Update: The Growing Crisis in Libya

Posted on April 1, 2011 by Editor

By: Anas Aldarsani

The crisis in Libya is continuing and Gadhafi is still leading Libya. However, President  Obama has to find a solution to this problem. Obama gave a speech saying that the U.S is involved on a third front and supports the military campaign in Libya. U.S involvement will be limited because if it cannot afford another full scale war. Gadhafi is continuing to harm his people brutally.

The entire Middle East is going through similar problems like Libya. Obama’s speech took place at National Defense University at Fort McNair, not far from the White House. The White House has been anxious from the start to get out of the lead position. The U.S.-led assault against Gadhafi’s air defenses began on March 19. The U.S is not planning to send ground forces, but Obama wants to see Gadhafi get ousted from power.

The White House is not certain what action would be taken if Gadhafi does not leave from power. This war was authorized by the United Nations to save the lives of the Libyans. Even so, Gadhafi is still in power and more force will be required in order for him to be ousted from power. The conflict might take at least one more month in order for it to be solved. For sure Gadhafi will not remain in power. Even if the problem in Libya gets solved, there are other problems similar in countries like Syria, Bahrain, and Yemen. America should not put ground forces regardless what happens due to the fact there are U.S ground forces in Iraq as well as Afghanistan. The two full scale wars in these two countries damaged the economy severely.

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PUSD Peace Project Awards

Posted on April 1, 2011 by Editor

By: Editor

Reception Invitation

As you know, City of Knowledge students have been active in Pomona Unified School District’s Interfaith Peace Project. This project included a month of activities including a round-table discussion, anti-bullying assembly, and anti-bullying art contest. In fact 13 CKS students were honored at the awards ceremony on March 29 where they received hundreds of dollars in cash prizes.

Congratulations to Rubab Rizvi, Mohammed Al Hankawi, Delaram Sadaghdar, Sonia Abouelnasr, Abban Abdi, Layla Binesh, Layla Jibrin, Summer Abouelnasr, Sara Shirazian, Sarah Kadhium, Summaya Khuryani, Othman Shilleh, and Tarneem Ahmad!

Congratulations to our winners!

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Interested in Cooking?

Posted on April 1, 2011 by Editor

By: Salar Kadhium

A new cookbook has arrived! The name of it is, “Modernist Cuisine.” and it costs $625, a six- volume set of 2,438 pages. “Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking” is a labor of love created by inventory ex chief technology officer to Microsoft, Dr. Nathen Myhrvold. This cook book has brought together a project so comprehensive, illuminating, and so beautiful that Dr. Nathen considers this price tag very much fair.
If you are among the band of chefs, foodies, and casual eaters who think the scientific approach to cooking is fussy and unsatisfying, Ryan Matthew Smith’s remarkable photographs may give you second thoughts. This book has pictures of the step by step process of creating a dish. From pictures of the ingredients, to pictures of the combined ingredients being made into the actual dish to pictures of it being cooked with precision.

Here are just some of the few amazing features of Modernist Cuisine’s six volumes:

  • Stunning new photographic techniques take the reader inside the food to see cooking in action all the way from microscopic meat fibers to an entire Weber grill in cross-section.
  • The most comprehensive guide yet published on cooking sous vide (In a vacuum—ed.), including the best options for water baths, packaging materials, and sealing equipment; cooking strategies; and troubleshooting tips.
  • Why baking is mostly a “drying process.”

One of "Modern Cuisine's" scientific diagrams

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Assembly at CKS Launches the PUSD’s Anti-Bullying Campaign

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Editor

By: Dalia Albassam

Today, the Pomona Unified School District began its Anti-bullying Campaign with City of Knowledge students. The inter-faith program featured commentary from various members of clergy from the major churches and synagogues in the Pomona area. The assembly had three skits showing the “STOP! WALK! TALK!” method that asks students to stop a bully, walk away, and tell an adult. Each skit was followed by an interactive dialog.

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Gas Saving Myths

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Editor

By: Delaram Sadaghdar

1. Turn off the AC. You may think that because turning off the AC at home can be easy on your electric bill it will also save gas, but that’s not true. Auto testing at Consumer Reports proved that running the AC uses a nominal amount in gas that you may as well turn on the AC and be comfortable on a hot day. In fact, if you want more gas mileage keep the windows rolled up and the AC on.

2. Fill up your car when it’s cold outside. They say that you should get your gas in the morning in the morning or evening because the fuel is cold and therefore denser. The reality is that gas doesn’t change temperatures, so you can fill up your car anytime you want.

3. Increase tire pressure. Some say that if you want to get the most out of a gallon of gas, you should pump your tires. Overinflating your tires is very dangerous since it reduces your grip on the road and can cause an accident. Proper tire inflation is important for both your safety, and so the tires could last a long time.

