VOLUME 8, ISSUE 4
The Rising Crescent
JANUARY XX, 2004
NEW YEAR EDITION
Advisor:
 Mr. Abdul-Wadood Meyers
Editor-in-Chief:
 Rashad Sayeed
Editors:
 Mahmoud Al-Qudsi
 Abu Bakr Galaria
 Zubair Ilyas
 Sami Khan
Staff:
 Ismail Abdullateef
 Zeeshan Baqi
 Abu Bakr Galaria
 Ammar Haq
 Azhar Kothawala
 Omar Sheik
 Hashim Syed

Abdul-Haq Wajid
 Zubair Zaheer
Inside this issue:
I Can Count. Can You?
On the Subject of Colors 3
College Profile
Teacher Feature
Doctor, aye?
Jokes
Pizza?
BSC EDITION
Afr ican Amer ican Contr ibutions to the World
Do you know February is Afri-
can American Heritage Month?
This is a good time to discuss
African Americans contributions
to society that we presently live
in. Society has not given African
Americans enough credit for
these contributions just as it has
not given many Muslims as we
found out during the Muslim
Inventor‟s Week. It really does
not matter if the society accepts
it or not, but it is good for us
students to explicitly know the
originality of things. The most
unaccredited field that African
Americans are not given as
much credit is in research and
development of technology to
primarily make life easy and save
lives from dying.
Many inventions were
2 created to make life easier. Ben-
jamin Banneker gave us the
clock. George Washington
Carver contributed fuel alcohol.
Equally important, O.S. Wil-
4
liams, a famous engineer, in-
vented the radar beacon. This
6 invention makes an aircraft easy
to track if it is shot down or lost
9 during a storm. In addition,
Louis Latimer made improve-
11 ments on Edison‟s light bulb. It
would not have been a light bulb
without Latimer‟s accuracy.
12
Another invention was the oil
lubricator. It is one of many
inventions made by Elijah
McCoy. His lubricator was a
cheaper and faster way to oper-
ate trains as opposed to shovel-
ing coal into a fire. In addition,
Garrett Morgan contributed
inventions and methods of im-
numerous inventions to society.
proving life. These varieties are
The traffic signal is one such
used worldwide. They are some
invention that makes directing
of the greatest inventions and
traffic easier on everyone. Mor-
methods mankind has ever pro-
gan also generated static con-
duced. We should be thankful
duction. Static conduction
for having such great personali-
served as a guide to keep trains
ties. This is the main reason we
from running off the track.
celebrate The African American
Some contributions Heritage Month which this up-
were made in order to save coming month, February. As a
lives. For instance, Garrett Mor- lot of you might know that there
gan invented the gas mask. Its will be a big celebration in the
purpose is to protect the face following month consequently I
and internal organs from harm- cordially invite you to a confer-
ful gases and sprays. The bomb ence held by the Rainbow Push
squad and the military officials Coalition. The guest speakers
often use the gas mask during include Richard M. Daley, Jesse
raids. Dr. Charles Drew found a Jackson, and many more charis-
way to separate blood plasma. matic individuals.
He later started the first blood
bank. Dr. Daniel Hale Williams
performed the first open heart -Ismail Abdullateef
surgery. These discoveries
paved the way for other African
Americans who wanted to save
lives.
African Americans
have produced a great variety of
THE RISING CRESCENT

From the Editor‟s Desk

Is it just me or are the days
really going by fast. It‟s already
3rd Quarter and more than half
the academic year is in the
books. It just seems that we
started school just a month ago
or something like that, but in
reality time is going faster and
faster. The only way to avoid
regretting our high school years
at CPSA would be to use our
time more wisely. Rather than
staring at the monitor of our
computers we should read schol-
arly magazines, pamphlets, and
newspapers like TRC to become
more knowledgeable about the
world around us and how we
can in the future play an impor-
tant role in it. Hope you enjoy
this issue of the TRC which is
full of interesting facts, knowl-
edgeable data, and unbiased
information of what is happen-
ing in the sphere of CPSA.
-Rashad Sayeed

I Can Count, Can YOU?

