Quack! Online

An interesting article comparing handling of intellectual property in the fashion industry with the film and music industry. A must read for the so-called "product developers" and "fashion designers/labels" in Pakistan, and especially useful for merchandisers interested in an alternative view on their product development prowess. Excerpts below:

"... the fashion industry long has accepted that creativity is too large and fugitive an essence to be owned outright as property. Fashion is a massive industry that thrives in a competitive global environment despite minimal legal protections for its creative design...."

"It is precisely because fashion pervades so many aspects of our lives that we fail to appreciate the "social ecology" that supports it - the open sharing, unauthorized innovations, and creative appropriations. To be sure, the fashion industry aggressively protects its brand names and logos, utilizing trademarks and licensing agreements. In most cases, however, the actual creative design of garments is not owned by anyone. The couturier dress worn by a Hollywood starlet on the red carpet can be knocked off immediately and legally appear days later on department store racks."

For the full article see Control of creativity? Fashion's secret.

A debate that arises out of this in the local market context is the fight over retaining intellectual property rights over local designs in both fashion apparel and home textiles, where "design houses" often find their designs copied and available in substandard quality and often with the same brand name. Your thoughts are invited.

Posted by Abid Omar at 10:57 PM | Permalink

By Mohsin Ali Sadiq TS2B

Yes, TIP Street-ball happened. The tournament which was supposed to take place last semester came through and finally took place on the eve of 22nd February at about 5:30 and ended at around 8: 30 with a lot of laughter and entertainment for the crowd.

SCOREBOARD

GAME 1: ROCKERS (8) - STRIKERS (4)

GAME 2: TMM4 (4) - HATO BACHO (3)

GAME 3: SHABI'S THREE (2) - STRIKERS (6)

GAME 4: HATO BACHO (5) - ROCKERS (7)

GAME 5: TMM4 (4) - SHABI'S THREE (2)-fouled out

FINAL: ROCKERS (11) - TMM4 (4)

The participation was kind of below the mark. I was expecting to see some fresh blood on the court and all I got were old horses many of whom couldn't even run. But there were two valiant freshmen Haziq Ahmed and Dara Amir of AMM1 who had joined forces to take on a game they'd never played before. Their team "Strikers" put up a show which had its moments of awe. I've got to hand it to them - The enthusiasm shown by these youngsters for a game which requires an education was tremendous. They lost their first match but came back strongly in the second when they beat Shabi's Three by 6-2. The "Strikers" came out in third place.

There was another freshman, Ali Haroon of TDT1, who had formed the team "Hato Bacho" with TMM4's Shayan who also happens to be TIP's basket-ball team captain. Their team had a tight first match with the team representing TMM4 and a high scoring second match with the "Rockers" but lost both of them largely due to a mediocre performance by the freshman. The cheers he got in the second match did nothing but affect his play in the game. He was however, successful in scoring a point in each match.

The tournament final was between the team representing TMM4 and the "Rockers". Both teams were unbeaten in the two matches they played. The elimination matches were a race to 9 points with a time limit of 12 minutes. The final was a race to 11 points with a time limit of 15 minutes. None of the matches had seen a victory where a team was able to actually get to the 9 point mark. But the final was an exception. Not only did the "Rockers" score 11 points, they did in good time and style. Adnan Dohadwala of TS3B and Abdul Rehman of AMM3 proved to be too good a team for their opponents. Abdul Rehman scored 10 points in the match and was well assisted by Adnan who chipped in with a point and a few steals. TMM4 were only able to score 4. Abdul Rehman was also the unanimous choice for the "Player of the Tournament" award by both me and Aasim Ahmed, my fellow coordinator and referee.

The most entertaining match of the tournament was the one played between TMM4 and Shabi's Three. I mean, this was a match which had the crowd roaring, got many cheers from the back and even had Aasim and me laughing like crazy. There wasn't a moment in the match when the Shabi's Three didn't commit a foul. Salman of TS2B became the first player in the tournament to receive a technical when stampeded Amar of TMM2 across the court. Shabi of TS2B was next. He literally clung to the back of TMM4's Kamal, who's a walking mountain of muscle himself. But this didn't stop "Shabi's Three" and they continued on their rampage of committing fouls. Aasim's look from across court suggested amusement and confusion both on the style of the play taking place and my laughter rather than proper officiating. Eventually, Salman was fouled out of the game when he was given the second technical foul for excessive physical play. Then, Ali Hakeem of TS2A came into the match and tried to create an impression in his own way. But Shabi took the responsibility of committing fouls upon him and was ultimately given the second technical foul. "Shabi's Three" had to forfeit because they had no other substitutes.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Sir Ali Hafeez for constantly supporting TIP street-ball, Ghazanfar Bhai who took great interest in our tournament and stood by us during the entire thing, Raza for providing us with the necessary equipment and most of all, a date for the tournament and all the players who participated in it. Above all I would like to thank Aasim who was probably the only person I could turn to during this tournament and who made sure that I kept my cool and things went the way we had planned. He was the one who didn't let me stray during the entire thing - dude, if I were a chick, I'd definitely dig u. And I would also like to thank all my colleagues from different batches who with their cynicism and sarcasm continually motivated me.

