Pinnacle The Winds of Change
MASSIVE CHANGES IN TEAM PINNACLE Read on to find out who’s in and who’s bowed out!
YOU KNOW YOU’RE FROM PNEC WHEN...
Feb 2013
5th Edition
FRESHERS WEEK’ 12
ONIB NASIR Talks IEEE PNEC
Editor’s Note Dear Readers! We, joyfully, welcome you all to yet another edition of The Pinnacle. The semester has already ended and our dear PNEC geeks are gearing themselves up for the dreadful upcoming result day. We have reached that time of the year when passing the semester with good grades is all that any PNECian can wish and pray for! Undoubtedly, our team could not have chosen a better date for the publishing of this new edition. It’s been a semester since the freshmen’012 have joined the PNEC family. We see cheerful and satisfied faces. We hear almost no complaints. There was a time when the freshmen, in their initial days, used to find ways of getting rid of PNEC. Now, it is a time when the freshmen are actually enjoying every bit of their ‘university life’. Yes, the winds at PNEC have taken a completely new direction and it is certainly a positive one. The last edition’s editorial words “got to fight for your right to party” were taken pretty much seriously. We actually saw people ‘partying’ and the consequences were thankfully not as harsh as they were expected to be. With uncountable rules, which PNECIANS hardly follow, our Admin has now come up with a few new ones. The Pinnacle really appreciates the genuine efforts of the PNEC Admin but these heavy ‘fines’ cannot really stop our enthusiastic lot from making big records. The Admin should think about molding itself a little according to the new weather. In this edition, you will find reasons of realizing how true, at heart, a PNECIAN you actually are. You will see how a society is related to its president, how the Freshmen’012 were welcomed and how PNEC represented itself at various places. Also, this edition is different from the rest in its own way. Change is always good. With so many changes around and within the boundaries of PNEC, The Pinnacle is also different this time. The difference will be revealed as the readers will flip through the pages of this new edition. The Pinnacle, being a tiny dream of a few people, will now be seen in the eyes of others. Walt Disney quoted: “All our dreams can come true – if we have the courage to pursue them.” The Pinnacle’s existence and success transformed this dream into a reality. We see it becoming a regular thing; something that everyone at PNEC knows about and looks forward to. This edition, hopefully, will be again a huge treat for our followers. It is you people who have made it what it is today. We wish that The Pinnacle actually reaches the PINNACLE. Happy Reading!
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Headlines Freshers’ Week’12
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WHEN THE ADMIN WENT ‘SURPRISE!’
he various student societies at PNEC, NUST’s chapter in Karachi, were in for a shock on Monday, 17th Sep, when they were told by the admin to commemorate the Freshers’ Week from Wednesday. Panic ensued as the actual plan to kick off the week was at a date no sooner than two weeks ahead of the said Monday. Event proposals were exchanged, emergency meetings were held, phone calls were made, and in a flurry of activity, the schedule for the whole week was laid out, ready to be executed. Kudos to the societies! Job well done.
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WELCOMING THE NEWBIES
he opening ceremony of the Fresher’s Week was held in the Jauhar Auditorium and was organized by the newly formed Freshmen Friendly PNEC. Titled the ‘Ice-Breaking Session’, the curtain-raiser acquainted the freshmen with the societies at PNEC, with the respective heads of IEEE, MACS, ECCS, APSS and AIR briefing them shortly about the areas each society covers and its activities. An encouraging step taken by the senior students at PNEC. Keep up the good work.
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THE WEEK FINALLY BEGINS
EEE were supposed to kick the week off on Thursday , but Karachi’s unstable political situation meant that the day’s events had to be postponed. AIR had been allotted Friday and they came forward with their usual professionalism to organize what they dubbed the ‘Friday Funda’. Games like Thumb-Wrestling and Watersliding were played and Waqas Sohail of A.L.I.V.E., a youth activist organization, was also invited to lecture the participants with the focus remaining on increasing the youngster’s concentration and team-working abilities. A worthy kick-off.
