Yesterday while reading Rohin’s Blog about his stay @ IIM A, I had come across a term, SIG or Special Interest Group. I had heard about the SIG’s in IIM’s before also through Pagalguy.com and also from a few books I’m reading about the life @ IIM. One of those is Joker in the Pack, a very good description of what to expect at IIM’s in the two years I might spend there. I’d known about the clubs and SIG’s putting up presentations in front of the newly arrived juniors. Now I thought about what if the same thing happened in our college. What will the seniors pitch to attract the new freshers’ to their SIG’s and Clubs? This is my take on the possible clubs that could be there in GECB.
1 Quiz Club
Since I was a member of this club and possibly ran the show for a long time along with Abhilash sir, I feel that this should be right on top of my list. I feel it’ll be Dhiraj putting up the PPT for the Quiz club. The 1st slide should be about the origin of the club, winding back to 2003(copy pasted from the Quiz Club Community description). Then the next slide would be two smiling poses of me and Alen, for being the most successful team that has represented GECB in various fests and TV Programs and also for winning a few of them(am I asking too much from the PPT?). Next up would be the BENEFITS of joining this club. YES benefits, assuming that our juniors are so illiterate about what quizzing can be, lets think that they need to be told this. The 1st and foremost benefit, they get to escape the ragging sessions on Friday’s coz of the quiz club meeting:). I feel that would be the best benefit for any junior to join this club. Secondly they would have the benefit of going to any fest and ogling at all the gals and buildings in the OTHER colleges and then cursing themselves or their parents for selecting GECB. Then lastly Dhiru can also tell how much money they get by going to quizzing(only if they win it). After this I think a stunning speech from Praseeth would be the finishing touch.
PS: Forgot to mention that Quiz Club can be an excellent bullet point in your resume.
2 Readers club
Something that exists only in the virtual world in GECB, I rate this as the 2nd most useful club for any college going guy/gal. I feel for this the PPT would be hosted by Soji, Sindhya or Hari, assuming he’s not busy with other projects:). Here since there is no MONEY or GLAMOUR involved, I don’t think what they can tell the juniors in the benefits. Maybe they can enlighten the juniors about the pleasures of reading.
3 Placement Cell
Something that I’ve cherished all my student life in GECB are the numerous biriyani’s I’ve had because of lifting a few benches or getting a cigarette for the guys who come to interview in the placement weeks. Thanks to Remesh sir, we’ve had a great placement cell (don’t know the status since he left it). I feel the placement cell would be best represented by Abhijith (not me, but the one in my junior batch). He’d possibly say about the free biriyani’s you could get, and also the number of free question papers, real interviews viewed from outside, contacts with HR people (coz u had shared your biriyani with them, or got them a cig the last time they visited the college), also a look at all the résumé’s of your seniors (so that you know what-not-to-do). This would also mean getting to know how to setup the LCD projector and laptop within 5 mins and getting to know a few things about amplifiers and microphones :)
4 Music Club
We badly need this in place in GECB, I feel many a talented singer and musician walk the hallowed portals of GECB and its high time we recognize these talented guys and gals and get them together to form a band or an orchestra and hopefully put up a good show in Dhwani 2k10 :). For this club I think the best person to put in the sales pitch would be Abhinav (mainly coz I don’t know someone else who sings and plays an instrument and is so good at both).
5 Mudravaakyam Club
This is something that we are in sure need of in the college. The rallies in the college aren’t what they used to be in the old times. We hardly see more than 20 people in them these days. So I feel this club needs to be formed and for this both SFI and KSU can come together and form a single club and derive members out of this whenever they have a need. The sales pitch can be lead by the Chairman of the union assisted by some vaagdanam’s like a seat in the elections for the one with the best voice and so on.
6 Lover’s club
Boy-oh-boy, ithu njan engene marannu! There’s a great need for a lover’s club, or union. They should have some kind of freedom of expression as well, isn’t it? For pitching this I don’t know whom I should name. So many names are coming to my mind, but I don’t want to get kicks in my butt from my dear friends. Also some might name me as well in this game. So you decide who should come for this.
7 Free Software Club
I think the club already exists in college, and if I’m not wrong Suraj is the one leading the pack. So guess he’d come with some free CD’s of Ubuntu to lure the juniors to join up. :)
8 Gundukaad Gunda Liaisoning group
We definitely need a group of students to maintain a good liaison with the people in the colony, mainly to avoid hiccups in future while organizing many fests and intra college events. I don’t want to name anyone here, again for the sake of my good health.
Comments please.
PS: If I missed anything please mention in the comments.
