GIKI UNCOVERED
Issue III a Veritas publication
Inside this
issue: ‘Admin determined for student
8-1
Jawad Warraich relives the
painful memories of GIKI’s
betterment’
embarrassing loss to LUMS Restrictions
in the sports meet last
semester GIKI: The GIKI administration has
Page 4 claimed that all restrictions im-
posed on students are for their
own betterment, as their safety
GIKI academia: and well being is the administra-
alas! tion’s responsibility. This state-
Platonic questions the wis- ment was made by Director Ad-
dom of the institute’s aca- ministration Col (r) Ghalib Sultan
demic policies in an interview.
Page 7 “Sitting at the khokha (Campus
Hotel) is a waste of time. They
GIK school for in- (the students) should be in their
fants rooms studying,” he said. The
Hasan Iqbal and Zain Kazmi director was speaking with refer-
lament suffocation of indi- ence to a policy enforced by the
vidual freedom in face of administration three years ago
administrative restrictions whereby the khokha was ordered
Page 6 closed at midnight. Earlier, the
khokha used to remain open until
Bhatti’s Clinic
Our very own Prof
Hameed A Bhatti advises
students regarding various
problems in life and acade- Fare-collection without receipt illegal: Incharge
mia.
Page 5 transport section
Editorial Students urged to approach authorities with transport problems
The woes of our academic By Fahd Faiyaz
system GIKI: It was recently discovered
by GIKI Uncovered that the long-
Stretching our resources
Page 2
established practice of collecting
bus fare on the GIKI bus without
providing a receipt in return is a
Editor: Saad Anis
clear violation of the institute
rules. These revelations were
made by Incharge Transport Sec-
tion Dr Fazal Khalid in an inter-
view.
“Students must stop the practice
of paying cash to the bus driver
or any other official without re-
ceiving a receipt, as it is a clear
violation of the rules,” he said.
Without a receipt, the students
could not be sure of how much, if
any, of their money really went to
the administration. Frequent pas-
sengers of the weekend GIKI
January 11, 2005 — February 6, 2005
Khokha, curfew timings
curb immoral activity, claims director admin
By Hasan Iqbal
GIKI bus ticket collection
Survey on cheating
Majority of
gikians
cheat
By Hasan Iqbal and Uzair
Shahid
GIKI: Cheating in examinations is
as old as education itself. Wher-
ever there has been some kind of
an exam, man has tried to get
around it the easy way, with
‘some’ help. In GIKI, cheating in
academics is more or less
Continued on Page 3
the wee hours of the morning. Col
Ghalib claimed that if culinary spots
were allowed to remain open all
night, they would cause “academic
disorder”. “We need to nip the evil
in the bud,” he said, calling the
khokha remaining open until late
night evil.
“If students don’t sleep at night and
sit idle at the khokha, they don’t
attend classes in the morning,” de-
manded Col Ghalib “Consequently,
their attendance falls short of the
set requirement, and they are not
allowed to sit in the final examina-
tion. This (early closure of khokha)
is for the students’ own good.”
Continued on Page 3
buses to Peshawar, Rawalpindi
and Islamabad would be aware of
the bus officials’ practice of de-
manding fare without providing
receipt for it.
Another serious issue is shortage
of transport vehicles for Islama-
bad and Rawalpindi. The single
bus allocated to each city is
clearly inadequate, and results in
around 50 students having to
spend the entire journey standing.
Calling this a violation of traffic
safety laws, Dr Fazal Khalid said
that it was the responsibility of
the administration to provide
necessary transport facilities to
ensure comfortable travel for
students. However, he blamed
Continued on Page 3
2 GIKI UNCOVERED — January 11 - February 6, 2005
The woes of our grading system
The grade point aver-
age, or GPA, is of con-
siderable import in a
student’s academic life.
It is the measure of his
skill, and reflects the
extent to which he has suc-
ceeded in mastering his area of
expertise. While it may not be
the ideal measure of academic
ability, and many will argue that
it is not, it is nonetheless the
best one available, especially in
cases requiring expeditious
judgement.
Consequently, the GPA is the
single most important standard
of gauging individual academic
ability the world over, for
higher studies as well as the
professional industry. A major-
ity of companies, especially
multinationals, shortlist job
candidates based on GPA. In-
ternship aspirants are picked
out on basis of a similar consid-
eration, while universities
worldwide admit students for
graduate school on a handful of
criteria, of which GPA is one of
the more significant. A high
GPA is thus taken to be the
mark of academic and profes-
sional excellence. Conversely, a
low GPA is indicative of medi-
ocrity, and does not augur well
for an individual’s future.
Furthermore, the standard of
assessment of GPA is universal.
Given this emphasis on it, most
universities are excessively
magnanimous in granting GPAs.