THE SHUGHAL CONTINUES . . .
n Monday, ECCS (the Educational and Community Service Society) and NASR (NUST Association for Sports and Recreation) collaborated to present the ‘Shughal Mela’ along with a Marathon Race for the boys and a Spoon Race for the girls. Plans were also made for the screening of the Pakistan vs India warm-up match in the Jauhar Auditorium but, well, the cable wala turned out to be a ditcher. In comparison to Friday’s event, attendances dwindled, but the reading on the fun-meter stayed the same, as an overwhelming response to the marathon was followed by the Bake Sale, the water-balloon fights, and the spontaneous dance show that some high profile prisoners (Read: Society Heads) had to put on to get out of the ‘Jail’ set up by ECCS. Crazy, crazy days.
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Headlines T
PNEC’s NASTY VERSION OF FUN
he charity-raising and sports events were a wacky prelude to the professional (or maybe not) Quiz organized by APSS the next day. The Jauhar Audi was full of raised hands as an APSS spokesman asked the students super-easy questions. Those who answered were sorted into three teams which then competed against each other through three rounds of challenging (or maybe not) questions and the winning team ran away with some comfortable prizes. There was also a flimsy dance performance by a talented (or maybe not) freshie, making the crowd go obscenely wild, and resulting in some vulgar catcalls. Not cool, PNEC. Not cool.
The team behind ’Bibi, ye PNEC hai’
THE TAMING OF THE SHREW
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t was with understandable reluctance then, that after the quiz, the MACS Dramatics Division presented their play ‘Bibi, Ye PNEC Hai’, which had been scripted especially to acquaint the Freshies with the social norms and activities at PNEC. The scares of a repeat of the Summer Festival debacle were quelled however, as the boorish mob turned into a surprisingly approving audience once the theatrics began. They laughed, along with the actors, as the latter pulled off an entertaining performance with witty punches and unscripted insults (because some of them forgot the script). A change for the good!
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From Within Our Walls
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AIR AMONG THE WATERS
he PNEC AIR membership numbers experienced a huge boost when it was announced that a beach-trip was being arranged for the society’s members. Besides being a successful publicity stunt for AIR, the trip itself was a day well spent for the picnickers, as they sang loudly on their way to the heavenly Nathia Gali, breakfasted on the roof of a bus (ladies included!), took part in some lively activities in the beautiful weather and had a great time wrestling the strong waves on the rocky beach. A Sunday to remember.
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THE BALL, THE BOOTS, AND THE SCAM
he football lovers at PNEC put on their socks and boots as the intra-college Futsal Tournament kicked off with the start of October. Almost a dozen teams registered with an equally enthusiastic response from all semesters. The tournament moved smoothly from the first stage into the super-sixes after some upsets and a few thrillers. It was here though that the competition encountered an unfortunate situation which resulted in a team being controversially disqualified. The tournament will go on, however, with the semifinals set to be contested between the four remaining teams in the tournament.
