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Vol. IV, Issue 1

H! There!

Building confident individuals

Dr Rahma Al Mahrooqi

Valid voice in society

new page in the history of English journalism was established on September 12, 2008. The first English monthly publication hosted by H! newspaper and fully founded and maintained by SQU students. Overwhelmed and pleased, we are celebrating the 3rd H!SQU anniversary. after producing around 36 successive issues during the last three years, there is nothing to say but a word of congratulations to H!SQU and its readers for such extraordinary addition to the field of the English journalism in Oman. Three years of splendid dedication of a great work have passed, and even though it isnt long, yet it represents the efforts that the team has put in through all those years. you, our distinguished readers, have been the backbone of our work because without your contribution, our work would have been blown away by the wind. as months move along, we gain

A great accomplishment
This issue marks the third anniversary of H! SQU, a marvelous achievement by a dedicated and courageous group of SQU students, who made it possible for the wider community to enjoy an English journalistic production, fully created by them. While these students have benefited the community and earned many accolades for their hard work, they have also reaped numerous personal benefits. Not only has their engagement in this wonderful venture bolstered their English language skills, especially their writing; it has also improved their communication and interpersonal skills. i have also noticed that students playing a role in the production of H!SQU, develop more self-esteem and confidence than those who do not take part in such activities. Working in a team teaches the value of cooperation and enables the H! SQU group to strive harmoniously together towards a certain goal. interacting with professors on a different level, beyond the classroom and as mentors, empowers them to deal with experienced people from whom they can learn much about the world. This type of interaction will enhance their autonomy because they are not under the direct supervision of their teachers. When a given H! SQU issue is produced, team members feel an overwhelming sense of achievement, which motivates them to work harder and further increase their self-esteem. Surely, this will be reflected in their personalities, which will become stronger, more flexible and versatile characteristics that the job market is desperately seeking. Why am i enumerating all the above benefits? it is because i am a staunch believer in extra-curricular activities that involve students in authentic situations beyond the classroom. These activities give them the opportunity to use language, to learn from one another, from their professors, and from community members. Hence, i would like to encourage all my students to take part in producing the coming issues of H!SQU and continue this wonderful student activity. Stay blessed.

more confidence to inspire many youth and be their valid voice in the society. We are aware that our dear readers are looking for something to capture them. Thus, our next big step is to produce a variety of coverage that satisfies all types of readers. The team has received many tokens of thanks from a wide range of readers, celebrating the 3rd anniversary, and that stimulated us to take our work to the next level. We are planning to have new young writers in our fourth year; hoping that they will step up the base and bring something astonishing to H!SQU as a publication. Now, we will leave you with our loyal and beloved readers. Find out what they have in mind about H!SQU. What comments or areas of weaknesses they might indicate. Share with them your thoughts and ideas and celebrate with us our third year of awe and amusement. Until we meet next month, take care and be blessed.

Dr. Ali Al Bimani, the fifth Vice Chancellor of Sultan Qaboos University talks to H!SQUs Ahmed Al Hadhrami and Sumaiya Al Kindi

H!SQU is brought out by the English and Translation Society at SQU. Email your views/ suggestions/articles to hi-ets@hotmail.com or hi@timesofoman.com. For more information visit www.englishsqu.net

Ahmed Al Hadhrami & Sumaiya Al Kindi

Editorial Coordinators

For the 16,000 students and over 3000 staff members in SQU, the path is challenging and the tasks are just endless. Despite all of that, when you shake the hands of Dr. Ali Al Bimani (the fifth Vice Chancellor of Sultan Qaboos University), you truly sense the warmness and the real Omani hospitality no matter how stressed out he might be. His door is never closed to SQU students, whom he calls our kids, indicating that SQU is one big family. H!SQU, represented by Ahmed Al Hadhrami and Sumaiya Al Kindi, talks to him about their third anniversary and the youth initiatives of Oman.
Excerpts from an inspirational chat:

Mr Wise

Happy Third Anniversary, H! SQU. Remember, think outside the box!

