3rd Edition 2009 - University of Namibia

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Campus News Edition 3 10 BLA BLA BLA Exero 01, 5555 Unam Debating Society. ‘We put our money where our mouths are’……… If there is a word that can describe UDEB- SO’S achievements than it has yet to be invented, but YES INDEED, THE WORD IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD As a society we not only are guided by our constitution but we have goals which serve as our code of conduct. *We aim to promote critical and effective decision making. *Creating awareness of issues of global and local context. *Making UNAM one of Africa’s most powerful universities in debating. A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE The focus from September 2008 when the current executive committee started their reign, we decided to boost UDEBSO up by participating at the PAN-AFRICAN DEBATE CHAMPIONSHIPS in BOTSWANA, where we clinched this by emerging overall second best debating university in Africa and also managed to produce CARL PESAT as the competitions best adjudicator. That my readers was after we scooped the local award for the best Namibian tertiary debating institute, where we beat the likes of IUM,POLYTECHNIC ETC. It gets even better when earlier this year around February, we participated in the UNAM first year orientation program, where we had the sole purpose of scouting and introducing the art of debate to aspiring first year debaters. It is with pride that I let you all know that the team that won our internal league on campus as well as took us to the finals at JOZI SPEAK in Johannesburg last month not only included two charismatic females, but they happen to be first year students. March came knocking on our door in the form of celebrating Namibia’s 19th independence anniversary .UDEBSO clashed with all time local rivals, THE POLYTECHNIC OF NAMIBIA in an intense debate on the merits of whether Namibia was really independent. We had a reputation to protect and we surely did uphold it. Around April we found ourselves having to do something we loathed and that was debate amongst ourselves. Debating is for professionals and as such we dismantled ourselves until eventually the best of the best at that point emerged and our queens of speech won the league (a force to be reckoned with I should say). Another interesting development occurred during the HIV/AIDS awareness week on campus in May .Here our first year debaters had their début in style by being introduced to the UNAM society in a way that only UDEBSO could concoct. They proved that indeed they were UDEBSO affiliates and tousled the likes of NANSO, Poly and IUM respectively (talk about treading on dangerous waters). As if that was not enough, we conducted speech presentations on campus and schools around Windhoek, where we talked to students and learners alike about critical issues affecting us politically, socially and economically. CURRENT STATAS QUE! We participated in the JOZI SPEAK (National Universities Debating Championships) in Johannesburg that was hosted by THE WTSWATERSRAND University early July. A cap of about 50 universities with 4 teams each from SADC participated in first and second language categories (YOU DO THE MATH).All in all we were close to 500 debaters and ten of our speakers were amongst the top 100 best speakers of the entire competition of which ALBERT TITUS ranked the OVERALL BEST SPEAKER in the 2nd language category. We also had public speaking and MAGGIE WAKOLELE represented UNAM in those finals while our very own QUEENS OF SPEECH took us to the finals and as such UNAM ranked 2nd overall best university in debate when it comes to the SADC region! You see I can go on and never stop when listing our achievements. To the naked eye it looks like what we do is easy and smooth. YES if your idea of easy is staying up all night doing research, ensuring that you are updated with current issues from around the globe and the stress that comes with debating to win. All that requires hard work and dedication which all our debaters proudly posses. WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS FOR UDEBSO Firstly we intend to maintain our reputation by winning the NATIONAL UNIVERSITY DEBATING CHAMPIONSIPS IN NAMIBIA that would be in Ondangwa around mid august and after that we want to move from being the 2nd best debating university in Africa to the overall BEST DEBATING UNIVERSITY IN AFRICA at THE PAN-AFRICAN DEBATING CHAMPIONSHIPS in BOTSWANA later this year. Thereafter we invite you all to UDEB- SO end of year function which is not to be missed. COMPILED BY: RACHEL ANDREAS Neudamm students tour the north *Hamutenya Jacob On the 28th July 2009 the food science department of the University of Namibia under the faculty of the Agriculture and Natural resources went on an educational tour to the northern region of the country. The tour aimed at visiting and familiarizing students with various food producing facilities and projects in the region. It also aimed at creating the bonds between the students and their prospective employers in the food science market. Students had an extraordinary opportunity to relate theory skills obtained in classes and books to the practical reality on the ground. The tour was also part of the department’s to produce knowledgeable students with both theoretical and practical skills required in the food industry. In addition to the visits, students had the opportunity to explore and discover potential fields of researches.The tour consisted of 3 food science lecturers, four 3rd year students and four final year students of the University of Namibia-based at Neudamm campus.During the tour, students visited the famous Omahenene research center where they familiarized themselves with the activities carried out at the center. They also observed how several products such as field crop seeds are developed. Omahenene research center is a government institution that develops various indigenous crops, commercial seeds used countrywide such as the famous Okashana varieties, Cowpeas, Bambara nuts and others. The center also has aquaculture programs where they breed various fish species, develop various fish feeds and provide training to the local fish farmers. This project is headed by two graduates of the University of Namibia As part of the government’s effort to empower the youth, reduce unemployment and eradicate poverty,Omahenene research center has an integral hospitality and food processing training center where they train students how to produce and process various unique products from local raw products using basic technologies. Concentrated Marula Juice is one of the products which they produce from locally collected Marula fruits and it is available all year round.The students also