Mak News Mag.indd

Apr -­ Jun 09
Mak News
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Vision 200
Makerere University Students Build Futuristic Dream Car
The Way Up
University’s Ranking
soars on the continent
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Mak News m agazine
April - June 2009
-ESSAGEFROM
Vice Chancellor
This unique project was originally conceived in 2005 as an imaginative means of bringing outstanding musicians from different cultural traditions to collaborate and perform together in Malta. The Commonwealth Resounds! will be a celebration comprising large-­scale main concerts and a range of smaller events involving Ugandan musicians, distinguished international group leaders and a large number of young musicians all working together under the umbrella of the Commonwealth People’s Forum. A group of young musicians, many of whom are from the Commonwealth’s major music schools and conservatoires were invited as an experiment to initiate fundraising schemes and events to raise enough to cover their own expenses for the trip. The enthusiasm, commitment and imagination of the young people involved has proved to be extraordinary. They have organised their own concerts, raffles, cake sales, sponsored running, swimming and walking, coffee mornings, illustrated lectures, powerpoints and a lot more. As well as trying to pay for their own costs, they are also raising additional funds to support some of the excellent charitable organisations benefiting young people in Uganda – for example the Foundation for Needy Communities in Mbale, the African Children’s Choir, the Kampala Music School and the M-­
Lisada Youth Band. The Commonwealth Resounds! management team is now hoping to develop this lively and highly successful fundraising project as a music business enterprise for young musicians in a wider range of Commonwealth countries. We shall be seeking new partnerships to help us explore this further in 2008-­9
For the very first time in Kampala a new international choir and orchestra has been created, drawing together musicians from many different Commonwealth countries to rehearse and perform Mozart’s Requiem together in a special ‘Thanksgiving for Peace’ at Namirembe Cathedral on Thursday 22nd November at 7p.m. The Ugandan churches and choirs are collaborating together for this special event.
Uganda has an exceptionally rich and diverse musical heritage. Traditional music from some of the country’s finest ensembles will be performed and celebrated throughout the week and will be an integral component in most of the ceremonies. Instrument-­
making sessions in the People’s Space and at the Ndere Centre will educate and inform international visitors, and young Ugandan musicians will be given once-­in-­a-­lifetime opportunities to meet and work together with Commonwealth partners. On Saturday 24th November at 6 p.m. audiences will be treated to a special Gala Concert for CHOGM at the Ndere Centre in Ntinda, featuring highlights from the whole week of projects and performances linked to ‘The Commonwealth Resounds!’ Afterwards, international visitors will be dazzled and entertained by the brilliant Ndere Troupe in a splendid multicultural party atmosphere! Alison Cox
Musical Director
THE COMMONWEALTH RESOUNDS!
Uganda has an exceptionally rich
and diverse musical heritage.
3
Editorial Board
Agaba Issah Mugabo
Associate Editor
Gilbert Kadilo
Associate Editor
Mark Wamai
IT Supervisor
Ritah Namisango
Writer
Ronald Mayanja
Writer
April - June 2009
contents
Mak News m agazine
“Music matters in the Commonwealth, and has a growing role to play. Around two billion people living in a hugely diverse array of countries and societies across five continents make up our association. Every culture makes music, and music offers a great way of gaining insights into and sharing with other cultures. Coming together to share sounds and voices helps to promote mutual respect and understanding between people. Music is, therefore, rightly an important aspect of the Commonwealth People’s Forum.” – Mark Collins, Director, Commonwealth Foundation
The Commonwealth Foundation is delighted to be working with the Commonwealth Resounds to put together a musical programme as part of the Commonwealth People’s Forum.
The Commonwealth Foundation is an intergovernmental body working to help civil society organisations promote democracy, development and cultural understanding in Commonwealth countries. The Foundation creates opportunities for dialogues between these organisations and their governments to highlight issues affecting the people of the Commonwealth. The Foundation was established by Commonwealth governments in 1965 and is guided by the principles, values and priorities of the Commonwealth.
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6ISION
“Music matters in the Commonwealth, and has a growing role to play. Around two billion people living in a hugely diverse array of countries and societies across five continents make up our association. Every culture makes music, and music offers a great way of gaining insights into and sharing with other cultures. Coming together to share sounds and voices helps to promote mutual respect and understanding between people. Music is, therefore, rightly an important aspect of the Commonwealth People’s Forum.” – Mark Collins, Director, Commonwealth Foundation
The Commonwealth Foundation is delighted to be working with the Commonwealth Resounds to put together a musical programme as part of the Commonwealth People’s Forum.
The Commonwealth Foundation is an intergovernmental body working to help civil society organisations promote democracy, development and cultural understanding in Commonwealth countries. The Foundation creates opportunities for dialogues between these organisations and their governments to highlight issues affecting the people of the Commonwealth. The Foundation was established by Commonwealth governments in 1965 and is guided by the principles, values and priorities of the Commonwealth.
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Commonwealth People’s Forum
Among its many activities, the Foundation convenes the Commonwealth People’s Forum. The Commonwealth People’s Forum is a major international civil society gathering which takes place every two years at the same time as the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. The Foundation works to organise this with a national steering committee, headed in 2007 by the Uganda NGO Forum. The People’s Forum, which has as its theme ‘Realising People’s Potential’ consists of around 20 civil society workshops on key development issues, learning journeys to Ugandan civil society projects, an open, interactive area for discussions -­ the People’s Space, co-­ordinated by the British Council, and a series of cultural activities, including an extensive musical programme organised by the Commonwealth Resounds in conjunction with other partners.
The Foundation’s Culture and Diversity Programme
The rich cultural diversity of the Commonwealth is one of its great strengths. The Foundation’s Culture and Diversity Programme was established in 2005 as one of three programme areas, alongside and intermeshing with its work on governance, democracy and sustainable Mak News m agazine
April - June 2009
development, to signal the rising importance of culture. The programme aims to promote inter-­cultural understanding, offer varied channels of validation and recognition for cultural talents and to encourage both culturally-­rooted development and culture-­based activities that achieve development goals. Alongside its flagship schemes, such as the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and the Commonwealth Arts and Crafts Awards, and new and growing areas of work in such fields as supporting film-­makers, encouraging interfaith co-­operation and promoting good cultural policy, the Foundation is currently developing a long-­term strategy to increase its work Commonwealth music-­makers. A likely emphasis of this programme will be on supporting interdisciplinary and cross-­cultural performance, on helping musicians get exposure to a wider audience and on addressing issues of musicians’ sustainable livelihoods.
For more information please visit: www.commonwealthfoundation.
com
We’re the people we have been waiting for-­Ntambi
By Ronald Mayanja
At 24, Jeremy Steven Ntambi, Makerere student team leader, part of the group to build the first Vision 200 model has a big image for the future of the technology sector in Uganda. Speaking to him in an interview, Ntambi plans to run a company which will take the car project to a certain commercial level.
“I have setup Roje Engineering Company Limited to promote the car project in Uganda. I hope to partner with businessmen to develop vehicles for commercial purposes on large scale,” said Ntambi, adding that the company also develops intelligent electronics which are automated and highly energy saving.
