good job.
let us know how can we help bdstudent.
atiyab
rumsc98

[Moderator’s Note: What about discussing the problems student face in wanting to
come abroad for study, such as Visa issues, financial aid, strong academic
record & test scores?]


Jonogon,

Seems we needed an abrupt stop to the unpleasant topic, as we might soon
digress from the main theme of the group. Let's start some nice discussions
about student life in the US or Canada (or anywhere else) for BD people,
and many of us know that student life abroad is not a path laden with rose
petals :) Or we can simply talk about our beloved country.

Would people like to share what the main advice would be that they would
give to someone coming to the US or Canada to study? Let's get a consensus
of what people think should be the main lookout for new students in this
region.

Thanks!

- Rony

Rony
Chicago, IL
USA

[Moderator’s Note: No more e-mails on this topic/thread will be posted.]


-------------------E-mail 1---------------------------------------------------
From: "Rabeya Khandaker" <rkhandak@...>
Date: Mon Dec 2, 2002 0:38am
Subject: Re: [bdstudents] only muslim !!!!!!!!!!!



    God, dont you guys know when to drop a topic... Humaira, just suggested
someting... After all everyone should have a saying of what they believe
in.. right... FYI, Humaira is not from Bangladesh and some how she is
added to the list so she just expressed her feeling.... You guys dont
agree with it fine, but sending ten essays corresponding to that... come
on... Sorrry if i offended someone...

take care
EID Mubaruk,
Happy Hanukah ....

-------------------E-mail 2----------------------------------------------------
From: "Bushra Ferdousi" <D1131431@...>
Date: Mon Dec 2, 2002 0:38am
Subject: Re: [bdstudents] only muslim !!!!!!!!!!!


dEAR jOYA

I appreciate your point of view as well. At first I did not reply to any of
these mails..because some people raised the issue about religion.

Bushra
University of Southern Queensland
Toowoomba, Australia

--------------------E-mail 3---------------------------------------------------
From: Sohel Khan <sohel_khan777@...>
Date: Sun Dec 1, 2002 3:53pm
Subject: RE: [bdstudents] only muslim !!!!!!!!!!!


Humaira's e-mail did not say that non-Muslims were not
allowed to express their ideas. She just mentioned if
we had a Muslim student association discussion list
did  we need another Bangladesh student association
discussion list? As the "psuedo-seculars" has the
right to express thier opinion, Humaria also had her
right to express her opinion. She just exercised her
right.

hi all...
i have read couple of mails through this yahoo group.i
think its a great oppertunity to connect all the
bangladeshi students with their ideas and thougts.i
couldnt get the idea why some people raised the point
about religion.being a bangladeshi students eveyone
has the same right to express their thought and they
have the right to get the help from here in any
matter.religion is a personal thing and it should not
come with the concept of bangladeshi students,here we
want to make bridge among people,not the gap!!
Joya
St.Cloud State Univ
Minnesota,USA.

=====
Sharmin Sultan Joya
Deptt. of Economics
St.Cloud State University
St.Cloud, MN 56301
USA

Dear Humaira,
I find your proposal to transform this secular and non-communal association
into a Muslim Student Association an ignorant and in a simple word, idiotic.

Firstly no, we are not all muslims. 86% of Bangladeshi are Muslims, while
16% of them are Hindus and rest being Christians, Buddhist etc. But the
figures were not always like this in 1941, 28.3 percent of the population
were Hindus and 70.3% Muslims. This is not surprising since a magazine
reported that every year half a million minorities have been forced to leave
the country.

Our original constitution in 1971 declared: " We, the people of Bangladesh
having proclaimed our independence on the 26th day of March 1971 and through
a historic struggle for national liberation, established the indepedent,
sovereign People's republic of Bangladesh. "Pledging that the high ideals of
nationalism, socialism, democracy and secularism, which inspired our heroic
people to dedicate themselves to, and our brave martyrs to sacrifice their
lives in, the national liberation struggle, shall be the fundamental
principles of the constitution."