A word to H!SQU First of all, i would like to extend my real happiness and sincere gratitude as being the Vice Chancellor of Sultan Qaboos University to have students like you, team H!SQU, writing in a very professional way, in a professional journalism and professional newspapers before even

graduating from the university. That shows us how much we are preparing you for tomorrow. My first impression is that this is excellent work and a rewarding initiative. However, as we are celebrating the third year of H!SQU monthly publication, i am worried that, after this group of current team members, the efforts may not be sustained. So i hope that H!SQU team work have

trained those who are coming after to sustain the work with the same quality and the same ,if not more, interest. No one can deny the impact of sustainability on every single manner of life. i am the fifth president of the university and there must be someone as the sixth president will come some time later to handle the responsibility, so whatever i am doing at the moment is for the sake of whoever comes next to sustain the progress of success and the achievements in SQU. Certainly, we hope that we dont teach you only how to read and write but how to sustain. H!SQU in Omani English Journalism H!SQU is a major contribution to the advancement of English journalism in Oman. its our students platform to exhibit the writings and thoughts throughout a very unique publication in cooperation with H! newspaper. it enhances the writing of the Omani

English journalism in a general scale. Youth contribution to society actually i am optimistic towards the youth in every aspect, not only in journalism. i have sixteen thousand students at SQU and i could tell, out of this huge number of students, we will have thirteen or fourteen thousands graduates and the university tomorrow will be proud of them all.The same thing happens in journalism. H!SQU is a new born publication throughout students own initiative, its current success assures us that tomorrow is promising and rewarding for all of us. Lack of Omanis in English journalism a lot of people always think that Omanis cannot express themselves in English. i am sure that we can be

better if not equal to compete with the other experts in the current sector of the English journalism. i think some people have the thought that English journalism is not for Omanis and, to tell you the truth, Omanis are capable of doing a massive improvement in English journalism. i think the weakness is in ourselves that we dont trust ourselves. i am fully optimistic and looking forward for the continuity of your work and the progress of your improvement. as far as English journalism is concerned, the media department in the College of arts and Social Sciences is going to be bilingual and so are some other departments like Geography and History. Extra curricular activities its very important that SQU students contribute in the activities on and off campus. We have the community services centre at

SQU. H!SQU along with various efforts are definitely going to change the mentality of writing in the English media and this is something that effectively services the community and its intellectual prosperity. So i think SQU students should go out there and not only stick to books and books all the time.you have to think big. you have to know what to say, what to do, and whom you help. By accomplishing such tasks, students can stand out and say: we are proud of SQU and of being students in SQU. Final word Whoever calls me and asks me: do i send my child to UK or to SQU? i tell him you will blame yourself if you dont send him to SQU. Why? Because we are treating our students as our kids over here. if you are a student and received your education in a western university,

you still didnt achieve the much you are expected to achieve in SQU. We treat our students differently. We have a wide range of extra-curricular activities. Our students come from towns and villages knowing a little but when they get into SQU, their personalities completely change and thats what exactly they dont get in most of the western universities. We have the international visits, we send students to different countries as there is collaboration between our university and the other universities. internally, we have more than 600 activities over the academic year, thats 3 activities a day. That, to me, is a world of experience that students can take advantage from. i have been asked by others, how come your kids are so confident. May be their English is not very accurate but they are really confident and thats because we are building confidence in the university as the first priority.

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Vol. IV, Issue 1

Three years have passed, 36 issues produced, over 550 people featured in H!SQU pages. How do you view this achievement? i would like first to Congratulate team H!SQU for the third anniversary. On this occasion, i extend my happiness and best wishes to the team and continue, from our side, to support any innovative youth initiative; H!SQU is an instance. as H!SQU comes from the highest educational institution in Oman, we always want to tie up with such platforms. This partnership with SQU mainly results in providing all the Omani educational institutions with a solid ground to creatively write, express and participate in H!SQU. Among the variety of printed publications in Oman, where does H!SQU stand out? H!SQU has a special place and meaning among the other various publications. First and foremost, its being brought out by students who write, edit and publish in English. H!SQU takes a great deal in covering events and activities within SQU or off its campus which makes this publication the first in English as we already have The Future, a publication in the arabic newspaper al Shabiba.

Ambitious Admirable Approachable

Not just a leading role model for the youth of Oman but also a flame of passion for innovation and challenges! The first time you meet Ahmed Al Zadjali, CEO of Muscat Press and Publishing House, a sense of unexpected awe would engulf you and it makes your day. The next time you speak with him, it simply grows stronger and stronger and unleashes a whirlwind of admiration as well as ambition to walk the same road as he did. H!SQU responsible, Ahmed Al Hadhrami, took time out gather some pearls of wisdom from their Guest of Honour for the 3rd Anniversary special edition of H!SQU.

