AMERICAN COLLEGE IMBROGLIO

HOSTELERS SEEK COLLECTOR'S HELP

THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS|MAY 10, 2011|PAGE 2

Representatives of American College Students Federation met District Collector U. Sagayam here on Monday and sought his help to keep the hostels functioning in the college.
   The students said that the present management, supported by CSI Madurai-Ramnad Diocese Bishop A. Christopher Asir had rented the college for a film shooting. The film was said to have scheduled to be shot from Tuesday [10-05-2011], due to which the management has announced that the hostels in the college will be closed. This will affect the students who are attending classes 'Under-the Trees'. Since these classes are being conducted by eminent professors, most of the students are using hostel facilities to attend classes.
   If the hostels are closed, the students are left with only two options, either to leave for their home towns without attending classes or rent rooms [not possible for poor students and not safe for women students].
    The Collector immediately called on the Joint Directorate of Collegiate Education and instructed him to ask the college management to STOP renting the college for film shooting until the classes are over.
    Sagayam also assured the students that he would take efforts to solve the ongoing problems in the college. The students had presented a memorandum pressing a charter of demands, including the appointment of a special officer to run the college till the legal disputes pending with the court are cleared.
     The students also prayed that all the false cases hosted against them should be withdrawn. They sought the collector to take measures to open the class rooms and laboratories.
    They have also demanded that all the hostels and messes should continue their functioning until the examinations are over in order to help the outstation students. This demand was immediately accepted by the Collector who took measures to run the hostels.
    The students urged the Collector to expedite the process of issuing mark statements for students appeared for the previous semester. The students explained that the campus was not safe for the students who were learning 'Under-the Trees' and staying in the college. They demanded that their safety was ensured by stepping up the security.
   Earlier over 200 students thronged the Collectorate and sought permission to meet the Collector to explain their plight to him. The police involved in the security clarified that they cannot let everyone to meet the Collector and suggested that they select representatives. Students Nagoor Kani, Princy, Karthik, Amalya, Nandhina, Appas, Tamil, Rajan and Janaki met the Collector [Hats off to them].