But thru the years close-minded individuals like yourself added Islam to the
constitution, declaring Islam as the state religion and much more. Another
important note is that in 1978 Article 12: "Secularism and Freedom of
Religion" was completely deleted from the constitution

this is Article 12:
The principle of secularism shall be realized by the elimination of

a. communalism in all its forms
b. the granting by the State of political status in favor of any religion
c. the abuses of religion for political purposes
d. any discrimination against, or persecution of, persons practicing a
particular religion

Our country was liberated from the blood and tears of muslims, hindus etc.
Hindu's fought beside muslim to free ourselve from oppresion. Humaira by
saying that we are all muslims or we should change this organization to
Muslim student Association, you are denying millions of minorities (Hindus,
Christians and Buddhists) their citizenship as Bangladeshis. They too were
born on the same land, have the same fond memories, fought the same struggle
for a secular Bangladesh where they thought can enjoy their freedom. But it
is arrogrance like yours which is driving our country into the abysmal state
that it is in. I could go on and on and arguing against your idea, but I
rest my case. I am sure you can find a muslim assocation in the Stony Brook
area to satiate your need for religous imperialism. If not I will be more
than happy give you the address of many upon many muslim associations.

With upmost respect

Johni Khandaker              BSA @ Oklahoma State University


_________________________________________________________________
humaira wrote:

why do we have to have a bengali association... aren't we all muslim? why
cant we just unify as Muslims and have a Muslim Students Association, and
reinforce that power on campuses and stuff?

no offense :)

salaam,
humaira

Hello guys....
     I am currently living in America but would like to go to bangladesh
and settle there probably within 3 to 4 years... I been to American for
about 12 years so I am not sure about the job opportunities in Bangladesh
in the computer science field... If anyone currently living in Bangladesh
and have any info on this, please let me know... thank you....

I am Azad. I am going to Australia to study the University of
Ballarat. Could you please help me with some information about
Ballarat? How is the place, What about availability of Part time Job.

Thanks for your kind cooperation.

Azad

Dear Friends,

I agree with a couple of previous postings that not all people in Bangladesh
are Muslims, thus it makes perfect sense to have a Bangladeshi mail group
rather than an Islamic one. Also, being a Muslim, which I personally am
too, is different from being a Bangladeshi, and I don't see a point in making
these two overlap. One is about religiion, the other about nationality.


And to me personally, being a Bangladeshi comes before being a Muslim, with
all due respect to my religion. I always thought religion was something
personal, and should be left at the personal level. That is not to say that
we can't form a Muslim mail group too, but I don't see why forming a Bangladeshi
group is inappropriate or unnecessary in any way. Trying to establish, even
if we wrongly assume that all Bangladeshis are Muslims, that since we 'all
are Muslims' there is no point in having a Bangladeshi association is in
effect trying to bring religion from one's personal arena into others'.

With due respect to all members here, I would like to suggest that we adhere
to the theme of this group, which is centered on being Bangladeshi, and
is aimed at aiding all Bangladeshi students, not necessarily just the Muslim
ones. Our rich culture, sense of nationality and unity as a nation proud
of its identity should be emphasized on in our daily sharing of minds in
this group.

Regards

- Rony

Rony
Chicago, IL
USA

Hello everyone,

I had 2 questions to ask.

1. Is there any student who is "unfortunately" living and studying in
Bangladesh? Most people in the contact list seem to be living abroad.

2. How and where did the moderator get my e-mail address??

An early Eid Mubarak to all my fellow Muslim brothers and sisters. Adios!

Shakil
Dept. of Physics,
Dhaka University



Moderators' Statistics:
[ 1. E-mail addresses were gathered mostly from the Internet and other lists.
   2. Initially we reported that 200 people unsubscribed - NOT TRUE, on further
      digging we found they were outdated e-mail address, no longer valid.
   3. We are seeing a huge response to this list, out of 30 e-mails yesterday I
      have only posted a few.
   4. Getting to know who is on the list (hence introductory type hi-hello
      e-mails)may be of importance to many members as it is helpful for asking
      personal questions about specific things, and networking.
   SUGGESTION: Please send all personal mails directly to the author. Thanks! ]

[Moderator's Note: Please see the purpose of this group, if you have not already
read it visit : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bdstudents/files
Can or will a Muslim’s students association fulfill the specific needs of
Bangladeshi students, even if they are muslim?]



