds in the city. Some of the apartment owners are good, others are bad and abusive. And girls abandon their dignity for money and to keep food on the table.

While boys work some dirty jobs like black smith, plumber, electric, dry cleaner, house maintenance person, or even work as scavenger. Some children actually sell (cigarettes, tissue and toys) in the streets. Others have been through more advanced jobs like prostitution and drug selling.

It is not that all job titles are unhealthy for children. There are other types of work that can suit children at this age. And it teaches them some techniques that can benefit them in the future. For example spinning and weaving can be a good progress for girls. Engineer assistants can be a great opportunity for boys.

Yet, the criteria will open doors for a decrease in the demand for adult employees. And will create a chance for school drop outs in the future. And most importantly, the allowance of further, physical, psychological and sexual abuses.

Elimination of child labor can not be reached in the short term; however the government should put the matter in to consideration for the sake of better generation. After all, child labor is a temporarily bomb that might develop underdevelopment.

There are steps that the government can take to decrease the phenomena. First, better quality of education should be provided for children in order to guarantee civilized way of thinking in the future. Further more, the government should add a law that limits prohibit any child labor before 12 years old. This will not result in to poverty because it will give a chance for their parents to be employed in the market. At the same time, the government should offer more job opportunities for the poor, through new investments in organizations and institutions, probably in the rural area as well as in the city. Beside other issues that should be put for granted in order to determine a healthy and educated generation that will push out country forward economically.

Research: Marriage and Divorce in Christianity through out the years

Marriage and Divorce in Christianity through out the years

"...For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." ~ Matthew 19: 5-6

Marriage as a holy sacrament and a reflection of the relationship of Jesus Christ and the Church, in parallel to the Old Testament’s teaching of the relationship between God and Israel’s people. However marriage and divorce principles differ from sect to another.

In Eastern Orthodox teachings, marriage is considered a sacrament. Additionally, it is viewed as an ordination, in which each spouse symbolically dies for the sake of the other and, in so doing, confirms and sanctifies the relationship.

In Roman Catholic teachings, marriage is the expression of the underlying purpose for man and woman. It is the basis for reproduction and the symbolic term of the union of Christ and the Catholic Church. It also provides common support to the married couple and provides legitimacy for sexual relations between them. Traditionally, the marriage is considered a contract between a man and a woman, consummated and respected, where each takes control of the other's body, and sexual congress is expected and welcomed. The couple is expected to give birth and to educate their children and raise them according to the Catholic teachings. Any birth control is considered against the sanctity of marriage. Before, Catholics were enforced to marry Catholics as well. Now, it is accepted to have married a non Catholic person as long as both of them truly love each other. Unlike Western Christianity, Eastern Christians believe that the marriage is conferred by the action of the Holy Spirit acting through the priest. Furthermore, no one besides a bishop may perform the Sacred Mystery. The valid marriage in baptized Christians is one of the seven Catholic Sacraments.

Protestant denominations vary in their particular individual doctrines regarding marriage, but have in common some fundamental beliefs. Most Protestant supposes marriage to be a union of a man and a woman, ordained by God, with the primary purpose being the celebration of God's love for the world. Common to the Catholic perspective, marriage is also the vehicle for raising children and providing mutual help and support to each other. Divorce is acceptable, if at all, only in very specific conditions (for example, sexual immorality or abandonment by the non-believer)

Evangelical Protestant Christians take a biblical and literal view towards marriage. Considered a covenant between the couple and God, marriage is also a profound expression of the teachings of the Apostle Paul in his Letter to the Ephesians.

"And submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ" ~ Ephesians 5:21

The woman, who has submitted to the man in loving respect to him as the head of the family, sees herself as a follower in this family with the man heading his family as Christ heads the Church.

Divorce, is ending the relationship between married couple, for not be able to continue with each other. However, divorce is very hard in Egypt, and the majority of the cases are not accepted by church.

"But I say that a man, who divorces his wife, unless she has been unfaithful, causes her to commit adultery. And anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery." (NLT)

Although the verse refers to women, however in Christianity both men and women are equal according to the bible. So the verse applies equally for men and women. Another important point to tackle is that divorce in court is not recognized as divorce in the eyes of God. Thus second marriage is considered to be adultery, which is forbidden in both Coptic and Catholic churches. However, the church considers some situations for example; one partner is committing adultery physically.

Concerning divorce 1 Corinthians 10-11 says: "Now, for those who are married I have a command that comes not from me, but from the Lord. A wife must not leave her husband. But if she does leave him, let her remain single or else go back to him. And the husband must not leave his wife." (NLT)

Abuses can be regarded as non-Christian act, where the church can order divorce. But in all cases, remarriage is not allowed in this religion, for that marriage considers one man and one woman only.

Despite all of the exceptional made, the Catholic Church does not allow divorce by any means. Separation is only accepted were the couple stay in different apartments. While the Protestant allows divorce. That’s why many Christians change their sects belonging to protestant in order to gain divorce.

Lately, the Egyptian Islamic court asked non-Muslims to allow second marriage. The Coptic Church refused the new law for it conflicts with the true Christian beliefs. Thus re-marriage after divorce is considered a sin.

The end of a controversial scholar

The end of a controversial scholar



Egyptian scholar and thinker Nasr Hamed Abou Zeid, passed away in Sheikh Zayed hospital last Monday. After being diagnosed with an unknown disease, Zeid returned back to Egypt and went through a coma right before his death.

Born in 1943, Abou Zeid was unable to continue high school education due to economical problems. He gained technical school diploma instead, and later worked as a technician for the Egyptian Telecommunication Authority. During this period, he finished high school degree and enrolled in Cairo University, where he earned BA in Arabic Studies, MA and PHD in Islamic Studies.

