VIVISECTION - WHAT DO YOU FEEL? - Amrit Paudel
Take medicine and heal the wound has been our common practice and we don't bother much to find out how the vaccines and various drugs have come out. We are pretty confident that the medicines prescribed by the physician will bring about positive results against the disease. Prescribing the right medicine is not at all a thing to wonder about. What is wonderful is the action of the tablets in fighting the disease. The right drug to fight a disease can be discovered by various chemical tests and experiments on animals. Vivisection has been an all time favourite procedure of the scientists.
Vivisection means the practice of performing surgical experiments on the live animals for scientific research. It looks a cruel practice. However, one shouldn't forget that, by such experiments, countless lives have been saved, because such vivisections have helped to invent vaccines. Without such experiments, we can never hope to find the cure to diseases that continue to emerge. Now, the question leads to a dilemma: should vivisection be allowed or not?
The orthodox practitioners of religion forbid not only vivisection but also medical treatment. Their argument is that the using of drugs to save the sick interferes in the operation of God's will. What vaccines or drugs do is to save what can be saved. The dying can never be saved, even by God's will. Such superstition has made Muslims and others refuse to use the means of birth control. For them a fertile father and mother should produce children non-stop. This is sheer nonsense.
Animals have been undergoing vivisection for the betterment of man. But who is the more important of the two? Animals or man? We feel ourselves to be of more importance than the animals. Maybe this is not so. Maybe we are of equal importance and that is what the voice of animal rights organisations shout for. Now, who is to sacrifice himself for the betterment of the other?
Perhaps vivisection shouldn't be so practised so freely. It must have a purpose. It may so happen that after several hundreds of animals have lost their lives, still nothing positive works out in the scientific research. If the animal happens to belong to an endangered species, its death may give a severe blow to the ecological balance without a pennyworth of achievement. So, there should rather be a group of experts who can decide the wisdom and usefulness of vivisection. Unnecessary killing in the name of vivisection is just murder and the murderer should be punished. However, for the purpose of genuinely searching for knowledge about the working of a diseased organ, so as to cure it, vivisection should be practised.
THE NATIONAL FLAG CARRIER - RNAC - Suraj KC
The civil aviation service started in Nepal in 1953 AD with three old American made DC-3 Dakotas belonging to an Indian company. After 5 years, Nepal established her own registered airline, Royal
Nepal Airlines Corporation, in 1958 AD with these three planes. There were only 96 personnel,
Whereas, at present, nearly 2200 personnel are working for the company. Its service was limited to
Indian cities like Patna, Calcutta and Delhi in the international sector and to Simara, Pokhara and
Biratnagar in the domestic sector. The facilities provided at that time were very primitive. The Nepalese government tried its best to improve this field. RNAC has already passed 4 decades and is presently working as an established, service oriented organisation.
RNAC has always given emphasis to non profit making service and food safety for its passengers and
Clients. Since its establishment, it has always tried to produce modern aircrafts for passengers' safety and for reliability. At present, it has 8 DHC-6-300 De Haviland Canadian Twinotters, 1 HS-748 BAE-146 series British Avro and two Boeing 757s and it has already given an order for a wide-bodied Boeing 767, having seating configuration around 270. In order to meet the need in the international sector, it has taken in wet lease one Boeing 757 from China Southeast Airlines. Presently, it is operating its service in more than 35 domestic and 14 international sectors.
Nowadays, it has become a place for exploitation as every government exploits it, due to which its reputation is declining. The scandals which arose while leasing aircrafts and the commissions taken by its personnel always strike the headlines of newspapers. A lot of corruption, misappropriation and embezzlement have caused doubts about its future. The cheating done by various GSAs has made RNAC lose income. In the decade of the 80's it was making a profit, but, with the introduction of open air trade after restoration of democracy, its income is declining. The strikes led by its personnel like pilots and engineers, focusing on its future, obviously reveal its condition.