Among the electronics include;; a circuit that is operated by sending an SMS. This circuit can control eight components like switching on and off computers, lights, doors and others. “I have developed a circuit that is dependent on light intensity. During day and night, lights automatically turn and off respectively,” said Ntambi. Ntambi added that he builds, installs and maintains electrical inverters. His company has a research wing which will partner with the University for research in general transportation technologies among other things. “I look into developing a modern electronic railway system that uses electromagnetic levitation,” Ntambi commented appending that this will decongest Kampala and allow other areas to develop. He anticipates that the new railway system will be very fast that one can use only 45 minutes to move from Rukingiri to Kampala for work daily. He looks forward to working with the Ugandan government on the railway project. While participating in the car project, Ntambi confirmed it in Makerere on17th November 2007 and formed the team of students on 19th November 2007. However, the team started work on 18th December 2007.
“I spearheaded marketing of the project administratively and developed the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) Fly-­Buck Converter, one of the components of power electronics which is within the power train,” Ntambi confirms participation. Ntambi disclosed that plans are going on to setup a Centre for Research in Transportation Technologies at Makerere University. This will pilot partnership with universities in Uganda such as Kyambogo University, Ndejje University, Nkozi University among others to form a consortium of research. He added that this will involve technologists such as art-­crafts from Katwe for their practical skills.
He said that in participating with art-­crafts, Makerere encourages them to join the university at one point especially when they come to implement. “We‘re the people we have been waiting for,” asserted Ntambi, adding “we’re the people who are going to bring the development in technology and any other area that we have been longing and waiting for.” Ntambi like any other person has experienced various challenges while participating in the car project at Makerere as well as studying at the same time. Some of these challenges include;; inadequate funds for upkeep and travel, balancing studies with the car project, lack of enough social time and others. Born to Anthony George Sozi and Mary Pamela Sozi on 16th March 1984 in Kampala, Ntambi completed his primary school at Lohana Academy in Kololo and secondary in both Kings College Buddo and Mengo Senior School for O’ and A’ level respectively. He completed his degree of Bachelor of Science in Electronic Engineering from Makerere University and resided in Lumumba Hall. Ntambi had various training in short courses from Italy such as, Training in Design for Environment in Politecnico Di Milano and Training in Life Cycle Assessment in Torino. He plans to do masters in Mechatronics Engineering and still has interest in Aeronautics Engineering and Marketing in Business Administration. 7
Mak News m aga zine
NOW & THEN
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April - June 2009
Mak News m agazine
April - June 2009
Makerere improves
in continental ranking
By Agaba Issa Mugabo
Makerere University has improved from the 59th to 32nd position of top 100 universities in Africa, according to the January 2009 edition of the Webometrics Ranking latest survey of World Universities. The 87-­year-­old institution, which is ranked 4,836 in the world out of the 16,000 top uni-­
versities ranked by Webometrics, remains the only Ugandan university that features on the list. Uganda Christian University Mukono, which appeared on the list in 2007, is missing on the rankings just like last year.
The Saudi Arabia based Webometrics ranks universities based on their web publications, technological and scientific innovations, levels of research and electronic access to scientific publications. Makerere last year dropped from 19th to 54th position, a situation that was attributed to the university not publishing its research.
For many years, Makerere has been lag-­
ging behind in this area, a situation the university management is addressing at seriously.
Quote……VC
The primary objective of the ranking is to encourage universities to publish their research on the web. The rankings can be used as indicators of the societal impact and prestige of universities. Makerere is now ranked 59th out of the top 100 universities on the continent, plummet-­
ing 12 places from its earlier position of 47th place, which it held in January 2008. According to Webometric, the failure of institutions like Makerere to promote scien-­
tific research has resulted in the decline of science and technological progress within the country.
The highest ranked university in East Africa is now Strathmore University Nairobi at 12th place (2,404 in the world), dropping two places from 22th place, which it held in the last published rankings. The University of Nairobi maintains its posi-­
tion at 25th place (4,338-­world). Strathmore University Nairobi, is now in the 22nd position from the 29th it held in the last rankings. Egerton University, which was at 33rd place, moved up to 32nd (5,203-­world). The most improved university in this year’s rankings is the National University of Rwan-­
da, which came in at 30th (5,002-­world), a jump of 14 places from 44th place, which it held at the beginning of the year.
According to Webometrics, “If the web perform-­
ance of an institution is below the expected position of their academic excellence, university authorities should reconsider their web policy and promote substantial increases of the volume and quality of their electronic publications.”
Explaining why Makerere University has improved in this year’s rankings, Gilbert Kadilo, the Senior Public Relations officer of Makerere University, said…….
Kadilo said that the university dropped in rank-­
ings last year because it had not yet integrated its resources on the website. “Some of our in-­
formation was on different faculty websites. We need to update our main site and make it user friendly with activated links to different faculty websites.” Kadilo said. Commenting on Makerere’s new ranking, Mathew Rukikaire, the chairman of the Mak-­
erere University Council, said…………..
Chancellor’s comment……
Other African universities included in the Webometrics rankings are Sokoine Univer-­
sity of Agriculture (69-­Africa, 7,752-­world), Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture & Technology (75-­Africa, 8,085-­world), Moi University (81-­Africa, 8,393-­world), Keny-­
atta University (94-­Africa, 8,855-­world), and Kigali Institute of Science & Technology (98-­Africa, 9,008-­world).