They exercise laxity in their
grading policy for the conven-
ience of their students, to the
unfair extent of handing out
exceptionally good GPAs even
to poor students.
GIKI, on the other hand, lies at
the other end of the spectrum.
In accord with a tacitly sanc-
tioned grading policy, all facul-
ties of the institute observe
stringency in grading. Some of
the best students from all over
Pakistan attend GIKI, and most
match their potential with per-
formance. Despite this, the
average GPA awarded to a
student here is lamentably low.
Apparently, the faculties inten-
tionally award lower grades to
students, even though a rela-
tive grading system is in place.
Ample evidence of such a pol-
icy exists. The average GPA of
a GIKI undergraduate is
roughly 2.6, while that of insti-
tutes all over the country is
well above 3.00. No student
has ever graduated GIKI with a
L
CGPA of 4.00, while the ma-
jority of universities in Pakistan
A
I
hand out perfect CGPAs indis-
criminately.
R
The rationale behind such a
O
grading policy could be
T
perhaps to prevent
I
complacency
from setting
ED
in among
the stu-
dents.
Moreover, t h e
administration m i g h t
also argue that GIKI graduates
have done exceptionally well in
the job market, in spite of the
stigma of low GPAs. They
hence draw the conclusion that
GPAs are not really important.
What the proponents of such a
line of argument do not realise
is that there is a lot more com-
petition in the market today
than a decade ago when GIKI
was formed. Gone are the days
when it was one of a handful of
institutes, whose graduates
were vying for employment in
a market in need of engineers.
Since then, universities and IT
institutes have cropped up in
every nook and cranny of the
country, bringing about a satu-
ration of employment aspirants
in the market, with a handful of
jobs available. With rising un-
employment, cutthroat compe-
tition is the order of the day.
Under such circumstances,
most companies have no better
criterion than the GPA to
shortlist or even select candi-
dates for jobs. GIKI is indeed a
reputable name in the industry,
but there is no certainty of a
company overlooking the ob-
jective statistic of GPA in all
instances to hire employees
based on the mere repute of
their alma mater.
Resultantly on numerous occa-
sions, GIKI graduates have suf-
fered due low GPAs in job applica-
tions, despite being more qualified
for the job. A number of instances
come to mind. Last year,
Techlogix and TPS set a minimum
GPA requirement of 3.00 for job
applicants, due to which a majority
of students lost out. A similar
trend has been ob-
served in case of
i n -
ternships.
Last year,
Unilever, ICI,
Shell, and Engro
Chemicals set GPA
requirements for internship
aspirants. Perhaps even more
importantly, this stringent grading
policy adversely affects students’
chances for admission to prestig-
ious graduate schools abroad. A
foreign university scrutinising ad-
mission applications would make
no distinction between a graduate
of GIKI and one of Preston Uni-
versity Peshawar, and would logi-
cally prefer the latter if he has a
GPA of 3.5 over the former with
one of 2.5. Despite being better
than the other applicant, the GIKI
graduate loses out through no
fault of his own, prey to an unrea-
sonable grading policy.
Such implied parsimony in grading
is harming the students’ future.
While blindly handing out high
GPAs is unjustified, advertently
lowering grades under the pretext
of maintaining “standards” is
equally unethical. The relative
grading system is in vogue in edu-
cational institutes all over the
world, with a large percentage of
students scoring high GPAs. If the
students of GIKI are a low-scoring
exception, it is either because they
are not competent enough or the
system is not being implemented
properly. As the former is a con-
clusion too unreasonable to draw
for so large a body of students
over so long a period of time, we
an only arrive at the latter.
The solution, simply, is to follow
the system of relative marking, and
grade on the curve rather than
continue with the practice of with-
holding grades for maintenance of
fake standards. Enough damage
has been done; it is about time
that the administration washed
off her sins.
Stretching our
resources
It is indeed heartening to ob-
serve swift progress in the
construction of two new hos-
tels on campus. It seems that
the administration has realised
the plight of students stuffed in
the parents’ lodge, server
rooms and the medical center.
Until now, the overflow of
student body into these build-
ings had thwarted their utilisa-
tion for purposes intended.
However, sources say that a
greater intake of students is
on the cards in the next aca-
demic year in accompaniment
with the inauguration of one of
the wings of the new hostels. If
these claims are true, the ad-
ministration must think twice.
Adequate living facilities are
not the sole pre-requisite of
an augmented batch. A greater
number of students would
require an improvement in
numerous facilities, from labs
to the ever-crowded cafeteria,
to cater to their needs.
Moreover, faculties are already
understaffed, and bringing in
more students without hiring
more teachers will only aid the
malady. FCSE and FEE do not
have sufficient instructors to
offer a respectable number of
electives for its final year stu-
dents. How increasing the size
of the new class is even con-
ceivable under such embar-
rassing resource constraints, is
beyond comprehension. In-
creasing intake without drasti-
cally expanding resources
would be catastrophic.