Abou Zeid became a controversial scholar and dealt with very sensitive Islamic issues. In addition he wrote some books The Philosophy of Hermeneutics, Critique of Islamic Discourse, Text, Authority, and the Truth, Women in the Discourse of Crisis, Thus Spoke Ibn 'Arabi, and others.

His progressive ideas led some to accuse him of apostasy. He was excilled from Egypt in 1995 and settled in Netherlands were he worked as a professor of Islamic Studies in University of Leiden. Further more, he was ordered to divorce his wife Ibtihal Younis, a professor of French Literature at Cairo University, based on Islamic law that a Muslim woman cannot marry an apostate. The verdict was based on hisba, a doctrine that entitles any Muslim to take legal action against anyone or anything he considers to be harmful to Islam. At that time, the case drew the media’s attention about the controversial topic, which was considered against freedom of expression according to the human rights defenders.

Since then, Ibtihal Younes has been to Egypt a number of times since the separation order, primarily to discuss MA and PhD theses at the French Department at Cairo University. Abu Zeid has not been to Egypt since 1995, despite requests to attend seminars and conferences.

Last December Abu Zeid was banned from entering Kuwait to give two lectures about religious reform and women’s position in Islam. He was sent back to Cairo despite obtaining a valid visa.

Abu Zeid is an award-winning scholar. Alongside working in Egypt and Holland, he was a visiting professor at Osaka University in Japan between 1985 and 1989. He also received a fellowship from the Center for Middle East Studies at Pennsylvania State University in the United States of America between 1978 and 1980.

He will be buried later on Monday in his home village of Kahafa in the Nile Delta.

Audio Documentary: The Cairo International Model United Nations

The audio documentary script:
















05/08/2010

Kassasseya

14:30 minutes

LEAD IN:

Music Fade in (Omar Khairat)

The Model United Nations activity has been around for more than two decades at The American University in Cairo. Christine Kassasseya has the history of M-U-N at

A-U-C (0:12 Sec)



The activity began during the summer of 19-88, when a group of students from The American University in Cairo participated in the first inter collegiate Model United Nations held at The Hague, site of high school M-U-N sessions in 19-68. Since then, the delegation from A-U-C decided to organize a similar program in Egypt, where the Student Union sponsored the idea with the help of Office of Student Affairs. (0:25 Sec)



Doctor Mona Said, an Economics professor at The A-U-C attended the first Model United Nation conference, and remembers three remarkable people who proposed the activity. (0:11 Sec)

SAID "Three people I remember in my M U N experience; the first is Tim Sullivan who was professor of Political Science, and the key figure behind organizing it. Later he became a provost. The other two key student's organizers were Mohammad el Farnawany who worked on the Egyptian Foreign Service and who currently has quit a distinguished position as an advisor of the Minister of foreign affairs. And the third person is Mahdy El Fashany who was the President of the Student Union. And I see him on television as Palestinian intellectual; he is very outspoken of issues of the Arab-Israeli and Palestinaina-Israelian conflicts."(0:30Sec)



Throughout the years, M-U-N activity developed several times in order to meet the demands of the students and to give more opportunities for students to choose the council they are interested in. (0:10 Sec)

Hana Khaled, a president of the Economic and Social Council knows more about the history on the activity. (0:07 Sec)

KHALED "The first MUN conference started in 1988, back then it was only one council, it was the Security Council, and throughout the years they started expanding, and now after 23 years MUN evolved from one council to seven councils. Three of them are permanent councils; the Security council, the Human Rights council and International Court of Justice. And then there are other four councils that alternate every year."(0:29 Sec)



The important difference between the M-U-N activity and the real M-U-N has to do with the delegates who represent the countries, the limited time and the procedures for the debate. These criteria did not change at all since its emerging. Each council consists of a president, secretariat and a rapporteur. The council chooses a couple of students to represent a country. These countries are mixture between developed and undeveloped countries. Around four delegations are just set as observers, which mean that they do not vote.

Mark Haddad, a student who involved himself in to several M-U-N conferences describes the conference. (0:06)

HADDAD "During the conference, what happens is that developed countries provide solutions to the problems of undeveloped countries, and relating to the issues within the topics. At the end of the debate for each topic, resolutions which are formal documents comprised of the problems and their solutions are drafted and voted upon, once they have been voted upon, they are officially resolutions for that year. "(0:38 Sec)



The Model United Nations activity acquires students to work hard in order to successfully participate in the conference. Many of which face challenges. (0:09 Sec)

Laura Frega, a sophomore student who experienced M-U-N twice and won the best delegate on her second experience, describes the challenges and efforts she put for the conference. (0:10 Sec)

FREGA "Yes, I did find it challenging especially my first year; my council was the World Economic Forum. It was hard. In University they give you the material, C-I-M-U-N they link between the material and reality and what happens in the world. And because I did not have any background about economic situations of the world and global economy. I felt I was ignorant and I had to study a lot, like sometimes I would study for C-I-M-U-N more than studying for my regular classes. You get addicted to the work, you can't stop working and then you apply for the next year, like currently I am a secretariat at M-U-N and I am a director for the Economic and Social Council and I started off not knowing anything about economics in real life. Like now it's different, after you learn and you have so much knowledge, you feel like you are more valuable now and you can get in to discussions and you have an opinion and it's great." (0:64 Sec)



Students wait for the four day conference in order to express their thoughts about the topics and to try to reach some solutions. Yet, for the conference to succeed, the council provides eight sessions earlier, to widen the student's perspective about the two topics that will be discussed during the conference. So it takes the council one year to do preparations for the entire activity (0:20 Sec)

