OU, students saga seems endless

THE SAGA continues. Barely a week after the academics started, nothing seems to be going right on the Osmania University campus.

Suspension of a student for allegedly abusing an official, the episode leading to boycott of classes, cancellation of admissions into the MCJ course by the university, allegations of bungling during the fancied centralised counselling and cancellation of the much-touted M.Sc (Information Technology) course due to lack of students' response, well, the list of problems seem to be endless.

Even before they got familiarised with their classmates and the course, the students on campus colleges are forced to stay away from classes. The reason - suspension of a research scholar for allegedly abusing the Registrar.

The suspended student and the ABVP, to which he is attached, claim that they had gone to the Registrar with a list of problems being faced by students, but he did not respond positively. The `rude' replies and the indifference shown by the Registrar had what enraged them and which ultimately led to arguments, they claim.

`It is not a healthy practice to suspend the students highlighting the problems on the campus', the students point out. However, the university spokesperson says that there was a valid reason for the suspension and they had to resort to it given the serious nature of the `misbehaviour'. But, the university, so far has done nothing to stop the `forcible' boycott of classes.

Meanwhile, the much publicised centralised counselling seems to have created more problems than it solved. While the university itself cancelled the MCJ admissions after allegations that some non-local students were prevented from attending counselling, there were several other cases of anomalies which came to light after the counselling was over.

Lack of proper guidance to the students coupled with rude behaviour of the teachers at the counselling venue only created a bad image for the university among the students. But, what surprises everyone is that despite a negative image being painted, the officials have done little to come out with their versions and put things straight.

Editing hi-tech way

THE SLOPPY paper is out and the sophisticated software is in. The painstaking subbing with the hand and the worry of headlines crossing the unit limit is a thing of the past. The correction of the copy is now at their fingertips and they can play with words in giving headlines without bothering about space constraints.

A drastic change and a much needed one that too. The fresh batch of journalism students at the Osmania University can learn editing the hi-tech way what with the department acquiring online facility of the agency copy. So, no more time-consuming sorting of the copy and picking up of the news. It is all at their fingertips.

`The age-old practice of editing the copy with the hand doesn't exist in any newspaper office these days. Subbing is done on the computer whether it is the agency copy or a copy filed by the reporters. We want to ensure that our students are well equipped with the new technology existing in the industry when they go out for jobs', says, Dr. Stevenson, a lecturer in the department, explaining the reason to acquire online agency copy facility.

Apart from making teaching easy, students will have real-time experience as they can sub the copies, give the headlines in whatever font they like, signifying the nature of the news and make pages on the computer itself. As part of the course, students bring out a Telenews board everyday.

R. RAVIKANTH REDDY

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