/Voorpagina /Mensen /Nieuws /Opinie /Cultuur /Studentenleven /Achtergrond /English page /Onderzoek /Reportage /Bestuur /Ruis /Ranzigt /Colofon

/Faculteits Berichten /Vacatures /Mensa /Oude cursors /pdf formaat /TUE /Zoeken:

Jaargang 44, 22 november 2001 English page

Meditation Centre meets need Muslim students TU/e's new Meditation Centre or 'Stilteruimte' is meeting a real need among Muslim students. "We have been wanting a place to pray for years. A space like this is every-thing we could wish for. We are very pleased", says Murat Bozkurt, an active member of multi-cultural student association Mosaïc and a third year Applied Physics student. Bozkurt is not sure how many students at TU/e are practising Muslims. "We thought we knew everyone, but now we find that there may be more than one hundred Muslims at TU/e. And not everyone prays five times a day", he says. "Many of the new people I've met are living alone far away from their families, whether their families live in the Netherlands or abroad. So a student association like Mosaïc can sometimes provide a home away from home." This is particularly true in the Muslim month of Ramadan, which started this week. Bozkurt explains how this month of prayer and fasting is a time of reconciliation and peace. After fasting during the day, family and friends like to get together for festive meals in the evenings. "There's always a special atmosphere. A really warm feeling", says Bozkurt. Mosaïc is making an effort to organise a number of gatherings during the coming month, which started with a meal this Tuesday and will continue with evening prayers every Tuesday of Ramadan at sunset (5 p.m.). In connection with Ramadan, the Meditation Centre will be open longer than usual, from 7 a.m. to 10.30 p.m. during the week. Bozkurt feels Muslim students may experience difficulty in combining Ramadan with their studies this year, as the coming period is also exam time. "The opportunity to take some time out in the small prayer room at the Stilteruimte is very welcome", he says. Non-cultural But the Meditation Centre is not only for Muslims. It was set-up in September with the blessing of the Executive Board as a place of silence and contemplation for TU/e students and staff, regardless of their faith or lack of it. A special committee including TU/e's humanist counsellor Willemien Fraaije, Eindhovense Studenten Kerk (ESK), Mosaïc, Studium Generale, Vredescentrum and Stichting Inter Kommunikatie has been working on this project since the fall of 1998. "There are a number of other universities who have successfully opened Meditation Centres. People seem to need a place to be quiet. We want to make sure that this is a space for general use. It should be non-cultural and non-demoninational", says Willemien Fraaije. As a 'humanist' she sees the Meditation Centre as a place for meditation and thoughtful discussion about the meaning of life and ethical issues. Fraaije and well-known Dutch philosopher Charles Vergeer are planning a number of activities to start in January. Also, ESK has started yoga and Zen training sessions early on Wednesday mornings (7.45 and 8 a.m.). "This is probably a bit too early for most people. So I'm thinking of shifting the sessions to Thursday lunch times next year", says pastor Bert Jan van Haarlem. ESK has its own chapel in the Paterskerk downtown where ecumenical services are held on Sunday mornings. According to Van Haarlem, the 'Stilte-ruimte' at TU/e is a good place for silent meditation and small-scale group activities. Peaceful The Meditation Centre is situated in room 1.46 of De Hal, next to the library, another comparatively 'silent' place on campus. It is a spacious, very high room with big windows and long curtains that accentuate the height of the space and screen out some of the noise of the university. It has an entry hall and a small prayer room especially for Muslims. The larger space is open to anyone who feels the need for a quiet moment. Appropriate group activities will also be regularly organised there. The Meditation Centre looks peaceful, but is still very empty. TU/e's Real Estate department has spent some 40,000 guilders to bring it to its current sober but functional state. The committee behind the 'Stilteruimte' is trying to find the funds to install some low seating or cushions to make the place more inviting. The official opening of the 'Stilteruimte' will be on January 8 2002 by rector Rutger van Santen./. Mosaïc members at a festive Ramadan meal (above) and Muslim students at evening prayers Tuesday. Photos by Bert Jansen