The ranking of universities, according to Webometrics, is to motivate both institutions and scholars to have a web presence that accurately reflects their activities. 9
Mak News m aga zine
April - June 2009
Dr. Nuwagaba
playing video games. They reduced the amount of time they spent watching regular television by six hours a week, or about 20 percent. “You might be seeing the interactive news and think: I’m tired of the war in Bosnia. Let’s see a different story. You feel your TV is a TV and a Nintendo and a computer. You watch in a different way,” one customer told The New York Times.(72) These patterns, analysts believe, are not due just to the fact that people like to be entertained;; people also aren’t being offered enough compel-­
ling programming on the proliferating new channels. So far, the digital revolution seems to have brought us endless reruns of “I Dream of Jeannie” and a tidal wave of copycat tabloid entertainments.(73) Mitch Kapor, founder of Lotus, designer of the Lotus 1-­2-­3 spreadsheet, and creator of the Electronic Freedom Foundation, worries that he will wake up one day to find that he has 500 channels of television “and they all are showing the Hair Club for Men.”(74)
Interactivity experts believe that a small group of users will take the time to create their own news formulas from day to day but that most interactive media consumers won’t be browsing around or creating a serendipitous “communal” experience. They won’t even want a multitude of choices. They will want a quick, efficient way to obtain precisely what they are looking for, whether it’s a trustworthy overview of the world’s events, a copy of Julia Child’s lemon mousse recipe, or a conversation with a The old media deliver the old politics: the insider’s game, presented on high, from the elite to the masses. The new technologies break the journalist’s monopoly, making some of the new news an unmediated collaboration between the sources and the audience. As we have seen, citizens can program their computers to retrieve their own “news,” assembled easily from original sources far more diverse than the journalist’s official Rolodex. Newly empowered, they also can second-­guess what professional journalists produce. Accord-­
ing to technology marketing analyst Nicholas Donatiello, people are eager to control which communications come into their homes and when. They also want to be “more selective about what segments they want to watch of the news.” (71)
If the news isn’t compelling enough, they will find alternatives. Montreal’s six-­year-­old Videoway system, considered the first com-­
mercially successful interactive television system, found that subscrib-­
ers spent about four hours a week, or half of their time on the system, 10
The message of
this new medium is
‘I want what I want
and nothing more’
fellow basset hound breeder. As media analyst Denise Caruso explains it, “The message of this new medium is ‘I want what I want and noth-­
ing more.’”(75)
In the M.I.T. Media Lab’s version of the future, people will customize their computer news “guide” once, and then the day-­to-­day work will be done automatically. This robot will go out and get the news—not the news that a professional journalist would choose, but the specific kinds of topics that the consumer says she wants. Journalists, if they’re smart, will offer continual information guidance that obviates the need for such robots. To do this, they may not have to be as entertaining or as ideological as Rush’s reports, but they will have to be more accurate, more relevant, and more attuned to their audiences than most are today. April - June 2009
Mak News m agazine
The joy of the long awaited harvest University was making great strides in her efforts to educate more female students. He added that since the gap had closed significantly, he was optimistic that they would soon realize parity. By: Ritah Namisango The sight of the early morning delegation matching from the Main Building to the Freedom Square was spectacular -­ comprising a rain-­
bow of colours arranged to signify the distinct yet unified role of each group in the long-­awaited harvest. It was graduation day, January ..., 2009, time check 9:00 a.m. The youthful bodies girating in red gowns to the harmonious and soothing music of musical instruments and voices echoed the joy of yet another harvest and the end of their academic toils. Following in tow were the academicians -­ their lecturers and profes-­
sors complete in their academic regalia. The Mace was held firmly in confidence and with authority and in a spirit of willingness to continue to build for the future. The cheerful Chancellor Professor George Mondo Kagonyera, clad in red and black ceremonial robe, matched past and waved to the Con-­
gregation. His was the joy of a farmer prepared for a bumper harvest. The parents, sponsors, graduands and invited guests joined in jubila-­
tion producing a remix of music, clapping, drumming, dancing, cheers and ululations in celebration of yet another harvest.
A total of 180 students attained First Class with Honours Division compared to last graduation ceremony when the University presented only 58. The best student, Mr Emmanuel Ishengoma scored a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.91 out of 5.0. He graduated with Bachelor of Industrial and Fine Art. Mr. Joseph Derrick Olaka per-­
formed best in the Sciences. He graduated with Bachelor of Science in Computer Science scoring CGPA of 4.86 out of 5.0. The Chancel-­
lor presented to the students a convocation award for their academic excellence. In addition, Professor Eli Sabiiti, Member of Staff in the Faculty of Agriculture, received the Vice Chancellor’s Innovations Excel-­
lence Award for the year 2008. Professor Sabiiti was recognised for undertaking research and coming up with innovations for improved livelihood and community development. In a special way, the Chancellor, Professor Kagonyera recognised the staff and students from the Faculty of Technology who participated in producing the World’s Cheapest Car-­ Vision 200 in Italy Turino. The Makerere University team led by Dr. Tackodri Tagboa and Mr. Steven Ntambi, produced the engine for Vision 200. This car once completed, will provide a solution to the energy and pollution challenges as well as lowering the cost of eco-­friendly cars. Vision 200 is expected to use a litre of fuel to travel over 50 kilometres. Quoting the USA President, Barack Obama’s popular slogan “Yes, We can” the Chancellor pledged to support efforts to set up a centre of research in transportation tech-­
nologies. The Vice Chancellor, Professor Luboobi congratulated graduands, parents and sponsors upon their academic achievement. Indeed, it was a joint academic achievement and a harvest worth celebrating. A while later, the Chancellor constituted the Congregation into the 59th weeklong Graduation Ceremony of Makerere University from Monday January 19 to Friday January 23, 2009. He received from the Vice Chancellor, Professor Livingstone Luboobi, some 12,346 students for the conferment of degrees and diplomas of Makerere University. Oh what a remarkable harvest it was! Out of the 12,346 students, 30 students graduated with PhDs;; 878 with Masters Degrees and 110 with Post Graduate Diplomas. Some 11,097 graduated with undergraduate degrees and 231 with undergraduate diplomas. “This is the biggest number of graduands ever in a year. It is testimony to the role Makerere plays in meeting the vast demand for higher edu-­
cation in Uganda and in helping to build a human resource for national development,” noted Professor Luboobi
He stated that the female graduands were 46.5% and the male were 53.8%. He highlighted that the percentage of female graduands had continued to increase compared with that of the 58th Graduation cer-­
emony, which had only 43.7% female graduands. He added that the percentage figures clearly indicated that Makerere 11
Mak News m aga zine
April - June 2009
Kagonyera’s 1st year
The old media deliver the old politics: the insider’s game, presented on high, from the elite to the masses. The new technologies break the journalist’s monopoly, making some of the new news an unmediated collaboration between the sources and the audience. As we have seen, citizens can program their comput-­‐‑
ers to retrieve their own “news,” assembled easily from original sources far more diverse than the journalist’s of-­‐‑
fi cial Rolodex. Newly empowered, they also can second-­‐‑
guess what professional journalists produce. According to technology marketing analyst Nicholas Donatiello, people are eager to control which communications come into their homes and when. They also want to be “more selective about what segments they want to watch of the news.” (71)
If the news isn’t compelling enough, they will fi nd alternatives. Montreal’s six-­‐‑year-­‐‑old Videoway system, considered the fi rst commercially successful interactive television system, found that subscribers spent about four hours a week, or half of their time on the system, playing video games. They reduced the amount of time they spent watching regular television by six hours a week, or about 20 percent. “You might be seeing the interactive news and think: I’m tired of the war in Bosnia. Let’s see a diff erent story. You feel your TV is a TV and a Nintendo and a computer. You watch in a diff erent way,” one customer told The New York Times.(72) These pa erns, analysts believe, are not due just to the fact that people like to be en-­‐‑
tertained; people also aren’t being off ered enough compelling programming on the proliferating new channels. So far, the dig-­‐‑
ital revolution seems to have brought us endless reruns of “I Dream of Jeannie” and a tidal wave of copycat tabloid entertain-­‐‑
ments.(73) Mitch Kapor, founder of Lotus, designer of the Lotus 1-­‐‑2-­‐‑3 spreadsheet, and creator of the Electronic Freedom Foundation, worries that he will wake up one day to fi nd that he has 500 channels of television “and they all are showing the Hair Club for Men.”(74)