GIKI was never meant to cater
to the quantitative demands of
the industry, but to provide
fewer quality engineers to the
market. Let that purpose not
be forgotten for the sake of
financial incentives.
GIKI UNCOVERED — January 11 - February 6, 2005
Fare-collection
without receipt
illegal
Continued from Page 1
students for not approaching
the authorities with this prob-
lem. “I have never had a single
complaint from any student
related to overcrowding in
buses,” he said “If they have a
problem, they must step up.
We have transport available
to facilitate extra students,
but it has apparently never
been needed.” Sources in the
Transport Section claimed
that they had on numerous
occasions, asked students left
standing in buses to alight and
use alternative transport ar-
rangements provided by
them, but the students had
refused.
Sources also said that plans
were underway to acquire
New mess policy adopted
GIKI: The new policy adopted
by the Mess Office, with the
consent of hostel supervisors,
is quite complicated in function.
It prohibits students from hav-
ing meals or eatables on mess
slips. According to the new
rule, students cannot even have
breakfast on the mess slip if
they are signed out of the mess.
Earlier, the students could have
breakfast on the mess slip even
if they were messed out.
On inquiry, mess officials re-
vealed that this policy had been
implemented in view of efficient
financial management of the
mess. They said that if a student
is messed out and takes a meal
in the mess without signing in,
he/she is charged for two
whole days’ meals - for the day
he/she takes the meal and for
1. “Parton-in-Chief”
GIKI Uncovered, Issue I
2. Inter-GIKI Tapeball Cricket
GCC publicity
3 CDES induction conitues
CDES induction A4
new buses, and a tender had
been recently floated. The final
decision was yet to be taken,
they said. The authorities have
also taken into consideration the
hiring of extra buses, but cite
passenger fluctuation as the main
hindrance to this measure.
Editor’s Note: Since our correspon-
dent approached Dr Fazal Khalid,
there has been a marked improve-
ment in the provision of receipts to
students while collecting fare on the
GIKI bus.
GCC tapeball
tournament
starts
GIKI: The 16th Intra-GIKI Tape-
ball Tournament, commenced
from February 1. A total of 14
teams are participating in the
competition. Group matches will
be followed by knockouts . 11-A
are the favourites for the com-
petition. Staff Report
By Syed Zeeshan
the next day as well. This is
because students taking meals
on any day without signing in
are counted while ordering
ingredients for the next day. If
they do not take any meal on
the next day, they are not
charged further.
However, upon investigation,
the practice in hostels was
found to be quite different.
Students of different hostels
claimed that in the event of a
student taking a meal in mess
without signing in, he/she is
charged for every subsequent
day until he/she again signs out
the mess register, despite being
already messed out. A student,
on condition of anonymity,
claimed that while being
messed out, he had an odd
The walls of GIKI
4. "Gentlemen, and people of the other kind! Good evening."
5. "Hitler killed blacks because they are athletic, and used to win the Olympics every year."
‘Admin
determined
for student
betterment’
Continued from Page 1
Furthermore, the director said
that the decision had been taken
in view of increased nocturnal
security risks. According to him,
wild boars and snakes abound on
campus at night, and students
would be safer indoors. Citing the
example of a couple recently
caught in the woods, he said that
closure of the khokha would
bring about a decrease in
‘immoral activity’ on campus. “If
the khokha is open all night, girls
would also get opportunity to
roam around at odd hours, and
what not can happen at night!”
meal in the mess, and was
charged for every ensuing day
without being informed. It was
only when a mess waiter, as a
favour, explained the situation
to him, that he signed out again.
Extra messing is another
enigma in the mess bill. A mess
supervisor stated that extra
messing includes breakfast,
guests’ meals, milk and other
beverages. It also includes
charges for individual repairs in
rooms, he said.
Common area damages, such as
those in the mess and common
room, are incorporated as
breakages in the mess bill,
sources said. A 10 per cent
surcharge is added to the ar-
rear, while there is no sur-
charge during summer vaca-
tions.
Overheard at a debate
Overheard at another debate
3
Majority of
gikians cheat
Continued from Page 1
rampant, from copying assign-
ments to cheating in quizzes,
midterms, finals and even in-
ternship exams. That it hap-
pens is an open secret. Re-
cently, a survey was conducted
on cheating in order to gain an
insight into this perplexing
issue.
Interestingly, a large percentage
of students admitted to cheat-
ing in one test or another. The
bold among them defined
cheating as their style of taking
exams.
Eighty per cent of the students
polled said that they resorted
to cheating when they felt
threatened in studies or found
themselves on the verge of
academic probation.