As the world witnesses a rapid advancement in all fields, what do you think H!SQU would look like 10 or 20 years from now? No doubts that H!SQU awaits a bright future. This doesnt mean, however, that the team work of H!SQU has achieved a certain goal and will be satisfied. The field is always open for the best, yet useful, ideas. i am sure that the team of H!SQU is aware of this and i trust they would take the publication toward more accomplishments and higher levels. What or who inspires you in journalism and the media in Oman? Well, this is a tough question but i have always been driven by innovation and creativity. What makes it more interesting, too, is the fact that you just need simple ideas and then develop them into great concepts. i remember the independent newspapers CEO who had been shopping around and noticed that every product comes in more than one shape and size. Stating from the heaviest metal products like ships and airplanes to the smallest ones like the toothpastes or the shampoos. They all come in different sizes. So he applied this to the size of newspapers which were confined to the tabloid size. He made three sizes overall, which resulted in more profits and prosperity. This has been an inspiration to me. What is your future vision of the print media in Oman? Oman is a young society. according to the figures, the youth represent a high percentage among the other classes of society. as for the print media, the focus will soon shift to the digital media which the young people tend to enjoy. reading a newspaper or a magazine is a habit. But there are more practical and quicker ways to read from, like the internet and through the mobile phones, too, which is relished better by the youth. A way from media, what else do you do in your leisure time? i do internet surfing and i go out with friends. in wintertime, i go abroad to keep myself posted of what is going on in the world.

I have always been driven by innovation and creativity. What makes it more interesting, is the fact that you just need simple ideas which can be developed into great concepts!

Embracing the third year

By Ahmed Al hAdhrAmi More than 1095 days have passed since the first release of H!SQU issue, dated: 12.09.2008. Witnessing every single step of H!SQU growing up, month after month, and year after year, makes me overwhelmingly proud. Three consecutive years, perhaps dont seem to be long but, for me, i felt every single day of them and i looked back to the past and i thought to myself smiling: H!SQU awaits a promising tomorrow. H!SQU is a birth of a new journalistic perspective. it functions within three main domains: creativity, content and interactive readers. if one domain is missed, the work will all go in vain. and this is exactly what we have been trying to maintain for the past 36 issues. We believe in creativity, as it is the mind driving wheel to stimulate our readers and make an impact on society. The content is the reality from which we derive our thoughts and ideas and reform them in a simple way to the readers which we expect to hear from afterwards. H!SQU is a birth of a new studentbased publication in English. its by them that prosperity remains and creativity is enhanced. i dont believe in teamwork tasks if it is accompanied by a personal gain at the end. in H!SQU we all cooperate and help each other to draw a beautiful picture to present it as a monthly gift to our beloved Oman as a

little return. a word to the readers: Thank you for your support and for your warm wishes. Please continue the journey with us and lets all shine to benefit ourselves and to take up our society to a higher level. We promise you to work harder and to sincerely serve our community towards the best and only to the best. H!SQU: Happy 3rd anniversary, May God crown you with success and love your loyal readers and those who work behind the scene.

Towards more responsibility!

By SumAiyA Al-Kindi Being in the right path is not indicated by the continuity of a certain work, but rather by the positive impacts this work creates on others. Thats what i found out when i went through editing the interviews of this special issue. i noticed too that the readers are asking for a step further to go beyond SQU which is opposing to the readers views during the second anniversary. The real challenge of H!SQU work has just started. The past three years have taught us that challenges and obstacles occur anytime but must be overcome. So, as we are stepping on the fourth year, more hard work is to come and new ideas are to be shared. The past three years have taught us that commitment, meeting the deadline every month, and having plan B ready in any case means responsibility. after all, no matter what happens, you got to meet the deadline and here comes the real, sometimes unpleasant, joy of the work. Stepping on the fourth year of H!SQU work, a word of appreciation and gratitude should be delivered to the ex-editor of H!, Prasad Panicker, for his endless support to H!SQU. We thank you dear readers for being with us and we

promise you that we will do our best to sustain our work and to approach more aspects of success. Thanks to every single soul who contributed and supported H!SQU by any means; without you we wouldnt achieve the best of our work.