Posted by Mohsin Ali Sadiq at 09:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

On a public invitiation for feedback by the IT Manager, the following email was sent to him on February 22, 2006. Approximately 20 hours later, our hard-working, computer-savvy, email-wizard IT Manager has yet to reply. Quack! readers are invited to add their questions to those in the email below and we'll update you on any reply.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Abid Omar
Date: Feb 22, 2006 8:41 PM
Subject: Feedback
To: itmanager@tip.edu.pk

Dear Mr. IT Manager,

You have put up a notice on the notice-boards asking for feedback and suggestions to the computer lab. As a concerned student, I'm wondering:

1. Why does Windows invite me on a product tour every time I log in?
2. Why are "language tools" enabled all the time and using up valuable computing resources?
3. Why does MS Office require me to enter my name every time I open it? I though computers were smart enough to remember this kind of stuff.
4. Can't you put a link to my Z: drive on my desktop? Windows was supposed to make life easier, not harder.
5. Do you really enjoy it when students come up to the window and say: "Print please, print dijiye," and you smartly respond by asking where, to be met with the even smarter reply "Two thousand and three, Zero Six Eight Nine, folder Akhaq, subfolder TEXT 176 Textile Science, file Assignment No2.DOC, print pages 3 and seven." Talk about red-tape.
6. Why is your internet connection such rubbish?

Kind regards

Abid Omar

Posted by Abid Omar at 02:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

For the sake of the people, please, please sponser a tree!

Alright, so maybe the situation isn't as dire as all that, but honestly, once summer officially steps in, every one of us will be looking for the nearest tree in sight and it will be tragic if all the shade is already occupied by twenty heavily sweating people.

Think about it.

This isn't really an article. It's a notice, and it's on Quack with the hope that people will actually read it. People who'll realize that sometimes things aren't the management's responsibility; but rather our own.

So plant a tree. It'll be your own contribution to a place you'll spend four years of your life in. A place you'll laugh in, probably cry in (I already have. Twice.), eat crappy food in, and most importantly, learn about yourself in. Plant a tree. This tree will probably outlive you; it will surely outlive your stay in TIP. It will be something to remind you of who you were when you planted it. It'll be a milestone, a memory, something you know you can be proud of for the rest of your life. Think of it as a work of charity, as a duty, as a stupid bit of fun, but at least think about it.

It won't be that big a deal. We're not asking you to go buy an acacia, sit with it in your lap throughout the two hour ride and then dig a 4x4 foot hole to plant it in. We've got all of that covered for you. We're just asking you to spare the money, and we'll do the rest.

So what are you thinking about? Go plant a tree!

Posted by Hira Saiyed at 01:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

1. Are students serious about sports to justify hiring a coach?
2. Is the administration ready to commit the time and finances required to develop a sports program (or culture)?

The administration is considering hiring a sports coach at TIP. Mr. Ali Hafeez Azmat (Textile Science Faculty and Sports Coordinator) is currently interviewing suitable candidates. He claims that having a coach will provide the necessary discipline and team-spirit in students, as well as inculcating the virtues of patience and perseverance under the guidance of a professional. This coach would be ideally for cricket, football and basketball, and would provide general fitness training including stamina and strength building. He would organize and oversee inter- and intra-university sports.

Mr. Hafeez also claims that the Higher Education Commission wants sports programs to be a part of university curriculums to allow students to develop other necessary skills. HEC initiated the Pakistan University Games project in 2004 to develop sporting competitions between universities across Pakistan.

"Sports provide unlimited opportunities for developing human abilities both physical and mental. It is through Sports that one learns to acquire many useful skills required for overall development of a human body. Sports are the greatest factor for developing one's personality. It is the reason that developed nations around the world always accord top priority to the sports in their national development programs.

Students after going through hectic load of studies in the educational institutions vividly need a healthy outlet to refresh and rejuvenate their energies. Such healthy opportunities are provided to them through sports activities at various levels."