Some students with exemplary
academic records said that they
would do anything to climb the
GPA ladder, deeming cheating
an important tool for this pur-
pose. Shockingly, everyone
interviewed in the survey said
that more than 90 per cent of
their acquaintances cheat rou-
tinely. “98 per cent of students
cheat”, remarked one inter-
viewee wryly “while the other
two per cent lie.”
Most of those polled argued
that cheating was so common
that those not cheating paid
the price for their honesty with
low grades. Thus they found
cheating necessary to maintain
respectable grades. Ninety-five
percent said that they were not
proud of cheating, but had to
do it as a matter of survival.
The rest thought that cheating
is justified if the instructor is
incompetent.
6. “Hearties congratulations to
the above-listed candidates”
CDES induction results
4 GIKI UNCOVERED — January 11 - February 6, 2005
Outclassed and outplayed; but humbled? Defi- along the way. The score line thus stood
nitely not!
The first of Ramadan was the
8-1 at 4-0 at the end of a day which most
would have liked to forget.
By Jawad Warraich The second day started with new hope
auspicious date when sporting and a promise of revival. The first two
ties between GIKI and LUMS This goal, coupled with the news that GIKI events were cricket and squash. In cricket,
were revived after an unfortunate pause. had levelled tennis 1-1, served as a boost of the GIKI team batted first, but their in-
The efforts put in by the Student Affairs energy and the GIKI strike force looked nings was marred by some dubious and
Office and the GIKI Sports Society (GSS) to alive for the first time in the match. Balls highly controversial decisions in favour of
resolve this issue are commendable. How- were chased with more vigour and crowd the home side. Jehangir played a fine
ever, this article is concerned with the cheers got louder. There was a sense of knock before becoming the victim of a
coordination in the team, but all this failed very controversial leg-before decision.
actual fixture, instead of the prelude to it.
to prevent LUMS from mounting a string of Other than that, the captain top-scored
The fixture started with promising signs for attacks at the GIKI goal, one that produced
with 29 runs in a somewhat tamed innings,
GIKI, as we quickly took the lead in Bad- a defensive blunder and resulted in an own-
and got out before he could mount an all
minton by winning the first of five games.
out attack. At this critical juncture of
However, the home side had correctly We squandered a good start
the game, some irresponsible batting
anticipated our strategy and had pitted a
mediocre player against our best, thus to a side better prepared.
resulted in GIKI’s failure to capitalise on
whatever start the top order had pro-
nullifying whatever advantage we had in
the contest. Consequently, in the rest of
This would prove to be the vided.
the matches, their players completely theme for the entire fixture, However, as the GIKI team took to the
outplayed us. The home side won Bad- field to bowl, it became painfully clear
minton 3-2. It was now 1-0 for LUMS in where we would start well in to all that while the football team had
the overall fixture. We squandered a almost every sport but perhaps suffered from over-planning;
good start to a side better prepared. the GIKI cricket team had fallen prey to
This would prove to be the theme for would then be beaten by a a lack of strategy. Nowhere during the
the entire fixture, where we would start entire innings was there any sign of an
well in almost every sport but would side holding its nerve longer. attack. The players were just going
then be beaten by a side holding its nerve through the motions. The GIKI team
longer. goal. Chins dropped, shoulders drooped; overall seemed to lack the energy that
was required to make a match of it at that
Tennis and football were being held almost and it was there and then that the fixture
point. Cricket had been neglected, and a
simultaneously. By the time the football was lost.
rather timid surrender was the best that
match started, GIKI had lost the first of A demoralised and disheartened GIKI side
could have been expected with the level
three tennis matches in a very closely conceded a third goal to an impossible
of effort put into it. The only hardball
fought doubles’ match. It was at this junc- looking strike from LUMS, and the support-
practice that the players had had prior to
ture in the fixture - 1-0 in LUMS’s favour ers started to pray for the time to run out,
the fixture was in the form of nets, which
and tennis going 1-0 for them - that the for the agony to be done with. Now this
football match started. The match can be scribe does not know much about football, was clearly insufficient.
summed up in the following quote by a but he does know that if football could Somewhere along the cricket match, we
GIKI supporter at LUMS: “Every LUMS have been learned merely by watching the received news of the shock defeat in
player played well, except for the goal English Premier League and talking endlessly squash. In a short while, an eagerly fought
keeper because he hardly got to play at all; about it, then England with its football fa- table tennis competition was also lost, and
and from our side, our right back (Bilal naticism would have dominated world foot- the score line stood at 7 – 0.