Our today's concern is to diversify it and save it from exploitation and uplift its reputation. In order to do so we must give pressure to the government, so that it can take legal action against those corrupters and exploiters. It must not be the place of commission. Its revenue should be properly utilised to upgrade its facilities and service. Another major concern is the fleet modernisation i.e., the addition of more advanced aircrafts like Citations, Learjets, Airbus A-330, Raytheon Beechcraft 1900 D, ATR-42, even the Russian Antonov cargo giant would provide efficient cargo chartering. The fleet modernisation can certainly ensure the highest degree of safety and comfort for passengers. Passengers are sometimes upset about punctuality, because flights are cancelled at the last hour, when check-in has already finished. It must avoid this irregularity, so that it can give a good impression to its passengers.
Thus, for airlines manager and custodians the future appears not very rosy and it requires cautious tight rope walking. Anyway, RNAC has come across a long history in our Nepalese civil aviation. It is the pride of Nepal. It makes Nepal known to the outer world. It has done a lot to promote our tourist industry
That's why tourism is booming in this region. It's our duty to preserve it, so that anyone stepping aboard
on Royal Nepal Airlines will have a first glimpse of Nepal which will be special.
GRANDPA'S PRATTLE - NOT AGAIN!(GBS - Is it a family?) - SR Sthapit
"It just seemed like yesterday that I was here and today I find myself standing up here, giving a farewell speech. The passage of time is inevitable and its course irreversible. So, we're left with no choices but to accept the fact and gear ourselves up for the challenges waiting for us outside the confines of GBS."
"That's our future, but now at present in this very melodramatic moment, I am having recollections of my past at GBS. My stay at GBS was like a roller-coaster ride, very different from my stay at previous schools. To be a part of GBS had always been a dream for me."
"GBS hasn't made a name for itself for nothing. But, it certainly has some aspects, which desperately need improvement. As we're all a part of the GBS family, we should all work towards the overall improvement of our school. Without trying to sound like a whiner, I'm going to point out some behavioral aspects of GBS students, which I, personally, have found to be disheartening."
"The first thing I would like to talk about is the relationship between seniors and juniors. Unlike most schools, I have found the juniors and seniors at GBS to be quite close to each other. They have formed a special friendship among themselves, which is a heartwarming sight. But, there is a fine line between frankness and impudence, and more often than not, I've found juniors crossing this line. I have seen some junior students calling their seniors by nicknames. Their behavior is definitely taking them over the line and this is not pardonable. I am not only blaming the juniors, because they are learning from their immediate seniors. Let me take your attention to our stage program on the 1st of April. We got a lot of applause but the lads applauding didn't get their timing right. It gave us an indication that our juniors were very eager to bid us farewell. Those of you who did it might feel that you had done something very heroic, but let me remind you that clapping is not a big deal. Anyone, a boy, girl or even an in-between can do it, but the ones who clap at the wrong time and enjoy doing it are the in-betweens. Bear this in mind."
"No doubt, there should be frankness, but one should not forget that the seniors are to be respected. They should not be paid with contempt for the love they give their juniors. You people would be shocked to know about the treatment we used to get from our seniors. We used to get bullied around and they got respect for themselves by evoking fear into our hearts. Because of what we have been through in our junior days, we have tried to win respect from our juniors by love rather than fear. You little people should understand this. I am very very sorry to say this but you should stay within your limits, cause if the seniors get down to their old tricks, then you will be the ones to suffer. Now these are very harsh words to be used for you innocent people but I just had to get the message through."
(Speaker goes silent while a murmur starts in the assembly.)
"Knowledge, Character and Service. (Silence returns) This is the motto of our school. But, the character aspect of the students is being badly intoxicated be a toxin called shyness. Especially, I have found the junior girls to be addicted, though the boys are not far behind. They seem to have inherited this addiction from their senior sisters. I've seen girls blush whenever they encounter some senior boys. They might feel that they have done the right thing, but for the seniors it is indeed an insult. After all, if we're all brothers and sisters then this behavior is simply unjustified."
"On the other hand, the boys also aren't helping the girls' cause at all. Instead of presenting a friendly facet towards the girls, they have been found to tease them adding to their woe and making the encounter even more awkward. Hence, there will always be segregation between boys and girls. In this sense, GBS in by no means a Co-Ed school. This is a very bold statement to be made but the attitudes of the students suggest that the boys and the girls here are from different competing schools confined within the common premises of GBS."