Interactivity experts believe that a small group of users will take the time to create their own news formulas from day to day but that most interactive media con-­‐‑
sumers won’t 12
Mak News m agazine
April - June 2009
as chancellor
be browsing around or creating a serendipitous “communal” experience. They won’t even want a multitude of choices. They will want a quick, effi
cient way to obtain precisely what they are looking for, whether it’s a trustworthy overview of the world’s events, a copy of Julia Child’s lemon mousse recipe, or a conversation with a fellow basset hound breeder. As media analyst Denise Caruso explains it, “The message of this new medium is ‘I want what I want and nothing more.’”(75)
In the M.I.T. Media Lab’s version of the future, people will customize their computer news “guide” once, and then the day-­‐‑
to-­‐‑day work will be done automatically. This robot will go out and get the news—not the news that a professional journalist would choose, but the specifi c kinds of topics that the consumer says she wants. Journalists, if they’re smart, will off er continual information guidance that obviates the need for such robots. To do this, they may not have to be as entertaining or as ideological as Rush’s reports, but they will have to be more accurate, more relevant, and more a uned to their audiences than most are today. The new technologies off er journalists not only the potential perils of competition and scrutiny but also the potential benefi ts of an expanded role: connecting citizens to information and to each other. To succeed, journalists cannot connect simply for the sake of connecting; they will have to deliver something of additional value to the customer. Time Is Infi nite Interactivity is only one of the dramatic technologies now changing the news. Journalism, already instant and global, can be released by digital technology from many time and space constraints, off ering unlimited opportunities for both consum-­‐‑
ers and providers.(76) The wired consumer can get his customized news all day, at any time of day, updated regularly by his provider. He no longer will watch, hear, or read video, audio, or text “by ap-­‐‑
pointment,” when the news purveyor decides to send it out. It will be stored, in digital form, for the customer to call up when and how he wants. Surveys indicate that this time-­‐‑shifting and indexing, always available to some degree with print and now available for television and radio, is a ractive to consumers. It also is a great boon to journalists because it opens up a new market for recy-­‐‑
cling material that currently appears once and then vanishes into the air. Stories in the new digital media are archived so they can be accessed when consumers actually want to learn about these subjects; material omi ed from the original story also can be packaged and sold. Major news archives have been available for years in library clip fi les, on microfi lm, and in databases like LEXIS/NEXIS. But now they will be easy and inexpensive for the public to access from their homes, at a moment’s notice, especially if journalists package and resell them to accompany current news. The incen-­‐‑
tive is to reuse everything because the news hole has expanded beyond the current news staff ’s capacity to fi ll it. Thus, time, which is now one of the journalist’s greatest foes, will lose its power to defi ne the news story. If deadlines are fi xed as they are now by arbitrary distribution deadlines, they can force a rush to judgment that erodes the trustworthiness of the news product. But if deadlines are constant, one can devote to an enterprise news story (77) the time it really takes. A news organization that is determined to establish its “brand” in the multichannel marketplace will not rush stories to publication but will allot what Washington Post editor Bob Woodward calls more “time against the problem” to improve the product. More signifi cantly, the hot “scoop” loses its commercial value in this environment. Scoops are prized by reporters, who rate each other on who gets the news fi rst. However, the value of the time-­‐‑sensitive scoop is lost in the constant news market-­‐‑
place, except in fi nancial and some other specialty markets. Even though more and more news stations “burn their brand” into each video frame to mark their scoops, the news con-­‐‑
sumer rarely remembers who had a news item fi rst as she surfs through scores of channels. Furthermore, if the news truly is a major breakthrough, it will be picked up in nanoseconds and carried by hundreds of other news sources. Instant scoops on Los Angeles local television stations about evidence that was being developed for the O.J. Simpson trial generally backfi red; there were too many, too often to identify with a particular purveyor, and they usually were incorrect. In the multichannel environment, why would a customer deliber-­‐‑
ately look for a newscast that rushed to judgment and proved incorrect? On the other hand, a news organization will need something exclusive to off er if it is to occupy a distinct niche in the mul-­‐‑
tichannel environment. A news channel with a trusted anchor will have an advantage in the new marketplace, and a diff erent kind of exclusive scoop—a research or analysis piece that has been developed by the news organization alone—will sharpen the purveyor’s competitive edge. 13
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College System
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April - June 2009
College System
April - June 2009
College System
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College System
15
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April - June 2009
Know your deans
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April - June 2009
Looking Back:
My Makerere memories
Mak News m agazine
Looking Back:
My Makerere memories
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Mak News m aga zine
Looking Back:
My Makerere memories
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April - June 2009
Looking Back:
My Makerere memories
Mak News m agazine
April - June 2009
Her 35-year story of Service to Makerere
By: Peter Nyanzi and Ritah Namisango
S
mart in her purple suit with a matching blouse, she cuts a figure of a real profes-­‐‑
sional in the prime of her career. Everything about her belies the fact that she is arguably the longest -­‐‑ serving member of staff at Makerere University -­‐‑ for more than 35 years of dedicated service. Talking to her, it does not take long to discover that Ms Mary Seremba is indeed an extraordinary woman. She has been a personal secretary to five Vice Chancellors at Uganda’s leading and most important academic institution. Yet she got her basic secretarial training at home – in a garage, if you will. Backed by a rigorous albeit informal training, the encouragement of her guardians and sheer hard work, she beat the odds to rise to the highest office at the University.
“I feel humbled,” she says solemnly of her remarkable career. “But I have no doubt that it has all been down to God’s Grace. I give all the credit to my Lord Jesus. You cannot work for all those highly educated professors in your own wisdom.”
Mary Seremba, who is due to retire in September, joined Makerere University in 1973 as a Grade II secretary in the National Institute of Education. Six years later, in August 1979, her hard work and dedication were rewarded with a meteoritic transfer to the Vice Chancellor’s Office. She rose to the rank of Personal Secretary to the Vice Chancellor five years later before being promoted to Senior Personal Secretary to the Vice Chancellor, a position she still holds. Over the past 26 years, Mary has been the personal secre-­‐‑
tary of choice for each of the five VCs who have occupied the university’s highest office.
Yet describes her background as a “humble” one. The first born in the family of the late Edward Damulira Seremba of Kyengera, she spent the early years of her life with her grandmother at Kyabakadde on Gayaza Rd. Later, while in P.4, she moved to Mukono to live with her uncle who was then a teacher at Bishop’s School, Mukono. She was to do most of her primary and secondary education at the same school.
Later, she was sent to her other uncle, Mr. Ed-­‐‑
mund Kitamirike, who was then the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting at Nakasero to learn secretarial work. She was connected to a well trained and experi-­‐‑
enced secretary to get skills – informally.
“I was commuting to Rubaga to the home of Mr. & Mrs. Henry and Tonni Lwanga, who was then the Principal of Uganda College of Commerce, Nakawa. Mrs. Lwanga was an experienced secretary who was trained in England. She had started teaching girls privately in the garage of their house. That is where I started my training with about seven other girls,” she recalls. “She trained us very well. She wanted everything typed perfectly without any errors. She would make you repeat and repeat everything until you got it perfectly as she wanted it.” Luckily for her, Mrs Kitamirike was also an ex-­‐‑
perienced secretary. She was the Senior Personal Secretary to the Managing Director of the Uganda Commercial Bank. The family bought Mary a typewriter to help her practice at home with her uncle’s wife. “My Uncle told me: Mary you should become a good secretary and work in big offices because I have brought you in this home to train you so that you can be as good a secretary as my wife,” she says, her face brightening up in a wide grin. She worked hard and passed highly, having at-­‐‑
tained a typing speed of 70 words per minute and short hand speed of 100 words per minute from the Uganda College of Commerce, Nakawa.
Later, she joined Dr. Arnold Bisase’s Dental Clinic where she worked as an intern stenographer be-­‐‑
fore applying for the same job at the High Court.