H!SQU: HAPPY THIRD ANNIVERSARY

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Vol. IV, Issue 1

A cross section of students of SQU as well as readers from among the faculty and outside SQU have put forth a string of suggestions for improving and enhancing the journey of H!SQU. From introducing new columns to increasing the number of pages and, someday, standing independently, there have been many ambitious suggestions. Heres what they said:

kEEP UP THE gooD WoRk

Wider distribution
i feel very proud toward those Omani youth who are working on getting Hi-SQU into that level. Being the first team of Omani youths working in English Journalism here in Oman and the fact that they are students is very interesting. From my point of view, i think more distribution of H!SQU copies could be more valuable and will create more impact on the society. in the nearest future, H!SQU will be one of the first reads in Oman if not the first. Stepping towards success H!SQU has been a productive kind of magazine over the past 3 years. it is crystal clear that H!SQU team have put a great effort to create fruitful issues that talked about many of SQU students concerns and how these concerns could be solved. i think H!SQU has already reached the standard of an upgraded, a qualified publication; however, perhaps the future topics could be more of outside SQU students issues. Hats on H!SQU, we are very proud of you and towards the best insha allah!

Present SQU activities

Congratulations and thank you to all those who have struggled to keep H!SQU as lightning in the sky of ETS achievements. Words would never describe the feelings towards the hard work that the members have put into their work. you can seize the chance to present the most important activities of each college at SQU in such a well known magazine to spread the voice of students around the sultanate. i can predict, you will have your own magazine after 5 years as H!SQU is developing. HAjER Al-RAHBI College of Arts and Social Sciences, SQu

Keep it up
SQU should really be proud to have such young minds putting their energy in such a magazine. H!SQU represents the creativity, the hard work and journalistic abilities SQU students have. The work done into H!SQU is really great but there is always a space for improvement and that could be done by advertising it more and encouraging more students from the different colleges to participate. i think H!SQU would be issued weekly in the coming years, and maybe it would be independent someday. Lets hope that will come true one day. mooSA Al-SHURAIQI College of Arts and Social Sciences, SQu

A good publication
id like to congratulate H!SQU team in their 3rd anniversary for the adorable and continuous effort. H!SQU had been a good publication in terms of content and information delivery. i think you can hold some campaigns and events to spread some ideas around the students society. H!SQU should use facebook and twitter to discuss different subjects that would benefit the readers. along with hoping the best future for H!SQU, i would expect more interaction between the publication and the students and perhaps going with the trends of social media. moHSIN Al-SHUAIlY College of Commerce, SQu

Introduce leisure section i would love to thank all the members working in H!SQU for their hard work. im really astonished at their passion into getting new subjects every month to enrich the readers knowledge. Now, H!SQU is celebrating its third anniversary and that means its really achieving its goals towards success. i think H!SQU should have a section on entertainment, such as puzzles, games, etc. it also should specify a subject that could be discussed on the social networks. in the years to come, you will have more audience and the number of pages issued every issue may increase, if hard work is in progress. HANI Al-SHUkAIlI College of Technology

Twice a month!
as a reader of H!SQU, i think publishing H!SQU twice a month whilst retaining the quality of the work would be a great achievement for the team members. H!SQU members have reached a very intensive stage in journalism and you have the sufficient experience to create your own independent magazine. i wish you all the best and continue to work on the success of this release.

Extra pages
it has been an incredible and remarkable effort from you guys. i really believe that the keenness and the thrust of your publication found in the readers has been the most tremendous gratitude to your unspeakable endeavor. Go ahead guys. i guess, if you start winning some extra pages, it would be great. i also would love to see something like English debates or arguments on your pages; something that excites the students. i see a monthly selfdependent issue of H!SQU in the coming years; it would be the most payback for your endless effort. NAjEEB Al-SAADI College of Arts and Social Sciences, SQu graduate

Social project
i would like to congratulate all the people who stood behind the initial idea of allocating this space of H! to the creative pieces done by students. i hope that this sparkling production continues to lighten its readers minds and hearts and never go on the wane. Three years of success should be a source of pride to all the founders, contributors, and readers of H!SQU. i think it would be better, if there is a possibility to broaden the scope of main topics in each issue; that is, bringing up some controversial issues and ideas like: unity in social change versus individuals mindsets, and then, getting varying opinions from students, experts, and academics. H!SQU can

ABDUllAH Al-HURAIzI College of engineering, SQu

ASmA Al-AUfI College of education, SQu

kHUlooD Al-HADHRAmI College of Arts and Social Sciences, SQu

Views of Readers
i would like to congratulate you on the third anniversary of H!SQU. its been a commendable effort on your part to bring out H!SQU. i wish you more success in the coming years. However, you could probably include the views of readers on current topics and have views on discussion forums. Even articles from students on their life in Oman or their own creative writing would be welcome. i have a feeling that H!SQU will achieve greater heights and success. Keep up the good work and youll be on the top. DEEPAlI BHATNAgAR
editor in Chief, The dhow-meCiT college magazine