Dear Humaira,
I am a muslim too. But i think you are not right. We all are not muslims. There
are other religions in bangladesh if you refresh your memory.
Think once what you would feel if u r the minority in any group. If it happens
as you said, bye  bye bdgroup.




humaira wrote:

why do we have to have a bengali association... aren't we all muslim? why
cant we just unify as Muslims and have a Muslim Students Association, and
reinforce that power on campuses and stuff?

no offense :)

salaam,
humaira
-->http://www.sinc.sunysb.edu/Stu/hsyed

Here's my 2 cents to that suggestion
1. Because there already is a Muslim Students Association all across North
America, and I am sure elsewhere as well.
2. Not all Bengalis are Muslims. There should be no reason to exclude the
10-15% of Bangladeshis that are not Muslims.
3. This forum apparently was created more on the grounds of some form of
Nationalist/Ethnic identity as opposed to a religious one. Bangladeshi's
have unique issues. Muslims have unique issues. But neither issues are alike
at all times.

-----Original Message-----
From: bdstudents@yahoogroups.com [mailto:bdstudents@yahoogroups.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 27, 2002 8:37 PM
To: bdstudents@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bdstudents] 5 introductory e-mails consolidated


why do we have to have a bengali association... aren't we all muslim? why
cant we just unify as Muslims and have a Muslim Students Association, and
reinforce that power on campuses and stuff?

no offense :)

salaam,
humaira
-->http://www.sinc.sunysb.edu/Stu/hsyed

*------------*---------------*-----------------*-----------*------------*
The Messenger of Allah (SAAW) said:
   "Give up what is doubtful to you for that which is not doubtful;
    for truth is peace of mind and falsehood is doubt".  [55. At-Tirmidhi]
*------------*---------------*-----------------*-----------*------------*
	 	   (: SMILE! IT'S SUNNAH :)
      *------*--------"sab chalta hai"------*---------*

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

why do we have to have a bengali association... aren't we all muslim? why
cant we just unify as Muslims and have a Muslim Students Association, and
reinforce that power on campuses and stuff?

no offense :)

salaam,
humaira
-->http://www.sinc.sunysb.edu/Stu/hsyed

*------------*---------------*-----------------*-----------*------------*
The Messenger of Allah (SAAW) said:
   "Give up what is doubtful to you for that which is not doubtful;
    for truth is peace of mind and falsehood is doubt".  [55. At-Tirmidhi]
*------------*---------------*-----------------*-----------*------------*
	 	   (: SMILE! IT'S SUNNAH :)
      *------*--------"sab chalta hai"------*---------*

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: sm mahamudul amin <amin3217@...>
Date: Wed Nov 27, 2002 2:09pm
Subject: Hello


Wassup and hello to all ma bengali bro n sis's  who
living and fighting fo' life in da united states. i am
Zenith amin from st cloudstae university,
Minnesota.Let's meet each other and be friends so we
bengalies can stay united.Thank you and all da best.

BSA./sm zenith-amin.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Mahbub Majumder <majumder@...>
Date: Wed Nov 27, 2002 2:17pm
Subject: Re: [bdstudents] Hello guys...


Hi all,
It's a nice effort.
I am excited thinking that one day may be all the bd students can have a
big festival some where in us.
Mahbub
Secratary,
Bangladesh Student Organization
Purdue University,
West Lafayette, IN-47906.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: "Noosha Hussain" <nooshaz@...>
Date: Wed Nov 27, 2002 4:42pm
Subject: Re: [bdstudents] (unknown)


I guess I'm the only one replying from the "deep south"...!
We're here in Alabama. :)

It's really great to get mails from all of you and feel the enthusiasm. I
hope we can keep it going.

Regards,

- Noosha.

ps: anyone here from Green Herald School, Dhaka? just wondering...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: "md. sarker" <manik26@...>
Date: Wed Nov 27, 2002 5:40pm
Subject: May be we need a website


Hi,
The person who came with this idea is a genius He got to be awarded
the noble prize  for good idea or at least the oscar. Thank you.
Just as a suggestion, it might be a really good if we have a
website. We can put the profile of all the members there or may be a
noticeboard or may be some other stuffs. I know wise guys will come
up with better ideas what to put in that.
Guess somebody will think about doing  that (excluding me, I am a
dumby about computers).


Manik

Massachusetts

Actually I would be interested in the email address of English, International
relations, History and Political Science depts of Univ of Dhaka.
Sincerely,
Dr. Choudhury M. Shamim
Professor of Political Science
California State University fullerton
Fullerton CA 92834

Ok, so how do I check the list of members in this group? 'cause I don't
want to invite people who are already in here. :) And isn't that kind of
limited to the moderators, i.e. inviting peeps to join the group?