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IEEE KSSC ‘‘12
NEC also hosted the 2nd IEEE Karachi Section Student Congress on the fourth of October. Teams from several other branches of the Karachi section took part in the competitions held at the conference. The competitions and the annual awards were unsurprisingly dominated by IEEE PNEC which picked up the Outstanding IEEE Student Branch and the Best IEEE Student Branch Website awards, while Zain Gill and Iqra Sajid were anointed as the Outstanding IEEE and WIE Volunteers respectively. Team PNEC, comprising of Salar Javaid, Asim Ahmed, Hammad Saleem and Saadi Aziz, also won the Ethics Competition. Rock on, boys and gals! The Pinnacle - Feb 2013
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From Within Our Walls P A WELCOME YOU WOULD AVOID
NEC is home to the weirdest of traditions when it comes to college-specific norms. So, when the female seniors held a girl-exclusive welcome party for the newly arrived batch of ‘16 in the GCR, you would hardly be surprised to hear that the expenses for the said party were sustained by the fresh-women themselves! Sandwiched between the two-way introductions and the singing and chatting sessions, the fuel and the food for the party (i.e. the burgers, drinks and dessert) had to be arranged by the poor little girls, who have already so much to adapt to in their start to life at PNEC. Don’t worry, though, young ladies. Consider this an investment into your P.R. accounts. Ye shalt be repaid. ;)
The PRIDES of PNEC
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TO PATRIATA VIA EME OLYMPIAD
istory changed course when the EME Olympiad saw a team from NUST’s Karachi campus participating for the first time this year. PNEC’s 15member team had to travel for a whopping 26 hours to reach their destination where they were competing in 13 (yes, you read that right!) different categories. Although they could not make an impact in any of the competitions, but after losing out in all events, the team made the trip worthwhile by continuing their journey to Patriata where they celebrated their unprecedented achievements (if any).
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PNEC GOES TO FAST
he girls at PNEC may be few in quantity, but there is no way you can doubt the worth and metal of the female contingent at the college. Besides consistently proving their excellence in academics, they also keep winning regular accolades for PNEC at different competitions. Hence was the story of the debating contest held at the main campus of FAST -NU this past month. PNEC sent two teams to the competition; one comprising of civilians namely Umm -e-Aiman and Ammarah Tanveer, and the other constituting S/Lt.s Mudassir and Daud. Felicitations are in order for the ladies, who gave a bright performance at the event and managed to bring back a consolation prize for the college. Cheers!
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From Within Our Walls
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OMNIDROID - NAAM HI KAFI HAI
ne genre of national competitions that PNECians have not been particularly good at are those that concern Robotics. Onib Nasir, M Usman Yousaf, Bilal Gauhar, Aamir Sheikh and Osama Amjad were therefore, part of a team on a mission, which went to the CASE RoboSprint 2012. Their robot, stylishly named Omni-Droid, with Mecanum wheels and pneumatic systems as its outstanding features, led them to the quarter-finals making them the first team from PNEC to have reached the last eight of a national robotics competition. They also became the first team to introduce pneumatic systems at a national robotics competition, and deservingly won the Performance Award at the event. Kudos, lads! You have made PNEC proud.
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CZECH THESE PNECIANS!
eam PNEC made their presence felt at Zabmun 2012, a three day affair involving rigorous exercises in global diplomacy, heavy handed talks and hectic committee session. Made up of Asadullah Qureshi, Ahsan Pasha, Wasiq Ghani, Saad Saud Mirza, Azfar Wasim, Yasir Sharif and Sobia Feroz (all sophomores or freshmen), the team represented the Czech Republic at the event and did very well in their respective committees even though it was their first MUN experience for the most part. The team managed to bag the Best Stall Award at the Global Village among other such accolades and were generally the life of the party, giving a memorable dance performance on the first day. Way to prove we are more than just nerds and geeks, people. Respect!
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Laugh it Off YOU KNOW YOU’RE FROM PNEC WHEN…
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you’re a guy, and you complain that there are no hot girls in your college.
you’re a girl, and you complain that there are no hot guys in your college.
either ways, you’re probably correct.
you can count the number of girls in your batch on your fingers.
you’re a girl, and you’re frequently ogled at.
you’re a guy, and you’ve ogled at girls.
you’re a good-looking guy, and you’ve been ogled at!
you’re a guy, and you’ve ogled at guys!
you’re a girl, and your facebook account receives a dozen pokes and friend requests every day.
you’re either a Karachiite, or are prejudiced against them.
your college’s claim to fame is that they have been functioning since the stone ages.
you curse the uni’s administration on a weekly, no.. daily, no.. hourly basis.
people at your college bunk classes to study.
your classmate refuses to help you with your test preparation, citing the relative marking system as a reason. Bonkers. Absolute bonkers!
