Listening Journal, an assignment

The story starts with a topic sentence describing what is what's coming up going to be about, which is an inventor who decides to invent a latrine deodorizer. Another woman leads the show introducing Mr. Sypher who then tells why exactly he came up with his invention, he is very descriptive yet precise and short "95 degrees, the owrst smell i have ever smelt." Changing the people speaking in my opinion helped me as a listener to maintain attention and reduced chances of boredom.

Sypher's voice then appears apparently at the working place as you can here the sound of things being moved in the background, he was apparently showing the interviewer around, when then she starts talking about facts. The background noises makes the listener feel that he is there with the interviewer and also gives some kind of reassurance that the interviewer was there and not just researching from her desk.

She then gave an overview of the past of Sypher, and then mentions that some boy scouts are interested in Sypher's invention then immediately we are transferred to a camp because we can here a sound that seems like the sound of boys in a camp, and then the boys describe how bad the smell is... again, that kept me as a listener really interested as well as surprised at how much audio could be affective at drawing images in my head.

She then speaks to the supervisor of the scouts who also said his part on the subject and then shows her around the cabin explaining how the smell comes out, through out his description we can here the steam as well as the sound of the door opening.

Then she introduces another invention to face the same problem, although it is not very effective; carbines with air processor. then she introduces James cliff to speak on that.

The show ends with her introducing another different stand point which is why change when the older way has been working for thousands of years.

I was impressed by this radio show, i felt that throughout the 3:50 minutes every second was worth it, it is very efficient. the words were chosen carefully. it is very objective, giving different points of view and also very interesting because you can here the sounds which helps you imagine, and almost feel like you are there.

http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=3&islist=true&id=2&d=09-22-2009

Title: Boyhood Trip spurs Inventor's latrine Deodorizer By Laura Ziggler

The new campus Promotes Love

The laws concerning the PDA has immensly decreased after the move the to the new campus. In the old campus, a friend of mine was caught by the security guard for PDA for hugging her brother. while a couple I know has gotten more than 13 PDA charges. In the old campus, if a girl sat on a guys lap PDA would immediately intervene, while in the new campus, that rarely ever happens, and couples feel safe to kiss mouth to mouth in public.

I think it is because this campus is huge with a lot of hidden areas that it is impossible to keep an eye on every body on campus. I know of some people who went to third base in a class on campus and were never caught.

At any case, I find that a good thing, since it gives the students a bigger sense of freedom, and in my opinion when someone feels free he feels more like a human and more like an individual which makes him or her her feel like giving more to the world.


Also, I like the looser feeling that is around campus, love is in the air... And all you need is love---All hail The Beatles.

On Rehab for Eating Disorders

Noha El Bardri a student at the AUC has found that if an AUC student was cached with an eating disorder, they will be admitted to rehab compulsively. She found that out after she interviewed a psychiatrist working at the university's mentoring unit for an article she was writing for a journalism course.

I believe that it is not the university's right or any-one's right to send anyone with an eating disorder to rehab, unless the eating disorder that the person is suffering from proves to affect his/her health.

Bulimia is an eating disorder that affects 1-3% of adolescents in the united states. i have some friends suffering from that disorder, some of them compulsively exercise whilst others force food out by purging. One of my friends who was, by the way, over weight and only purged occasionally was sent to rehab by her mother for two months. In rehab she made close friends with all kinds of addicts, and came out of rehab as an alcoholic.

Her mom, I presume, has had good intentions, however, i believe that in this country, our very own wonderful Egypt there is not enough reliable psychiatrist service, let alone taking a disorder such as bulimia seriously, even though the girl was sent to one of the most reputable rehab centers in Egypt ''Okasha'', she shared the same room with heroine addicts. I think that this is irresponsible, and it has had damage on the girl more than the eating disorder itself.


I think that sending people to rehab without trying with them first is simply taking the easy way out. Because everyone who is in that kind of problem needs help, and wants to change, and so should be given a chance before being sent to such a horrible place, unless they want to off course.

This I Believe

"You are all slaves to God, You are here to serve him" I’ve head this sentence alot as a child, at home and at school. I’ve heard it so much that it began to haunt my mind. I went on obssessing and trying to find out "why exactly did god create me?"




I grew up dissatisfied with life; I felt that it was all petty and overrated. All i could see around me was war and poverty and negilecence. I hated the human kind and felt ashamed of my humanity. Around me i saw people betraying their closest friends, destroying their countries, and acting selfish in everyway. where ever i looked i felt my heart breaking.




I was hopeless, i decided that i did not want to be a part of this cruel world anymore. i wanted to end my life. tried several times, and was called an infidel. I was not infidel; i did believe, but in my head i felt that God was to blame for everything, and that he was to blame for the pain that i was feeling. I never wanted to live, but i had no choice. i never asked to exist but there i was, unable to die, and unable to feel anything but pain.




I hated myself, i hated my kind, I hated God and I hated my partents for bringging me to this unbearable world, all because i thought that i had the right to choose whether i am to exist or not.




I grew up a rebel without a cause, with an appetite for self destruction. I lived like the dead for a while. till one day i realized that i am the selfish one.




I wanted to leave this world never acknowledging the consequences that i would leave behind me, i knew that people would be sad, but i thought they would move on. Till one dayI met someone who shared my same views, and listened to me. I found myself scared that he would decide to leave the world, and then i would be alone again. I did not know him well, but he somehow touched my heart. All the sudden the idea of death hit me: If he dies i would never feel that warmth in my heart again. For a while i forgot about my sorrow just trying to remedy his emotional wounds, and all the sudden i was alive again. The questions no longer mattered, the reason why i existed no longer concerned me.




I believe in searching for the thing that keeps you warm on the inside.

Ramadan, A Proof of freedom in the AUC

If you live in a Muslim country, then you know what Ramadan is like. In Egypt regardless of whether you are a Muslim or not, you are affected by this "holly months".


The Islamic code of ramadan entails that you can not eat, drink, or fornicate during the fasting hours which are from sunrise till sunset. that is about 14 hours. Eating or drinking during these hours publicly is considered a taboo.

"Authorities in southern Egypt have arrested 155 Christians and other non-Muslims for publicly eating and drinking during the holy month of Ramadan." [Baptist post]

In the American University in Cairo, Ramadan is very different. You can eat, drink, and smoke and mostly no one would say anything. Some people might give you dirty looks but that is about it. You would find people fasting as they hangout with people who are not. Everyone is free to do what he pleases and that is one thing i respect about the AUC.

I went to campus with my camera and a sign that says welcome Ramadan and asked students who are breaking the Ramadan code to pose to the camera. Many said they wouldn't pose with food or drinks or cigarettes as they do not want any outsiders to know that they are not fasting. Some even said that they fear getting arrested, Nonetheless alot were confident and carefree about the fact that they are not fasting.

Some people around campus belive that it is okay for you to smoke while fasting. while Islamic scholars clearly state that it is not allowed, and that it breaks you fast. they say that they do so because they believe that fasting is about cleansing the soul by refraining from temptation and that refraining from food is enough.

Ramadan in AUC proves that AUC is a place that supports personal freedoms, since students do not have to pretend to fast on campus, unless they are really fasting.