Have you ever thought about one, you can decide for your- W+I+S+D+O+M=83
words deeply? If you have you self the significance of the
P+A+T+I+E+N+C+E=73
would have noticed something word. The following is how I
peculiar? Words in English spent that rainy day coming K+I+N+D+N+E+S+S=95
“It just seems have not originated from Eng- back home, just adding up P+L+E+A+S+U+R+E=97
lish people rather its roots are words. Here are some of
that we started M+O+N+E+Y= 72
generally from Latin and them:
school just a Greek. Did you ever get bored
A=1 B=2 C=3 H+A+R+D+W+O+R+K=98
enough and try to add the
month ago…” words up while on the road D=4 E=5 F=6 A+T+T+I+T+U+D+E=100
when you‟re stuck in traffic, G=7 H=8 I=9
you might not have such a long
J=10 K=11 L=12 Try it for yourself all kinds of
drive back as I might. Conse- words but only ATTITUDE will
quently, you might have not M=13 N=14 O=15 score a full 100!
come to that resolution. As I
P=16 Q=17 R=18
sat in the van one day rather -Zeeshan Baqi
than adding up license plate S=19 T=20 U=21
letters I did general words and
V=22 W=23 X=24
added them as shown below,
it‟s a bit confusing but this is Y=25 Z=26
how it works you denote a
number to each letter and add
them up. Can you think of a H+O+N+O+R=70
word that would add up to 100 P+E+A+C+E=30
maybe knowledge or kindness,
at least on those lines, but I L+O+V+E=54
was very surprised as I found K+N+O+W+L+E+D+G+E
out that the only word that =96
PAGE 2 adds up to a 100 is ATITUDE
R+E+S+P+E+C+T=86
out of the gazillion words this

You‟re WRONG! It Really Does Matter
Students running in the halls.
Students talking too loudly
during class. Students fighting.
Students arguing. Students
cheating. This list could go on
forever, but it shouldn‟t. In my
eight years at CPSA, I have
been hearing teachers saying,
“Be good little kids, you are our
hope for the future generation.
Anything and everything you do
will reflect on the Muslim com-
munity as a whole…” Only
recently have I realized the
truth to be found in this trite
expression. Every teacher uses
it to the point that we no longer
hear it being said, so we tune it
out. It really would be better
that we pay attention: this is the
key to success. BUT, the
teacher‟s reasons do not seem
to be, at least for me, the right
On the Subject of Colors...
Red is appealing in food: tan-
doori chicken, apples,
cherries, strawberry-
flavored ice-cream… but
when it comes to living
creatures, red signifies
death, blood, violence.
BTW, most red foods are
unhealthy, rare meat,
tandoori, and tomatoes
were once considered
poisonous too!
Orange, the color of the sun,
can be seen in nature:
leaves turn orange, orange
colored animals… but no
one thinks orange food
(not junk food) is good. It
looks rotten or uncooked.
Yellow is a common enough
color, we have many yel-
ones. To them, it is the fact that
we are the future Muslims and
the ones who still have a capac-
ity to do some good in our not-
yet-developed lives. But to me,
this doesn‟t ring true. What
seems more logical is that CPSA
and its students, us, is a micro-
cosm of the world at large.
What is CPSA? This question
provides the simplest answer to
this entire issue: CPSA is a
community, an ecosphere
where adults, students, and
children interact. Isn‟t that
what the world is? By studying
our actions here, within con-
trolled variables and set factors,
we can examine the world as a
whole. What we are currently
doing reflects what the world
expects. This can be seen
low pencils, toys, signs,
and other things. A yellow
flower may look pretty,
but yellow in nature
equals danger, yellow
bees, yellow snakes, and
yellow poison frogs. To
think we eat several yel-
low colored foods.
Green, a common color in
vegetables, isn‟t found in
any mammals. No green
deer, monkeys, or even
humans.
Blue skies, blue lakes, both of
these stereotypical refer-
ences to nature, but
shockingly enough, they
aren‟t real. The sky is
black, and we see it blue
as a reflection of the blue
VOLUME 8, ISSUE 4
through a variety of methods.
The simplest of course is the
well-worn good and bad. Some
students are good, and some
aren‟t; some people are good,
and others aren‟t. It can be seen
as a hierarchy, with different
people with different powers
and responsibilities, and those
who follow them. This also
rings true in the rest of the
world. But what can be seen as
