Just imagine...the English test for the first years was held in the auditorium to the full strength of 370 students. The superb audio system made it possible to play the CD for the listening task to the entire group. Anyways, am glad the task is over. And, I do think education is getting more sophisticated. The series test for the first years was an OMR based test.

As confessed earlier in one of the blogs, I am an inveterate GECOFEST lover. This year was scintillating too...SaravanaKumar, the dancer who made his mark even in his first year as a performer par excellence was the Arts Secretary and he had gone to great lengths to make it a memorable one. As has become the practice, the final years hosted the events and competitions and gave guest performances.

Our new audio system is awesome...the POPE speakers boom out the music and the speeches are crystal clear. It was a joy to listen to the system. There are now two speakers on the stage to enable speakers and performers on the dais to listen to the audio. (Once again, we can thank TEQIP and the Principal for all this).

The ear-piercing whistles, the guttural screams and mind blowing screeches , I am sure, are an eternal feature and as old as colleges all over the world, and though there were some attempts to silence the boys, I am glad to say, the noise added to the atmosphere. I mean, how can GECOFEST be GECOFEST without all these? And, I've always wondered from where their energy comes? The audience electrify the hall with their sense of participation. The Art Gallery put up some of my favourite paintings and pencil drawings from our artists. There's Gopi, Sowmiya Narayan, Murugan, Sherine and so many others who had so delicately and beautifully drawn and painted their pictures. The pots acquired a beauty of their own with the paintings on them. The Rangolis were a little disappointing.

Some of us teachers were glued to the seats from morning till evening except for the lunch breaks. Our children made us laugh so much that one was glad for the gift of students in a teacher's life.

All together, a very happy two-day affair.

What a month of celebrations and achievements! Tamil Mandram brought out 'Agaram', a Tamil Literary magazine commemorating the Golden Jubilee Year. A Professor of Tamil, from the Periyar University was the Chief Guest. He decided wisely to talk of love as a theme of poems, since that would engage the attention of students. He pointed out how some of the good poems in the magazine related to the theme of love and co-related them with Mu.Mehtha's poems. I was grinning to myself, 'cos there we were, talking to our first years in class about the wisdom of not engaging their attention in matters of the heart till they were about 27 years old and here they were being told that love seemed to be one of the chief areas of interest. More on that later.

Just the other day, a student, who is auditorily and orally challenged, approached me with the father and some friends. He had failed in English and two more papers and the parent wanted to know why he had failed and what could be done. I have observed this student ...he is so cheerful that he makes you give him a happy smile in return, is attentive and even tries to repsond orally when I forgetfully ask him a question or two. I told the parent that he needed his friends ' help in understanding the quantum of work done and work alloted in class and suggested that they request the Principal to allow him to take up a hostel room. Believe me, the Principal once again showed the generous side and not only allotted him a room, but also awarded him the SISCOL scholarship of Rs.20,000/. I was taken aback when I heard about this...understanding the need of a student and responding sympathetically makes a bureaucrat a good leader.

The Hostel Day of the Boys is celebrated as usual with grand preparations and co-ordinated team work from boys. The invitation was tastefully selelcted...the name of the Day even more so..it was "Lion's Den, 2008'. Oh, our boys really do have a way with words.

A scientist and Advisor, Dr.G.J.Samathanam, Dept. of S&T, Government of India, visited the college for a special faculty interaction meet. Dr.G.J.Samathanam elaborated on the funding agencies in India and enlightened the faculty on the various sources available for funds for projects, etc.

In the present scenario, I feel that the visit was timely and necessary. Time has come when government funding will soon dry up, leaving institutions to generate funds for their academic activities. Young teachers should learn to tap sources for research and projects. There are talks about six new technical affiliating universites and everything is in a state of flux in the six government colleges. Young teachers must be ready for every eventuality and be prepared to face academic reforms and challenges. They will have to shoulder the responsibility of identifying funding agencies and partners.

The Principal must be lauded for his foresight and vision in inviting Dr.G.J.Samathanam, even as he is preparing to lay down his mantle as principal this year. His dynamism is good for technical education.

Reproduced below is the report found in The Hindu Online of Dr.Samathanam's visit.

Online edition of India's National NewspaperMonday, Mar 03, 2008ePaper Mobile/PDA Version

Tamil Nadu Come up with cutting edge, competitive research proposals, academics told
Staff Reporter
Union Government keen on encouraging students with exceptional talent
Photo: E. Lakshmi Narayanan Sharing his views: Department of Science and Technology Advisor G.J. Samathanam addressing the faculty members of Government College of Engineering in Salem on Saturday. —
SALEM: Department of Science and Technology (DST) Advisor G.J. Samathanam called upon the academic community to come up with cutting edge and competitive research proposals.
Interacting with the faculty members of Government College of Engineering here on Saturday, Mr. Samathanam expressed serious concern over the lack of high-profile research proposals from the universities and colleges.
The academicians should have the vision to come up with proposals of great scientific importance, which would ensure knowledge addition.
Many academicians, he said, still approached DST just to seek travel grant for attending seminars abroad. We had a number of programmes to support them to carry out research. They should make full use of these programmes, he said.
Mr. Samathanam regretted that a majority of the projects submitted by the PhD and M. Tech students did not carry any significant value.
Faculty members should encourage PhD students with an orientation for research to do good projects and apply for funding to DST or other agencies.
Explaining various funding programmes of DST, Mr. Samathanam said the Union Government was very keen on catching students with exceptional talents at the young age and extending scholarships to them.
This would enable the country to get leaders to implement large research and development projects in the future.
Even PhD holders in chemical engineering from premier institutions too were going for jobs in software engineering. This would give a huge setback to core engineering fields in the near future. The department was hardly receiving research proposals in the field of mathematics.
While other countries were appreciating the mathematical knowledge of Indians, people here seemed to show very little interest in carrying out research in that field, he said.
College Principal A. Ebenezer Jeyakumar highlighted the achievements of the college in academic and research activities.