visited the famous Etunda Irrigation project in Outapi district. They observed how various farming mechanism and technologies are used to produce,process and store agricultural products such as Wheat, Maize and Mahangu grains. Etunda Irrigation project is a joint government project and other stakeholders which produce thousands of tons of maize meal, Wheat , Bananas, Potatoes and other vegetables for local markets. Etunda is so far the biggest irrigation project in the northern part of the country. On the course of the tour, students visited some meat processing facilities in the area where they visited the African Meat Supply in Oshakati. They where shown how various meat products such as the “Boerewors”, Salami, Sausages, Biltong and Russians are produced.Before concluding the tour, students also visited the COSDEC- Community Skills Development center in Ondangwa. They were introduced to several food handling technologies used to process food such as macaroni and snacks.The final stop of the tour was at the Eudafano woman co-operative project in Ondangwa. Eudafano women co-operative manufactures Marula oil AKA Ondjove and Kalahari melons seeds oil AKA omhaadi eenhanga for consumption and cosmetic purpose. They also produce Marula Juice. The cooperative uses the by-products of these products to make highly-nutritious animal feed such as Marula cakes. The co-operation products are consumed locally, and most of it exported to EU countries such as UK and France.The students learned various techniques employed in food manufacturing industries. They come across several machineries and equipments that they could only see in the books. This has enhanced their level of thinking and advanced their levels of understanding.“This program has advanced my level of understanding” said Samuel Nanguti-a 4th year Food science and Technology student Students described the tour as greatly fruitful. They therefore called upon other departments of the University of Namibia to consider implementing these kinds of visits as they help students make sense of what is read in the books.“This tour was very educational, I got chance to see how my favorite food is made” Said Frans Shuuya-a 3rd year food science and Technology student.
Campus News Edition 3 Building a way forward Exero 01, 5555 BLA BLA BLA 11 * Anna Auala It seems like the Unam management is rather determined to make this campus a better place. Millions have been budgeted for the building of new classrooms and other facilities on campus. What is however questionable, is whether these plans are actually going to help make the university a better place for those that are the greatest assets: the students. To date new classrooms have been built at the top of the X Block. These were completed during the course of the 1st semester and have been in use since the beginning of the semester. The second phase of this project is the building of classrooms above the Y Block to be completed during the course of this semester and to be ready for use by the 1st semester of 2010. Campus news is also privy to the fact that $20 million has been received by to convert the pool area into a 350 seater classroom. This project cannot however be accommodated in this financial year, so more attention will be paid to it in 2010. Although the general consensus is that more classrooms are needed, most of the students do not want the pool area converted into classrooms. David (2nd year) believes that while education is very important, it is also important that the management also look into entertainment and recreational facilities for students. “Going to university is about more than just getting a class room education. UNAM is built on three building blocks, namely, education, service and development. If UNAM is only going to concentrate on one block, then we are going to experience another leaning tower of Pisa. The students need to be well developed in all the 3 areas.” An undisclosed amount of money has also been put aside to renovate the entrance of the old hostel and turn the existing student foyer at the old hostel into a clinic, consisting of a reception area, a waiting area, a supervisors office, 3 consulting rooms, a medical store room, a kitchen and male and female wash rooms and an emergency room. The hostel offices which are currently housed there will be relocated to the UNAM Foundation. This is done because the current clinic is too small and it does not cater to all the necessary medical needs on campus. The ambulance services are constantly being called to attend to minor ailments and illness because of the lack of proper medical facilities on campus. This has proven to be a waste of large amounts of money. Due to all the very obvious benefits, it would seem at first glance like the proposed plan would be welcomed, especially by the students. Rather surprisingly, many students are against it. They feel that decisions are being made that affect them in major ways, with no due consideration to what they feel or think. Ndahafa, a third year student and a resident of the old hostel feels that this would inconvience the students. “Many of us have fridges and other gadgets to transport to and from our rooms at the beginning and end of each semester. I am sure the new entrance is not going to be very user friendly when it comes to this task. I mean, lets be realistic, these are the same people who wanted to take Olupale Square and make it a private parking, with no thought to the burden it would pose to us, their most valuable assets. Now we are just supposed to believe that they sudden had a change of heart and are now going to do something that will benefit us? We would be setting ourselves up for disappointment if we were dumb enough to believe there is no ulterior motive to this move.” Ndahafa and the many students, who think like her, would be pleased to know that the proposed plan would only be temporary. A Student Centre is being planned on the UNAM Master Plan and it indicates the building of a Student Health Care Centre. All in all, it appears as if money is being spent wisely. There is however, one baffling thing. Something is being planned for a certain plot in Rundu. (Campus News has been supplied with the erf number of this plot.) However no one seems to know exactly what it is and if they do; they aren’t willing to share the information... Campus News was not able to dig into all the dirt regarding how and why the money for the various physical development plans of the university are being used in certain ways. In the next edition, we will have responses from all the relevant people to these issues, so watch this space.
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3rd Edition 2009 - University of Namibia

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