you get a long weekend, if friday is a holiday. Hell yeah!
you’ve stared at the trees all around you, and wondered; what the hell are they friggin’ numbered for?!
your college is located right next to Arena, and still, nobody ever goes there.
the college library is one of the places where you go to chill out. Yo!
you complain about your college enough yourself, but defend it fiercely in-front of outsiders.
you hope against hope that the admin somehow skips your name when announcing who’ll be next month’s CR.
you never wanted to be the CR, were made one involuntarily, and then fined for not doing your designated duties. Only in PNEC!
you’ve been fined for wearing jeans/joggers/slippers to college.
you’ve been fined for talking/laughing out loud during a guest lecture.
you’ve been fined for sleeping through a guest lecture.
you’ve been fined for not tucking in your t-friggin’-shirt.
The Pinnacle - Feb 2013
Laugh it Off
you’ve been fined for not wearing a helmet while riding a bike in the college premises.
you’ve been fined for apparently, no plausible reason. Tough luck, eh?!
you’ve gotten a lecture on how you’re gonna suck at everything in your life just because you wore jeans to college.
you‘ve been barred from entering you own college, because you forgot your college card at home.
you’ve been barred from leaving (yes, LEAVING) your college because the admin wants you to attend a ‘guest-lecture’.
you’ve been forced to attend a lecture that had absolutely no connection to your academic, extracurricular, social, or any other sphere of life.
you’ve made the 25-min walk to Mohd. Ali Society for lunch, and not considered it a khwari.
your college has four different cafeterias (I think there are four, although the actual number might be three.).
conter-strike in the computer lab is considered an extracurricular activity.
‘ragging’ means giving a detailed introduction of your self in orthodox Urdu.
taking the name of a particular animal may be considered abusive by men-in-white.
you can actually go for hiking inside your college (the way up from parade ground to gun-room mess).
you’ve been stopped by a senior in your freshmen year, who then inquired about the full names of the girls in your class.
you constantly get the feeling that you’re also minoring in punjabi besides majoring in engineering.
your cafeteria reeks of cigarette smell even though smoking is strictly prohibited there. All hail the men-in-white.
you make an average of 5 trips to the photocopy shop every week for various reasons ;).
there are almost a dozen societies in your college, but you only know about the existence of three.
your teachers punish you for being late to class by making you treat your whole class with samosas.
upon hearing that your media society is planning a huge concert, you LOL. Literally.
you decide to take the help of the hostelite lobby when you are contesting society elections.
the procedure for getting an event-proposal approved by your admin is longer than the procedure for getting a letter sent to the Swiss Government.
you’re a Karachiite, and you have an acute inferiority complex towards NEDians, even though your uni is actually better than theirs.
your tennis court hardly ever hosts tennis matches, but sees every other sport including cricket, football, throwball and even water-fights!
once every year, you enter the computer lab to find it full with desperate people praying to God, and hastily checking and refreshing the PNEC portal. Yes, its Result Day.
you just know it, because your clothes, your body, your mind and your SOUL says so ;) The Pinnacle - Feb 2013
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Features THE TRANSITION By Zohaib Shahid
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aking into account, its’ quite humble beginnings, the ‘Pinnacle’ has been able to achieve a lot in a small course of time. When Rida Shazli, one of the pioneers of the newsletter and the former editor-in-chief, began working on this idea from a scratch, she had very few to help her in the task. The goal was to alter the way the people see and perceive things at PNEC. It was an immense challenge for the team. Presenting the irony of what takes place at PNEC everyday was not an easy thing to do, but Rida and Co. did it effectively and quite brilliantly. Since its inception, Pinnacle has been covering all the important events, the good things and the bad things (okay, maybe not) happening at PNEC. It has given a platform to the students to express themselves and made many develop a light-hearted perspective about the college. Undoubtedly, Rida Shazli and her colleagues have created a legacy with Pinnacle.