KHALED "Secretariats and head recruitments start every spring, and as soon as the new team is set, they start preparing for the conference for next year. During summer break secretariats start selecting topics, they start the background paper writing process which lasts for seven to eight months. Also the secretariats get trained for the conference for example; how to prepare sessions and so many other things until the conference in March, and so the process goes on for almost a year."(00:30 Sec)



During this year, organizer heads start interviewing and recruiting students for their committees. The idea of having organizers was brought later after the first conference was made, when the students realized the importance of having organizing teams to develop and prepare for the four day conference. (0:20 Sec)

Farida Amin, the organizer head and have been in the organizing teams for several years, states the following. (0:07 Sec)

NAT Sound fade in:

AMIN "Basically MUN started in 1989, and then after a year they realized that in order to be able to achieve the conference success we need an organizing committee, we need a committee to make finances, we need to publicize to bring delegates and so one. So from then onwards the organizing committee started to develop. And right now we have seven committee; fund raising, public relations, external public relations, information technology, publications, reception and more." (0:25 Sec)


NAT Sound fade ou


Additionally, three program committees emerged that perform extra work. These are the development program, awareness program and the environmental program. (0:09 Sec)

NAT Sound fade in

AMIN "Of course not all committees emerged at the same time. In 2004, the awareness program was the first of the three programs. And it basically started when one of the students who was is also a member of MUN, he was walking in the Greek campus and he found out that almost no one knows what is happening in Iraq and he got very frustrated and decided why not to have a program in MUN that makes people aware of what happens outside their bubble. So that is when the awareness program started. "(0:27 Sec)

NAT Sound fade out

Recently, the committee realized that an environmental program is needed. (0:04 Sec)

NAT Sound fade in

AMIN "In 2009, we decided to have the environmental program, which basically it raises awareness about the environmental issues and it also works off campus on different projects like recycling and so on. "(0:12 Sec)

NAT Sound fade out

It sounds like tough work is made through out the year for the sake of the students. But after this hard work, does students really benefit from this? (0:08 Sec)

SAID "I was presenting the United States part of delegation. I don’t remember the details of what we talked about, but I just remember that it was very well organized and people were passionate about it. And it was interesting and fun to get to now the other point of view. At that time there was this usual animosity between the Arab world on one side and United States being perceived as so pro-Israel in their decision making and structure of governance. But I can't remember when the consensus part was, I probably picked something on economics issues there." (0:30 Sec)



Another student shares his experience on recent MUN experience (0:04 Sec)

HADDAD " I believe that the M-U-N activity develop personal skills that are needed in the market and of course for myself. One of the most important of those is the art of negotiating, researching of course debating, which is important in every adult's life regardless of their job. So personally I have learned how to express my self, my views and most certainly at the same time, respect other's and be more open to different points of view."(0:34 Sec)



FREGA " Ok, basically what had I acquired from this conference was how to learn, learning how to negotiate with people, how to debate, how to identify what is important and what should be discussed first. It was relevant to the delegation you take, like this year I had India, and so I had to contribute the most, because the topic we are talking about mainly affected my country. So you have to know according to what delegation you take, you have to speak and you have to fight for the rights of your country. And I learned a lot of things, I learned how to research and filter what I have required or what I got through the internet."(0: 40 Sec)



However, Doctor Mona Said is no longer able to see why M-U-N is not as important as people might see (0:07 Sec)

SAID "As for myself, I finished my PHD, went straight after that to work in an International organization, which is the International Monetary Fund. Now since then my views about all issue now became more critical and I wouldn’t say I had those ideas at the time I was a student at A U C, but having myself worked in an International organization whose governance is based upon board of directors that have representatives from all countries around the world. And I have seen what really matters and what makes a difference and why decisions look so scued against developing countries interests. They all look like you know why they simply represent what the major countries like G 7 basically on top of them, the US and the UK. And the answer is very simple because the way these institutions are structured. "(30 Sec)



The greatest seven countries always have the authority to present their overwhelming ideas and suggestions. They have the capability to impress other countries and at the same time, they do not give developing countries their rights for voting. And so it all serves the interests of the developed countries. (0:18 Sec)

SAID "The same go for the United Nations, and UN is further weaker organization in terms of how developing countries represent themselves. They seem to do a lot of work a lot of fields a lot of organizations, but very little impact is felt. There is suspicion rightly so, about their intensions when they conduct programs through the world, with few exceptions of course. You know organizations that are very humanitarian in nature of course have respectability most of the organization seems to be very politicized and represent the will of the G 7." (0:25 Sec)



From a personal experience, as a past M-U-N delegate of Norway, I realized that the same scenario applies on the activity, where the developed nations unite to help other developing countries but still have hidden agendas. (0:14 Sec)

SAID "So students can be encouraged to come with their alternative vision of what the UN can be. So suppose that every country around the world has equal voting rights and you know there is nothing called the Security Council decisions is dominated by the major five countries or any other decision dominated at that way. How would the same issues that are brought in front of the UN, how would they be voted on in a truly democratic structure. That would be much more interesting, perhaps the media can even write about. And this is I think is the true fight and the true issues that developing countries should be talking about. How to increase their share of decision making and governance on international level orders organizations. So they are truly, a truly United Nation rather than something that is having the name but the structure itself is very different" (0:40)



The Model United Nation activity has created opportunities for students to come up with new ideas and new principles. It shaped new thoughts and different generations. It taught them current problems and allowed them to develop skills of negotiation and collaboration. If students have the opportunity to represent a country and negotiate for their rights, then I can imagine them in real life fighting for the sake of well being. (0:25 Sec)

Christine Kassasseya, A-U-C

Credits:

Doctor Mona Said, an Economics Proffesor

Hana Khaled, Economic and Social Council president at the Model United Nations

Farida Amin, organizer head and have been in the organizing team for three years

Mark Haddad, delegate of three councils

Laura Frega, delegate of two councils

The Music by Omar Khairat

1. Abla Hekmet
2. El Bioot Asrar
3. Edam Mayet

Music Omar Khairat Fade out

Christine Kassasseya

Duration: 14:30 minutes


The journal :

The audio documentary is about the history of Model United Nations at the American University in Cairo. To do this documentary, it took me long time trying to collect bits and pieces of information from different people and from the archives as reference.




