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BY HERBERT MWESIGWA
Being a guy with considerably more female friends, I can affirm that female interns go through hell at their workplaces. The intended educational benefits put aside, a female intern has to fend off numerous “sexual” advances right from the gatekeepers and office attendants to the bosses themselves who have wives, children and several mistresses.
The man you are telling to back off is also your supervisor and writes your performance evaluation which the university uses to grade you. In some other cases, you want to be retained or the internship is extended but the guy to make that happen demands for some quid pro quo. And it’s not money they are asking for, but something else. So, what do you do? Nadianat, who is doing her internship at a government ministry in Kampala, sometimes decides to play dumb, which involves pretending not to understand what these guys are asking for. Some, hopefully, might eventually get bored, but as is the case, some men will persevere. Do you succumb to the temptation and enjoy the promised benefits or do you take the moral high road and run the risk of being terminated? It may be a straightforward answer for some but I am glad that as a guy, it’s a choice I will most likely never have to make. And the thing is, as an intern, you basically have no rights: the company thinks it’s doing you a major favour, so even if you feel compelled to report the harassment, the most likely course of action is to suggest that you leave, hence most will end up continuing to suffer quietly.
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Makerere public speakers graduate
BY IMMACULATE WANYENZE The Mass Communication Department of Makerere University last week conducted a mini graduation in public speaking. The third year students on Thursday received certificates that, according to David Musoke, one of the lecturers, were awarded in recognition of one’s attendance in class and performance. Musoke added that public speaking skills are important for Mass Communication students, not only to improve on their eloquence but also confidence in the way they present themselves, including their dress code. “Some started shy but now are capable of emceeing on occasions and being good broadcasters,” he said. He called upon students to value their public speaking certificates because they contribute to their degree at the end of the course. Another lecturer, Jack Smith, complained that Mass Communication students usually perform well in the public speaking class but fail to take part in the public speaking contest. Makerere holds a public speaking contest at the beginning of the year, usually in February, in which students from the School of Medicine, Sociology and Mass Communication participate. All was not well though with the certificate awarding ceremony as one student identified as Suzan Wamuyu stood up as if to thank her lecturers only to blast them for not giving them real certificates but rather photocopies. However, Musoke explained that the certificates were obtained through donations as the Mass Communication Department did not contribute any money.
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Seventeen universities line up for annual games BY PHILIMON BADAGAWA At least seventeen universities will participate in this year’s Inter-university games slated for December 19-23 at Nkumba University. Makerere University, the defending champions, registered last after a students’ riot prompted authorities to pay up for the games. Nkumba University is hosting the games for the first time. The Sports Tutor, Patrick Sebuliba said the university will accommodate all participants; men and women until the games end. Meals will also be provided at Nkumba. Some games like football and swimming will be played outside Nkumba due to limited facilities. Some nearby football pitches will be used. Over 5,000 students are expected to turn up. The games are being sponsored by MTN.
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Missing the bottom line of Mass Communication BY HAGGAE MATSIKO Lucy Aine is a third year Mass Communication student at Makerere University. Ever since she was a kid, she loved reading and writing. In particular, she wrote letters requesting this and that from her mum. She admits she did not know about journalism then, but adored news anchors whom she felt were great people because they were watched by everyone. Well, that was a long time ago.
“With good grades in English, later in Literature and my eyes were set on Mass Communication. So Mass Communication I ended up doing. In my first year, I was extremely ambitious, working for a first class degree, and hardly missing lectures,” says Aine. Like Aine, most students of Mass Communication at Makerere and other universities focus on merely attending lectures. When they are not attending lectures, they lounge around limping computer laboratories. Journalists are supposed to read a lot, even a doctor will tell you that. But these students lousily bask in the absurdity of lack of facilities and forget about the struggle of their career. They forget about writing, the bottom line of their course. “I want to write but what can I write about? I don’t know but I want to start writing,” said Annette, a second year student, during a chat with friends. But if you lack the passion to write and read, you are definitely lost. Your lack a sense of direction. What is more absurd is that much as many students know that writing is the gist of their career, they do not make an effort towards improving their writing skills. Others think they are good writers by default, even when the writing on the wall stares them in the eye: “practice makes perfect.” Soon, it’s internship time and no newspaper is willing to you on as your by-line has never been seen anywhere! “You see Richard, in print journalism, what matters, is whether you have the edge and you can only prove that by writing and being published. We have a few slots and they are for those who have been writing, for it is only such people we are sure they know what they are doing,” Richard Kawooya, a third year student, narrates how one editor turned down his application.
“With journalism, I made a wrong choice,” another friend lamented on Facebook.
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