Birth of Varsity Post

EDITORIAL BOARD John Karanja, Edward Okana, David Kimani,Andrian Nduru, Munene Kamau, George Ngugi Kingara

he launch of the Varsity Post magazine marks tremendous milestone in journalism in Chuka University College. The magazine will nurture the up-and-coming talent joining the writing arena as it keeps you informed, entertained and educated. With confidence, the magazine will address many issues but our main objective is to reflect, just like a mirror, the occurrences within CUC and the community around us. We will also grow your business and organizations interests through tailor-made advertising campaigns, and supply the reader with an affordable issue of the magazine every three months. We hope to reach the maximum possible readership in Chuka and beyond. As part of the editing team, I join with all our sponsors in appreciating and acknowledging the entire CUC media and journalism team for ensuring this new baby, our Varsity Post, has birthed properly after a long wait. We promise to work hand in hand with the students, staff, administration and the entire Chuka community through the Varsity Post, in consolidating and integrating our diverse knowledge and experiences for the betterment of our entire community. Edward Okana Managing Editor

CONTRIBUTORS

Corazon Dolly, Michael Ogutu, Joe Migwi, Mary Chege, Allan Mwangi, Edward Okana, Edwin Mogere , simeon Mabea, Patrick Munene, Andrian Nduru
LAYOUT Designer: Edwin Mogere ADVERVERTISING SALES Mkuzi Dingo, Edwin Mogere PHOTOGRAPHY Andrian Nduru, John Karanja, Edwin Mogere,simon Obuya QUALITY CONTROL Ms Rose Kimani PUBLISHED BY Chuka University Journalism Club in conjunction with the communication and media department PRINTED BY Siscom Investments P.O Box 193, Chuka Tel: 0724132548

For Quality Printing and stationary

Communication and Media department Chuka University For comments and enquiries contact us on cucjournalism@gmail.com Blog: www.cucjournal.blogspot.com

PAGE 2

OPINIONS

Valentino Facts
Valentine Day is gone but Edward Okana has this take on the day of red.
Valentine Day is not just a day like any other. It is special. For many of us, this day is also Lovers Day, a day when people spread love.More interestingly is a day when many adies, if not all, expect to receive flowers from their male counterparts. I wonder however, whether the reverse is applicable. Some people get so charged for this super day just to secretly invite others to join their bandwagon. although they religiously brace and prepare psychologically for the day of love, with or without a partner Valentine Day still comes to pass. However, the different loves for this day motivate many more people. For instance, by the eve of the last Valentine Day, many Chuka University ladies had already been splurging in its promise. Yet, the complete opposite was true about their male partners. One, Peter Kilonzo, attempted to explain this difference, saying that ladies tend to seek refuge in such unproductive days to avoid pressure or the backlog of classroom chores. Another opinion from Janet Michemi left me stunned. She admitted she also feels that some ladies are just gold diggers, that they are always hungry for expensive gifts like flowers, chocolate and being taken out to celebrate on Valentine Day. Some ladies will do anything to be like the others, she said. Those without partners to buy them gifts might seek solace in buying for themselves gifts and then shout at the top of their voices, Chris bought me this chocolate! As a man, I tend to think that we should soberly deal with Valentine Day situations. Let us be ourselves, and if anyone feels that he has more than enough cash to spend, he should be wise while doing so. He could buy her all the gifts but should also think about other people who might need his support. Say, one could send his mum back home some beautiful flowers and sweet chocolate. Valentine season should unite us with our friends, parents and enemies but not divide us. So let us share our love, and most importantly remember to spend money wisely, ladies and gentlemen. Remember, with or without a partner next to you on Valentine Day the day will still come to pass. EDWARD OKANA is a 3rd Year student in Communication and Media

Run-away Food Prices

Escalating food prices is what concerns Simeon Obuya. He poses the big question here.
Yes, it is normal in Kenya that food price fluctuation is common in many parts of the country. The prices change in respect to weather and climatic seasons throughout the year. This is no mystery to Kenyans. But I want to ask the experts in food production and those in the economy of products pricing to explain the constant rise in food prices. The other day I bought one kilogram of maize flour at 27 shillings (Ksh) from a local shop. The following day, I returned to same shop and discovered that the price of the same amount of flour had jumped to 47 shilling. My God! Yet this happens regularly. What happened overnight? Did drought suddenly emerge to affect food production , and therefore the reason for the increment of Ksh 20? I am just asking as a troubled member of the public, who wonders why more research is not being done to find an immediate, permanent solution to food shortages and high food prices in Kenya.
SIMEON OBUYA, 2nd Year, Communication and Media

Price of the most popular commodity in a local supermarket.