“But I had just joined when the Chief Justice Benedicto Kiwanuka was grabbed by Idi Amin’s soldiers; right before my eyes early one morning. My uncle feared for my safety. He started looking for another job for me saying he did not want me to work in such an environment,” she recalls.
One day, she was told there were some secretarial jobs available at the National Institute of Educa-­‐‑
tion at Makerere University. She applied and was interviewed by the Deputy Director, Dr. George Auger, who wanted a secretary for his office. She got the job having “passed very well.” Shortly after, she was promoted to the Director’s Office 19
Mak News m aga zine
April - June 2009
Her 35-year story of Service to Makerere
By: Peter Nyanzi and Ritah Namisango
before being trans-­‐‑
ferred to the VC’s Offi
ce. She says Prof. Asavia Wandira was the Vice Chancellor then. This period right from 1979 to the ousting of Tito Okello’s military junta, proved to be one of the most diffi
cult periods of her long career.
“I still remember that period very well because I was four months pregnant with my second and last born,” she says, almost breaking into tears. “That is the same period when the father of my child was later murdered by Milton Obote’s men.” But she persisted. Following the appointment of Prof. George Kirya in 1987, she asked to be transferred to another department. “I had got really fed up because I felt I was working too much yet [my peers] were ge ing more money from doing private work, which I could not do because the work was too much in the VC’s offi
ce,” she says. “As a single mother, I wanted to raise some extra money to look after my sons.”
She was reluctantly transferred to the Department of Soil Science in the Faculty of Agriculture where she became a secretary in Prof. Kitungulu Zaake’s offi
ce. Of course she was happy there because over the weekend, she would do her private work from which she got extra money.
But three years later, her new found happiness was interrupted. Someone from the Personnel Offi
ce came and told her that the VC had said she should go back to his offi
ce. Six months passed but she had not moved, “thinking that it was a lie.” Then they complained to her boss that she had disobeyed the VC’s order. “So my boss called me over and asked why I had refused to comply with the order to go back. He told me the VC was his boss so there was no way I could refuse to go,” she recalls. She had no choice but to give in. That was 1990. But looking back in retrospection, she believes it was God’s plan for her to go back to the VC’s Offi
ce. Shortly after going back to be the VC’s secre-­‐‑
tary, she was promoted to the position of Senior Personal Secretary, which she went on to be for the three subsequent VCs. These include Prof. Senteza Kajubi’s second regime from 1990-­‐‑1993, Prof. John Mukasa Ssebuwufu (1993-­‐‑2004) and the incumbent, Prof. Livingstone Luboobi.
20
Mary Seremba a ributes her success in her job and her long stay in Makerere to hard work, integrity, patience and the eagerness to learn as much and as quickly as possible. She describes all the Vice Chancellors as “won-­‐‑
derful, hardworking and men of high integrity.” She particularly picks out Professor Luboobi who she says has “been amazing.” “He has worked so hard and maintained his integrity during a very diffi
cult period.” “Professor Luboobi is a man who never loses his cool. Even when you the secretary cannot sleep, he comes in every morning in a great mood and says, ‘Good Morning Mary, how are you?” “Having been with professors most of my life, I have learnt a great deal from them and I can say that I am more polished as a person,” she says with a hearty laugh.
Over the three decades, Mary Seremba has been fortunate to educate her two sons up to university. The job for materialistic reasons. “They want to get a lot of money quickly, which I think is a big problem,” she counsels. “You fail to learn and to get the experience when you keep moving from place to place. Even if you do not like a place, it would be be er to stay for some time then organize your next move properly. It is very good to be patient because patience pays.” Would she want her children to work for Mak-­‐‑
erere? “Oh yes why not?” she asks, quickly add-­‐‑
ing that Makerere is a great place to work if one is willing to be hard working. “It is an excellent place to get a job and work. Makerere helps with staff development. In Makerere there is no tribalism, at least for the time I have been here. This business of someone not coming from the right region, no it does not happen here,” she says.
What will she do after Makerere? “Well, I love fl owers and I fi rst born, Edmund Musoke Luwugge, is an urban planner with Lugazi Town Council. The other boy, Dr. Silas Munabi, graduated as a medical doctor in 2005. Unfortunately, he got kidney and liver complica-­‐‑
tions shortly after graduation and has been on specialized treatment since then. “I have been going through a very diffi
cult time because of him,” says Mary. “But I am thank-­‐‑
ful and lucky that I came back to the VC’s offi
ce because if I had not I would not have received the fi nancial support for his treatment from the friends I made while here. Even the VC, Profes-­‐‑
sor Luboobi, has been there for me, contributing his own money. I will always be grateful to him and my many good friends at the University, the list is long. May the Almighty God I serve reward them abundantly. I will retire a very happy woman.”
Having worked for one organization almost all her working life, Mary has no regrets. She says young people these days keep moving from job to hope to get into this business after a li le training. I also plan to enter into the poultry business. I will use my retirement package to invest in a serious poultry project at my place in Nsangi where I have also built a small house for myself,” she says with a laugh.
But as a professional secretary, Mary is concerned about the “low standard” of secretaries being pro-­‐‑
duced from institutions these days. “The secretar-­‐‑
ies of today are not being trained to be personal secretaries. All they do is learn how to operate a computer and type but the real principles of secretarial practice are not learnt,” she observes. If she would get some money, she would do what Mrs. Lwanga did to her in her garage. “I will set up a small place where I can off er training to girls in secretarial practice. Yes, if I get money to buy a few computers and some typewriters, I will com-­‐‑
mit myself to girls to be good secretaries.”
End.
Mak News m agazine
April - June 2009
Campus News
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Mak News m aga zine
April - June 2009
Expansion of PR Department
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April - June 2009
Mak News m agazine
Expansion of PR Department
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April - June 2009
Stakeholder’s Conference
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Mak News m agazine
April - June 2009
ICT Building Opening
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Mak News m aga zine
April - June 2009
IT Tips Webmail and its efficient usage
Welcome to this fi rst edition of the Mak news magazine and the fi rst article in a series that will come your way quarterly. In this issue, we will aim to look at Webmail, its effi
cient use and best practices. Every member of the University community, which includes both staff and students, is entitled to an email address under the mak.ac.ug domain. This account is primarily used to access email but can also be used to access the University intranet and will eventually be used to access the campus wide wi-­‐‑fi network. This article will a empt to tackle the best practices to employ, so as to best utilize your webmail account. On creation, your account comes with a quota of 80MB. This is a sizeable amount of mail space, provided that it is correctly used. The tips below aim to provide some guidance on how to best utilize your mail quota. General usage
Keep your inbox as lean as possible. This can be achieved by deleting any old or unwanted messages. If you still need the messages, forward them to your personal address or download the a achments to your local Hard drive then delete the old message. This will not only reduce the load on the mail server and make opening your email a faster experience but also greatly save on your quota usage. Avoid using your offi
cial email account for sending or receiving any personal email messages as these are usually larger (containing pictures, videos and lengthy messages) and tend to take up more of your quota. In the event that you don’t have a personal email account, simply go www.