Showing posts with label College. Show all posts
Showing posts with label College. Show all posts
HOME PAGE :
Lets start off with the Home page... The first thing that hit you as soon as the page loads is how utterly bland the site is. With just two colours (namely blue and black... yea..very colourful and bright!! ), the initial reaction to the site is ... CRAP!!. And what is it with the "Advances In Material Technology" link on the home page right next to the wonderfully obviously fake pic of a non existent college building? And on top of that not only is that link slap bang in the home page where it should never have been, but IT DOESN'T WORK!! IF IT DOESN'T WORK WHY ON EARTH IS IT THERE?????
Now assuming that the visitor hasn't gone to another site as a result of boredom, and is curious to know how badly a site can be made.... lets see the other pages.
CONTACT ADDRESS:
The second page is an ever so important separate page for "Contact Address".The amazing picture of our hypothetical college building sweeps to the right side of the page (As a result of someone not taking enough time to make a good site) and the blandness continues.)
PRINCIPAL:
Next you click on the link that says "Principal" so that you can know who is in charge and can be held accountable for the site... and what do you get ???
Yea ... thats our principal! NOT FOUND!!
Cmon ... he's the head of the institution!! If the college site cant even get a decent pic of profile of him up, then what's the point in having the site?
AFFILIATED UNIVERSITY
Next is the Affiliated University link ...and another page is wasted just givin the address of the Kerala University.
GOVERNANCE
The GOVERNANCE link .. .the first decent page I found on the site. It serves its purpose sufficiently and effectively. And the background keeps with the central theme of amazing blandness.
PROGRAMMES
Ahh .. here comes the important stuff ... a student seeking admissions will be looking into this with great interest.. and this is the chance for the college to project its best and show its strength where it matters...
So you click "Programs" (It should have been programmes but hey ...who cares right?) and there in all its glory is
Nil "
Apparently we are proud of that fact that we need to advertise it all over our web page...
The cut off rank is probably one of the few good ideas that the site designer came up with. Why on earth is there a "fee" link in here if there is a separate page dedicated to that????
And probably one of the most, if not THE most important section PLACEMENTS is pushed into a nice corner within the Programmes section whereas other VERY IMPORTANT (Please note extreme levels of sarcasm) things such as "AFFILIATED UNIVERSITY" and "GOVERNANCE" and CONTACT ADDRESS are given separate pages.
And not leaving the topic of placements, please people!! This is where we need to project our college positively. Say exactly which all companies came, say how many they recruited. Show them a graph of a growin placement record.Not a drab page.
FACULTY:
Ok.So hmmm ... this section is done pretty decently.. again background sucks.And maybe we can avoid having a separate section for "Faculty - student Ratio" for one single statement by just having that statement in the opening page of that section.
FEE:
Now we dont really need this link do we? Because we've already covered this under another section!!!!!!!
APPLICATION FORM, ADMISSION,ADMISSION PROCEDURE,ADMISSION CRITERIA:
Cmon now people ... do we need four separate pages for this? It doesnt really take a rocket scientist to figure out that it would be much more simple and convenient to have it all under one page called "ADMISSIONS" because each of the above mentioned sections consists of only one sentence anyways.
LIST OF CANDIDATES:
No real reason to have such a section but what the hell ... if you're havin it, make it properly. Apparently from the site, only the IT branch has 4 years worth of students studyin in it and EC and MECH were started only this year because only the 1st year students(now in 2nd yr) of these two branches are mentioned.
INFRASTRUCTURE: (well here comes our college's strength!!)
1)library:
An acceptable job.
2)laboratories
Apparently the area is the most important part of a lab and and according to the site, the electrical lab and mechanical workshops have either infinite area or zero area ... if someone could please tell me what "...." under "area" indicates....
And instead of having all the details of the labs under this single link, we have seperate links for computing facilities,EC labs, IT labs, ME labs
3)"other facilities"
Let it speak for itself
I apologise in advance for what im about to say next but I have to ...KEEPING IT AT ITS BEST MY @$!!!!
If you don't know how to make a good site, let people who do know how to do it do it.The designers and the people who do not allow for change as a result of their stupid ego should be ashamed of their job. Look at www.cet.ac.in. Check that out and see the difference. We have students who know how to use Flash and software that could help in makin it a better site. But can they help?? NO!!! His Highness cannot let the mere mortals that dwell on earth lay their hands on his glorious and mighty web page!
Lets start off with the Home page... The first thing that hit you as soon as the page loads is how utterly bland the site is. With just two colours (namely blue and black... yea..very colourful and bright!! ), the initial reaction to the site is ... CRAP!!. And what is it with the "Advances In Material Technology" link on the home page right next to the wonderfully obviously fake pic of a non existent college building? And on top of that not only is that link slap bang in the home page where it should never have been, but IT DOESN'T WORK!! IF IT DOESN'T WORK WHY ON EARTH IS IT THERE?????