PAGE 3

Fishing in new fishpond, setting paces

Having worked throughout my Yet another way of inventing experience is creating work. For me, this second approach to becoming self-sufficient and resourceful is most appealing. With regards to this concept, I preached to my students about the philosophy of pioneerism. When you are the first one there, you can write the story of your experience there with a lot of freedom. For this reason, I could come to CUC, though I could have lived and worked this elsewhere, country. I impressed on them to start their own projects, create their own opportunities. I said that for the most part they were the elite of their communities, as they had not only been elevated in society by joining university but they had also been granted four years for training in thinking about how to improve their lives. I believe after the talk, the first seeds of what would become the Varsity Post were sown. When the Chuka University Journalism Club (CUJC) was forming, my students invited me to share ideas with them regarding the direction the club the could East take. African Our Luckily, I had recently been part of the founding of Communication was colleagues Association. organization including outside university studentship, albeit overseas, I was able to impress on the students that many opportunities for them to create work experience exist. It is true only very few students will ever take on paid work while they are in university, but work experience need not be paid work. Volunteering
By George Ngugi Kingara

in or other even

charitable religious

organizations, doing community work with the church and

ot long ago, I responded to an ad ve rt on t ha t the h ad Daily appeared

organizations,

presenting

oneself to be the chairperson of the funeral committee at a neighbor's home are some good examples. Indeed, experience, yet employers like employees I told them that to hear potential of what is produce

Nation calling for a senior lecturer in Media and Communication. Then I forgot about it. Much later I would receive a letter granting me an interview for the position, and could I report to Chuka University College at 4 PM on the set September date. I wasnt sure what to make of this offer because nearly six months had passed since I had applied for the position for which I was now being granted an interview. At the time, I was not really so desperate for a job that I could not have waited a little longer for a much more promising employer to appear in the papers. I had a lucrative part-timer U nive rs ity chair at was excited position and about at Daystar University one my

philosophies

work. Such activities could

some for anyone who partakes in them. Having been a student in academia for many years, I have learnt that once I enroll in a course I have to see it through. I have to finish it. Since I had written the application seeking an opportunity to work in Chuka University College, I was obligated to at least see the place. I did, and the interview happened, around 8:30 PM, not 4 PM as promised in that letter. I could have left at 5PM but I did not, because sitting waiting in one of the lowly wooden structures looked building at on under the main campus, a I the large multi-storied few

departmental

Kenyatta

prospects of joining his universitys new programme in film technology studies. So why Chuka, a place I knew existed o n ly b e ca us e of s ome fa mo us traditional dancers who once associated themselves with the name? I will tell you. Commitment. Months later, my students and I were having a discussion about employment, or lack of it, for graduates who complete university education and find themselves unemployable. Someone pointed out that every employer keeps asking for proof of work all employers know that university students never worked before they graduated. So why are these potential employers always making such unreasonable demands?

construction

founded on the need for

meters across. I had an epiphany of sorts. Here, I could grow. I could construct myself into a somebody in this virgin territory. So I stayed.

in media and communication research to exchange ideas and to help each other grow in their various areas of expertise. EACA did Members not it produce would of the organization however felt that if the something existed tangible such research papers or even

I preached to my students about the philosophy of pioneerism. When you are the first one there, you can write the story of your experience there with a lot of freedom.

journal,

have

merely by name. Also, it would be difficult for any of its members to claim that being part of it was valuable work or research experience if such proof did not exist. Along the same line of thinking, I urged the members of the young CUJC to strive at creating a product that could speak for them. A magazine, the members came to realize, would be just the thing.
Continued on page 5

