4 OPINION VLADA GAISINA opinion@technewsiit.com TechNews I Tuesday, March 29, 2011 Egypt from an insider's perspective: Waiting... By Sara ElShafie TECHNEWS WRITER This week, we continue to share excerpts from Sara’s blog http://asandstorminhastille. hlogspot.corn/, describing her experience amid the recent Egyptian Revolution. Friday, January 28, 2011 7:00pm Still no word from Mubarak. We’re all awaiting his speech. We are all praying that these demonstra- tions will end in Mubarak’s removal. At this point, the protesters won’t stop until he’s gone. God forbid he should try to hand power to his son. The city would literally be in flames. Lenah remarks that no one anticipated that the demonstrations would reach this point. This is the biggest event in Egypt in 33 years. Amu Ayman says that this is only the third time for the army to enter the streets in 60 years. It happened in ’77 with the Bread Riots, and it happened in ’86 when the government tried to make obligatory military service 5 years instead of 3 and the young men of the country took to the streets in protest. I am shocked to hear that there are still po- lice in the street shooting people. They have tru- ly lost their minds. They’ve turned into rabid animals. I wonder if the army will have to call them off or even remove the police themselves. Half a million protesters reported in Alex- andria. Several police stations have been set on fire in Cairo. 8:00pm The situation is getting worse. The city is out of control. Apparently the police have re- treated from the streets, but the army has been in the streets for two hours and they haven’t done a damned thing to control the situation. Someone just robbed a bank in Tahrir. A fa- mous movie director came up to a camera and begged the soldiers to protect the Egyptian CAMPUS Museum from being robbed too. No way to know if the looters and violent people in the streets are protesters or govern- ment people creating chaos to threaten the protesters. . . Just announced that people have broken into the Television headquarters. This is ex- actly what we feared. If they take over the TV tower, they could cut TV reception for the en- tire country. Then we will REALLY be in crisis. The TV networks are our last outlet. Without them, we have no way of knowing what’s go- ing on... The curfew has ofiicially been extended to all of Egypt, including Sinai. However, it is not helping to calm the violence. ...I can’t even keep up with my thoughts. The news networks can barely keep up with the events either. 8:30pm Gamal and Ala’ Mubarak have left the country, and still no word from the Coward in Chief Hosni Mubarak. Mark my words, this is the end of the Mubarak regime. I am so proud to be here to witness the day of Egypt’s inde- pendence! 8:45pm The country is in flames. The country is com- pletely out of control. People are looting stores and carrying mer- chandise in the streets. Fire has been set to the National Democratic Party headquarters, the Cairo Trade Center, and a hotel which has not been identified. Soldiers are guarding the Egyptian Muse- um and the TV tower. Thank God. 10:00pm [Dad] assures me that, despite the striking appearance, this is peaceful demonstration. He is actually amazed and so impressed with the Egyptians and how beautifully they have handled it thus far. He has seen demonstra- tions turn violent very quickly, back in his ac- tivism days when he was my age. This is not a civil war. This is not sectarian violence. This is The energy side of sustainability By The Office of Campus Energy and Sustainability Campus maps prior to the year 2000 de- pict a different IIT than we see today - under- developed and outdated. The campus today has a new look, a new atmosphere, and a new challenge to match. IIT has engaged students, faculty and staff in campaigns to recycle, re- duce energy use and increase use of alterna- tive transportation. In order for this to happen, IIT must create a new culture of sustainability within the community and administration and implement sustainable energy solutions that allow IIT to meet the energy reduction goals of the Campus Sustainability Plan. HT will fol- low a clear progression to improve energy use on campus, beginning with building efiiciency, while adding alternative and on-site sources of energy as they make sense. HT must first improve facility energy use to make the campus more sustainable. All build- ing systems that use and deliver energy need improvement, as does the manner in which all HT community members interact with energy. IIT’s Facilities department has begun to retro- fit lighting fixtures and introduce building au- tomation systems to improve efiiciency. To do their part, campus occupants need to reduce energy use and follow campus policies by turn- ing off equipment and lights when not needed, eliminate unnecessary pieces of equipment (like old printers, computers and lab equip- ment), and engage building operators as to opportunities that will give them more control over their energy use. The idea of sustainable energy was intro- duced to HT about 60 years ago. Today new ideas move from research and academics to operations as a matter of common practice. Projects like the Smart Microgrid (a joint project of HT operations, the Galvin Center for Electricity Innovation and WISER), re- newable vehicle charging stations, and bat- tery storage highlight the implementation of HT technologies and solutions in a Living Laboratory. These initiatives help to solve real campus issues, like the new metering project that will monitor energy use in each building, giving operators and occupants real-time in- formation to help drive innovation and per- formance. The future could bring large solar, photovoltaic, and geothermal systems to cam- pus. The historic nature of the campus pres- ents a unique challenge for HT as it seeks to improve energy utilization. Staff, faculty and students need to get creative in finding new solutions and using technology to meet these challenges. In just a few years, IIT has made a “quantum jump” in changing its mindset toward becoming more efiicient and sustain- able. With this momentum, and new tech- nologies, another jump will come. Dr. Hamid Arastoopour, Director of WISER, believes that becoming sustainable does not just pres- ent a problem that requires a solution, but a new cultural shift: “We’re a university; smart and creative. We need to look outside of the box. We need to make the quantum jump. Sustainability is not one thing. It’s everything.” Find out more about IIT energy initiatives and learn more about the IIT Campus Sus- tainability Plan at http://www.iit.edu/campus_sustainability. Egyptians fighting the government. They will not raze the country to the ground. They are protecting the country. They are attacking the government only. The news is all over US news networks, and CNN is covering the events by the min— ute, and they’re based in Europe. When the US heard that the government cut the internet they were shocked. N0 government has EVER -.~ - cut the internet to an entire country. This was the first major message that the government has crossed the line and is panicking and is finished! We’re waiting to hear from the White House... To be continued... ‘ a... HEGEMONY CONSULTING GROUP ”-2435 ‘7 ...positively influencing Information Technology Information Session The Career Management Center is excited to be hosting an Information Session for Hegemony Consulting Group on March 29, 2011. Hegemony is an advanced network of IT professionals that serves its clients in the areas of full lifecycle application development and systems integration by providing the technically talented resources our clients need when they need them. Hegemony was founded in 1995 as a software development and technical I integration specialist. Hegemony, which by definition means "preponderance of influence", is in the business of continuously seeking out the resources, tools and talents needed to positively influence the information-technology industry. Hegemony Consulting Group is currently hiring for Computer Science, Software Engineering, Network Engineering, Information Architecture, Computer Engineering, and Electrical/Computer Engineering!! MUST BE A US CITIZEN OR PERMANENT RESIDENT lst session: 4:00pm - 5:00pm in Stuart Building Rm 104 Aud 2nd Session: 5:30pm - 6:30pm in Stuart Building Rm 104 Aud Stop by on March 29, 2011 to learn more about what they can offer IIT students and alumni! Call 312.567.6800 to RSVP for the webcast link Food will be provided. (:ch uccessful Careers Start Here WWW- cmc- ii