Mr. Hafeez stated that this is a first step to developing a successful sports culture. Ultimately, he envisions a curriculum where students are required to take up at least one sport over their four years here which is allocated a Pass/Fail credit hour criteria.

Posted by Abid Omar at 04:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

The overall situation in TIP regarding sports has been kinda blah! Although a lot of commitment has been shown by some individuals and our sports coordinator Ali Hafeez Azmat (Textile Science Faculty), the sports community in tip is still subject to a lot of criticism.

You may have heard the news that TIP is considering hiring a coach. Getting a coach for sports and fitness is a good start. He maybe able to inspire the sportsman in all of us. I know a lot of students who are good at more than just one sport and are not given due opportunity, may it be prejudice or politics - that's a different story.

But this initiative will fail if the person appointed is not given the due authority and finances to get things done around here. Being a member of the sporting community, I still don't understand a few norms we follow. But I've got my place in the sport I play so I continue to make efforts for it.

I hope this step will create due awareness about sports required around this place because seriously we have a lot of time to kill around here - more than we would to admit!

Posted by Mohsin Ali Sadiq at 04:05 PM | Permalink

By Zash

The second half of the academic year 2005-2006 marks the beginning of change in the Textile Institute of Pakistan. However what is surprising and at times alarming is the fact that these changes are taking place at a very fast pace.

From among many of the modifications that are soon to take place is the impending increased university timings. This was announced by the President TIP, Dr. Zubair Bandukda in the meeting held last Friday and if you are thinking that
it was decided solely by the numero-uno of the TIP then you are surely mistakened. In fact, this was prompted by the incessant complaints launched by some students that they are forced to take consecutive four classes which in turn:

• Leaves them lethargic and sleepy till the fourth class i.e. they can not concentrate during the class on lectures.


• And more importantly prohibits them from having lunch by the side of their sweet friends.

The authorities said "Lo and behold!". The ideal remedy hence suggested was that either the students be given an extra half hour slot for lunch most probably between the 3rd and 4th class resulting the chutti-time to be delayed by another half hour, at 4:30 pm. Or an even BETTER option where the university will remain open for six days i.e. on Saturdays as well.

I must say I am speechless. At this point I just want to see that bunch of ingenious students and congratulate them on their achievement.

To begin with, how often in a five-day week do we have to take 4 consecutive classes? At max two days. But then we should not forget that there are other days when we have hardly two classes in a day. If there are days which are loaded then there are also days when we have ample spare time. And how long does it take to run to the cafeteria grab a cold drink or a packet of chips and come back to your class.

As for those who love to grumble and whine, doesn't matter if you give them a 30 minute break instead of 10, they will keep whining and complaining. They will still be exhausted, they will still be suffering. But if this change is implemented it will generate annoyance in a severely large number of people especially those who reach home by 6 pm as they will reach their place another half hour late. Already students are thoroughly worn out by the time they reach home making them good-for-nothing and hence there is no point in extending the university timings. The idea of coming on Saturdays is far more infuriating.

However, it is essential to resolve the problem that this small group of students faces in a way that it does not adversely affect a larger majority. Firstly if the time table can accordingly be adjusted then it's well and good. Otherwise, we will have to see how we can provide a 30-minute slot for break b/w 3rd and 4th class without extending time in the evening.

We at TIP start at 9 o' clock in the morning and after each period there is a 10-minute break. If we begin at 8:50am giving a 5-minute break after each period then we can provide students a 35-minute slot for lunch b/w the 3rd and the 4th lecture without curtailing the 75-minute lecture time and still getting off at 4:00 pm in the evening.

To any person possessing a sound mind, it would seem more logical to start university ten minutes earlier rather than closing it another 30 minutes late. Having said all of this I just hope that the authorities will pay heed to what a concerned student has to say!

Posted by Aasim Ahmed at 11:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

There's a lot of talk going on amongst the freshmen about getting their papers rechecked. It seems as if a lot of people have been awarded unpredicted grades. I've heard numerous students saying that their final grade differed from what they had been getting in their hourlies by two notches or more. Students often go about making such claims without realizing that semester grades are not just based on the hourlies and final exams. Quizzes, assignments, reports, labs, summaries and class participation contribute towards the final result depending on the breakups listed in the course outlines.

If after considering these points you still feel that something's wrong then papers can be rechecked and scores recalculated on payment of Rs. 500 per subject. For more information contact Mr. Adil, Student record Officer.

