"What is Beauty" Competion

We talk a lot about "African beauty", but what does that term signifies? Dark skin, short virgin hair, big flat nose, big lips, full figure, big hips and backside – is this the true version of an African beauty? If you straighten your hair, put on hair extensions, embarrassed by your flat nose, big lips and big butt – does that mean you're not proud of your African beauty? Tell me what is African beauty.

Is it true that in this day and age we all subscribe to the popular concept of beauty that condemns plump, dark-skinned women? The recent Nokia Face of Africa pageant raised these important questions about African beauty. Face of Africa judge and TRUE LOVE editor Busi Mahlaba had this to say: "There's no beauty like African beauty - our skin tones, our figures and our shapes are distinct and unique in all of the world!" Busi believes African beauty is about the pride and dignity with which we wear our African identity on a daily basis by celebrating our shape, enhancing those features unique to us (such as our small waists and wider hips). She adds: "African beauty is reflecting who you are outwardly; it's embracing our cultures and traditions, and honouring them." She also maintains it's about being able to straddle the dual roles we women in Africa face today, expressing our traditional values and heritage while living and working in a totally Western world. One way of doing this is by introducing elements of our culture into the way we dress (such as combining a suit with a headgear of African beads).

I, myself cannot define beauty but Iam sure I know what beauty is. I can tell the difference between a picture perfect and a non-picture perfect person. Through Campus Highlights Iam giving you a chance to submit a picture of a person you think she/he is a classical definition of beauty, I mean breathtakingly beautiful .I will then create a slide show with your pictures. You can even submitt a picture of yourself if you think you are "drop-dead gorgeous". Our panel of judges will judge which picture they think represents the concept of beauty.Don't forget to mention your name and you contact details as the best picture will win a secret prize. Closing date for the competion is 15 October 2007.Even the females can send the pictures of the males they think are handsome. Winners will be anounced in this website.
Send your pics to this email

Howard Campus & Pitermaritzburg - So dangerous!!!

By Osama Dumakude

It is said that South Africa is the most dangerous country in the world. According to the statistics compiled by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime South Africa was ranked second for assault and murder. Without arguing we are living in a scariest country in the world. Each of us has been a crime victim in one way or the other or has had a person close to you being victimised.

It may look petty, but its a fact that our University is a contributor to the world statistics. According to July 2007 statistics released by Risk Management Services Howard Campus in on top of the stats with more case of theft and Pitermaritzburg and Westville are second and third respectively. Edwood and Medical School in Durban are the only cases with few or no cases of crime. Many cases of of drunken disorderliness were reported in Pitermaritzburg campus on the month of August. Most recenty there has been cases of people who take hostage of people and later kill them for their body organs removed for medicinal purposes.

For comprehensive statistics sheet
CLICK THIS LINK

Note: CAMPUS CRIME STATISTICS REFLECTED WILL VARY AND ARE INFLUENCED BY THE GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF THE CAMPUS AND CRIME TRENDS IN THAT GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION.

MEET OUR NEW CAMPUS POLITICS COMMENTATOR AS FROM NEXT WEEK

GUESS WHO????

CHESSA RESPONDS

There has been series of e-mails where comrades(not ina political sense) have been giving each other a political direction. Today Campus Highlights brings you an e-mail which responds to the other that was sent by some an anonymous person. Click on the link below to acces the e-mail....... starring Chessa Zondi..

Click here to read the e-mail

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FACE TO FACE WITH PY

Status: Independent Individual Candidate

Who are you?
I’m Phiwayinkosi aka “PY” Makhathini. I’m a third year BSSc student.

Should you be elected, what do you hope to achieve at the end of your term?
To contributing immensely in building a student tolerant SRC which has a sole purpose of addressing student issues and grievances with great care and urgency.

What are your concerns about the outgoing SRC?

They did not include students in their decision making processes. They centralised decisions making, thus tended to go astray from their mandate.

What is one thing that you would like to change about SRC? How?

