News
May 4, 2009
7
Happy New Year Nepal Nepalese Association celebrates 2066 B.S. at CU By Rashmi Thapaliya Collegian Staff The Cameron University Nepalese Association (CUNA) organized the Nepalese New Year Celebration on April 18 in the Shepler Ballroom. The New Year’s celebration was flavored with Nepalese cultural dances, songs, poetry and a special Nepalese food: momo, or meat dumplings. The hosts for the program were Sadikshya Bhandari, a Sophomore with a major in Biology, and Jinesh Niroula, Vice
President of CUNA. This is the year 2066 B.S. (Bikram Sambat) in Nepal. In fact, the New Year was on April 14, the beginning of the first month ‘Baisakh’ according to the Nepalese calendar. The Nepalese calendar is a lunar calendar, which is about 57 years ahead of the calendar most of us are familiar with, the Gregorian Calendar. The current Nepalese Year is 2066. One interesting feature of the Nepalese calendar is that months may not have the same number of days every year, unlike its Gregorian counterpart. Bhandari started the program with a welcome note and wished everyone a happy New Year. Bhandari said that he regretted the celebration could not take place on the actual date of the Nepalese New Year. “We are celebrating the New Year today because we could not gather and plan during the weekdays,” Bhandari said. The guests and the members of the club were then invited to enjoy the Nepalese momo, which was prepared by Nepalese students.
There were two varieties of momo: turkey and pork, which is enjoyed best with Nepalese achar (sauce). There were also two varieties of Nepalese sauce: spicy and mild. The dessert for the evening was “dudh bari” which is a Nepalese treat prepared in milk. A cultural program followed the reception. The program started with the national anthem of Nepal. After the national anthem, three boys and three girls performed a group dance. The dancers were Joshan Shrestha, Mamata Shrestha, Amit Sharma, Silica Shakya, Kundan Bhattarai and Samikshya Sharma. After the dance performance, Jeewan Raj Bhattari and his friends performed the Nepalese national song, “Rato ra Chandra Surya.” The song describes the meaning of Nepalese Flag and the history of the bravery of Nepalese soldiers who fought for the sovereignty of Nepalese against the British. Hemraj Gurung was the next performer and sang a popular Nepalese pop song. Gurung played guitar by himself for the song. Two Nepalese girls, Anjana Prasain and Rashmi Thapaliya, then performed a dance to a medley of songs. Biswa Subedi, a Freshman at Cameron with a major in Criminal Justice, recited a poem after the dance. The poem was titled
“Mother,” and it described the story of a Nepalese mother who is waiting for her son with hope in her eyes. Her son is abroad and she misses her son very much during ‘Dashain,’ Nepal’s largest festival. Mini Barr, the friendship family for four Nepalese boys, said that she really liked the poem as read by Subedi. “My son is studying in Chicago, and this reminded me of my son and my husband who is fighting for the country in Baghdad,” Barr said. The next attraction was the song ‘Gurasai Phulyo’ by Joshan Shrestha and Amit Sharma, who were accompanied by Avinash Lohni in guitar. The female singer for the evening was Anjana Prasain, a Freshman at Cameron who sang two Nepalese songs. A solo dance performance to ‘Gairikhetko Siraihanyo,’ a classic film song, by Sophomore Samikshya Sharma recharged the mood of the audience. Shobakhar Adhikari then performed the song ‘Bideshjane Mayalu,’ which retells the tragic story of a lover whose beloved is married to a rich boy and is now in a foreign land. Avinash Lohani, who is well known among his friends in Cameron as a very good singer, performed three songs back to back. He performed two Nepalese songs and the English song “I’m Yours,” in which he was accompanied by
his friend Charlie. The audience encouraged him with a big round of applauses. “I am very happy with the support of my friends today,” Lohani said. “I enjoyed the program very much and the cultural performances reminded me of my family and friends back home.” The concluding performance was a medley of Nepalese songs sung by Joshan Shrestha and his friends. Dr. Von Underwood, Dean of the School of Liberal Arts said that he enjoyed the performances by the students and the food. “I think it is a great opportunity for the Nepalese students and for us to be able to come together and celebrate the Nepalese culture,” Dean Underwood said. “There is really a talented group here, and I liked the spicy Nepalese food.” Teri McGrath, an Instructor in the English Department said that the she loved everything in the program. “The group dance was great. It was beautiful,” McGrath said. Marcella Gustafson, the International Coordinator, was also present in the New Year celebration and showed her support for the Nepalese students. Jinesh Niroula, the CUNA Vice-President, said that he was thankful for everyone who came and supported the program.
Finals Schedule • 5:30 MW at Ft.Sill, 5:30 TR at Ft. Sill, and 11:40 MTWRF at Ft. Sill—Finals will be on the last scheduled day of class. • Classes which meet on Tuesdays only for 16 weeks will have their finals during their regular class meeting times on Tuesday, May 5 • Classes which meet on Thursdays only for 16 weeks will have their finals during their regular class meeting times on Thursday, May 7. • Classes that meet on Mondays only will have their finals during their regular class meeting times on Wednesday, May 6. Monday, May 4 is a regular class meeting. • 2nd 8 week Monday/Wednesday classes will have their final on Thursday, May 7. Wednesday, May 6 is a regular class meeting. • Daily is defined to include classes meeting four days per week as well as those meeting five days per week. • Distance education final exams will be taken at authorized testing centers. Abbreviations for days of the week: Monday=M, Tuesday=T, Wednesday=W, Thursday=R, Friday=F, Saturday=S, Sunday=N
DOWNTURN continued from page 1 It is unclear how much the national economic downturn will affect Oklahoma’s colleges and universities, but CU will prepare for the worst while hoping for the best. In any event, CU students should not expect any decrease in service levels. “It is our goal to become more efficient through this time with the Aggie OneCard and addressing every facet of our organization in order to be as efficient as possible,” Pinkston said. “We learned this week that there will $21 million in grants for Oklahoma colleges and universities to convert their buildings to become as energy-efficient as possible. It is unclear how much of that CU
be ways to offset them as well. can receive, but those are the types of things we are exploring “It’s a recession. There may be less discretionary money. in order to save money in the long run.” It may be more difficult for While students to find jobs to CU “The stimulus bill students support their education,” will not see recently passed by an increase Pinkston said. in tuition or Congress may give “However, the Pell Grant fees, other CU some needed effects relief, but we are not maximum will be raised of the counting on it just economy by up to $819 may be per student.” yet.” The unavoidable — Glen Pinkston as those Pell Grant Vice-President increase typical of any of Business and comes recession. thanks to Finance the stimulus Even so, bill passed there may
shortly after President Obama took office. It provides millions of dollars for higher education, but where those dollars will go remains unclear. “The stimulus bill recently passed by Congress may give CU some needed relief, but we are not counting on it just yet,” Pinkston said. One part of CU that will see no difference on account of a recession is the construction that has been going up all over campus. Coming from a separate capital budget, all construction currently being held is already paid for through private donations or capital bonds. “Students will see no pause in construction. The Business
building will be completed in May or June of this year,” Pinkston said, “And the McMahon Centennial Complex and Bentley Gardens will be completed sometime in late 2009.” In good times or bad, however, Cameron University will remain a great educational value, according to a recent national survey. “One thing we are very proud of is that Cameron was named by ‘US News’ and ‘World Report’ as ranking number one in its class in least student loan debt for graduating students,” Pinkston said. “That will continue as we weather this storm and come out the other side.”