SQU Voice
i would like to congratulate the H!SQU team on its third anniversary. The articles produced have been consistently interesting, well-written and thought-provoking. i think the pages are very good already, but look forward to seeing even more discussions of matters relevant to both the SQU and the wider community, and interviews with individuals with a message to convey. Probably i would expect to see a major theme for each issue - just as now - and in addition a variety of regular short features. Creative contributions - fiction, poetry, photography, artwork, etc.- are always valuable. above all, the pages should be a vehicle for the voice of SQU students and the student generation as a whole. DR. RoSAlIND BUCkToN-TUCkER
english department, SQu

Increase pages
i would really like to thank all the members who have contributed effectively to the success of the pages and have helped the magazine to achieve an advanced stage. adding a new section for games such as crosswords and puzzles would make the readers having more fun and learning easily while reading the pages. i think doubling the number of the pages in the magazine would be excellent to have more sections about different kinds of issues related to SQU and lifestyle at the same time. ImAN Al-BloUSHI College of Arts and Social Sciences, SQu

New columns, please!

i congratulate H!SQU team for their third anniversary and their success in reflecting the events of the university in those two pages. Keep up your excellent work. i think the team is doing a great job and im sure that they can put H!SQU at the top. i suggest adding a column which talks about social, economical and political issues that affect basically the students and the university, in general. SHAImA Al-ABRI College of education, SQu

be up to the modern professionalism in journalism and generally in media field by adopting a social project that involves students to carry it out for a period of time. Then, H!SQU follows this group of students step by step towards achieving the projects aim. i strongly believe that such monthly reading material would make readers eagerly wait to follow the whole story from the start to the end. i think with these exerted efforts to add more columns and diversify news items, there will be a need to increase the number of H!SQU pages in the future. Happy Birthday, H! SQU! SAID Al-HoSNI lecturer, modern College of Business and Science

Encourage students participation

Through the three years, H!SQU have provided a vast space where we could communicate our ideas and thoughts and by which we could improve our English language to a great extent. it carries a lot of issues that are very close to the students life. apart from that, the language used is in harmony with students level of English which can greatly help in enriching their language. However, i really think that there should be more space for essays that deal with everyday life, ethical conducts, and students life because they will irrigate the magazine as there are many readers interested in such topics.

SQU students should be asked to be active participants. in other words, the magazine editors have to organise some meetings with the English students in order to encourage them. in five years, H!SQU would be a great well-know magazine that would carry throughout its papers a great amount of knowledge and information. Happy anniversary!

Independence
it has been three years since H!SQU has first come into sight to the eyes of the readers. Believe me, there has been so much sacrifices done or else it would never reach its third anniversary. it goes without saying that H!SQU has accomplished great and remarkable results which make the students motivated to share their numerous thoughts to the outside world. More pages, if possible, will be a good solution on how to improve it. independence is the word that would best describe my wishes for H!SQU in the next coming years.

ISHAQ Al-NAIBI lecturer, majan College

ABDUllAH Al-SAlHI Former eTS member

Meet the team

Ahmed Al-Hadhrami
major: english education. First section: SQu Girls, 5 minutes. Why h!SQu? my passion for english Journalism. About me: Ambitious, creative, frank.

Khulood Al-Sawaei
major: english Arts. First section: imagine. Why h!SQu? Apply what i have studied, have the skill of journalistic writing. About me: Conscientious, thoughtful, volatile.

Ahmed Al-Balushi
major: eSl lecturer. First section: i Travel. Why h!SQu? its a dream came to reality. About me: felicitous, fly-high and outgoing.

Sumaiya Al-Kindi
major: english education. First section: On campus. Why h!SQu? To satisfy my journalistic interests.

Asma Al-Balushi
major: english education. First section: Face-OFF. Why h!SQu: inspired by the corporation of the team work. About me: Cheerful, determined, and naughty.

Mohammed Al-Fazari
major: english education. First section: i Travel. Why h!SQu? influenced by the team dedication. About me: neat, dedicated, sensitive.

Ali Al-Yaaqoubi
major: english education. First section: The Cover story Why h!SQu? To improve my communication

About me: optimistic, easy going, moody.

and writing skills. About me: Confident, committed, funny.