The continuous abuse of the resources that are meant to serve the interest of students. Through redistribution and accounting to students for resources used.

What two skills do you think a SRC member can not do without?

Excellent communication skills, which are helpful in everyday life and enable this office bearer to be able to communicate with students and management in order to address pressing student issues. A second skill is good listening skills. We need SRC members who can bring themselves to listening to the student masses, not someone who only wants to be heard but does not want to hear what other people are saying.

What is your message to fellow students?
Be independent and vote independently. Don’t let people make your vote theirs, your vote is your secret. Your vote is the first step in the process of transformation, accountability, transparency and excellent service delivery.

End of the road to "copy-and-pasters"

Osama Dumakude writes

It’s the end of the road to all plagiarisers and “copy-and-pasters”. With the introduction of My Dropbox in the educational scenery, plagiarism is going to be detected within a minute and without any hassles. My Drop Box is a website that checks the content of a student’s paper for possible plagiarism. MyDropbox Suite integrates a renowned plagiarism prevention technology with a versatile digital learning environment that enables instructors to manage online assignments, organize electronic submissions and mark papers on the Web.
Your lecturer might have not told you about it, but watch out buddy.

RDS EXECUTIVE!!!!

"By working for RDS I have done many people a favour. I thank SRC for the support they have given our organisations" Those were the words by outgone Chairperson of Rural Development Society, Sphosakhe Majola in an Anual General Meeting which was held in SRC Boardromm in Student Union on the 11th of October 2007. It might happen that you didn't know about RDS. In the nutshell RDS is the organisation that is led by students which was established in 2003 with the aim of developing the disadvantaged communities. From 2003 RDS was focused on environmental and agricultural development which included plant and animal production, and nature conservation. As the organisation grew, RDS expanded its development aspects. They are now involved in youth educational development programmes, welfare programmes and agricultural programmes.

The meeting began with reports from different outgoing executive members. The constitutional amendments were followed by the election of the new executive. Below is the new RDS executive:

Xolani Zondo- Chairman

Simphiwe Mntambo- Secretary

Kefiloe Makheka- Treasurer

Mhlonishwa Mthembu- Sports Officer

Nathi Malinga- Environmental OfficerLuthando Swana- PRO - Fundraiser- Lungelo Mncwabe

A response to Chessa's e-mail- UNEDITED

This person responded on condition of anonymity.These are not Campus Highlights' views

The point of order by comrade chessa is ununderstandable as far as I understand there is room for individual candidates, I think that his point of order is an example of what has been the debate for many years. of confusing campus politics with that I would like to call 'external politics' as a politician in the making I think he would realize that he is working backwards.my understanding of the call was that it was open to everyone including individual candidates,he engages in discussions about the 'ANC' and 'comrades'' Umrabulo 11 of 1996 ' and what not, so who cares we just want to see manifestos if they are ready The call was not made to the ANC in particular but to anyone who might be interested and who might have students interests at heart by working in advance and making ready their manifesto. what Mr Samson 'chessa' Zondi is failing to do is coming into grasp with the fact that when there are talks about manifestos it is not exclusively ANC documents, but manifestos in general that I am sure as he is being groomed in the political 'pot' he is more than capable of understanding. I find the justification of his mail absurd he says 'Therefore it follows that whoever has been nominated can not just draft thus publish his/her manifesto before the organisation gives them leeway' the call was for manifestos not about the procedures of which ever organization. what if there are organizations and individuals without problems and who actually have their manifestos ready. thus Osama if there are competent people who happen to have their manifestos ready publish them? Chessa in all probabilities is bringing 'his' organization into disrepute by all means in my view and starting to show signs of dictatorship cause cause Iam sure as a political student in the pot he knows of something called democracy

Open e-mail by Chessa Zondi

We are linking you to an e-mail from Samson Chessa Zondi to us Campus Highlights.He sent this e-mail after Campus Highlights had sent him an e-mail asking to him to submit his( if he has) manifesto to be published.