Now assuming that the visitor hasn't gone to another site as a result of boredom, and is curious to know how badly a site can be made.... lets see the other pages.
CONTACT ADDRESS:
The second page is an ever so important separate page for "Contact Address".The amazing picture of our hypothetical college building sweeps to the right side of the page (As a result of someone not taking enough time to make a good site) and the blandness continues.)
PRINCIPAL:
Next you click on the link that says "Principal" so that you can know who is in charge and can be held accountable for the site... and what do you get ???
Not Found
The requested URL /ec-ravindranath1.html was not found on this server.Yea ... thats our principal! NOT FOUND!!
Cmon ... he's the head of the institution!! If the college site cant even get a decent pic of profile of him up, then what's the point in having the site?
AFFILIATED UNIVERSITY
Next is the Affiliated University link ...and another page is wasted just givin the address of the Kerala University.
GOVERNANCE
The GOVERNANCE link .. .the first decent page I found on the site. It serves its purpose sufficiently and effectively. And the background keeps with the central theme of amazing blandness.
PROGRAMMES
Ahh .. here comes the important stuff ... a student seeking admissions will be looking into this with great interest.. and this is the chance for the college to project its best and show its strength where it matters...
So you click "Programs" (It should have been programmes but hey ...who cares right?) and there in all its glory is
"List of Programs acredited by AICTE
Apparently we are proud of that fact that we need to advertise it all over our web page...
The cut off rank is probably one of the few good ideas that the site designer came up with. Why on earth is there a "fee" link in here if there is a separate page dedicated to that????
And probably one of the most, if not THE most important section PLACEMENTS is pushed into a nice corner within the Programmes section whereas other VERY IMPORTANT (Please note extreme levels of sarcasm) things such as "AFFILIATED UNIVERSITY" and "GOVERNANCE" and CONTACT ADDRESS are given separate pages.
And not leaving the topic of placements, please people!! This is where we need to project our college positively. Say exactly which all companies came, say how many they recruited. Show them a graph of a growin placement record.Not a drab page.
FACULTY:
Ok.So hmmm ... this section is done pretty decently.. again background sucks.And maybe we can avoid having a separate section for "Faculty - student Ratio" for one single statement by just having that statement in the opening page of that section.
FEE:
Now we dont really need this link do we? Because we've already covered this under another section!!!!!!!
APPLICATION FORM, ADMISSION,ADMISSION PROCEDURE,ADMISSION CRITERIA:
Cmon now people ... do we need four separate pages for this? It doesnt really take a rocket scientist to figure out that it would be much more simple and convenient to have it all under one page called "ADMISSIONS" because each of the above mentioned sections consists of only one sentence anyways.
LIST OF CANDIDATES:
No real reason to have such a section but what the hell ... if you're havin it, make it properly. Apparently from the site, only the IT branch has 4 years worth of students studyin in it and EC and MECH were started only this year because only the 1st year students(now in 2nd yr) of these two branches are mentioned.
INFRASTRUCTURE: (well here comes our college's strength!!)
1)library:
An acceptable job.
2)laboratories
Apparently the area is the most important part of a lab and and according to the site, the electrical lab and mechanical workshops have either infinite area or zero area ... if someone could please tell me what "...." under "area" indicates....
And instead of having all the details of the labs under this single link, we have seperate links for computing facilities,EC labs, IT labs, ME labs
3)"other facilities"
Let it speak for itself
Games and Sports Facilities
A Physical Education Department, headed by Dr. Monikantan Nair, HCPEd, BPE, MPEd, M Phil, PGDSM, PhD (permanent staff member), is functioning in this college. The Department has adequate facilities for its smooth functioning. Students can also utilize the facilities of the Department of Physical Education, University of Kerala and their stadium which is only half a kilometer from our Campus. Arrangements have been made to practice athletics, football, volleyball and weight training items there. Students can also practice basket ball and handball have at the Central stadium and ball badminton, shuttle badminton and table tennis at Jimmy George stadium, which are also only half a kilometer away from the campus. Mean time, the construction of 2 badminton courts is progressing on our campus. The department also plans to construct a volley ball court and a basket ball court on our campus shortly.
Yes ...we now play in the badminton courts everyday ... QUOTE" The department also plans to construct a volley ball court and a basket ball court on our campus shortly."
For normal people this is what "Shortly" means in GEC ... Shortly - definition: NEVER!!
Example sentence: When we joined this college in 2003, we were told that we would be getting a second bus "shortly".Its been four years. No bus.