Regarding the history, the activity passed through several changes, but in general, it did not transform in huge terms since it is adapting the same criteria of the Model United Nations held in New York and the real MUN. Obviously, the first conference was very basic or in other words ' a trial of adapting something similar', but through out the years it started to improve till it reached its peak. The Cairo's International Model United Nations is considered to be one of the best through out the world and it receives first and second places each year.



Concerning my challenges, my president gave me access to the archives and was helpful during the interview. She provided me with a lot of information that I needed to make a story. At the same time, I sent emails to Doctor Mona Said and Doctor Pascal Gazelle asking them for an interview. Yet none answered. So I had to pass through their offices every now and then to get my interview done. And at last, I succeeded on interviewing Doctor Said, which was not happy at all about it, but still helped me when I insisted. Yet, I discovered that Doctor Gazelle is not available this semester as she is giving birth. But now I feel that it was going to be useless if I have interviewed two people from the same generation.



Later, I decided to interview an organizer to fill the missing parts, since the organizing team presence is important. So I passed through their booth and asked the head for an interview. At first, she was not pleased with the idea because she did not believe I was doing this for a class. But when she found the audio recorder, she felt content to some degree and was willing to help. Afterward, I heard about a guy who has been taking part in the MUN organizing committee for four years. And I was ready to interview him yet I never found him in the MUN room, nor near the booth. I asked people about him but I could not reach him.



I started to write my script after interviewing the three people listed above. Yet I found out that there is a lot of information missing. I decided to interview a forth person. So I asked my friends and they suggested Doctor Noha Bakr, a political science professor who teaches MUN related course. Nevertheless I was not lucky enough to find her. Then I thought of interviewing the provost Tim Sullivan, but I did not have the courage to. I felt I was going to waste his time.

Failing to interview a forth person on my last week frightened me a lot. I wrote a personal message on facebook asking people to help me with my problem. None of the replies useful. And I could not find any older contacts from the archives, like people from the 1990s or early 2000.

While I was completely dispread, I decided to take an overlook at my MUN year book, and I found three people that could help me since they live somehow close. So I called the three, and two were more than happy to help. I was further delighted that both had more than one experience and one of which was chosen as the best delegate.

At last, I know I failed to stick to the schedule. Yet I believe that the people I interviewed were the best I can get anyway, even if I started earlier, because I tried to reach people and I failed because they either did not answer or were not interested.

Final project video and audio promo: The History of the Model Unied Nations

During the summer of 1988, a group of students from the American University in Cairo participated in the first inter collegiate Model United Nations to be held at the Hague, site of high school MUN sessions since 1968. And since then, the delegation from AUC decided to organize a similar program in Egypt, where the Student Union sponsored the idea with the help of Office of Student Affairs.

There is a long history of success and achievements from this activity, which makes it one of the oldest and most important activities in the University.


Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.



Video Promo Script


Kassasseya

5/02/2010

Music: Fade in 'Gimme Gimme Gimme' for ABBA

The Model United Nations has a very long history at the American University in Cairo. (:04)

Hana Khaled "The first MUN conference started in 1988, back then it was only one council, the security council, and throughout the years they started expanding, and now after 23 years, it evolved from one council to seven councils." (:13)

Attend the Listening Sessions, at AUC's New Cairo campus on Sunday, May 16 and Wednesday, May 19 at 10 a.m. each day in the BEC building, room 1061 (:09)

Music: Fade out 'Gimme Gimme Gimme' for ABBA

Audio Promo Script






Kassasseya

5/02/2010


The MUN representatives of AUC face great challeges in order to win  the Model United Nation award in New York, whch requires them to work hard for a whole year.

Hana Khaled "Secretariats and head recruitments start every spring, and as soon as the new team is set, they start preparing for the conference, and then during the process we have delegate selections, interviews, so the process goes on for almost one year."(:14)

For more information, attend the Listening Sessions, at AUC's New Cairo campus on Sunday, May 16 and Wednesday, May 19 at 10 a.m. each day in the BEC building, room 1061 (:09)

Hana Khaled: The president of the MUN Economic and Social Council for the year 2009-2010

Project Five: Organ Transplant New Law

Organ Transplant New Law 2010 WRAP


Kassasseya

4-18-10

LEAD-IN:

The new law on human organ transplants in Egypt is on hold. The law lacks a clear definition of death. A-U-C’s Christine Kassasseya has the story.

Organ transplant regulation was approved by Egypt’s Parliament last year. The law aims to decrease illicit trade in human organs.

The World Health Organization says that thousands of Egyptians sell their organs, like their kidneys, to pay off their debts. Egyptian Senior Product Specialist Oncology Department of Lipomed Roger Badawi confirms that the country’s economic conditions make it a prime target for organ trafficking.

