1 DECEMBER 2013 NDU Spirit What we truly lack… what the world truly lacks today is love, this A periodical about campus life absolutely miraculous and radiating energy. at Notre Dame University-Louaize. Tel | 09 208994-6 With love, we can change and be changed. We can build Temples of Telefax | 09 214205 Justice, Shrines of Good, and Kingdoms of Beauty. www.ndu.edu.lb/research/ndu- press/spirit With love, we can heal and be healed. For love is even more power- ful than X-rays, which can detect illnesses and lead to cures. Whosoever possesses an ounce of love can soothe confused minds and tormented souls, and heal restless, agonizing, and waning bodies. Whosoever possesses an ounce of love is a person filled with joy, positivity, and generosity. Editor-in-Chief Georges Mghames Whosoever possesses an ounce of love can walk along straight and winding paths, score new inventions, and probe the depths of the seas English Editor to discover hidden treasures… Mario Najm Whosoever possesses an ounce of love is filled with faith and hope. Follow-up He can read the Divine Plan of the Creator in all life forms. He can see Lydia Zgheïb the inner beauty and loving kindness in his brother’s face. He is a shining example and a true testimony of ethics and civility… Photographers He is a heaven-sent herald of peace, and a cheerful fellow who A. Bejjani spreads joy around him! M. Bou Chebel N. Nasr But, Design Has love become as distant as some remote planet? Has love become as rare as spotting a white elephant or Printing stumbling across a rooster’s egg? Meouchy & Zakaria ABSTRACTS www.ndu.edu.lb/research/ndupress FOR INFORMATION Zouk Mosbeh | Lebanon P.O.Box: 72 Zouk Mikael Tel. | +961 9 208994 - 6 Tel\Fax | + 961 9 214205 email | [email protected] *N.B. The opinions expressed in NDU Spirit are those of the authors and contributers, and do not necessarily reflect those of the editors. ISSUE 59 2 3 DECEMBER 2013 CONTENTS GENERAL NEWS 63 06 CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT • Building a University of the Future Today 64 EDITORIAL 2 • Farid & Moussa Raphael Observatory at NDU 68 SUMMER CAMP Editorial 2 IN AJALTOUN 64 OFFBEAT 70 Golden Quote 4 TO HELP THE President’s Message (Fr. Walid Moussa) 5 ELDERLY • Bite-size News From Around the World 71 54 • Sons of the Soil: Danny Thomas 73 PRESIDENT’S NEWS 6 OPENING EVENTS 74 • President’s Visit to the AFNDU 7 CEREMONY FOR • NAM Convention 7 ACADEMIC YEAR NDU CLUBS 75 2013-2014 at SC “Apprentice Conference” in Dubai ACADEMIC AND STUDENT ACTIVITIES 8 61 CHRISTMAS AT NDU 77 A Snapshot of Christmas 2013 at NDU CRVP CRVP Report Summary 2013 11 • • BAU Exchange Project Report 24 SOCIAL 78 LERC • Activities and Important Visitors 31 59 FAAD • FAAD, LeBAM Hold Two Workshops at NDU 41 • Obituaries 79 FE • Lea Ghalieh Awarded the “Sarmad Rihani Scholarship” 43 98 • Births 79 FH • NDU 7th International Student Film Festival “Power 45 • Announcements 79 of Youth” Closing Ceremony 43 OPINION AND CULTURE 80 FLPS • “Dialogue, Truth and Democracy” 47 FNAS • Research Activities, Department of Mathematics 52 • Architectural Design vs. Real-Life Experience 82 and Statistics • A Night To Remember 83 FNHS Grandparents’ Day • 53 • Has Technology Ruined the Joy of Christmas and Family Gatherings? 85 • Summer Camp in Ajaltoun to Help the Elderly 54 • “Dialogue of Civilizations” – WPF/DC 87 • The Shepherds and the Magi – A Common Narrative 88 North LEBANON CAMPUS 55 • St. Joseph’s First Maronite Church Cornerstone in the U.S.A 89 • Fall 2013 Spiritual Retreat 96 • Opening Mass of the Academic Year 2013-2014 56 • World Expo 2020 Dubai 98 • Director of NLC Visits Sunnite Mufti of Tripoli 56 • Workshop in Berlin 102 • Recruitment Day at NLC 57 • Thinking in Other Words 103 • NLC Students Visit WILCO 58 BOOK REVIEW 104 • NDU-NLC Tribute in Memory of Natacha Khalil 58 • Cancer, Love and the Politics of Hope – The Life and • Eggs Competition at NLC 59 Vision of Philip A. Salem, M.D • Diabetes Public Lecture at NLC 59 45 89 ARTICLES IN FRENCH 106 SHOUF CAMPUS 60 • Absentéisme : causes, formes et moyens de prevention 107 • Opening Ceremony for Academic Year 2013-2014 at SC 61 • Wadih El-Safi chantre de l’âme libanaise ou le Cèdre qui s’est brisé 111 • “Club Day” at SC 62 • Dynamiser et contextualiser une langue à l’aide du journal télévisé 113 ISSUE 59 4 5 DECEMBER 2013 is to live a pious and fruitful existence by loving unconditionally. We must hold this unconditional love in our hearts during Christmas and throughout our mortal lives. In this context, we need to ask ourselves, “What is the role of higher education in restoring love and peace on earth through this spirit?” The bitter realities in which we find ourselves living require new thinking about how to best prepare