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Even as we insignificant mortals uselessly roam the fast-heating-up tarmac of the campus and
stare dumbfounded, and again uselessly, at the pretty lights curving up through the posh new
FD to the clocktower, gears of change have been set into motion. Much like everything on
campus, the academic structure is also being rebuilt and fine-tuned.
The Senate met for the 167th time on the 12th of March, 2014. Pilani’s student representative to
the Senate, Shashank Murali, brings us updates from the meeting that will interest and affect
the student body.
France calling: A memorandum of understanding was signed with n+i, a Francebased network of engineering institutes, in order to promote student and faculty exchange programs for semesters, theses and internships abroad. Details on how to apply for these will come out soon.
New Guidelines: Thinking of xeroxing/carbon-copying/‘borrowing ideas’ from your
sidie’s hard work? Well, think again. The Dean of the Instruction Division has drafted
guidelines for consequences that students will face if found guilty of malpractices such
as plagiarism in home assignments. This should be out in three to four weeks.
Similarly, the Dean of the Student Welfare Division has submitted a report on guidelines for awarding punishment in cases of indiscipline. Suggestions have been received
and debated. The Dean, along with a student body, will review, revise and re-submit
the report soon.
Biology in BITSAT? Don’t be surprised when your juniors back home preparing for
their medical examinations start asking you about life in BITS. The B. Pharm curriculum will soon be revised so that students who have studied only Physics, Chemistry
and Biology in the 11th and 12th standards may also be enrolled into this stream. Some
new basic math courses will be added to boost their mathematical aptitude.
Minors et al. New clauses were added to the structure of the Minor programs. For
instance, students pursuing a Minor degree will now be required to pay an additional
fee and admission to the Minor Degree may have certain other criteria such as CGPA
in case of numerous applicants. The eligibility criterion for MBA students has been
changed so as to include students who have a B.Tech., B.E., M.E., M.Sc. or equivalent
degree, or any integrated first degree from BITS Pilani. A Ph.D. must be necessarily
completed in 7 years or fewer.
What do we think? New academic flexibilities are always welcome; we aren’t going to complain.
The foreign collaboration seems promising and we hope it makes exchange programs less of a
rarity than they are right now. All the punishment guidelines seem daunting but we do hope
they’re made public. In any case, time to get up and dust ourselves for it does seem like change
is upon us.
The humongous elephant in the room standing right at
the base of the clock tower that we have all ignored for
a few years now, will stop being so unassuming when it
is inaugurated on the 28th of March by Kumar Mangalam Birla and Sarala Birla. An astounding amount of
work has been done at a steady and fast pace over a
short time to carve this architectural marvel out of
what was before, the C-lawns. The NAB will house the
Humanities, Economics, Computer Science and Math
departments and the space left by these departments in
the existing FDs will be used for the expansion of other departments.
Classes can begin in the new block as soon as April
and the fully air-conditioned rooms will be no small
incentive to attend classes if the summer becomes any
hotter. Those who own bicycles will have to leave
them in their hostels as they won’t be allowed anywhere in the NAB. The mini-auditorium in the block
can seat 200 people and packs top-end sounds and
lights equipment. The rotunda can be used for any
open air event and is designed to be visible from very
far away. Under the rotunda is a water tank with a capacity of one lakh litres for the drainage water to flow
into, temporarily. The grass on the inclines on both
sides has been planted as it is, and will take some time
before actually rooting into the ground. It is to be seen
how the NAB will fit into life here in Pilani, but surely
the walloping sounds that have kept quite a few people
at night and the accumulating dust from the construction site settling on laptops have ultimately proven to
be totally worth the hassle - the elephant in the room
stands majestic.
One day’s worth of meals in the mess used to cost Rs. 59; it was increased to a
shocking Rs. 72. These prices were immediately rejected; and after much
negotiation the prices were brought own to Rs. 64.5.
“On the 8th of March, unexpectedly, Sodexo hiked the ANC prices. They practically
blackmailed us into agreeing by saying that if they weren’t allowed to increase their
prices, they would bring the new prices into effect from Feb 8th, effectively
increasing the ANC bill of everyone on campus by almost 33%,” says Chandeesh.
All this happened during the mid-sems, and the flustered SSMS had no choice but
to agree. It certainly makes one think whether students must be burdened with such
matters, especially with the huge sums of money being handled and academics
coming before everything else for the students, SSMS included.