gmail.com and click on the “Sign up for Gmail” link and you’ll get an email quota up to 100 times your offi
cial one. Dealing with Spam
Email spam refers to those unsolicited bulk messages, usually containing commercial messages that constantly fl ood your inbox. Spam is not only annoying and time consuming to sift through but also inadvertently aff ects your email quota usage and chokes up internet bandwidth. Before we look at ways of dealing with spam, let us fi rst highlight a few measures that can help you avoid receiving spam messages. -­‐‑ Do not use your offi
cial address to forward jokes/chain le ers to email accounts especially those hosted externally i.e. yahoo, hotmail, gmail, operamail. One of your recipients could be on a spammer’s list and your address will automatically be added to that list. -­‐‑ In the event that you receive spam, do not click on any “unsubscribe” link in the message body. Some of these lists are automatically/randomly generated and clicking on these links only serves to “confi rm” your address as valid. -­‐‑ Avoid using your address to subscribe to any online off ers or newsle ers as this is good “harvesting” ground for spammers. In the likely event that you are already receiving spam, you could create a mail fi lter to move all the unsolicited email to a specifi ed folder. An email 26
fi lter is a set of rules created by a user to automatically process incoming messages according to specifi ed criteria. You can fi nd tips on how to create a fi lter below 1. Log into your webmail account and scroll to the bo om for the “Create new folder:” option, Enter a folder name e.g. Spam and click on “Create”. The new folder should now appear alongside other folders like “Inbox”, “Drafts”, etc.
2.. Click on the “Edit mail fi lters” link at the top. When the page loads, look for the “Rule name:” option and enter any name say Filter. Check the “Header” option and type in From. Now click on the drop down menu, choose the “contains” option, then enter a common string in the email address of the spam sender e.g. spam@spamhouse. 3. Scroll down to the “Save in” option, click on the dropdown menu and choose the folder name you created in 1. above, in this case Spam. 4. Click on the “Submit” bu on and don’t forget to click on the “Save all changes” bu on. You can then later on go through your folders and delete the unwanted mail as received from that point onwards. However, this option necessitates your intervention. In the event that you are confi dent that your fi lter will not encompass any regular email messages and you want to completely get rid of any spam, follow the tips below.
1. Leave out tip 1. from above and carry out tip 2. 2. Scroll down the page to the “Action:” menu and instead of choosing “Save in:” choose “Purge” 3. Click on the “Submit” bu on and don’t forget to click on the “Save all changes” bu on.
Do note that with this option, any deleted messages will not even appear in your trash and as such can be costly in terms of genuine mail loss. Therefore, please use it only and only when you are sure of your fi lter. Happy fi ltering!
Mak News Magazine
April -­ June 2009
Agaba Issah Mugabo is completing a Mak News Magazine Article
Home > Notes > Kenneth’s notes
Changing the way people interact
Walk in any office throughout Kampala today, and, sooner or later, you’re bound to overhear this magic word: Facebook. The social-­networking website started in 2004 at Harvard University, and is now among the ten biggest Internet sites.
In February 2004, Mark Zuckerberg, with the help of Andrew McCollum and Eduardo Saverin, launched the website that would change online social interaction forever. The site started on the campus of Harvard University, where the three friends were students, Zuckerberg being a psychology major of all things. The Facebook buzz grew on the Harvard campus and within weeks students from Stanford and Yale wanted in. The network was extended and by April 2004, The Facebook was available on all Ivy League servers.
But Zuckerberg needed help to grow his little social networking site that could. He would not stop until The Facebook had been installed on all university campuses in America. In May 2004, only 4 months after The Facebook was born, he dropped out of Harvard and moved to Silicon Valley with McCollum and Dustin Moskovitz. In September 2004, they secured venture capital from PayPal founder Peter Thiel. The $500,000 investment was a start, but Zuckerberg and friends had big plans for The Facebook. Seeing the potential value in The Facebook, Jim Breyer and Accel Partners ponied up $12.7 million to assist Zuckerberg in the expansion of his virtual empire.
So by October 2004, Zuckerberg had the money, the manpower, and the institutional backing to go global. Betatesting continued on within the American University population for the next year, and in August 2005, The Facebook dropped the “The” and Facebook.com was registered for $200,000. The network opened up, and within months anyone with a valid institutional email address from over 30,000 organizations across the planet were eligible for membership, including high school students, government employees and the corporate community.
In September 2006, Facebook expanded once again. Now anyone with a valid email address could sign up and populate their profile with their stats, and signup they did. Even after a bit of bad press with the introduction of the “News Feed” feature, which was labeled intrusive and viewed as a violation of privacy by many of its longtime users, membership continued to grow. In fact, between May 2006 and May 2007 Facebook traffic grew by an astonishing 89%.
Facebook remained a closed network until May 2007, when Zuckerberg announced that Facebook was to become the “social operating system for the Internet.” Up until that time, the Facebook platform was for Facebook alone, but now, users could integrate all of their Internet activities into their single Facebook profile.
Mark Zuckerberg, 23, founded Facebook while studying psychology at Harvard University. A keen computer programmer, Zuckerberg had already developed a number of social-­networking websites for fellow students, including Coursematch, which allowed users to view people taking their degree, and Facemash, where you could rate people’s attractiveness.
In February 2004 Zuckerberg launched “The facebook”, as it was originally known;; the name taken from the sheets of paper distributed to freshmen, profiling students and staff. Within 24 hours, 1,200 Harvard students had signed up, and after one month, over half of the undergraduate population had a profile.
The network was promptly extended to other Boston universities, the Ivy League and eventually all US universities. It became Facebook.com in August 2005 after the address was purchased for $200,000. US high schools could sign up from September 2005, then it began to spread worldwide, reaching UK universities the following month.
Facebook has also been host to other issues and concerns, especially in the privacy sector where its privacy policy states “Facebook also collects information about you from other sources, such as newspapers and instant messaging services. This information is gathered regardless of your use of the Web Site.” Another theory is that Facebook could also be a data-­gathering project or if not, used extensively for these purposes. Facebook’s policy also states that it “may share your information with third parties, including responsible companies with which we have a relationship.”
A typical Facebook profile consists of a number of different sections, including Information, Status, Friends, Friends in Other Networks, Photos, Notes, Groups, and The Wall. Most of the sections are self-­explanatory but some are specific to Facebook.
With over 1.5 million photos uploaded daily, one of Facebook’s most popular features has been the ability to upload photos. Users can upload unlimited photos from their cell phone or through its Java-­based web interface. Facebook is one of the few services to offer an unlimited quota with their only restriction being a 60-­photos-­per-­album limit -­ this is much appreciated by Facebook users.
The process of uploading photos is very simple. Users create albums which they can assign limitations to (e.g. visible to my friends only) and upload photos within them. The album is then put into their profile, and other users with right credentials have the ability to see and comment on them. Facebook also gives the feature to share the photos with a simple web link or send them via AIM or by e-­mail. What’s more, users can also order prints online through a simple integrated interface. Just like every other social network, Facebook has something called ‘groups.’ Users can create new ones or join and participate in existing ones. This is also displayed in their profile and is a good indication of hobbies and interests a person might have. There are two kind of groups, a normal group and a secret group, which isn’t shown on the profile. A normal group is just like any other, but users can also create and invite others into secret groups. These can be used for collaborating on university projects, and provide a way to have closed discussions. About 80% of the groups are ‘fun-­related’ and companies can even sponsor groups -­ as is the case with, for example, the Apple users group.