Riaz) and goalkeeper (Hassan Abbas) played ball, or produced at least one player of the
A whitewash loomed on the not-so-
well because they were the only players calibre of Pele or Diego Maradona. I am
distant horizon. It was at this moment of
who got to play at all”. also aware that making strategies at the utter despair that the hockey team ‑
Despite relentless attacks, LUMS was kept khokha with teacups as players is all fine which had faced blatant external meddling,
at bay by a combination of some out- and dandy, but to follow up those strate- whose shirt number assigning procedure
standing keeping and defending, and poor gies, one needs to have players with ability, was questioned, whose players were ridi-
finishing. The first half was somewhat not to mention the stamina, to last the culed for “hitting their own feet with
closely competed, but signs of fatigue began entire game. Skill is something innate; ability hockeys” ‑ came good and won the
to appear in our players well before the is skill acquired with hard work, something hockey match from a goal by Zeeshan
second half started. Fewer balls were found lacking in our side. Moreover, Hasan on an assist by Hassan Illyas. Finally,
chased back by the strikers, and the mid- “knowledge of the game” and “ability to the curse was broken; GIKI had earned its
field eventually gave up on returning to motivate on the field” are not primary cri- first sport. It was now 7 – 1.
defend with the ball; when they did, they teria for selection in a team. It was due to
Of winning the Volleyball ball match, the
were completely outpaced by the luminite this complete disregard of merit, which led
to the selection of a side whose opening last event, there was never much hope.
wingers. The story of the second half was
We were soon quashed by a three sets to
one of complete domination by LUMS over lineup left many a jaws wide open with
zero score line, and it was all finally over.
an exhausted GIKI side. Nonetheless, the surprise on match day.
defence somehow held on. The score line We soon got the news of our loss in tennis The final score line of the fixture was:
was still 0-0 and was to remain so until the as well; LUMS now led the fixture 3-0. Bas- LUMS GIKI
last 10 minutes of the match when LUMS ketball was the last event of the day. We
scored, thanks to poor marking by GIKI in started well again in conformity with the 8 1
allowing the striker an open shot on goal. general trend, but ungraciously lost heart
GIKI UNCOVERED — January 11 - February 6, 2005
Prof Bhatti’s Psycho-clinic
We all have problems that we are reluctant to discuss even with close friends and relatives. Relationships, academics and countless other issues
perplex us daily and are a cause of great anxiety. We bring to you, an expert’s advice on problems of the GIKI student body. Prof Hameed A Bhatti
will suggest solutions to all your nagging psychological dilemmas. So please send in your problems to horizon@giki.edu.pk,
Dear Prof Bhatti,
I have a teacher who discriminates
among his students on basis of class,
ethnicity, sex and family background.
His grading favours girls, and students
who establish a rapport with him. I
don’t want to flatter him to get a
grade, yet will suffer if I do not. Please
advise.
Ethically Concerned
Your concern is misplaced due to your mis-
perception. The great and prestigious univer-
sities do not select faculty that lacks moral
integrity and intellectual probity. Students
irrespective of their background are treated
like children by their teachers without any
discrimination. Students who doubt their
teachers should instead spend their valuable
time on their study. Students who lag behind
in academics usually develop anti-teacher
perceptions. They suffer like careless chicks
who do not rush to come under the wings
of their mother-hen after she squeaks for
safety at the sight of a swooping killer-bird.
Dear Prof Bhatti,
I am a student of the freshman batch,
and confused about the prestige of
societies in GIKI. Which society, in
your view, is the best and which one
should never have been conceived?
Wannabe Socialite
I would recommend you to join societies like
Project Topi or some other public welfare
society so as to alleviate the pains and suffer-
ings of the underprivileged and also to edu-
cate the children of poor employees of GIKI.
No society is useless. All societies are en-
gaged in some constructive endeavours.
Dear Prof Bhatti,
I have a cat, Whiskers. I love my cat,
but sometimes I want to hurt it. Why
do I have these urges? Please help.
Cat Lover
You are suffering from love-hate relationship
tendency. Psychologically speaking it is called
masochistic sadistic behaviour showing an IQ
of 20. Students reflecting such a mark of IQ
are normally found in Montessori and KG
classes of an average village school. If you
still persist in your intentions then consult
any qualified psychologist.
Dear Prof Bhatti,
This might sound strange, but of late, I
sleep at one place and wake up at an-
other. People tell me that I walk in my
sleep and even have conversations, but
I have no recollection. How can I over-
come this psychological abnormality?
Confused Wanderer
It is not a serious or dangerous problem.
Any good psychologist can cure you of this
aberration.
Dear Prof Bhatti,
I am very friendly with the girls of my
batch. Because of this, all the boys call
me names. Why do they harass me
when my intentions are sincere?
Guard Dog
Your sincere intentions are utterly mis-
aligned; please realign them along with the
sincere intentions and high hopes of your
sincere parents. You will see the sincere
results.
Dear Prof Bhatti,
Before coming to GIKI, I was regarded
as a prodigy by peers and teachers.
