AUI-S Dorm Students Relieved: Rona Motel is Good and Manolya Hotel is Getting Better

by Mahdi Abdullah Murad

After the shocking reports of Stuednt Eye blog on the bad situation of AUI-S dorm students at Manolya Hotel, the AUI-S Administration, mainly Dr. James Harrigan, the Academic Dean of Students, decided to take action.
A new apartment, Rona Motel, on the 60th street near to the AUI-S campus, was rented. 24 of the students at Manolya chose to go to the new hotel and 31 students decided to stay. The new dorm, according to the students, met their expectations.

The old dorm, Manolya, is now less crowded than before. Like the other hotel, there are rooms of three and four students and no more. As we have shwon in the report, Manolya now is different from Manloya a week ago.
While it is soon to decide on the serivces level at Rona Motel, the Manloya Hotel managers need to do more to improve the situations.
According to some of the Manolya residents, water service is not provided at soem of the rooms. In the mornings, some of the students have no water. The washing machines are also not working well at most of the Manloya rooms.
AUI-S administration should put more pressure on the managers to provide better services for the dorms.

See my entire photo story on this issue via this link: http://auisstudent.blogspot.com/2010/12/by-mahdi-abdullah-murad-after-shocking.html

How Much Can We Learn From Referencing?

by Mahdi Abdullah Murad 

The first essential point behind referencing for any official documents is that it helps us avoid plagiarizing. We all know that plagiarizing is something just not acceptable. It is something that ruins your personality. Like it has been said, “Taking something from one man and making it worse is plagiarism.” When you plagiarize, you really destroy yourself and the source that you took the idea from. Since we have the best tool to protect us from such a disaster, why don’t we apply it? Referencing can be your best element in preventing you from facing such tough experience.

Podcast & Videocast

Summarizing the video
The vedeo explains the way of converting a scanned image to a text file. According to the video, there are three steps to complete this process. The three steps are: Downloading the ocrtool softwar, opening the scanned document via the Microsoft and save it, and getting an image in the ocrtool.

 Do you think this videocast is more effective than a podcast?  Why?

Although the vediocast was interesting, I don't think that it is more interesting than podcast because I experienced pod-cast but not vediocast. I know it is not a good answer for the question, but I really love pod-casting and enjoy it a lot.

 

Do you think that this kind of simulation videocast is an effective way to learn new skills?

For sure, whenever we experienced new things, we would learn something new. So, I think vediocast is something enough for someone who loves learning new skills. There are a lot to be learnt in vediocast just like podcast.  So, what I am asking my school is that helping us learn new technologies by providing such kinds of ways. Technology is science and fun. We can learn new skills in technology without being tired for a moment.

Manolya Dormitory, Photos Speak the Shameful Truth

 by Mahdi Abdullah Murad - Student Eye

The daily problems AUI-S students face at Manolya dormitory, is only a demonstration of the unplanned, unprepared and negligent policy making at the American University of Iraq-Sulaimani.
We tried not to show these images online, because there was still a hope to change the hurting scenes. But now, and after weeks of suffer and passion, We know no other way but this one to tell the story of a shame.In this report, I will not be saying very much. The pictures will speak for themselves. However, some of the pictures are more tragic than what they seem, so we have said a few words about them. We hope these images will move the administration a little bit towards an evaluation of the student life at the dorms.

This is bathroom and restroom. When you are here, you should know that there are five other people waiting for the same opportunity out there. So, you really don't get what you want. What you do is your rush with everything. Sometimes, you are taking a shower and your friend is shortened. One of you has to suffer eventually!

P O D C A S T I N G

What is podcast?

A podcast is a series of either audio or video files that have been recorded, then downloaded via the websites. Basically, it is accessing media files over the internet.

How did it start?

Podcasting emerged in the public in late 2004. The apple company has dramatic impact in extending what is so-called podcast by releasing iTunes 4.9 that was a real native support for the podcast in 2005. This made receiving podcast more suitable. Also, it effectively ended with a great advancement of the podcast by independent developers. This company influenced so many independent developers to use this service. Moreover, Trademark applications were another useful way in publicizing the serve of broadcast into the public. The United States can be listed as a first country in capitalizing podcast. According to Wikipedia, “By February 2007, there had been 24 attempts to register trademarks containing the word "PODCAST" in United States.”

MobiCash starts mobile payment for AUI-S students

  by  Mahdi Abdullah Murad

    AUI-S Voice Staff Reporter

     www.auisvoice.org            

The AUIS students were the first of first in experiencing the most advanced technology.

The US Task Force for Business and Stability Operation, which focuses on the economic development in both Iraq and Afghanistan, is currently working in providing a cutting-edge technology within AUI-S that is called MobiCash.

From now on, you can transfer money, make payments, and buy minutes without leaving your home through mobile banking. You don’t need to know how much money you need for the entire day when you leave your home. Also, you do not need to be worry about the cash you carry with yourself.

Summary of the Ray Kurzweil's presentation on, "How technology will transform us?"

Ray Kurzweil- photo courtesy of google 

by Mahdi Abdullah Murad

In a presentation given by Ray Kurzweil under the title, “how technology will transform us?”,  Kurzweil addressed his views about different grounds of the technology that is experienced and will be faced in the future such us, overcoming the disease and poverty, the evolutionary process of the technology, the acceleration of the evolutionary process in both biology and technology, and the communication. Moreover, he demonstrated his predictions of how the technology will be in the future.

On Dashnye Daloye's Interview - We Need an American University!

by Mahdi Abdullah Murad
http://www.auisstudent.blogspot.com/

In an interview given to Niqash website and published in many other Kurdish media, Dashne Daloye, the student affairs director, said that AUI-S students are not used to freedom and absence of fear. While supporting Ms. Daloye in her thesis, I would like to say something more on the issue.

To Jackie Spinner: Goodbye my lovely adviser



Jackie and I

 by Mahdi Abdullah

Jackie Spinner, who was the first AUIS Voice Adviser, left AUI-S for good on Sep 1,2010. Spinner came to AUI-S last year and started working as an Adviser for the AUIS Voice Newspaper, which is the first Independent University Student Newspaper in Iraq. Although she worked at AUI-S for less than one year, Spinner could help so many AUI-S students to be professional journalists. She started a great project in the development of the media at AUI-S.