GUQ SGA Newsletter | Nov 2017

Student Government Association

NEWSLETTER November 2017 | Georgetown University in Qatar

O

SGA’S TOWN HALL

n November 6, Student Government Association had its first Town Hall for the 2017-2018 academic year.

Noor Sheikh, the SGA President, started the meeting by welcoming the attendees and inviting the SGA members to introduce themselves and presented their accomplishments. Sara Abdelghany, the Public Relations Officer, led the presentation that included an explanation of the two committees of SGA–the Student Activities Committee (SAC) and the Student Liaison Committee (SLC) – and the projects in progress. The SGA has been addressing concerns including but not limited to parking, transportation and printing. The meeting highlighted the efforts the SGA has been taking to stay connect with the student body through social media platform such as instagram (@guq_sga) and Facebook (@sga_guq).

Four invited panelists addressed

student questions; among the panelists were Dean McGregor from Academic Affairs, Lori Sakkab and Assad Malik from facilities (FIT), as well as Afsha Kohli from Student Life. The student rose some conerns regarding: • The modifications of Spring Break.

• The vending machines.

• Extending the library hours.

• Senior concerns regarding their participation in the CEP and Zones.

• Printing and the printing quota.

• Adding laptop chargers in the library.

• Informal job hiring?

Student employment concerns.

• Cafeteria and Coffee Shop concerns.

Overall, November’s Town Hall was a successful event and the SGA thanks the panelists, faculty guests, and attendees!

NEWSLETTER HIGHLIGHTS SGA’s Town Hall Photos of Fall Fest 2017 Spotlight: Dean Barth Meet the Honor Council On the SGA’s Mind

EDITORIAL TEAM Editor-in-Chef and Designer Mohammed Al-Jaberi Contributers Noor Sheikh Sara Abdelghany Yok Thaneetho Malak Elmoh

SGA Newsletter | November 2017

FALL FEST 2017

2

SGA Newsletter | November 2017

3

SGA Newsletter | November 2017

D

KAIHENRIK BARTH ”GERMANS DON’T DO FUNNY!”

r. Kai-Henrik Barth is the Senior Assistant Dean for Research Support and a professor. He is also the Executive Director of the Honor Council and he has become the face of the Honor Council among GUQ students. Despite his academic stardom, little is known about Dean Barth. Thus, the SGA takes it as our mission to reintroduce you to our amazing, yet mysterious dean.

Q: Let’s break some ice by getting personal. Can you tell us your romantic story?

A: My wife Katrin grew up in East Germany and I am from West Germany, so we were raised in different countries, separated by a wall. This wall came down in November 1989, and we met a few days later in an art gallery in Hamburg. You can say that we are one of the first “reunified” German couples.

Q: AWWW THAT’S SO CUTE! I remember you talked about your son? What can you tell us about him?

A: My son Per-Niklas makes me happy and proud. He’s special. He is a very talented percussionist and drummer, and seeing him perform on stage in his many concerts and competitions has always moved me. He’s also good at academics (he attends the American School of Doha) and excels in sport: he recently got his Black Belt in Taekwondo. The world is made for him.

He’s very special.

Q: Can you please tell us about your previous experiences before you joined Georgetown?

A: I joined GUQ in 2008. Before coming to Qatar, I was a postdoc and later faculty member at Georgetown’s main campus in Washington, DC, first in the Science, Technology, and International Affairs (STIA)

4 program and later in the Security Studies Program (SSP); SSP is a Masters program, and there I taught both mid-career security professionals and “fresh” graduate students straight out of undergraduate programs. Before joining Georgetown I lived for eight years in one of the coldest places in the world, Minneapolis, Minnesota, where I got my Ph.D. in History of Science and Technology. Before that I was a physicist in Hamburg, Germany, doing particle physics: I was part of a large team of physicists shooting electrons on protons in large underground particle accelerators. We were trying to figure out what all matter is made of. For my undergraduate and graduate degrees I studied the three PHs—physics, photography, and philosophy.

Q: It’s a major shift from being a professional physicist to teaching post-grads and now undergrads.

What has inspired such a change; what has brought you to Qatar?

A: I think pure curiosity about the region, its culture, religion, history, and politics. Also adventurism: I wanted to see other parts of the world with my family. And, I was working then on Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and therefore I wanted to be in the region.

Q: Rumor has it that you used to manage a band and was on the road with them?

A: That’s totally wrong. I have never managed a band; I was a local crew member, building big concert stages for rock bands such as the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Prince, Sting, Peter Gabriel, or Michael Jackson. During the concerts my crew and I would provide security, protecting the stage and stars from crazy fans. This was my student job: it was well paid and physically exhausting.

Sometimes I did concerts every day of the week. It was interesting for a few years, and I saw hundreds of great concerts, ranging from classical music (where I had to dress up in suit and tie) to punk concerts, where I sometimes had to throw people off the stage.

Q: That sounds like a fun life. Do you miss that life?

A: No! Q: What is ‘Yellowcake Greensalt?’

A: It’s my SoundCloud label (https://

SGA Newsletter | November 2017 soundcloud.com/yellowcakegreensalt) where I dabble in music composition with Apple Logic and Garageband. The name is a reference to nuclear weapons materials: “Yellowcake” is uranium oxide U3O8; “Greensalt” is uranium tetrafluoride UF4. Both are stages in the development of nuclear weapons. So, it’s connected to my work on nuclear nonproliferation. And somehow it sounds strange and a bit nonsensical.