Click Here to read an e-mail

SNAPARAZZI ON CAMPUS

Gentlemen and Ladies Campus Highlights is introducing the brand new series called Campus Snaparazzi. In this series, Campus Highlights will snap the pics of everybody who does something wrong on campus.This series is kind of open source journalism because ordinary people can submitt their photos and videos for publishing. Snaparazzis' crew is interested in people who get drunk in public, those guys who urinate against the walls, chicks with no underwears on or wearing G-strings. We are also interested in snapping people who are wearing uncommon outfits.Above is our first victims.Readers will get a chance vote for the pic that they think is unsurpassed. So I warn you don't get caught because our team is on the look out.

HAVE YOUR SRC ELECTIONS MANIFESTO SHOWN IN THIS SITE FOR FREE

SEND YOUR MANIFESTO

TODAY IN HISTORY- SEPT 11

Phones rang across the United States and the rest of the world on this day in 2001, “Turn on the TV!” It was 8:48 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. A passenger jet had just crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. Flames and smoke billowed from the tower. It was now 9:06. This was no accident. Another plane just hit the World Trade Center's South Tower. New York was under attack and this time it wasn’t King Kong. This was real.
News bulletins came fast and furious. These were passenger jets, fully fueled: American Airlines Flight 11 from Boston on its way to LA with 92 people aboard and United Flight 175, same itinerary, with 65 onboard. More news bulletins: 9:43 a.m. The Pentagon had just been hit by another jet airliner, American Flight 77 leaving Washington for Los Angeles with 64 people aboard. In the next 12 minutes, the South Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed. Sirens screamed. People were running, screaming, jumping out of the towers. Then the North Tower crumbled like a deck of cards. Gray, choking clouds filled the streets of New York City’s lower West end, covering people, cars and buildings with debris, fireballs of airplane fuel, desks, computers, paper, and ash. More news bulletins: Nineteen minutes before the North Tower collapsed, a fourth jet airliner, United Flight 93 with 44 people aboard, on its way to San Francisco from Newark had crashed in a field in Shanksville, PA, some 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh

MATHEMATICS OF THE EVENT

1.It was flight # 11
2. There were 92 people aboard which is 9+2=11
3. 65 onboard. 6+5=11

By Osama Dumakude

No more Bhenging in Durban as DJBhudda dies

Osama Dumakude reports

There has been some persistent rumours of DJ Bhudda,L`Vovo Tira & Sox being involved in a car accident.Although the names of the of the deceased has not been divulged until the family members are notified , but Campus Highlights heared from the reliable sources the DJ Bhudda is no more. It was reported that they were from performing in Mpumalanga after a concert in UKZN. We are following the story intently. Stay tuned.

POST SCRIPT

Rumours of the passing away of DJ Bhudda has been confirmed by Ubumnandi.com. DJ Bhudda died in a car accident in Mpumalanga. He was travelling in a car along with Newcastle artist Lvovo Derrango and producer Zakes. Lvovo and Zakes were injured in an accident but are said to be recovering in hospital. It is a sad day indeed as the entertainment industry loses another shining star. Bhudda was renowned for playing super tunes and was a very humble and down to earth person. Campus Highlights would like to convey massages of sorrow to all who are touched by Bhudda`s death. Send your message of mourning.

Sangomas on campus

Source: Sowetan- 10 Sept 2007

Traditional healers and sangomas will be on call to attend to the needs of African students attending the University of KwaZulu-Natal, the Mercury newspaper reported.

The newspaper reported that the “indigenous counselling” initiative would complement Western forms of counselling provided by the Student Counselling Centre.The Mercury reported that plans are under way to build traditional huts for the healers, following a proposal by the the deputy dean of students Bheki Ncgobo.The need for indigenous healers to diagnose illnesses, prescribe and prepare herbal medicine, provide counselling and offer spiritual support cannot be overemphasised,” Ncgobo was quoted as saying.
He said that the project should be seen in the context of “reclaiming our heritage”.