Good luck to all the students with your finals!
..& Happy Holidays everyone!!!


[Moderator's Reply: Please ask your friends to visit our home page for this
group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bdstudents
On the very top you will see an icon they can click on that says "Join this
group" all they have to do is follow the instructions. You can also get an icon
and link for your personal web sites and University BSA web sites so that new
students and visitors can join the group. In addition to that you can send a
list of e-mails to the group and we will add those members, if they have already
been added, the group will automatically recognize that and not re-add them. So
please if you or anyone else knows of students who would like to join, and/or
benefit -- SPREAD THE WORD, because we really can and have the ability to help
others.]

Hi All,

This is Rony from Chicago, IL. Used to go to school here. Now working.

- Rony
   Chicago, IL

Rony
Chicago, IL
USA

Well, if many e-mails come to the mailbox, people will
get fed up and will unsubscribe from the group. To
keep people in the group the best strategy would be as
follows:
1. Only the important mail/announcement from the
moderator should be sent to everyone.
2. All other mails/discussion should be posted to a
web, so that people interested can go there and read.

Thanks.



[Moderator’s Reply: Well many of the e-mail's were bouncing and we thought they
were no longer part of the group, however it looks like we still have ~500
members (approx).

As for many e-mails, you can set your preference in yahoo to get a daily digest
as in one e-mail which will contain all e-mails posted that day, you can either
do that your self by associating a yahoo profile with your e-mail address for
this group or you can send a request to us and we will do it.

Secondly all the e-mails approved ARE posted to the web the address is:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bdstudents
So you can also choose to select "web only" option in yahoo, that way you will
not get any e-mail in your inbox, but you can read all the mails posted just by
visiting the above URL.

So if that is the problem I urge you not to unsubscribe but to set your
preferences suitable to you and stay on because I do think we can benefit from
this group.]

[Moderator's note: This is a great idea! If you or anyone else would like to
help in doing this please let me know.]


How about collecting email addresses of chairs of different departmental
units of Universities in Bangladesh and sending them a request to
encourage their students to join this group?

Wahed



============================================================================
                http://www.stat.ncsu.edu/~aswahed
Office:                                    Residence:
Department of Statistics                   2900 ES KING VILLAGE
North Carolina State University            APT. C27
Box 8203,                                  RALEIGH, NC 27607
Raleigh, NC 27607                          PHONE: 919-512-7198

--- Hi I am Mozammel from BD now working in Japan, for
Ph.D. in Civil Engineering.

Thanks for your calling.




=====
Md. Mozammel Hoque
Structural Engg. Lab.
Dept. Of Civil & Environmental Engg.
Saitama University
Saitama-shi, Saitama-338-8570,Japan.
Tel:81-48-859-3119 (Res)
  81-90-4202-3752 (mobile)

Hi everyone...
This is a great idea for Bangladeshi Students here in US. All my support and
blessings with this group. Keep it up!!!

Zahidull Islam
President
Bangladesh Student Association
University of South Alabama
http://www.southalabama.edu/bangladesh

[Moderator's Note: You can see the same here we had almost 700 students to start
with now we have 300. But unless we stick together, take the initiative to help
students this group will also die out fast. Hence I urge you to ask your friends
in Bangladesh who want to study abroad to join this group.]


Yes.. I already tried once to do the same thing..some people responded also.
Suddenly everyone left and everything stopped. I have CSABD. Which Common st
udent association of Bangladesh.

Anyway...thanks again
I hope this will be a successful organization
Gazi







In a message dated 11/26/2002 10:20:37 AM Eastern Standard Time,
rkhandak@... writes:

> am impressed. There IS hope for US, we are not as confused

Hi,
I used to go to school in boston. You can check out the MIT BSA website for
upcoming social gatherings and events they have....

http://web.mit.edu/bangladesh/www

Salam,
NAbeela


----Original Message Follows----
From: "md. sarker"

Date: Mon, 25 Nov 2002 15:37:45 -0800 (PST)

Hi I am from boston. Dont know any bd students here. Is there any of you?