PAGE 4

Continued from page 4

Media students tour KIMC studios

Journalism is a career that requires students to be exposed to its practical aspects. For this reason, media students from Chuka University College visited Kenya Institutes of Mass Communication. The Varsity Post would be the place Allan Mwangi was one of them and he tells the story.
for the CUCJC members to create work experience for themselves. The students could publish, they could take on the roles of journalists and of administrators in publishing. They

could learn how to network with each other in the context of achieving the set goal of producing a quarterly magazine. Best of all, by the time they left university all the students The Varsity Post is now a reality. When the students invited me to publish a piece or two in it, I felt they wanted to make a statement that their objective is to make this

t is around 3 pm and we are not yet sure which vehicle to board for transport to our destination, although we are standing next to a 14-seater vehic le from Egert on University, our mother university. Eventually it becomes clear. We are going to use a bus. It seems massively uneconomical for eleven people to travel in a 51-seater bus. Nevertheless, our journey begins.

The next morning business begin with a drive to KIMC. The compound of the institution is fairly expansive. A number of very old vehicles once in service of the Institution in years past, sit dying in the compound. Should we be disheartened? No, the thought of getting into a radio studio excites us immensely. We are led into the production studio by Charles Odhiambo Odenya, a technical operator at ECN FM studios, the KIMC radio station. Charles is a well built, dark bespectacled man who looks like a piece of the studio. The room itself has a red-carpeted floor. We remove our shoes before stepping inside. Woe unto him who might find himself in Minister Michukis famous fashion mishap, wearing torn socks! Fortunately, nobody suffers such a fate. Odenya explains the broadcasting chain to us. He elaborates on the technical details of transmitting a radio programme, starting from a microphone in a radio studio to a radio receiver at home.In radio broadcasting the quality of what goes on air, must be high. That is what I ensure happens, the soft spoken gentleman explains. Later, Joyce Mwaura, an excellent communicator, teaches us about radio production. She also teaches us how to use recorders and headphones. The recorder is a small gadget but one requires a substantial amount of time to learn how to use it. She advises us, "When writing your script use descriptive words and avoid ambiguity.A script is a written guide on how a programme should occur. On the last day, we produce real radio programmes. My group produces a programme that discusses innate blindness while another group produces a programme on street families. We wind up our tour by visiting the radio continuity and television studios. After this experience we look forward to becoming fine broadcasters. However, we cannot help feeling that just like our journey to KIMC becoming broadcasters will require patience and persistence. Nevertheless practice should make perfect for us.

magazine a credible forum where any member of the Chuka University

community could express him/herself with seriousness. The Varsity Post will show that Chuka University College is made up of people who think about the conditions of their environment, who wrestle with challenges of being Kenyan but who also celebrate their

In radio broadcasting the quality of what goes on air, must be high. That is what I ensure happens, the soft spoken gentleman explains.

achievement way.

when it

comes

As patron of the publishers of this unique magazine, I invite all

members of the CUC and those of the larger community to sponsor this project as readers and writers.

We , c om mu n ica t io n a nd me d ia students, are headed to the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication (KIMC) in Nairobi. It appears the j o u rn e y t h e re w i l l b e t r y i n g , adventurous. The road section from Embu Town to Makutano has numerous bumps. My friend, Munene Kamau, e xp l a i n s t o m e t h a t ve h i c le s transporting miraa (khat) have killed many people here, as they travel at breakneck speed so that the loads they carry do not go bad before reaching the market. They had to be forced to slow down, he clarifies. At dusk we are at Del Monte plantations infamous for being guarded by brutal guards it is already dark. Our lane on Thika Road is free of traffic jam so we move fast. The headlights of vehicles moving in the opposite direction create a spectacular sight. The numerous cars stalled in the massive traffic jam shine a row of stars onto us. By the time we reach YMCA Hostels in South C, we are extremely tired. We go to a nearby hotel for supper. Food here is very expensive, and I imagine that spending like this on food every day would render one bankrupt.

*Dr George Ngugi Kingara has a PhD in Media and Cultural Studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban. His researches television and film production practices. As a filmmaker, he released Gari Letu Manyanga (Our Hip Bus) (2007), a film on public transport in Kenya.