BITE 2001 Today is the first day of the international 'Bringing Information Technology to Education' conference at TU/e. ICT in higher education is the theme of the conference. "Increasing use of laptops in higher education is one of the reasons we decided to organise this conference", says drs. Christina Morgan from the Onderwijs Service Centrum. "We want to show outsiders what TU/e is offering in the field of ICT in higher education, but also to find what new information we can." Speakers will be from various universities, including TU/e's ir. Han Smits, curriculum manager at Industrial Design. Today's programme will be filled with 'pre-conference workshops', in which participants will tackle a number of subjects. "This can be seen as a kind of training", Morgan continues. The conference itself is planned for November 23 and 24. Anyone interested can still register. The conference will take place in six rooms in the Auditorium. More information and a programme are available at www.bite2001.nl. /.   Rector wants BaMa now Rector prof.dr. Rutger van Santen wants to speed up the introduction of the Bachelor/Master's (or BaMa in TU/e slang) structure at this university. All departments have been asked to report to Van Santen before December 7 on how they are going to implement BaMa in their organisations. The rector aims to have definite plans in place before the end of January 2002. This will enable TU/e to register its Bachelor and Master's courses with CROHO (Centraal register opleidingen hoger onderwijs) in February. Van Santen has asked departments to look at the possibility of a joint basic curriculum and propadeutical programmes. He also wants to know if, and if so which Bachelor courses could be combined. Applied Physics, Applied Mathematics and Chemical Engineering are already talking about developing a new, joint Bachelor course that will be called 'Science and Technology'. If this will replace existing Physics, Maths and Chemistry courses remains to be seen. The rector also wants to know which variations of courses the departments plan to realise in their Master's courses, and which Bachelor courses will guarantee entry to which Master's courses. Van Santen has also asked deans and managing directors to look at a number of general matters that need addressing. These include arrangements for very talented students in the Bachelor and Master's courses, fitting in shortened degree courses in the new structure and the effects of BaMa for financial and administrative procedures at TU/e./.

Student Sports Week The Eindhovense Studenten Sport Federatie (ESSF) is organising the Van Lint Student Sports Week once more. It will be held from December 17 to 20 in the Student Sports Centre at TU/e. Some of the sports available will be volleyball, uni-hockey, squash, indoor soccer, table tennis, water polo, badminton, basketball, tug of war, frisbee and 'knotsbal', a new team sport in which a ball is hit into a goal with a soft bat. There will be time to party after the sports events. The SSRE band will be playing on the closing evening. All students may take part in the Sports Week. A sports card is not necessary. Teams may register until December 11 with the doorman at the Student Sports Centre. Costs are five guilders per team. 200 attend Islam lecture Some two hundred young Muslim students from TU/e and Fontys Hogescholen attended a lecture on 'Islam and peace' last Wednesday at TU/e. Only a handful of people with Dutch back-grounds attended. Even though the word 'Islam' means 'peace', the religion has been increasingly associated with violence, especially since the attacks in New York and Washington. The lecture and discussion afterwards were meant to show Islam in a different light. Holst lecture by president Stanford The annual Holst Memorial Lecture at TU/e will be given John L. Hennessy on Thursday November 29. Hennessy is the president of Stanford University in the USA. The title of his lecture is 'Directions and challenges in microprocessor architecture'. A symposium entitled 'After 30 years of microprocessors' will be held prior to the lecture. TU/e is co-operating with Philips Research in organising the lecture and symposium. The events will take place in the Auditorium. The symposium starts at 9.30 a.m., the lecture at 4 p.m. Entry is free; registration (for one or both parts) is necessary for those who want to attend. Lunch is included. Registration at www.holstmemorial.nl.   The English Page is written by Paula van de Riet. She can be reached at engcur@stud.tue.nl.