BADAWI : “We can not deny that it happens in Egypt in illegal way, so we have to put some rules to make it more organized. We don’t want to legalize the abuse, we need to legalize the issue itself not the abuse of it”. (:17)

According to the law, organs donated from live donors will be restricted to “family members of the fourth degree”, and the removal of organs should be officially authorized by the Egypt’s Minister of Health higher Committee for Organ Transplants.

For deceased patients, the law stipulates that a three-person panel reach consensus on whether or not the potential donor is dead.

However, doctors disagree about the definition of death. Cardiologist and Physician consultant, Doctor Seif Abou Seif says the lack of a clear definition of death is the main reason behind the delay of the law.

ABOU SEIF: “One group says that when there is a brain death, that means the person is dead. The other group says that there should be a brain stem death to say that the person is dead”. (:22)

According to the new law, any decision to remove organs before the panel’s approval would be considered first-degree murder and punishable by death and a fine ranging from 100 000 LE to 300 000 LE.

The new law also states that transplant procedures for low-income patients will be financed by the State. Operations would be conducted according to case urgency, with a specialized committee in place to decide on priority cases.

Several months passed and the law is still not approved, and it might take time Abou Seif says,

ABOU SEIF: “Up till this moment I realize that both groups are not going to be one group or one word because every one of them is not feeling that the other is right”. (:19)

Christine Kassasseya, AUC News

Towards a better life

One of the very interesting facebook groups I saw is called “ Save Minimum Charge’, which basically fights against the notion of paying large sums of money on outings.

It is known that all Egyptian youth go out on Thursdays, and many on Fridays and Saturdays. Thus restaurants set a minimum charge according to the quality of the place, from 20 L.E to more than 200 L.E, forcing many poor people to feel depressed for not going out to such good places.

The problem is that wealthy people can afford to pay a range from 75 -150 LE , but they feel it is too high for eating the drinking. After all, it is just dinner not lunch. And the prices of the food are mush higher than their quality!

This scenario repeats itself every week, and wealthy people have nothing to do but to pay these sums of money for just one outing! The questions to be asked here, are we a rich nation?

Lets us examine a little bit the life of the poor people, which counts the majority of the population!

Men on average yield 600 LE per month, where they must make end meats.  They pay for house rent, transportation, food, water, shelter, school fees and extra fees for stationary or any break down.

A windowed woman yield not less than 300 LE and not more than 500 LE, due to discrimination, and she still have to pay the bills.

Needless to say that enfant mortality is high due to lack of food and health care. And the last thing a parent would like to see, is his poor child suffering from a disease and dying in front of his eyes.  Who can tolerate this mess!

While all of these people suffering, a bunch of friends are paying around 1000 L.E not even benefiting of the money they spend. While a 1000 LE can help a child to cure or even encourage a couple to get married before the 40s!

What I would highly empahizise on, is to give ourselves few minutes daily, and see the real problem that we always leave behind.

God gave us money, not to make full use of it, but to help our dear poor brother who is in need.

I see young innocent eyes dream of a car similar to mine when they look on it, or even to have the money to get married to the one they love.

The sense of guild is very hard, that I can not tolerate these looks. I want to see happy people. I want to see people’s dreams come true. And it is not my dream, but it should be our dream.

If each person on earth help with only 10 pounds daily, a difference will be seen. Instead of paying 100 LE and more, dedicate one day, and go out with your friends to the nearest orphanage or help institute and spend the sum of the money you were going to spend elsewhere. And I guruantee you that the happiness brought from helping the others, will not be described in words. Because it is real.

Easter Bunny

The Easter Bunny is a rabbit that holds a basket full of colored eggs. Not only eggs but sometimes candy, chocolate and toys. Usually the bunny hides these things from children at night, so they can find them in the morning. This tradition is very close to the Christmas one, where presents are hided and the children have to wait till the nest day in order to see their gifts.




The notion has pre-Christian origins. It is originated in Germany ands was first mentioned in German writings in 1500s. And the first edible Easter bunnies were made during 1800s. The first edible German Easter Bunnies were made of sugar and pastry. It was then introduced to American folklore by the German settlers who arrived in the Pennsylvania Dutch country during the 1700s. And it was believed that if children were good, "Oschter Haws" will put a nest full of colored eggs. The idea was very similar to Santa Clause.


Children also built some nests using caps and bonnets. And they spent time on coloring the eggs too.


A question that many of us ask, why rabbits and eggs? They must be symbols.


Rabbits and hares give birth to large litters in the early spring, and do they became symbols of the rising fertility. Besides, it is known that rabbits can have a second litter while she still pregnant with the first. And so they give birth to several litters annually.


The origin of eggs is not known yet. However since eggs reflect fertility and are colors white, so children either boil them with flowers or color them with bright colors.


Nowadays, Easter bunny is celebrated world wide and is considered to be very important tradition for children like Christmas and Halloween

Journal # four: Trouble with hubble bubble

Produced by: Nicola Humphries
Narrator: Konnie Huq
Length: 24:17

Shisha is getting popular in Asia, where it started to spread through café’s and even universities. Some youth started to prefer shisha over cigarettes believing that it is less harmful. This is a summary of what was reported on BBC Asian Network regarding the issue.

Known as Naguila, Hookah and other names, shisha is served with several fruit flavours and is known to be a sort of relaxation. It became a traditional thing and citizens believe that it is not as serious or danger ad cigarettes for example. That’s why, children as young as eleven smoke shisha with their parents normally in café’s.

Shisha produces carbon monoxide more than that being produced by the cigarettes. Smoking shisha especially indoors can collapse the body’s natural defence mechanisms which will not facilitate oxygen to reach the brain.
More exposures of shisha can cause flue like symptoms such as headaches, running noses and sore eyes. Medium exposure can result in to dizziness and sickness while extreme exposures can result in unconsciousness, brain damage and death.