And under "CENTRAL EXAMINATION FACILITY" we have ...Central Examination Facility
The existing class rooms are utilized.
That sure as hell needed a seperate page ... dont you think so???
and finally
ACADEMIC:
Yes... this page has some useful information i do admit. and apparently from this site, one can come to the conclusion that an engineering student has only odd semesters.Because the site gives the timetables of the odd sems. Oops my mistake ... its just that the people who are in charge of running the site are soooooo busy with their own lives to update the site once in a year atleast!!!!
S7 was over months back!!! WAKE UP!!!
FINAL VERDICT : in one word ... our college website SUCKS!
PS: If anyone is planning on commenting some thing along the lines of "If you have such an issue with the college website, why don't you make one instead of complaining.Its easy to sit and blog about it. Only we who actually made it know how hard it is to do it ... sniff sniff boo hoo waah waah" then don't. Because you have no right to.People who were really interested in making a good site approaced the IT HOD with plans for a revamped site and the reply he got from the "respected" HOD "it's a thng tht's bein managed by the IT dept and that the students needn't bother about it! They are keeping it at it's best."I apologise in advance for what im about to say next but I have to ...KEEPING IT AT ITS BEST MY @$!!!!
If you don't know how to make a good site, let people who do know how to do it do it.The designers and the people who do not allow for change as a result of their stupid ego should be ashamed of their job. Look at www.cet.ac.in. Check that out and see the difference. We have students who know how to use Flash and software that could help in makin it a better site. But can they help?? NO!!! His Highness cannot let the mere mortals that dwell on earth lay their hands on his glorious and mighty web page!
Hello Dear Friends,
Do you think that the personality contests that we had seen at Convergence and the Arts Fest were run the way it was required to be run? And the questions were proper? And do you really think that to be a great personality one should always respond to all the rubbish showered at you by someone who in doing so reflects the flaws in his/her personality?
For a moment I thought 'You were worshipping false gods'.
May be I'm wrong......
But if I were a contestant I'd never have strayed from the principles & values that I hold near to my heart to impress some one on his terms & win the contest.
May be I'm too old fashioned & conservative......
But I think & I think aloud, that this is not the way.
Do you think that the personality contests that we had seen at Convergence and the Arts Fest were run the way it was required to be run? And the questions were proper? And do you really think that to be a great personality one should always respond to all the rubbish showered at you by someone who in doing so reflects the flaws in his/her personality?
For a moment I thought 'You were worshipping false gods'.
May be I'm wrong......
But if I were a contestant I'd never have strayed from the principles & values that I hold near to my heart to impress some one on his terms & win the contest.
May be I'm too old fashioned & conservative......
But I think & I think aloud, that this is not the way.
Isn't "All-round development" the keyword for any educational institution? What extra/co- curricular activities are actually happening in the college? The only activity of any importance is probably the Quiz club. And that too has seen a steady decline in participants. Maybe because of a lack of a proper room where this can regularly be conducted.But other than this ... ZILCH ! Isn't it high time we actually organised a common forum where the talents of the students can be recognised and utilised? For those who don't know this, and I'm quite sure that there are quite a few, we have been overall champions at Dhwani three times in a row. So there is no questioning the talent of the students. We have a very good store of raw undiscovered talent. But how can this be discovered if they have no platform to show them? And on top of all this, we have a management that promotes only studies and a PTA that serves no actual purpose than to collect a hefty sum from freshers each and every year. Where does all the money that the PTA collects go? There has been no significant contribution to encouraging extra curricular activities of any kind by this association.
Lets take a "Sector Wise" approach to this .. Firstly - Sports
A few years back, there were promises from the then Principal that cricket nets and a badminton court were due very shortly... .well Sir, you've just redefined "shortly". Its been three years for crying out loud! The first year students may be unaware of this fact but at the time I joined GEC, ie in 2003, there used to be an inter class football tournament every semester.This was also one of the best places where an intense bonding and friendship developed between students of various semesters. It wasnt something of grand proportions but it was fun. There used to be an intense passion in every single game that was played. They were played basically for bragging rights. But isnt that what college life is all about? Shouldn't healthy competition be encouraged? There was also an ever rolling trophy for the champions. There was even a "best player" award. There was also an inter class cricket tournament. Whatever happened to all of this? With zero support, or rather with a large amount of discouragement from the "management" these have slowly vanished. And probably the greatest shame of them all.... We now don't even have an annual sports meet. A shame indeed. We have 3 college teams for sports. Lets take a look at them
1) Football.