the most decisive reason is the
power to do good, the power
to change not only yourself, but
the world around you. Look
around, and pay attention: we “Be good little kids,
can be a microcosm, or we can,
by our choice, become a role- you are our hope for
model community, an experi-
ment for the greater good.
the future
-Mahmoud Al-Qudsi generation. Anything
and everything you
do will reflect on the
oceans. And the oceans Muslim community
aren‟t blue, water is color-
less, what we see is a re-
as a whole…”
flection of the blue sky.
Hmm!
Indigo, a slight variation on
the blue-purple hue. Part
of the rainbow, and only
seen in birds. We have no
indigo animals or foods.
Surprise, surprise, blue
birds and rainbows are
found in a black sky.
Violet, the weirdest color of
the rainbow. Found al-
most no where except in
some flowers, it is a “rare”
color. Purple signifies
PAGE 3
royalty…
-M.Q.
THE RISING CRESCENT
College Profile: Boston Univer sity
In a continuing effort to inform
CPSA students about college,
the TRC continues last issue‟s
College Profile series—this time
with information on Boston
University, a premiere univer-
sity that most of us, unfortu-
nately, do not know much
about.
Boston University is a major
teaching and research university
where an internationally recog-
nized faculty teaches under-
graduate classes. It awards
bachelor‟s, master‟s, doctoral,
and first-professional degrees.
BU has 11 undergraduate
schools and 250 programs of
study, including accelerated
“...we have many degree programs, such as the
activities and seven-year Liberal Arts/ Medi-
cal Education program. Its loca-
dinners lined up for tion invites students to explore a
the students…”
The State of the Union Address
As the New Year begins, this is
an opportunity to progress in
the BSC‟s activities. Although ,
the participation of the students
themselves has been pitiful. The
student council can do only so
much with their own ideas, but
if there is any contempt among
the students, then disclose it.
Once the student body is serious
and acknowledges the establish-
ment of this organization, then
the BSC will truly be a success.
Apart from that, the BSC real-
izes the animosity towards the
vending machine. Many students
are complaining of losing
money. We know what the
PAGE 4 problem is and are trying to find
out the best way to correct it.
metropolis full of history and
culture. Here are some facts
about BU:
It has a student body of about
27,760 students with a student-
faculty ratio of 14:1.
It has 19 libraries and 380 active
organizations.
It is a member of the NCAA
(Division I).
And some more numbers deal-
ing with acceptance and costs:
The acceptance rate was about
48%.
The average high school GPA
for accepted students was 3.5
75% had SAT verbal scores over
600, while 20% had verbal
scores over 700.
The BSC also knows that the
machine sometimes malfunc-
tions and gives students a free
can or for half price. From now
on, the vending machine will
always be stocked with a variety
of soft drinks.
Currently the BSC is working to
continue our after school halaqas
and make it a habitual program.
We are also in the middle of
planning a dinner with Rami
Nashashibi, one of the founders
of IMAN, as our guest speaker.
Because the increasing yearns for
a basketball tournament, BSC
will arrange a game the day the
students return to school after
Eid break. The teams will be
made by the BSC and we will
83% had SAT math scores over
600, while 22% had math scores
over 700.
91% had ACT composite scores
of over 24 while 29% had scores
over 30.
The 2003/2004 tuition costs
were $28, 512 with an esti-
mated room and board
(depending on the room type
and dining plan) cost of $9,288.
Approximately 51% of the en-
tering class received grants,
averaging more than $16,500 a
year.
For more information, visit
www.bu.edu/admissions.
-Azhar Kothawala
try to make them as fair as possi-
ble. In order to participate in
this tournament, the students
are requested to sign-up and the
cost will be $1. One of the
BSC‟s main projects this year is
CPSA “gear.” These will include
t-shirts or sweatshirts made for
the CPSA students. We have
many designs on hand and once
the council finishes discussing it,
the students will be able to pur-
chase them this year, inshallah.
As the year continues we shall
continue using our efforts to
make it a productive year.
-Abdul Haq Wajid