4. Change the air filter. It’s good to take care of your car because it will run longer, and you will get the most out of your money. Changing the air filter won’t help you save money on gas though. Consumer Reports tests have shown that with today’s computerized cars clogged air filters don’t reduce fuel economy. You should take care of your car to make it last, but don’t look at air filters to reduce your gas expense.

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Inter-faith Anti-Bullying Initiative

Posted on March 13, 2011 by Editor

By: Dalia AlBassam

The Superintendent’s Faith-based Roundtable is holding an anti-bullying, anti-violence initiative. The City of Knowledge seniors will be volunteering for this cause. The seniors will add Muslim-American representatives along with other religious representatives.

Monday, March 6th the seniors attended a meeting with the Pomona Unified School District Superintendent and religious leaders to discuss the details of the event. During their spring break the seniors will be traveling to elementary schools around the Pomona area to present a series of books and skits at assemblies. The main topic of the assembly will be to practice the “Stop! Walk! Talk!” technique devised to help stop bullying in our schools. This concept teaches kids to STOP what they are doing, WALK away, and TALK to a teacher or adult about whats doing on. A few senior were also present at the Pomona City Hall meeting Monday night to discuss the initiative.

Seniors Represent Muslims at the Inter-faith Roundtable

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Seniors– Need Help Paying for College?

Posted on March 11, 2011 by Editor

By: Editor

If you need help funding your college education, check out the California Student Aid Comission March Newsletter . It is full of resources to help guide your scholarship and finding search.

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City of Knowledge Teams up with the World Food Programme

Posted on March 11, 2011 by Editor

By: Dalia AlBassam

Freerice.com is an online program owned by the World Food Programme. Freerice.com is a learning website designed to do two things. First, to teach students second languages, geography, and math. The second is to donate rice and third world countries. For every correct answer ten grains of rice are donated to the WFP program to fight hunger. Using this program City of Knowledge student have combined fighting hunger and learning.

Each student in Mrs.Rios and Mrs.Garcia’s Spanish classes I, II, and III spend once a week in the computer lab earning around 2000-3000 each. That is correctly answering 200-300 vocab questions in Spanish!  Recently City of Knowledge started its own group on Freerice.com. This way we can track the amount the school raises to fight hunger! In just the first week we raised 23,000 grains of rice! Create your own account and join the City of Knowledge group to start fighting hunger!

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The Islamic Scholarship Fund Accepts Applications for the 2011-2012 Academic Year

Posted on March 11, 2011 by Editor

By: Editor
The Islamic Scholarship Fund Accepts Applications for the 2011-2012 Academic  Year. Deadline March 21st, 2011. Apply Now!

Islamic Scholarship Fund (ISF) is a 501 C (3) non-profit organization that provides academic scholarships to Muslim students in the United States who pursue college and post graduate degrees in humanities, social sciences, liberal arts and law.

Mission:
ISF’s mission is to address the problem that Muslims are underrepresented in the fields of studies and occupations that make public policy and influence public opinion.  We aim to bring about long term change by providing academic scholarships for students in the fields of humanities, social sciences, liberal arts and law in order to encourage and support the future Muslim lawyers, politicians, writers, journalists, film makers and academicians of the society.

Program Description and Eligibility:
ISF accepts online applications once a year starting in January for a period of three months. Scholarships are awarded to Muslim students who have been accepted to four-year colleges and universities in the US.  Applicants must meet the following minimum eligibility requirements:

1.  Muslim;
2.  Majoring in humanities, social sciences, liberal arts, or law;
3.  Citizen or permanent resident of US;
4.  Minimum 3.4 grade point average;
5.  College junior standing or above;
6.  Active member of his or her community.

Selection Process:
ISF’s Selection Committee which is composed of university professors, non-profit organization leaders and community members with years of experience in the academic and non-profit world review and score applications from April to June. Applicant finalists with the highest score are scheduled for web-based video interview during the month of July.  Final selections are made and all applicants are notified during the first week of August.

Award Distribution:
Scholarships ranging from $1000-$10,000 will be awarded during the second week of August.  With certain exceptions, ISF’s policy is to send checks directly to an applicant’s university.  Exceptions can be made if the awards affect the applicant’s financial status.

How to Apply:
ISF’s application submission system is now paperless. Please visit our website at http://islamicscholarshipfund.org/apply.asp to apply for a scholarship. With the new system students will be given a username and password to login and to upload their application, essay, transcript and letters of recommendations. Providers of recommendation letters will be given a link to upload requested letters of recommendations.

ISF will accept applications through March 21st, 2011.