With no inter class tournament, talent scouting becomes that much harder. Students are rarely informed about selections (if any actually happen).And when a bunch of good players are finally selected, it'll be too late, because the selections happen a day before a tournament actually starts. So that leaves out practice and coaching. Oh ... wait a minute!! We don't have a coach!! Wait... we do have someone responsible for physical educations don't we? (For those who don't know that fact, you're forgiven. He rarely shows up in college).And unfortunately the half decent football ground that we have now looks like the site of an archaeological excavation site where the battered remains of an ancient city now lay, with just a few pillars remaining.
2) Cricket.
Same as above. Don't think our college has any equipment of its own.We have 1 or 2 district players in the team, but no coaching provided at GEC .. no sir!
3) Basketball
This is probably the only team that actually practises and has any team coordination at all. No thanks to the administration. These boys formed the team on their own, practise whole heartedly with no external support, they scout for talent with every new batch in the college and they've had their share of bright moments. Again, don't think the college has even a basketball.
4) Volleyball
We had a team once in 2003, played one tournament with zero practice. End of story.
5) Indoor Sports.
Non-Existent. How hard is it to actually construct one small room with a couple of ping pong tables and a few chess boards and carrom boards?
Second category...
Technical events at fests
Now being a government college, our college has an abundant supply of intelligent students.And this has been proven time and again.The winner of the US technology promoted Brains at War competition is from GEC.We have a few (Three I believe) very good quiz teams, that have won prizes at many fests. A couple of people take part in debates sometimes. Now the difference between these two are that there is actually a quiz club where the best in the college actually get together regularly and fine tune their skills (Thank you for your support Mr. Abhilash Suryan).
A "debating club" was started a while back but vanished immediately. It was a very good step in the right direction in starting it, but unfortunately it din't take off, probably because of a lack of cooperation. The college is now churning out brilliant engineers who are not confindent in public because of a lack of exposure. I have to admit though that there have been a few instances where the college authorities have taken the initiative and conducted workshops and presentations but with a discouraging response from the student community.
Sector 3
Arts
We have just won the overall championship at this year's Aufait. But let's admit it, there wasnt much of a competition. So why is it that a college that has been a 3 time Dhwani winner still cant give CET and MBT a run for their money at various fests. It most definitely isn't a lack of talent. I would say that it is a lack of organization among the student community. No one knows who is good at what. Isn't it the duty of the Arts club secretary to actually identify talented people and give them the necessary encouragement? We still see only a very small number of students (which does not include the arts club secretary himself) actually participating in the fests. There are probably more talented people sitting undiscovered in this college. We need a combined effort by the students as a whole to be able to score any points in major inter collegiate fests such as Dhwani and Crossroads. And what can the administration of the college do about this?
Well, perhaps a small portion of the massive amount that the PTA demands every year for God only knows what, could be used to provide some basic facilities for the students. For example, how about a room dedicated to arts? Where the students could practice after working hours? And how about a cd player so that songs can be played so that dances can be practiced? Now that surely is not going to hurt the PTA is it ? Lets do some basic arithmetic here.
Number of incoming students per year = 180
Amount collected per year by the PTA = 3000 (2000 for my batch)
Amount collected per year = 3000 x 180 = 5,40,000
Total collected in the 4 years I have been in college = 5,40,000 x 3 + (2000x 180)
= A WHOPPING 19,80,000. Almost 20 lakhs.
Cost of half decent cd player and speaker set = Negligible
Ok now some personal experience. This college has a band. (Please no comments about the quality please :D). We've had our ups and downs but we've never ever had the support from college. As is the plight with any endeavor that our students embark upon. Students from various batches represented our college at Rosebowl's Dhoom. This is probably the first ever time that we've had a gropu representing our college that comprised of students of various batches. But that was totally their own initiative and hard work.And you have to give them a hand for stayin after working hours in college and practicing even with narrow minded people around who think a few boys and girls sittin in a classroom together is a crime.
(Some people may remember incidents which happened in 2003 during dhwani dance practices where a senior staff member showed us how brilliantly narrow minded he was)
Hopefully this year we'll be having an arts fest. (Union... atleast give us an arts fest! No sports day, no annual day ... please? atleast an arts fest?)
Ok.. now Im tired. So please if someone else can talk about how we can improve the situation before major fests like cervello and crossroads, I could sit in front of my PC relaxing and listening to some music and growing fat.
But before I leave, some suggestions to the Principal, PTA, union and students
A) Dear Principal...
1) Allow arts fest
2) Allow sports day
3) Allow Annual day
4) Allow football and cricket tournaments
5) Give us a table tennis room atleast.
6) Hire a football and cricket and basketball coach?
7) GIVE US A BREAK !!
B) Dear PTA,
1) Utilise some of the funds you receive for the betterment of the students
2) Maybe some sporting equipment?