"I would also like to mention that this teasing business goes on everywhere. It is an inherent aspect of teenage behavior. We should realise this and put friendship ahead of aversion. Let me remind you that this is not a big deal. Everyone would agree that there is teasing even among boys as well as among girls. But they are never segregated. So why is there segregation between boys and girls? This is not understandable."
"GBS provides many opportunities for the girls to participate in sporting activities. For instance, where else can you find girls playing football. While playing games like football and hockey, girls seem to put the shyness factor behind them play with confidence. If they could bring this confidence into their behavior outside the playing fields as well then this gender segregation in GBS could be eradicated. I do not mean that girls and boys should start hanging out together or have long chats. These unnecessary chats with not solve our problems. They will only ruin the character of the students, and the damage done in this case will be even more severe that the damage that might have been inflicted by shyness. What I mean to say is that, whenever it becomes necessary for a boy and girl to converse, they should be able to do it without feeling awkward or shy, just as one would converse with a friend or someone of ones' own gender. Initially, the girls may and probably will have a hard time confronting some wise guys who will continue to follow their old ways, but in the long run the boys will have to give in. That day will mark the beginning of a glorious new era in GBS."
"But, until the day arrives, patience and cooperation will be the key. Changes do not happen overnight, and even if they do, that's not good. All we can do is limit our temptations and hope for the best. We have done this before and we can do it again."
"Right now I'm fantasizing a change, a change in the atmosphere of GBS. I am looking forward for the day when we return to visit GBS and find it as a real Co-Ed school."
(The speaker surveys the assembly but finds no one there. He is all alone on the dice. It's 4 o' clock in the morning. Everyone had gone home after the prize distribution the day before. He looks around and smirks. He goes down on his knees and nestles his embarrassed head into his folded arms. After a while his head reappears bearing a pair of moist eyes.)
"If I could only gather the guts to let them know."
"But would it have mattered? Probably not. I would have been misunderstood. That's a certainty. How hard is it for the people who have laughed on virtually everyone who have confronted them to laugh on someone like me. And even if they do as I said, would the relationship be strong? May be not, because the foundation is not rooted in their hearts. The friendship will just be like an assignment, made only due to obligation rather that one's own longing."
"Lad, I can just hope that in this vast majority of people preferring denial to acceptance, there still exists a minority who think like I do."
(The speaker slowly walks an unsatisfied walk towards his hostel. On the way he starts thinking.)
"No matter what, I'm still very proud to be a part of GBS. It is still the best, but not perfect. Perhaps perfection is elusive for everyone, even for GBS."
SHOULD PARENTS CHOOSE THEIR CHILD'S CAREER? - Pradip Poudel
Ramesh was a good student. His parents were very satisfied with his study. He secured distinction in
SLC examination. He then joined Amrit Science College in Lainchaur. But what's this? All the efforts of his year have gone in vain. He has failed in Class XI (Science) exam in two subjects.
This may not be the story of Ramesh only, but of thousands and thousands of students of Nepal. This may not count much for us, but can we look at the problem from their side? Can we search for some reasons so as to find the explanation behind this?
There are more than sixty percentage of Science students, who do not really want to join a Science course, but, because of the pressure from parents, they are bound to do so. This will certainly have an adverse effect on their minds. They can't give their full time to the study in which they are not interested. Because of this, they fail in the exam. This can then lead to a more dangerous situation. The boys or girls may be tempted to be involved in different mischievous acts, which may lead to different problems such as drug addiction.
So the main thing to be remembered here is that the wrong thing is not that the student has failed in the exam, but the wrong thing is that the boy is forced to study Science. In my opinion, the boy would have certainly done better, if he was given freedom to choose his subject according to his interest.
Certainly, parents want the best for us and are more experienced than us. However, they can't change our interest. They can only suggest to us, but should not make decisions for us. This whole thing really upsets me. The more embarrassing thing which follows is that the student can't drop his Science course and has to continue, but his parents keep on shouting at him to study and to do better in examinations. But he has changed already. He has adopted an aggressive attitude and is in a bad habit of drugs. His study career and life are spoilt. But, on the other hand, if he was loved and cared for and allowed to study according to his interest, then he would have certainly succeeded and set an example for other people. So let's improve this matter.
Prevention is better than cure.