AMCOMS AND STAFF PARLEY ON ACADEMIC ISSUES

The Association of Mass Communication Students (AMCOMS) organized a Staff and Students parley which took place on the 27th of September, 2019 at the University of Jos, Faculty of Arts Unity Hall.

The event turned out to be a very engaging and interactive session as the management of the department made some crucial points and raised some matters that affected the students.

Students were also able to table their ideas, views, issues and concerns before the management which were cordially addressed.

The meeting was scheduled for 10:00am and as at 10:25am, both students and staff of the department, including the Head Of Department (H.o.D), Dr. Taye Obateru who was also the convener, had taken their seats.

Luka Toholde, the Staff Adviser was called up to give the Welcome address wherein he welcomed all the students to the meeting promising it was going to be very interactive and informative.

Dr. Taye Obateru, during his speech, talked about the relationship between the lecturers and the students. He encouraged the students to relate with their lecturers like parents to their children. He encouraged students not to just meet their lecturers for academic work alone but also in other areas in which they might need their (lecturers) help and they should not be afraid to approach them in such cases. He commented on the punishment accorded to those involved in exam malpractice during the last exams as he said it is a very serious issue and such people would not be pardoned. He also encouraged students to always monitor their results at all times and not just rely on the fact that they know they don’t have any carry-overs but should ensure they monitor and calculate their results as it comes out and that it will help them know especially in cases where errors are made in calculating their Grade Point (GP).

The Exams Officer, Mr Mabas Akila, expressed his dissatisfaction at the number of students in attendance as he had expected a larger turnout of students considering the fact that  it wasn’t just a regular meeting. He then went on to talk about the new grading system, the 5-point grade average (which was changed from the 4-point grading). He explained how it works and also mentioned the benefits attached to the new system, that there’s a higher chance of getting a higher G.P than with the 4-point grading. He also talked about the newly introduced online registration by the university mentioning that it is a more efficient way of registering courses and also mentioned the deadline set for the registration online. He went on to talk about the over and under-registration of courses by some students and advised students to strictly abide by the number of credits given to them to use. He then mentioned the issue of carry-over’s, that students are fond of neglecting the carry-over’s they get like not attending the lectures even to not sitting for the exams again which should not be. He mentioned the submission of forms and that students should be appropriate when submitting their scripts, especially in an exam with a different level or different department. He also made mention of Add and Drop Forms saying that to drop a course, missing the lectures and not writing the exam won’t work as that will just be recorded as a ‘fail’ and the student would be told to carry-over the course. But to drop a course or add one properly, the add and drop form has to be obtained from the student’s level coordinator.

Contributions came as students were given the floor to ask their questions and express their concerns. The Staff Adviser, the Exams Officer and the Head of Department answered the questions accordingly. All concerns and suggestions were duly addressed and counsel were also given to the students to not just read to pass exams (head knowledge)  but to know it and how to apply that knowledge because it will useful later and also not to just rely on what is taught alone but do some research and learn new things.

The President of the AMCOMS, Mr. Itodo Timothy gave the vote of thanks and appreciated the students for being present to attend the meeting. He also appreciated the staff and management for making out time to sit and discuss with the students.

At 12:27, the meeting finally came to an end with a closing prayer by Ebulue Margaret.

AMCOMsites asking questions

Report and photos by Olujobi Bethel Oluwagbemiga

Edited by JM 

AMCOMS WEEK: HOD CUP KICKS OFF

The football match between the 100 level and 300 level boys department of Mass communication which is part of the Head of Department Cup, as part of the activities to mark the AMCOMS RATIONALITY WEEK kick-started at 11:50am on 29 October 2019 at the post-graduate hostel football pitch.

 The match started in high-spirits with an early goal by Sunday Ndaghaga,  a three hundred level student at the 4th minute of the game and Isaac Arumona scored two goals beating 100l.

The match ended 3-0 in favour of the three hundred level boys.

The spirit of solidarity was shown by students in the department as students came out in mass to support their respective levels.

The president of the department Itodo Timothy during an interview expressed joy  and appreciated the students for participating in the AMCOMS Rationality Week. He also urged students to be relentless in their plight to make this event {Week} a huge success.

Report and photos by Jummai Dagean

Edited by JM 

STUDENTS ATTEND SEMINAR ON DIGITAL MARKETING

The Student Union Government (SUG) in collaboration with Google Digital Skills on Thursday 10th of October 2019 organized a program on digital marketing at the faculty of arts hall.

The facilitator of the program in person of Solomon Uba, in a series of  lectures enlightened students on the importance of digital marketing and the benefit of data minimization using an app called datally “making you be in total control of your data”.

In his closing remarks Uba counseled the students to embrace the digital skills and take advantage of exploring the digital world.

In an interview with UJONLINE, the AMCOMS president said, ” the program is to educate students on the benefit of the available search engines and how to get the best out of the opportunities available”.

The program which aimed at enlightening the students on the importance and benefits of digital marketing, had in attendance the SUG sectary general comrade Liberty Wilson, SUG welfare sectary Alex Showel and the AMCOMS president comrade Timothy Itodo, the AMCOMS EXCOs and students of various faculties.