3) Maybe a couple of instruments and audio system for an AV and music room?
If you're funds have been utilized in the construction of the nearly completed new building, the you have my apologies and i retract my statements.But if that money is in the banks accruing interest for no purpose at all, you should be ashamed of yourself.( By the way, why were we forced to give Rs 1500 for the construction of the new classroom blocks?)
C) Dear College union (To the new one to be elected on the 9th)
1) Actually organize something !
2) Think about the possibility of an arts fest happening
3) Maybe a sports day as well?
4) Atleast an annual day? Cmon.. I mean.. which college doesnt have an annual day?
D)Dear students
1) Organise something yourselves
2) Take part in events. It's for your own good. You'll develop confidence.
3) Your batchmates arn't the only ones in the college. Your seniors and juniors can be your teammates. That would lead to a better team.
4) Utilize what you have. Join the quiz club. Join debating and public speaking clubs if they are formed. You have nothing to lose.
5) Let's give a decent performance at crossroads.
My batch will be completing our engineering studies in June (Hopefully). So it's upto the juniors to carry the torch forward. Make it burn brighter. And lets hope that we get an administration ready to promote education and not just textbook studies.
Lets take a "Sector Wise" approach to this .. Firstly - Sports
A few years back, there were promises from the then Principal that cricket nets and a badminton court were due very shortly... .well Sir, you've just redefined "shortly". Its been three years for crying out loud! The first year students may be unaware of this fact but at the time I joined GEC, ie in 2003, there used to be an inter class football tournament every semester.This was also one of the best places where an intense bonding and friendship developed between students of various semesters. It wasnt something of grand proportions but it was fun. There used to be an intense passion in every single game that was played. They were played basically for bragging rights. But isnt that what college life is all about? Shouldn't healthy competition be encouraged? There was also an ever rolling trophy for the champions. There was even a "best player" award. There was also an inter class cricket tournament. Whatever happened to all of this? With zero support, or rather with a large amount of discouragement from the "management" these have slowly vanished. And probably the greatest shame of them all.... We now don't even have an annual sports meet. A shame indeed. We have 3 college teams for sports. Lets take a look at them
1) Football.
With no inter class tournament, talent scouting becomes that much harder. Students are rarely informed about selections (if any actually happen).And when a bunch of good players are finally selected, it'll be too late, because the selections happen a day before a tournament actually starts. So that leaves out practice and coaching. Oh ... wait a minute!! We don't have a coach!! Wait... we do have someone responsible for physical educations don't we? (For those who don't know that fact, you're forgiven. He rarely shows up in college).And unfortunately the half decent football ground that we have now looks like the site of an archaeological excavation site where the battered remains of an ancient city now lay, with just a few pillars remaining.
2) Cricket.
Same as above. Don't think our college has any equipment of its own.We have 1 or 2 district players in the team, but no coaching provided at GEC .. no sir!
3) Basketball
This is probably the only team that actually practises and has any team coordination at all. No thanks to the administration. These boys formed the team on their own, practise whole heartedly with no external support, they scout for talent with every new batch in the college and they've had their share of bright moments. Again, don't think the college has even a basketball.
4) Volleyball
We had a team once in 2003, played one tournament with zero practice. End of story.
5) Indoor Sports.
Non-Existent. How hard is it to actually construct one small room with a couple of ping pong tables and a few chess boards and carrom boards?
Second category...
Technical events at fests
Now being a government college, our college has an abundant supply of intelligent students.And this has been proven time and again.The winner of the US technology promoted Brains at War competition is from GEC.We have a few (Three I believe) very good quiz teams, that have won prizes at many fests. A couple of people take part in debates sometimes. Now the difference between these two are that there is actually a quiz club where the best in the college actually get together regularly and fine tune their skills (Thank you for your support Mr. Abhilash Suryan).
A "debating club" was started a while back but vanished immediately. It was a very good step in the right direction in starting it, but unfortunately it din't take off, probably because of a lack of cooperation. The college is now churning out brilliant engineers who are not confindent in public because of a lack of exposure. I have to admit though that there have been a few instances where the college authorities have taken the initiative and conducted workshops and presentations but with a discouraging response from the student community.
Sector 3
Arts
We have just won the overall championship at this year's Aufait. But let's admit it, there wasnt much of a competition. So why is it that a college that has been a 3 time Dhwani winner still cant give CET and MBT a run for their money at various fests. It most definitely isn't a lack of talent. I would say that it is a lack of organization among the student community. No one knows who is good at what. Isn't it the duty of the Arts club secretary to actually identify talented people and give them the necessary encouragement? We still see only a very small number of students (which does not include the arts club secretary himself) actually participating in the fests. There are probably more talented people sitting undiscovered in this college. We need a combined effort by the students as a whole to be able to score any points in major inter collegiate fests such as Dhwani and Crossroads. And what can the administration of the college do about this?
