Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Libyan Situation Creates Unrest


I write this with a troubled heart. Thousands of miles away in North African land, unarmed protestors are being gunned down from land and air simultaneously and this scenario has induced uneasiness inside me. You might ask what connection do I have with Libyans? Hundreds of Africans (thousands maybe) die every day of hunger, malnutrition, malaria, AIDS, civil war and other cultural and natural malaises so why does it matter suddenly when 300 Libyans have died in a matter of two weeks? This is a valid question.

To know my answer about why I as a Nepalese citizen living in the U.S. feel connected about Libyans, read “Nepal's Stalled Revolution” by Manjushree Thapa. He, a fellow Nepalese outlines what a Nepalese in general, thinks of Arabian revolutions going on around the world.

My trouble stems from the fact that I have been actively following reports of killings of protestors by mercenaries and armed men loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Twitter is flooded with such reports despite the internet and telecommunication blockade in Libya. Follow Andy Carvin on Twitter if you want to stay updated on situation in Libya. I feel powerless to witness violence on Al-Jazeera live yet not be able to act or even attempt to prevent it. Tolerating injustice is as heinous of a crime as committing one, don’t you agree?

How can we go about our daily routine pretending to be oblivious of the fact that freedom seeking fellow Homo Sapiens are being mercilessly terminated? You could call me a hypocrite too for not I haven’t attempted to launch a protest at my university let alone local town or resident country. I still go about studying in the library and completing assignments for this hectic Midterm week and stop to catch Al-Jazeera and Twitter updates only when convenient. In addition, sleep deprivation that I have subjected myself to in the last two weeks is not because of the alarming situation in the Middle East or Northern Africa but only because I have been trying to keep with my college work and do well on tests. I have been a passive participant in these revolutions.



You can again ask what good does a passive participant do than who chooses not to participate at all? My response is: review Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle.  In crude terms, it states that mere presence of observer affects the state of the object/subject being observed. In other words, a device attempting to measure velocity of a moving body alters its motion by bombarding it with photons, even though the change may be very small. You can never measure both the displacement and velocity of an object accurately without compromising the other. This is because the presence of measuring device makes a DIFFERENCE. My mere presence in this world and thinking about a situation makes a difference. Review Chaos theory where flutter of butterfly wings could cause a cyclone in the Atlantic. Metaphorically speaking, writing this post and putting my thoughts out there is my flutter of butterfly wings.

When a geek with an interest in international affairs (like me) tries to understand or interpret the situation, use of scientific theories to understand and model the problem should be expected. My request to all of you reading this is: Do what you can. Tweet about your thoughts, update your Facebook status about Libyan situation or send your thoughts to media. Train to be an assassin to kill Gaddafi, if you have to. But don’t be indifferent. (Actually I was kidding about assassin training. Do that in your free time.) Flutter your wings because we are all connected with invisible strings (my version of string theory) floating in this matrix with solid space to step on that we call Mother Earth. Your little flutter will create force strong enough to cause a dramatic impact in a place thousands of miles away across the Atlantic. Act now.

P.S. 300 deaths have already been confirmed and Italy fears the actual number could be around 1000. Crude oil prices have peaked since recession due to situation in Libya. We can't just ignore it and go about our daily routine anymore.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Revolutions in Arabian World and Trinity

What a way to write my 200th post. There couldn't have been a better time. The Arab world has woken up and have led revolutions for democracy. This will certainly add new chapters in political science books in trying to define democracy and how a revolution is waged. It's no longer waged by elites or opposition parties. A new model has come into place where youths with little or no prior political experience are using social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Google to launch organized demonstrations. Who would have thought that the internet could have been used this way? I am very excited about what has happened in Tunisia and Egypt and is still happening in Bahrain, Yemen and Libya yet saddened to hear about Gaddafi's monstrous atrocities. How can anyone order its security forces to open fire on its own people? Did the world not already make it clear that we don't want any Hitlers no more?


If I were in Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, Egypt, China or Iran, I could have blogged about the mass protests and situation on ground. Fortunately, I am in the U.S. shielded from violence and influence of repressive regimes writing this in the cozy air conditioned "dorms like palaces" of Trinity University. What a contrast!

Talking about stories on campus, I am glad to see the improvement in the Trinitonian's quality of articles. Also, Dr. Ahlburg has set aside some time from his busy schedule to hold Open Door Hours to talk to students and faculty. What a positive gesture by the University President, will serve him good at a time when the Trinitonian published a story chronicling his criticism in a review by Leeds Business School of Colorado. Someone had sent me that review several months ago in comment section on my blog. I thought it still reflected positively on Dr. Ahlburg since he seemed to care more for undergraduates than graduates or faculty, according to the review. 

Another story in the Trinitonian was bashing the ASR for missing the deadline to send a proposal for student activity fee increase. ASR is finally getting a lot of attention on campus, not for good reasons this time though. ASR is facing a tough time in allocating resources properly. Maybe it can start by cutting back on funding for the Trinitonian. The Trinitonian probably receives the biggest chunk of the Student Activity Fee and the difference between what it asked for and what it received last year was the least for it compared to other organizations. It can certainly survive by increasing its advertisement and doing better marketing. Besides, there are always piles of unread Trinitonians in Coates, Mabee, Chapman, MMS and almost everywhere until Thursday. It can try to be wiser by printing only the amount that is demanded. Simple economics. Plus it will also add to our goal of trying to be green. Why print more than is read? 

Btw, I am planning to apply to work as a photographer for the Trinitonian. So, please Trinitonian staff, don't read this post. If you do, don't make it count against me because this is just an unbiased opinion of an anonymous author who does not want to be associated with his real name for anything expressed here.

Will write more about both external and internal revolutions in the coming days. Take lite!


Friday, February 11, 2011

I am one post away from 200th!

Folks, life has been busy, but it's been real good. I'm participating in this MCM Mathematics modeling competition. Wish me luck. Need to go sleep. it's 3:22 am already.f

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Snow at Trinity

Ok, so I have decided to write again. And I won't write about Wellesley Student Apartments this time. Enough bad publicity already. Topic change! Life after study abroad in Aotearoa has been hard to adjust. Now, I have to actually do assignments instead of spend the afternoons sun bathing in Albert Park in Auckland, New Zealand. It is hard to get more than five hours of sleep on Tuesday to Thursdays. 

But besides all these, the best thing that happened was THE SNOW!!!! I don't complain about having to deal with two winters consecutively now, one in Southern and the other in Northern Hemisphere. Below are the snow pictures. Enjoy them and I promise I will write again!

Overlooking the Athletics Field from the South Residence Hall. Photo by: Digital Subway
Slippery Walkway outside the South Residence Hall. Photo by: Digital Subway

Overlooking the Parking Lot beside Thomas Residence Hall. Photo by: Digital Subway