However, I have been a consistent pro-
bationer here. I have tried everything;
studying, not studying, cheating, not
cheating. Nothing seems to help. Be-
cause of this, I have often thought of
killing myself, but am too afraid of the
pain. Please make the pain go away.
Suicidal Probationer
You might have been an excellent survivor in
streams and brooks of your home town but
GIKI is the tumultuous Atlantic Ocean
whose depths you unfortunately could not
foresee. There is no need of losing heart;
just continue slow paddling your dingy along
5
the coast so as to reach your destination
safely though belatedly.
Dear Prof Bhatti,
The social environment in GIKI is
changing, especially the increasing
female population and thus inci-
dences of girls getting caught with
boys indulging in immoral acts. Un-
der such circumstances, how is a
young, decent student, who is here
in GIKI to study, supposed to react?
Goody-Two-Shoes
After doing your graduation you are very
likely to rush to one of the Western
university campuses which are a thou-
sand times more flirtatious and seductive
and at times lewd and lecherous. How
you would concentrate on your studies
in such campuses? I have been to many
universities of Pakistan and can vouchsafe
that the rate of character lapses in GIKI
is lowest in Pakistan. Boys have equal
responsibility of upholding piety, chastity
and decency of character on campus.
Dear Prof Bhatti,
I am being hounded by a girl. She
follows me around campus, calls me
on my mobile at odd hours of the
night and sends me emails and mes-
sages that I dare not mention here.
I have told her that I am here to
study and utilise my parents’ hard-
earned money, but she claims to
love me and has even threatened to
approach my parents. What should
a decent girl like me do in such a
situation?
Victimised
The story seems to be a concocted one
and has a sleazy purpose behind it. GIKI
campus is appreciated even beyond the
borders of Pakistan for the piety, chas-
tity, modesty and dignity of girls and
righteousness and chivalry of its boys.
Both belong to families who are imbued
with Islamic traditions and values. Even
making a story like this tantamounts to
slander. If it is true then the victimised
should see any psychologist for devictimi-
sation and also for refitting her hinged
mind.
6 GIKI UNCOVERED — January 11 - February 6, 2005
The GIK institute for infants
The essence of university education lies in
the notion that it polishes an individual’s
capability of realising his/her responsibilities
and priorities in life ahead. It provides a
platform for a transition from teenage to
adulthood, and creates an environment
wherein one can form one’s own decisions.
This provides the atmosphere for a perfect
breeding ground for the individual.
The assertions made above are directly
related to the environment that ought to
be provided by an institute of excellent
academic repute for an all on-campus stu-
dent body. Apart from being afforded the
finest academic education in their field of
study, students at GIKI ought to be pro-
vided with opportunities to make decisions
on their own and, more importantly, use
the freedom of choice and action to their
own benefit. This would enable the purpose
of the institute to go beyond provision of
mere academic courses, and extend to
playing a role in students’ personality devel-
opment.
Consequently, the very purpose of a uni-
versity is partially defeated when the extent
to which the students can exercise their
freedom of thought and choice is re-
stricted. When rules and regulations in-
fringing upon individual freedom are prom-
ulgated by the authorities, a hindrance is
posed to the individual’s capability of devel-
oping a distinction between good and bad.
The dilemma is that these strictly imposed
regulations compel students to comply out
of fear of the punishment, and so under-
mine the purpose of the entire exercise.
The students fail to realise for themselves
The Literary Corner
Solitude and love between the colours
Lost in the errors of the races.
The fire worshipper girl took me
for a one-time ride to the land
of a yellow and red sun.
We saw the festivals,
crowded streets,
wax-covered plastic conversations,
and people swinging in rhyme.
We ate our sandwiches under an oak tree
which had a huge population
of crows.
She said it is a pattern for us to walk in trian-
By Hasan Iqbal and Zain Kazmi
the importance of a specific activity. The
reason for their involvement therein sadly
degrades from a desire to acquire any
good that the activity may serve, to a lan-
guid effort to escape what otherwise may
result in administrational reprimand. Con-
sequently, it fails to make the individual
realise his priorities and soaks out the
essence of the activity itself.
An example of this deprivation of choice is
the early closure of the campus hotel,
popularly referred to as the “khokha”.
The administration has issued orders to
shut down the khokha at midnight, arguing
that keeping it open after that would
cause students to waste time at night
instead of ‘sleeping on time’, and thus
prevent them from attending morning
classes. The khokha used to be a popular
eatery in the later hours of the night.
Now, students cannot eat anywhere on
campus after midnight. According to rules,
kettles, ovens, and microwaves are not
allowed in hostels; so making one’s own
food in hostels is not possible.
A couple of questions arise at this point.