Q: Because you have excelled in diverse areas and you seem to be passionate about them all, do you think passion is an important key to success?

A: Passion is the key. I am passionate about photography (see https://www.kaihenrikbarth. com), but I don’t think one can ever be passionate enough.

If I had more passion, I would have had more exhibits and more photos printed. I love photography: too bad that there are only 48 hours in a day.

Q: What would you tell a student who may feel that they have lost their passion?

A: Well, focus on what drives you. Focus on what makes you happy. Everyone has a talent for something amazing. Enjoy!

Q: Do you think pictures are a better form of expression than words?

A: No, just a different way of expression. Some can express with words what no photo, no painting, no sculpture, no performance can capture. On the other hand, I’ve seen pictures that defy words.

Q: What about you? Do you think you are more expressive in words or in photos?

A: I’m clumsy with words and I always blame it on being a German. I am a visual person and I have a strong emotional response to photographs: I believe I know what is a great photo and what’s not. With paintings, and so on, I wouldn’t be so confident to make this kind of judgment. With photos, I am

very opinionated. That’s why I love working with the members of our GUQ Photo Group.

Q: You strike people as an extreme perfectionist. Are you?

A: Unfortunately, yes.

Q: There must have been times when you had to submit a work that you have not been fully satisfied with. How do you cope with that?

A: I find it difficult to submit work that I am not happy with. It’s a weakness, and I am worried for people who share this “disease.”

In many cases good honest work is good enough. Don’t kill yourself over making it 2% better. Unless, of course, you are working on your masterpiece: then it has to be absolutely 1,000% perfect!

Q: Let’s talk about your role in the Honor Council. How did you start and what are you currently doing?

A: I am the Executive Director.

As the director, my job is to make sure that the processes of the Honor Council are in a good shape and that we have members who are active, that the community of students, faculty, and staff understand why academic integrity is so important and so central to our educational mission. That’s my main role. I want to contribute to a learning environment in which students want to live and breath academic integrity; I hope students want to be part of an institution where integrity matters, because the

5 alternative is a university where nobody cares, students copy, cheat and lie, nobody trusts anybody and nobody is honest. In such a cynical environment there is no learning. Would you want to be part of such a corrupt and toxic environment?

Q: I agree that academic integrity is very important.

But let me play devil’s advocate here and suggest that the institutionalized body that monitors and enforces academic integrity has some negative implications for the idea of trust between students and their institution.

A: I hope not. Our job is to work with students, not against students. Our job is not law enforcement; our job is education.

We’re here to provide a positive view of integrity by emphasizing that with integrity comes honesty, trust, respect, fairness, responsibility, and courage. These are very positive values, worth celebrating and cultivating. I hope that when students leave Georgetown they have learned to make good ethical choices and are proud of their own honest work.

Q: Let’s leave on a happy note, can you tell me something funny?

A: Germans don’t do funny.

SGA Newsletter | November 2017

MEET THE HONOR COUNCIL

6

The Honor Council is a transparent and confidential entity that thrives to uphold the values and standards of academic integrity. We would like to introduce ourselves to the wider community and say that we are here in case you need us. Feel free to chat with us , we would love to answer your questions and concerns about academic integrity.

The Members: Alisha Kamran (President), Afif Haitsam (Student Outreach Chair), Hamideh Dorzadeh (Sanction Reduction Chair), Mohammad Al-Jaberi (Faculty Outreach Chair) Waleed Zahoor, Zohaib Tahir, Wei-Yi Richard Chen, Jihane Benamar, Khalid Marafi, Abdulrahman Almughesib, Aiza Khan, Wesley Chen, Muneera Al-Sada, Malek Deeb and Yasmine Fade.

SGA Newsletter | November 2017

7

ON THE SGA’S MIND Matter

Description

GUQ shuttle feedback Now that the GUQ shuttle is shared with Cornell students, please feel free to approach the SGA with your feedback Campus cleanliness concerns Increasing women’s gym times Printing concerns

Wifi concerns

Concerned SGA Member You!

We are still working with the student body to ensure that our campus stays clean. Please remember to clean up after yourself!

As per students’ Karak & Conversation requests, we are working to add more ladies-only gym hours

Yara K.

The printing quota for next semester has doubled - the printing allowance is now 1000 pages per semester, with accommodations for students doing additional classes or honours theses. Reach out to us next semester with any feedback!

We have drawn FIT’s attention to areas where the wifi connection is unreliable, and will follow up with them

Collaborative SGA effort

Florise

Mohammed

Charging cables in the As per students’ Town Hall requests, we are working to library requests provide common types of chargers in the library

Manahil

Student Activities Travel Fund requests

As per students’ Karak & Conversation requests, the SGA aims to determine the possibility of extending the SATF eligibility windows beyond breaks

Yara K.

SGA Social Media

A common Karak & Conversation request was to see more Sara SGA presence on social media. We hear you - follow us on Instagram @guq_sga

The SGA members would like to thank you for the engagement and input this semester. We wish you best of luck in your finals!

One of the fundamental goals of the current SGA members is to stay connected with the student body. We believe in transparency and effective communication to represent you well. You have seen our faces in this issue of the newsletter, please come up to any one of us, we would love to have a chat and listen to your thoughts and suggestions. To further stay connected, please follow our Facebook group, instagram account and reach out to us anytime through: @SGA_GUQ

@GUQ_SGA