PAGE 5

Mercy me, landlord

By Michael Ogutu

burgeoning number of new students has steadily been joining Chuka University College of late. Given that the institution is still at its developing stage, it does not have enough hostels to accommodate all these students. Most students have been forced to look for accommodation in the few private hostels within the institutions vicinity. Others have sought refuge in rented residential houses. It is no wonder then that most landlords have decided to hike their rental and hostel charges, taking advantage of the current housing shortage in Ndagani. Flashback to the previous semester. The charge for a rental house averaged at Ksh1500 per month. To procure accommodation in a private hostel on the other hand, one had to part with Ksh 4500 on average for three months accommodation. However, things seem to have taken a new turn this semester, because a single room in the private hostels goes for Ksh.6000 per semester. It costs one Ksh 3000 per month to reside in a rental house. Yet, the hostel standards and services rendered are still the same increased rental charges notwithstanding. Some landlords allegedly claim that only they have the prerogative to determine rental charges without question. Other landlords seem to have peculiar reasons to hike their prices. According to one student tenant, her landlord suddenly hiked the rent because he had supposedly spruced up his hostels by repainting them and installing satellite television(Dstv). Another student sees conspiracy. Hostel owners had allegedly met and decided to hike the charges! Overall, the hiking of rental charges is unfair. It is more so when some of these rental houses profusely leak during the rainy seasons. Also, in some houses there is frequent scarcity of running water, lack of electricity, super thin mattresses and hard beds. Security in these rentals is questionable too. Students have complained of theft of items such as shoes, stolen from their doorsteps! Clothes hanging to dry on their lines have gone missing. Mobile phones have not been spared either. Landlords should address all these problems before hiking the rental charges. Perhaps student leadership should petition for quality services on behalf student tenants in these rentals. Nevertheless, not all private hostels and rental houses are unfriendly. It would be unfair to disregard the generosity of some landlords who provide hot water for bathing every morning. Thanks too to landlords who have employed caretakers to look after the students residences .

This picture depicts the poor conditions of some private hostels despite the high rental charges.

In some houses there is frequent scarcity of running water, lack of electricity, super thin mattresses and hard beds. Security in these rentals is questionable too. Students have complained of theft of items such as shoes, stolen from their doorsteps! Clothes hanging to dry on their lines have gone missing.

PAGE 6

Mr. and Miss Valentine 2011 Crowned

By Allan Mwangi

alentine Opembe and Celestine Nyaboke are this years Mr. and Miss Valentine, Chuka University College, 2011

The two scooped these titles in a talent show organized in Chuka University College on the eve of Valentine day. Eve Gatune was the first runners-up in the female category while Kelvin Tueni came second on the mens side in the hotly contested modeling, singing and dance event. Handsome young men and stunningly beautiful ladies strutted on stage clad in attires ranging from traditional to formal wear. In the dance segment, Anneste Mwendwa and Kelvin Tuei beat their competitors by showcasing an imaginative routine. The duos moves electrified a screaming audience made up of hundreds of students. In the third contest involving various songbirds, Doreens Kathambis terrific voice proved formidable. Her singing was out of range of her rivals. She was declared the best singer. Mr and Miss Valentine won KSh1000 each, and new bank accounts from by Kenya Commercial Bank.

Mr. Valentine Opembe and Miss Celestine Nyaboke after emerging winners in the Mr and Miss Valentine pageant held in Chuka University earlier this year.

PAGE 7

CUC Don Stars in New Soap Opera Book

Television production and viewing are motivated by good reason, by purpose of producing and reproducing useful socially constructed meanings, concludes Dr George Ngugi Kingara in his chapter in a new book about the role of soap operas in societies across the world.
Soap Operas are valuable as entertainment for audiences. Viewers may also use them to accomplish institutional objectives. TV producers also use them to accomplish their most important objective to make television in general a significant asset in the lives of the people who come into contact with it. Although many people look down on them as m i n d l e s s melodrama, soap operas can impart social education and promot e the audiences social interactivity. In this respect , soap enable their audiences to view their worlds from more personalized perspectives. In Kenya soaps now constitute important narratives that many people are looking to in order to make sense of the social world they live in. They are stories that authenticate the audiences world by reflecting that world back to the audience. This chapter also explores other general conceptual and theoretical issues relating to soap operas as entertainment television programmes and their supposed implications on the real lives of people who view them. It is based on Dr Ngugis PhD study on how Kenyan producers conceptualise the audiences of that have been produced and broadcast in Kenya and elsewhere in Africa are discussed to illustrate the dynamic roles of television entertainment drama. A Peter Lang publication, Soap Operas and Telenovelas in the Digital Age: Global Industries and New Audiences was edited by Associate Professors Mari Castaneda of University of Massachusetts and Diana Rios of University of Connecticut, respectively.