Dear Ghor i Sahab
Q: Dear Ghori Sahab: I am so
embarrassed for what I did today
during prayer. Some gas sneaked
out of my body and made a very
distinctive odor in the mosque
for some time. The thing was I
had a can of pop, fries and na-
chos. I ate so much of it that I
was about to throw up, but then I
felt better and relieved.
I was feeling good while I made
wudu and went down to the
Masjid. When I got my stomach
started acting up and for some
reason Br. Nazim was reading
Surah Yasin(it felt so long) with
tajweed. After surviving this I
went into ruku. That is where
the battle was lost and it finally
came out. So Ghori sahib how
should I deal with this
embarrassing moment.
-Gasey Parata
A: Ghori Sahab: Beta, Beta do
not worry about this even the
best of us relieveour selves in
public accidentally. This
embarrassing moment will be
forgotten in a day or two. If your
stomach is not feeling good do as
Why…?
Why is the third hand on the
watch called the second hand?
Why do you press harder on a
remote control when you know
the battery is dead?
my nana says “Paney Peena or
washroom kew jow”. If you find
yourself in this predicament again
try acting like it was not you.
-Sincerely, Ghori Sahab
Q: Dear Ghori Sahab: My books
are gone! This is finals week so I
can‟t believe I lost them. The day
started like any other typical
CPSA day. I was late coming to
school so I was very nervous in
my first period class. After first
period I went into the halls of
CPSA and just got my pencil for
my scantron test and left my
book bag on the stairs. Finally the
test was over and I went to get
my books from my book bag.
Then I looked where I kept the
book bag and it wasn‟t there. I
checked on the top of the stairs
and the book bag wasn‟t there.
During gym I went to look in the
many lost & founds of CPSA. I
looked in all of them twice but
could not find any of my books
or my bag. What should I do
Ghori Sahab.
-Book loser
If man evolved from monkeys
and apes, why do we still have
monkeys and apes? (Looks like I
just proved Einstein‟s theory to
be wrong)
Why does sour cream have an
expiration date?
VOLUME 8, ISSUE 4
A: Ghori Sahab: Beta doesn‟t
worry about the books because I
can tell you avery good method
to get back your books. First look
in the lost & found box in the
office most people don‟t know
about that box. If it‟s not in there
ask your teacher to announce
your missing books in class. But
your best bet would be just to
buy another book and forgive the
person because you‟re never
going to get it back, just forgive
and forget!
-Sincerely Ghori Sahab
-Zubair Zaheer
“Is this page
supposed to have
Jokes written on it?”
-Guy in charge of
layout
Why is there a shower in the
boys bathroom? (I think we al-
ready know we smell bad.
That‟s why it smells like Axe on
our side of the hallway now.)
-Lionel Khan
PAGE 5
THE RISING CRESCENT
Teac her Feature: Iftikhar Hussain
A message to Mr. Iftikar from
TRC: Mr. Iftikar, we just want
you to know that we have been
praying for you since you left
the school last month. We, the
student body, hope you recover
as soon as possible, and only
now have we realized what an
important role you play in our
lives. We hope the best of all to
you and hope you will return
back as the same old Mr. Iftikhar
that we have known for years.
We sincerely thank you for all
that you have done for us. And
we are happy to have you back.
Q: “For the past few week’s,
you have been absent from .
“Look at my life, What is the reason behind
people think I‟m this?”
A: “Actually what happened was
crazy. I try to fulfill that a few weeks before Rama-
everyone's needs. dan, I was getting a pain in the
right side of my chest. I thought
I‟m just a human it was gastric because it would
being; I‟m here today come and go. As it became
more frequent, I started to take
and gone tomorrow.” prescription medicine. Then
the pain would become very
severe, and I would take larger
dose of the medicines. A few
days later it disappeared. Dur-
ing Ramadan, I was very
healthy. However, two weeks
after Eid I had pain in the right
side of my chest. On Wed.
night the pain began right after
dinner. It would not go away
and severe pain persisted
through out the night. I thought
that maybe it was my gallblad-
der because a few years before
some stones were found. On
PAGE 6
Thursday morning, I missed the
first period class. The pain went
away so I decided to teach the pain from them.”
other four of my classes. That
Q: “Did you ever think that
night I consulted my physician.
the situation would become
After dinner, the pain began
this serious?”
again. This time it was really
A: “No, I thought it was all
severe and I couldn‟t even sleep.
caused by gas and would just go
I took some medicine but it
away.”
didn‟t help at all. In the morn-
Q: “What was the first
ing around 6-7 a.m., I went to
thought that came to your
the hospital. It was hard to get a
mind when the doctor's
surgeon because of the holidays.
said it was a heart attack?”
I went to Hinsdale hospital,
A: “I didn‟t believe him because
because Dr. Muhammad Ali
I didn‟t have any pain in the left
requested me to. They took
side. All the pain I was feeling
my EKG and told me right away
was in the right side, so I didn‟t
that I had had a heart attack.
suspect the heart as the source
They also checked my gallblad-
of pain.”
der, but that was fine. I re-
Q: “Do you have anything
mained in the cardiac unit from
to say in general to CPSA
Friday till Sunday. They could
students as you rest at
not do the procedure because of
the holidays. On Monday they
home?”
A: “Betaa, the question over
did angiogram on one artery.
here is that life must go on.
They delayed the other two
arteries until after Christmas.”
CPSA students must work hard
if they want to achieve some-
Q: “Do you know what
thing in life. Keep yourself fo-
caused the heart attack?”
A: “Personally if you ask me, I
cused. You owe a lot to your
old generation. Work hard like
say it‟s because of my uncon-
they did, and I guarantee you
trolled blood pressure. Over
will succeed.”
time, I also developed choles-
Q: “What is your response
terol and diabetes. So an ele-
to the board barring you
vated heart rate, uncontrolled
from teaching until Eid?”
blood pressure, cholesterol, and
A: “I definitely did not like. I
diabetes, topped off with stress
just wanted to get back to work.
is what I blame for the heart
I didn‟t realize how bad my con-
attack.”
dition was. What the board said
Q: “I heard that you experi-
was not so unfounded. I was
enced the heart attack
more worried about giving a
while teaching your first
final review before final exams,
period class. Is this true?”
which I ultimately wasn‟t able to
A: “I experience very severe do.”
pains during a first period class, Continued on Page 9
but it wasn‟t a heart attack. The
class didn‟t know what I was
going through because I hid my