“Indigenous counselling attempts to restore the African way of life, primarily to African students. As an institution that upholds African values, we are endeavouring to bring the suppressed culture to students,” he said.

The proposal says that many students, primarily African students, experienced problems that required the special skills of traditional healers.The Mercury reported that “some of the problems experienced by students included being possessed, being chosen by ancestors to stop formal education to be trained as a traditional healer, being unable to concentrate on studies owing to bad spirits or spirits that required purification and cleansing, and madness caused by bad spirits that needed to be exorcised.” Ngcobo’s proposal says that an initial sum of R20,000 would be set aside for the project from the Student Development Fund.It is envisaged that each consultation would cost R20 a student.The sangoma, who has been operating at the university’s Howard College in Durban, told the Mercury that more than 250 students had come to her for help since her arrival a few weeks ago.

By Osama Dumakude

Zola,L`vovo,DJ Tira,Brezory and Professor& T'Zozo On Campus

They call it `Make A Difference Campus Tour'. This star-studded
tour will hit the campus on the 8th of September 2007. You can expect to see Zola ,L`vovo,DJ Tira,Brezory and Professor& T'Zozo.It's 40 bucks with student cards and 60 without. The venue is none other than Student Union. The tour is sponsored by Cell C.

SRC ELECTIONS LOOMING

Although many people shy away or are nauseated by the term, due to its reputation, politics influences every sphere of our lives. It is not just about party politics, and not everyone should necessarily join a political party youth wing. However everyone should be aware of how they are being led and what decisions concerning them are being made. It is everyone's rudimentary right to decide their future course of action, and by not being aware of politics in general we lose out on that right.

On that note, nominations for the 2007/2008 Central and Local SRC Elections are now open. Individuals and organisations who wish to stand for election should please consult the information posted on the internet at http://www.ukzn.ac.za/policies.asp.

FOR A BLACK (read: AFRICAN) STUDENT, EVERYDAY IS A STRUGGLE

By Samson `Chessa" Zondi

In the Nux publication of May 2007 an article entitled “Equality among students” submitted by Andrew Wright, which attempted (although with little, if any, success) to respond to T.Dladla’s thought-provoking and progressive commentary, left me with no alternative but to respond to Wright’s article
Perhaps, I must mention that by virtue of the fact that we are academics in a pot (i.e. still studying); one would expect that whenever we engage in the festival of ideas or debates, we would at least demonstrate that we are indeed university students. I mean that, it is becoming common within academic environment that in some intellectual wrestling (for simplicity sake) debate, you will find contention/s that have no reference to actual debates being justified to make certain misleading views, Mr. Wright article demonstrate this clearly, and is therefore tantamount to a fairytale.


However, one must pardon him because-as I have previously indicated-we are, in the ultimate analysis, academics in the pot. My brother myopically argues that race has nothing to do with any students’ academic performance. He bases this on his past failure of which, he says, would not have occurred if race (white to be specific) has any influence in the lecturers who assess our (students) performance. Irrespective of whether he once failed or not, it is shortsightedness of the worst form to attempt to dispute the fact that race has no influence in students’ performance or arguably anything the former (students) does......More

Leremi dies in a car accident

Today is a very sad day for all Sundowns and all soccer loving people of South Africa. We have truly lost one the finest talents this country has to offer. He truly was a Gift to the beautiful team and game Gift Leremi (born October 13, 1984 in Soweto, Gauteng) is a South African football (soccer) midfielder for Mamelodi Sundowns in the Premier Soccer League and South Africa. According to news reports, the player passed away in a car crash on Monday 03 September 2007 near Johannesburg, South Africa. 'Bafana player killed in car crash'.The reports has not yet been confirmed as there has no been official statement from the club. More to follow.

Socialist On Board- Battle Of Ideas

By S'yabonga `Kotini' Nene.