Carbon monoxide is not visible, that’s why many people believe that water cleans the tobacco making it less hazardous, unlike the cigarettes which leave stains on the tissue for example. Hillary Warren elaborated more on this misconception by saying that “How long will it take you to smoke a cigarette… two minutes, but shisha lasts half an hour and sometimes an hour”

A restaurant manager Akram believes that Smoking shisha is different that smoking cigarette because shisha is taken in to the mouth to taste the flavour and then exhaled, while cigarettes are inhaled directly in to your lungs so more smoke is taken in to the body.

Carbon monoxide should be only fifty in the body, excess might be risky. A continuous process of smoking shisha may cause strokes and heart attacks.

The documentary was very interesting for me because I used to believe that shisha is less hazardous than cigarettes and I was proven wrong.


There were around ten music samples as music background in the audio documentary. The duration was from 1 to 3 minutes each, and they were not the same, some of which were Indian, others were Arabic, English…etc. The samples were very interesting as it created an Asian atmosphere and made the audio documentary more interesting especially that it was a long documentary. However, I noticed that the music was loud at first and gradually started to get lower and lower. It did not match the flow of the documentary because it could make the listeners get bored or even sleep. Loud music is not also a smart thing because it attract attention more than the announcer, but at least it enthusiasms the listener to hear and be more alert.

Regarding the announcer’s voice, I felt it was very clear despite the music going on in the background. And the sentences were understandable that I got what she said from the first time. Moreover, I liked the way she interviewed people and talked between each guest and another. The announcer did make a very professional flow of her documentary that was appealing. However she should have minimized the documentary by interviewing less guests because it started to get boring at the end. And what I noticed is that very interesting information were showed during the first five minutes and the last ten minutes, and maybe some in the middle. So having very interesting information at the end is not smart because those who will get bored in the middle will not continue to hear till the end. I believe that interesting information should be divided equally among the time in order to keep the documentary as smooth as possible.

Hillary warren, the director of tobacco control collaboration centre had a British accent that I could not understand easily. On one hand, it is illogic to have guests with different accents because it makes it hard to follow up. But in the other hand, it made the documentary more interesting.

Caron Carter from the NA Chest stop smoking service was talking very fast as if someone was running after her! It was very hard to understand her from the first time. She even took clear large breaths between each sentence and another.

The voice I liked the best was Akram's voice, a man who runs a restaurant. Akram voice was clear and from his sentences he seemed very wise. I liked his tone of his speech and the way he clarified his points by giving examples to support his statements and beliefs.

To sum up, the voices of the guests were clear and understandable to a large degree. The only difference was the speed of the speeches. Some were talking slowly, others were talking fast. And it is very hard to tell your guests how to speak, but at the same time, the documentary sounded not alike.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/asiannetwork/documentaries/troublewithhubblebubble.shtml

Funny memories of a student that is about to graduate

Funny incidents happen when you least expect them. That is what happened to me several times.

I might have spent only four years at university, but I witnessed several embarrassing situations where I had no clue of what to do.

Here are some of my funny incidents:

Case one - scenario 1: During my first semester, I decided to put on white pants. I've always believed that white pants look cute and fashionable. So I thought why not to wear them, and I regret it. After my 8 am class at Falaki building, I felt off the stairs and I kept on rolling for two floors! Of course my pants looked like a zebra and I had to stay till 6pm that way or else I will lose points for attendance!

Scenario 2 'but with another pair of white paints': My friend and I went to have a tomato soup in Pottery cafe in front of the old campus. And of course we kept on gossiping till she said "Do you know Christine, I hate boys and I won’t ever get married. I remember that day when the bride was supposed to throw her flowers, and it came at me but I threw it away and all people around thought I was crazy'
Of course I kept on laughing at her. And over a sudden, the spoon slipped from my hand and fell on my pants. The boys sitting next table and all the waiters kept on laughing at me and I got embarrassed. I learned two things,

1. 'Evil eyes' does exist....it’s not an atheist way of thinking
2. NEVER wear white paints at AUC again.

Case two: I was walking in the street with a friend of mine and I was about to enter the old Greek building when a taxi cab passed by and yelled 'Yaaa Mooooozzzaaaaaa' known in English as 'Hot girl'. Suddenly, all students around looked at me and I never found my friend again!

Project four: Interview with Dr. Nada Ismaeil

One of the people I respect the most is Doctor Nada Ismaeil, a television studio workshop doctor at the American University in Cairo.

I am taking this course with her this semester. Although I don’t know her quite well, the past two months were very interesting for me for several aspects. The main ones is that I got to know all the matters related to television from her, and I got to understand how work is in reality since she is a very experienced person.

I respected her even more after making this interview with her. Working ever since she was sixteen shows how embitious she was at that time.

Background:

Graduated in 2001, Dr Nada Ismaeil majored in mass communication specialized in broadcasting and minored in political science and environmental studies. She did Adham center masters in journalism broadcasting.

Dr Ismaeil thought she was going to work in the news for life so she worked at the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). Her work was to follow up with other news channels coverage of the event of the Iraq-American conflict 24 hours a day. It was when she decided to quit this job and work off camera rather than on camera.

Right after her quit, a new job was offered from MBC as a producer, this time for game show. It was her first time to be a producer for a show, and felt scared that she was responsible for this producing something for the MBC especially that the game show was going to be viewed in Ramadan and during the prime time. Yet the channel encouraged her to complete her task and assisted her till she succeeded with the production matter and the show was fine. Since then, Dr Ismaeil had been working with MBC as a producer free lance, and did several productions such as The Green Apple, several cook shows, game shows and other events. She also worked with Al Jazeera were she did several documentaries. Besides the Pyramid show done on the Egyptian channels.