Respiration Summation
What is respiration? Doesn‟t it
have a little something to do
with our breathing? If it does,
then what does cellular respira-
tion means? Do cells need to
breathe just as we do? If you
attended any one of the 9th
grade boys‟ presentations, these
questions and many others
would have been answered in a
most stupendous manner. Hav-
ing gone further into cellular
respiration than even the AP
Biology course allows, these
ninth graders were able to an-
swer every question bombarded
at them. As we all know, Mr.
Qureshi was also once a biology
teacher, and was elated by the
idea of a class science pro-
ject. The class even presented
to both AP biology classes (boys
and girls), and they too were
ineffably flabbergasted. With
the help and guidance of the
biology teacher, Mrs. Kausar
Sultana, the boys prepared
models of every molecule at
each stage of respiration, in-
cluding glycolysis, the TCA
cycle, and the Electron Trans-
port Chain. In fact, they even
made models of each and every
enzyme that catalyzed each
reaction. These modeled mole-
cules were made from tooth-
picks and cotton balls of differ-
ent colors.
Respiration is the process
through which cells garner
chemical energy. There are
two main kinds of respiration:
aerobic respiration and anaero-
bic respiration. Aerobic respi-
ration is carried out when oxy-
gen is present, whereas anaero-
bic respiration takes place in the
absence of free oxygen. Aero-
bic respiration results in a mass
amount of ATP (adenosine
triphosphate) production
through substrate-level phos-
phorylation and oxidative phos-
phorylation. These processes
produce high amounts of en-
ergy that the cell can
use. Aerobic respiration can be
divided into three parts, be-
cause they take place in three
different parts of the cell. Gly-
colysis, the Krebs Cycle, and
the ETC make up respira-
tion. Glycolysis takes place in
the cytosol of the cell, which is
the liquid that fills the cell from
its nucleus to its cell mem-
brane. Glycolysis takes a glu-
cose molecule and ultimately
forms a pyruvate mole-
cule. Each glucose molecule
gives rise to two pyruvate
molecules. The pyruvate mole-
cule then infiltrates the mito-
chondrial membrane with the
help of a coenzyme-A, forming
Acetyl Co-A. Once the Acetyl
Co-A enters the mitochondria,
where the Citric Acid Cycle
takes place, it attaches itself to
oxaloacetate, which is a 4-
carbon compound. These four
carbons added to the two car-
bons of Acetyl Co-A form a six-
carbon compound, cit-
rate. Citrate then undergoes a
series of changes that eventually
bring it back to oxaloacetate,
which then regenerates the
cycle. The total output of gly-
colysis and the Krebs Cycle
VOLUME 8, ISSUE 4
combined is: 4 ATP molecules,
10 NADH, and 2 FADH. Each
NAD and FAD goes on to the
electron transport chain, which
then produces more ATP mole-
cules through oxidative phos-
phorylation. Each NAD gives
rise to three ATP molecules
and each FAD gives rise to two
ATP molecules. This gives you
a total of 38 (4+(10*3)+(2*2
(=38) ATP molecules as the
output of aerobic respiration.
Anaerobic respiration enables
some cells to produce ATP in
the absence of oxygen. Up
until glycolysis, the processes
are the same. After this, how-
ever, the pathways dif-
fer. Whenever we exercise, “The most
the amount of oxygen in our
bodies is reduced. The muscles prominent of these
in our body begin to produce “bombarders”
lactate. We feel lactate being
produced when we feel carmps included Dr. Parvez,
in our muscles. In anaerobic
respiration, the pyruvate, after
Dr. Nafe, and Mr.
it is formed in glycolysis, does Qureshi…”
not go to Krebs Cycle, but
rather goes on to become lac-
tate. That is why this process is
called lactate fermenta-
tion. This lactate is then taken
to the liver, where it is con-
verted back into pyruvate once
free oxygen is available.
-Omar Sheik
PAGE 7
THE RISING CRESCENT