In Love With Art.

One of the best fine arts talents in Chuka University is Nixon Savonge. He has completed more than 200 drawings and 50 sculptures. In a recent interview with Edwin Mogere, the ambitious artist sketched his dreams.
From the way he talks about the subject, it is obvious that he is a man in love. He tells me he has been in love since he was six years old, thanks to his father who is also a fine artist. I create anything of artistic value and anything that is appealing to the eye, he tells me as he grants me the interview. We are inside noisy Kirinyaga House, and an undeterred Nixon goes on to impress me with his knowledge of fine art. He says that to produce fine projects, whether sculptures or drawings, one needs planning. One also needs to identify the right raw materials and prepare them. What do you exactly do, I ask him. I do portraits and landscape drawings, while sculptures I make 3-Ds and 2-Ds, he tells me. in

Nixon says although the scrapping of art from the secondary school curriculum did not affect his artistic skills, it made school boring. But he had friends who shared the same dream, and so it was always fun to do art with them. It takes him 20 minutes to draw on A4 size paper, about one and a half hours on A2 and a month to complete a mosaic of 2 by 2 metres. Producing such drawings is time consuming and expensive, but more so is sculpture making. There are however rewards for all his effort. Nixon has made 12, 000 shillings from selling a sculpture, and he thinks one can make a living from art. But he reiterates that he is not in fine art for the money. His love of art comes first, the money second. The collection of his artwork is a testimony to how seriously he takes his work. He keeps a whole suitcase of his own drawings, and possesses an assortment of tools of his craft ranging from erasers, painting brushes and drawing paper. EDWIN MOGERE,2nd Year in Communication & Media

PAGE 8

Those Moments
Lonely Kids Wish
I wish I had someone, who could tell me he loves me, I wish I had someone, who could tell me you can make it, when I was in a fix, I wish I had someone, who could console me when I was sorrowful, If only wishes were horses, unfortunately they arent I wish I had someone, who could tell me, thats better, when I made an effort in something I wish I had someone, who could tell me, I am proud of you, when I did something worthwhile, instead of scolding me for every effort I made.

I wish I had someone, who could tell me, get well soon, when I was sick,I wish I had someone, who could make me equal and complete, not an outcast I wish I had someone, whose shoulders I could lean on I wish I had someone, who could make me a happy kid I wish I had someone, who could show me what parental love means I wish I had someone, who could show me what life means I wish you were here; maybe things would have been different. Corazon Dolly Kosasia

Mid semester

course work
MID SEMESTER EXAMINATION INSTRUCTIONS: All questions are compulsory. Any inconsistency in any of the questions done by the four students will result in all the candidates getting a zero mark. Q.1. Write down your name-------(2 MARKS) Q.2. Write the names of the bride and bridegroom at the wedding you attended------- (30 Marks) Q.3. What make is the car you were in? ------ (20 Marks) Q.4. Which tyre burst? ------- (28 marks) Q.5. Who was driving? ------ (20 marks) END OF PAPER. By GRACE MBOGO 2nd Year Communication and media

ne night, four university students were boozing till late, and so did not study for a test scheduled for the next day. In the morning they thought of a tricky plan to escape sitting for the test. Using grease and dirt, they made themselves look as dirty and strungout as they could. They then went up to the dean and told him that they had gone out to a wedding the previous night, and that on their way back the tyre of their car burst, and so they had to push the car all the way back to school. That therefore they were in no condition to sit for the test. The dean was human, so he granted them a reprieve, saying you can have the re-test after three days'. The students said they would be ready by that time. On the third day they appeared before the dean. The dean informed them that theirs was a special case, and so all four were required to sit for the test in separate classrooms. All the students accepted the requirement as they had prepared well in the last three days. The test consisted of five questions with a total of 100 marks:

PAGE 9

PROFILES

What they expect from Varsity Post

I hope it will help foster unity and cohesion within CUC Calvin Odhiambo, Criminology,Year 2 It should strive to be informative.- Micheni Mercy Wildlife and Tourism management, Year 1

In praise of CUSA Chairman By Staff Writer

I hope varsity post will encourage growth of talent and also nurture talent Rahab Mariana,Bridging Mathematics

This is the best thing that has ever happened to CUC fraternity and it is the only place we can air our viewsPeter Munene,Bcom,Year 3

entleman John Wanjirus effort to make Chuka University College a better place should not be taken for granted. We acknowledge, with our thumbs up, the excellent work he and the entire Chuka University College Students Association do in represent in student interests in the university government.