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Features Hence, when the twilight of her era at PNEC arrived for Rida, she had to choose a worthy successor to herself. With the belief that someone with a zeal for change and a witty sense of humor should lead the ‘Pinnacle’, the duties of the editor-in-chief are now being passed on to Ali Qamber. A new era begins, with new challenges accompanying it. Concerning his vast experiences with publications in his schooling and with the ‘Pinnacle’, Ali can be deemed fit to stand up to this challenge. This issue, which is Ali’s debut as an editor, will be an indicator of the things to come at Pinnacle. The readers will acknowledge that the level of entertainment and the concept of bringing something worth reading have been maintained as the new editor walks in the coveted footsteps of Rida and others. One can only hope he is able to take the ‘Pinnacle’ to even greater heights. To Rida: We thank you for all that you’ve done for the Pinnacle, and To Ali: All the very best!
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Features AN ENCOUNTER WITH ONIB NASIR
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aving been a part of IEEE PNEC since the first semester, Onib Nasir has served the society as stoutly as any other have. Here, Onib tells us about his work and dedication towards IEEE and how he has taken the society ahead. Pinnacle’s Zohaib Shahid recently caught up with Onib Nasir of Sem VII - EL, also the President of IEEE’s student branch at PNEC. ZS Hello, Onib. For starters, I’d like to ask why you chose IEEE over the other societies functioning at PNEC? ON: At the time that I started volunteering, IEEE was the only society with a systematic and established framework. Since then, many societies have emerged at PNEC. I have been a part of them too, but IEEE has retained her supremacy in terms of the professional methodology with which it works. Another prominent reason was that IEEE was the society that linked my field to extra curriculars and hence, would continue to provide me with benefits even after my graduation. ZS: What does IEEE mean to you? ON: IEEE is about keeping yourself up to date with all the latest technological innovations and happenings. It has been providing me with the necessary research tools for this purpose. IEEE has allowed me to create a professional network before graduating, which will come in handy when I'll be looking for a job. As a whole, IEEE has been a pathway to improving PNEC for its’ students and portraying a positive image of the college in front of other universities. We have, Alhamdolillah, been very successful in that regards, as IEEE PNEC is renowned all across Pakistan as a very vibrant student branch. ZS: How have you taken IEEE forward in your tenure as the president of the society? ON: The most challenging task for me was to carry on the work started by Rabia and Bilal during their tenure. As my term comes to an end, I am, Alhamdolillah, satisfied by the progress of IEEE. My focus has been on creating a legacy from which students can benefit even after I leave. The tech magazine ‘Perspective’ is a part of our efforts, which not only provides a platform for students of PNEC to exhibit their marvelous work but also help other students who are interested in similar projects. Organizing the IEEE Karachi Section Student Congress with a splendid turnout was very gratifying. There have been other similar initiatives during the past year, which had an online presence. Our projects, event and ventures
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Features have enabled us to create a vast audience across the world and people from different countries like Sweden, England, Brazil etc. have been appreciating our work. ZS: Where do you see IEEE in the future? ON: IEEE should step forward to establish corporate relations with the industry and form the linkage on which we have already been working. Bonding with the corporate sector is of immense importance for all the students of the university and although this is not among the society objectives, I still feel IEEE should fill this vacuum. IEEE should also focus on making a network for alumni and keep inviting them on a regular basis to the college. It should be the society’s aim to promote technological innovation through the means of various events and workshops. ZS: How have you managed to maintain the balance between society -work and academics? ON: Time management! We need to prioritize the things we really want to achieve and have an impact upon. Since becoming an active part of societies, I have had to sacrifice a lot of things for e.g. I used to watch every kind of sports before but now I hardly get any time to do so. We need to be determined to do what we are doing. There may be times when people point out that all of it is useless, but you have to believe in yourself.