The CPSA v. IFS Monologues

I understand that all of my fans
at CPSA want me to talk about
how I single-handedly shut
down IFS‟s best player, and how
I used my lightning-quick, ankle
-snapping crossover to intimi-
date and „chaosify‟ their defense
in order to dish the ball out to a
wide open shooter for some
easier points. But for now I will
not discuss that but I will write
about how our team won an
exhilarating game that was all
fun and entertainment from the
opening tip-off. In the early
moments of the game, we took
a quick 10-point lead after a
series of shots made by Furqan
Baqi, Danish Haque, and Rashad
Sayeed. Although we held on to
the lead for the rest of the game,
IFS did make several close at-
tempts to comeback, but they
were all quieted by dramatic
offensive and defensive plays
created by an all out team effort
by CPSA. We took advantage of
IFS‟s many turnovers and lack of
speed on defense to score gener-
ously on fast break opportuni-
ties. After speaking with several
IFS team players they seemed
rather frustrated in their loss but
especially the player that
guarded me because not only
did he lose but also he had walk
away limping from ankle sore-
ness. All in all it was a game that
everyone would cherish to par-
ticipate in.
-Ismail Abdullateef

NAME POINTS REBOUNDS STEALS BLOCKS ASSIST

ISMAIL A. * 6 3 3 0 4
FURQAN B. * 16 4 0 0 3
ZEESHAN B. 7 2 1 0 2
“I used my lightning- ALEEM D. * 6 2 1 0 2
quick, ankle-snapping DANISH H. 6 3 2 1 2
crossover to intimidate ZUBAIR I. 6 1 1 0 5
IBRAHIM K. * 12 11 0 2 2
and „chaosify‟ their FARAZ M. 8 5 3 1 6
defense in order to RASHAD S. * 14 11 0 2 3
OMAR S. 4 0 0 0 2
dish the ball out to a ABDURRAHMAN 8 6 2 3 3
wide open shooter.” TOTALS 93 138 13 9 32
54
IFS TOTALS

*= Starters
All stats are not completely accurate but rather approximates.

After game 1, our couch, Br. Lahcene, set up an additional match for the incoming week to chal-
lenge our team against the formidable IFS 11th grade team. They were huge; we did not know
how to get around them. Those 11th graders did not feel any different from us as the game started.
We started out a bit slow but then just like the old saying, “ if you want to burn them, annihilate
them all the way.” Soon, as a team, we were on fire. The stats show for themselves how bad we
beat them, would anyone imagine the 10th graders beating the 11th graders of IFS? Not only did we
beat them but killed them 93-54. Our star players were just doing terrific and without Br.
Lahcene immense style of coaching at least I could not have imagined a victory. The funny thing
about when the Head-of-Activities of the student council tried to call them to schedule another
PAGE 8 game this time versus their 12th grade they fanatically replied “ sorry we only have one boy in that
class and he illegally played in the previous game.”
-Rashad Sayeed
 VOLUME 8, ISSUE 4

To Be a Doctor or Not to Be
Before starting the process of
becoming a physician (or any
profession) you must do some
honest soul searching. First of all
you must be aware of the time
commitment involved in becom-
ing a physician. Medicine is a
career that requires many years
of preparation. Generally most
people graduate college at age 22
and medical school at 26. Then
after 3 years of internship and
residency, many physicians begin
their career at age 29. However,
the training for some specialties
can last until the physician's early
to mid 30's. Obviously this can
delay plans for marriage and
starting a family. Some people
begin their medical education
after pursuing other careers,
which can further delay the com-
pletion of their medical training.
You must decide early on if you
are willing to dedicate the time it
takes to become a physician. As
you can see, this is not a decision
to be made lightly.
More importantly, you must
decide if medicine is a field that is
right for the kind of person you
are. I believe that there are three
cornerstones of a successful ca-
reer in medicine: A love for
learning in general, a true intel-
lectual curiosity about medicine practice your profession and
in particular, and a strong desire teach it. Alternately, you can do
to help others. research in whatever specialty
you choose, with the potential to
Being smart and doing well in the
make a real breakthrough in pre-
sciences are obviously important
venting or treating illness. In
components of being a successful
addition, medicine is a career
physician. However, do not fall
that is honorable and is held in
into a medical career because you
high esteem, allows you the abil-
have done well in the sciences.
ity to live just about anywhere,
Although this is a necessary re-
and provides job security
quirement, you must also be able
(unfortunately, illness is some-
to relate well with people.
thing that will be around for the
As a physician you have an op- foreseeable future).
portunity to help others. Want-
However, all of this comes at a
ing to help others and enjoying
price. The many years of prepa-
helping others are necessary at-
ration, the discipline, the awe-
tributes of a good physician. This
some responsibility, the worry
is something that cannot be
about malpractice and the long
taught. However, there are many
hours can take their toll. Medi-
other professions that can help
cine is a unique field and it de-
“Of course I want to
others. Politicians, religious lead-
ers and social workers all have
mands a unique person. be a doctor so that I
the opportunity to help others,
perhaps in larger numbers.
One word about money. Please
don't let this be a driving factor
can help people,
Medicine is a career filled with
in your decision, for the sake of why else would I
your patients and yourself, be-
choices. In what other career can
cause it will not sustain you. want to be one?”
you choose between taking care
There are other careers in which
of children, handling emergen-
you can make more money with-
cies, removing someone's cancer,
out the responsibility and the
or talking to someone who needs
effort it takes to be a physician.
psychiatric help? Better yet, you
can teach others any of these
specialties, and while teaching
-Uzair Hussaini
have the opportunity to both

