Voice of September 2011 - Vignan University

VOICE September 2011 2
EDITORIAL BOARDEditor-in-Chief
:
A. Leela Mohan Rao
Executive Editor :
A. Sharada
Editorial Board :
Faculty :
B. Padma Sree
Ratna Malathi
Raghuram
EDUCATION
UNDER FIRE !
When we say India, we speak of a
nation that was known from earliest
times for its wise scholars and
philosophers. As a nation that
taught the world how to count, how
to meditate and medicate; a nation
where astronomy was born; a
nation that once had centres of
learning; a nation renowned for its
great civilization and heritage, it
was indeed a beacon to the rest of
the world.
Can any of us, otherwise proud to
be Indians, digest the bitter truth
that this nation, once a renowned
center of learning, has not a single
university today that can claim a
ranking in the top 500 institutions
of the world?
But one has to…
For this epic accomplishment,
kudos to our prevailing education
system. The objective of the
twenty-odd years of education in a
person’s life is to provide him/her
with an orientation and ideology
essential for leading a socially
responsible, materially successful
and emotionally balanced life. It is
this very objective that the present
system ignores. Moreover, the
system has not succeeded to any
extent in promoting scientific
Students :
Naveen Cherukuri
Prathyusha Raviprolu
Lahari Bhogaraju
Designer :
Mahesh Abotula
Photographer :
N. Sundar Prabhu
Printers :
Metro Printers
Vijayawada - 520 002.
Tel : 08662435733
temper among students; we lack
visionary scientific leaders. Even
our so called premier institutions of
higher learning lack credibility at
the global level. Teaching of
science or technology is most often
limited to theory. Our system does
not lay adequate thrust on creative
applications of science or
technology as western institutions
do.
Education in the past was driven by
values and morals. Discipline and
right conduct was the natural
outcome of good education. On the
contrary, the current education
system is in deep crisis. It is
churning out hollow men and
women, devoid of character or
intellect.
Today, we lament on the gross
commercialization of education.
There is an exponential increase in
the number of educational
institutions. Education, in the
dubious sense of the word, has
spread to remote corners of the
nation. But the question that needs
to be answered is whether the
students from these institutions
deserve to be recognized as
‘educated’.
Often, it is the parents, who are
Greetings to
Faculty and Students of
Vignan University!
We are pleased to introduce the revamped
September 2011 edition of Voice.
This issue that you hold in your hands
owes itself to a conversation the Editor
had with Mr. Lavu Krishna a couple of
months ago. Browsing through an issue
of Voice, he remarked that the newsletter
needed more colour and student
contributions to appeal to the student
community. This got us thinking and the
VOICE editorial board decided to seek
some professional help. We approached
The Hindu for suggestions and Mr. Samuel
Jonathan, Chief reporter, Guntur and Mr.
Anand Mohan, Designer graciously
accepted to conduct a series of workshops.
We are delighted with the results of the
make-over.
This has been a particularly eventful and
responsible for this sorry state of
affairs. They are ill informed and
overambitious regarding their
child’s education. They spend
money rather than time on their
child’s education. This has spawned
a host of corporate educational
institutions. The resultant system is
an oppressive one, limiting
students’ horizons often rendering
them ‘frogs in a well’. Examinations
were intended to be mere
appraisals of a student’s learning
process, but they have now become
the very purpose. Students who
long for education as something
transcendent and powerful find
themselves locked in institutions
that reduce learning to a mindless
and irrelevant routine of drill and
skill. The reservation system that is
a boon to the underprivileged
students has become a bane to the
student community because it
promotes mediocrity and produces
inept teachers.
If the abundant human resources of
this great nation are to be harnessed,
a wholesome educational system is
the need of the hour, one that will
equip students with a broad
knowledge base and instill values
and skills that will enable them to
face any situation in life.
By V.V.Nagarjuna
IV ECE
Editor's Voice
successful period for the University. Our campus is,
indeed, the most happening place, full of events and
activities. Students and faculty are breaking new
ground across a wide spectrum of areas; hence the
varsity has many reasons to celebrate the fabulous
accomplishments of its members.
Along with the student and faculty accomplishments,
this issue of Voice has a special focus on the
achievement of VU's alumni, both recent and past
graduates. As a university, it is important for us to
keep in touch with our graduates. You can see that
our alumni continue to do us proud. They have not
stopped studying and contributing to the world
around them.
Voice would continue to report the multifarious
activities that are being successfully carried out on
the campus. Catching the VOICE bug, some of our
outstanding students feel encouraged to enhance their
writing skills, stretch their creativity and become
passionately involved in the bringing out of this
newsletter every month. There are other interesting
tidbits and brain teasers strewn over the following
pages. In order to make the newsletter interactive, we
propose to include a new section titled ‘Letters to the
Editor'. Readers can respond to the views expressed
in the articles/book review/film review and make
further suggestions for the improvement of future
issues of the newsletter.
As the university grows and continues to thrive, our
accomplishments highlight the vibrant culture within.
No wonder VU is one of the best and most sought after
institutions of this region. With this issue we hope to
reach out to a much larger number with an expectation
that more and more readers will get interested in
reading the newsletter. Once again, thank you,
students, faculty, staff and management for your
commitment to VOICE.
Hope you all have as much fun reading it, as we had
writing and compiling it!