This will be the best platform to share ideas,opinions and knowledge- Roy Munene,2nd year Agribusiness

VP should be informative, show resources of the school and market the CUCJane Mumbi, Bcom, Year 3

Wanjiru has beat all odds by increasing the pace at which organized student activities are drawn and implemented in the once dormant structures of such matters in the institution. He is one of the guys who make Chuka University College tick by encouraging team work and unity amongst students. Kudos, Mr. Chairman! Keep working hard.

it should include activism of the sports in CUC and also inform on what is going on elsewhereDominic Omambia, Bcom ,year 3

Students will be able to express themselves and it will also nurture talent.Dominic Oganga, Bcom, Year4

Let us be loyal to our university and magnify it to international standards. Let us build Chuka University to build our lives.

PAGE 10

The Raucous in Building a Future

By Munene Kamau
Massive construction at Chuka University College is ongoing. The constructions are meant to turn this institution, which was initially Ndagani Youth Polytechnic, into one of the best universities in the African continent. Already the graduation pavilion and a ladies hostel have been completed. Other works are at an advanced stage. In fact, an administration block with modern complete. The finishing of these projects has however put the students at an awkward situation due to the noise caused by construction equipment, especially the grinders and sanding machines. Sometimes the Dons are forced to cut short their lectures due to the intensity of the noise, making it impossible for students to grasp their lessons. Outside the buildings, heavy earth moving machinery is leading to the institution. caterpillars as they eat away the unwanted soil boulders disrupts nearly all the lectures. The problem will however solve itself once the completed. construction activities are significantly busily breaking lecture halls is also almost

By July, which is just few months away, we shall have ultra-modern Radio and Television studios right here at our university. We want to produce some of the top class journalists in this country, fully equipped with the necessary skills which will easily get them jobs in any part of the world, Nabea confidently said. The first bunch of Communication and Media students number only 10 after one of them sought for a deferral during the second semester of the first year due to serious financial hiccups. The class comprises of four ladies and six

Frontal view of the nearly complete science block

gentlemen who are all committed to their course. These pioneers have promised to work hard to finish their degree programme as scheduled, despite their universitys many teething problems.

Rear view of the nearly complete science block By July, which is just few months away, we shall have ultra-modern Radio and Television studios right here at our university.

ground for the tarring of the main road

Students undertaking

communication

and media studies have also been assured

operational state-of-the-art Radio and Television studios. According to one of the Communication lecturers, H. N. Nabea, the construction of the studios has already begun.

PAGE 11

Reflections on Cool that kills

Friendship in youth is good but to what extent should we allow it to influence us the wrong way, asks Mary Ethan.
Our lives are full of mysteries. Sometimes it is good for us to look back and think about their causes. Do we make them or do they just come naturally? Are we ever going to have a clear explanation for everything happening around us? For instance, why are we suddenly seeing weirdness as cool? We are slowly allowing drugs to become a part and parcel of our daily lives. Why is doing wrong accepted? These questions apply to the most troubled lot in societythe youth. Why is this so, you wonder? Reason, we are usually in a lot of pain. Sometimes it is intended, sometimes not. One of the causes of this pain is choices we, the youth, make. We take wrong paths, and ignore good advice for that of friends. Should friends force us lose our identity? Should we take pride in just replicating other peoples thoughts and opinions about life? I doubt that we should. Every person wants to have a unique identity based on the different values that sustain his/her life. We should want identities that will make us proud youth, those that come from making good choices in life. Hence, we should use all our vigor and God given abilities to create desirable personalities in ourselves. We should not enslave our minds with yearning to belong, to the wrong crowd.

Where colours come alive!

PAGE 12