Teac her Feature Cont‟d

Q: “Do you have any other
comments?”
A: “I always say one thing. The
ray comes into your life once,
and will never come again.
Keep your self focused and
tackle your tasks with zeal. May
Allah guide us.”
As a former student in your Pre-
calculus class, I am very sad-
dened about your health. Now
that it is better though, I hope
you take care of yourself and
prioritize your health needs
before our learning needs.
Thank you for your time! Assa-
lamualaikum
Inshallah we will begin to appre-
ciate the staff of CPSA more,
and believe in what they have to
offer for us, take advantage of it,
and make the best of it we can.
-Ammar Haq
PAGE 9
THE RISING CRESCENT
The New Year
The New Year has arrived so
stop hogging the left lane on
Illinois interstates. Do not try to
sell a used mattress as new in
Tennessee. And be extra careful
not to call in a false fire alarm in
Delaware. Jan. 1 means new
laws will take effect in many
states: some are new additions
to the criminal code, while oth-
ers are more about "do" than
"do not." Poor senior citizens in
Pennsylvania now have ex-
panded drug benefits, for exam-
ple. Other states are adding
protections against identity
theft, putting new car insurance
rules in place, addressing the
Roman Catholic sex scandal,
“In the past four years, and raising taxes. Identity theft
25 states have enacted drew close attention in many
states in 2003. Now New Mex-
laws on racial ico, New York and Delaware
profiling, and most require that store receipts con-
have required police to tain only a few digits from the
customer's credit card number.
document the race of "This will eliminate part of the
the drivers they puzzle that identity thieves use
stop…”
Definitions
CANNIBAL: Someone who is
fed up with people.
CHICKENS: The only creatures
you eat before they are
born and after they are dead.
COMMITTEE: A body that
keeps minutes and wastes
hours.
GOSSIPER: A person who will
PAGE 10
to piece together your identity
and fleece you," said Russ Ha-
ven of the New York Public
Interest Research Group. Such
fraud costs some $2 billion a
year nationwide. Connecticut
offers new protection to crime
victims, allowing them to use a
substitute mailing address if they
want to keep their home address
a secret from stalkers or assail-
ants. Responding to a flood of
sex abuse accusations against
priests nationwide, Illinois ex-
tended the statute of limitations
in such cases so prosecutors have
20 years after the victim turns
18 to bring charges. Victims
have up to 10 years to bring a
civil suit. Since the scandal
broke two years ago, a few
other states have toughened
their laws on reporting child sex
abuse and extended statutes of
limitations. Illinois legislators,
worried about racial profiling,
now make state troopers record
the motorist's race at each stop.
never tell a lie if the truth
will do more damage.
INFLATION: Cutting money in
half without damaging the pa-
per.
RAISIN: Grape with a sunburn.
(feel free to use this one)
SECRET: Something you tell to
one person at a time.
A black lawmaker from Chi-
cago, state Rep. Lovana Jones,
said she knew firsthand the
need. Jones said she was de-
tained without explanation by a
police officer for 45 minutes.
"It's a horrible feeling. All the
time the lady was talking to me,
she had her hand on her gun,"
the legislator said.
In the past four years, 25 states
have enacted laws on racial pro-
filing, and most have required
police to document the race of
the drivers they stop, according
to the National Conference of
State Legislatures. In Delaware,
a new law cracks down on false
fire alarms: Anyone testing or
demonstrating an alarm system
must first notify the local fire
department. Repeat offenders
can be fined up to $500. Truly
America is changing for the bet-
ter or for the worse you make
the decision.
-Abu Bakr Galaria
TOMORROW: One of the
greatest labor saving
devices of today.
YAWN: An honest Opinion
openly expressed.
I promise I won‟t submit jokes
next time.