Firstly, does the midnight closure of the
khokha actually cause an improvement in
attendance? Students at GIKI have differ-
ent timetables; not everyone has a class at
eight o’clock in the morning. Therefore,
closing these places to “ensure” that all
students are tucked safely in bed by mid-
night really doesn’t make sense. More-
over, this step has not brought about the
drastic increase of attendance in morning
classes that was expected by the paternal
By Dr Aurenz Littleman
gles.
Seclusion, solitude, wilderness and
pain, bordered the web.
Storm of silence and the immense genera- all horribly delicate.
tion of anxiety.
The veins in my arms have come out of the
skin making them look horrible and sick.
But nobody sees it.
Lots of people strolling around in the pen-
tagonal valley
which is a universe within
administration. It must realise that it can-
not prescribe, even indirectly, the time at
which students should sleep or the classes
that they should attend. For all we know,
students who previously sat in common
rooms after midnight now probably stay
awake in their rooms or visit a friend
instead of sleeping. Will the administration
now impose “lights out” and “curfew”
rules to curb these activities to ensure
attendance? Where does it all stop?
Where do we draw the line between
administrative interference and individual
freedom on issues as petty as these?
Secondly, is ensuring that all students
attend classes the administration’s respon-
sibility? Shouldn’t attending classes be a
choice resting with the student rather
than be forced upon him/her by the ad-
ministration? University students are not
children; they are adults and should be
given privileges that adults have. Freedom
of choice should rest with students in
matters such as these, so that they learn
its exercise and consequences. Skipping
classes does not tantamount to breaking a
rule. If one chooses to skip class and risk
suffering academically, that is one’s choice.
In any case, attending classes just for the
sake of attendance does not serve the real
purpose of education.
GIKI is not a school, but an institute
where students are adults. Instead of im-
posing unnecessary restrictions to get
students to attend classes, the administra-
tion should refocus its attention on im-
proving academic standards.
strangers of the hills
running through each other with their shad-
ows
forming connections
lines of communication
One great thing you can experience
the hour of greatest contempt
the hour in which even your happiness grows
loathsome
and your reason and your virtue also
 GIKI UNCOVERED — January 11 - February 6, 2005 7
The prestige of a university can GIKI academia: alas! fered by FME, further marred the credibility
of instructors. The course instructor an-
be assessed based on numerous nounced from the outset that he would allow
standards. Among these, the up to 15 absences in his course. In the 15th
most important one is academia. By Platonic week, the attendance status was demanded by
GIKI is one of the most expensive insti- higher officials. They short-listed all students
respite to students in the form of a 75 per with over 12 absences, and forbade them
tutes of the country, and students here
cent mandatory attendance. While the from sitting in the final. The list comprised 17
pay a substantial amount of money in the
instructors at GIKI may be free to form students, including some whose graduation
hope of acquiring good education. How-
their own attendance policies, they must was at stake. Upon negotiations, the instruc-
ever, the quality of education handed out
cater to similar relief measures to accom- tor decided to relax the limit to 13 absences.
is substandard at best.
modate emergencies. Consequently, 12 out of the 17 students were
In GIKI, teaching assistants given the green signal, but
(TAs) play a pivotal role in Name of Final Recheck- Final Rechecking the remaining five were not
students’ education and Sr Shown ing Fee allowed to sit in the final.
University Pattern
evaluation. While the ma-
# The grading policy of FEE
jority of them do a fine Students are given a time labs is another issue that
job, a few are known for limit to go through final of
their lack of knowledge, 1 LUMS Yes Nil needs the administration’s
previous quarter and dis-
poor method of teaching attention. It is an open se-
cuss with professors. cret that in a recent course,
and partial attitude to- Recounted, final searched the professor graded the lab
wards students. On a num- for unmarked questions.
ber of occasions, they have 2 UET Lahore No Rs 300 in correspondence with the
been rude and indifferent course grade. In his view, a
to their responsibilities. student getting a respectable
Final recounted by external grade in the course should
For these few, the tenure
here is a paid holiday, to 3 professor also have the same in the lab,
NED University
be utilised in preparation an assertion with no logical
No Rs 400 feet to stand on. One is well
for their GMAT/GRE ex-
ams and graduate applica- Sir Syed Final shown to student, aware of the multitude of
tions, conveniently over- 4 recounted in front of him students who do well in
University theory but falter in practice,
looking courses and labs
under their supervision. Karachi No Rs 50 and vice versa. If a student
Many of them cannot be Student submits objection had a B- in the lab and an A
found in their offices dur- in writing, and professor in the course, the professor
ing office hours. There are 5 FAST Lahore Yes Rs 200 changed his/her lab grade
discusses problem.
faculties, such as FCSE, from B- to A. Similarly, stu-
which have formal evalua- dents faring well in the lab
tion of their TAs at the but not the course had their
end of every semester; 6 Punjab No Rs 1000 Final shown to student and grades lowered for the sake
thus the fine performance rechecked in front of him of a distorted coherence.