Well, perhaps a small portion of the massive amount that the PTA demands every year for God only knows what, could be used to provide some basic facilities for the students. For example, how about a room dedicated to arts? Where the students could practice after working hours? And how about a cd player so that songs can be played so that dances can be practiced? Now that surely is not going to hurt the PTA is it ? Lets do some basic arithmetic here.
Number of incoming students per year = 180
Amount collected per year by the PTA = 3000 (2000 for my batch)
Amount collected per year = 3000 x 180 = 5,40,000
Total collected in the 4 years I have been in college = 5,40,000 x 3 + (2000x 180)
= A WHOPPING 19,80,000. Almost 20 lakhs.
Cost of half decent cd player and speaker set = Negligible
Ok now some personal experience. This college has a band. (Please no comments about the quality please :D). We've had our ups and downs but we've never ever had the support from college. As is the plight with any endeavor that our students embark upon. Students from various batches represented our college at Rosebowl's Dhoom. This is probably the first ever time that we've had a gropu representing our college that comprised of students of various batches. But that was totally their own initiative and hard work.And you have to give them a hand for stayin after working hours in college and practicing even with narrow minded people around who think a few boys and girls sittin in a classroom together is a crime.
(Some people may remember incidents which happened in 2003 during dhwani dance practices where a senior staff member showed us how brilliantly narrow minded he was)
Hopefully this year we'll be having an arts fest. (Union... atleast give us an arts fest! No sports day, no annual day ... please? atleast an arts fest?)
Ok.. now Im tired. So please if someone else can talk about how we can improve the situation before major fests like cervello and crossroads, I could sit in front of my PC relaxing and listening to some music and growing fat.
But before I leave, some suggestions to the Principal, PTA, union and students
A) Dear Principal...
1) Allow arts fest
2) Allow sports day
3) Allow Annual day
4) Allow football and cricket tournaments
5) Give us a table tennis room atleast.
6) Hire a football and cricket and basketball coach?
7) GIVE US A BREAK !!
B) Dear PTA,
1) Utilise some of the funds you receive for the betterment of the students
2) Maybe some sporting equipment?
3) Maybe a couple of instruments and audio system for an AV and music room?
If you're funds have been utilized in the construction of the nearly completed new building, the you have my apologies and i retract my statements.But if that money is in the banks accruing interest for no purpose at all, you should be ashamed of yourself.( By the way, why were we forced to give Rs 1500 for the construction of the new classroom blocks?)
C) Dear College union (To the new one to be elected on the 9th)
1) Actually organize something !
2) Think about the possibility of an arts fest happening
3) Maybe a sports day as well?
4) Atleast an annual day? Cmon.. I mean.. which college doesnt have an annual day?
D)Dear students
1) Organise something yourselves
2) Take part in events. It's for your own good. You'll develop confidence.
3) Your batchmates arn't the only ones in the college. Your seniors and juniors can be your teammates. That would lead to a better team.
4) Utilize what you have. Join the quiz club. Join debating and public speaking clubs if they are formed. You have nothing to lose.
5) Let's give a decent performance at crossroads.
My batch will be completing our engineering studies in June (Hopefully). So it's upto the juniors to carry the torch forward. Make it burn brighter. And lets hope that we get an administration ready to promote education and not just textbook studies.
In the light of the different inter-college programs being planned by the 3 dept's of the college, i would like to hear from you all about what all you think is good with the present plans; ie about the 3 depts going separately with their independent events.
I had some more questions in my mind, but can't remember them all!
So waiting for the replies or more queries!
Hope that atleast this will create some active posts or comments!
Would it have been better if all branches did the programs together??
Would it be possible for the 3 events to get funding with the reputation of the college??
Will it be a good reflection on the image of the college??
Will it cause any rift between the students of the college??
I had some more questions in my mind, but can't remember them all!
So waiting for the replies or more queries!
Hope that atleast this will create some active posts or comments!
Well let's have something interesting going on in here! If we are to publish an article in the papers regarding the achievements of GECB in the past 7 years, what all will we publish?? Since this is NOT a newspaper article and is not intended to be just an advertisement. Something that shows both the positives AND the negatives, unlike the major chunk of FACTUAL reports we see in the papers after the entrance tests calling our attention to all kinds of infrastructural details and about the profile of the various faculty members.
