THE SEMESTER THAT WAS

Friday 12th November, 2010

Ronnel N. Onchagwa points out the major highlights of the semester mentioning the good, the bad and the ugly aspects

The semester is almost over and now everybody is preoccupied with exams. For students, especially in the school of Information Sciences, it has been quite an eventful 14-week period. Most occurrences were very usual and rather predictable, while in some cases, the unexpected became the expected. The following is a recap of the key highlights of the semester:
The Good
The school of Information Sciences introduced a new course; Bsc Informatics.
The sixth Annual International Conference was held in MTL and in the school of Information Sciences. The guest of honour, Hon William Ruto, however failed to turn up but it was a holiday in disguise as there were no classes in SIS for one week.
Several dignitaries, among them East African Community Permanent secretary Mr. David Nalo, paid a visit to the school of Information Sciences and were hosted live on MUFM.
The long overdue review of the MUISSA constitution was instituted but very few students got to participate in the process.
Something like a mobile telephone base station (popularly referred to as a booster) is being erected on the roof of hostel H, apparently to solve network failure problems inherent in the Soweto region.
The Bad
It was definitely not a great semester for the MUISSA executive committee. First, the chairperson left for Nairobi campus then the sports day, the only major event of the semester, was ruined. Tempers flared at the pitch as a football match between second years and third years almost turned chaotic due to a ‘referee error’. Secondly, a goat that was meant for the winners disappeared mysteriously and now officials have suggested that they will get a cow next time for ‘security reasons’. Later in the evening, all the invited guests for what was supposed to be a dinner failed to turn up.
An individual alleged to have been caught red handed stealing clothes from a clothes line behind hostel D in the dead of the night, received a thorough beating from an enraged mob. It took the intervention of security personnel to save him an eminent meeting with his maker.
The cruel hand of death, in September, robbed us of a dedicated student fondly referred to as Papa by his classmates. Up to his demise, Mr. Samuel Kurgat was a fourth year student in the school of Information Sciences majoring in Library and Information Studies.
The Ugly
Several foetuses, believed to have been aborted in the hostels, were discovered in the sewerage system.
The semester also witnessed the return of the infamous Peter Mashoka* with his crude midnight antics and shenanigans.
Its push and shove in the accountant’s office and the dean’s office in a last minute attempt to get exam cards.
The Editor and the entire Newsround team wishes all our readers BEST OF LUCK in their end of semester examinations.