Feature

Boston University Election Day

Sameirah Nasrin Ahsan

BU celebrates Election Day. Wednesday 4th November, the students of Boston University got together after classes to watch the US Presidential Election proceedings. The various dining halls on campus remained open till midnight and beyond, to accommodate the excited students. Free ice cream and pizza were generously offered by the authorities. Projectors and screens were set up, lights were dimmed and people gathered to witness this heartstopping event that will determine America's future and that of the world's. Speakers blared in the halls and students found spots on the floor and couches, with their eyes glued to the screen. American flags stood proudly in the middle of halls. Students adorned the colours of their flag, expressing their patriotism. With hearts beating fast and adrenaline flowing through veins, they anxiously waited for the results.

The desired moment was not so far away as Obama was declared President and BU seemed to burst with energy. Students rushed out of the dining halls, common rooms and dorms, cafeterias and into the streets. There was laughter, cheering, and a whole lot of tears; tears of joy as the American people found new hope for their nation. A student of BU College of Arts and Sciences said, “In the next four years, I hope that there are changes. I would like for there to be an end to the wars, for the United States to get out of the recession, and for the international community to view the United States in a more positive manner. The election results show that the country is divided, so the major challenge Obama and the new administration will have is to bring both sides together to make changes.”

Hope is blooming in every heart as a new era is marked in American history and a coloured man takes position as the Commander in Chief. Yes, history had been made that day. Let's wait and watch what changes this record-breaking, election will bring for America and for the rest of the world.

(The writer is a student of Electrical Engineering, Boston University)

HSBC Young Entrepreneur Awards

Star Campus Desk

THE HSBC Young Entrepreneur Awards (YEA) is a business plan writing and presentation competition for university students, which was launched 7 years ago in Hong Kong and 2 years ago in Bangladesh. Bangladesh joined in this regional competition in the year 2007. YEA is currently running in Bangladesh, Brunei, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand.

The competition for 2009, titled HSBC Young Entrepreneurs Awards 2008-09 was launched on 12 November 2008 in Bangladesh. The competition will be held in three phases with students in 2-3 person teams being requested to submit a business plan at the YEA website (www.asiayea.com) by 11 January 2009. Following this, 30 Teams will be selected for the 2nd round and provided with a workshop on business plan writing. They will be requested to submit their business plan by 15 March. Out of the 30 teams, 7 teams will be chosen for the final round. These teams will be provided with a second workshop on presentation skills and will be required to present in front of a panel of judges on 30 April 2009. The regional competition in Hong Kong will take place in June 2009.

The Three winning teams from Bangladesh, Gold, Silver and Bronze will be awarded with a cash prize of BDT 60,000, 35,000 and 25,000 respectively. The three winning teams will be visiting Hong Kong for a weeklong entrepreneurial tour, with the gold team having the opportunity to compete in the regional grand finale in Hong Kong.

Bangladeshi students have demonstrated their creativity, ingenuity and entrepreneurial skills from the very beginning of the competition. In the HSBC YEA 2006-07, Bangladesh Gold team won the “Best of The Best' award and a cash prize of BDT 9,00,000 in the regional grand finale. Bangladesh was also the Runners Up in last year's (YEA 2007-08) regional grand finale.

The local competition, Training and development programmes and the study tour in Hong Kong are very useful in developing the entrepreneurial mindset for the students. A lot of the YEA students have implemented their business plan in real life and became successful entrepreneurs. Speaking at the launching ceremony of YEA 2008-09, Sanjay Prakash, Chief Executive Officer of HSBC Bangladesh said that HSBC was proud to provide students with access to this regional competition and hoped that Bangladesh would continue to produce talented young entrepreneurs that could compete and win on the global stage.