6- The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday November 15, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver NEIL OLIVER Publisher DAVID HARVEY General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager Metroland Media Group Ltd. includes: Ajax/Pickering News Advertiser, Alliston Herald/Courier, Arthur Enterprise News, Barrie Advance, Caledon Enterprise, Brampton Guardian, Burlington Post, Burlington Shopping News, City Parent, Collingwood/Wasaga Connection, East York Mirror, Erin Advocate/Country Routes, Etobicoke Guardian, Flamborough Review, Georgetown Independent/Acton Free Press, Harriston Review, Huronia Business Times, Lindsay This Week, Markham Economist & Sun, Midland/Penetanguishine Mirror, Milton Canadian Champion, Milton Shopping Commentary 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. 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Manager WEBSITE oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver is a division of Building from tears Linda Middaugh, Bev LeFrancois, CSAW Linda Middaugh Bev LeFrancois esterday I phoned a friend and asked the usual how are you? Her response was a quiet "Not so good, actually I've been sitting here crying". Her stress came from a story she was reading on Thursday's front page of the Globe and Mail titled Faces of Suffering in Afghanistan. Eight girls were splashed with acid near their school on Wednesday, Nov. 12 in an attack by two men on a motorcycle. Seven girls who were wearing a full burka did not have acid thrown directly on their faces as did the one girl who boldly had only worn a headscarf to school. Shamsia, a 16-year-old Kandahar schoolgirl who was blinded by this cowardly attack will never see her scars. Her teacher, Safia Ibrahimi, fears that families will now keep their girls at home until they feel safe, if ever. "It is like the Taliban government is here again," she tells a reporter. This image of these attacked schoolgirls was in sharp contrast to the impish, smiling, shy but happy faces of the Jalalabad schoolgirls standing in front of the half walls of their future classroom. This photo had just been received on the same day by our volunteer organization Canadians in Support of Afghan Women CSAW, from our contractor/benefactor Ash Khan, retired engineer from Calgary who is overseeing the building of a 10 room school for these same schoolgirls. In 1997, Sally Armstrong alerted us to the plight of Afghan women with her article in Homemaker's Magazine. She wrote about women under the rule of the Taliban in Afghanistan, which the newly-formed CSAW identified as gender apartheid -- the woman of Afghanistan were dying because they were born female. Their bones were softening because they got no sun on their bodies, burkas and darkened windows gave no light. Their spirits were shattered, as they were not allowed to go to work, to school or go outside their home without a male relative. They were beaten in the street if any part of their body was exposed. The wearing of white socks was a sin, no music, no books -- no life -- and for many of them starvation and death. Kites stopped flying in Afghanistan, men were frightened, too. They watched their wives and daughters suffer and die because they could not receive any medical help as women doctors weren't permitted to work and female bodies could not be exposed to any man, but their husband. The soccer stadium became a place of death; executions took place on Friday afternoons. We were beyond angry, we were frightened -- and this they falsely did in the name of Islam. A religion that fosters equality and love. This recent cowardly attack has only furthered our resolve to hold the women and children of Afghanistan even closer to our hearts. We will continue to advocate for them, pay teachers' salaries, sell their crafts to provide them a living, get books into their libraries and ensure that 100 per cent of all donations go from our hands to theirs. We are constructing a building to replace the tents and rugs for 1,000 school children who have endured beating sun, high winds and flash flooding in their present tent school. Nazaneen Majeed, principal and founder of the school who has worked for more than 25 years to bring education to Afghan children is our guide, our witness on the ground, our heroine who risks her life to help these children. When asked about the IAN OLIVER Group Publisher Media Group Ltd. News, Mississauga Business Times, Mississauga News, Napanee Guide, Newmarket/Aurora Era-Banner, Northumberland News, North York Mirror, Oakville Beaver, Oakville Shopping News, Oldtimers Hockey News, Orillia Today, Oshawa/Whitby/Clarington Port Perry This Week, Owen Sound Tribune, Palmerston Observer, Peterborough This Week, Picton County Guide, Richmond Hill/Thornhill/Vaughan Liberal, Scarborough Mirror, Stouffville/Uxbridge Tribune, Forever Young, City of York Guardian RECOGNIZED FOR EXCELLENCE BY: Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association Suburban Newspapers of America THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: Y United Way of Oakville TV AUCTION See Making page 7 Dude, I'm here and I'm, like, so academically entitled T he Age of Entitlement, the Epoch of Instant Gratification, has reached a new pinnacle -- or sunk to a new low, depending on your point of view. According to a study by Ellen Greenberger, a professor of psychology and social behaviour at the University of California-Irvine, one-third of university students interviewed believe that if they are "trying hard" -- if they are getting out of bed, foregoing Facebook for an hour or two and actually attending classes -- then a professor should consider goosing their grade and they deserve at least a B average. Greenberger's eye-opening research found the students harboured "expectations of high marks for modest effort and demanding attitudes toward teachers." And isn't that exactly the way things work in the real world? I can't tell you the number of times I've been rewarded for just showing up at work -- "Juniper, you're here! We're giving you a raise!" I can't count the instances where employers overlooked my ineptitude and ignored my mistakes because they knew that deep down I was "trying hard" -- "Juniper, your writing sucks and is full of libelous errors that could make us the victim of untold lawsuits that could well spell the end of our publication, but you tried hard. We're giving you a raise." And my back is still smarting from the last time my editor slapped me in hearty congratulations and called out in praise: "Modest effort, Juniper, modest effort. We're upping your royalties." But I jest. And you may not find my Andy Juniper jesting at all amusing, but you're probably praising me anyway because you know that I'm giving it my all. Next thing you know you'll be writing a letter to the editor -- or maybe even a personal missive to the publisher -- suggesting I receive a big Christmas bonus. No, really: get writing. Greenberger's study also revealed that students believe their professors should be at their beck and call. In fact, 11.2 per cent of those interviewed believe a professor should be willing to meet them when it's best for them, even if it's inconvenient for the professor. And 23.5 per cent said they'd be offended if their professor did not reply to an e-mail on the day it was sent. Further revelations: 40.7 per cent believed that if they had completed "most of the reading for a class," they deserved a B or better. And 16.5 per cent believe that a professor should not be annoyed if a student receives an important phone call during class. "Dude, like I can't remember whose turn it is to buy the kegger." It's all a far cry from the days when professors were afforded respect that at times bordered on reverence. Greenberger recalls the days when she would have "trembled with fear" before suggesting to an instructor that she deserved a higher grade. Now, it's, dude, I'm here. Which makes me, like, academically entitled to the big B. Now, I'm not about to suggest that these students are completely removed from the real world, but... 24.8 per cent of our future leaders suggested that a good professor should be willing to lend his/her course notes if asked. And while they're at it, perhaps the good professor could lend out his/her car, the keys to his/her summer home, oh, and some cash for a kegger. Andy Juniper can be visited at his website, www.strangledeggs.com, or contacted at ajuniper@gmail.com.