students, who must embark on a quest to reshape a loveless and troubled world. Our role as a University is to prepare students for citizenship in a diverse society that cherishes and recognizes the primacy of human dignity, which involves the rights and duties of the human being not only in the local community but also globally. LOVE IS OUR MOST PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE The society we conceive is the one where everyone is treated with UNIFYING AND respect, where diverse cultures engage peacefully, where different fields endeavor to enrich one another, and above all, where love, faith, EMPOWERING COMMON and reason intersect and blend in hopeful and inspiring ways. Today, the so-called clash of cultures is often defined along religious lines. In SPIRITUAL DENOMINATOR. Lebanon, for instance, it is Muslims versus Christians or Sunnis versus Shiites. This means that local universities have a unique opportunity and responsibility THE MORE WE IGNORE to engage in the exercise of what is called ‘inter-religious understanding and appreciation,’ the objective of which is to help those diverse communities learn to tolerate and love one another, and move beyond the hostilities that mark their ITS POTENTIAL TO BRING shared histories and drive toward reconciliation. GREATER BALANCE AND This ideal can only be achieved through education. Why education? Through education, we help our society evolve. Through education, we help our religious communities forget the bloodshed and DEEPER MEANING TO aspire for the more profound values–those of love, peace, hope, and faith. HUMAN EXISTENCE, THE Through education, we make Lebanon a safer place in which to live. LOVE AND EDUCATION In our Mission Statement, we speak of Liberal Arts education and of promoting “diversity, respect for human dignity and rights, and concern MORE LIKELY WE ARE THE WAY FORWARD for the common good.” Our aspiration is to “prepare our students to be future leaders, who can exercise reason upon knowledge and shape a TO CONTINUE TO DEFINE world of truth, justice, love and freedom.” The Christmas Season is once again upon us. Such a commitment means that our students’ education should include HISTORY AS ONE LONG learning that deepens their spiritual search and intensifies their intellectual journey. The true spirit of Christmas INGLORIOUS RECORD OF was born when “…the Word was “Education,” says Cardinal Newman, “implies an action upon our made flesh, and dwelt among mental nature, and the formation of a character…” This means that it is our us (and we beheld His glory, the responsibility as educators to help students acquire knowledge and skills, MAN’S INHUMANITY glory as of the only Begotten and to internalize that mental capacity, which enables them to develop a of the Father), full of grace and transforming power through love and understanding so that they can find TO MAN. truth” (John 1:14). their place in the ever-increasing complexity of life and build a better society. The real message behind May the birth of Jesus bestow the boundless radiance of love, Christmas is to understand God’s through the intercession of His mother, the Virgin Mary, and may He fill Aberjhani incredible plan for our lives, which your hearts with peace and joy throughout 2014. (American historian, columnist, novelist, poet, and editor) Father Walid Moussa O.M.M. President PRESIDENT’S VISIT TO THE AFNDU On March 2, 2013, as a way to jump-start the new AFNDU, D.C. Chapter and begin recruitment ef- forts, AFNDU, D.C. organized a dinner with Fr. Moussa for all NDU Alumni and friends in the D.C. area. Secretary Suad Wanna Nakamura and Treasurer The Lebanese Taverna in Wash- Emile Haddad with Fr. Moussa. ington, D.C., a popular Lebanese PRESIDENT’S NEWS restaurant and longtime supporter of AFNDU was chosen to host the grateful to the President for taking and Haley Kalil, D.C. Office Coor- event at a private banquet room in time out of his busy schedule to dinator. Their presence was to cre- their Bethesda, Maryland location. attend. ate awareness for NDU and the The goals of the dinner were to AFNDU in D.C. and around the generate awareness for ANFDU, NAM CONVENTION U.S.A. recruit new friends and members, and show AFNDU’s support for From July 3–7, 2013, represen- AFNDU’s attendance at the con- NDU, and highlight Fr. Moussa’ s tatives of Notre Dame University- vention included an exhibit table unique leadership role in advanc- Louaize (NDU) and the American where brochures and various Uni- ing the University toward better Friends of NDU (AFNDU) Chapter versity literature were put on dis- education and a better Lebanon. participated in the annual National play and made available for inter- Apostolate of Maronites (NAM) ested parties to take home.