Another Facebook success is their ‘events’ feature, which provides the ability to organize, be part of, and plan for events. This feature has been extremely successful when it comes to organizing parties.
Along with organizing and joining events, users can also invite and recommend others to an event. This feature, however, has raised some controversy as it is generally the start of underage drinking and dry campus violations. Colleges and universities use the feature to catch planning of such events before hand and investigate those that are over. In any case, it’s one of the most popular features of the service and even beats some of the competing products made specifically for this purpose.
Mak News m aga zine
April - June 2009
Honours and Awards
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April - June 2009
Honours and Awards
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April - June 2009
Faculty Focus:
Faculty of Technology
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April - June 2009

Makerere University continues to strengthen its relationship with the outside world through signing various academic agreements and contracts. Through these exchange programmes with different universities, Makerere has been able to produce appropriate products (students) to fit the contemporary world. This has encouraged students’ academic and social cooperation with international universities. Makerere’s international visibility has improved in addition to its staff development and training especially in higher learning academic disciplines and programmes.
In doing this, Makerere has established collaborations with several universities and some of the universities include;; Stellenbosh University of South Africa which has exchanged one student to study in Makerere. The contract was signed by Makerere on 25th April 2006.
On 15th February 2007, Makerere signed a contract with Johannes Kepler University Linz and Makerere received one student from them. Through Makerere’s commitment to relate amicably with other universities, it has been able to sustain international contracts for more than a decade. For instance, Makerere signed a contract with the University of Florida-­
USA in 1989 and it’s renewable. Waseda University through the exchange programme with Makerere University has sent two students from Japan to study here. Kangwon National University of South Korea has exchanged seven Korean students with two Makerere students on master programme from the Department of Chemistry in the Faculty of Science.
Faculty of Computing and Information Technology (CIT) in Makerere University has taken three students to London SouthBank University in the UK on exchange programme.
The Institute of Public Health in Makerere University has collaborated with Karolinska Institute from Sweden to offer academic programmes aimed at students’ academic and research excellence.
Makerere University’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine received four students from its collaboration with the Norwegian University of Life Sciences to support the contract between the two universities. The College of Veterinary Medicine and Forest Resources, Mississippi State University-­USA and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Makerere University signed an agreement for academic cooperation on 20th June 2008 to support collaboration between the two universities.
On 5th October 2007, the University of The Western Cape (Centre for the Study of Higher Education), Faculty of Education signed a contract with Makerere University-­ East African Institute of Higher Education Studies and Development, School of Education to foster exchange programme. Makerere University on 17th November 2008, signed an agreement on research collaboration for scientific competence building, students and staff exchange and institutional development with the University of Bergen.
Currently, there are over 10 collaborations between Makerere University and other universities going on. This has improved on the academic performance of Makerere University in terms of qualification and university’s services and outreach with the outside world. These collaborations have created a mutual benefit to students and staff from both Makerere University and other universities to learn from each other. By Ronald Mayanja
Public Relations Office
Makerere University
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April - June 2009
Bob G. Kisiki
by you, to make you more sellable. And sellable at a high price.
Though we are not criticising contemporary university education, it is important to know, in the words of renowned novelist Chinua Achebe, where the rain started beating us. It did when, for no known reasons, universities (and in Uganda, Makerere is the oldest) stopped facilitat-­‐‑
ing students to generate knowledge, which would make them have a personal brand and label, making them distinct from the rest and, therefore, sellable. Now, university students are given basically bare, theoretical knowledge, making it imperative that the wise student does something extra… adds value to himself/herself.
THERE was a time when to declare ‘I made it to The Hill’ did not mean that you had reached the summit of Tororo Rock, or had ridden your bike up some notorious hill. Everybody would know you had beaten all odds (and those odds were many and tough), to qualify for admission to Makerere University. In those days, there was no other university to talk about and, surprisingly, it did not take extraordinary marks to qualify for a professional course like Law, Social Work and Social Ad-­‐‑
ministration, Mass Communication, Medicine and Commerce. The trend has changed, however. Many students are scoring 22 points and above. I know a young man who, in last year’s Makerere intake, failed to get government sponsorship for any course, with 22 points. And he wasn’t alone.
This has implications on how a Makerere admission should make one feel now. Besides the celebration of having made it to university at all, one ought to know that many other Ugandan and other nationality stu-­‐‑
dents are pursuing the same course with one, and will be poured onto a squeezed job market in only three, four or five years, depending on the programme of study.
Besides, some of the courses offered at Makerere University are on offer at other public and private universities. Many people are also doing online courses from South Africa, the UK and elsewhere. In short, com-­‐‑
petition is tight or, to use contemporary youth speak, things are tight. Period.
What does one do, therefore? One must find a way of a aining cu ing-­‐‑
edge advantage over all the other candidates for that dream job. For the only scholarship slot available. For the Vice-­‐‑Chancellor’s Award. Name it.
While we are used to using the term value addition to refer to [other] products, the same principle applies for you, the student, as well. If you do not add value to yourself, you will not sell on the market. Yes, I am plainly saying you, too, are a product. And besides the academic knowl-­‐‑
edge the university is imparting to you, more needs to be done to you, 32
How do you achieve that?
1. By thinking outside of your course box. Yes, there are theories and principles laid by sages of the past, but remember that there’s no caveat on the creation of fresh thought on issues in your field. Think. Think some more. Create new thought pa erns. Sell them. Write papers, even as an undergraduate. That is how potential lecturers are discovered. That is how philosophers, opinion leaders, specialists and consultants are born.
2. By training yourself to be at the fore of initiative/innovation. While you are a student on a specific programme, it is also true that your subject association needs a leader. In fact, it is even possible the associa-­‐‑
tion does not exist, yet. Create it. And the faculty board needs help with this or that project. Be that proactive student whose initiative saves the day. When the sorting machine is switched on to pick the grain from the chaff, you will be sure where you fall.
3. Get a skill outside of your course. Learn to bake. Play the keyboard or guitar. Write fiction, even if you are a Medical student or a Vet. Knit. Design cards. Whatever. But be sure that when you’re not waiting for the end-­‐‑of-­‐‑month magic, you are making money… causing people to make money for you, even. Young as you are. It is possible.
Extra skills make you more marketable even on the job market. Employ-­‐‑
ers want people they can assign extra duties, even at a cost, because chances are, that extra cost will be cheaper than taking on a new em-­‐‑
ployee, who will also demand health insurance, office space, etc.
4. Plan to go for further studies as soon as you complete your under-­‐‑
graduate degree, your Master’s degree or the PhD. Oh yeah, there’s academic life after the PhD.
5. Think beyond this recommendation.
We have been told countless times how we should not be job seekers but job creators. You should heed this advice, but also go the extra mile and ask: how do I do this? You will discover that many ways of doing it will cost you close to nothing, if not absolutely nothing. You might already know that no honest person can survive off an aver-­‐‑
age job paycheque. After the URA is done with their deductions, and you have taken off your church tithe, paid your li le sister’s fees and put aside the transport fare for the month, there will hardly be anything to save for a rainy day. This is where value addition comes in. make yourself impossible to turn away by employers, and when you go for the interview, heavy with value, you will not fear to place a unique price tag on your sleeve, and wait for the action to take off.