The SSMS was always pro-boycott, but they could not publically support it as
legally they were bound to side with Sodexo. However, the boycott tremendously
helped with the re-negotiations with Sodexo. Although Sodexo had initially
disagreed to reconsider the increase in prices, they were forced to comply after the
successful boycott by the students. SSMS was pleased as they now had grounds to
re-negotiate on. Taking inflation into account, the percentage hike in prices was
calculated to be around 12-13 % and this was brought into effect immediately.
Talks of another boycott continue to circulate. The SU and SSMS have had a
meeting where they have decided to do whatever it takes to bring down the prices.
All we can do now is hope the prices go down soon, or Sodexo doesn’t have much
time left in BITS Pilani. “We cannot terminate the deal with Sodexo any time soon
as we have no other alternative,” points out Chandeesh. “We will definitely have to
wait till the end of this semester at least.”
Rumour mills have also been buzzing with the news that Foodking might bring the
credit system into effect. Both Bhatt and Chandeesh agree with this news.
Apparently, the owner of Foodking has stated that at the beginning of the next
financial year, they are willing to adopt the credit system. The institute has not yet
made its stance very clear, as bringing in the credit system will require a huge loan
to be given to Foodking from their side. Bringing in the credit system at Foodking
will further help bring down the prices at ANC, as they would have quite a strong
competitor to fight.
There is a general body meeting on Tuesday, 25th March, at 5.30 pm in the
auditorium, where these issues will be discussed and representatives from Sodexo,
SSMS, SU and the Institute will be present to answer any questions about the new
prices and the future of tandoori chicken at ANC. (Ok, not exactly that last part.)
was also brought up, with suggestions of possible cricket
matches, lunches and bi-monthly mixers. The Director also
mentioned that very few students are aware that they have
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been allotted a mentor in first year, who is always available for
Their argument was seemingly plausible, since they would guidance.
have just one facet to show the companies recruiting them. Collaborations with international universities and revision of
Whether this insecurity they feel about the rusticated degree is the structure of important courses, especially with respect to
credible or not is still debatable. It is for the institution and the PS 2, was briefly discussed as well. 'You're getting two degrees
conforming department to look into it and address their con- in five years, you have to work harder' was his answer to dual
cerns. The questions kept pouring in, but owing to lack of degree student woes.
time, the rest were to be taken care of after the assembly was
Several long standing issues came up. SSMS representatives
adjourned.
took the floor and explained, for the umpteenth time, details
This step was unanimously –well, almost – appreciated and about Sodexo, the price revisions and why they were necesmany are hopeful about the changes in the student-teacher sary. The lack of proper follow up from the Sarvajanik Hospirelationship in BITS Pilani. Let us hope for regular dialogues tal (the case in point being a refusal to provide medicines imand interactions akin to these.
mediately despite a prescription from an external doctor) even
In spite of the meagre audience on the second day of the in light of the implementation of the emergency response sysDirector's address, several pertinent issues were raised. The tem by BITS was mentioned as well.
Director began the session by stressing on the importance of
the members of the BITSian community being there to support each other in times of difficulty. He mentioned that the
feeling of being in a giant family was what differentiated BITS
from other colleges and urged that the students not let it
change. His opening address also touched upon the growing
substance abuse and frequent visits to 'Ganga, Yamuna...Sarla'.
He felt that this was changing the opinion that Pilani locals
have of BITSian students, who were once held in high regard.
One important point that was raised towards the end of the
session was the isolation of first year students from their seniors which reflected upon the Director's opening statement of
the dwindling community feeling. The Director and the Chief
Warden mentioned that SR Bhawan was not allotted exclusively to first years in order to isolate them. The possibility of
first and second year students being given double rooms in
following semesters was discussed. A suggestion to allot first
years a senior student mentor was also made.
With regard to academics, it was pointed out that the MGPA
of BITS students is lower than that of other comparable institutions, which puts us in a difficult situation with respect to
higher education applications. In response, Prof. Raghurama
said that BITS does not offer a fail grade. If there had been
one, the MGPA would shoot up at the expense of a few students taking longer than usual to graduate.
The session closed with the suggestion of sending an e-mail
digest to all students regarding the proceedings of the meeting.
Although the Director concurred with the suggestion, students
haven't yet been informed about the outcome of the interaction.
The lack of student-faculty interaction outside the classroom
More such interactive sessions would help students understand the changes taking place in the BITSian system.