Posted by Aasim Ahmed at 11:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

By Ali Shahid Zohaib, TS2A

Can kissing on the mass media between two young (and unmarried) people be justified in our Pakistani society? Of course no, definitely no; the simple and obvious reason is that we are an Islamic nation with religious ideals that forbid acts of affection in public. One more reason is the feudal nature of our society in which women are counted as assets and are usually dealt with an unwritten code of ghairat.

Kissing which considered as a very pure, innocent and sweet expression of love in the west is a taboo to be done in public in Pakistan. In our friends circle we talk with excitement about the sexual liberties in the West. It thrills our souls with adrenaline rushes when we think of western youth having the freedom of expressing love in public. It spices up our gossipy stories of You-Know-Who being caught kissing You-Know-Whom under the library tables. Besides kissing is not always a form of carnal expression of love. We have casual flying muahs by the socialite begums, the Arab style of cheek kissing at diplomatic parties. Some find entertainment in images of celebrities passionately embracing each other in acts of expressions of innocent love. Some also find enjoyment in these items in 3 hour Indian movies with numerous kissing scenes and what not. And who doesn't feel for the characters at the end of a movie when the hero passionately kisses the heroine?

If we consider kissing so pure and innocent then why do we exhibit such hypocrisy? Why is it that the whole media of Pakistan starts a campaign when one of our film actresses kisses an Indian actor in an Indian movie? Why is it that our ghairat was jolted awake when a Pakistani daughter was being kissed by an Indian son whereas the same ghairat remained in deep slumber when Mai Mukhtaran was raped in the grounds of Meerwala by Pakistani sons?

The 21st century is the age of materialism and lust has got real existence in today's society. The fast moving world has given birth to the rule of lust. The suffocation in our society which is the result of confusion between the materialism of west and the moralism of mullahs has given delivery to a confused generation. We need to define who we are and also map out the direction we want to go in. If we want a Talibanized version of an Islamic republic then we need to ban every form of show business and head start towards a harsh puritanical society, the eventual result of which predicts widespread homosexuality, depression among women and increase in social evils like marriage with Quran and karo-kari (Practiced in some tribal districts of Pakistan, it is a law made by tribal landlords according to which women who are seen interacting with unknown men are killed by gang rape).

On a similar node, since the buzzword these days is a softer image for Pakistan we have all sorts of flashy functions going on to project ourselves as a colorful, loving and expressive nation. But this is all going to prove futile. Our culture and heritage is indeed grand but what we are offering to the international community is actually daal as compared to the biryanis offered by India, Thailand and Malaysia. Taking the example of Malaysia and Indonesia which are also Muslim countries, they package lust and sex in their tourist brochures and CNN commercials. It is true that our culture has no such charm and appeal. But our culture is boring and dead to international people not because it has no substance or color but because we don't offer anything tempting like lust and sex and erotica.

In short I don't mean to suggest that we should open up strip clubs and nude beaches in Pakistan. My idea of a culturally liberal Pakistan is where there is freedom of expression not only in media but also other forms of art like dance, music and literature. We need to soften and liberalize the censor policy of the Pakistani film and television industry. It is sad but true that the western concept of liberty equates with that of sexual liberty so unless we allow some personal freedom in Pakistan, we cannot project an image of a liberal Pakistan.

Posted by Qui at 02:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (24)

The new semester has started and it just so happened to be that I needed a couple of printouts on the second day of university. But of course, the printer in the computer lab was out of order!

The machine has been causing problems since the late period of the previous semester and numerous students were forced to submit blotched assignments due to failure of the recently purchased piece of equipment.

The fact that the printer is still not in working has not come as a surprise. After all that's just how things function. It'll take time for things to settle down. It'll probably take a couple of weeks for them to call the servicemen to come and fix it. It's all right we understand.

It'll take some time for the lab and library to start opening after four. Besides, who in the right frame of mind needs to do reports or study anything during the first couple of weeks? We realize that it takes a while for things to settle down and people to get back to their routines. It's ok we understand.

It'll take some time for the labs to be conducted and it'll take time for some classes to catch swing. It'll take them time to fix the time table, we've already missed one class because the instuctor had a different schedule than the one posted on the notice boards.

But It's all perfectly ok, we completely understand!

Posted by Aasim Ahmed at 01:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Pictures for the graduating Class of 2005 are available in two flavors. Take your pick:

• Plain Vanilla
• Over-the-top Funky Flash

Of note at the Convocation were the Chief Guests Dr. Pervaiz Hoodbhoy.

The Iqbal Ahmed Achievement Award went Ali Raza Merchant, and the Valedictorian Speech was given by Sana Kamaluddin, both of whom wrote regularly for Quack! during their time at TIP.

Posted by Abid Omar at 12:12 AM | Permalink