In the context where one has just celebrated women’s day I think it becomes more pivotal and imperative that we engage on introspection where amongst other things we will assess and evaluate our attitude and role towards gender equality and women emancipation. The harsh reality is some of us continue to pollute the society by propagating views which seek to say men and women are and will never be equal to men. One needs to put this into perspective, when oppression came in, it was introduced through pseudo realities that white is better than black and men is better than women. As young people of today we should remain implacably and vehemently oppose to such while cherishing the impeccable character demonstrated by young people prior democratic breakthrough (1994) in their fight for freedom. I think it is a common course that no-one wants to regress the strides they had made and in the light of that we remain charged with the gigantic responsibility not only to emulate what they did but to take the struggle forward. Young people located in tertiary institution have a tremendous task of making sure that when they go back home programmes that seek to uplift the society in general and young people in particular are initiated, coordinated and facilitated by them...


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The Blacker the Berry the Sweeter the Juice

By Osama kaSethenjwa Dumakude

Your melanin can sometimes be a curse. I was born black and bieng black can make you a suspect.
The reasons I say this is because it’s sort of like I was born with all the negative black stereotypes. Because I am a young black man, people expect me to play basketball and football coz I am black. People expect me to be a great pansula or a gunman because I am black. People expect me to listen to rap ,kwaito and maskandi because I am black. Nobody expects me to swim better than Roland Mark Schoeman merely because I am black.When I was younger than this I met a beautiful chick working in the bar and I adored this sleek young woman a lot. He was extremely dark skinned - "navy black". She had a friend who was "so light he could be white". My brother was beside himself. "Why", he asks "do you have to like the dark one?" "If you have children with her" she shouted "they will be too dark!" I remember saying to him: "The Blacker the berry the sweeter the juice." And he rejoinder - "Yeah, but who needs diabetes. - Mazwendoda Mkhize

From then I have ben asking myself: what makes one blacker than the other? Is it the colour of the skin? Is the culture or lifestyle he/she opts to pursue? Are we black by virtue of our surnames or names or our deeds?Some of us associate “black” with primitiveness, death, morbidity, intimidation, coldness, and uncertainty. In interior design they associate white with cleanliness, optimism, safety, innocence and enlightenment. These entire connotations may differ from person to person. The reasons for this are various, but the most widely accepted explanations are that night is experienced by humans as negative and dangerous. In traditional class-based Western cultures "pale" skin indicated genteel domestic or intellectual indoor-work as opposed to rough outdoor labour in the fields. In our daily discourse we use words like blackmagic, black comedy, blacklist, blackmarket, black sheep, black propaganda etc to refer to undesirability. All these words have negative symbolism surrounding a word “black”. A black cat often means bad luck and that you will probably not live. If you sink the black eight-ball in billiards before all others are out of play, you lose. During the Apartheid era( and even today) the school boards were black and they were using the white chalk to write on. What can you say about this? However black have positive symbolism. Ask any Kenyan Maasai person, they will tell you that the colour black is associated with rain clouds, becoming a symbol of life and prosperity. In fashion black is considerd reliably stylish.. Black can also be seen as the colour of prestige: for example, limousines are usually in black and black tuxedos are worn at black tie functions. Black can be seen as a colour of seriousness and authority. Many priests traditionally wear black. Lawyers and judges often wear black robes, as are university graduates.

However , being black these days has been made easier than before. Thanks to affirmative action. I personally don’t think affairmative action does our country any good. The fact that we were socio-politically disadvantaged does not mean we have to get preferential treatment. It is a modified form of apartheid directed to whites. Affirmative action is an indirect form of racism, causing unemployment, disenchantment and a new generation of odium and bitterness amongst whites. This beast called Affirmative Action will never be the answer that South Africa needs, rather the problem. Do I have to be proud of the job that I got just because I am black? What if one is white and yet did not benefit from the past apartheid government. Is it fair for Trevor Manuel’s (heis white)child to benefit from affairmative action? Ponder about this!!