Hi everyone...
   This is so neat... Bengali students are coming together to unite.... I
am currently going to Stony Brook University in New York and surprisingly, I
rarely see any Bengali student come together to support other Bengali
student or even come to any Bengali event, if coordinated...  Most of us
try to fit ourselves with the western culture and forget about our own
heritage.  I am impressed. There IS hope for US, we are not as confused
as we might look or presumed to be...  Take care guys...


Rabeya Khandaker...

Hi I am from boston. Dont know any bd students here. Is there any of you?

Ok I am from Oklahoma State university, Oklahoma. I am with you guys. Here i
am the president of BSA. So if you need anything..just inform me. I will try
my best to help you out:)

Dinar

I am a member of bsa, lived in new york fro years.i
want to establish a strong bengali community in this
united states. we should meet and do something heavy
for our country, even we are far away. help me out.
give me ideas, i need people and ideas.

sm amin. /bsa/st cloud state university, MN.usa.

Reply to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bdstudents/message/2


Thanks for sending such a mail from Joya66. I am also bangladeshi but not living
in Japan for study.
Thanks to everyone on this group.
ZAMAN

Reply to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bdstudents/message/2


dear friend
actually i dont know what you talking about?how can i raise my voice?
thanks for mail.
akash chowdhury.

[Moderator's note: please direct all replies to this e-mail to the author, not
the list - thank you]



Hello everyone,

For the Bangladeshi Students and Professionals who live in  Washington DC,
Virginia or Maryland it would be a terrific idea to have a social gathering. 
Let me know what the members of this group think about having dinner on a
weekend evening and I will try to coordinate a convenient place and time. 
Perhaps the Thanksgiving weekend might be a convenient time for those of us who
are going to be in Washington DC, Virginia or Maryland.


Best wishes
Rezaur


___________________________________________________

We are here to represent Bangladesh.Please raise your voice to make
our country more promising to others and introduce our rich
cultures.All the bangladeshi students community should work for the
good image of our county and we have to keep in mind that we are
the "senator"here for bangladesh community.
thanks
BSA
St.Cloud State University
Minnesota

Dear Members:

Thank you for choosing to stay on as part of this group. By now
hopefully you have had a chance to read the basic purpose of this
group and we hope you all agree that a group like this is well over
due. If you have not had a chance to read the purpose of this group
please visit the files link on our site:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bdstudents/files/
(You must be logged in since this is a member only area.)

There are many Internet e-forums out there that address all kinds of
Bangladeshi issues. However none of them address BD student issues.

In this day and age of technology BD students need all the help they
can get to go to places they dream of. We see foreign students from
all over the world taking advantage of education and careers in other
countries. These students are dominantly from over populated
countries and they are looking to make a better life for themselves
through education. However in comparison BD students are still rare
in foreign institutions. There are many students in BD who are
looking for opportunities to study and work abroad but are unaware of
the prospects due to lack of networking among BD students and
professionals abroad. It is difficult for them to know which
institution or country is most suitable for their interests and their
budgets.

For example, there are few BD students in BD who know that a foreign
students enrolled in the Minnesota State University system can pay in-
state tuition or that the chances of getting a scholarship from a
private University in USA are higher or that a graduate assistantship
can take care of one's financial needs for a graduate degree, or
the things you can say to an institution to give you a better chance
of getting into the institution of your choice. Many do not know what
institutions or companies look for in a candidate, which puts them at
a disadvantage to the rest who do their homework. Did you know that
the Chinese community has sites where they compile interview
questions from different companies from people who have been
interviewed so that others can benefit? Small details like this,
which may help make or break someone's life, could be essential
to the making of an educated and progressive BD society, no matter
where in the world they are situated. In turn this society can help
further the cause of BD interests whether it be education, business
or technology.

We hope that students and educators will come forth with these
helpful bits of information and make them available for others,
especially those that are in BD and wish to come abroad for an
education. We also hope that students will use this list as a
resource for answers to their questions. We urge all of you to ask
your student and educator friends specifically in Bangladesh or
anywhere else in the world to subscribe to this group (if they have e-
mail) so that they may benefit from the information exchanged here.
If this list becomes successful to meeting such needs then we plan to
establish a web site to compile useful FAQ's that we can all
refer to.

With this e-mail we propose that members bring up any issues,
concerns of questions that are worthy of discussion here.

Looking forward to your responses.

Regards,
BdStudents