Jokes
Inventions for the mindless:
a) Inflatable dart board.
b) Glow-in-the-dark sunglasses.
c) A book on how to read.
d) Solar-powered flashlight.
ATTENTION: the following
viruses have spread through file
-sharing networks. The Rising
Crescent staff suggests you go
over the following list closely
noting the behavior of each
virus. Express caution when
dealing with these viruses.
AT&T VIRUS: Every three
minutes it tells you what great
service you are getting.
MCI VIRUS: Every three min-
utes it reminds you that you are
paying too much for the AT&T
Virus.
PAUL REVERE VIRUS: This
revolutionary virus does not
horse around. It warns you of
impending hard disk attack ---
once if by LAN, twice if by C:.
POLITICALLY CORRECT
VIRUS: Never calls itself a
"virus," but instead refers to
itself as an "electronic microor-
ganism."
RIGHT TO LIFE VIRUS:
Won't allow you to delete a
file, regardless of how old it is.
If you attempt to erase a file, it
requires you to first see a con-
sultant about possible alterna-
tives.
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEG-
GER VIRUS: Terminates your
session and then disappears. It'll
be back.
GOVERNMENT ECONO-
MIST VIRUS: Nothing works,
but all your diagnostic software
says everything is fine.
FEDERAL BUREAUCRAT
VIRUS: Divides your hard disk
into hundreds of little units,
each of which does practically
nothing, but all of which claim
to be the most important part
of your computer.
CONGRESSIONAL VIRUS:
The computer locks up, screen
splits erratically with a message
appearing on each half blaming
the other side for the problem.
PBS VIRUS: Your programs
stop every few minutes asking
for more money.
NIKE VIRUS: Just does it.
FIRST NATIONAL BANK of
Washington, Ill., tried to en-
courage business through bill-
board advertising, but conveyed
quite a different message when
the following ad was displayed:
"Loans make life easier, at
FIRST."
MY BROTHER Kyle, a school-
teacher, bought a new puppy.
He came home one day to find
that the dog had chewed up the
mail, which was delivered
VOLUME 8, ISSUE 4
through a slot in the door. Sift-
ing through the remains, Kyle
determined it was all unimpor-
tant except for one letter. He
felt rather foolish when he had
to call the state licensing bureau
the next day. "You're not going
to believe this," Kyle told
them, "but my dog ate my
teaching license."
WHILE WORKING in a hospi-
tal's medical-transcription de-
partment, I had occasion to
hear a tape dictated by a cardi-
ologist. He began: "A 76-year-
old female came in with com-
plaints of fatigue, irritability
and" At this point there was a
long pause, followed by:
"Nurse, what's the name of that
disease where you can't think of
the right word?"
A COMPUTER WHIZ went to
the Division of Motor Vehicles
to register his new BMW 330i
and certify his vanity plates:
IMIN2DP (a logical choice for
someone who's into data proc-
essing). But when the registrant
stopped to pay his fees, the
clerk noted the license request
and vehicle type. "If I'd just
bought a BMW," the clerk
cracked, "I'd be in too deep
too."
-Faizan Akram
PAGE 11
 The Rising Crescent
BSC EDITION

Pizza
The saying goes, “look before
you leap”; this applies to check-
ing both sides of the street be-
fore crossing, and to the investi-
gation of whatever food you
may be eating. Being Ameri-
can‟s number one choice of
food, it is surprising that very
few people now what it is, or
how it came about: Pizza!
 “Pizza” means “pie“ in
Italian
 It was originally spelt
“pitsa” from the Arabic
“pita”
 Pepperoni is the favorite
topping in the U.S. with
anchovies being the least
popular. Eel and squid
(Yuk!) are the favorites in
Japan. Russians prefer a
combination of sardines,
tuna, mackerel, salmon,
and onions.
 Tandoori chicken and
chicken tikka are naturally
the toppings in India and
Pakistan, coupled with
curry. In Australia, the
norm is pineapples and
shrimp; and Costa Ricans
favor coconut flavored
pizza.
 There are more than
60,000 pizzerias in the
U.S. These account for
17% of all restaurants.
 Pizza makers have tried all
types of toppings: from
ants to mashed potatoes.
Now you know the facts. Dive
In!
-Nabil Saeed

 The average American

eats 46 slices of this dish a
year. Americans eat ap-
proximately 100 acres of
pizza in ONE day, which
is about 350 slices in one
second.

 Ninety-four percent of
the population eats pizza
in the U.S.

 The modern pizza was

invented by Italian chef
Raffaele Esposito in 1889.
He was asked to prepare a
unique dish in honor of
Queen Marguerites. He
wanted to make the meal
to represent the Italian
flag, so he used tomatoes
(red), basil (green), and
mozzarella cheese
(white).