University
of their TAs. This strategy Last year, the effective grad-
is recommended for all Not shown to student,
ing policy of the Computer
only marks recounted
faculties, with special con- 7 GIKI No Rs 2000 for Rs 500 and final re- Architecture lab was that
sideration given to critique
checked by same profes- any group whose SAP
by students. sor for Rs 2000 (Simple As Possible com-
Another issue that stands puter) worked was given an
out is GIKI’s stringent rechecking policy, In Spring 2004, an instructor of FEE made a A straight away, while those whose SAP was
which defies all logic. The given table com- policy whereby only the submission of an not completely functional had a 15-20-minute
pares rechecking policies of leading insti- assignment and not its substance would viva. The vivas solely decided their grades, and
tutes of Pakistan. As is evident, GIKI carry weight, under the excuse that he or not the least significance was given to circuitry
stands out as unreasonably harsh in this his TA did not have time to check them. and hardware on which they had toiled for an
regard. That gave an ideal opportunity to our noble entire semester. In fact, the lab TA did not
Gikians to freely indulge in copying assign- even consider the implemented SAPs worthy
Apart from institutional policies, grading
ments. Almost the entire class submitted all of notice. Thus, only around 15 per cent of
policies set by instructors for individual
assignments. However, when the pre-finals the students - those whose SAP was perfectly
courses are often incongruous and serve
were put up, the teacher assigned marks operational - were graded on the 42-hour lab,
to victimise a number of students. In
according to whim, and increased the while the rest were judged on the basis of a
Spring 2003, a professor of FES adopted
weightage of assignments from five to ten mere viva.
the policy of considering three quizzes out
per cent. When the student who had been The institute must wake up and take notice of
of five, making it a point to include those
marked low on assignments approached the such inconsistency in policies implemented by
in which the student had scored naught or
instructor and reminded him of his submit- instructors at their caprice, and strive to de-
had missed, notwithstanding the validity of
only policy, he told them that they had not velop a uniform and fair system of evaluation.
the reason for the student’s absence.
even submitted their assignments, causing The standards of education at GIKI are falling
Moreover, each absence was penalised by
the deduction of half a mark. All this, de- an angry outburst. sharply, and will soon leave us at the ebb
spite the fact that even the PEC allows Another incident in 2003, in a course of- unless remedied soon.
8 GIKI UNCOVERED — January 11 - February 6, 2005
Advertorial

Project Topi: the virtue of charity

GIKI: Human nature is strange. The things which are
hardest to do are usually ones which make us feel
best. Charity is one such thing. Nothing compares to
seeing a poor child smile when you hand him even a
small piece of candy. But while that smile may well be
worth it, it is difficult to give up what one cherishes,
for someone else. This is one of the many reasons that
we find charity hard.
In the same way, we all feel for the poor in Topi.
However, very few, if any, of us would hand over our
expensive jackets and sweaters to a child shivering on
the street. Indeed! Charity is difficult.
Nonetheless, if we could help those people while still
not having to give up anything ourselves, wouldn’t it be
easy? And it would be even easier if we were saving
ourselves from wastefulness at the same time.
Project Topi is a student organisation established by
Batch seven. Its primary purpose is to provide educa-
tion to the poor and underprivileged children of Topi.
Members go to Topi to teach basic mathematics, Eng-
lish and science to school-going children. The joy that
the children express on seeing them there cannot be
explained in words. Project Topi is a non-profit organi-
sation and generates funds from student donations and
various sponsors.
But how can you help Project Topi? The apparent so-
lution is to join them in going and teaching the chil-
dren, but now you can help while in your room study-
ing. Project Topi has started a paper drive. All used
papers, notes, registers etc are welcome. We must
remember that even a small amount of paper repre-
sents a large number of trees, which took decades to
grow and are swiftly decreasing in number. The paper
will be recycled and the proceeds will go to educating
children.
It is not difficult, and doesn’t require giving up any-
thing. It is a simple and easy way to gain the virtue of
charity. It may be just an old register to us, but the
amount of joy it will bring to children on the other
side of the fence will be immense. It will provide them
with education, a chance they would never have had
otherwise. So lets all pitch in, because these kids aren’t
looking for a hand out, but just need a hand up.

Crossword

DOWN ACROSS
2. Job fair in GIKI 1. Latest technology in GIKI 11. Most popular studying
3. Books and dates 6. Barbecue spot technique
4. Largest GIKI all Pak event 8. Mohaa, Need for Speed, all nighters 12. GIKI terminology for
5. What Batch 13 is gearing up for 9. Assignments at GIKI “extreme”
7. Biggest luxury in GIKI rooms is your very own __ 10. What FCSE is famous for 13. GIKI terminology for
“good”