ZS: What kind of society-collaborations have you worked on, and how successful are they generally? ON: I have been a part of couple of society collaborations. Working with other societies has been a good experience and has always been beneficial for the students. I believe the society -heads should focus on more collaborations and also understand that all the societies functioning at PNEC have the same objective – the college’s betterment. Once we understand that, no society will consider the others as its rivals. ZS: a final message for all you juniors? ON: PNEC is a great place. Trust me when I say that. All it lacks is its students owning the place. When I look around, I find most people whining about the bad stuff and comparing it to other institutes instead of doing something about it. What other institutes possess are students who have taken the initiative and organized various events. After having visited almost all of Pakistan’s biggest universities, I can assure you that organizing an event in PNEC is not as cumbersome as in other universities. Hence, I ask the juniors to start owning this place, taking initiatives, and carrying on the work that we have started here at PNEC. We thank Onib for his time, and wish him and IEEE PNEC all the best for the future!
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Features Ragging, the PNECian Way of Breaking the Ice! By Salar bin Javaid
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ongratulations! You’re one of the lucky few who made it to PNEC this year. You sat in that examination hall and bested around 40,000 – 50,000 students across the nation. You have now stepped into the real world, pat yourself on the back and put a feather in your cap. Now, many people will tell you about academics, activities, societies, so on and so forth. But I won’t get into any of that. I have only one thing that I shall share with you and that my juniors, is the PNECian art form of ragging. To put it simply; ragging is a rite of passage. To truly enjoy university life one must first step into KK (you’ll soon find out about that) at any given time of the day and wait for a senior to notice you. Whether you’re an outliving student or a hostelite, there’s a senior out there waiting to see you walk into that café. While you take in the sight, someone from somewhere will call you out, and the session begins. Many of you answer the call and walk towards the senior, but some of you tend to ignore it, thus making a huge mistake. Let’s say you went with the right choice and are now facing a senior or a whole group of seniors. Fret not! For they mean you NO harm, unlike other institutions where ragging is intended to humiliate and bully, here at PNEC it’s only used as a tool for getting to know our juniors. It begins with the introduction, which is carried out in a very specific manner; you must stand in muster position (which you’ll learn properly sooner or later), chest out, chin up and then introduce yourself. But be sure, no matter how confident you are, you’ll get
To put it simply; ragging is a rite of passage. To truly enjoy university life one must first step into KK (you’ll soon find out about that) at any given time of the day and wait for a senior to notice you.
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Features it wrong the first time and that’s where your seniors will ‘help’ you out. After the introduction you’ll get the wonderful opportunity to treat your seniors to tea and/or samosas, rolls etc. while you tell them more about yourself and they tell you about life at PNEC. You might even get to showcase your vocal talents if the seniors are in the mood for some entertainment. : -p It’s far from over as seniors aren’t limited to KK – they just spend most of their time there – you’ll find them in class rooms, labs, corridors and virtually everywhere else. Every time you come across a senior the introductory session shall start anew and how long it goes on depends on the senior. Eventually, most of us will get to know you and you will learn about the places that you need to stay away from in order to avoid us. We also like the library and juniors who show up at the library too much are practically asking for it. That’s just a brief overview of how your first encounter might go down, the tip of the iceberg. Some of you might dodge us initially but remember you can’t run forever. Lastly, remember that if a senior calls you out you should be respectful and answer their call. If you behave well you will definitely gain our respect and we’ll be there to help you out in any way possible. But if you try to act smart then let me tell you that we seniors can be quite creative!
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Photo of the month
The ladder of success is best climbed by stepping on the rungs of opportunity. - Ayn Rand
Team Pinnacle Director Publications: M Akmal Attaullah Editor-in-chief: Syed Ali Qamber Design and Layout: Asim Ahmed Reporters: Ammarah Tanveer , Zohaib Shahid , Asadullah Qureshi Special Thanks: Onib Nasir, Salar Bin Javaid Photo Credits: Ablazed Studios - Adnan Shabbir
Your contributions, originalities and suggestions are more than welcome at macs.infodesk@gmail.com
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