Report and photos by Jummai Dagean

Edited by JM 

IMPROPER DISPOSAL OF REFUSE IN RUSAU COMMUNITY

The issue of improper disposing of refuse is becoming serious and a lot of persons already see it as part and parcel of life. That is, it has become a way of life or lifestyle of individual.

People tend to dispose refuse anywhere thereby making society looks dirty and unkempt. Apart from the dirty look of our society, the World Health Organization had agreed and concluded that the indecent environment and improper dispose of refuse breeds mosquitoes and pollutes the environment thereby adding to the menace of ill health in the world at large. When refuse is not properly kept, unpleasant odours usually is produced.

The students and people of Rusau had made it a habit to dispose their refuse so carelessly which causes different types  of sickness among them.

Gift Joseph , a student of Psychology Department in the University of Jos and a resident in Rusau,  in her contribution mentioned that a refuse dump serves as a camouflage for criminal activities; “If robbers rob someone and the police are after them, they could easily drop the package in the dump, the police would never detect that and they would later on come to retrieve what they dropped there.”

The improper way individuals dispose refuse is not to be overemphasized. We all have roles to play so as to build a better society with safer environments.

Report and photo by Beatrice Kushi
Edited by JM 

BEST GRADUATING STUDENT FROM THE BUILDING DEPARTMENT BAGS THREE AWARDS

A university of jos graduate from the building department by name Gloria Moses has won three categories of awards on their 2017/2018 induction ceremony  into the Nigerian Institute of Builders which held  on Friday the 18th of October, 2019 at the Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities secretariat, Naraguta Campus UniJos.

During the occasion, the level coordinator of the 2017/2018 set announced Moses Gloria as the best graduating student and a winner of three categories of award, which included; best student in construction studies, with the take home cash of N2000; best student in construction management, with the cash of N50000 and lastly best graduating student with the CGP of 4.42 with another take home cash of N50000 which was presented to her by Prof.  Yohanna Izang, the immediate past head of department, Building and the current Vice-Chancellor of the Plateau State University, Bokkos.

The president of the Nigerian Institute of Builders, who was represented by his vice, Prof. Yohanna Izang, congratulated Gloria Moses for her “effort and dedication”.

Showing her appreciation, Gloria Moses thanked her lecturers for making her dreams a reality and also encouraged other students who always look down on the building profession not to do so.

Report and photo by Beatrice Kushi
Edited by JM (

AMCOMS LAUNCH WEEK WITH HIKE

The Association Of Mass Communication Students (AMCOMS) Hike which took place on the 26th of October at Mazah village starting opposite the old College if Accountancy, Odus turned out to be a very wonderful and exciting experience despite challenges as even students from other departments were allowed to participate with a fee of 100 Naira.

The students first of all made their way through the mountain, then walked all the way to teh Amanzah waterfall where some students swam and took pictures.

Photos by Bethel Olujobi

Edited by JM 

Students Enlightened on the use of Fire Extinguisher

The Student Union Government in collaboration with the fire fighting service, UniJos chapter organised a two-days program which kicked off on the 27th of September 2019 with the aim of educating students on how to prevent fire and also how to use the fire extinguishers placed in the hostel in case of any fire outbreak.

The program started with residents of Zion hostel where the fire fighters started by talking about tips on fire prevention. The resource person stated that before fire occurs, three things must come together which are; oxygen, fuel and heat and preventing fire is by separating those three elements from coming together. “That is to say limiting heat stops the outbreak of fire”.

They further spoke about the stages of fire which was classified into three; the incipient stage, the developing stage and the fully-developed stage. The incipient stage is when the fire is just starting, and in this stage, a fire extinguisher can be used. Hence an extinguisher cannot be used in a developing or fully-developed fire incidence. The various parts of extinguishers were also explained.

It was now time for the main business of the day as the fire service demonstrated how an extinguisher can be used. An acronym was given for easy remembrance;(PASS)  P- pull the pin, A- aim the base, S-squeeze the leaver, S-sweep side by side making sure it covers all the fire. The first step in putting out a fire using an extinguisher is to break the seal, pull the pin, make sure to stand in the opposite direction of the wind and then aim for the base of the fire then sweep from side to side to put it off. The whole lecture was practicalized as a fire was set in a bucket and was put off using the extinguisher by the lecturer. The students were definitely not left out as a couple of students were picked to practicipate what they had learnt.

In an interview with a student, Stephanie Bulus expressed how useful the training is as she said it would help in curtailing fire spread in the hostels. Mr Dashit Micheal who is the Deputy Superintendent the Unit Commander Federal Fire Service, University of Jos division said the reason for  programme was to prepare students for the dry season being that the rate of fire outbreak is usually high.

The SUG president, Dungshuut Biringmiap Peters, said the programme was a huge success as the main aim was actualized and believed that the students resident in  the hostels would be able to maximise the use of the extinguishers although we do not pray for fire outbreak in the hostels.

Report and photo by Mercy Adunkpe