During this period after graduation, Dr Ismaeil was in contact with the Adham Center, offering new graduates job offers as she believed that AUC students have special qualifications, skills and capabilities that are missing in the market.

When the new course 'Television Studio Workshop' was established, the Adham center asked Dr. Ismaeil to teach this course last fall due to her wide knowledge and experience in the field. At first, she felt she was not able to do this, but after several meetings she began to like the idea and she decided on the syllabus and everything else related to the course. And because everything was set, she continued to teach it this semester as well.

I believe that Dr. Nada Ismaeil has great potentials and skills that are enabling her to reach success. And I hope that she will achieve all her goals in the future.

The script:

Good morning :)

Good morning :D

How is your day so far? :)

I've been running since the morning, I slept very late because of my work and I woke up very early for this job, but it is ok, after I arrive here at AUC and on time more or less Iam ok.

<em>Can you give me a little background about you?

I studied Mass Communication specialized in broadcasting at AUC and I did some minor studies in political science and environmental studies. I graduated in 2001. I have done the Adham center masters for journalism broadcasting and I finished in 2003.

I've started working way before I graduated, when I was sixteen or something like this, started writing as a free lancer for some magazines, and I was doing small jobs like teaching english for children.

I was completely independent since then just to support myself. And when I was nineteen or twenty, I got a job at NBC news. I was working at the bureau here in Cairo. It was the first well paid job I've ever had, the first real job I think.I've always thought I wanted to work in news, maybe a news anchor. But then getting in to news at NBC, I quit in 2003 when the Americans got in to Iraq because it was destressing following the news everyday. My job was to monitor twenty four hours a day, how was the big networks in the Middle East states covering the news. So I saw several conflicts, got stressed and decided to quit the news and work in Television production in general, and off camera not on camera.

So in 2003, while I was about to quit my NBC job, I got an offer from MBC. They had a game show and wanted a producer for it and I was surprised. You are hiring a producer who never work as a producer before. Big game show, it was their main show and prime time in Ramadan, very complicated.
They went 'got ahead and try it'. I tried it, and I did it. And since then I've been working as Television producer and free lancer. I constantly have projects going on with MBC on free lance basis. I worked on many programs like green apple, that's been going for five years doing the development program. I've done several cooking shows with MBC, I've done some games shows, I've done some events like hip hop, concerts and stuff like that. I also started free lancing for other stations like Al Jazeera, I've done them several documentaries, worked with Mazzika TV, F.M TV and the Egyptian TV on adaptation of American game shows formats like the pyramid game.

For how long have you been working at the AUC?

I only started last September, last fall 2009. The Adham center, constantly I am in contact with the Adham center, looking for people to work. I believe that people graduated from the Adham center or from the AUC broadcating in general, have a lot of skills, I think they are missing in the market. Posting Advertisments for jobs wanted, script writers, studio producers and so one. So always iam in contact with them. And suddenly last summer they called me up and told to reach the 339, can you do it or cant you do it. I told them I've done that before, I've done different types on teaching like teaching english for children and so on, long long time ago, so let me think about it and so on. So I was a bit, too worried and I did not know if i have the knowledge to do it. There wasnt confidence at the begining, I sat and told them what is the syllabus. They said so and so. I thought that alot of upgrading had to happen in the coursevto match with what happens in the outside. And then I thought it might be a good idea because the department and courses are mainly concentrating on nres production, and few course or none are actually concerned with TV production shows. So I thought well, let bring in some principles and things related to producing tv production programs, how to develope ideas. Wrote the syllabus.

Thank you :D
Thank you :D

Interesting facts

Here are some funny and interesting facts that you might not know!

A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champange will bounce up and down continually from the bottom of the glass to the top.

A shark can grow a new set of teeth in a week.

About 70% of all living organisms in the world are bacteria.

A whales heart beats only nine times a minute.

Albert Einstein was offered the presidency of Israel in 1952.

Octopuses have 3 hearts.

Butterflies taste with their feet.

The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.

A cat’s urine glows under a blacklight.

An ostrich’s eye is bigger than its brain.

Starfish have no brains.

Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better.

Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.

Coca-Cola was originally green.

Hope you liked it!

Journal Three:Women and girls tell their stories through film and radio documentaries

Women and girls tell their stories through film and radio documentaries
From: UNICEF
Length: 00:18:36

I heard a very interesting topic yesterday on PRX, and I thought of sharing it on my blog.

The audio documentary I heard was discussing the importance of story telling. The interviewer interviewed three guest to share their stories and discuss the film ‘Where the world meet the sky’ which was viewed in a festival in the Unites States of America. The film is all about the transformation of a group of women living in a remote village. These women used their experience to speak out their challenges that confront, from prostitutions to their community’s neglective aids orphanages to fears of living in places with high HIV/AIDS in Africa.

The coming lines are brief summaries of what each guest said about the film.

Ann Cotton, Executive Director of the Campaign for Female Education, did not help with the film production, however she studied the cases in Africa very well. Cotton’s main goal is not only to diminish illiteracy but to give unheard voices, a space to express their worries. That’s why she liked the film because it revealed many problems faced in poor areas in Africa.

David Eberts, the director of the film discussed his challenges in trying to document his film. It was hard for him to ask women talk about their problems at first, that he asked his translators not to pressure on them. It did not come to his expectations that the women will talk freely about their problems concerning prostitution and diseases such as HIV/AIDS.