Good luck.
Mak News m agazine
April - June 2009
Students Corner
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April - June 2009
International Students at Mak
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Mak News m agazine
April - June 2009
Classic Puzzles in Arithmetic
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April - June 2009
oRBITUARIES
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Mak News m agazine
April - June 2009
Now and Then
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April - June 2009
On the Spot:
Academic Registrar
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April - June 2009
Mak News m agazine
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April - June 2009
Makerere Excels in Research
by EU), development of capacity for malaria vaccine trials (AMAN-­
ET) in (Demographic Surveillance Site) DSS, improving new born health and survival through a community based intervention linked to health facilities by Bill Gates Foundation ($960,000) based in the DSS in Mayuge/Iganga, research on Burkitt’s Iymphoma causing virus in collaboration with UVRI and KI, European Union grant for strengthening Ethics committee, EDTCP, (TB Vaccine trials) and the WHO-­TDR grant.
The Faculty of Technology has about six grants and these in-­
clude;; innovative clusters, $250,000 by Rockefeller Foundation, single wire electrification programme, $150,000 by GTZ, masters programme in renewable energy, $600,000 by NORAD, regional programme in urbanism, $400,000 by NORAD, up-­scaling of inno-­
vation systems and innovative clusters programme East Africa into a Pan African competitive forum and proposed establishment of the GIS Institute and a Masters programme in GIS.
Research improvement during 2007/2008 academic year has been one of the tremendous achievements by Makerere University. This has been realized through a number of activities among which the development and approval of the Research Policy and Intellectual Property Policy by the council to guide research and products of research are part.
Makerere’s research environment has been improved through the acquisition of infrastructure with modern equipment involving cent-­
ers of excellence such as;; Biomedical Laboratory in the Faculty of Medicine, Laboratory for viral disease in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Centre for Renewable Energy Research and Innovative Systems and Clusters in the Faculty of Technology, Centre for Crop Waste Management in the Faculty of Agriculture and Regional ICT Centre.
With support from the Government of Sweden through a consultant from KPMG, the University has embarked on reviewing and stream-­
lining administrative and financial processes and procedures that will culminate in the production of two manuals-­an administrative and research manual. Makerere recognizes the need to strengthen and improve research management. Makerere has managed to improve the research culture by building on research support from development partners including Govern-­
ment of Sweden, Norwegian Government, JICA, Carnegie Corpora-­
tion of New York, Rockefeller Foundation, the Melinda and Gates Foundation, multinational corporations such as Pfizer Inc, the World Bank and the Uganda Government. University units have been capacitated and are now attracting other development partners, writing grant winning proposals and winning big grants. On the local scene, Makerere continues to reap big from the highly competitive Millennium Science Initiative (MSI) grants administered by the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology. Of the 15 grants awarded in the second call in 2008, Makerere won 35% of these and is collaborating in a number of the other activities sup-­
ported in this initiative. Some of these entail;; long term surveillance for carcinogenic genital human papillomavirus infections and sexual behaviors among girls who receive an HPV vaccine to prevent cervical cancer in Naka-­
songola and Ibanda districts under the category of senior research teams, development and use of pozzolanic materials under the same category, adaptive bandwidth management in cooperative wireless networks: affordable and equitable access to the internet and increasing access to safe drinking water by disinfection using solar and UV radiation under the category of emerging research teams.
In 2007, Makerere won 60% of the 12 awards. The research carried out addresses both the national development goals enshrined in the PEAP (and now the National Development Plan) and the interna-­
tional development agenda stipulated by the Millennium Develop-­
ment Goals (MDGs). These include;; targeting gene-­based markers associated with drought tolerance mechanisms for cassava breeding under the Makerere University, Department of Crop Science in the category of emerging research teams, enhancing banana production through application of biotechnology: scaling up the production of dis-­
ease-­free tissue cultured banana plantlets in Uganda in the same department and category, upgrading the physics laboratories at Makerere university under the category of window b2 -­ upgrading undergraduate programs in the Department of Physics and partici-­
patory research for technology development on use of Molasses Urea Blocks (MUB) and local feedstuff for improved dairy cattle productivity in Uganda under the category of window c-­technology platforms in the Faculty of Agriculture and others. Research support from various players has contributed to the strengthening of the position of Makerere as a leading provider of science education and research and enabling development of centres of excellence in health, agriculture, technology and social sciences and influencing government policies in various areas including malaria, energy, waste, land, conflict and conflict concilia-­
tion among others.
Some of the grants in the Faculty of Medicine include;; Biology of malaria parasite (5 African countries and 20 European institutions Research support has also contributed to the modernisation of Makerere through ICT and library facilities hence transparency Ronald Mayanja
Public Relations Office
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April - June 2009
Mak News m agazine
Makerere Excels in Research
in governance and efficiency in university operations, improving the quality of academic staff and graduates through support for PhD training, enhancing capacity to supervise, conduct research and publish, contributing substantially to the attainment of PEAP towards reduction of poverty levels and attainment of MDG by the Government of Uganda, increasingly support many more research-­
ers/scientists to travel, attend meetings and present findings at international conferences and reducing the degree of brain drain. The School of Graduate Studies (SGS) has had funded collabo-­
rations in research and graduate training such as, Irish-­African partnership for research capacity building (9 Irish Universities and 5 African Universities, 1.5 million), Makerere-­Uganda Virus Research Institute Programme on infection and immunity (1 million GB Euro), University of Copenhagen-­East African partnership (prepare PhD, 600,000 Euro), Carnegie corporation of NY ($1.2 Million) and Wel-­
come Trust Project on neglected diseases of Africa involving 21 HEI and research institutions (GB Pounds 7 million-­submitted).
These partnerships have led to benchmarking best practices from collaborating universities. Some of the practices have been incor-­
porated in the University policies and are already being operational-­
ized through the School of Graduate Studies in various units includ-­
ing;; conducting PhD by public defense, PhD supervisors cease being examiners, candidates can publish their work before gradua-­
tion and thesis can be submitted in form of papers/monographs.
Makerere university has developed a couple of databases, invento-­
ries research, a Research Management and Coordination System (RMACs) which are already operational. These databases will enable stakeholders, the general public and the international com-­
munity to be informed about research activities and outputs from Makerere University in a timely and a more comprehensive manner. In addition, plans are underway to link these resources to other university databases including the information system databases on Human Resources (HURIS), the Finance Resource (FINIS) and the Library (MakLIBIS).
Despite all these developments and achievements in research, Makerere University still has some challenges such as, inadequate research support especially to postdoctoral fellows to continue their threads of research, the contribution of 3% of IGF from the center to support research has not been forthcoming, lack of staff to manage and coordinate research and delay in the implementation of the Research Policy and Intellectual Property Management Policy due to lack of resources and prescriptive guidelines. 41
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Convocation Article
42
April - June 2009
Alumni Article
April - June 2009
Mak News m agazine
Campus through the lens
43
Mak News m aga zine
April - June 2009
Notice board
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Mak News m agazine
April - June 2009
Ad
45
Mak News m aga zine
April - June 2009
Ad
46