What i am trying here is to have a realistic picture of what's life @ GECB, What it means to be one, what all can you look forward to if you join this institution, what are the setbacks that you may suffer if you join and so on. I shall try to put in some details about what all i have felt here and if you feel that it's not sufficient enough, you are always welcome to have a comment or even a new post if you feel that would do justice to such a topic!
So here it goes.
What i am trying here is to have a realistic picture of what's life @ GECB, What it means to be one, what all can you look forward to if you join this institution, what are the setbacks that you may suffer if you join and so on. I shall try to put in some details about what all i have felt here and if you feel that it's not sufficient enough, you are always welcome to have a comment or even a new post if you feel that would do justice to such a topic!
So here it goes.
The Pros of GECB and of being a GECian:
- Well obviously the 1st and foremost factor that favours GEC over other colleges is the placements that happen here. Not that it’s comparable to that of CET, but then comparing an institution like CET along with us is not being just. I mean CET is a institution with a class of its own. It’s more than 60 years old. THAT itself is a testament to how great it is. Regarding the placements: We have a good reputation among the companies that visit the campus, or rather the students have a good reputation. This is the only area where I feel that the LACK of infrastructure is a major strength of ours. Since the 1st thing that the recruiters see here are a set of tile-roofed buildings that in no way are good for a ENGINEERING college. But when they find the quality of students who happen to study here, they are awed. I have had the chance of talking to a few people who come here representing the best of IT companies of India, and all have the same opinion – compared to the infrastructure (or rather lack of it) we have, we produce good quality engineers.
- This feature is actually the result of the next factor favouring us: A knowledgeable and dynamic team of faculty members who constantly try to improve our knowledge in the constrains of this small college. Am not qualified to comment on the quality of faculty that we have in the departments of IT or EC, but since I have seen a good number of faculty members of CET from the times that I spent in the Mech engg labs @ CET, I can say that our faculty members are on par those of CET, if not higher than them. This again is a debateable topic since we don’t have a strict platform for evaluating the profile’s of the faculty. But even from their degree’s they are too good for a college like ours!
The next factor that’s in favour is the LOCATION. All might be wondering what I am talking about. But it’s true that a college that’s within the city limits has a lot of advantages when compared to other colleges which have acres of land, but are in areas that are not easy to reach. This is a major factor which a student SHOULD take into consideration. This not only means that we spend less time and money on travel, but the fact is that we can reach any cinema theatre in the city within 15-20 mins in a bike or auto from GECB. I don’t think any other engineering college in the city offer’s such a facility!
- Coming to the atmosphere @ GEC, well it’s always calm except for the occasional barking dog or the wind rustling through the woods of IMG hostel upstairs! We can claim that ours is the most peaceful campus in the state, since it hasn’t seen a single fight over any kind of issue except some rare occurrences. This is a point that can come as a positive for some, and for some others this can be a negative point too!
- Another important point can be the bond that the students share in this college. I have been to numerous colleges and believe me, there are very few colleges which have so less number of students and this is the reason why we see that the students, irrespective of their branches and semester have a good rapport amongst each other and this is a good thing for a campus.
I think these are the major positives of GECB.
Now looking at the negatives:
- Most important flaw in GECB is the lack of infrastructure. We don’t even have the basic buildings for classrooms, our labs (the one’s we HAVE) are congested and don’t have the required ventilation and it really is a major area of concern. Each time the AICTE team comes to the college, they point this as the biggest problem. They are happy with our students and faculty, but unhappy with the way the students are being taught in small classrooms and even smaller labs.
- The college website SUXX bigtime, it looks as if the designer wanted to have this put up as an entry for the WORST website’s category. The site instead of giving a rosy picture, actually degrades the college’s image and if theirs anyone who knows a thing or two about hacking please do something!
- The office staff! If anyone’s gone there for getting a paper signed or for anything else they will agree when I say that they are worst bunch of people to man a engineering college office! This also includes some NICE people in the workshop and the CAD lab too!
- The dog’s and cows roaming around in the campus! They may give the idea of a environmentally conscious institute, but that all can come later. 1st we need a campus for the students, not one with dog’s roaming around as if they OWN the place.
- The lack of a proper canteen. I know it serves food at reasonable rates. But what about snacks and drinks?? If anyone’s gone to some other college’s you can see the kind of hygiene that the cooks and the other staff over their have. It’s better if I don’t mention about that here!
- Lack of a proper place to hang around. This may not be fulfilled even when we have our building up and running since our campus is too small. But then I have felt the need of a place to just sit and talk at many times. All we have is the small counter near the cooler (now that’s another area of concern), a few steps near the EC labs and the ground with a set of stairs elevating us to the heavens.
I think these are the main reasons for the fame and glory of GECB, pour your remarks and comments if you feel I haven’t done justice to the title!
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