Joe Richman, award-winning independent producer, and executive producer of the radio production, spent huge time talking with teenage girls about AIDS during the film making. One of the cases who shared her problems asked him to broadcast poject only in the United States for privacy. When she was proven to be HIV positive, she decided not to hide her suffer any more, and agreed to broadcast the project in her region’s station.

The documentary showed a two minute part of the film in order to tackle on one of the devastating cases in the film. The case is a fourteen years old girl, who became a prostitute after the death of her parents from HIV. The girl tried to protect herself by using condoms but the men refused to buy her condoms. At the same time, she had no enough money to buy this product.

The documentary was very interesting in my point of viewm since it opened a new perspective on some cases in poor regions in Africa. It never came in to my mind, that a fourteen years olf girl will be a prostitue just to make ends meat. The documentary also made me more willing to see the real film.

The documentary was neither long nor short, since it had a very good content. The twelve minutes were very important untill the interview showed a part of the movie to allow her three guests to comment on. Here the three people talked almost the same, which made it boring somehow. If she only asked one’s opinion, maybe the director of the film, it would have been better.

The voice of Ann Cotton was not clear at all. It is clear that her mouth was very close to the microphone. Every times she exhales air, the sound becomes disrupted and not clear. Although I heard her part several times, still I cannot understand her first sentence. If she gave space between the microphone and her mouth, words would have heard clearly.

As for David Ebertsm the voice was still low but much more clearly than Ann Cotton’s voice, since he kept a good distance between the microphone and his mouth. Moreover, the delivery was really good and appealing, which I did not feel when Ann Cotton talked in the documentary.

Regarding Joe Richman’s voice, I felt it was the best of the three because it was comprehensible and the tone was good. I did understand his sentences quit well from the first time. The delivery was better than the other two.

There were not natural sounds in the background, which was good, since the voice was low for both Ann Cotton and David Ebertsm. Yet I would suggest the radio documentary to include some voices of African women in the background. It will be distinctive to hear their language in the background. Besides, the sound quality needs to be as good as the sound of the interviewer.

Independence and Individuality....are my two favourite words

Most of us experience relationships or dating process with men. Some of which fail, and cause severe depression for a longtime. And thanks to Facebook invention, which reveals everything about your ex-boyfriend, and his girl friends who are doing their best to ‘catch the groom’!
I had two devastating experiences, and I used to ask myself ‘Why am I so sad that I cant move on’? So I came up with some reasons why being single is a blessing, and ways to find the ONE we are looking for.

Let us start with the reasons why being single is close to heavens:

1. You are free
2. You are ‘me and only ME’
3. You are perfect
4. You have freedom of expression
5. You no longer need to hear boring conversations
6. You have self growth opportunity




The how to choose the right guy:

1. Likes attract likes
2. Try to listen
3. Listen to your mind
4. Work on your self-esteem
5. You have to choose:
6. Guys must be secretly examined
7. Listen to your inner voice

Hope it is useful and don’t forget to enjoy every second. Your life belongs to you and only you.

Journal Two: National Public Radio March the 10th

Duration: 4:46

The following are news from the National Public Radio. Most of these news are related to the United States of America.

1. In his speech in the White house, President Barak Obama addressed the issue of Haiti believing that the quake was one of the most devastating earth quakes, where eight million people were killed and one hundred million have no access of food, water and houses up till now.

2. U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts criticized the scene at President Barack Obama's first State of the Union address as "very troubling" and that the annual speech to Congress has "degenerated into a political pep rally." Yesterday.
Responding to a University of Alabama law student's question about the Senate's method of confirming justices, Roberts said senators improperly try to make political points by asking questions they know nominees can't answer because of judicial ethics rules.
Obama chided the court for its campaign finance decision during the January address, with six of the court's nine justices seated before him in their black robes.

3. Berezovsky sued after the broadcaster, known by its acronym RTR, aired a show in which it was suggested he was behind the poisoning death of renegade Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko, who died in 2006. In the ruling at London's High Court, Justice David Eady awarded Berezovsky 150,000 pounds (about $225,000) in damages, believing that there is no evidence before that Mr. Berezovsky had any part in the murder of Mr. Litvinenko.

4. The President Barak Obama gave a speech in his state of union last January. He addressed some issues including job creation, unemployment decrease and better quality of health care.

5. On March the 3rd, the School superintendent announced that all teachers in Central Falls High School will be fired at the end of the school year. The action was taken as a result of bad student performance.

Despite the fruitfull information brought from the Radio, the sound was very low that i hardly distinguished words. The Audio was clear, but the broadcasters needed to rase their voices alot for words to be heard correctly.

Other than that, the Natural sounds of the court gave me a live attendence as if i was there in the Court.

Moreover, the delivery of the news was good, since the announcer talked in a standard rate through out the five minute news.

For mor information, check www.NPR.org

Project Three: Public Service Announcement

Organization: Awlady Orphanage
Contact Info: Tel: 5212700/659 Fax:5212598
www.awlady.org
Heading: Awlady Orphanage
Airdates(s): March, 2010 – May, 2010

Duration: 30 seconds

Music: (Starts MA Maistro Track 12)

Anch 2: (Impressed) These children look amazing.

Anch 1: (Depressed) Do you know that some of these children sleep hungry and others do not have medical care?

Anch2: (Disappointed) And why is that?
Anch 1: (In a sad tone) The money we receive from donators annually is not enough. Have you ever considered giving your money to our orphanage?

Anch 2: No, What do they provide for the children?

Anch 1: Awlady Orphanage tries to provide a home for the children, with emphasis on education and vocational training to ensure that they become productive members of society.

Anch 2: How to donate?

Anch 1: Either through Misr International Bank #5505356 or Visit our website www.awlady.org

MUSIC: (fade music out)

-End-