Please visit us at www.islamicscholarshipfund.org for more information. You can email us at contact@islamicscholarshipfund.org or call us at 650-995-6782
(M-F 9am-6pm PST).

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Guantanamo to Remain Open

Posted on March 11, 2011 by Editor

By: Anas Aldarsani

President Barack Obama approved Monday the continuation of military trials for prisoners at U.S prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, ending a two-year ban. Obama reaffirmed his support for trying terror suspects in U.S federal courts. The U.S will continue its cases against Al-Qaeda in the War on Terror.

Under Obama’s order, Robert Gates will end his January 2009 ban against the suspects in the facility. The first trial case that will most likely take place will be the bombing of U.S.S Cole in 2000. Gates told lawmakers that it is difficult to release  detainees to other countries. The reason for this is because the Congress has made the entire process more difficult. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard Mckeon is pleased with Obama’s decision to continue the trials. These trials should not have been cancelled for two years. There are many more trials for other inmates convicted for similar crimes.

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Karbala Play and Prophet’s (s) Birthday Update

Posted on March 11, 2011 by Editor

By: Rubab Rizvi

This year’s “Tragedy of Karbala” play was a major success. The auditorium was a full house. Even though the staff put out 350 chairs, it still wasn’t enough because around 400 people came to watch and support the play.

This has been one of the most successful plays than in past years. We had great directors. Brother Adam and Sister Humna the plays two main directors did a great job in directing everything. Sister Salaam also helped in this year’s play adding Arabic to Sayyeda Zainab’s speech in the final scenes. Brother Adam not only directed the play, but was a very big part in advertising it. Sister Soha an alum from 2001 who has been in charge of all of the schools social status on the web advertised from Facebook, Twitter, and the CKS Post.

The actors spent months preparing and memorizing their lines. You couldn’t find more dedicated actors. “They weren’t just acting in the Karbala play, they were living it” said Br. Adam. Along with the play, Sister Salaam read a poem she wrote in Arabic before the play. H.I. Muhammad Baig from Orlando came to spoke after the play as well. We had great responses from the audience. Thank you for all the support.

The "Tragedy of Karbala" play

On Sunday February 13 the school held its first ever “The Living Message” in commemoration of the life of our Prophet (s). The event started out with the Mubahala that was directed by Sister Salaam. Actors were from grades 8th through 10th that did a wonderful job in the play. The event continued with a speech by Brother Ashar Shah from Helping Hand for Relief and Development. Brother Kauthar Khan from the Yaseen Educational Foundation took the podium later to give a speech. The night then ended with a speech from Brother Salam Marayati from Muslim Public Affairs Council.

Mubahala Play

Brother Kauthar Khan at "The Living Message"

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February Sports Headlines

Posted on March 3, 2011 by Editor

By: Hiba Moiz

February was a really exciting time in the sports world, with the Super Bowl as well as the NBA All-Star games occurring during the same month! What more can you ask for, right? We’ll recap everything that happened right here on the CKS blog, enjoy!

Superbowl 2011

The sports world brought us a real feast during the month of February because as we all know, February was Super Bowl month! After waiting another year, Super Bowl 2011 had finally arrived with a match-up set between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers on February 6.Quarterback, Aaron Rodgers led his Green Bay Packers to a thrilling 31-25 victory against Ben Roethlisberger and his Pittsburgh Steelers at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Texas. As it turned out, the Green Bay Packers lead the Steelers in each of the 4 quarters, and the Steelers never had a lead on the Packers the entire game. For those of you interested in the half-time show, this year’s show had the Black Eyed Peas performing with a special appearance by Usher. Now turning back to the game, Aaron Rodgers threw in 304 yards and three crucial touchdown passes to hand Green Bay their 4th Super Bowl title, and earning him the title of Super Bowl MVP.

As you all know, the Super Bowl wasn’t the only thing that happened in February, we also had the NBA All-Star Games!  This year the All- Star Games took place right here, at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Blake Griffin made a name for himself when he performed an amazing dunk while jumping over a car and Justin Beiber made headlines for winning MVP at the celebrity basketball game. Check out Blake’s dunk here:

Then we had the highly anticipated game between the East and the West. The East included stars like Lebron James, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Dwight Howard, etc, while the West had Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and Slam Dunk winner Blake Griffin. In the end, Kobe proved to be the difference as the West went on to beat the East with a final score of 148-143 with Bryant winning the MVP.

Now here’s a little fun fact many of you might not have known. Did you know Minnesota Vikings football player, Husain Abdullah used to attend this very own school, City Of Knowledge? It’s true, and he’s visiting the school Friday, March 4, 2011 after prayer!

That’s all for now, can’t wait to see what March has in store!

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4th Grade Bulletin

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Editor

By: Editor

Click here to download this week’s homework schedule.

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